Chapter 50: A Toast to Settle Old Grievances

When Du Long arrived at the Sichuan restaurant, the private room that Huang Jiehao had reserved was still empty. Bored, he used his phone to read the document he had copied from Shen Yujie. Although Shen Yujie's character was questionable, he did have some skills. His work summary was very detailed, with many case analyses, and Du Long read it with great interest, learning a lot from it. After all, he was just a college graduate, and there were many things he couldn't learn at the police academy.

A few minutes later, Huang Jiehao arrived with a group of people, including Wei Xingbang, Meng Hao, Liu Yong'an, Zhao Wuyi, and Shen Bingqing, as well as two other detectives Du Long had never met before. Huang Jiehao introduced everyone to each other. Du Long smiled and said, "Captain Huang, how many people do you have under you? Why isn't Deputy Captain Shen here today? Is he on duty at the station?"

Huang Jiehao smiled and replied, "Our Xishan District Criminal Investigation Team isn't very large. Today, everyone except Deputy Captain Shen is here. We owe this to you. These two recent cases were originally quite complicated, but they were solved so smoothly. Now we have the chance to sit together and chat over a meal. Shen Bingqing, have you called your brother? How is he doing?"

"He's a bit better, thank you for your concern," Shen Bingqing said, glancing at Du Long. She was quite suspicious that Du Long was the one who had made her brother look so haggard overnight.

Once everyone had gathered, the dishes and drinks started coming one after another. They began to eat. Du Long had a plan to get back at Shen Bingqing, so he gave Meng Hao a meaningful look. Meng Hao nodded with a smile and raised his glass, saying, "Shen Bingqing, today is your first day on the job, and you did a great job. I have high hopes for you. Let's have a toast!"

Shen Bingqing stood up and raised her glass, smiling. "I should be the one toasting everyone. Meng Hao is right; today is my first day, and I know nothing. Thanks to everyone's help, I didn't make any mistakes. Catching the murderer has nothing to do with me; it was all thanks to everyone's efforts. Let's have a toast!"

Meng Hao was taken aback, not expecting Shen Bingqing to so easily deflect the toast. Her reason for toasting everyone back was impeccable. Meng Hao looked at Huang Jiehao, who smiled and said, "Good, Xiao Shen is very sincere. Everyone, let's have a toast. From now on, Xiao Shen is part of our family. We need to work together and help each other to do our jobs better. Let's all have a toast!"

Everyone stood up and raised their glasses, but Du Long remained seated. Huang Jiehao noticed and said to Du Long, "Du Long, although you didn't end up in our team by chance, we still consider you one of us. Come on, let's have a toast!"

Du Long slowly stood up and raised his glass to clink with everyone else's. Shen Bingqing drank her glass in one go, but Du Long felt she was just pretending to be hearty, still acting like a sissy.

Du Long also drank his glass in one go, and then everyone sat down. Shen Bingqing, however, did not sit down. She grabbed a bottle of beer and filled Huang Jiehao's glass first, then Wei Xingbang's, Meng Hao's, and so on. After filling everyone's glass, she filled her own and raised it, saying, "My tolerance is low, I can't match everyone. I'll start by toasting each of you. I hope for your support and help in the future. Captain Huang, I'll drink first!"

Shen Bingqing toasted each person one by one. After a few glasses of beer, her face started to turn red. When she finally toasted Du Long, her face was as red as a ripe apple, and her eyes were a bit unfocused. She raised her glass to Du Long and said, "Du Long, I know you hate me. If I had known how I got this position, I might not have listened to my brother and come back. You know, my brother raised me, and I can't let him down. I have no right to stand before you, and I don't blame you for hating me because I owe you. This glass of wine, whether you drink it or not, I will toast to you. I hope to have the chance to make it up to you in the future... otherwise, I will never be able to let it go... Here, I'll drink first!"

Shen Bingqing drank the wine in one go, then smiled and swayed, almost falling under the table. Liu Yong'an, who was sitting next to her, quickly grabbed her, and she slumped into the chair, snoring loudly.

Everyone looked at each other, and Huang Jiehao said to Du Long, "It's better to resolve old grievances than to hold onto them. This isn't really his fault. Du Long, drink the wine."

Du Long nodded and drank the wine in one go. Huang Jiehao smiled and said, "It seems Xiao Shen's tolerance is really low. Wuyi, go get some lunch boxes to save some food for Xiao Shen. Everyone, let's eat. We're all family, so don't be shy."

Everyone started eating. After a few bites, Du Long found a chance to ask, "Captain Huang, did the guy we caught today confess? Why did he kill his online friend?"

Huang Jiehao shook his head and smiled, "It's really laughable. His motive for killing was to eliminate the nine-tailed fox... He's crazy. The root of this matter was a failed online romance... Ye Guangtian, although lazy and good-for-nothing in real life, was a charming and successful man online. Many women were deceived by his sweet talk and considered him a confidant. Some even traveled long distances to meet him. Of course, most of them discovered his true nature after meeting him and left, but one stayed. She said she liked Ye Guangtian for who he was, not for his money... In fact, she begged him to keep her, saying she would stay with him no matter what. They became a couple..."

Huang Jiehao smiled and continued, "The ending is predictable. A marriage without a material foundation is often unreliable. In the end, the woman couldn't bear Ye Guangtian's lazy and unrepentant nature and left quietly last month. Ye Guangtian, instead of reflecting on himself, became resentful of the women he had met online. He somehow imagined that the girl was a nine-tailed fox who had come to seduce him. After she disappeared, he saw the women he chatted with online as the nine-tailed fox's incarnations. He believed that by killing all the incarnations, the nine-tailed fox would return to him. Fortunately, we caught him in time; otherwise, at least seven more women would have fallen victim to him."

Du Long sighed, "I see. Ye Guangtian really caused a lot of trouble!"

Meng Hao laughed and said, "Du Long, don't talk about that guy. Tell us about you. Everyone is curious. Where did you learn to do makeup? You managed to turn a man into a beautiful woman. You're really wasting your talent by being a police officer!"

Du Long laughed and said, "I learned it in the drama club when I was in college. At the time, it was just to make it easier to see beautiful women. I didn't expect it to be useful for solving cases. It's also thanks to Shen Bingqing's delicate features; if it were you, Meng Hao, it wouldn't have worked."

Meng Hao gave Du Long a thumbs up and said, "No matter what, today's operation was a success thanks to you. Otherwise, we would have had to forcibly arrest him, as the evidence we had at the time couldn't directly prove he was the killer."

Du Long laughed and said, "Just luck, hehe..."

"Even with good luck, success still requires strength. Du Long, work hard. Chen Boxiong from the Nangang District Criminal Investigation Team has a high opinion of you. He wants to transfer you to their second team. That's just temporary; eventually, he will bring you to the first team. The only downside is... you won't be under my command anymore, hehe..."

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