Where'd you learn to pick locks?

☆ Where did you learn lockpicking? This time Wu Suo really felt something was off. He saw clearly that the wire in Jiang Xia's hand was about two millimeters thick — the supply cooperative didn't sell that kind of wire; you'd have to go to a factory or some specific store to get it.

Who would go through the trouble of finding that and carry it around every day? Not normal. Wu Suo felt he needed to ask.

Blame the System! Under Wu Suo's gaze, Jiang Xia cursed the System in her mind. That wire — before, she wouldn't even think to carry it, let alone actually have it.

Who thinks about things they don't use? But after the System forcibly granted her the master-level Theft Art, she always felt something was missing in her hands.

That made sense — to reach master-level Theft Art, you'd have to practice for decades, and the muscle memory in your hands would be so deep that not having your tool on you would feel weird. So Jiang Xia couldn't resist; she specially got a piece of wire, wrapped it around her bracelet, and occasionally fiddled with it to satisfy the urge.

But after carrying the wire for a while, her brain gradually defaulted to thinking it was fine, and the result was that just now she only thought about opening the lock slowly and completely forgot — normal people don't carry wire around for no reason! Wu Suo was still waiting for an answer.

Jiang Xia's back grew colder. Her mind raced. She glanced at Wu Suo, then at the wire, and then said as if suddenly realizing: 'Ah, when I was in school, I accidentally lost my locker key and didn't want to spend money to buy a new one.

I happened to be studying lockpicking at the time, so I got a piece of wire and carried it around. When I needed to open the locker, I used it.' 'I see.' Wu Suo savored Jiang Xia's answer, nodded, withdrew his gaze, reached out, pushed the door open, and walked in.

Jiang Xia breathed a sigh of relief. Good, good, she'd fooled him. She followed him in. The warehouse was filled with wooden shelves stacked with household registration files from the district.

A faint scent of paper filled the room. 'In school, you have to save money. Locks aren't cheap either. If you know how to open them, you make do.

Adults work hard to earn money; you save what you can for the family.' Wu Suo walked toward the last row of shelves, chatting casually: 'But speaking of which, where did you learn lockpicking? Didn't your roommate gossip about you behind your back?' Jiang Xia's relaxed heart instantly tightened.

Crap, she hadn't fooled him. Wu Suo was still interrogating her! The question sounded easy, but there was a big trap. In this day and age, without the internet, you couldn't just search on your phone to learn something.

To know how to pick locks, you had to find someone to teach you. So who taught her? 'I learned from various people and figured it out myself.

It's pretty simple — just need to understand some mechanical principles.' Wu Suo was an old police officer; his generation might not be good at other things, but they were experts at interrogation. Jiang Xia didn't dare make up a story.

After giving a vague answer, she immediately changed the subject: 'When I was in school, I often read in the school library. There's a subfield of criminal investigation called Crime Behavior Research — it's about studying the different behaviors of similar criminals, so when a case comes up, you can use the traces left behind to identify the suspect.' As she spoke, the System's reward from earlier came to mind, and a flash of inspiration struck Jiang Xia.

This was the best way to exploit the bug! As long as she established the persona of a researcher of criminal behavior, she could explain why she had these criminal skills.

Later, under the noses of her colleagues and superiors, she could 'commit crimes' to farm System experience points and improve her case-solving ability. This was like the First Emperor of Qin touching an electric wire — totally winning!

The more Jiang Xia thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. She suppressed her excitement and said in a natural tone: 'I'm really interested in this, so I study it whenever I have time.' 'Crime Behavior Research?' Wu Suo repeated.

He was half convinced. Studying criminal behavior to solve cases sounded reasonable. But knowing the differences should be enough — why practice it and carry tools every day?

Even if it was really about opening a dorm locker, that was a bit much. Standing in front of the last row of shelves, Wu Suo picked up three neatly folded police uniforms along with the peaked cap, turned, and handed them to Jiang Xia.

He said earnestly: 'We're neighborhood cops. We deal with trivial matters and don't encounter many cases. You should stop studying that so-called criminal behavior.' Jiang Xia: 'Huh?' She had just found a way to farm System experience!

How could it be stillborn before she even tried?! 'What "huh"?' Wu Suo added: 'And remember to throw away that crappy wire.

A neighborhood cop who can pick locks — that doesn't sound good if it gets out.' Jiang Xia understood Wu Suo's meaning. The skill was too suspicious.

Not just the public — even if only colleagues knew, if something went missing at the station, they might suspect her. That's human nature, and Jiang Xia understood.

But this perception could be changed — like how locksmiths pick locks every day and no one suspects them. If she had support from her superiors and made some achievements to gain recognition in the field, it would probably become legitimate.

Jiang Xia had finally found a way to reasonably exploit the System bug, and she really didn't want it to die at the first step. So she tried again: 'Wu Suo, I know this kind of research sounds dangerous, but it's really legitimate.

I heard there's a special team in the capital studying it, and it's even written in books. It's definitely fine. Please let me continue.' Was that about being legitimate or not?

Obviously, other people's research wasn't dangerous, but you went straight from research to practice — who knows when you'd actually do it! A promising crime-solving talent, why was she so troublesome?

'That's perfect — since someone is already studying it, you don't need to mess around with it.' Wu Suo was a bit tired. Seeing that Jiang Xia wasn't giving up, he became more resolute.

'That's settled. Don't bring it up again! Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone.' He decided to personally mentor Jiang Xia.

He had to straighten her out! Well, she couldn't convince Wu Suo. Jiang Xia wasn't angry. Gaining ten experience points out of nowhere today was already a pleasant surprise.

She wasn't in a hurry to exploit the System bug to level up, so she could take it slow. Give her some time, and she'd eventually get Wu Suo to accept it!

Holding the police uniform, Jiang Xia followed confidently. Inside the office. All the officers of Zhouying Police Station worked in one office.

Today, except for Chen Jie and Xiao Liu, who were out verifying household registrations, the other neighborhood cops had already arrived. Wu Suo pointed at each person and said one by one: 'Hu Wei and Lü Fusheng — you met them yesterday, no need to say more.

This is Xu Deputy Chief. When I'm not at the station, if you can't handle something, go to him. This is Old Wang, Wang Xuguang.

This is Shen Huoda...' 'Hello, Xu Deputy Chief~' 'Hello, Brother Wang~' 'Hello, Brother Shen~' ... Jiang Xia greeted each one.

'Our station has gained an excellent talent!' After Wu Suo finished the introductions, Xu Deputy Chief asked with a smile: 'Xiao Jiang, do you have a boyfriend?' 'My sister doesn't have a boyfriend yet.' Jiang Xia said frankly: 'I'm still young. I'll work for a few years first, get stable, and then consider it.' Xu Deputy Chief shook his head: 'Well, I was going to introduce you to my nephew, but it seems it's not meant to be.' 'Alright, stop talking about your nephew.' Wu Suo pointed to a desk piled with files.

'Come on, Xiao Jiang, sit here.' Jiang Xia turned to look. The desk Wu Suo pointed to was in an excellent position — right to the right of his own desk, and across from Xu Deputy Chief.

This made Jiang Xia feel a bit dead inside. Two bosses beside her — how could she slack off in the future? 'Wu Suo, isn't this seat inappropriate?' Jiang Xia tried to refuse: 'I see there's an empty seat across from Brother Hu...' 'No, you sit next to me.' Wu Suo said: 'I'll mentor you from now on.

It's more convenient this way.' 'Xiao Jiang, Wu Suo really values you — he's taking you on as an apprentice directly!' Xu Deputy Chief encouraged: 'You must work hard!' Jiang Xia smiled. She looked at the envy on Hu Wei's face, then at Wu Suo's determined gaze.

Instead of feeling honored by the boss's favor, her mind was full of pressure. Crap, Wu Suo was determined not to let her do 'research'!