Chapter 131 Did you meet that woman again?

Through Meng Lan's brief description, several people who had participated in the investigation of the case remembered it. They looked at each other without any expression on their faces, but with tacit understanding.

Guan Xia also subconsciously turned her head to look at Pang Le, and sure enough, she saw the same thoughtful expression on Pang Le's face.

Guan Xia noticed that Meng Lan was a little nervous and stuffed the water cup into her hand.

Meng Lan unconsciously took it and gently stroked it. Gradually, her emotions calmed down, and she slowly said, "At first, the middle-aged woman was very normal. She was just very warm and gentle and asked me what difficulties I had encountered. She also said that she and I were strangers and that I didn't need to worry about her telling others."

Meng Lan clenched her cup, her brow furrowed. "I had a little argument with my parents, and I was completely devastated that day. I really couldn't find anyone to talk to, so I told her. I thought she'd comfort me, tell me things like, 'Everything will pass,' and 'I need to move on.' But after listening to me, she actually asked me if I was in pain and if I wanted revenge."

Guan Xia's eyelids jumped when he heard this. The word "revenge" really sounded very familiar. In the 0129 case that was investigated 21 years ago, these two words led to a criminal organization that had been hidden for who knows how long and is still under investigation.

Pang Le asked, "And then? What else did she tell you?"

Meng Lan tightened her grip on the cup, her expression filled with panic and confusion, and she said, "I was startled at the time and thought she was weird. How could you comfort a stranger like that? It sounded like she was instigating me to kill someone. I didn't dare tell her after that and wanted to leave. But the takeaway I ordered hadn't arrived yet, so I wanted to stay away. Before I got up, I heard her tell me that she understood me very well. There is always injustice in this world. Good people don't get rewarded, and bad people hurt others wantonly but don't get the punishment they deserve. Instead, good people bear it all, and even in the end they just find a quiet corner to end their lives, not wanting to cause trouble for others. She used to be like that too, but then she suddenly figured it out. Why, why should good people be bullied and have their dignity wantonly hurt and trampled upon?"

Meng Lan paused here, as if a little embarrassed, and lowered her head slightly, making it impossible to see her eyes clearly.

Meng Lan said, "I don't want to hide it from you, Guan Xia. When I heard this, I actually felt some resonance. I couldn't understand it either. Although I'm a girl, I have a normal IQ and all my limbs are intact. Why did they abandon me? If my family was really too poor and couldn't support me, I could convince myself, but what did I see when I went back? They have their own companies, live in villas, and drive luxury cars. You have no idea how shocked and inferior I was when I saw my sister. We are obviously sisters, and there's not much age difference between us, but we don't look like blood relatives at all. She is confident and calm, while I have been nervous and scared since I even entered that family. I envy and I am jealous."

Meng Lan seemed to be completely immersed in her memories. She spoke very frankly without hiding anything, and even now there was a hint of pain in her expression.

Guan Xia quickly patted her soothingly.

Zhong Xiaoyu, who was sitting next to her, also put his hand on her back in a familiar manner, and soothed her slowly and gently as if coaxing a child.

Meng Lan was silent for a few seconds, her eyes clear again, but her face still had a look of pain. She whispered, "What I can't accept the most is that they later had enough money to support many children, but they never thought of looking for me, leaving me alone and wandering outside. How could they be so cruel? They had three children, but they only wanted to abandon me. Why? Just because I'm the middle one? But I'm also a person. I am their child just like my sister and brother. I have flesh and blood, thoughts and feelings."

Meng Lan's tone was not hysterical, but rather calm. However, it was precisely because of her calmness that Guan Xia could feel her inner confusion and hatred.

Guan Xia increased the strength of her hands to let Meng Lan know that he was by her side.

But my mind couldn't help but think of the scene I had seen in the surveillance video before, the figure staggering and struggling towards the door.

Because she was facing away from the camera, Guan Xia couldn't see Meng Lan's expression at all in the surveillance video, and she couldn't help but guess.

What was Meng Lan thinking at that moment? Was she pained that her parents had abandoned her again without hesitation, or was she pained that she had just found her biological parents but was now about to lose them again? Or was she firmly encouraging herself to go on living?

The more Guan Xia thought about it, the sadder she became. Her mind was in a mess. It was Zhong Xiaoyu's words that brought her back to her senses.

Guan Xia heard Zhong Xiaoyu say, "Don't punish yourself for the mistakes of others. It's already amazing that you've managed to survive until now."

Zhong Xiaoyu showed such a gentle expression for the first time, and said in a very gentle tone: "Don't be obsessed with wanting others to love you. You must first learn to love yourself, and then teach others how to love you."

Meng Lan was stunned by Zhong Xiaoyu's words. Then, as if she suddenly realized what she was saying, her expression was a little unnatural. She pursed her lips and said, "It's all in the past. There were many things I couldn't figure out before, but after this year, although I haven't completely let it go, I don't care much anymore."

Meng Lan smiled twice to hide her feelings, and then said, "It's been too long since I last reminisced about the past, and I can't help but get off topic. Let's get back to talking about that woman."

Meng Lan's expression changed, and she said solemnly, "I really felt that there was something wrong with that woman. I felt a little bit of resonance at the time. I wanted to leave, but just as I lifted my butt, I sat back down. Although I didn't really agree with the woman, perhaps my expression revealed my true thoughts. The woman suddenly changed the subject and asked me again if I wanted revenge."

Meng Lan said: "After this incident, even if I was dumb, I knew this woman was serious. I even observed her expression and saw she was very serious. I was a little scared at the time and vaguely thought she might have some mental illness. I didn't dare say anything to provoke her, so I just went along with her and asked her how she wanted revenge."

Guan Xia subconsciously sat up straight, vaguely feeling that Meng Lan had finally gotten to the point.

Guan Xia noticed from the corner of her eye that everyone around her, including Qi Bai, was listening very seriously and concentrating.

Meng Lan continued, "I originally thought that woman was going to give me some advice, but she told me it wasn't my business. As long as I wanted revenge, I would get it. She also slipped me a note. I was so scared that I didn't dare to open it until she left. It was a website."

When Guan Xia heard the word "website", her eyelids jumped again.

She remembered Xu Nian telling her that when they were investigating the suspect Lu Manqing in case 0129, they accidentally got a URL that turned out to be a forum. They also accidentally discovered another murder case that was suspected to be similar to case 0129. However, that case was later transferred to the special task force set up by the provincial department, and they did not know what the specific outcome was.

Sure enough, just as Guan Xia was thinking this, she heard Xu Nian ask, "Did you open that website address later? Is the note still there, or did you write down the website address?"

After three questions in a row, Meng Lan subconsciously looked at Xu Nian, thought for a moment, and answered, "I didn't dare open the website because I was worried about a virus or something. I didn't dare keep the note, but I took a photo, and it's still in my phone."

Meng Lan said this as she let go of the cup of water she had been holding and frantically searched for her phone. After a while of busy work, she finally found the photo in the album.

After handing the phone over, everyone immediately stood up and gathered around. Wang Yu only took a few glances and said with certainty, "It's different from the website we found before."

Jiang Yingyao said: "If this URL can be opened now, it means that there are many different URLs at the same time. It may be divided by region, or it may be divided by the size of the fundamental target. If it cannot be opened now, it means that the URL is temporary and the domain name will be changed frequently for security reasons."

Meng Lan only half understood what was said, but seeing that everyone was discussing it seriously, she didn't raise any questions and just tried to listen.

Qi Bai asked tentatively: "Should we try to open it now?"

Wang Yu added, "My advice is not to. No one knows if these websites might have embedded programs for security reasons that will automatically download and install surveillance programs as soon as they are opened. To be on the safe side, let's go back to the branch and find our colleagues in the cybersecurity department, or report it to the task force and have them investigate."

Meng Lan finally couldn't help but ask, "Wait a minute, I want to ask, are you saying that the cases you investigated before had similar situations to mine?"

Everyone turned to look at her. Meng Lan's scalp tingled at the sight, and she quickly said, "I know you have confidentiality regulations. Guan Xia told me about it, and I didn't mean to pry. I just wanted to know that I wasn't overthinking it, and that there was something wrong with that woman."

Xu Nian thought for a moment before saying, "Your case is indeed not an isolated case. We will investigate the woman you mentioned, but we are not in a position to disclose the details of the case."

Meng Lan waved her hand and said, "That's all I need to know. I sometimes wondered if I was overthinking things, and sometimes I felt I should trust my intuition. I also considered telling Guan Xia, but I felt she's never been very courageous, and even if I told her, it would only make her worry as much as I do. Fortunately, she met you guys, and I was finally able to express my doubts."

After taking several photos of the photo to make sure they were saved on their phones, everyone sat down again.

Zhong Xiaoyu suddenly noticed that the pot was boiling at this time. She quickly picked up a plate of meat and poured it in. At the same time, she called out to the others, "You were talking so much that you didn't notice the pot was boiling. Hurry up and put the meat in. There are so many people. Put all the meat in. Let's eat and talk at the same time."

Qi Bai also jumped up and started to work. Although Jiang Yingyao didn't say much, he was obviously very hungry. He followed suit and scooped up all the plates of meat.

The beef slices were very thin and cooked through in just one or two minutes. Everyone ate while continuing to listen to Meng Lan.

Zhong Xiaoyu picked up a large piece of beef with chopsticks and stuffed it into her mouth. She asked vaguely, "What happened next? Did you meet that woman again? Did she really help you get revenge? Or was she just talking?"

Meng Lan seemed to be in a much better mood. She scooped a few slices of beef into the bowl and dipped them in the sauce while saying, "I only met her that one time and never ran into her again. If it weren't for that note, I really thought I was dreaming. But just when I thought that woman was just talking and had completely forgotten about it, something happened that reminded me of her again."

Zhong Xiaoyu immediately perked up after hearing this, and looked at her with sparkling eyes, "What happened?"

Pang Le also looked curious. While putting meat into his and Guan Xia's bowls, he stared at Meng Lan.

Meng Lan said, "That happened after I inherited the estate. During that time, my sister was constantly teaching me how to deal with the old people in the company, practically teaching me how to familiarize myself with the company. She specifically mentioned a person to me, a partner of the company I inherited. My sister said he had been working with my parents for several years. He was capable, but had a very bad character. From what she knew, he seemed to have some leverage over my parents and had taken a lot of money from the company over the years. Now that I've inherited the company, he's very likely to cause trouble for me."

Guan Xia paused while eating, and she thought of a person who could be said to be the culprit of everything that happened. She was also wondering how Meng Lan dealt with him, but she didn't expect that it was that organization that did it.

This is a bit strange. Guan Xia frowned. This doesn’t seem like the style of that criminal organization.

From what she knew, that criminal organization claimed to be doing justice for the people and showed no mercy when killing people. Every victim was killed with a single blow. It didn't sound like they were from the same group.

The others probably also felt that something was wrong, so they stopped eating frantically and listened attentively to what Meng Lan said.

Meng Lan said: "I was worried about this for a long time. While I was trying to familiarize myself with the company's various businesses, I was also frantically looking up information and thinking of countermeasures in private. After a while, that person not only didn't show up, but I also heard that his son was kidnapped and seriously injured. I was discussing with my sister whether we should go to the hospital to check it out, but before we could come to a conclusion, I heard that his son had gone abroad overnight. I felt something was wrong. My sister told me that the person had a bad character and offended too many people, and finally got retribution. But I can't help but think of that middle-aged woman. I think everything is too coincidental. Another thing is that since I met that woman, I don't know if it's my illusion, I always feel that someone is following me from time to time."

Meng Lan frowned in distress. "I told my sister about it, and she even found two bodyguards for me, but they never found anything."

Guan Xia asked, "Have you called the police?"

Meng Lan shook her head. "No, I hesitated before about whether to call the police, but my sister told me that since the bodyguards didn't find anything, it should be fine. Maybe it's because I just inherited the company, and the employees and partners in the company are paying special attention to me, so wherever I go, people can't help but look at me. It will be fine after a while."

Meng Lan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I really didn't have that feeling anymore, so I didn't call the police."

Guan Xia asked, "About when did the feeling of being followed disappear?"

Meng Lan thought for a moment and said, "It was about half a month after that man's son went abroad. It's been a year now, and I still have that feeling occasionally, but it's so rare that I can't remember exactly. It's probably about four or five times in total."

Guan Xia fell into deep thought after listening to this. Four or five times, that means about once every two or three months on average. It sounds like a routine observation. This action is somewhat consistent with Guan Xia's stereotype of that criminal organization.