Closer to Revealing My True Self
Chapter 99 - 91 Freelance_1

Chapter 99: Chapter 91 Freelance_1

Had I not taken the stairs, I wouldn’t have run into all this mess!

Feng Yi thought to himself, today really wasn’t a good day to go out!

What’s with all these incidents!

The person stopping Feng Yi was also a plainclothes police officer, about the same age as Feng Yi, named Liu Dun.

"Don’t be nervous, just a casual chat," said Liu Dun.

Feng Yi glanced at a restaurant not far away and pointed toward it, "Is it going to be a long chat? If it is, let’s go over there. We can talk while eating, I’m starving."

Liu Dun hesitated.

"Liu!"

Another middle-aged plainclothes officer approached.

"What’s going on?"

"Captain Wei, it’s like this..."

Liu Dun relayed Feng Yi’s request.

The middle-aged officer took a look at Feng Yi, "Is he the one from the staircase incident just now?"

Feng Yi was surprised: They checked the surveillance so quickly!

Could they be working on a big case? Like a crime syndicate?

Why the hell did I choose the stairs and stumble upon something like this!

Feng Yi was regretting his choice when the two officers had already made their decision.

"Then let’s go there. We can pick up some meals for the others later," said the middle-aged officer.

The two followed Feng Yi to the restaurant and watched as he ordered a plethora of dishes.

"Order whatever you like, don’t mind us," said the officer with the surname Wei.

Feng Yi: "I’m not."

The two: "..."

Feng Yi booked a private room.

It was past the usual mealtime now, and although it wasn’t at its peak because the restaurant was near a hospital, there was still a decent number of patrons.

Once in the private room, Feng Yi took off his mask.

The two plainclothes police officers studied Feng Yi’s face.

This face, this build, not exactly suited for theft – too conspicuous!

The dishes were served quickly, one plate after another, and the rice came in a large bowl.

"Want some?" Feng Yi asked the two seated across the table.

"No, thanks," Liu Dun replied.

"Juice?"

"We’ve brought water, thanks."

Since that was the case, Feng Yi did not insist. Saying more might make them suspect he was being guilty and trying to bribe them.

Liu Dun wanted to start asking questions, but seeing how quickly Feng Yi was shoveling down his food, he didn’t have the heart to interrupt.

This guy must be really hungry, right?

After quickly finishing half a bowl of rice and feeling less famished, Feng Yi took a drink of water and asked, "What did you want to ask?"

"You can keep eating, we’ll talk after you’re done," replied Liu Dun.

Officer Wei didn’t rush to ask questions either, instead observing Feng Yi’s behavior and expressions, especially his hands.

Feng Yi poured himself another glass of water, "No need. Go ahead and ask."

I’ll switch to another place to eat after this!

It’s hard to eat comfortably with someone watching.

Liu Dun looked at Brother Wei, who nodded, and then he asked, "Did you bump into an old man when you were descending the stairs from the hospital earlier? Do you remember that?"

Feng Yi: "Let me correct that, he bumped into me, not the other way around."

"You knew it was on purpose?"

"Of course I did. He bumped right into me deliberately and even stuffed a bottle of medicine into my pocket. I didn’t know what the medicine was, so I put it back."

Since they had already checked the surveillance, and it meant this was known to them, Feng Yi saw no need to lie.

"What does that man do?" asked Feng Yi.

"He was stealing medication from hospital patients. The medication is quite expensive. We accessed hospital surveillance and found that this old man is a major suspect. He’s very vigilant and tried to switch the medicine bottle when he was going upstairs."

Liu Dun simplified the explanation, but Feng Yi guessed that with so many police officers lying in wait at the hospital, they were probably not just after one person, but staking out a theft ring.

The old man was just one of them.

Feng Yi had long heard of thefts at hospitals. Nowadays, cashless payments are more common, and theft of cash is rare, but thefts of personal items occur often, including expensive medications and certain controlled substances.

The two officers in front of him were dressed inconspicuously, especially the one with the surname Wei. His cheap coat and his overall look made him resemble a construction worker, which was probably his disguise for today’s operation.

In his acting classes, Feng Yi’s instructor had once said that to judge someone, you shouldn’t look at their clothes but at their eyes. However, a good actor could deceive you with their gaze.

This Officer Wei seemed like a seasoned "actor," the type who could seamlessly switch between multiple identities. His penetrating gaze was now fixed on Feng Yi.

No matter what role these "actors" were playing today, Feng Yi knew it had little to do with him, so he felt relieved.

The surveillance in the corridor couldn’t prove much, just that he had nothing to do with the old man.

When that old man bumped into him, he originally thought the old man intended to steal the cash from his pocket.

For convenience, Feng Yi often carried some cash with him. Card payments or electronic payments would leave a trail, but cash could minimize such traces.

"What do you do for work?" Liu Dun asked.

"For now, I’m self-employed," Feng Yi replied.

And isn’t he self-employed!

He could catch rats, authenticate furs, and if necessary, help retrieve lost items, even finding part-time work with archaeological teams. Wherever needed, as long as the price was right, he could do it.

"Is your job not stable?" Liu Dun asked again.

"It’s stable enough."

"What brought you to the hospital?"

"I was bringing a client here."

Feng Yi answered the questions cooperatively.

Thinking that since the officers had got surveillance footage of him, it would only be a matter of time until they found Mr. Zou.

"Your work isn’t easy, eating so late," commented Liu Dun.

"Can’t help it, need to make a living," said Feng Yi.

The ever-silent Officer Wei suddenly spoke up, "You’re quick with your hands. To be able to put the medicine bottle back into a pickpocket’s pocket without him noticing, that’s not something just anyone can do. Could you tell us a bit more about your work?"

"Oh, one of my part-time jobs is helping to catch snakes," Feng Yi replied calmly.

"Catch snakes?" both officers were taken aback. They hadn’t expected the conversation to take this turn.

"You can’t catch snakes if you’re not quick with your hands."

Liu Dun became curious again, "So how much do you charge for catching a snake?"

"Money isn’t important. What I value when I catch snakes is points," Feng Yi said.

When Liu Dun and his colleague heard "money isn’t important," they thought the person opposite was showing off, but they turned serious after hearing the rest of the sentence.

"The points associated with the Sixth Database?"

"Right."

"Can you prove it?"

"Yes."

Feng Yi took out his ID card, "You can search in your system, there should be a record."

Liu Dun noted down Feng Yi’s ID number and sent it to a colleague for a search.

Soon the results came back.

More than 1000 points!

Recently participated in an important scientific expedition!

The information also included Feng Yi’s photo; it clearly couldn’t be faked.

If he truly was a snake-catching expert, then his mental fortitude and reaction capabilities would far exceed that of an ordinary person, which would also explain that segment from the surveillance video in the stairwell.

The guy indeed had that kind of hand speed and ability!

The attitude of the police officer surnamed Wei softened as well, and after asking a few more questions, he got up to leave. They still had tasks to attend to at the hospital and couldn’t linger here too long.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Liu Dun added, thinking of something, "If we find a snake, can we ask for your help to catch it?"

Currently, there weren’t many snakes, and aside from those who had undergone special training, there weren’t many in the police force who could catch snakes.

Feng Yi said, "If the money and the points are right, of course, there’s no problem."

Liu Dun shut his mouth.

Money could be requested, but points were much harder to apply for; they weren’t as generous with points as they were for scientific research.

After the two men left, Feng Yi let out a long sigh of relief and wiped the sweat that had formed on his forehead.

After finishing the meal, he ordered another pot of tea to calm his nerves.

Upon leaving the restaurant, Feng Yi was about to hail a taxi but decided to take the subway instead after some thought.

Given his current weight, getting into a car would cause too much commotion.

...

On the other side, Liu Dun, before going back, packed up several meals from the restaurant to bring to the officers working overtime in the tech department.

"That surveillance footage from the stairwell just now, bring it up for me to see."

Liu Dun had only received a few photos and had been in a hurry to intercept someone at the time, so he hadn’t watched the complete video.

The Captain Wei, who was preparing to leave, also stayed to watch upon hearing this.

A technician pulled up the surveillance footage, "You really need to see this! Take a good look! It’s astonishing!"

In the video, the old man with a bag of apples rushed upstairs, clearly aiming to bump into Feng Yi, and then dramatically fell backward onto the ground.

Liu Dun: "That’s too exaggerated! He flew so far just from a bump."

The tech guy: "That’s not the point. Keep watching what happens next."

A while later.

Liu Dun: "The medicine bottle was put into Feng Yi’s pocket by the old man when he was helped up; I guessed that."

After watching the video all the way through.

Liu Dun looked a little bewildered, "Feng Yi picked up the apples, then passed them over... So, while handing over the apples, Feng Yi noticed the medicine bottle and threw it back into the old man’s pocket? It’s not visible in the surveillance footage!"

Captain Wei shook his head, "Not then. Replay it, slow motion... slower... even slower... Okay, Liu Dun, don’t blink. It’s right here!"

Liu Dun widened his eyes and leaned closer to the screen.

A short while later.

"Damn! That hand speed!!"

It was only through the slow motion that they could clearly see Feng Yi’s actions.

As the old man was being helped up, he slipped the medicine bottle into Feng Yi’s pocket, but he didn’t know that in the very next moment Feng Yi returned it!

"Imagine the old man felt pretty smug about it at the time!"

"With that hand speed in catching snakes, probably even the snakes are baffled when they get caught!" Liu Dun said.

"What snake catching?" the tech guy asked.

"The person in the video, Feng Yi, professionally catches snakes and has followed scientific expeditions."

"Now that you mention it, I’m reminded of someone..."

On the screen, the image froze with Feng Yi wearing a mask, turned to the side.

The tech guy, too engrossed to eat his meal, pulled up another photo to make a comparison.

"Brother Se from Yue Mountain!"

Liu Dun took a deep breath, "What did I miss!"

Captain Wei was equally astonished.

They had a deep impression of Brother Se from Yue Mountain. Although the Qing Serpent incident took place quite a distance from them, the impact of the event was significant.

After the Qing Serpent appeared on Yue Mountain, the number of people coming to Rong City from elsewhere surged, considerably increasing their workload; during the busiest times, they had to work extra days in a row.

Of course, there were also benefits from the Qing Serpent incident, such as additional funds allocated from above, and upgrades to some of their equipment.

Liu Dun: "This is the guy who alone drove up the housing prices in Rong City!"

Captain Wei: "The housing prices spiked only near Yue Mountain, other areas in Rong City didn’t see significant fluctuations."

Liu Dun: "And we just had a meal together with him!"

Captain Wei: "He ate while we watched."

Liu Dun: "Can I go back now and ask him a few more questions? Just to confirm."

Captain Wei: "That’s irrelevant to this case! Don’t chase celebrities on work time!"

Captain Wei didn’t have much of an admiration for Brother Se from Yue Mountain, but by now, his suspicions about Feng Yi had largely been dispelled.

The likelihood that Feng Yi was Brother Se from Yue Mountain was extremely high.

If he really wanted to make money, there were plenty of ways he could do so; he wouldn’t need to resort to stealing things at a hospital.

...

Unaware, Feng Yi didn’t know his alias of "Brother Se from Yue Mountain" had been almost completely exposed.

He took the subway to the parking lot and then drove straight home. The driver’s seat had been squashed flat over time.

He had just received a text notification that the commercial electronic scale he ordered had arrived.

The bathroom scale at home was no longer able to measure his current weight, but looking at the trend over the past days, his weight was still increasing.

Feng Yi had to order a scale with a greater measuring range.

A larger platform scale, capable of withstanding 300 kg.

"That should be enough."