Chapter 22 Qinglin Bay

Shi Yuan ignored him, walked past him, nodded to Qi Zhang, and greeted him: "Captain Qi."

"Hello, Comrade Shi. There are still many doubts about Sun Guangyao's case that require your assistance in the investigation," Qi Zhang said politely.

"Of course." Shi Yuan reached out and shook hands with Qi Zhang. "I'll tell you everything I know."

This time, Qi Zhang personally recorded Shi Yuanlu's statement, asking very detailed questions and even directly inquiring about the entanglements between Shi Yuanlu, Sun Guangyao, and the Wu family.

There's nothing to hide; Shi Yuan has said everything that can be said directly.

This includes the incident where Sun Guangyao accepted money from Xie Minyin to monitor her and her daughter, causing Shi Ling to divorce. She was furious and taught Sun Guangyao a lesson, and threatened him to disrupt Yang Fuguo's wedding.

"According to you, you and Sun Guangyao should be adversaries, so why would he listen to you and disrupt the wedding?"

Shi Yuan gestured towards the next room with her chin: "My mother's ex-husband is from the Wu family." Sun Guangyao, fearing retaliation from both sides, could only try to please both.

Upon hearing Shi Yuan's strange description, Qi Zhang paused, recalling Wu Xingzhou's words and attitude towards Shi Yuan, and began to speculate about Shi Yuan's identity.

He was a veteran police officer with many years of experience in solving cases. After making connections, he figured out the relationship between Shi Yuan, Wu Xingzhou, Sun Guangyao, and the person who made the phone call in Beicheng.

Of course, he had some guesses beforehand. The purpose of this inquiry was to thoroughly understand Sun Kuan Yew's network of connections.

Since Shi Yuan had spoken, Qi Zhang asked directly, "So, Wu Xingzhou is yours."

“My mother’s ex-husband’s nephew.”

Qi Zhang's lips twitched, but he still asked, "Is it your cousin?"

"In terms of blood relation, yes."

Qi Zhang nodded and then asked, "You said that Wu Xingzhou contacted you before the police did and hinted that if you went north with him, he would help you settle things with Sun Guangyao?"

Shi Yuan shook her head: "It wasn't an implication, it was an explicit statement." She said, "He was practically threatening me, saying that if I didn't obey, he would get me into legal trouble."

"You suspect that Sun Guangyao's disappearance was orchestrated by Wu Xingzhou to force you to back down?"

"I don't know about that. I just mentioned things related to Sun Guangyao and confirmed that the suspect was a police officer."

She knew, of course, that Wu Xingzhou was just going with the flow in Sun Guangyao's case, but she was quite happy to cause Wu Xingzhou some trouble.

Qi Zhang glanced at Shi Yuan and meticulously noted down Shi Yuan's words: "That's about it. Please, Comrade Shi Yuan, don't leave the town for the time being."

Shi Yuan nodded and said politely, "I'll be there whenever you call."

When Shi Yuan came out, she ran into Xiao Si taking Shi Ling to the interrogation room next door.

This was the first time she and Shi Ling had met after they confirmed that they were truly mother and daughter.

"Mom, I'll wait for you at the door. Don't worry, the police officers are all good people," Shi Yuan reassured her.

Shi Ling nodded, carefully looked Shi Yuan over, and only after confirming that she was alright did she follow Xiao Si into the interrogation room.

I waited at the door for about half an hour before Shi Ling came out.

Shi Ling grabbed Shi Yuan's hand: "You're at the police station so early? Haven't you had breakfast yet?"

Shi Yuan nodded pitifully: "Yes, I'm hungry!"

Shi Ling laughed and said, "I've wanted to go to a state-run restaurant with you for a long time. Come on, it's on me."

"Okay, I want to eat a lot!" Shi Yuan took Shi Ling's arm and leaned slightly towards Shi Ling, a sign of affection.

When Qi Zhang came out with the documents, he saw Shi Ling turn around and smile as she tucked stray hairs behind Shi Yuan's ear.

The morning light shone on Shi Ling's face, highlighting her gentle features. The affection and trust in Shi Yuan's eyes were completely undisguised, unlike her usual subconscious defensiveness when interacting with others.

Qi Zhang suddenly understood why Shi Yuan harbored such deep resentment towards her biological father and stepfather.

He flipped through the documents as he walked toward the bureau chief's office. His subordinates found that Sun Guangyao's last known location was near the black market, after which he vanished into thin air.

He wanted to ask the Seventh Division to assist in the case.

Qi Zhang was having a headache. The director was a stubborn old man who firmly believed that the existence of the Seventh Division was solely for the purpose of swindling funding.

I don't know how long this wrangling will go on.

At the state-run restaurant, Shi Yuan and Shi Ling bought meat buns and wontons, and also ordered a bowl of mixed noodles.

"Is this enough? If not, I'll go buy some more," Shi Ling asked.

"That's enough. Lunch will be served in a little while." Shi Yuan handed over the chopsticks. "You should eat too."

Shi Ling smiled and sat down. Shi Yuan mixed the noodles and gave her half of it. She picked up her chopsticks and started eating.

"By the way, your friend has been waiting outside the yard the whole time. I asked him to come in, but he wouldn't. I felt really bad about it."

"Do you think I should buy him something to thank him?"

Thinking of A-Da's tattered clothes, Shi Yuan casually suggested, "Why don't we buy him some clothes at the supply and marketing cooperative?"

“That’s what I was thinking too,” Shi Ling said with a smile. “We haven’t visited the supply and marketing cooperative together yet, so let’s go after breakfast.”

"Okay." Shi Yuan picked up a spoon, scooped up a spoonful of wontons, and blew on them. "I forgot to buy malted milk powder last time, so I'll buy some this time. You can drink a cup every day."

Shi Ling didn't refuse: "Okay, let's drink together."

The mother and daughter smiled at each other, creating a warm atmosphere.

"Have you heard? That old bastard Sun Guangyao has disappeared!" came the hushed conversation of the guests at the next table.

Shi Yuan and Shi Ling exchanged a glance, then stopped talking and focused on eavesdropping.

"Damn it, this guy still owes me a hundred yuan!"

"You lent him money too?"

What? You borrowed it too!

The man at the next table, who was eating, came over with his bowl of noodles and said, "I also lent him twenty yuan!"

As soon as this man finished speaking, several more people came over from other tables, all of whom were there to lend money to Sun Guangyao.

Shi Yuan casually did the math and wow, it was almost a thousand.

Qi Zhang hadn't told her about Sun Guangyao's plan to flee, but now she had figured it out.

Shi Ling sighed softly, "Sun Kuan Yew is a real scoundrel!"

Shi Yuan deeply agreed.

At the same time, Qi Zhang, who had finally managed to get help from the Seventh Division after a long and heated debate with the bureau chief, walked out of the bureau chief's office and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

The older the bureau chief got, the more stubborn he became. He couldn't help but think about transferring back to Beicheng, but then he remembered that the matter he had been investigating for so many years was finally showing some results, so he held back.

Seventh Public Office

He Tian answered Qi Zhang's call, and after hanging up, he went to find Gu Linyuan.

"Mr. Gu, the police station called and asked us to help them investigate Sun Guangyao's disappearance."

Gu Linyuan tapped his index finger on the desk, signaling He Tian to continue.

"What Captain Qi means is that he has investigated all people and things related to Sun Guangyao and has basically ruled out their involvement in Sun Guangyao's disappearance."

"He took a footprint that was about a foot long at the suspected first scene of Sun Kuan Yew's disappearance."

“They are footprints, not shoe prints,” He Tian explained.

There were no signs of dragging at the scene.

"A normal adult male of normal height and weight disappeared into thin air. Captain Qi suspects it is related to a foreign object."

"Go and follow up on this."

"yes!"

"By the way, Comrade Shi Yuan is also involved in this case. Should we send someone to protect her?"

Gu Linyuan withdrew his hand, his expression softening as he thought of Shi Yuan and her little pet. He said, "No need, she'll be fine."

"Yes, then I'll go to the police station and have a detailed talk with Captain Qi."

After making a big purchase at the supply and marketing cooperative, Shi Yuan and Shi Ling went to the state-run restaurant to pack a meal for A Da.

"Don't bother seeing me off," Shi Ling said. "Captain Qi told you to stay in town, I can go back by myself."

"It's alright, I'll take you home, otherwise I won't feel at ease."

"What's there to worry about?" Shi Ling chuckled. "I've walked this road countless times."

"Just do as I say."

"Alright, then let me tell you the legend of Qinglin Bay."

"I went to ask Sister Mingfen first thing this morning." Her smile hadn't faded. "When the police came, Sister Mingfen had already drunk several cups of tea."

"Then tell me quickly." The Soul Jade had recognized its master, and Shi Yuan was at the peak of her desire to explore this matter.

"It is said that the Yang family ancestors originally did not intend to settle in Qinglin Bay."

When the Yang family patriarch was leading his men to leave, he noticed deep ruts on the mountain. In his youth, he had traveled all over the country and considered himself knowledgeable, so he immediately suspected that someone had smuggled valuables into the mountain to hide them.

At that time, the imperial court was spreading rumors that a corrupt official had been robbed of his property by bandits while retiring to his hometown.

The Yang family patriarch led his men on several patrols of the mountain, but they found no one, and of course, no treasures either.

But in a remote place, he found a row of deep footprints, the kind that would be left by someone carrying a heavy load.

So he sent the most eloquent of his descendants to inquire in the vicinity to see if any hunters had hunted large wild animals.

The result was, of course, no.

Later, the patriarch of the Yang family encountered a wandering hermit who pointed to the mountains and said that there was a faint glowing light there.

The Yang family patriarch invited the extraordinary person to enter the mountain to investigate, but the extraordinary person refused. In his words, he had no interest in worldly treasures, but the extraordinary treasures on the mountain were not for him, so he would not enter the mountain.

The patriarch of the Yang family didn't care about worldly or non-worldly things; he only knew that there was treasure in this mountain!

The Yang family thus settled down in Qinglin Bay.

At that time, Li Mingfen asked, "Is there really a treasure on this mountain?"

“If there were any treasures, they would have been found long ago. Why would we have waited until now?” Li Mingfen slapped her thigh. “The Yang family would have searched every nook and cranny of this mountain hundreds of years ago!”

“I wanted to ask more detailed questions, so the police came over,” Shi Ling said.

Shi Yuan nodded, thought for a moment, and then asked, "Did you tell Huan Ni that the jade pendant is related to the secret of Qinglin Bay?"

Shi Ling nodded: "The extraordinary person that Li Mingfen mentioned is the ancestor of the Shi family."

This was something Shi Yuan had never anticipated.

"I should have told you about the history between the Shi and Wu families a long time ago."

Thinking of Wu Xingzhou, who was seriously injured on the mountain, Shi Yuan couldn't help but say, "The Wu family has been looking for me for more than ten years. Could it also be related to the secret of Qinglin Bay?"

She then recounted how she had rescued Wu Xingzhou on the mountain: "Wu Xingzhou's injuries were very strange."

Shi Ling continued, "Sister Mingfen asked him how he got injured. He said that someone gave him the wrong directions, and he accidentally wandered into a wild boar's den. He ran out with all his might."

“The barefoot doctor examined him. Although he was quite badly injured and had many wounds, they were all superficial, so no one doubted his words.”

Shi Yuan nodded. Wu Xingzhou had always wanted to have an open and honest talk with her, and she thought she could agree.