Chapter 969: Peng Sijue’s Discovery

“Good morning, Old…” Chen Shi opened his eyes and found that Lin Dongxue wasn’t beside him. He got out of bed to look for her and found her sleeping with Tao Yueyue. They were wearing matching pajamas, lying face to face like best friends.

Leaning against the door, he watched this beautiful scene for a while before heading to the kitchen to make breakfast.

“Morning, Dad,” Tao Yueyue greeted him as she sat down at the table. “It feels so good to spend the night at home. I wish I could do this every day.”

“Once we solve this case, you’ll head back to school and stop interfering with our two-person world,” Chen Shi said, placing a bowl of beef noodles in front of her.

Tao Yueyue pouted and twirled the noodles with her chopsticks.

Lin Dongxue, tying her hair, said, “Our whole family is in law enforcement. We’ve built a little police dynasty from scratch. When Yueyue gets assigned to the city bureau, we can work on cases together.”

“So, how should we approach Hai Guoyang today? Do we go straight to his company and question him?” Tao Yueyue asked.

“Let’s investigate first. See who he meets privately, check his bank accounts for suspicious activity… Oh, crap! I just realized something. The task force likes to chat in the group, but we’re using Hai Guoyang’s company’s messaging app. Close the group today. Don’t discuss any leads there,” Chen Shi instructed.

Lin Dongxue said, “If Hai Guoyang’s company’s app is secretly collecting users’ private data, we can use that as leverage to investigate him.”

“Good idea… Why does it feel like we’re having a task force meeting at breakfast? Let’s eat first, talk later.”

In the morning, the three arrived at the bureau. Peng Sijue hadn’t shown up yet. Chen Shi had meant to check on him yesterday, but the day’s events had piled up, and he forgot. He resolved to find him today; Peng Sijue couldn’t be absent at such a critical moment.

After the task force meeting, everyone dispersed to their duties. Tao Yueyue kicked open Chen Shi’s office door, carrying a stack of documents. “I need a place to go through these files. Mind if I use your office?”

“Go ahead. I’m heading out for a bit.”

“Where to?”

“To find Old Peng.”

“Skipping work, huh?”

“Perks of being the captain… What files are you looking at?”

“Traffic accident cases, matching them with yesterday’s photos to see which ones were taken out by the executors. Can I call the survivors and warn them?”

“Not yet. If word gets out, it could cause a public panic, and the media would swarm us, making things difficult.”

Chen Shi drove to Peng Sijue’s house and knocked on the door. When no one answered, he refrained from using his lock-picking tools out of respect and called Peng Sijue instead. The phone rang a few times before Peng Sijue picked up. “Old Peng, a lot has happened at the bureau these past few days. Can you stop skipping work?”

“…”

“Where are you?” Chen Shi heard noises through the door, indicating Peng Sijue wasn’t home.

“I have my own matters!” Peng Sijue said and hung up.

Where could Peng Sijue go? He had no friends in the city and wouldn’t stay in even the cleanest hotel because of his hygiene obsession.

Chen Shi suddenly thought of a place and decided to try his luck.

Half an hour later, he arrived at Gu You’s old psychological counseling office, which had been closed since her death.

Entering the dim hallway, Chen Shi heard sounds upstairs. He approached the door labeled “Tianchuan Psychological Counseling” and saw that the light was on inside, with files spread on the table and the floor freshly cleaned. Someone had been tidying up.

He was here! Peng Sijue must be sorting through Gu You’s belongings.

Chen Shi entered and approached the table. He froze upon seeing the documents—pages of life functions.

At that moment, someone charged out of a consultation room wielding a mop. Chen Shi instinctively drew his gun. They stood still, staring at each other. The person holding the mop was Peng Sijue.

Peng Sijue slowly lowered his “weapon.” “I thought someone broke in! What are you doing here?”

“Old Peng, what are these? Where did you find them?” Chen Shi asked.

“Do I need to explain to you?” Peng Sijue turned and walked away.

Chen Shi grabbed his shoulder. “There’s a huge case in the city. Someone calling themselves the Human Observer uses this to predict potential criminals and kills them. Many have already died! Why are these here in Gu You’s office? Could there be an accomplice among the employees?”

Peng Sijue was silent, but Chen Shi knew he was listening. “Want some coffee?”

Chen Shi followed him into Gu You’s old office. On the desk was a photo of the two of them, Gu You with her arm around Peng Sijue’s shoulder, smiling sweetly, while Peng Sijue looked reluctant. Chen Shi thought, these two always denied being together, but it was clear their relationship had deepened into love.

Peng Sijue poured two cups of coffee from the machine. Despite his “disappearance” for a few days, he looked well-rested and even better than before. Chen Shi curiously touched his face. “Are you a eunuch? No beard?”

“Want me to throw this coffee in your face?”

“Please don’t. It’s hard to wash out.”

Peng Sijue sat down, looking out the window. “I overreacted that day. I know you were looking out for me. I’m not sulking; I was just exhausted and needed a break.”

“As long as you don’t hate me.”

“I missed her a lot these past days, so I came here to sort through her things. I found her old case notes, listened to her recordings, and stumbled upon these.”

“Life functions? So, a patient left them?”

Peng Sijue played a recording on his laptop. Hearing Gu You’s calm, pleasant voice made Chen Shi’s heart twinge. If even a friend felt this way, how deeply must Peng Sijue miss her?

Gu You: Ms. Chen, you mean you can predict anyone’s actions with this set of equations?

Patient: You understand correctly. It sounds arrogant, doesn’t it?

Gu You: Not at all. I also believe human behavior can be quantified and predicted. Early 20th-century psychologists proposed a formula: personality traits + specific situations = behavior.

Patient: I’m slow in other areas, but I’m particularly sensitive to numbers. At thirteen, I won the national math Olympiad. Math is everything to me. In college, I dated a boy who was my first love. I gave him my heart, but he had too many female friends. It was a painful relationship that ended badly. I was obsessed with math but also wanted a sweet, fulfilling love like others. That failed relationship tormented me, making me distrust men, especially those who pursued me. I feared starting a new relationship, fearing another failure. Meaningless love seemed pointless. So, I turned to the god of math for help. Could I build a model to predict if they were trustworthy? I began experimenting, using friends as samples, perfecting a function to predict their actions.