Free Web NovelChapter 887: Chapter 464: Invited to Stay and Solve Another Case!
In an instant, everyone’s glasses clinked together again, the crisp sound echoing in the room, as if capturing the celebration and camaraderie of the moment.
Then, everyone raised their glasses and drained them again, the strong alcohol mingling with the euphoric atmosphere, gradually spreading throughout the room.
After several rounds, many people had a rosy flush on their faces, and their conversations became more spontaneous.
After numerous toasts and various dishes, Director Hou slightly turned, facing Political Commissioner Li next to him, with a hint of relaxation beyond official duty in his tone, "This case has been completely resolved, and we’ve been in Qingzhou for a few days now."
"The provincial department has compiled quite a number of unsolved cases across the province this time."
He paused, raising his eyes to look at the other, "So we originally planned to set off early tomorrow morning to return to the department."
As the words fell, Political Commissioner Li’s expression suddenly changed.
He put down his glass, speaking with a solemn tone, "Director Hou, to be honest, having you here this time provided us with extremely valuable guidance in our work."
"In principle, we shouldn’t make any additional requests..."
He hesitated slightly, lowering his voice, "But there’s something, I don’t know if I should mention it."
At this time, Director Hou’s cheeks were slightly red, the warmth of the alcohol making him much more relaxed.
He waved his hand, with a tone more easygoing than before, "If you have any thoughts, feel free to share."
"In work, we are colleagues; in private, we count as brothers."
"Just go ahead and speak."
With this reply, Political Commissioner Li seemed to receive a pass, immediately continuing, "Great! Then I won’t beat around the bush."
"Under your guidance, this case can be said to have been solved with immediate effect."
"We organized six special investigation teams before, each time wandering around aimlessly like headless flies, never finding a direction. However..."
He paused his tone, his expression becoming serious, "Besides this case, we also have a particularly tricky unsolved case."
"Oh? Another case?"
Hearing this, Director Hou was taken aback, somewhat surprised to ask, "Wasn’t there only one key case reported to the provincial department?"
Political Commissioner Li nodded, with a tone carrying a touch of helplessness, "Yes, that’s the case."
"We did some data processing before reporting — in reality, we still have a ’White Bone Case’ that hasn’t been categorized and has been pending."
"This time, to not affect the case-solving rate data of the province or the celebratory atmosphere of this case closure, we didn’t report it."
Director Hou was silent for a moment, nodding slightly.
He understood this approach at the grassroots level — although not completely compliant from a procedural standpoint, it’s often unavoidable in practical work.
After all, data reporting involves the assessment and ranking of homicide case resolution rates, and the pressure of case investigation evaluations across the province every year is not small. Especially unsolved homicide cases, they are quite difficult to solve and take a lot of energy, indeed a major burden for grassroots units.
Thinking of this, Director Hou’s mouth twitched lightly, finally relenting, "Alright, no problem."
The brief five words made Political Commissioner Li and Mr. Qin next to him instantly reveal happy expressions.
Both almost simultaneously stood up, swiftly picking up the wine bottle, refilling the glasses in front of Director Hou and Jiang An.
Political Commissioner Li raised his glass, his tone sincere and excited, "Director Hou, Mr. Jiang, this glass we toast to the guidance team! Thank you for your willingness to stay and continue guiding us!"
Director Hou also raised his glass, gently swirling the transparent liquid in his glass, smiling, "The alcohol is already quite high, just say what you mean."
"No, no," Political Commissioner Li waved his hands repeatedly, "You agree to stay and help us tackle this White Bone Case, this friendship we must place in this drink."
"Of course — we sincerely hope you can stay a day or two longer."
"Who knows, maybe within these one or two days, that White Bone Case... could be completely solved!"
Hearing this, Jiang An couldn’t help but smile, taking over the conversation, "You’re speaking a bit prematurely."
At this moment, Director Hou slowly raised his glass, the amber liquid swaying slightly under the light.
A smile at the corner of his mouth, he responded, "The way you put it, it’s like we’re some sort of ’crime harvesters’."
"Do we break a case wherever we go? If we were really that miraculous, the two of us wouldn’t need to be running around all the time."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across everyone’s faces, continuing, "But seriously, this case is indeed tricky for us, as difficult as reaching heaven."
"However, for the two of you, maybe just by visiting the site, flipping through the case files, you can find the critical clue we’ve been overlooking."
"This insight and experience, we really pale in comparison."
He raised his glass, speaking sincerely, "Since this is the case, let’s use this glass to prematurely wish you success in your upcoming guidance efforts."
"Especially thank you for staying behind, continuing to guide on this ’White Bone Case’."
"Honestly, having you stay is truly like receiving help in our hour of need for us."
Director Hou looked down at the swaying yellow liquid in his glass, half-jokingly added, "Looks like today, this glass is unavoidable."
"This buying one and getting one free, which sounds easy, is actually not simple."
"No matter how tough the task, as long as Jiang An is here, we’re all looking forward to good news."
As soon as the words fell, everyone echoed, raising their glasses and drinking them all in one gulp.
Once the glasses were down, Director Hou turned to look at Jiang An, with a slightly mischievous smile on his face, "How about it, this time we’ve really delivered service home, right? Even brought out the bottom-of-the-box challenges to consult you."
