It seemed like… they were looking at the God of Plagues. That's right. It was exactly that kind of expression; even the cleaning lady started taking detours to avoid him.

Zhu Li, who received him, was also exceedingly respectful. Every other word out of her mouth was a polite honorific, terrified he might get angry.

"The car shouldn't have any issues now, right?"

He parked the car outside the nursing home. Qin Mu called Song Tiancheng over again to help test its handling and prevent another "accident" like the last one.

「Half an hour later.」

Song Tiancheng, nearly eighty years old, left the driver's seat, completely satisfied. He gave his assessment: "This feels like a new car. No problems, just not very collision-resistant. Back when I drove a tank, I never bothered dodging obstacles…"

Qin Mu looked utterly exasperated, somewhat speechless.

If he could actually use a tank as his personal vehicle, he'd probably be a dead man by the next day.

Through this incident, however, he also learned about Song Tiancheng's younger days. He had served in the army and, after retiring, became a long-haul driver. He was very familiar with vehicle performance.

After getting older… he suddenly became obsessed with fishing.

"By the way, Xiao Qin, my son has started community correctional rehabilitation. He's been wanting to thank you and invite you to visit our farm-stay."

During a casual afternoon chat, Song Tiancheng suddenly brought this up.

His son had mentioned this to him several times. Had it not been for Qin Mu's intervention in the parrot case, the consequences would have been unimaginable. The prosecutor's office had directly demanded a twelve-year prison sentence! Later, when the verdict came down, he was given a suspended sentence.

Now, his son… spent two days each week going to the community to participate in correctional learning activities. Ordinarily, he was responsible for the business at their farm-stay and had been wanting to find an opportunity to thank Qin Mu.

After hearing this, Qin Mu nodded. "I'll definitely visit when I'm free."

Song Tiancheng was stunned for a moment, then asked doubtfully, "Are you… busy these days?"

As he spoke, he sized Qin Mu up and down. In the entire nursing home, Qin Mu was by far the most idle. The life of the elderly… he had thoroughly savored every bit of it.

"COUGH, COUGH. I have a case recently. I expect it will go to trial soon," Qin Mu said with a dry chuckle, then recounted the details of Niu Huan and Chang Yingcai's case.

The moment he finished speaking, his words immediately startled several of the elderly people relaxing nearby.

"What? Two more people got locked up?!"

"The repair staff from the 4S shop? When's the trial? We absolutely must attend this time!"

"No wonder the 4S shop was so agreeable this time! They restored all the spare parts in just one day. Previously, something like this would have taken at least half a month to resolve."

"Is the sentence for theft heavy?"

"..."

Zhang Qingyuan and the others also joined the gossiping onlookers, extremely curious about the potential sentences for Niu Huan and Chang Yingcai.

During this period, Qin Mu had noticeably kept a much lower profile. The cases he participated in were either the parrot case or the misbehaving child case. There were rarely such thrilling major criminal cases.

They had all thought Qin Mu had grown weary of worldly disputes and planned to live out his days in peace.

But unexpectedly… Qin Mu was still the same Qin Mu they knew. He hadn't changed a bit.

"As for sentencing, it depends on the details. If they stole a lot of spare parts previously, then it could be ten years."

Qin Mu pondered briefly, then estimated the possible prison terms for Niu Huan and his associate. This was just a rough estimate. It was like hauling bricks on a construction site. The more "work" they did—meaning, the more parts they stole—the longer their sentences would be.

He figured… given the outrageous profits in this line of work, those two must have stolen and swapped out plenty of parts over the years. He was only responsible for bringing them to justice; the actual sentencing depended on their individual actions.

***

「Jin City.」

「Detention Center.」

After the interrogation evidence was confirmed, Niu Huan and Chang Yingcai were transferred here. They began an early "retirement" lifestyle: punctual schedules, on-time yard duty, and meals served like clockwork. If anyone showed signs of procrastination, the guards would promptly help "correct" them.

Here, the two of them also made many "new friends." However, most people were rather introverted, rarely opening up or interacting much with one another.

"Brother, let me ask you something. How did you end up in here?"

During yard time, Niu Huan was incredibly bored, so he picked out a man in his thirties, roughly his own age, and struck up a conversation.

"Me? I just sold a house." The man sighed deeply, his expression one of utter dejection.

Niu Huan was stunned for a moment and couldn't help asking, "Is selling a house a crime too?"

He'd thought getting locked up for swapping car parts was already absurd enough.

"Selling a house isn't a crime, but… I sold it to the wrong person." The man looked up to the sky and sighed heavily, his face a mask of regret.

"Who did you sell it to?" Niu Huan asked curiously.

"You wouldn't know him even if I told you," the man said, shaking his head, clearly unwilling to mention the name. "What about you? How did you end up in here?"

"I… I came in for theft," Niu Huan said with a bitter smile, the memory clearly painful.

"Theft? There's another guy over there who's in for theft too. You two could chat." The man's expression shifted slightly as he pointed to the other side of the recreation yard. A young man in his twenties was sitting in a corner, lost in thought.

"He… what did he steal?" Niu Huan swallowed, looking quite surprised. "He doesn't look like the type to steal."

"He stole packages, and like me, he stole from the wrong person." The man who was in for selling a house sighed again and continued, "His stealing skills were quite advanced. If it weren't for his father, he genuinely might not have been caught. Sentenced to ten years and three months. Just like us, he's waiting for prison assignment."

The words had barely left the man's mouth when Niu Huan's eyes shot wide with disbelief. "How much? Didn't you say he *just* stole packages?"

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