Chapter 3 "What's your name?"

Although the main evidence in the fireplace had been transferred to the forensic department, the second son-in-law, Chen Chaosheng, was still worried about whether his wife could handle it and considered moving out. However, the family trust stipulated that the heirs must live with the family for 100 days, so he could only help Sheng Peishan wrap the cashmere shawl tighter.

Fortunately, the two connected villas were relatively independent. Chen Chaosheng put his arm around Sheng Peishan's shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, my wife had a heart attack. I'll take her back to her room to rest first."

The second young lady of the Sheng family leaned weakly against her husband, the back of her neck damp with cold sweat.

Mo Shazhan nodded in understanding: "We still need to confirm the air conditioning unit with the forensic department before we finish. Please go ahead."

The private elevator doors opened, and from the third floor came the Filipino maid's broken Cantonese: "Young master, it's dangerous! Don't run away!"

Sheng Peishan caught a glimpse of her younger brother running like a whirlwind out of the corner of her eye, and broke out in a cold sweat, leaning forward: "Watch out for the stairs!"

“Marisa, take him back inside,” Chen Chaosheng said calmly, continuing to hold onto the handles of the wheelchair. “Peishan, don’t worry about these things now; your health is the most important thing.”

Haozai raised his eyebrows and nudged Zeng Yongshan's elbow.

The will controversy is likely to take another turn.

"This little master is at most three or four years old," Zeng Yongshan said mysteriously. "How can he compete with his two older sisters?"

The aroma of angelica and deer tendon soup wafted from the kitchen, and Aunt Ping was sprinkling goji berries into the stew pot.

Mo Zhenbang stepped inside and tucked the police walkie-talkie into his belt.

"The shrimp fried rice in the police station canteen has hardly any shrimp, unlike this delicious soup, which is full of ingredients."

Even the plating was meticulously arranged. Aunt Ping was also distracted by the sight of the skeleton, and only regained her attention when she heard the police officer praising the aroma of the food.

"Is that right?" Mo Zhenbang twitched his nostrils.

This question was posed to Zhu Qing.

She took a step closer: "Did you add five-finger peach to the soup? Very few people know how to use this method."

"The master's favorite thing was..." Aunt Ping wiped the glass stove sadly, "I never imagined that Madam was such a gourmet."

Once she started talking, Aunt Ping couldn't help but reminisce about the old days, talking about how the old gentleman and his wife had tried many world-renowned chefs, but they only loved her cooking.

Mo Shazhan leaned against the island platform and exclaimed in surprise, "Aunt Ping is a 'veteran' of the Sheng family."

“Twenty-three years,” Aunt Ping said. “After we moved to the hillside, my second wife was worried that I would have a hard time, so she added two helpers to the kitchen.”

The soup in the stew pot had a rich aroma, and Aunt Ping stirred it gently with a soup spoon.

Mo Zhenbang took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth but didn't light it, and said in a casual tone: "When Sheng Peirong's daughter had her accident back then, everyone was having a hard time, right?"

"Are you talking about the little girl, sir?" Aunt Ping said. "The little girl looks like a porcelain doll. When she was born at Tzu Oi Hospital, all the nurses in the building came to see her. Who knew..."

Aunt Ping put the lid on the casserole: "Who knew he was gone... The master was most concerned about the small number of people in the Sheng family. When he was alive, he invited many masters to set up feng shui formations."

"What a pity." Mo Zhenbang sighed deeply. "I heard from your second son-in-law that the young lady passed away very suddenly."

Zhu Qing did not use a notebook to record the key words, but kept them firmly in her heart.

Who knew that details that Chen Chaosheng had never mentioned would be so easily extracted?

“I initially thought it was a kidnapping, and I was worried that, like the kidnapping case involving the shipping magnate that was reported in the newspaper, the child would be killed, so I didn’t dare to make a sound. After waiting for a long time without the kidnappers making a call, I later discovered that the child had been taken away by the driver from back then. I rushed to the driver’s old home in the village, just in time to find that it was on fire.”

Zhu Qing listened quietly.

No wonder the young master in the children's room mentioned that Sheng Wenchang hired bodyguards for him.

"Both adults and children were burned to death."

"This happened decades ago. If the young lady were still alive, she would probably be as old as Madam by now."

It turns out that wealthy families are willing to conceal things, and they can even invalidate a child's birth certificate.

How did you determine that the child was inside?

"Find the jade pendant that the master personally put on his granddaughter's wrist; it rolled out of the thick smoke!"

The secrets of a wealthy family twenty years ago attracted the media, not the police.

The reason the Sheng family concealed the existence of the young master was because they did not want the tragedy to repeat itself.

"The master didn't want this matter to be used as amusement by outsiders, so he kept it a secret—"

Aunt Ping suddenly fell silent, her expression not yet fully turning suspicious, before Madam cleverly interrupted her.

"Aunt Ping's soup-making skills are truly excellent." Zhu Qing leaned forward, her stray hairs brushing against her pale face, steam rising and swirling around her nose. "Could I...?"

After she finished speaking, Aunt Ping dispelled her doubts and handed her the soup bowl with a smile.

"Thank you." Zhu Qing held the bowl with her slender fingertips, her cheeks puffing out as she blew away the oil, revealing a pale pink hue through the mist.

The warmth of the bowl seeped into her palm; the familiar texture of the porcelain bowl reminded her of the hotel kitchen that winter when she was seventeen. The bone china plate shattered, and the supervisor deducted her wages. She squatted down to clean up the shards, her fingertips cut, but she dared not stop.

As the hot soup entered her throat, Zhu Qing's eyelashes fluttered slightly. She drank it all in one gulp, and the satisfied expression vanished in an instant. After putting down the soup bowl, she restrained herself and pursed her lips.

Meanwhile, in the children's room on the third floor, the young master was curled up on the carpet, using binoculars to monitor his opponent.

"I want the bodyguard's bowl of soup." He swallowed, a dimple appearing on his soft cheek. "Three minutes."

The Filipino maid thanked God and rushed downstairs.

The young master is finally willing to eat!

...

In the afternoon, the police left the Sheng family home. The driver shook off the microphone that the TV reporter had handed to him by the window, and the car window was quickly closed.

"The Sheng family was quite straightforward; they immediately called and sent someone to restore the surveillance footage from the renovation period."

"The 'white bone housing' – how much will the price per square meter drop?"

"The world-famous paintings hanging in their entryway are enough to buy half a public housing estate."

"The Sheng family's charitable foundation just donated a shooting training center to the juvenile police academy last year. Do you think the chief superintendent will receive a call from the Sheng family? Things are about to get complicated. These kinds of high-society cases are the most likely to attract attention for procedural loopholes."

Haozai thought and thought: "Could the murderer be a renovation worker? The way the body was hidden is too special. The fireplace was sealed with so many layers of cement. Only a master craftsman with at least twenty years of experience could do that."

It was Mo Zhenbang who stopped Haozai from speculating.

The identity of the remains has not yet been confirmed, and given the insufficient evidence, preconceived notions are meaningless.

The group hastily ate a few mouthfuls of char siu rice and then divided up the tasks to investigate. When they returned to the police station conference room, the sun had just set.

The moment the B team agents sat down on their folding chairs, reports on the progress of the investigation began to rise one after another.

“I just went to the Land Registry to check the property ownership records. The property has been registered under Sheng Wenchang’s name since 1984, and the renovations have been reported three times.” Haozai stood up. “Once it was the conversion of the attic into a wine cellar, once it was the renovation of the back garden, and the most recent one was two years ago, when an intelligent security system was installed.”

Mo Shazhan pasted several photos on the whiteboard, connecting them with clue arrows, and pressed a marker against the whiteboard: "Forensic doctor Xiang found remnants of a bone plate on the deceased's left lower limb. Compare them with the medical records of missing persons, and arrange for the family to identify the body tomorrow."

"The contractor who was in charge of the construction ten years ago now runs a building materials company, and the construction team is not registered."

"The Sheng family's legal team sent over the original construction contract, which only contained a list of the materials purchased."

Mo Shazhan put down his marker and tapped the blackboard with his bent knuckles.

"Haozai and Jiale contacted the jeweler to verify the information of the ring buyer."

“Wing Shan asked the Immigration Department for a list of renovation workers who left Hong Kong after 1984.”

"The housekeeper handed over a list of information on the maids and drivers. Uncle Li, please check if anyone has left their job after the incident."

The meeting room was filled with incessant sighs and lamentations.

"Some changed careers, some went back to their hometowns, and some who did well immigrated. How can we investigate all of this?"

Why don't you mention that there are still people eating royal meals in Stanley?

Someone laughed: "That makes things easier. Just ask the correctional officers for a list, and bring a box of egg tarts when you visit them in prison."

The loud thud of leather shoes hitting the ground interrupted the laughter.

Inspector Weng Zhaolin loosened his tie and glanced at his watch: "The Sheng family's old skeletal remains case has caused a public uproar. The regional headquarters personally called to inquire about it this morning."

The officers exchanged knowing glances, their expressions remaining impassive.

This will delay Inspector Ong's appearance on "Police News".

Everyone quickly lowered their heads and flipped through the documents. Weng Zhaolin's gaze swept over the group of police officers, finally lingering on Zhu Qing's face.

"The new guy?"

“PC33196 Zhu Qing.” She didn’t get up, but turned to ask, “Mr. Mo, am I in charge of the property security patrols?”

"..." The newcomer took on the task himself, and Mo Shazhan chuckled and teased, "Are you the boss and I'm the boss?"

Inspector Weng was taken aback, then tugged at his crisp suit: "Anyway, as soon as possible."

Uncle Li took off his reading glasses and gestured towards the waiter.

After the inspector left, Zeng Yongshan leaned close to Zhu Qing and, mimicking the tone of a senior colleague, spoke softly.

"Well done, young lady, you're truly brave!"

...

The mansion is guarded 24 hours a day.

Zhu Qing received the property management's shift schedule, and Lin Bo, the most senior employee, was scheduled to work the night shift today.

It takes three bus transfers to get from the police station to the Mid-Levels villa; the last bus crosses the sea bridge.

Zhu Qing leaned against the window, the moonlight casting shadows on the pages of her notebook. Known information was listed on the paper, but clues were few and far between. As she pondered, the words turned into meaningless lines, and when she came to her senses again, the lines outlined the stark white bones she had seen that morning.

The night air was pleasant, and when Zhu Qing went up the mountain, it was so quiet that she could only hear her own footsteps.

The homeowner is chauffeured around in luxury cars. Pingjie mentioned that the maids also go to the garage to choose a car to drive away when they go grocery shopping.

Especially today, with the big news happening in the hillside, there wasn't even anyone taking a walk.

Until, a bright light struck.

...

The young master of the Sheng family finally seized the opportunity to steal the key that Marissa was hanging on her waist, and he was fully equipped when he went out.

Little did he know that the searchlight overhead and the military flashlight carefully selected from his father's study would completely expose his location.

The young master was turned into a little chick again, and was lifted up from behind.

His collar tightened, his little feet kicked, and he turned around indignantly.

The female bodyguard carried him with one hand, her left cheek saying "Keep Out" and her right cheek saying "Unapproachable".

Should I notify the housekeeper to pick you up and take you home?

The young master's arrogance weakened: "What do you want?"

The properties in the luxury residential area are scattered and the location of the security guards changes at night, completely different from what is shown on the floor plan, requiring guidance from people inside the residence.

Zhu Qing waved the schedule pasted on the architectural blueprint: "Lead the way."

The young master was reluctant, and the adventure turned into leading the way.

Not far away, the sound of snoring came from the security booth. It was rumored that the security system of the luxury mansion was professional and comprehensive, and that many people would kill to get a job there, but the veteran employee was taking a nap.

Zhu Qing quickened her pace.

The young master, also concerned about his image, quickly regained his composure: "Hey, what's your name?"

I waited for a long time without getting a reply.

"Fine, I won't tell you then." He grinned, revealing his small teeth with an arrogant look. "I won't tell you either. Don't regret it; so many people are trying to hit on me!"

He stood with his hands behind his back, seething with anger, his cheeks bulging even more than the small schoolbag on his shoulders.

The young master didn't give his name, but the gold lettering on his backpack strap had already given him away.

"Hurry up," Zhu Qing said, turning around. "Short-legged Bloom."