The first thing upon returning home was to give Wu Yan the three thousand yuan issued by the station at noon. Wu Yan was all smiles as she received the money, hearing from Luo Fei that it was a reward from the station.
As it was almost time to view the apartment, Luo Fei and Wu Yan headed to Red Field Dam and met Zhang Haiyang's wife's classmate, Zhang Qian, who was already waiting there, a woman in her forties with a touch of charm.
After a brief introduction, Zhang Qian took Luo Fei and Wu Yan to see the house.
The house was located in Red Field Dam, not in the county town. According to Zhang Qian, the owners were an elderly couple who initially bought the house for their son to live in after he graduated. However, their son found work and got married elsewhere after graduation, so the couple decided to rent out the house.
The house was a four-bedroom, one-living room, one-kitchen, and one-bathroom, quite spacious, with exquisite interior decoration, and fully equipped with appliances, eliminating the need to purchase anything. Wu Yan was quite satisfied, finding the house excellent in every respect, except for the slightly high price.
Luo Fei also found the house impressive, considering it not easy to find another place so suitable with such a fair price, and planned to rent it.
After discussing with Wu Yan and persuading her, Luo Fei bargained with Zhang Qian and finally rented the house at 1150 yuan per month, provided that they needed to pay half a year's rent upfront. This was not a problem for Luo Fei and Wu Yan, who wished for a long-term lease to avoid the hassle of finding and moving houses again.
A contract was signed on the spot, and half a year's rent was paid, after which Zhang Qian handed the keys to Luo Fei, marking the completion of the rental process, leaving them with just moving in.
Thankfully, the next day was Saturday, so Luo Fei, not having to work, discussed with Wu Yan and decided to move that Saturday.
They initially planned to hire a moving company, but after finding a few with exorbitant prices, Luo Fei and Wu Yan decided against it to save money. Instead, Luo Fei borrowed Wu Wei's pickup truck. Upon learning about the move, Wu Wei volunteered to help, and their second aunt also took the initiative to take leave to assist.
So, on Saturday, Luo Fei, Luo Hao, and Luo Xiaoxiao handled the moving, while Wu Yan and the second aunt took care of organizing. Wu Wei drove the pickup truck, and the grand moving operation commenced.
By the time they had moved everything from the cement plant and tidied up the new house, it was already 4 PM.
To celebrate the new home, they had hot pot for dinner, costing over eighty yuan per person, totaling over six hundred yuan. Wu Yan didn't say much at the hot pot restaurant, but once home, she complained about the high prices and vowed never to go there again.
In the new house, Luo Hao and Luo Xiaoxiao were thrilled to have a room each, displaying great enthusiasm and energy during the move.
At 9 PM, Luo Fei was lying in bed with a book titled "Psychological Criminal Studies" in hand.
Suddenly, his phone rang; it was his mentor Zhang Haiyang calling.
Luo Fei felt a bit puzzled, wondering if something had happened for his mentor to call at this time.
As expected, Zhang Haiyang called Luo Fei to immediately head to a place near Dragon Beard Creek at the First Middle School, saying a robbery had occurred there.
Upon hearing this, Luo Fei swiftly put down his book, put on his shoes, and told Wu Yan, who was still tidying up in the living room, before taking a cab to Dragon Beard Creek.
When Luo Fei arrived, Zhang Haiyang, Officer Zhou, and Wu Wei were already there, along with several onlooking bystanders.
Zhang Haiyang was questioning a stylishly dressed woman in her twenties with disheveled hair, who was most likely the victim of the robbery.
"Ms. Zhou, what was in the bag that was snatched from you? Were there any valuables?" Zhou Weimin asked while jotting down notes.
"One thousand yuan in cash, an Apple phone, a lipstick, and a bottle of sunscreen spray." The woman replied, appearing relatively calm.
"Ms. Zhou, if you were to see the two guys who snatched your bag again, could you recognize them?" Zhou Weimin asked.
"They grabbed my bag and ran off immediately, plus it was quite dimly lit here, so I didn't really get to see what they looked like," she responded.
Hearing this, Zhou Weimin frowned.
Luo Fei, by this time, had gotten an idea of the situation from Wu Wei; the woman was a teacher at the middle school, and around 8:40 PM, after playing mahjong, she was riding her e-bike back to the school when a guy suddenly jumped out from a corner, startling her. She braked immediately and was about to scold him when another guy jumped out from behind and snatched her bag, running off through a small crossing path.
She wanted to give chase but hesitated upon seeing there were two of them, and soon the guys were out of sight, prompting her to call the police.
By the time Officer Zhou and his team arrived, Liu Haiquan and Zhang Da had already set off in the direction where the two guys fled.
Luo Fei observed that the robbery happened at a corner, a visual blind spot; though there were streetlights, they were dim and barely lit the path, making it difficult to see faces unless up close.
"What were they wearing, and approximately how tall were they? Can you describe in more detail?" Zhou Weimin continued to ask, frowning.
The female teacher pondered for a moment before responding: "The guy who jumped out was wearing a white T-shirt, approximately 1.72 meters tall, similar in height to that policeman beside you." She pointed to Wu Wei.
"The other guy wore a yellow T-shirt, shorter than the guy in white, but more robust. It happened so fast; that's all I can remember."
After gathering most of the necessary details, Zhou Weimin asked Wu Wei to escort the victim home.
"Haiyang, Luo Fei, let's carefully inspect the crime scene to see if there are any useful clues," said Zhou Weimin before seriously examining the scene with a flashlight.
Luo Fei, not having his flashlight, shared one with Zhang Haiyang.
"This is where the guy in the white T-shirt jumped out," Zhang Haiyang said, illuminating a poplar tree by the roadside while explaining to Luo Fei.
After looking around and finding nothing, they moved to the spot where the guy in the yellow T-shirt had hidden, yet found nothing again.
"Oh," just as Luo Fei was beginning to think there wouldn't be any discoveries, he noticed a small bunch of crumpled tissue paper nearby the yellow T-shirt guy's hiding spot.
Approaching it, Luo Fei put on gloves and picked up the tissue, noticing fresh nasal discharge on it. Looking once again at the hiding spot of the guy in the yellow T-shirt, Luo Fei speculated the tissue likely belonged to him, left behind while tending to his nose.