Fallacy [Criminal Investigation]

Zhang Huaiyu, a 26-year-old criminal investigator, is regarded as reliable, cheerful, and capable. He hardly seems like someone who has no one in the world.

He had no one to rely on in childhood. His father's friend adopted him, his older brother gave him endless warmth and care, and his adoptive father gave him the shelter of a family.

But ten years ago, his rebellious selfishness indirectly caused his brother's death. Soon after, his adoptive father died of grief.

That is the shadow over half his life.

On his first day in a strange special task force newly formed within the provincial department, he sees a face in a team member's file that he has longed for every day and never forgotten for ten years: his dead older brother, Zhou Qinhe.

Shock, confusion, and a rush of excitement surge through him, only to be doused in an instant by reason.

How could someone come back from the dead?

But a strange intuition makes him want to deceive himself into believing that the team's forensic pathologist, Zhou Ping, is his resurrected brother, Zhou Qinhe.

But the brother in his memories was gentle, perceptive, and patient, making everyone feel at ease;

while this familiar stranger before him is cold, uncaring, sharp-tongued, and intimidating.

It's not impossible for someone's personality to change drastically after being resurrected, is it?

He tries every trick to lure the man into his home, then asks him directly:

"Are you my brother, Zhou Qinhe? By the way, he should have a wound on his chest. Can I see if you have one?"

But it seems he really isn't.

Still, Zhou Ping's gaze seems to keep stealing glances at him.

Strange cases keep cropping up: a victim's head vanishing in an instant, a ghost onstage and a killer in plain sight murdering together, a victim with identical DNA who has died twice...

This world really does seem bizarre.

They search for overlooked evidence, speak up for the dead, and solve one seemingly impossible mystery after another, gradually drawing closer to this world's

Wait, a victim with identical DNA who has died twice?

Perhaps they were already close to the truth of the case, and the truth behind it really did point to the most absurd theory of all:

"The dead coming back to life."

Notes:

1. Focused on cases and plot. Younger top, with a relatively small romance component.

2. The worldbuilding includes some unverified scientific speculation, but solving the cases has nothing to do with that speculation.

2. The writing style is lighthearted. The criminal-investigation details are not professionally accurate and mainly serve the plot.

3. The locations, cases, and social background are fictional and do not refer to real life.

4. The good side has no traitors; the bad side is not redeemed.

5. Includes a secondary couple, Nian Jueming and Li Che, with a substantial role in advancing the plot.

6. Happy ending.

A new detective and criminal-investigation story in the same series, a prequel called Until Spring Comes, is open for advance reservations. If you're interested, please visit my author page and add it to your collection. Thank you!

Theme: The past is past, the future is yet to come, and the only thing we can grasp is the present.