Floating Island

The car could only drive to the entrance of the village. Chen An closed the car door, put out the cigarette in his hand, and threw it into the trash can on the side of the road.

Uncle Zhao, who lived at the entrance of the village, was the best person for idle villagers to chat with. Chen An walked straight towards him and said, "Uncle."

The villagers who came to chat all backed away from the stranger. Uncle Zhao was also a man who had seen the world. He saw the man standing tall and straight, with an unusual gait, his footsteps firmly on the gravel road. He asked, "What's going on?"

"Do you know any family with the surname Wen in the village?" Chen An took off his sunglasses and half-knelt in front of him.

Uncle Zhao pointed to the southwest and said, "Yes, Ah Hui's last name is Wen."

"Who is Ah Hui?"

"Wen Junhui. He kills fish."

Following Uncle Zhao's words, Chen An found this small vegetable market. A sign with the words "Vegetable Market" was hastily hung on the plastic greenhouse built by the government. Chen An took down the shaky wooden sign. Before he even entered, a strong fishy smell hit him in the face.

He stood at the door and looked around, trying to find Wen Junhui among the fish killers.

"Ah Hui."

As soon as he spoke, the fishmongers and vegetable vendors all looked over and said naturally, "Ah Hui, someone's looking for you."

A few minutes later, a middle-aged man who looked honest and kind came over. He wiped the water off his hands and suddenly found that there were still some fish scales on his fingers. He smiled embarrassedly and put his hands behind his back.

Facing the unfamiliar and somewhat fierce face, he asked in a low voice: "What's the matter?"

Chen An smiled and said familiarly, "Buy fish. I heard you are very skilled at butchering fish."

Wen Junhui's slightly tense shoulders relaxed. He led the man to the stall and said in a cheerful tone, "Do you want the fish head or the body?"

Chen An said, "I want both."

"good."

Wen Junhui was very skilled at killing fish. He knocked the fish unconscious, scraped off its scales, and gutted it. He didn't even blink when the blood splashed on his face.

Chen An looked at it and started talking to him, "Boss, how long have you been doing this?"

Wen Junhui looked up and smiled, "Not long, newbie."

"I don't think you're a novice at this. What did you do before?"

"Before……"

Wen Junhui's hand trembled as he butchered the fish, nearly causing it to slip off the chopping board. He quickly recovered and said, "Unemployed vagrant."

"How could that be? Don't you have a wife and daughter at home?"

His hand touched the screen, and the phone screen suddenly lit up. A somewhat childish face appeared on the screen, and this lock screen happened to be seen by Wen Junhui.

Wen Junhui was stunned for a moment, then slowed down his killing of the fish, a faint smile on his face. "I... have a daughter who studies in another city and hasn't been home for a long time."

"Studying is like this. You're far away from home and can only go back for a few days a year. Just study hard and you'll be fine."

"That's right." Wen Junhui chuckled and then asked Chen An, "Is the boss from here? Why haven't I seen him before?"

"I'm definitely not from here." After probing, Chen An said, "Because I came here to find you."

Wen Junhui's hand froze for a moment, his voice a little hoarse, "Ah, who are you?"

Chen An said, "Officer, can we talk somewhere else?"

Wen Junhui didn't refuse. He followed Chen An to a blind spot in the vegetable market. Chen An asked, "We're investigating a case that might be related to your daughter, so we came to find out more about it."

Hearing that it was about his daughter, Wen Junhui rubbed his hands and asked, "What's the matter?"

"A murder case." Chen An paused for a moment, his eyes fixed on him.

Wen Junhui remained calm, his gaze completely unmoved. Instead, he anxiously asked, "Did something happen to my daughter?"

"How long has it been since you last contacted your daughter?"

"I..." He looked guilty when he mentioned this. "To be honest, I was imprisoned for money laundering a few years ago. My wife left me with our child. I was only released two days ago, so I don't know where my daughter is now."

"Officer, do you know the whereabouts of my daughter?"

Chen An saw that his anxious look didn't seem fake, so he said, "She disappeared after participating in a talent show, and her whereabouts are still unknown."

Wen Junhui's brows were knitted together, and the eyes of this unkempt man were filled with tears of regret. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have done that. If I had stayed with them all these years, she wouldn't have..."

Chen An understood his feelings, patted his arm to comfort him, and left his phone number, "Call me if you remember anything."

Yesterday, Cheng Xiaoxiang sent information about Luo Fanyin to his mobile phone. Luo Fanyin's original name was Wen, and he used to live in Hemu Village.

Zhou Qiong hadn't been contacted yet, and he was a little worried. He was new here, and although he did a good job on his first field mission, he was too reckless this time, didn't report, and now he's out of contact.

I just tested Wen Junhui and he doesn't seem to have any major problems.

Based on the current clues and analysis of the motives, there are only two types of people who killed Tang Xiaoyou.

1. The person who has an enemy with her.

There are five people closely related to Tang Xiaoyou: Li Meng, Wang Yingying, Luo Fanyin, Lin Ran, and Jia Kun. Li Meng and Wang Yingying are hiding something from the police, and this is likely related to Luo Fanyin. Could it be that Tang Xiaoyou was responsible for Luo Fanyin's disappearance?

Lin Ran had very few interactions with her. Except for the time when he first entered "Mengdie", they had almost no interactions in the following years, and Lin Ran's motive for murder has not been found yet.

As for Jia Kun, insiders revealed that he and Tang Xiaoyou had always had a close relationship. Jia Kun had no family, and with so many young women in the company, he had plenty of playmates, including Tang Xiaoyou. She had always been close to Jia Kun before her transfer was announced. Her absence was brief, and Jia Kun's reaction to her disappearance was... fear. Yes! Fear! He was afraid he wouldn't complete his mission, so he wouldn't kill Tang Xiaoyou.

After much thought, the secret still lies with Luo Fanyin.

2. Someone in the company discovered that she was about to run away, and was afraid that she would reveal the secret of "Mengdie" so they chose to kill her to silence her.

The only people who would do this are the company's management, but Jia Kun, the management, wouldn't kill her, and Guo Yan was also terrified about it. Unless... she told this to someone she depended on.

And that man killed her.

but why?

The phone in his pocket vibrated. Zhou Qiong, who had been out of contact all night, finally sent a message after unlocking the screen. He felt relieved when he learned that Zhou Qiong was now living in Wen Junhui's house. He couldn't lose the intern just after reporting for work. If the news got out, Han Ming and Xun Muke would be very angry.

Chen An briefly told him what was discussed in the meeting and his meeting with Wen Junhui.

"Then Captain Chen, should I go back to the police station with you?"

Chen An was about to say yes, but a slight change in Wen Junhui's mood got on his nerves.

His forehead twitched slowly, and then he unconsciously pushed his cheek up, "No, you stay with him."

"Sister Meng, what's wrong with you?" Wang Yingying thoughtfully brought her a glass of warm water. "Have you been absent-minded lately?"

Li Meng came back to her senses and saw a dark bruise on her eyes that could not be covered up even with foundation. She did not dare to look up, and her loose hair covered this side of her face.

"It's okay. I haven't had much rest lately."

"Ah?" Wang Yingying said worriedly, "Do you want to go and take a look? The new member meeting will be in two days. Sister Meng, you must not collapse."

The warm hand covered the cold back of Li Meng's hand, making her feel a little warm. Finally, she raised her head and smiled at her, "I'm fine."

Wang Yingying's face was rosy, and she seemed to be in a much better mood. She stood up and said, "Brother Kun asked me to go to the office. I'll go there. You should have a good rest."

Li Meng nodded and watched her leave the lounge. She took a deep breath and drank a few sips of the warm water on the table. She'd been plagued by nightmares for the past few days. Sometimes it was the woman in white she'd seen outside the window that day, sometimes it was the eve of her debut, dressed beautifully. No matter how the dream shifted, a blurry face and a resentful gaze fixed firmly on her face.

She feels guilty.

Tang Xiaoyou's death was like a wake-up call. When others heard this wake-up call, they would be surprised, hesitant, and then keep their mouths shut. But for her, this wake-up call was like a siren to catch a criminal. She fled in all directions, but could not escape the predicament of being surrounded.

She never told me that she had a photo from many years ago hidden in her old jacket. In the photo, the four people who were about to debut had name tags on their chests without names, only numbers: Tang Xiaoyou, Wang Yingying, her and... Luo Fanyin.

"Luo Fanyin, female, 18 years old, participated in the talent show 'Star With You' in 2018." Cheng Xiaoxiang posted a photo in the middle and crossed out the number 18. "Real age 15."

"At the time, talent shows were all the rage. Luo Fanyin had her own show and, with the tacit approval of the production team, successfully participated in it. With her beautiful face and talent, she was voted by the public as the trainee most likely to debut."

"But she didn't make her debut," Bai Shuo continued. "In early 2019, just before her debut night, news broke that she had withdrawn from the competition. After that, it was as if she had vanished from the face of the earth. There has been no news of her since."