Why's it gotta be this hard?

Why is it so hard? Ha, haha. Jiang Xia's heart finally gave up. She said, 'No wonder my reputation value has been skyrocketing lately, already over eighty — it's all thanks to their promotion!' 'Really?

That's quite a coincidence.' Taking a deep breath, Jiang Xia calmly picked up a piece of chicken. 'Zhe Wang is Zhe Wang, what does that have to do with her Jiang Xia?' 'Yeah, they're terrified that this thief will stay in the area.' Lao Chengan added, 'But in my opinion, a thief with such skills wouldn't bother with a small place like ours.

He's probably just passing through on the train.' 'Right, right, right, that's what I think too!' Jiang Xia nodded inwardly and quickly steered the conversation elsewhere: 'Speaking of so many thieves gathering together, was it easy to catch them?' 'It was quite thrilling.

We didn't expect so many people, we almost...' Lao Chengan began recounting the thrilling story of the arrest and interrogation, of course adding plenty of embellishments. Wu Suo, who had seen a lot, wasn't very interested but played along to be polite.

Hu Wei, however, was extremely excited, even stopping his chopsticks. Not mentioning Zhe Wang anymore, Jiang Xia didn't say much else.

She occasionally chimed in and sped up her eating. She didn't want to lead the team to arrest He Tuzi. After all, to quickly gain his trust today, she had to show off, letting He Tuzi know she was skilled at pickpocketing.

And although she had disguised herself, it wasn't a face transplant. From a distance, she might not be recognized at first glance, but up close, she could still be identified as the same person.

There was a chance she'd be recognized during the arrest. For the sake of Wu Suo's heart, Jiang Xia thought it better not to go.

But Wu Suo would definitely want her to lead, since only she had been to He Tuzi's house, and Wu Suo and the others hadn't, nor did they know what he looked like. Jiang Xia had to resolve the follow-up first before finding an excuse not to go.

So she finished eating quickly, went back to the office, grabbed a notebook, and started drawing swiftly. Without drinking, eating was much faster.

Even with chatting, the meal was finished in just over forty minutes. Lao Chengan knew Wu Suo had things to do in the afternoon, so he didn't stay long.

He left a thank-you letter stamped with his unit's seal, packed the four empty plates back into the food box, waved, and left. Wu Suo made himself a cup of strong tea.

He had a feeling he'd be busy today. Carrying his enamel mug, Wu Suo returned to the office and saw several drawings on Jiang Xia's desk.

Besides drafts, there were three main ones. One was a face: a man in his thirties or forties, slightly round face, triangular eyes, sparse hair.

Another was a courtyard entrance with an upside-down 'fu' couplet, a small broken door with a broken wooden doorframe. Besides that, there was a topographic map with routes very thoroughly marked.

'So thoroughly prepared?' Wu Suo picked up the portrait, squinted, and carefully examined the man's appearance: 'This is the He Tuzi you mentioned?' 'Yes.' Jiang Xia put the map down, covered her mouth, and yawned wearily. 'I saw clearly, there were beds inside, so he definitely lives there.

But the stolen goods are hidden outside, not far. When I bought from him, it only took him seven or eight minutes to fetch the stuff.

A search outside should find them.' 'That makes it even easier.' Catching the thief with the stolen goods is best; then there's no worry during interrogation. Wu Suo glanced at Jiang Xia, saw her tired face and dark circles, lowered his head in thought, then said, 'You must be exhausted from this morning.

How about you don't go this afternoon and just rest at the station.' His own big blue ox — after plowing the fields, it must be well-fed and watered, or what if it gets worn out? Jiang Xia hesitated, 'Can you manage without me leading the way?' 'Don't worry.' Wu Suo shook the portrait, the paper rustling in the air.

'In the past, we could catch people with just a name. Now we have a portrait and a map — why worry about not catching him?

Just wait at the station for good news!' 'Ah, alright then.' Jiang Xia reluctantly agreed on the surface, but inside she was overjoyed. Hehe, she knew Wu Suo wouldn't want her to tire herself out.

She didn't even have to mention it; Wu Suo directly told her to rest at the station. Now she just had to wait for them to arrest and bring him in!

When it came to business, Wu Suo was decisive. Before everyone had even arrived, he began planning the arrest. As soon as the team was assembled, he led them out promptly.

He fled. He pursued. He couldn't escape even with wings. The next day. At the police station. Yesterday, after Wu Suo left with the station personnel, they didn't return all afternoon.

Worried, Jiang Xia got up early today and came in. As soon as she entered the station gate, Jiang Xia saw Hu Wei. He had just come out of the interrogation room, holding a record book.

His eyes were red with some bloodshot, but his expression was extremely excited. 'Bro Hu? When did you get back?' Jiang Xia asked, 'How did it go?

Did you catch him?' 'We caught them all!' Hu Wei said excitedly, 'The fence and the three thieves — all caught! We struck while the iron was hot and interrogated them through the night.

They confessed to several cases. You won't believe it — the biggest haul these bastards made was over ten thousand yuan!' 'Sss—' Jiang Xia gasped.

As she expected, these guys had committed more than one crime, but she hadn't expected such a big case among them. Good thing they were caught.

Jiang Xia recalled the criminal law: 'Serial theft with such a large amount — basically a life sentence.' 'Yeah, they'll be eating state meals now.' Hu Wei rubbed his eyes hard. He was dead tired, but his mind was too excited to sleep.

If he didn't rest, he'd be useless tomorrow. So he said, 'I'll go home and sleep a bit, then come back this afternoon. If anything comes up, please cover for me.' With that, Hu Wei handed the record book to Jiang Xia.

'No problem.' Jiang Xia took the notes and entered the office in a great mood. The office was empty except for Hu Wei's master, Shen Huoda, who was lying on a row of chairs, snoring loudly.

Looks like he was also exhausted yesterday. Jiang Xia didn't wake him. She quietly tidied her desk and opened the record book to read the interrogation confessions.

Good. Although He Tuzi had named a few people, he didn't mention her. Now everything was perfect. Jiang Xia's heart completely relaxed.

'You're here so early today?' Wu Suo walked in from the door, holding a paper bag. 'You haven't eaten, have you? I bought some big meat buns from the state-run restaurant.

Here, have one.' With that, Wu Suo took out a steaming hot meat bun from the bag and shoved it into Jiang Xia's hand without waiting for her to refuse. His apprentice was really a lucky star — a theft case involving over ten thousand yuan, even if solved incidentally, was still a merit.

He had to reward the hero. Since he forced it on her, Jiang Xia didn't refuse. She took a bite. Under the thin skin was a generous filling of meat, and the juice rushed in, exploding with savory flavor in her mouth, swirling, so fragrant it made her dizzy.

As expected of the state-run restaurant's skill — these buns were really delicious. But they were a bit too hot. Jiang Xia slowed down her eating.

Looking at the dark circles under Wu Suo's eyes, she asked, 'Master, did you also stay up all night?' 'No, I went to sleep after midnight. Old Shen handled the interrogation.' Wu Suo looked at Jiang Xia, liking her more and more.

'I remember you've only been at the station for a little over a week?' 'Yes, today is exactly the tenth day.' Jiang Xia nodded. 'What's up, Master?' 'A rookie solving two cases in ten days — that's a first for me.' Wu Suo said with a smile, 'One of them is a major case, plus the thank-you letter from Lao Chengan.

With just these, you could get a district commendation this year.' Reality isn't a novel. Even a district-level commendation isn't easy to get — there are only three spots each year, with thousands of competitors.

Wu Suo thought that if she could get it, it meant she was really good. Jiang Xia smiled, then her mind turned and she thought of the System.

'A district commendation isn't enough to make you proud, Master. How about giving me some support so I can solve more cases and aim for a city-level commendation?' 'Oh?' Wu Suo raised an eyebrow.

'What kind of support?' 'Let me do some research!' Jiang Xia said. 'It really helps with solving cases. For this Beifu Factory case, if I hadn't examined the lock marks, I wouldn't have been able to confirm it was a habitual thief.' Wu Suo: ...

Why couldn't this apprentice let go of her research? He strongly suspected whether his apprentice really wanted to do research or just wanted an excuse to practice lock-picking.

'Speaking of which.' He rubbed his chin. 'The other day you used a horseshoe magnifier to look at something — it's called trace examination, right?' 'Yes, the city bureau has specialists for that.' Seeing Wu Suo's attitude soften, Jiang Xia quickly said, 'You can let me look at more things in the future, so I can improve my identification skills, right?' 'Oh—' Wu Suo drew out the sound, then firmly refused: 'No.' This reversal stunned Jiang Xia: 'Why not!' Wu Suo imitated Jiang Xia, spreading his hands: 'Don't think I don't know research costs money.

If you start, who knows how many locks you'll pick? Our station is dirt poor — where would we get the money to buy locks for you to dismantle?' It was because of money?

The reason was too unexpected, yet damn reasonable. Jiang Xia almost spat out blood. 'I can pay for it myself...' 'No, no, you still have a family to support.

How can you throw money into a bottomless pit?' Wu Suo waved his hand. 'You have so many skills, just pick something cheap.

I think portrait drawing is great. That drawing of He Tuzi yesterday was amazing — exactly like the real person. Why don't you practice this more?

Ideally, when someone describes a criminal, you draw exactly what they say, like a photo. Then catching people will be easy!' Isn't that forensic sketching?

Wanted portraits have existed since ancient times. It's not surprising Wu Suo thought of this. This profession wasn't formalized until the late 1980s, mainly because portrait drawing is difficult, few artists can draw accurately, and other industries pay better, so there's no need to be a forensic sketch artist.

Jiang Xia didn't want to make big money, and she could draw accurately — she had the ability to become a top forensic sketch artist. But...

In her previous life, she had drawn for over twenty years, and spent nine years leading school alliance training in a studio, drawing every day from 8 a.m. to 1 or 2 a.m. She was truly burned out.

Drawing a little now is fine, but making it a career again? No way, no way — she'd rather die than do it! 'The difficulty is different, Master!' Jiang Xia tried to use difficulty to dissuade Wu Suo: 'Drawing a face I've seen versus drawing one from someone's description are completely different levels.

The former is like reciting a text I've memorized. The latter is like someone gives me a few sentences, or even just a few words, possibly with typos and in the wrong order, and then I have to guess which text it is and recite it.' 'If I guess right, fine.

If I guess wrong, it won't look anything like the person, and it'll hinder the investigation!' 'It is quite difficult.' Although he didn't understand drawing, Wu Suo grasped the difficulty from Jiang Xia's analogy. But instead of giving up, he pulled out two yuan from his pocket: 'But it's precisely because it's difficult that you need to practice.

Here, I'll cover the cost of paper and pens. From now on, just draw for fun when you have nothing to do — I won't stop you!' F*ck.

Looking at the money Wu Suo handed over, Jiang Xia couldn't help but flip him off in her mind. She just wanted to pick a few locks at the station — why was it so hard!