The Detective is Useless (GL) - Chapter 16

Early in the morning, just as Tian Sisi crawled back into bed to sleep, Jin Yujue was already getting ready to head out.
She left a note, instructing Tian Sisi to finish the tasks written on it before she could go out and play — if she didn’t complete them, she wasn’t allowed to leave the house.
That was to prevent Tian Sisi from going out alone while Jin Yujue was away from the detective agency — in case the person who had been sending those bloody letters tried to attack her.

Though Tian Sisi was lazy by nature, she was at least obedient. She would procrastinate and play tricks, but most of the time, she still did what Jin Yujue told her to — even if the results were usually less than ideal.

It was her first time visiting Liu Yu’s office. The place wasn’t large — papers were stacked on the desk and crammed into the bookshelf beside it, but otherwise, there wasn’t much clutter. It seemed he didn’t spend much time working in the office.

Liu Yu walked in with breakfast in hand — or more accurately, his dinner.
He’d been so busy that he hadn’t eaten all night, and only when his hunger became unbearable did he go out to buy breakfast.
Jin Yujue’s visit gave him the perfect excuse to finally take a break and not overwork himself.

Jin Yujue handed over the bloody letter. Liu Yu didn’t look surprised at all; he calmly ate his ham-and-egg sandwich.

“Brother Liu, you must know what’s going on,” Jin Yujue said, watching his expression closely. She was certain this wasn’t the first bloody letter sent to Tian Sisi.

Liu Yu thought for a while before confessing, “We’ve been receiving these every now and then. Don’t worry too much — every time it’s just letters, no actual harm done.”

Receiving them regularly… No wonder Tian Sisi refused to take one look at it.
Jin Yujue frowned. “How long has this been going on?”

“A few years now, I suppose. So really, you don’t have to worry.” Liu Yu continued eating, already halfway through his sandwich.

Jin Yujue frowned deeper. “A few years? And you still haven’t caught the sender? The person must have some kind of mental issue.”

“We both know who it is,” Liu Yu said after a sip of milk tea — which turned out to be scalding hot. He winced as it burned his tongue. “Since he hasn’t actually hurt anyone, we decided to let it go.”

Jin Yujue ignored his pain-stricken expression and said sternly, “Brother Liu, you’re a police officer. You shouldn’t condone criminal behavior like this.”

Liu Yu reached for a bottle of mineral water, twisted off the cap, and took several gulps to soothe his tongue. Once the cool water brought relief, he looked back at her and said,
“Or rather… Sisi feels she’s partly to blame for driving that man insane — for making him send those bloody letters over and over. So she doesn’t want him to end up in prison.”

So there was more to the story. Jin Yujue pressed on. “Can you tell me what actually happened?”

“Well…” Liu Yu looked troubled. He finished the last bite of his sandwich before finally speaking in a low voice, “Alright. I suppose you should know. I just hope that once you do, you can help Sisi — help her stop being so… broken.”

Jin Yujue narrowed her eyes, sensing something ominous — as if whatever came next would drag her into a deep abyss. So, you know she’s depressed, huh? And instead of helping her, you let her stay that way? Now you want me to fix her? What kind of uncle are you, anyway? she grumbled inwardly but kept listening.

“Actually,” Liu Yu began, “Sisi’s brilliant — truly brilliant. Any difficult problem, you ask her, she can solve it. To be honest, I was desperate to get promoted at the time. I wanted to rise to the position I’m in now. I wanted to solve more cases, but I didn’t have the brains for it. So I relied on her — relied heavily.

Her reasoning and deductions were always spot-on, nearly one hundred percent accurate. Eventually, I stopped questioning her conclusions. Whatever she decided, I followed — arresting suspects, closing cases according to her logic.

But one time… she made a mistake. She misjudged a case, wrongly identifying one of the victims as the murderer. Because of that mistake, the victim’s daughter committed suicide…”

“Was the person sending the bloody letters a relative of that girl?” Jin Yujue asked.

Liu Yu shook his head. “No. It was a man who had been in love with her.”

“So he blames Tian Sisi for that girl’s death and holds a grudge?” Jin Yujue tilted her head thoughtfully. “But it’s not entirely fair to put all the blame on her… right?” She looked at Liu Yu, seeking confirmation.

Liu Yu stopped stirring his drink, sighed, and said, “It was my fault too. I never questioned Sisi’s conclusions — never thought she could be wrong. So yes, I share the blame for that girl’s death.”
He lowered his head. For the first time, Jin Yujue saw genuine sorrow on his face. “Anyway, that’s how it happened. Sisi lost confidence in herself because of it. She’s been blaming herself ever since — she can’t forgive herself.”

Jin Yujue frowned. She didn’t believe that justified letting oneself rot away. Everyone makes mistakes. What matters is learning from them and not repeating them. And besides, even if Tian Sisi was at fault, that girl who chose suicide bore some responsibility too.
Taking one’s own life was an act of cowardice, an insult to life itself. It was pitiful, yes, but also pathetic — and Jin Yujue couldn’t quite sympathize.

“Once you make a mistake, you fix it. There’s no need to wallow in despair. Suicide is a personal choice, but if someone—”

“Xiao Jin.” Liu Yu raised a hand, cutting her off. He clearly didn’t want her to continue. “It’s not as simple as you think. I can’t explain everything right now. But that incident hit her hard. If you’re willing, I hope you can help her — help her stand back up, help her become the detective she once was. But please — don’t let her know you’ve heard this. And if another letter comes, in that same handwriting, don’t let her see it.”

Jin Yujue shook her head in disagreement. “But Brother Liu, even if I don’t know all the details, I still think problems should be faced and solved — not hidden. Pretending it didn’t happen won’t help her—”

“Xiao Jin.” Liu Yu softened his tone. “Please. Don’t bring it up unless she does. Not a word, alright? I’m asking you — as a favor.”

“…Alright.” Jin Yujue finally relented. She didn’t fully understand, but she wasn’t in a position to argue further. He was her senior, after all. Maybe she really didn’t know enough to judge. For now, she’d follow his request.

On her way back to the detective agency, Jin Yujue couldn’t stop thinking.
If something could crush a person for years, it must have meant the world to them.
She tried to imagine how she’d feel if she had indirectly caused someone’s death. But no matter how she imagined it, she couldn’t truly grasp that kind of pain. She could only think about how she’d deal with it — how she’d make it right.
And one thing was certain: she’d never let herself fall apart the way Tian Sisi did.

Since Tian Sisi really was that smart, Jin Yujue could conclude that her sloppy investigations weren’t because she was incompetent — but because she simply didn’t care anymore.

Then Jin Yujue thought back to the case of the murdered rich heir. Tian Sisi had refused to admit it, but Jin Yujue was convinced she had already figured out the culprit before anyone else. If she knew, why hadn’t she said so?

Maybe… maybe she had hinted at it?
That’s right — Tian Sisi had pointed out the ants.
Ants love sweet things, which meant someone in that room had been eating sweets — something very sweet, in fact, to attract so many of them.

When Jin Yujue found Tian Sisi later, she was eating macarons. And the victim and suspect both worked at that same macaron shop. So Tian Sisi did know — she’d figured it out long ago and even tried to give her clues.
But Jin Yujue, back then, had just thought Tian Sisi was fooling around and completely missed the signs.

The more she thought about it, the tighter her brows knit.
If Tian Sisi knew the truth, why didn’t she just say it outright?
Was she afraid of being wrong again? But that didn’t make sense — she’d made countless absurd deductions before and never cared about being wrong.

When Jin Yujue returned to the detective agency, it was still noon.
The note was untouched on the table — clearly, Tian Sisi hadn’t gotten up yet.
She put the note away and quietly went upstairs.

Watching someone sleep felt a little creepy, but Jin Yujue couldn’t help herself — she was dying to know what went on inside Tian Sisi’s head.
She sat on the floor beside the bed, resting her chin on her folded arms, gazing at her.
She could see the gentle rise and fall of her chest — so she does have a figure after all.
No, wait — that’s not the point.

Still, she couldn’t help but think she’d love to open up Tian Sisi’s skull just to see how her brain worked.
Or maybe she should just read more books on behavioral psychology instead.

“Si…” Tian Sisi suddenly murmured in her sleep.

“Guess what?” Jin Yujue frowned, leaning closer.

“Li Si…” Tian Sisi’s voice was barely a whisper.

“What am I supposed to guess?” Jin Yujue asked, utterly confused.

After a while, Tian Sisi started snoring softly.
Jin Yujue rolled her eyes. If you’re going to talk in your sleep, at least make it clear.

She kept thinking about it. What was Tian Sisi trying to tell me to guess?

Just then, her phone began vibrating nonstop in her pocket.
She pulled it out — it was her boyfriend calling.
The timing couldn’t have been better.
Jin Yujue hurried downstairs to take the call, eager to pour out her confusion and frustration.
Maybe a third-party perspective could help her make sense of it all.