Animal Detective

Chapter 300 - 250: 500 Bucks

Liu Baoqing watched the video and took some time to understand what had happened.

He asked Ma Chunxin for his thoughts.

Ma Chunxin glanced at Yu Dalin in the distance, who was being watched by two colleagues.

The black dog was foaming at the mouth with blood, but it wasn’t dead. It was now lying at his feet.

Ma Chunxin said, "I think it was an accident."

Liu Baoqing looked at him with a sharp gaze.

Ma Chunxin grew uncomfortable under the gaze. "Captain Liu, what else could it be?" he asked in return.

Liu Baoqing was silent for a moment, then turned to ask Shen Xin what he thought.

Shen Xin also glanced at Yu Dalin.

The old man was 73.

After another glance at Ma Chunxin, Shen Xin said, "Captain Liu, I think there’s something going on between Yu Dalin and Chen Fang, or rather, Yang Wenqing."

Liu Baoqing shot a glare at Ma Chunxin, then asked Shen Xin for his reasoning.

Shen Xin explained why.

From the very beginning, Shen Xin had found it strange. Why was Yu Dalin giving Chen Fang such a hard time?

Whenever someone visited Chen Fang’s shelter, he would show up with this black dog and threaten Chen Fang for money.

He also secretly filmed Chen Fang relocating stray cats and dogs.

His own explanation was that he couldn’t stand Chen Fang, finding her too hypocritical.

Under the circumstances at the time, he seemed like a rather upright old man.

But now that this had happened, Shen Xin felt there was something wrong when he re-examined the previous events.

That bite from the black dog was too vicious.

And without a specific reason, why would a domestic dog actively attack a person?

Shen Xin had seen this dog before, and it had seemed quite well-behaved.

How could it suddenly go berserk and bite someone?

And then there was Tian Kui.

When the incident occurred, he also showed signs of wanting to rush out and bite someone.

That was also quite strange.

Especially since Tian Kui had killed a dog at the shelter and then kept lingering around, refusing to leave.

Looking back on it now, it all seemed a bit strange.

Liu Baoqing nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "Xiaoshen, first, I need your help rounding up all the escaped stray dogs."

"Old Ma, you take Yu Dalin back and run a background check on him."

"Then I’ll go to the hospital to check on Yang Wenqing. What a mess this has turned into."

He stamped his foot lightly and quickly walked away.

’So much trouble from one small animal shelter.’

Shen Xin watched Yu Dalin being led away, shook his head slightly, and then found Li Mo and the others to start catching the dogs as quickly as possible.

Tang Xu also called over some villagers to help.

The process was basically: spot an escaped dog, Tian Kui would go up and let out a few barks to intimidate it, then they would catch it, take it back to the shelter, and lock it up again.

As for the cats, Tian Kui had little intimidating effect on them, so they could only try their best to catch them.

It was very difficult.

If they really couldn’t catch them, they had to give up.

Compared to dogs, cats were more timid and wouldn’t attack people unless cornered.

There was nothing to be done if they ran off.

With Shen Xin around, Tian Kui worked very diligently.

They worked until it was almost dark, finally managing to catch most of the dogs.

They did a count: over ninety had been brought back.

That meant quite a few had still gotten away.

This was all they could do for today. Later, they would ask the villagers to keep an eye out and bring any they found to the shelter.

Shen Xin also asked Tang Xu to help find people to keep an eye on these stray dogs.

There was dog food on site, so they could feed them for now. The main thing was to not let them starve.

’So many dogs... this is going to be tough to handle.’

Worried about Celestial Skill, who was due to give birth, Shen Xin hurried back to the base.

Surprisingly, Celestial Skill stubbornly hadn’t given birth yet.

Upon seeing Shen Xin, she, who had been lying down and panting, immediately got up and came to greet him.

Li Jiahui remarked with a sigh, "She was waiting for you."

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Shen Xin told her not to talk nonsense.

She then asked what had happened over there.

"Don’t even ask."

Shen Xin briefly explained the situation.

Li Jiahui’s eyes went wide, and she subconsciously glanced down at Shen Xin’s crotch.

"What are you looking at?" Shen Xin turned away.

Just as Li Jiahui was about to say more, Celestial Skill, who had been holding on for a long time, finally went into labor.

Within a few minutes, she had given birth to a small black puppy.

Her maternal instincts were extremely strong. She went over to bite the umbilical cord, licked the puppy clean, and then lay back down, her eyes still fixed on Shen Xin.

Shen Xin opened a can of food to help her replenish her strength.

The whole process went smoothly, and she gave birth to a litter of five.

One white, three black, and one that was really unique.

Its head was completely black, but its body was white. The line at its neck was sharp and distinct, as if it had run out of ink.

Celestial Skill was already lying down obediently, nursing her pups.

When she saw Shen Xin was about to leave, she even got up to follow him.

"Alright, now. Stay put. I’ll come see you tomorrow," Shen Xin chided, and only then did Celestial Skill relent.

The base had a special birthing room with a suitable temperature, and there were people on the night shift to look after her, so there wouldn’t be any problems.

Shen Xin went to give Tian Kui another lesson in discipline before preparing to get off work and head home.

But thinking of Yang Wenqing’s situation, he called Liu Baoqing to ask for an update.

Upon learning that he was just out of surgery and hadn’t woken up yet, Shen Xin thought for a moment and decided to go have a look.

Once Yang Wenqing woke up, the truth of the matter should come to light.

Shen Xin wanted to know what the real reason was.

When he arrived at the hospital, Liu Baoqing was waiting outside the hospital room.

Shen Xin asked about the surgery.

Liu Baoqing shook his head slightly and said in a low voice, "I heard it was only attached by a bit of skin. They reattached it, but there are no guarantees about its function."

Shen Xin winced. He couldn’t imagine how painful that must be. After a moment of silence, he asked if Yang Wenqing was married.

"Nope." Liu Baoqing rubbed his temples, a headache coming on. "We haven’t told Chen Fang and the others yet. Who knows how they’ll react when we do."

Chen Fang and Yang Yaotao had already been transferred to the detention center.

He was their only son. They’d worked so hard running shady businesses, giving all the money they earned to him, and in the end, this was the result...

Shen Xin thought for a moment and asked, "Captain Liu, have you found anything on Yu Dalin?"

Liu Baoqing shook his head, saying they had brought him in for questioning, but he insisted it was an accident.

They had collected all the videos taken at the scene and were still reviewing them carefully, but there were no results yet.

They also searched Yu Dalin’s house but didn’t find anything like a training dummy or the like.

Speaking of which, Liu Baoqing lowered his voice. "Last August, Yu Dalin’s wife died of a stroke. And we learned from the neighbors that Yu Dalin originally had a pair of dogs, a male and a female."

"And the female dog died last year, right before his wife did."

He didn’t elaborate, but Shen Xin already understood.

Shen Xin then asked about his children.

He had one daughter who had married and moved to a distant province. She rarely came back, leaving the old couple to rely on each other.

Shen Xin stayed for a while, and just as he was about to leave, Yang Wenqing woke up.

The injury was... down there, so his body wasn’t greatly affected. After waking up, he quickly regained consciousness, followed by a hysterical scream as he struggled to sit up and see the damage.

After being warned that moving around could affect future functionality, he was immediately scared into stillness.

But his mouth could still move. Seeing Liu Baoqing, he immediately yelled, "Whose? Whose dog was it? I’m going to kill him!"

His eyes were bloodshot with rage, his expression murderous.

Liu Baoqing snapped, "Are you talking about killing the dog, or the owner?"

Yang Wenqing snorted coldly, grinding his teeth and saying this wasn’t over. He then demanded to know from Liu Baoqing who had done this to him.

Liu Baoqing hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Do you have any conflict with Yu Dalin?"

"Who?"

Yang Wenqing didn’t register the name.

Liu Baoqing took out his phone, found a photo of Yu Dalin, and showed it to him. "He’s the old man from the first house at the village entrance, to the right as you leave the shelter."

"Holy shit!" Yang Wenqing cursed. "I remember now! That old man has a dog. Damn it, was it his dog that bit me? I’m gonna kill him."

He roared in agitation, then fearfully lay back down, not daring to move.

Liu Baoqing continued to question him, "Did you have a conflict with Yu Dalin last August?"

Yang Wenqing froze.

He muttered "last August" to himself, and a look of dawning comprehension replaced the blankness in his eyes. He slammed his hand on the hospital bed and tried to sit up again.

But he immediately lay back down, craning his neck nervously to look down at himself.

Only then did he say, "I remember now. It was last summer, maybe July or August. I went to my mom’s place, and a dog started barking at me."

"So I threw a rock at it."

He glanced at Liu Baoqing and continued, "The dog rushed over like it was going to bite me, so I got mad, went and got a shovel, and... clubbed it to death."

"After I killed it, an old woman ran over and told me the dog was hers, and she wanted me to pay her for it."

"The dog was trying to bite me, why the hell should I pay?"

"Anyway, she argued with me and grabbed me, not letting me leave, so I gave her a shove. She fell on the ground, but she was fine."

Yang Wenqing looked at Shen Xin and the others, his gaze a little shifty.

"And then?" Liu Baoqing asked in a heavy voice.

That old woman must have been Yu Dalin’s wife.

Yang Wenqing said, "I was afraid she’d keep pestering me, so I threw five hundred yuan at her and left."

"Her dog was just a regular mutt. Five hundred yuan was a bargain for her."

At this point, realization dawned on Yang Wenqing. He cursed, "That old bastard didn’t sic his dog on me because of that, did he? Fuck him! I swear I’ll kill him when I get out of here."

Liu Baoqing warned him sharply.

Yang Wenqing muttered under his breath, clearly not listening.

Shen Xin’s brow furrowed slightly.

’Five hundred.’

Muttering the words aloud, Shen Xin suddenly understood why Yu Dalin had gone to Chen Fang’s shelter, yelling about wanting to kill the black dog and demanding five hundred yuan.

He was shouting that he wanted the five hundred yuan to buy the black dog’s life.

Was he really buying the dog’s life?

’Probably not. He was buying vindication for his wife.’

The situation was now clear. Liu Baoqing told Yang Wenqing to focus on his recovery.

"Like I need you to tell me that."

Yang Wenqing’s tone was extremely aggressive. He glanced down at himself with a nervous expression and yelled, "Officer, this isn’t over! I want that old man to pay with his life!"

Liu Baoqing couldn’t be bothered to deal with him and left with Shen Xin.

Shen Xin drove and followed Liu Baoqing to the precinct.

When they arrived at the precinct, Ma Chunxin was still interrogating Yu Dalin.

Yu Dalin’s face was taut, and he remained silent.

Liu Baoqing sighed, went to the cafeteria to get some food, and then entered the interrogation room.

"Sir, let’s eat first. Your health is important."

He handed the food container to Yu Dalin.

Yu Dalin didn’t pick up his chopsticks, but his expression softened considerably.

Liu Baoqing motioned for Ma Chunxin to step out. Then, after thinking for a moment to choose his words, he began, "Sir, you’re getting on in years. I asked around the village, and everyone said you were a very upright man in your youth, even a militiaman."

"So let’s be frank. We’ve already spoken to Yang Wenqing and we know what happened. Now I want to hear your side of the story."

In the adjacent observation room, Ma Chunxin walked in and asked Shen Xin if Yang Wenqing had woken up.

Shen Xin nodded, watching Yu Dalin through the one-way glass.

The old man’s emotions began to surface. He wiped his runny nose and asked in return, "So what do you want to hear?"

"That you want to hear about how my wife had five hundred yuan thrown in her face, and was so angry she didn’t know what to do?"

He stared fixedly at Liu Baoqing, his eyes trembling.

Liu Baoqing was suddenly at a loss for words.

Yu Dalin sniffled again and said, "Officer, don’t ask any more questions. Just do what you have to do. The dog is mine. It bit someone. I’ll pay the damages, that’s all."

Liu Baoqing shook his head slightly. ’If only it were that simple,’ he thought.