A shady food stall.
Huo Yunchao and Zheng Fang, dressed in plainclothes, ate skewers in a quiet back room. Huo Yunchao had always been very disciplined; he ate in the school cafeteria when he was a student and mainly ate work meals after starting his own business. He rarely ate in places like this. But today, Captain Zheng was treating.
“Mr. Huo,” Zheng Fang lowered his voice, “our police have to follow many procedures when handling cases. Sometimes, too many rules cause us to miss many opportunities. We’ve been able to solve these cases so quickly thanks to your help. Let’s have a drink.”
"You're welcome. I'm just trying to help myself." Huo Yunchao, holding a can of beer, lightly bumped it against his.
After drinking, Zheng Fang picked up another bite of food. "We checked the surveillance footage near Yu Xue's community and identified a Santana with the license plate ending in 49. The owner is from out of town, named Pan Jilu, and his main job is driving unlicensed taxis. When we went to arrest him, he was playing mahjong; he lost all the money he earned from driving unlicensed taxis on mahjong."
Huo Yunchao listened attentively.
"After we took him in to give a statement, Pan Jilu confessed that it was Feng Zhong, the manager of Youyue Club, who instructed him. They were from the same hometown. He even produced records of money transfers from Feng Zhong to him. When we went to arrest Feng Zhong, he initially denied it, but after confronting Pan Jilu, he finally admitted it through gritted teeth, though he denied having any behind-the-scenes involvement."
"It seems like the case has been solved, but there is still one major doubt: Feng Zhong's motive for killing Yu Xue is not valid. We are still one small step away from finding the mastermind behind it all."
Huo Yunchao tapped his beautiful fingers on the table, dipped them in water, and wrote the character "花" (flower). "Captain Zheng, I provided you with the surveillance footage from the Youyue Club on the day my girlfriend had the accident. Not only was Yu Xue there, but there was another person present, namely Hua Yin, the head of the Hua Group. Hua Yin is a VIP at the club."
Zheng Fang shrugged, leaned back in his chair, and stretched his legs out far forward. "This is far from enough."
That's not enough.
"Has Captain Zheng paid any attention to the Xue family's illegal business case that's been making headlines online these past two days?" Huo Yunchao asked another question.
“You must have heard of it. I have a friend who graduated from police academy and later went to the Economic Crime Investigation Department. They invited Hua Yin for tea. But in the end, he was released on bail by Attorney Wu because of insufficient evidence.”
Zheng Fang was disappointed; very few of these wealthy people were honest. Then he looked at Huo Yunchao, the wealthy man in front of him. "Do you know the source of that information? The Economic Investigation Department tried to find the source but couldn't. Experts suspect that top hackers were providing cover. Everyone can only laugh at themselves, saying that there are real experts among ordinary people, and netizens these days are really amazing."
Huo Yunchao poured Zheng Fang a full glass, saying, "Captain Zheng, you're going to owe me a favor again. The source of the original post has been traced back to Huading's secret server."
Zheng Fang was stunned by the news; his scalp tingled, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "So, you mean this is an escalation of the internal conflict between Huading and the Hua family?"
"Huading has collaborated with the Hua family and the former Xue family. Captain Zheng, let's make a bold guess. Assuming the leak online is true, how would Huading know? This means he was involved. Afterwards, there might have been disagreements over the division of spoils, or new conflicts arose. And coincidentally, on that day, my girlfriend wanted to negotiate with Gao Qiang, a major client, and Hua Yin bumped into her. Hua Yin, along with the club manager, set a trap for Gao Qiang. If Hua Yin can even betray his former employer, then swindling his former employer's daughter and a partner's associate is no big deal, right? So, conversely, Gao Ruhai's side turned around and accused Hua Yin. They just didn't want to openly expose the affair, so they covered up the source of the information, but unfortunately, the information was eventually intercepted." Huo Yunchao meticulously analyzed the situation, making an extremely bold assumption.
That sounds reasonable, but there are still some loose ends. "Then what does this have to do with Yu Xue's car accident?"
"You forgot, Yu Xue is from Huading, and she's Gao Qiang's most capable subordinate. She knew something that led to her being silenced. The club incident was just the trigger."
That makes sense now. Zheng Fang gave Huo Yunchao another deep look. This young entrepreneur was bold, meticulous, and shrewd. If he used his intelligence to commit crimes, the police would have a real headache.
Huo Yunchao lowered his eyes and smiled faintly, "Don't worry, I really am a law-abiding citizen, and everything I've done is just to protect the people I care about. Captain Zheng, you're a trustworthy friend, aren't you?"
Fortunately, even highly intelligent people have weaknesses, and Zheng Fang felt relieved. "Mr. Huo, why are you willing to tell me so much?" They didn't seem to be that close.
"Because of your resume," Huo Yunchao said, stopping short of stating the obvious.
Zheng Fang pinched the bridge of his nose. This guy couldn't possibly infiltrate anywhere he wanted, could he? That's terrifying. "Regarding Gao Qiang's case, the trial will begin soon. But currently, we only have confessions. As you know, evidence includes witnesses, physical evidence, and confessions. A confession alone is not enough for a conviction, at least not enough to meet your expectations."
The phone rang, and Huo Yunchao answered it, saying, "You're being a jerk."
About ten minutes later, Gu Fan appeared in the private room. He carried a briefcase and immediately turned on the computer inside. "I received an anonymous file containing information about the long-term relationship between Feng Zhong, the manager of Youyue Club, and Hua Yin. In it, Feng Zhong even handled several shady cases for Hua Yin. Oh, and there's an audio file too."
Gu Fan clicked to take a look.
"Is it cleaned up?" That was Hua Yin's voice.
“Don’t worry, she won’t see the sun tomorrow.” This was Feng Zhong. “Sir, why are you so…”
"Being caught by her twice is always a potential problem." This statement carried a sense of determination and ruthlessness.
Although it wasn't explicitly stated who "she" was, everyone knew perfectly well that she was Yu Xue.
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