Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Shan Zhuo (13)

Hai Shu felt a chill run up her spine.

There were some contradictions in this analysis. For example, if Liu Xing was indifferent to his parents’ fate, why did he make that scene with “facing death to live”? Was it only because Li Yunting or Si Xiaolan asked for his help?

No, it had to be that they shared a common desire for revenge.

Also, Li Yunting would question Liu Xing about why he hadn’t told her the full truth, leaving her as the only survivor. How could Liu Xing explain that? Such a confrontation could create a rift between them, preventing revenge from being carried out.

But these contradictions, placed in Liu Xing—a far more contradictory individual—somehow reached a subtle balance. It was as if he was exposing the filth of the Flower Viewing Festival and “facing death to live” to the public, like revenge, but Tang Jinli’s presence made his act seem less like revenge.

Hai Shu had to admit that even now, she could not pinpoint Liu Xing’s true motive.

Both ends had motives, so the lines of Liu Buquan and Tang Jinli, entirely unrelated and even opposing, had to be tracked.

“Xie Ge,” Hai Shu said, clasping her hands.

Xie Jingyu made a playful sound. “So soon you stop calling me ‘little brother Xie’?”

Hai Shu said, “Xie Ge, your mind turns just as sharply as a professional detective’s.”

Xie Jingyu’s eyelid twitched. “You flatter me!”

“How about this,” Hai Shu said hesitantly, “you verify the situations of Li Yunting and Si Xiaolan, and if possible, also find the Si family’s abducted boy. You see, our criminal investigation team is short on manpower, and military and police are like one family—could you help us?”

Xie Jingyu smiled helplessly. “Military and police are a family now?”

Hai Shu said earnestly, “They’ve always been a family.”

Xie Jingyu accepted the mission and left in an orderly manner.

Hai Shu exhaled. As the head of the criminal investigation team, she had to mobilize all available resources, and her team members had to be dispatched to the most critical points. Now, investigating Liu Buquan and Tang Jinli was the top priority, but both sides had tricky challenges.

On Liu Buquan’s side, everything from ten years ago was merely police speculation and could not justify an arrest. Fortunately, he had a digital products store in the new city. The store didn’t look very “clean,” so if they investigated through the shop, any issues with Liu Buquan could be uncovered, allowing for deeper probing.

Tang Jinli’s trouble lay in the fact that all her electronic devices were not in the police’s possession. To access her communication records, they had to go through the carriers, which was tedious. Even if the carriers cooperated, only partial records could be obtained. If unregistered numbers or virtual numbers were used, it was almost impossible.

Hai Shu and Sui Xing split up. Hai Shu returned to the city to pressure the carriers, while Sui Xing went to the new city to continue investigating Guibai Village’s investments there.

Spring in Huiyong City was romantic: gentle breezes, clouds of pink flowers. Nominally, the new city in Guibai District was built based on Guibai Mountain’s tourism, but in terms of transportation, it was closer to the central Yanai District, with a direct subway.

The weather was perfect. Sui Xing saw many people taking wedding photos upon arriving in the new city, some in Western wedding attire, some in Hanfu or ethnic costumes. Some were gaming and anime enthusiasts scouting locations, and marketing companies shooting short videos. Overall, it seemed no one cared about the Guibai Village case; spring was short, and such fine weather should not be wasted.

Liu Buquan’s digital store was still open, and there were quite a few customers, some in fancy attire. Sui Xing learned that most were there for photography, casually browsing during breaks. Discovering the large digital store, they came to check out equipment. Some even found their own equipment broken or forgotten and rented or bought items from the store, from large lenses to memory cards.

Liu Buquan was not present; the staff were all young people. Liu Buquan was just as he claimed—earning money from tourism, investing some idle funds, owning the store, and hiring others to manage it.

Sui Xing also handled the criminal investigation team’s network tracking work and naturally knew a bit about electronics. Half the store was photography equipment; lenses of all types, expensive items. Glass cabinets displayed authorized dealer certificates. But the photography market was deep, and even with authorized goods, there could be grey-market or second-hand items. If the police decided to investigate, first they needed proof of unauthorized sales.

Sui Xing sighed internally. Both she and Hai Shu knew Liu Buquan had issues, yet he had left no trace.

Outside, a cosplay event was underway in the square. It looked cheap, but the scale was large, and the young participants were having fun. Sui Xing went down to see, noticing that the display wall said the organizer was a company called Qifeng Kaiyun. You could dress as any anime character and shoot at any influencer spot in the new city, with photographers provided by the company. Even if not a cosplayer, if dressed nicely or distinctively, a photographer could be hired. This was just the main venue, for meetings and photos in front of display boards.

Sui Xing realized this was a marketing tactic, unrelated to anime, but about profit and hype.

The loud music gave her a headache. She still had to figure out how to investigate the digital store. While moving toward the shopping district, a man in a hurry bumped into her, nearly making her fall.

The man, in his thirties and carrying a DSLR, seemed to be a photographer for the event. He didn’t apologize and walked on. Soon a girl ran after him, shouting, “Yao Ge, Yao Ge, it’s not over! Where are you going?”

The man said, “I have some business. You watch things here.”

The girl looked troubled. “How can I watch everything? Yao Ge, you organized this event.”

The man was sweating. “I really have business today, please handle it.”

The girl had no choice. “Fine, but Yao Ge, I’m not responsible if it goes wrong. You know, I’m just an assistant.”

“No problem! I’ll take responsibility!” The man ran to a car parked on the side and drove off.

The girl walked back dejectedly, pulling out her phone to complain. “Overtime again. With a boss like this, I’m really damn unlucky!”

Sui Xing watched this unfold, walked a few steps, and realized she was also working overtime.

When Hai Shu returned to Huiyong City, she stopped the car at a roundabout. While waiting, she casually glanced at Kangmin Hospital diagonally ahead.

The hospital was a small community hospital, but Hai Shu always looked at it whenever she passed by because of its unique design—it was a sky-blue castle. The first time she saw it, she even asked Wen Xu, who was in the car with her, why a community hospital would be built like that. Wen Xu explained that Yanai District’s previous planning was poor. They tried to follow trends, thinking young people liked Western-style designs, but it was a wasted effort. They couldn’t demolish it, so they converted it into a community hospital.

However, the most famous building in Yanai District wasn’t this one, but the Jinsheng Center near Guibai District’s new city. It was magnificent, just like its name—golden and resplendent. In the sunlight, it looked like a golden palace. It was the headquarters exhibition hall of Jinsheng Arts, reportedly built with foreign investment in Huiyong City.

Hai Shu sometimes wanted to check in at these landmark buildings but never had the time.

The light turned green, and Hai Shu drove through the roundabout. At the same time, Kangmin Hospital was changing shifts.

A thin man took off his white coat, not lingering even a minute, and left the pharmacy. A well-off-looking middle-aged woman said, “Xiao Jie, aren’t you staying a bit longer today?”

The man smiled politely. “Overtime pay is enough.”

After he left, several idle pharmacists started chatting. “Xiao Jie is going on a date today, right? He left so early.”

“What date? Last time Director Zhang even tried to match him with Nurse Liu, and he ignored it completely, almost driving her mad!”

“Sigh, he’s almost thirty, right? So stuffy, doesn’t know how to get a wife…”

The city bureau had issued a complete application for investigation assistance. After going through multiple approvals, Hai Shu obtained some of Tang Jinli’s cloud data from her phone.

Tang Jinli’s phone number was linked to “Nuan Nuan Ah Nuan Nuan.” The last call was on December 7th last year, verified as a delivery person, and she only bought ordinary cold medicine.

Tang Jinli’s social media updated until January of this year, but the phone number wasn’t used after December 7th. Her contact list was very small: Li Siwei; Ms. Qu, who hadn’t sent messages for a year and a half; her landlord and agent; vendors near her residence like a braised food stall and a fruit stall; and five other people unknown to the police before.

Hai Shu found this strange. All these people were women. According to Li Siwei, Tang Jinli had dated several men, and he had seen her with them in pairs.

Then what about the men?

After Tang Jinli’s death, had someone deleted key information?

The carrier said they couldn’t extract communication content, but the raw data showed that none of Tang Jinli’s friends had been deleted.

Hai Shu’s own friend list was densely packed, due to her work. If she weren’t a criminal investigator, she might not have added so many. But Tang Jinli’s list was extremely small, especially men. She likely added Li Siwei not because of any later relationship, but because she worked at Tianming Media.

Could Tang Jinli have another account? One not linked to an identity, bought online?

The most difficult scenario had appeared.

Hai Shu asked, “Can we check other accounts?”

The carrier quickly shook their head. “Under this identity, she only had this one number. Cloud data only exists for this. The situation you mentioned, without a real name, we can’t check!”

Hai Shu calmed herself. At least they found one number—it was better than nothing. Since Tang Jinli added so few people and the important ones in her life were here, it showed she was selective in friendships. The five other women on the list were worth contacting.

Ms. A was someone Tang Jinli met while job-hunting shortly after arriving in Huiyong City, not a true friend. When Hai Shu found her, it took her a while to recall Tang Jinli.

They had both applied to a cultural company, hoping to participate in TV production. Later, Ms. A realized it was just a scam exploiting aspiring screenwriters as low-paid typists.

Ms. A had since passed civil service exams, mocking her previous screenwriting dreams as naive. But in the months after the interview, she genuinely felt a kinship with Tang Jinli. They talked about TV dramas and writing, often eating together as both were unemployed.

Ms. A faced reality sooner, possibly due to family pressure. After job setbacks, she pursued civil service exams and gradually lost contact with Tang Jinli.

Ms. B owned a bookstore in Qianxin District and could no longer recall Tang Jinli. She had added her only because Tang Jinli was a store member who frequently came to read. Ms. B added many members for store events, but with more convenient marketing methods now, that practice had stopped.

Ms. C had gone abroad and could not be contacted temporarily.

Ms. D was a retired woman. She had mingled with Tang Jinli during video shoots and later chatted with her. Pitying that such a beautiful woman wasn’t married, she added her number to recommend suitable matches.

The woman said she had genuinely cared, sending Tang Jinli many contacts, but Tang Jinli never added them. She also asked the recommended “quality men,” but none responded. Feeling frustrated, she stopped caring.

Ms. E was special, a foreigner named Fengcheng Anna, sounding like a mix of R country and A country. Hai Shu contacted her; on the phone, she spoke fluent Mandarin.

Upon learning it was a police call, she nervously said, “I’ve never done anything wrong.”

Hai Shu explained she just wanted to learn about Tang Jinli. After thinking a moment, she said, “You mean Jenny?”

“Jenny?”

“It seems to be Jinli’s foreign name.”

Hai Shu arranged a time with Fengcheng Anna and began organizing her thoughts.

Tang Jinli must have had a number not linked to her real identity. What pattern did she use to add people with that number? What kind of person was Tang Jinli really?

She was originally an only child, but her parents, ignoring her objections, gave her a younger brother who shouldn’t have existed. Her parents thought they weren’t favoring sons over daughters, but she felt they were.

She desperately wanted her own family, so she could be involved with Li Siwei even knowing he had a wife. And once she confirmed he wouldn’t divorce, she could leave immediately, without attachment.

She had new goals, but because of the imprint of son-preference from her family, she couldn’t trust men. Some women with shallow relationships, she would add using her original number. But men she was “selecting” only deserved her secondary number. She may have learned caution from a loss with Li Siwei, making her even more careful.

Yet, this kind of woman still couldn’t save herself.

The meeting with Fengcheng Anna was in Yanai District. When Hai Shu arrived, she realized the chic street they were on was diagonally across from the Jinsheng Center. There was an exhibition going on, with rows of luxury cars parked outside. Fengcheng Anna’s work today was filming at the exhibition.

When Fengcheng Anna walked over, Hai Shu was a bit startled. Her face showed no Caucasian features at all—purely East Asian.

“Officer Hai, hope I didn’t keep you waiting. I was working here and just finished shooting,” she said.

Fengcheng Anna wore twin ponytails, her hair dyed light blonde, and her makeup was an exaggerated idol style, like a cute manga girl brought into reality. But her voice didn’t match her appearance—it was slightly hoarse, with a worldly, cold texture.

Hai Shu showed her badge and introduced herself. Fengcheng Anna kept her eyes on Hai Shu throughout, listening attentively and sincerely. Hai Shu thought of some R-country idol science articles she’d read, where idols show their most energetic side to fans.

Was she being treated like a fan by Fengcheng Anna out of habit?

“We are currently investigating a case, and some clues involve Tang Jinli. We found you in her friend list, so we wanted to ask about her situation,” Hai Shu said without directly mentioning Tang Jinli’s death.

Fengcheng Anna ordered a strawberry milk and cautiously asked, “Jenny… is she already dead?”

Hai Shu asked, “Why do you think that?”

Fengcheng Anna playfully swung her ponytail. “Jenny and I aren’t close, but you found me, which means you’ve checked everyone around her. So this must be a big case. Either she’s dead, or she caused someone’s death. Recently, Guibai Village has been quite chaotic, right? A fool caused trouble at the Flower Festival, carrying a corpse claiming it was his wife—so scary.”

Hai Shu had to revise her impression of Fengcheng Anna. Despite her innocent, cute appearance, the difference was not just her voice, but her mind.

“You speak Mandarin very well,” Hai Shu deliberately interjected.

Fengcheng Anna smiled but her eyes showed slight worry. “Was that girl Jenny?”

Hai Shu said, “I can’t disclose case details to you for now, hope you understand.”

“Ah, it’s fine, I spoke too much,” Fengcheng Anna quickly stood and bowed. “I haven’t been in your country long, so many things are unfamiliar.”

Hai Shu asked, “Had you studied Chinese before coming? What year did you arrive?”

“I’ve studied since I was little.” Speaking of language, Fengcheng Anna’s tone brightened. “My mother studied abroad, and after returning, she taught Chinese in my hometown, so I learned with her. I’ve been here over two years. Communicating with everyone, my language improved quickly.”

Hai Shu asked, “What do you usually do?”

“I’ve done many part-time jobs,” Fengcheng Anna said in slightly odd wording, fitting her foreign background. “I was a small idol in R-country. After coming to Huiyong City, I signed with an agency, but didn’t make it big. No money, so I did modeling, beauty work, and live commerce—supporting myself isn’t a problem!”

“How did you meet Jenny?” Hai Shu used Fengcheng Anna’s name for Tang Jinli.

“Filming videos!” Fengcheng Anna took out her phone, searched for a while, then pouted. “After changing phones, I didn’t transfer the videos, so I can’t find them.”

Hai Shu said, “No problem, just tell me directly.”

Fengcheng Anna recalled that two summers ago, she had signed with a small cultural marketing company in Huiyong City, Qifeng Kaiyun. The company was small but good at trending topics, more profitable than being a solo small idol, and less tiring. She worked diligently, enduring strong autumn-winter winds to find places to film videos. On a hill in Qianxin District with a river view, she met Jenny, who was also filming.

The hill wasn’t a tourist spot, but its angles were good for filming, attracting many video creators. Fengcheng Anna was underdressed and cold, and Jenny kindly lent her a jacket.

Fengcheng Anna had an assistant; Jenny only had a phone, not a professional setup—like a casual visitor checking in. She shared her milk tea with Jenny, and naturally they chatted on the way down.

When Jenny said she was also filming videos, Fengcheng Anna was surprised. “I thought you just came to enjoy the view!”

Jenny laughed at her tone. “Kind of. I like this hill. When I’m stressed, I come to walk, burn calories, and watch the river—it clears my mind.”

Fengcheng Anna said, “Oh! This is your territory!”

Jenny played along, “Now it’s popular; it’s no longer just mine.”

At the bottom, they were about to part. Fengcheng Anna suggested exchanging contact info for possible future outings. Jenny agreed without hesitation.

But after that encounter, Fengcheng Anna didn’t contact Jenny immediately. She was too busy and sociable, making new friends daily. Jenny had long sunk to the bottom of her list.

When would she contact Jenny again?

Fengcheng Anna held her milk cup and said it was after New Year’s Day last year. At that time, she had taken on many filming jobs and was completely overwhelmed. She wanted a sister to help, but asked several friends she usually helped and they were all busy. Finally, she went through her contact list and thought of Jenny. Jenny also made videos herself; although not as professional, she was pretty.

With a “might as well try” attitude, she contacted Jenny, and Jenny immediately agreed.

However, her work was different from the videos Jenny usually made. With heavy makeup and costumes, Jenny’s original appearance was almost unrecognizable. Jenny wasn’t part of the anime/manga circle and struggled to cooperate. Feeling a bit guilty, Fengcheng Anna treated Jenny to a meal.

Compared to the meeting on the mountain, Jenny looked thinner and seemed preoccupied. Fengcheng Anna asked what was wrong. Jenny said that her boyfriend of over a year had a wife and refused to divorce, so the relationship was about to end.

Hai Shu was a bit surprised. Tang Jinli and Fengcheng Anna weren’t close friends, yet Jenny would confide such private matters? But on reflection, it made sense—some things can’t be said even to close family, and a slightly familiar friend is the best person to vent to.

Fengcheng Anna loved to chat, so she immediately became Jenny’s “confidant,” asking why she and the man had gotten together, and about his conditions. Jenny vented to her, pouring out her feelings—similar to what Hai Shu had inferred.

Jenny didn’t really love Li Siwei; she hadn’t truly liked any man. She chose Li Siwei only because he offered her dreams about screenwriting and possibly a family. She desperately wanted her own family, caring little who the male head of it would be.

Fengcheng Anna felt Jenny was truly pitiful. She herself grew up with only a brother, no younger brother, and her family treated her as a treasure. She comforted Jenny, saying she would surely meet a suitable man in the future.

After that, Fengcheng Anna and Tang Jinli’s contact became frequent. In March, Tang Jinli told her she had decided to cut ties decisively—since Li Siwei refused to divorce, she would break up immediately. Fengcheng Anna happily had a meal with her and said she would keep an eye out for men around her and introduce any suitable ones.

Thinking about the men Li Siwei saw after returning to Huiyong City on a business trip, Hai Shu asked, “Did you later introduce any to Jenny?”

Fengcheng Anna nodded. “But in the latter half of last year, I was traveling nationwide for work and didn’t contact Jenny much. Later, when I tried, she didn’t reply.”

Hai Shu asked, “Who did you introduce?”

Fengcheng Anna looked nervous. “Uh… is this related to the case?”

Hai Shu said, “Yes, so please be as detailed as possible.”

Fengcheng Anna took a deep breath. “Okay.”

The men Fengcheng Anna introduced to Jenny were mostly clients she had worked with or heads of companies she signed with. She thought Jenny was cultured and could talk with them. Her personal favorite was her company planner, Yao Wei, in his thirties, a humorous uncle-type. Jenny had told her Yao Wei was nice and good at photography. Other men didn’t receive such feedback.

“Wait a moment,” Hai Shu said. “Jenny and Yao Wei aren’t friends—how did they communicate?”

“Ah?” Fengcheng Anna was momentarily stunned. “No, they definitely added each other.”

Hai Shu became more certain—Tang Jinli had natural distrust of men and used a number not tied to her real identity to add them.

Hai Shu got Yao Wei’s contact info from Fengcheng Anna and felt slightly relieved; now there was a new lead.

After saying goodbye to Fengcheng Anna, Hai Shu, as usual, communicated with the other members of Detective Unit One. When they heard that Fengcheng Anna’s company was Qifeng Kaiyun, Sui Xing made a sound: “Hmm?”