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Forensic Doctor Qin turned his head to look at Qiu Tu, perhaps sensing his hesitation, and then seriously said, "Every body has its unique code; as long as we can crack it, it will speak."
"So, we must believe in science, believe in evidence."
"We can't doubt everything just because a case is mysterious. That would lead us into the trap of 'skepticism'!"
Upon hearing this, Qiu Tu chuckled.
He indeed wished to believe in science, believe in evidence.
But... he himself possessed supernatural powers that couldn't be explained by science.
How could he believe that just because science hasn't detected any problems with the body, there really were no problems?
However, these things weren't sothing Qiu Tu could explain to Forensic Doctor Qin. It wasn't just because of the principle of confidentiality; their relationship also hadn't reached that point.
Thinking this, he chuckled again and said in a gentle tone, "I understand. It's just that I indeed have so other doubts."
Forensic Doctor Qin was a shrewd person. Hearing Qiu Tu's words, he gave him a suspicious glance, opened his mouth, but in the end chose not to say anything.
After completing the autopsy, Qiu Tu led Chen Feng, Song Qing, Wang Xi, Little Liu, and others back to the investigation team's temporary office.
Upon returning to the office, Qiu Tu checked the ti; it was already 5 p.m.
He decisively clapped his hands and then declared, "That's it. Today's work is done for now. Everyone should go rest if you need to rest; it's ti to clock out if it's ti to clock out."
"If anyone has other ideas, we can discuss them tomorrow."
Hearing Qiu Tu's remarks, people like Li Feng and Wang Xi were noticeably stunned.
Obviously, at the Investigation Bureau, everyone was already accustod to working overti; there was never a ti for leaving work punctually.
So, for a mont, although they had heard Qiu Tu's order, not a single person dared to move.
Then, emboldened Little Liu glanced at the others and raised his hand to ask, "Chief, are you serious? We're not working overti?"
Qiu Tu looked at him, smiled, and responded, "Why work overti if it can be done during regular hours?"
Saying that, Qiu Tu pointed to the files spread out on the table, "Besides, what work is there to do now?"
"We've finished studying the files and docunts, and we've watched the autopsy being completed. As for... the lab tests, the earliest results won't be available until tomorrow."
"We don't even have a preliminary autopsy report yet, nor do we understand how the victim died. We can't just randomly arrest a suspect for interrogation, can we?"
"So..." Qiu Tu gestured with his hand, "dismissed, dismissed, everyone go ho and rest, recharge your energy for tomorrow's case-solving efforts."
After hearing Qiu Tu's definitive statent, Song Qing, who had been restless on the side, couldn't contain her excitent and leaped up, exclaiming, "Long live the Chief!"
"I knew I read you right!"
After she spoke, she happily gathered her belongings and dashed out of sight.
With her leading the way, Li Feng, Little Liu, and the others exchanged glances, also smilingly thanked Qiu Tu, packed up their things, and left work stylishly...
Qiu Tu was the last to leave.
He neatly organized all the case materials and docunts, locked them up, then turned off the lights, locked the door, and left the Investigation Bureau.
Probably because it was rare for Investigation teams to leave work so early from the Political Departnt, Qiu Tu garnered many envious glances along the way.
And the loyalty level notifications for his subordinates kept popping up.
[Li Feng Loyalty 1]
[Ding Xiaoliu Loyalty 2]
[Wang Xi Loyalty 2]
[.....]
[Song Qing Loyalty 7]
Seeing that last exaggerated loyalty notification, Qiu Tu couldn't help but crack a smile.
This girl really hated overti; her loyalty actually increased by so much...
After work, Qiu Tu drove to the Investigation Bureau's gas station to fill up his car with fuel.
As he wasn't a director yet and couldn't enjoy official car benefits, the expense was his own— a whole Silver Yuan.
In Qiu Tu's forr life, that was almost 800 Yuan.
And this much fuel would only last him three days. Indeed, in the Planning Area, such controlled resources were incredibly expensive.
If it wasn't for receiving Old Fourth Qin's assets tonight, Qiu Tu imagined he'd be reluctant to keep driving this car.
While thinking this, Qiu Tu headed to the small restaurant at 29 Nanfang Street— a frequent gathering spot for him and his brothers.
The restaurant's owner used to be a big shot in Ah-Tai's gang, who, during the military's crackdown in Xinjie City two years ago, was quick to escape, sparing his life but crippling one of his legs.
Subsequently, he decided to retire from the underworld, opening this restaurant with his wife.
Arriving at the restaurant, the owner, wearing an oilcloth apron, was sitting down, scraping fish scales.
Seeing Qiu Tu, he smiled and raised his hand in greeting, "Ah-Tu's here. The guys are inside."
Qiu Tu nodded in acknowledgnt, greeting, "Brother Qiang," before heading straight to the courtyard inside.
The small restaurant wasn't grand, without any private rooms, so Qiu Tu and his brothers usually took over the courtyard behind the owner's house, setting up a few tables for open-air dining.
Upon entering the courtyard, about a dozen young n were already there, scattered around and chatting in groups.
Noticing Qiu Tu's arrival, they greeted him in succession, "Brother Tu's here." "Brother Tu." "Brother Tu, you've arrived."
Qiu Tu returned the greetings with a smile and then scanned over them.
Besides Qiu Tu, his small group consisted of 15 people in total. The core was made up of Qiu Tu, Ah-Tai, and Eagle.
The rest of them were mostly picked up by Qiu Tu or brought back by Ah-Tai after so scuffle sowhere.
Now, Ah-Tai had gone to the Special Service Departnt. Eagle and Ah-Kun had gone to the Political Departnt. Twelve others hadn't been placed yet.
Today, Qiu Tu had to choose two suitable individuals from them to send to the military.
[Monkey Loyalty: 85]
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[Ah-Shui Loyalty: 83]
[Da Tou Loyalty: 81]
[Ah-Xiong Loyalty: 89]
[.....]
Most of the brothers' loyalty to Qiu Tu lay within the 80-85 range. This proved their deep affection for Qiu Tu and their unwavering commitnt to follow him.
Understandably so, as they had relied on each other for many years, weathering nurous trials and forging bonds as close as life itself.
Among them, Ah-Xiong surprised Qiu Tu the most.
Ah-Xiong hadn't been picked up by Qiu Tu but was brought in one day by Ah-Tai from the outside.
Back then, Ah-Tai was still involved in gang activities, and Ah-Xiong was a mber of a rival gang. During a gang clash, Ah-Xiong's reckless fighting style caught Ah-Tai's eye.
So, after Ah-Xiong was nearly chopped to death, Ah-Tai dragged him back to see if he could still be saved.
By the ti he was covered in blood and barely hanging onto life. Out of kindness, Qiu Tu spent money on a doctor to suture and clean his wounds; the rest was left to fate—this was the best dical care one from the lower strata could hope for.
Perhaps it was his destiny to survive; to everyone's astonishnt, Ah-Xiong actually pulled through.
From then on, he hung around with Qiu Tu, Ah-Tai, and the rest of the brothers.
However, even though he was with Qiu Tu and the others, he was actually quite solitary by nature and didn't talk much. He would silently sit to one side and eat during gatherings.
Having apparently suffered a great deal of trauma since childhood, he seed to regard everyone with innate hostility, which made him the least favored within Qiu Tu's small circle.
Initially, Qiu Tu presud he would be the least loyal of all; unexpectedly, his loyalty turned out to be the highest, next to Ah-Tai's and Eagle's.
Qiu Tu speculated that this loyalty might have sothing to do with personality....
At that mont, while Qiu Tu was observing his brothers, Monkey picked up a canvas bag from the ground and walked over holding it.
Upon reaching Qiu Tu, Monkey handed the canvas bag to him with both hands, baring his teeth in a grin, "Brother Tu, this is what we snatched from Old Fourth Qin's wife."
Qiu Tu took the bag, which was slightly heavy in his grip.
Opening it to look inside, he saw over thirty shiny Little Goldfish and a pile of paper vouchers.
In the post-Cataclysm world, gold was much more valuable than silver. One Little Goldfish was worth about 200 Silver Yuan, equivalent to a purchasing power of about 160,000.
The thirty-plus Little Goldfish in the canvas bag amounted to an imnse sum of nearly six million.
It was the cash that Master Qin Si's family had carried with them during their escape.
Adding the non-cashable paper vouchers, deeds, land titles, and Master Qin Si's hidden gold reserves....
Qiu Tu roughly estimated that Master Qin Si's fortune was at least in the hundreds of millions, and the contents of this bag could cash out to at least twenty or thirty million.
Thinking of this, Qiu Tu couldn't help but swear inwardly,
"Damn, he's so rich!"
"Lucky for , it's all mine now!"
With these thoughts, Qiu Tu didn't sit idly; he began pulling out Little Goldfish from the bag, tossing each one to a brother as he drew it out.
Watching as each brother caught one, he continued to pull out another, and toss it to another brother.
Suddenly, cheers erupted in the yard, one after another.
With a minimum monthly expenditure of about 200 Copper Yuan for ordinary people in this world, one Little Goldfish was enough to sustain a common person for decades.
Even if one lived extravagantly, a few years of carefree living wouldn't be a problem.
And as Qiu Tu casually doled out such a vast sum to them, how could they not cheer?
So, in just a mont, a plethora of 1, 2 loyalty notifications popped up before Qiu Tu.
The reason the increases were modest, Qiu Tu guessed, was because the loyalty of those present was already too high....
After quickly distributing twelve Little Goldfish, Qiu Tu set the canvas bag down by his feet and instructed, "The Little Goldfish is for your nest egg, to take a wife. Don't squander it needlessly."
"Later, I'll have Eagle exchange a few Little Goldfish for so Silver Yuan and Copper Yuan for everyone's daily expenses."
"The rest of the money will stay with for now; if you need any, co to find ."
Hearing Qiu Tu's arrangents, Monkey, Ah-Shui, Da Tou, and the others promptly responded energetically.
Because of the money distribution, the entire yard was abuzz with joy, even the sounds of conversation growing louder.
Allocating wealth was always the most uplifting.
Soon after, Eagle and Ah-Kun arrived, but Ah-Tai was nowhere to be seen.
Qiu Tu didn't wait for him: the guy had always lacked a sense of ti; there's no telling what might have held him up.
So Qiu Tu simply asked the owner to serve the dishes.
Course after course was laid out, and the brothers ate and drank rrily.
After the third round of drinks, it struck 9 p.m.
Qiu Tu's communicator buzzed with vibration.
Picking it up, Qiu Tu saw a call from an unfamiliar number.
A hunch crossed his mind, guessing who the caller might be.
He answered the communicator, and indeed, Qin Shuman's voice ca through the earpiece, "I'm outside."
Upon hearing this, Qiu Tu excused himself from Eagle and the others and then got up to leave the yard.
Barely stepping out of the restaurant, Qiu Tu looked up to see Qin Shuman standing across the street.
She appeared different tonight. Not in a cheongsam or military uniform, she wore a black, stand-collar cashre coat.
Even though the coat covered her exquisite figure, it added to her tall stature, giving her an air of elegance that seed to stand apart from the rest of the world....
Seeing her, a smile involuntarily spread across Qiu Tu's face, and then he started walking towards her....
And as Qiu Tu approached, Qin Shuman's lips also curved into a smile.
She seed to have applied light makeup deliberately tonight, and her smile was breathtakingly beautiful.
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