0038 Looking for someone
After finishing his last exam, Song Ning traveled light to the unit where Shen Jiayi was temporarily stationed.
Shen Jiayi's unit was located in the south-central part of my country, in a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of a province and a major manufacturing base. However, when Song Ning arrived at the airport, he almost thought he had gone to the wrong place.
Having traveled to many places in China, she had never seen any airport in China so rudimentary; it was like accidentally wandering into a run-down convenience store in front of an elementary school.
Fortunately, as soon as Song Ning exited the airport, she saw Shen Jiayi, who was dressed in a cool military uniform, and she realized that she had not gone to the wrong place.
The two got into the car.
Shen Jiayi drove her SUV and laughed heartily: "Why did you come here as soon as the holiday started? I thought you would be all lovey-dovey with Xiao Xiu and spend the whole winter break together."
I knew it! Her husband's news travels really fast!
"I missed you," Song Ning said with a grin.
"Liar." Shen Jiayi knew it was a lie, but she still grinned. "Speak, what do you want from me?"
"Your car is so cool. Is it from the military?" Song Ning patted the seat, showing great interest in this large off-road vehicle.
"What are you thinking? I bought it myself. It's very sturdy, even bulletproof," Shen Jiayi teased Song Ning.
Song Ning flicked her finger against the car window and, following Shen Jiayi's joke, said, "I really want to try it. How about I throw a stone here later and see if it breaks?"
"Then I'll throw you into the mountains and make you an extra meal for the wolves," Shen Jiayi deliberately threatened Song Ning.
Song Ning scoffed softly. This kind of intimidation was only good for scaring the kids in the house; she wasn't buying it at all.
Shen Jiayi is always straightforward and doesn't beat around the bush. She said directly, "I can only take half a day off. I wasted half of it just picking you up. If you don't get down to business, this trip will have been a waste."
"What am I supposed to do if you go back to your unit? I specially took a 3-hour flight to see you." Song Ning said with a displeased look.
Although she did come because she had something to do, her visit to see Shen Jiayi was genuine.
"There's nothing I can do. I've already used up all my leave, and the team's been busy lately. Just bear with it and go have some fun by yourself." Shen Jiayi raised her hand and ruffled Song Ning's hair, almost like she was coaxing a child.
This time, Song Ning didn't dodge and obediently sat down to let Shen Jiayi massage her.
"Oh?" Shen Jiayi raised her voice, withdrew her hand and continued driving, "You must have something to tell me, otherwise why would you be so obedient?"
"Yes, there's something I'd like to ask you for help with." Song Ning knew that Shen Jiayi never lied, so she didn't waste any more time and stated the purpose of her visit. "A few days ago, I received a letter asking you to help investigate the sender and... what his relationship is with my parents."
Shen Jiayi turned the steering wheel, stepped on the brake, and pulled the car over to the side of the road: "Xiao Xiu already called me about this. Do you still want me to help you investigate? Aren't you afraid I'll collude with him?"
Song Ning had long guessed that Shen Yuxiu would call Shen Jiayi. She knew very well that Song Ning didn't trust many people, and her only choice was Shen Jiayi. She nodded: "Sister Jiayi, I only trust you."
"Haha. I really want to know if Xiao Xiu would change his perpetually unyielding face if he heard this." Shen Jiayi rested one hand on the steering wheel and teased, "But this is his own fault. I told him a long time ago not to always treat you like a child who never grows up, but he just wouldn't listen. Now he's getting his comeuppance."
Song Ning didn't respond. The thought of Shen Yuxiu stopping her from investigating her parents made her feel uneasy.
"Don't look so gloomy. You know that's just his personality. If it were someone else, do you think he would care?" Shen Jiayi took the opportunity to pat Song Ning's head to comfort him, her expression as if to say, "I have to take this opportunity to pat him a little longer."
"Sister Jiayi, will you help me?" Song Ning asked with a troubled expression, her eyes filled with tears. She looked less eccentric than usual and rather pitiful.
Unfortunately, Shen Jiayi wasn't having it: "The letter is easy to handle, but I can't help you with your parents' matter."
"Why?" Song Ning knew that Shen Jiayi had seen through her pretense, so she simply stopped pretending. She wiped away the tears that had welled up in her eyes with the pad of her thumb.
"Don't worry, I didn't say I wouldn't help." Shen Jiayi opened the storage compartment, rummaged through the neatly arranged items and pulled out a business card holder, took out a card and handed it to Song Ning, "Go find this man, he can help you."
Song Ning took the business card, which read "Kouqiao Detective Agency, Private Investigator Lin Kou" along with contact information and address.
"Is this person reliable?" Song Ning asked, looking at the pun on the detective agency's name, "硞乔" (Ao Qiao) which sounds like "鹊桥" (Magpie Bridge). "To me, it looks like a company that investigates other people's infidelity."
"Haha..." Shen Jiayi slapped the steering wheel and burst into laughter. After she stopped laughing, she said, "He's an amateur, but he's very capable. The important thing is that he doesn't like Xiao Xiu, so if you go to him, just say that Xiao Xiu doesn't want you to investigate, and he'll dig up even the color of Xiao Xiu's underwear for you."
She didn't need him to dig; she knew that he was just like his personality—white on the outside, dark on the inside. His wardrobe basically only contained two colors, with only occasional touches of gray.
"Are you really not going to help me investigate?" Song Ning tried to seize one last chance. When it came to her parents, she trusted no one except Shen Jiayi.
“No way.” Shen Jiayi sat up straight, started the engine, and laughed. “I’m just like Xiao Xiu; neither of us can be that kind of person.”
Although Shen Jiayi was very touched by Song Ning's trust in her, she still let Song Ning down.
She and Shen Yuxiu both cared about Song Ning, and because they cared, they were selfish. Neither of them could bear the consequences of telling Song Ning the truth, so the only thing they could do was not deceive her, nor stop her.
She really didn't know what else she could do to be worthy of the person who led her into the army and into the country.
After settling Song Ning in, Shen Jiayi returned to her unit. As soon as she left, Song Ning, who was alone in the hotel, immediately called the detective named Lin Wei.
Hello, who is this?
The other person had a clear, loud voice, sounding like a carefree young man. Just as Song Ning was about to speak, she heard a woman's breathing sound coming from the other end of the phone.
"Lin Kui, what are you doing?"
"What are you doing? I'm on the phone."
"Ouch...it hurts, it hurts, it hurts...hang up from me."
"Why would I hang up? Hey, can you please stop yelling? People will think we're doing something funny."
"Who told you to give me a massage while answering the phone?"
"Okay, okay, damn it, this is such a hassle."
The man, seemingly unable to bear the woman's complaints, said into the phone, "Sorry, I'm giving my girlfriend a massage right now. Call me back in two hours."
After saying that, the other party hung up the phone without waiting for Song Ning to speak.
Song Ning picked up the business card in her hand and looked at it. She couldn't help but send a text message to Shen Jiayi.
Is the person you recommended to me really reliable?
Soon, Song Ning received a reply.
[He's not a very reliable person, but he gets things done.]
Song Ning remained silent.
This reply is not convincing at all.
Two hours later, Song Ning called Lin Hui again, still with that same carefree voice.
"Hello?"
Song Ning: "Is it Lin Hong from the Qiao Detective Agency?"
"Yes, it's me. So, what do you want?"
Song Ning was somewhat speechless: "My name is Song Ning. I originally wanted to ask you to help me investigate something, but now... I'm sorry to bother you."
Song Ning simply couldn't trust such a person; he was incredibly thick-skinned. How could she possibly believe anything he investigated?
Song Ning hung up the phone before the other party could respond, but before she could even put the phone down, the other party called back, speaking excitedly: "Don't hang up, I'm investigating!"
"No need." Song Ning gave him the last bit of face, considering it as giving Shen Jiayi some respect.
"No way. Look it up online, the 702 major case and the 916 shooting case, I helped solve them both. If you hadn't asked Song Ning, I wouldn't have helped." The other party seemed to sense Song Ning's concerns and tried his best to persuade him.
Song Ning was momentarily taken aback by him. She had indeed seen these two major cases in the news. Now that he mentioned them, and remembering that Shen Jiayi was always steady and wouldn't recommend people to her indiscriminately, she calmed herself down and decided to talk to this person again: "You know me?"
Lin Kui gave an "oh," his voice sounding somewhat nonchalant: "Shen Jiayi just called me and told me about the thing you wanted to investigate, which I'm very interested in."
Lin Kui emphasized the word "special," his tone sounding strange, as if he were both excited and gloating.
"What did she tell you?" Song Ning asked.
"He didn't say much, just that Shen Yuxiu wouldn't allow me to investigate this case. Since he wouldn't allow it, I have to investigate it as hard as I can, investigate it to the death, and make sure I find out every single detail, down to the last hair."
"..."
The other party seemed to sense Song Ning's displeasure and apologized insincerely: "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot you're his lover."
Song Ning thought he hadn't forgotten: "Do you have a grudge against him?"
"No." Before Song Ning could ask why she hated him so much if they had no grudge, the other person added, "I just don't like the look of him. Oh, I forgot, you're his girlfriend."
Now Song Ning understood that he not only disliked Shen Yuxiu, but also disliked her.
Song Ning never suffers a loss, and decisively retaliated: "I think we should forget about the matter I want to investigate. With such a bad memory, I'm afraid you'll need the traffic police to personally take you home just for turning a corner."
The atmosphere on the other end was tense, and no one spoke for a moment. Then, unexpectedly, someone screamed, "Damn it, why did you hit me? She was mocking me!"
"You provoked us first, you deserve it." It was the woman's voice from that afternoon.
The man cursed under his breath again and apologized to Song Ning, this time with a more sincere tone: "I'm sorry, let's get down to business. I believe that in all of China, you won't find a second person more suitable to investigate your case than me."
Song Ning had the information, but the person wasn't willing. If Shen Jiayi hadn't recommended this person, Song Ning wouldn't have wanted to talk to him for even a minute longer: "Fine, tell me how much you know."
The two chatted about the general situation. Lin Hui didn't really know much; most of what he knew was information he could find online. Song Ning didn't trust him yet, so she only briefly mentioned her situation and doubts over the phone.
During the conversation, Song Ning discovered that this person was not as oblivious as she had imagined. In fact, he was very good at observing people's emotions and always got to the heart of the matter when it came to the case.
After hanging up the phone, Song Ning went online to look up information about Lin Kai. There was very little information about him, almost none.
Song Ning then looked up the two cases he mentioned online. At the time, both cases were considered extremely serious, and there was a lot of information available. Song Ning was able to find a lot of information with just a quick look.
Song Ning quickly looked through the information and indeed found the name Lin Kui.
The description is brief, just a sentence, but it does mention that he, as a concerned citizen, provided clues in the case, helping the police solve it.
After confirming that Lin Wei was not lying, Song Ning sent him a message to confirm the time and place of their meeting.
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