Chapter 153 What are they trying to achieve?
The supermarket is really not big, with a very narrow storefront. It is also very cramped inside, and the items seem a bit crowded. But after a casual glance, I can see that it is quite comprehensive.
Ji An took the lead, and he and Guan Xia lifted the curtain and walked in one after the other.
Upon entering the supermarket, the two didn't immediately look around. Instead, they went to the beverage section and picked out a few bottles of energy drinks. After exchanging a glance, they walked to the freezer in tacit understanding. While looking inside, they casually asked the slightly plump woman at the counter, "Do you deliver? It's been so hot lately, I'm too lazy to come out to buy."
"Of course," the slightly plump woman known as Sister Fan said cheerfully, "of course we deliver. Our minimum order is 20 yuan, and we'll deliver to any place within three kilometers, as long as it's nearby."
Ji An was surprised and said, "You deliver within three kilometers, and the minimum order is 20. Boss, you really know how to run a business."
The slightly plump woman sighed, "It's hard to make money these days. Our store is so small, if we don't do business this way, we really can't compete with the big supermarkets nearby. Don't worry, we deliver on time. If you need anything, just send us a message and let us know. You can pay after we deliver it to your door."
In just a few words, Ji An successfully added the slightly plump woman's contact information.
The friend request had just been approved when the girl who had moved two cases of beer came out. Wiping the sweat off her face with a tissue, she said to the slightly plump woman with great energy, "Sister Fan, have you and Xiao Gao had dinner yet? If not, let's close the shop and go out for dinner. Sister Liu called me a while ago and said she'd seen me for a while and wanted us to go out and catch up. It's her treat."
No one knew who this Sister Liu was, except for the girl carrying the beer. The slightly plump woman's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she said happily, "Okay, Xiao Gao and I happened to be waiting for you to come back to eat together. We haven't eaten yet, so let's go soon. Anyway, it's late and there's not much business. After these two girls leave, we'll close the store and reopen it tomorrow morning."
The girl carrying the beer nodded happily, "Okay, then this is a good time for me to take a shower and change clothes. I've been busy all afternoon moving things in and out, and I'm all sweaty."
It seemed that they lived not far from this small supermarket. As she was talking, the girl who was moving the beer waved to the plump woman, lifted the curtain and ran out quickly. After a while, the sound of a van starting was heard.
Guan Xia subconsciously looked at Ji An again. Her face remained expressionless, but her eyes expressed a lot of meaning.
Ji An said, "Boss, you guys are going out for dinner, so we won't waste your time. Just calculate how much these are."
The slightly plump woman took a quick look and reported a number, which was actually cheaper than some chain supermarkets.
After paying, the two did not stay any longer and quickly left the supermarket one after another.
After successfully finding Jiang Yingyao, Guan Xia plopped down beside him and handed him some water while saying, "Sister Ji, Brother Jiang, I have a feeling that the Sister Liu that girl mentioned might not be an ordinary person. Their dinner tonight might not be just a simple dinner."
The three of them have investigated several cases together, and both Ji An and Jiang Yingyao trust Guan Xia's intuition.
Almost as soon as Guan Xia finished speaking, Ji An pulled out his phone and said, "I'm calling Lu Tingfeng now. The three of us have all shown our faces. Although Brother Jiang didn't go to the supermarket with us just now, that girl passed by us when she drove by. No one can guarantee that she remembered Brother Jiang's face. To be on the safe side, Lu Tingfeng and Wang Yu will have to go tonight."
The three of them spoke in low voices, and since there were not many people around, they were not worried about being heard.
Ji An went to the corner to make a phone call. Guan Xia asked Jiang Yingyao, "Brother Jiang, you were sitting here for a while. Did you see anyone suspicious?"
Jiang Yingyao shook his head. "Three cars and two pedestrians passed by, but I didn't see anything unusual."
Guan Xia wanted to say something else, but she noticed a slender figure riding an electric bike passing by out of the corner of her eye, and her attention was immediately attracted again.
Guan Xia had a premonition and subconsciously followed the slender figure. Sure enough, two minutes later, the girl on the electric bike parked in front of the small supermarket. As soon as the bike stopped, she shouted, "Sister Fan, I'm back from delivering the goods. Is Little Ge back from delivering the goods?"
The slightly plump woman known as Sister Fan lifted the curtain, poking her head out. She smiled and waved, "She's gone back to take a shower. She said she was busy all afternoon and was all sweaty. Oh, and Xiao Ge said Sister Liu called her a while ago and wanted to invite us to catch up. You should go back and take a shower and change your clothes. Call me when you're ready. I'll close the door."
No one knew who this Sister Liu was, but the young woman known as Xiao Ge immediately said excitedly, "Sister Liu is calling us to eat. That's great. I'll go back and take a shower now."
As he said this, he turned the handlebars skillfully and drove back along the way he came.
Guan Xia watched the slender figure drive away on the electric scooter, then hesitantly looked at Jiang Yingyao and said, "Brother Jiang, they are talking too recklessly. Could they really be that group of people?"
It's no wonder Guan Xia was a little hesitant. The three people's conversations and their intimate attitudes towards each other were not at all consistent with the caution shown by the people in the surveillance video.
Ji An, who had just returned from a phone call, said, "We know the inside story and have some suspicions, but to others, their words sound like meaningless, everyday conversation. This suggests our suspicions might be correct. After all, the better the disguise, the more inconspicuous it is, the more likely it is."
After saying these words full of profound meaning, Ji An glanced around as usual before continuing in a low voice, "I've already called Lu Tingfeng. He and Wang Yu are on their way. This place is too close to the supermarket and is a bit conspicuous. Let's wait somewhere else."
Ji An looked around and pointed diagonally behind him. "Let's go there, to that small square. There are bushes all around, and the street lights are broken. It's dark, so we won't be easily spotted, and we can observe well."
Guan Xia looked in the direction of Ji An's finger and saw that it was indeed a better spot that was more secluded than where they were sitting now, so she stood up first and said, "Let's go, but there are a lot of mosquitoes in places like this. I really regret not bringing mosquito repellent with me."
Guan Xia and the other two were trying to do two things at once. One was carefully observing their surroundings, the other was keeping their eyes fixed on what was happening in the small supermarket. Just as the plump woman called Sister Fan started to turn off the lights and lock the door, Lu Tingfeng's call finally came in.
Ji An carefully described the appearance of the three people and Sister Fan's clothes, as well as the color of the van driven by the woman named Xiao Ge and the words on the body of the van, to make sure that he would not follow the wrong person, and then hung up the phone.
After waiting for a few more minutes, Guan Xia saw the van she had seen before being driven to the door of the small supermarket.
Through the open car window, it can be seen that the two people sitting in the driver's seat and the passenger seat are the young woman who was moving beer and riding the electric bike before.
The three people greeted each other, and the slightly plump woman called Sister Fan opened the car door and got into the van.
Seeing the van driving along the main road of the community towards the main entrance, Ji An immediately called Lu Tingfeng again.
This call lasted an unusually long time. After about ten minutes, Ji An finally hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Lu Tingfeng and Wang Yu have already caught up with them. Let's go get some midnight snacks."
Guan Xia was feeling quite excited, both for the magnitude of her discovery tonight and looking forward to the next tracking results. When she heard Ji An's words, she was stunned for a few seconds before reacting, "Ah? Buying midnight snacks?"
Ji An rubbed Guan Xia's head with a funny expression on his face and said, "I can see you've never done this before. It's already past 11 o'clock at night. They won't be back until at least 1 o'clock in the morning. We can just use this time to have a meal and do something else."
Guan Xia subconsciously asked curiously, "What else do you want to do?"
Jiang Yingyao smiled and continued, "Let's share the information and talk to our colleagues at the Nanping Branch to see if we can confirm the identities of those women tonight."
Guan Xia finally calmed down, thought for a moment, and said, "I left my sketchbook in the car. After I buy some midnight snacks, shall we eat there? We can also chat about our discoveries today."
"Okay." Jiang Yingyao stood up from the stone bench and threw the empty drink bottle into the trash can. He said, "It's been a whole day, and only Qi Bai sent a message in the group. I don't know how Xu Nian and the others are doing, and whether everything is going well."
I quickly bought some food and returned to the car. It was already early morning.
Guan Xia simply filled her stomach, wiped her hands, and took out her sketchbook from her bag. She turned to a new page, tried hard to recall the contents in her mind, successfully called up the system interface, and then began to draw on the ultra-clear and enlarged face on the video interface.
There were three of them in total, and they drew for more than half an hour before Guan Xia put down her pen.
Handing over the sketchbook, Guan Xia rubbed her aching neck and shoulders, then looked at Jiang Yingyao and asked, "Brother Jiang, have you contacted Xu Nian yet?"
Jiang Yingyao was playing a single-player game. Seeing Guan Xia finished, he put his phone away and replied, "We've made contact. They're also splitting up to follow us. Geng Jing is much more vigilant than the ones we saw today. According to Xu Nian and the others' observations and speculation, they must have a target in mind soon, which is why they've suddenly increased their vigilance. They have a total of eight groups currently taking turns tracking us. When I called, Xu Nian and Zhong Xiaoyu had just been replaced."
Guan Xia's mind flashed back to scenes he'd seen in crime dramas before. He couldn't help but feel a little emotional. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Brother Jiang, is there usually any danger in this situation?"
Jiang Yingyao understood Guan Xia's meaning and his expression became a little more serious. He said seriously, "There is definitely danger, but don't worry, no matter what the situation is, the first police officers will be the ones rushing to the front. Pang Le is here to lower the suspect's vigilance. Everyone will protect her well and won't let her face any danger."
Guan Xia listened attentively at first, but only after hearing the last part did she realize that Jiang Yingyao had misunderstood her meaning. She explained, "Brother Jiang, I'm not asking about Pang Le specifically. I'm asking everyone. Whether it's Pang Le, Zhong Xiaoyu, or Xu Nian Qi Bai, they're all important."
Jiang Yingyao smiled again and said, "Then don't worry. Both Xu Nian and Qi Bai are experienced. They are just tracking two people, not arresting them. There won't be any danger."
Guan Xia finally felt relieved.
While the two of them were talking, Ji An had already taken photos of the three sketches with his mobile phone and sent them to Captain Zhou of the Nanping Branch.
Captain Zhou clearly took this new lead very seriously. As soon as Ji An sent the message, his phone rang. After a few brief exchanges, Ji An hung up and said, "Captain Zhou will arrange for someone to confirm the identity tonight. Should we go back to the Nanping branch and search for the missing persons while waiting for news, or should we go straight back to the hotel?"
Jiang Yingyao and Ji An both looked at Guan Xia inquiringly.
Guan Xia glanced at the time and said, "Let's go back to the Nanping Branch first. Everyone has an operation tonight, and even if we go back to the hotel, we won't be able to rest well. Instead of sitting around in the room feeling uneasy, it's better to work in Captain Zhou's office."
Ji An and Jiang Yingyao had no objections. They drove the car to the front gate and bought some food before going straight back to the Nanping Branch.
So the three of them spent the next few days busy and waiting, until after two in the morning. Guan Xia and the others didn't find anything else, and Lu Tingfeng and Wang Yu came back first.
As soon as he entered the room, Lu Tingfeng took out his phone and placed it on the conference table, saying, "We tracked them very smoothly and even took photos. Look at this fourth person. Does he look familiar?"
The three of them leaned over to look. After Lu Tingfeng finished his glass of water, Guan Xia spoke first, "He does look familiar. He must be one of the people who were scouting the area."
Guan Xia said as she remembered something. She skillfully opened the computer temporarily assigned to her by the Nanping Branch, found the folder she created before going out at night, opened the screenshots one by one on the desktop side by side, and then picked up Lu Tingfeng's mobile phone to compare them.
Judging from the angle, the photos in Lu Tingfeng's phone were obviously not taken secretly. They should have been taken while he and Wang Yu were taking a selfie, and the four of them were captured together in broad daylight.
Including Sister Liu, there were four people in total, all of them were not tall, one was slender, two were slightly fat, and one was thin. Coincidentally, their figures were very similar to those of the people Guan Xia had discovered who were suspected of being scouting the place.
One person in particular caught Guan Xia's special attention. She was Sister Liu, who had a round face and big eyes. She looked peaceful and wealthy, with thick hair tied in a low ponytail. She was probably in her early forties, and she completely matched the news they had heard in the community where Ning Xin lived. She was the other criminal suspect who, together with Geng Jing, caused the disappearance of Ning Xin and her daughter.
While comparing them, Guan Xia asked Lu Tingfeng, "This Sister Liu, the wealthy-looking woman, what car did she drive to the dinner party? Did she reveal her occupation during their conversation? Did she run a supermarket?"
Lu Tingfeng folded his arms and raised his eyebrows. "I've thought about this question a long time ago. I asked Xu Nian on the way back. She's the same supermarket owner they found following Geng Jing."
Guan Xia slammed the table in excitement. "I never thought they could actually trace the two criminals together. It seems there are quite a few people like these thugs who do kidnappings. But what I can't understand is that Geng Jing is fine, he has a criminal record, and I'm not surprised he would do anything for money, but these four women, especially these three."
Guan Xia pointed at the figures in the photos of Sister Fan, Xiao Gao, and Xiao Ge and said, "What are they trying to achieve? They're so young and have their own jobs. Judging by the fact that they can decide when to close the store, this supermarket is obviously owned by one of them. While not fabulously wealthy, they have enough to eat and wear. Why would they follow someone like Geng Jing into such a life-threatening job?"
Lu Tingfeng's nonchalant voice rang out, "Why else? They were fooled. I bet this woman surnamed Liu must have helped these three people before. Maybe she saved their lives in some way. Then, by brainwashing them, she successfully subdued them and made them work for her."
Guan Xia was a little bit unbelievable. She didn't understand how much kindness it would take to make them willingly, even happily, do the job of kidnapping people.
Lu Tingfeng added: "It's very simple to find out, just wait a little longer."
Lu Tingfeng glanced at the time and said, "These four people are all locals. I estimate that their identities will be confirmed by dawn at the latest. We can then ask the police officers at the local police station and the community to find out how Sister Liu helped them."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
