Chapter 36: Thirty Thousand in Half an Hour

Miao Ruolan was startled...
Five thousand isn’t enough?
The lady sprang up. “Five thousand isn’t enough? You could buy a dog for five thousand!”
“I don’t like what you’re implying,” Lin Xiaosu replied. “Are you looking for just any dog? That’s your beloved pet! You, madam, are obviously from a wealthy family, decked out in jewels, and you’re telling me your precious pet is worth only five thousand?”
Returning the favor with her own words—this was poetic justice.
Miao Ruolan felt her teeth ache from the exchange...
The lady was stumped. “So how much do you want?”
“Thirty thousand!”
“Thirty thousand?” The lady nearly jumped out of her seat.
Lin Xiaosu sat down across from her. “What’s wrong? Tight on funds? Or do you just not think your beloved pet is worth thirty thousand?”
Miao Ruolan’s eyes darted slyly. If she smiled now, it would surely be a mischievous grin.
What a sly little fox—cornering her like this, how was the woman supposed to respond?
The lady’s face darkened, her hesitation obvious. Finally, she gritted her teeth. “Fine! But I have one condition!”
“Let’s hear it,” Lin Xiaosu said.
“I want to see my pet within two hours. Once I do, I’ll pay the balance. If not, you’ll refund double the deposit!”
Now it was Miao Ruolan’s turn to feel conflicted.
Two hours?
Setting a time limit on a search...
The lady looked rather pleased with herself. “What’s wrong? Don’t have the skills? Or just lacking the courage?”
Lin Xiaosu raised a hand. “Deal!”
The contract was signed.
A five thousand deposit up front. If the dog was found before noon on May 17th, the client would pay the remaining twenty-five thousand. If not, double the deposit would be returned—ten thousand in total.
The rest was standard, except for the last clause, which was handwritten.
Miao Ruolan hesitated, but when Lin Xiaosu nodded, she signed her name.
It was exactly ten o’clock.
Lin Xiaosu glanced at the photos of the dog on the lady’s phone—a little poodle, appearing in various poses: on the bed, eating, wearing a flower. But the background was the real story: a piano, a villa, luxury cars, elegant afternoon teas.
These weren’t just dog photos, but a showcase of a refined lifestyle and social status.
Lin Xiaosu swept her gaze over the images. “Let’s go.”
They followed the lady out and got into the luxury car that had appeared repeatedly in the photos.
The car stopped at a small park outside Fengcheng Tower, the spot where the lady and her friends often walked their dogs. They’d been merrily chatting away, but when they turned around, the dog was gone.
Lin Xiaosu stood in the park, letting out a long, silent sigh to the heavens, lamenting the fall of his once-perceptive skills—reduced to finding lost pets!
He lowered his head and began retracing the steps, searching back through time.
He left the park and entered a nearby alley, which led to a bustling market—the Fengcheng food market. The morning rush had just ended, and the place was strewn with vegetable leaves, fish heads, animal entrails.
The lady frowned deeply. “My baby won’t even walk on dirt, let alone come somewhere this filthy!”

Lin Xiaosu ignored her, passing through a small door in the market to reach a riverbank littered with trash, where several puppies ran about gleefully.
He smiled and raised his hand, pointing to one of them. “Your baby’s changed outfits. Can you recognize her?”
The lady stared at the little dog, now so caked in mud its color was indistinguishable, and rubbed her eyes. “Baby, is that you?”
The muddy little creature tumbled over, leaping up to reveal a collar around its neck. The lady’s eyes lit up. “It really is you! What happened to you...?”
The dog licked her face, catching her off guard. She recoiled at the smell. “Ugh! Why do you stink so much—what did you eat?”
Miao Ruolan made a face—
What did the dog eat?
Wasn’t it obvious?
Lin Xiaosu lifted his phone and held it in front of the lady. “It’s 10:29 now. Task complete. Please pay the balance.”
The lady set the dog down, fastened its leash, and looked up slowly. “You really want thirty thousand for just half an hour of work?”
“It’s all right there in black and white,” Lin Xiaosu replied. “Besides, Madam Song, you’re a Fengcheng socialite. Thirty thousand is hardly a hurdle for you. If you back out, how will you hold your head up in your circle? So, I have to collect.”
The lady, face dark, pulled out her phone and scanned Miao Ruolan’s payment code.
She left, walking the dog home for a bath, never looking back.
Miao Ruolan and Lin Xiaosu walked back side by side, through the market and pedestrian street, returning to the detective agency. After half a cup of tea, Miao Ruolan finally exhaled. “Xiaosu, isn’t our fee a bit much? Thirty thousand for half an hour of work—it’s hard to believe.”
Lin Xiaosu smiled. “That’s the nature of the detective business. We have to set a threshold.”
“A threshold?”
“Yes. If I charged a hundred or two, we’d be overwhelmed with work, all low-value, and constantly busy just to scrape a living. That’s not what I want.”
“But if we set the bar this high, will anyone else dare hire us? Isn’t it a one-off deal?”
“Don’t worry. Human nature is perverse—sometimes the more outrageous the price, the more people will come. If this Madam Song shares her experience with her friends, we’ll be famous among Fengcheng’s elite. Who knows, maybe their new way of flaunting wealth won’t be afternoon tea, but being able to afford our sky-high fees.”
Miao Ruolan blinked. “Will Madam Song really publicize this?”
From her perspective, Madam Song had left looking constipated and frustrated, treating the whole thing as a private humiliation. Why would she post about it?
Lin Xiaosu smiled. “She will! Those with money but little depth—who can predict their logic? If you don’t believe me, check her social media.”
Miao Ruolan did just that.
She had just browsed a few older posts when a new update appeared—
It was a fresh post from Madam Song.
She hugged her dog at the villa’s entrance, captioned: “Baby ran off today. Sought help from Fengcheng Detective Agency and spent thirty thousand to get him back. Baby, your little adventure cost you a month’s worth of food! Mama’s putting you on three days’ probation!”
Miao Ruolan was dumbfounded. “She didn’t complain about the high fee—she’s just showing off... She’s emphasizing that thirty thousand is only a month’s worth of her dog’s food.”
“That’s a socialite’s logic! Losing money isn’t the issue—missing a chance to flaunt wealth is!”
“It’s almost ironic. These ladies take pride in being out of touch with reality, but their pets are the opposite—always rolling in the dirt at every opportunity...”
“Sometimes,” Lin Xiaosu said as he stood up, “humans could learn from dogs. At least dogs are genuine... I’m heading to the library—call if you need anything.”
The library was just across the street, a short walk away.
At the street corner, a black sedan was parked. Inside were two men: the driver, a young man; in the passenger seat, a middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses, scholarly in appearance.
“Boss, he never left Miao Ruolan’s side—not a single opportunity to act,” the young man said.
“Opportunity or not, we’ll have to wait for one,” his boss replied, exhaling softly. “As long as he’s around, we’re at risk.”

“Yes, the Huang San deal failed—we would have only lost one bag of goods, but with his involvement, seven people along the line ended up in jail. I also found out he was behind the swift resolution of the child abduction at the boxing gym, and even solved that secretive murder at Lingyin Temple. Just now, he found Song Li’s dog in half an hour. He seems to have a special talent for tracing chains of events. Someone like him must not be allowed to take root in Fengcheng.”
“He knows how dangerous this line of work is, which is why he partnered with Miao Ruolan,” the boss said, pushing his glasses up.
“Is Miao Ruolan really that formidable? She seems so quiet.”
“A descendant of ancient martial arts—a force to be reckoned with. Remember: as long as she’s with him, don’t make a move. But if she ever leaves his side, don’t miss your chance. The money’s in your account, your false identity is ready. Once it’s done, disappear far away!”
“Don’t worry!” The young man licked his lips, a glint of malice in his eyes.
The black sedan started up, merging into the crowd...
At noon, Miao Ruolan entered the library and saw Lin Xiaosu half-reclined on a sofa, gazing at a rotating map on the screen before him—a digital globe. This was another reading method here: e-reading.
The e-reader linked to the database, covering everything from astronomy to geography.
As long as you were curious, you could search for any public information and read it electronically.
“What are you looking at?” Miao Ruolan set a lunchbox before him.
“Geography.”
“You’re interested in geography?”
“Of course. In this line of work, we’ll be traveling all over... Hmm? Beef bowl?” Lin Xiaosu opened the box, delicious aromas wafting out.
Miao Ruolan smiled. “It’s our grand opening—you just made thirty thousand, the least I can do is upgrade your lunch.”
“It’s both of us! We made thirty thousand!” Lin Xiaosu tapped her nose with his chopsticks.
Miao Ruolan seemed to enjoy the flirtation, smiling sweetly. “You eat here. I’m off to borrow a book.”
When Lin Xiaosu returned from the library, he noticed the book in Miao Ruolan’s hands: Surveying Science...
“You’re seriously starting to study?” he asked.
She replied, “You’re so talented and still work hard—what excuse do I have not to?”
“Hard work is good. Are you able to focus?”
She scratched her head. “I can focus, but whether it sticks is another matter. My brain feels like a sieve—knowledge goes in one end and out the other...”
She spent the whole afternoon reading diligently.
And into the night, she continued.
By dawn, she thought she’d made a small crack in the vast subject of detective work, but perhaps not—her mind was swirling with strange new terms...
“It’s raining!” Lin Xiaosu emerged from the next room.
“Let’s hope no cases come in today—Surveying Science says rain erases traces and washes away scents.”
Lin Xiaosu laughed. “Don’t tell me—you stayed up all night reading?”
Bingo!
She really had read all night.
Miao Ruolan smiled, went downstairs, and opened the shop door...
She went out to buy breakfast. Just as she returned with fried dough sticks and soy milk, a car screeched to a halt. A middle-aged woman hurried out and rushed toward the detective agency. Using her newly acquired surveying skills, Miao Ruolan deduced—this woman was in great distress.