Floating Island
Municipal Bureau
Cheng Xiaoxiang said: "We retrieved the surveillance footage from the Dream Butterfly building and found that Tang Xiaoyou really disappeared out of thin air. She had been missing since we received the report on July 21st."
This was expected. Nothing unusual was found when the missing person was reported. Tang Xiaoyou just suddenly disappeared from the company.
Lu Yuyao added the surveillance footage of Tang Xiaoyou's body being found in the urban-rural fringe area. "This location is quite remote, and the surveillance isn't very complete. We only captured blurry footage. Around the 24th, Tang Xiaoyou's body floated down from upstream and got caught on a crooked tree. We concluded the body was likely dumped upstream. Cheng Xiaoxiang and I walked a few kilometers along the river and found a small village."
"Hemu Village, a village with simple folk customs."
Chen An looked at the photos they took and said, "The village doesn't look very big."
"Yes," Cheng Xiaoxiang said, "Lu Yuyao and I asked several elderly people in the village, but no one knew about this."
Chen An frowned, "Keep an eye on it." He nodded at Bai Shuo, "What about you?"
"Tang Xiaoyou's social media accounts have all been handed over to the company, including VB and VX. Her last phone call was around 4:00 PM on the 20th, to Jia Kun."
Chen An nodded, walked to the whiteboard, and began to sort out the clues he had obtained so far. "On July 20th, the decision was made to transfer Tang Xiaoyou from R&E. I heard from internal employees that she had a big argument with Jia Kun, the manager of Area C, that day. Tang Xiaoyou and Jia Kun had a special relationship. The phone call was probably made to plead for mercy. When her plea failed, Tang Xiaoyou packed up and fled the company alone. Four days later, Tang Xiaoyou's body was found. Lin Ran, the anonymous whistleblower, met with me. He said that Tang Xiaoyou was targeted by a financial sponsor and was forced to leave the team."
"Financial sponsor..." The two words were heavily circled in red ink. "What kind of financial sponsor would terrify Tang Xiaoyou so much that he would flee the company rather than face the issue?"
Lu Yuyao had an idea. "Besides, Wang Yingying and Li Meng both mentioned a person, Luo Fanyin, who was taken away by a financial sponsor. From this, it can be seen that this so-called person who was taken away by the financial sponsor is most likely a criminal gang, such as those involved in organ trafficking, trafficking women, and organizing pornographic activities."
Chen An closed the pen cap. "Neither of them is telling the truth. Split up. Bai Shuo, find out who this Luo Fanyin is. Lu Yuyao and you continue to keep an eye on Li Meng and Wang Yingying." Looking around, he realized someone was missing. "Where's Zhou Qiong?"
Cheng Xiaoxiang said: "Oh, he is already in Hemu Village."
Lu Yuyao also said, "Don't say that this new guy, Xiao Zhou, is incredibly hardworking. He's always so energetic when he's out on the field looking for clues." She sighed and shook her head, "Young people are just full of energy, after all."
Hemu Village was almost close to Yanbian County. Zhou Qiong wandered around the village with a notebook. He wanted to go up a little, but there were mountains ahead. The spring water flowed down to form a river, and then flowed along the river to the urban-rural junction.
He was a science student and was used to thinking with a scientific mindset. For example, he relied on Tang Xiaoyou's weight, the speed of the water flow, and the depth of the water to calculate how many days it would take for the body to be found after the person was thrown into the water.
"Young man, what are you doing here?" The old man sat at the door and watched him for a long time.
Zhou Qiong closed the notebook and walked over with a smile, "Uncle, I'm here for a field trip."
"Oh, old man, you are uneducated. Please sit down." The old man took out a small stool from the house with a hunched back. Zhou Qiong refused to use it, but the other party's attitude was very tough, so he had to give up.
"Uncle, do you know how many people there are in our village?"
Zhou Qiong has a sunny appearance and a sunny temperament, which makes people easily think that he is a serious cadre.
"There are only about 20 households, so it's just a small village, not many people."
"What's your name, sir?"
"Me?" the old man said with a grin. "My last name is Zhao, and I've lived here for over forty years."
Zhou Qiong asked, "Then you should know this village very well, right?"
"Yes, do you have any questions?"
Zhou Qiong was thinking about how to start when a voice suddenly called out from the door, "Uncle Zhao, would you like some fish?"
A middle-aged man came forward carrying a red bag. Uncle Zhao quickly stood up and said, "Thank you for taking this trip. Thank you very much."
"It's okay, there are still some fish heads left. I can't finish them all by myself, so I'm giving them to you." The man was wearing a black apron and holding a knife in his rough hands. There were several fish heads in the red plastic bag. He smiled at Zhou Qiong but didn't speak to him.
The old man took the fish head. Zhou Qiong watched him walk away. Before he could say anything, the old man said, "He's a fish butcher. He just released the fish a few days ago."
"Just released?"
"Yeah. Ah Hui got into trouble and was put in jail. He was released a few days ago."
"What exactly did you do?"
Uncle Zhao thought about it carefully and said, "I don't remember much. I think it was money laundering or something. He had a ten-year-old daughter when he went in."
"What about his daughter?"
"After he was imprisoned, his wife took their daughter and left Hemu Village. I don't know where they went."
"Uncle, do you know where his home is?"
"Hiss..." Uncle Zhao only then realized that the young man's question was too unusual. "Why are you asking this?"
Zhou Qiong didn't want to reveal his identity, so he laughed and said, "No, I'm just curious."
Uncle Zhao was skeptical and kept a cautious eye on the matter. "I don't know where he is now, but he kills fish at the market every time there's a market. You can find him there."
"Thank you, sir." Zhou Qiong stood up and left after talking about this.
He didn't plan to go back so soon. He simply replied to the message Chen An sent him and thought about finding a hotel to stay.
It was getting dark, and he had to hurry to find a place to stay for the night as he passed through the deserted streets. It was difficult to find a hotel in such a small place, and he went to several hotels but they all said they were closed. At the end of the street, he ran into the fishmonger again. He seemed to see what he was about to do, and stopped as he passed by him. "Um, are you looking for a hotel?"
Dream Butterfly Company
After the police arrived, the atmosphere became strange. Jiang Qiunan cooperated with their rehearsal unusually. Wang Yingying and Li Meng didn't speak to each other all afternoon. When they returned to the dormitory that night, Li Meng took the initiative to ask her, "What did you say to that police officer today?"
Wang Yingying was startled by the sudden question, her eyebrows drooped and she didn't dare to look at her at all, "Just, just talked about Xiaoyou."
"What's the matter, Tang Xiaoyou?" She seemed to want to know clearly, her eyes sharp.
Wang Yingying was blocked behind the door by her. "She asked where Xiaoyou was before she disappeared and whether I had seen her."
"Anything else?"
"No." Wang Yingying raised her eyes slightly and looked at her cautiously, "Did he ask you any excessive questions, Sister Meng?"
Li Meng denied it bluntly, "No, just take a shower and go to bed early."
"oh."
When Li Meng came out of the bathroom, Wang Yingying was still making milk powder in the same place. The light in the living room was very dim. She said unhappily, "Why turn off the lights?" and was about to turn on the switch.
"Don't open the door!" She called out to her, her thick long hair covering her cheeks. Li Meng thought she was a little strange and approached her quietly in cotton slippers.
"Yingying?"
She didn't move. The wind was howling outside the window. She saw a bulge in the curtains. Li Meng said, "Why don't you close the window?"
She walked over and reached out to close the floor-to-ceiling window, but suddenly she caught a glimpse of a white figure outside the window. Its long hair hung on the ground, swaying in the wind. She wanted to see what it was, but the glass reflected a familiar, pale face. The hairs on her body stood up. The smile on that face grew bigger and bigger, and its dark eyes turned around and finally fixed on her. Li Meng screamed and fell to the ground.
"It's not me..." Li Meng leaned on the ground and felt a cold, sticky liquid. She screamed again, mumbling, "It's not me... It's not me!"
Wang Yingying pulled her out from behind the curtains, "Sister Meng, what's wrong with you?"
Li Meng was still in shock. He looked up and saw Wang Yingying's face clearly. He finally took a deep breath and said, "There's someone... No! There's a ghost!"
"No." Wang Yingying looked around and said, "There's no one here. Sister Meng, are you under too much pressure?"
"Outside."
Wang Yingying gathered her hair, opened the French window, walked out, paced around the balcony a few times, spread out her hands and said, "No."
Li Meng couldn't do it, so he staggered to his feet and looked around. Sure enough, there was nothing there.
"Sister Meng, you are just under too much pressure. I just made some milk. Would you like to have a sip?" Wang Yingying enthusiastically handed her cup to her. Li Meng was still in shock at this time. She unconsciously took the cup and drank the milk.
"Go to bed, it's getting late."
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