Chapter 6: Investigative Evidence Collection, Zhang Wei's Objective

The pre-trial hearing had ended, and the weekend was next.

In Zhang Wei's plan, the weekend was also an important part, as these two days allowed for unfolding investigations.

However, he was currently just a law student and didn't have any investigators at his disposal.

This made him somewhat nostalgic for his past life, where he was not only a fearsome attorney but also had a whole team of investigators at hand.

Among them were some retired special forces soldiers, professional investigators who had switched from the investigative science field, and even employees with Special Agent status.

Their investigative techniques and methods, if used against Jia Meili and her two companions, could unearth their ancestors going back eighteen generations in a matter of minutes.

But now, the only person he could rely on was one intern investigator.

Xia Qianyue!

She was studying criminal investigation and, after passing the assessment upon graduation, could join the Martial Association's investigative department to become an intern investigator.

The Martial Association was in fact an official organization of Dragon Country, officially known as the "Dragon Country United Martial Security Management Association," commonly referred to as the Martial Association. It was in charge of criminal cases, crime prevention, suppression, and investigation of illegal and criminal activities; it also dealt with the prevention and combat of terrorist activities and the maintenance of social order, essentially equivalent to the GA Agency or JC Headquarters of his previous life.

Heaven knows why a girl would want to join the investigative department.

One could easily live off their looks, yet some people insist on relying on their talents... no, their fists!

Zhang Wei remembered that Xia Qianyue's career goal seemed to be to join the Martial Association's major case squad.

Every time he thought about this, he couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth.

The major case squad wasn't a place just anyone could stay, especially for women—it was tougher since they had to deal with criminals daily, a job not everyone can handle.

Luckily, Xia Qianyue was a simple-minded person and wouldn't retort to Zhang Wei,

Why can't women be investigators or join the major case squad? Trembling with anger, when will we women be able to stand up!

Zhang Wei shook his head, dispelling these peculiar thoughts,

As soon as he got up in the morning, he picked up the scribbled notes on his desk, had breakfast, and headed straight for the school's main gate.

Although the agreed time was eight o'clock in the morning, Zhang Wei didn't like making others wait and arrived half an hour early.

Soon, 30 minutes passed.

Unfortunately, Xia Qianyue did not appear, which surprised Zhang Wei.

Because in his memory, she was also not the kind of girl who liked to make others wait, and punctuality had always been her pursuit, especially with her goal of joining the Martial Association.

"Strange, would Simple-minded person really stand me up?"

Zhang Wei scratched his head, somewhat puzzled.

He felt that something might be wrong with his plan.

He did not like this feeling!

"Hey, Zhang Wei, are you wearing a suit today? So formal!"

But just as Zhang Wei was reflecting, a clear voice interrupted his thoughts.

He turned around and saw Xia Qianyue waving at him.

Zhang Wei was dressed in the law school's work attire, but that was beside the point.

Rather, it was Xia Qianyue who looked somewhat different than usual.

She wore a gray form-fitting T-shirt and skinny jeans, her slender waist twisting as she moved, her black hair soaring, exuding youthful vibrancy. Thanks to training in martial arts year-round, Xia Qianyue's skin was tight and her legs were supple, which even caught Zhang Wei off-guard.

Her attire, though not from luxury brands, looked like something a supermodel would wear, given her tall and slender figure.

This girl, in terms of looks, scored a solid 95, completely overshadowing Jia Meili.

Zhang Wei asked himself, how could the original host be so blind as to miss such a great girl and instead go after some dregs? Wasn't that just asking for trouble?

"Hey, Zhang Wei, I got held up by some stuff today, sorry about that!"

As soon as she arrived, Xia Qianyue couldn't help apologizing.

Zhang Wei sniffed, detecting a faint fragrance that was refreshing to the senses.

He knew that Xia Qianyue must have put on light makeup and sprayed a bit of perfume.

But he also knew that in all the years he had known her, she had never worn makeup or sprayed perfume before going out!

Clearly, she had dressed up especially for today.

"You look really beautiful today!" Zhang Wei had a hunch and quickly lavished a compliment.

As a veteran, he naturally knew when it was the right time to praise a woman, especially one who had dressed up for you.

Upon hearing his words, a blush swept across Xia Qianyue's cheeks, and she said in an embarrassed tone, "Really, do you think so?"

"Of course, in your presence, even the gods would be smitten!"

After finishing his sentence, Zhang Wei's gaze fleetingly swept over Xia Qianyue's somewhat modest chest, thinking it was a pity, no one's perfect...

Xia Qianyue, having not expected Zhang Wei to say something like that, felt the flush on her face deepen.

Then, the two of them sauntered out of the school gates, heading straight for the nearby commercial street.

East University was located in the Dongfang Capital Central City District Zone, and Dongfang Capital itself is an internationally renowned metropolis on Blue Star, with many famous attractions and commercial streets.

Today, Zhang Wei was taking Xia Qianyue to the most famous commercial street near East University.

Xiuyelou Commercial Street.

This place was only a 5-minute drive from East University, or a 15-minute walk. During peak hours, many students wouldn't even take the car but would choose to walk to Xiuyelou instead.

Near Xiuyelou there were many famous universities of Dongfang Capital, including, apart from East University, schools of finance, medical science, forestry, software engineering, and even universities for aeronautics and astronautics undergraduates. This area was also known as Xiuyelou University Town.

Therefore, at Xiuyelou, you could see a lot of young students, especially on weekends when the place was almost overcrowded.

"Speaking of which, it's my first time going to Xiuyelou!"

Zhang Wei joked, which made Xia Qianyue, who was walking beside him, roll her eyes involuntarily.

Because Zhang Wei had been a bookworm before, spending his days in the school moving between the classroom, the cafeteria, and the library, almost in a straight line.

If it hadn't been for failing a subject and needing to go to the library for extra studying, where she coincidentally met Zhang Wei, they probably would never have crossed paths.

However, Xia Qianyue also felt fortunate that she had gotten to know Zhang Wei and had seen his earnest and kind-hearted side.

"By the way, Zhang Wei, why are we here at Xiuyelou today? Where are we going?"

Xia Qianyue, seeing the two walking aimlessly, quickly asked.

Zhang Wei unhelpfully brought up a touchy subject, "Silly, I remember you saying that your goal is to be part of the elite case squad in the Martial Association?"

"Um, yes, I did say that. What does that have to do with our shopping trip?"

"That's very related!"

Zhang Wei smiled slightly, his face serious, "What we're going to do today is investigation and evidence collection, so let's consider it a head start on gaining experience."

Upon hearing the purpose, Xia Qianyue became unsettled.

Investigation and evidence collection, she was familiar with.

But thinking about how she finally had the chance to go out and that Zhang Wei intended to investigate, she felt somewhat disappointed inside.

Zhang Wei seemed not to notice Xia Qianyue's disappointment and took out a notebook, flipping through the pages.

"Hmm, let's start with this place!"

Saying this, he led the way down a narrow path inside the commercial street.

This area of the commercial street had fewer people, with small shops of a few dozen square meters selling mostly cheap handicrafts.

Seeing these crafts, Zhang Wei was reminded of his past life. He glanced at the palm of his hand and quickly moved on.

His destination was not these small shops but a pharmacy located at the very end.

Here the customer flow was somewhat less, so many students who were embarrassed would come here to buy certain light-sensitive products, such as a type of contraceptive barrier device.

The business in the pharmacy wasn't busy, and there was only a young female doctor watching a show while seated.

"Hello, we are from the investigations department, this is our ID!"

Zhang Wei approached the female doctor, took out his ID from beneath his clothes, showed it to her before she could react, and then quickly tucked it back into his collar.

The female doctor looked at Zhang Wei and Xia Qianyue with some surprise, wondering why someone from the investigations department would appear here.

But she put away her tablet and quickly stood up: "What brings the investigations department to our store?"

"We're here for a court case that's happening next Monday. We need to collect some evidence beforehand. Do you have a backup of the surveillance footage from the cameras outside your store?"

"We do, please follow me!"

The female doctor hurried to a nearby computer, while Zhang Wei gave Xia Qianyue a signal with his eyes, telling her to go outside first.

Although Xia Qianyue had many questions in mind, she still complied.

Soon enough, Zhang Wei, posing as someone from the investigations department, had accessed some of the surveillance footage.

"Do you have the footage from this time point?"

"This time point dates back a year. Our system backend should be able to retrieve it, but I'm not very familiar with the operation."

"Oh, no problem, I'll do it. By the way, for the integrity of the investigation, I hope you can provide a statement for us. Would that be possible?"

"This... if it doesn't take too much time, I'll cooperate with the investigations department..."

"Please rest assured, this won't take up much of your time, I have already prepared the documents, you just need to tell everything you saw at that time, and I am responsible for recording and writing, if fast, it can be done in a few minutes."

About 10 minutes later, Zhang Wei got the surveillance footage and the physician's testimony he wanted.

A hint of a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The first step was done.

Zhang Wei walked out of the pharmacy, only to find that Xia Qianyue had disappeared.

"Huh, where did Silly go?"

He looked left and right and finally fixed his gaze on the corner of an alley where there seemed to be some noise.

As Zhang Wei approached, he heard a burst of screams.

"Heroine, stop beating me, spare my life, please!"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, heroine, let go!"

"Big sister, we just wanted to be friends with you, that's all!"

"Who are you calling big sister, looking for a beating!"

Among the screams, there was a high-pitched shout, undoubtedly Xia Qianyue.

Zhang Wei quickly rushed to the back alley and saw Xia Qianyue single-handedly taking down three dyed-hair youths, knocking them effortlessly to the ground.

It had to be said, Xia Qianyue's fighting ability was astonishing, not to mention three or five hoodlums, even if there were a dozen, she wouldn't flinch at all.

"Silly, don't cause any fatalities!" Zhang Wei quickly warned her to watch her strength.

Seeing Zhang Wei show up, Xia Qianyue looked startled, quickly stopped her fists, and instinctively stepped aside.

Useless, I saw everything!

Zhang Wei was amused internally, but he managed to suppress his laughter.

The three youths quickly helped each other up, cast a fierce glance at Xia Qianyue, and limped away.

Zhang Wei noticed the look in the youths' eyes, glanced over the three of them, and when his eyes fell on one youth's waist, he understood.

"Those three jerks just now, they wanted to take advantage of me!" Xia Qianyue clenched her fists, showing her tiger teeth, her eyes filled with murderous intent.

"That's outrageous, they even went after a 'disabled person!'" As a companion, Zhang Wei naturally spoke up for Xia Qianyue, "Should I go back and review the surveillance to record all of this as evidence?"

"No need for that trouble, I had already taken initiative and given them a good thrashing when I realized they had such intentions!"

Xia Qianyue responded instinctively, but then it dawned on her, "Wait, who are you calling a disabled person?"

Then, she saw Zhang Wei unintentionally glance at her chest.

"Good for you, Zhang Wei, are you courting death? Daring to expose my shortcomings, looking for trouble!"

"My lady, spare my life, your humble servant knows his mistake!"

Zhang Wei quickly begged for mercy, and that's how he avoided a ruthless beating.

However, right after that, Xia Qianyue exploded again, "Good for you, Zhang Wei, I didn't expect you to become so dishonest now, even lying in public, claiming you were an investigator from the Martial Association! Do you know that such behavior, behavior is... what was it again..."

Zhang Wei rolled his eyes at her and enlightened her with one sentence, "Impersonating a Martial Association investigator, if the circumstances are minor, it's detention punishment; if serious, it's suspected of fraud, and criminal responsibility may be pursued!"

"You know the risk and still dare to?" Xia Qianyue knocked Zhang Wei on the head, looking very annoyed.

"Silly, you're wrong, I never said I was an investigator from the Martial Association, it was the physician who thought so. And I said that I was gathering evidence for Monday's trial, wasn't I right?"

Zhang Wei chuckled and brought out his prepared defense.

"Then where did you get your ID from, don't tell me you really got into the Martial Association..."

"Look, this is my ID!"

Zhang Wei took out his "ID" from his pocket.

"This is, a student ID!"

Seeing the true form of the ID, Xia Qianyue's eyes widened in surprise, her mouth slightly open into a cute O-shape.

Zhang Wei smiled amiably, "Strictly speaking, everything I said in the pharmacy was true, and all of my actions were reasonable and within the law, the surveillance footage was given to me proactively by the physician, no problem there, right?"

Xia Qianyue had no response.

Zhang Wei didn't bother with these details, after clearing Silly's doubts, he took her straight to their second destination of the day.

A famous coffee shop on Xiuyelou Road.

And this coffee shop was especially famous among the nearby colleges, because it was a couples' coffee shop.

Sitting at the cafe's street-side window and looking at the scenery outside, Zhang Wei felt contemplative.

He could no longer remember when was the last time he sat down and had coffee with someone.

Sitting across from him, Xia Qianyue's face was so red, she almost looked like a ripe apple.

"Zhang... Zhang Wei, are you sure we're here to investigate today?"

Xia Qianyue sounded coy and seemed very uncomfortable just sitting there.

"Of course, what else would you think?" Zhang Wei didn't care at all, his demeanor relaxed, "Or do you think we're here on a date?"

Xia Qianyue's hand stiffened slightly.

"Actually, going on a date with you is not entirely out of the question, how about we..."

As Zhang Wei was speaking, he suddenly furrowed his eyebrows, his gaze locking onto the entrance of the coffee shop.

Xia Qianyue also involuntarily turned to look back, and saw two couples entering through the door.

The two couples were really attractive, the men were well-built and sunny handsome, the women had ruby lips, powdered faces, and were softly delicate like flowers.

Xia Qianyue thought that Zhang Wei's attention was on those two girls and said angrily, "What are you looking at, can't you see they're already taken?"

But Zhang Wei waved his hand to cut her off, "Don't rush, they're my targets!"

"Targets? Are you asking for a beating again?"

Xia Qianyue's eyebrows twitched slightly with a trace of a vein showing, but Zhang Wei didn't care, still focusing intently on the two couples.

"What's there to look at, isn't seeing me enough that you have to look at other women?"

Xia Qianyue became even more annoyed, barely restraining herself from throwing the coffee in front of her in Zhang Wei's face.

On the other side, Zhang Wei was still staring at the girls without blinking.

Or rather, he was analyzing...

"Hmm, these two girls have the standard 'T-step' stance, and their hands subconsciously come together when queuing, with thumbs crossed, right over left hand, clearly from the Aeronautics and Astronautics Academy, specializing in cabin crew training..."

Soon, the two couples got their drinks and sat down in two adjacent spots.

Zhang Wei knew his opportunity had come.

He completely ignored Xia Qianyue's "murderous" stare and approached the two girls.

"Excuse me, are you from the Aeronautics and Astronautics Academy?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm from East University Law School, I have a friend's friend who is from your academy..."

"Oh, you're talking about him, I remember he has a girlfriend from your Law School, seems to be called Feng Li, right?"

"Yes, Feng Li, we're classmates from the same year. Oh, could I ask you ladies for a favor? Feng Li is supposed to..."

Before long, Zhang Wei achieved his goal and came back satisfied.

"Zhang Wei, you... you didn't think of flirting..."

"Flirting, how could that be?" Zhang Wei felt innocent in response to the accusation.

"I've already accomplished what I came here for, let's enjoy our coffee now!"

Xia Qianyue was a bit puzzled, "But you mentioned Feng Li?"

"Of course, Feng Li and her boyfriend often come to this store for coffee, there's a much bigger chance of running into their acquaintances here, that's why I chose this place."

Zhang Wei didn't bother to hide the reason he came here, and as he spoke, he picked up the coffee and took a light sip.

The taste was a bit bitter.

The coffee was quickly finished, and they left.

But overall, he felt the money wasn't well spent; perhaps the fame of the shop had grown, and they had started to cut corners on the ingredients and the craft...

Afterward, Zhang Wei and Xia Qianyue started to explore the area, visiting numerous popular spots in Xiuyelou University Town.

It wasn't until the afternoon that they finally felt content and prepared to leave.

But just as they reached the intersection of Xiuyelou, they encountered trouble.

"Field agent brother, that's them, that woman hit me!"

Three thugs, along with a person in Martial Association attire, quickly ran towards Zhang Wei and his companion.

As they ran, they kept pointing at Xia Qianyue.

"Great, trouble's coming our way!"

Zhang Wei, seeing this scene, acted as if he had expected it, not at all surprised.