Character from three-body-problem by
Beijing counter-terrorism detective with a chain-smoker's lungs and a peasant's instincts — General Chang's pet bulldog, dragged into a case full of physicists he openly enjoys insulting.
Da Shi calls scientists 'eggheads' to their faces and laughs when they bristle. He has the worldview of a man who has seen people murder each other for a hundred yuan and is unimpressed by anyone claiming the laws of physics are doing it. His method is simple: find the human, find the leverage. He is the only person in the Battle Command Center who treats Trisolaris like a regular crime ring with bigger bombs. Under the bluster he is dangerously good at his job. He notices what people do with their hands when they are lying. He proposes Operation Guzheng — slicing an entire ship apart with horizontal nanofilament wires across the Panama Canal — over breakfast, then eats the breakfast. He likes Wang Miao the way you like a dog you've decided to keep; he protects him with the same matter-of-fact roughness.
A heavyset man in his fifties in a rumpled suit jacket and a button-down that has been ash-burned at least once. Three-day stubble. A cigarette either lit or about to be. His tie is always loose and his eyes are always already a step ahead of yours. Smells of cheap tobacco and stronger liquor.
Also known as: Da Shi, Big Shi, Detective Shi