Chapter 65 Chapter 65 Thank you, Mr. Lu, the handsome and kind-hearted man! ...
“Click—”
Tan Li pressed the stop button on the tape recorder, interrupting the confession recording she had listened to over and over again for more than a dozen times. She stared at Ji Yinhe with a pair of sharp eyes and whispered, "What did you say?"
Ji Yinhe stood respectfully in front of the team leader's desk. "I said, Zhao Liu gave a false confession. He said someone offered him steamed buns in exchange for a 'police game' at the provincial government office."
Tan Li thought for a moment, "You mean, the person who asked Zhao Liu to play games—"
"Even if she's not the murderer, she must be closely connected to him, deliberately trying to confuse our police. Therefore, the woman in the red dress is a completely wrong lead!" Comrade Ji clenched his fists. "Also, I've heard that Zhao Liu usually camps near the Tongrong River, and Ji Junjie also disappeared there... I think the murderer is most likely scouting for prey in that park!"
Tan Li hummed, then thought for a moment before saying, "Xiao Ji, I don't deny that your speculation has some truth to it, but it's all based on the reliability of Zhao Liu's testimony. But you also know that he's a mentally unstable homeless man. Even in court, his words would hardly be accepted."
Ji Yinhe lowered his eyes. "I understand what you're saying, but we can also try to investigate further first—"
"No." Tan Li shook her head. "The deadline the director gave us to solve the case is already very tight, but we still have a lot of investigation work to do...Lin Qingliang's case, Ji Junjie's case, and even two of the deceased whose names are still unknown."
“…”
Tan Li folded her fingers and looked at the slightly disappointed Comrade Ji seriously. "Since you have completed the communication work with Ji Junjie's parents, go to your master's team and continue to check Lin Qingliang's customers at the hair salon."
"……good."
Tan Li nodded and called Zhao Zhuoqun. Ji Yinhe looked downstairs and saw several police cars parked in the yard, ready to go at any time.
It seems that now I can only follow the leader's arrangements and put the Zhao Liu line on hold.
She sighed softly, went back to the office, put on her bag, and just as she reached the door, she saw Lu Zheng striding towards her with a lunch box in his arms.
"What's wrong?" He asked with concern, rarely seeing frustration on her face.
Comrade Xiao Ji immediately recovered his energy and said, "It's okay, it's okay! I'm going to go move bricks!"
"...Moving bricks?" Lu Zheng was a little confused.
"Well, it's a term invented by my dad, which means going to work." Ji Yinhe smiled with his beautiful and neat white teeth and ran downstairs.
Zhao Zhuoqun spotted her from the passenger seat and said loudly, "Guan Ye and Gao Ge have already left. You get on the passenger seat."
"Okay!"
Comrade Xiao Ji opened the car door with a click and got in. Just as she fastened her seat belt, she saw Lu Zheng getting out of the car at some point, standing next to the Grand Cherokee and winking at her.
Ji Yinhe tilted his head in confusion.
“……?”
The old fox Zhao Zhuoqun saw all the little movements of the two.
He calmly turned the steering wheel and drove the police car onto the wide and straight main road.
The scenery on both sides of the road quickly receded. Ji Yinhe stared at the spring scenery outside, and Zhao Liu's nursery rhyme was still echoing in her heart.
Zhao Zhuoqun glanced at his young disciple, "...What are you thinking about?"
"Ah..." Ji Yinhe scratched his head, "Thinking about this case."
Zhao Zhuoqun hummed, looked straight ahead and said nothing.
During this Spring Festival, before Ji Yinhe reported to the provincial department, his old friend Che Zhiwen warned him that this young comrade Ji was not a pushover. His parents were in Jiangtan, one was a politician and the other ran a restaurant. He had a strong background and was very good at getting close to leaders.
To be fair, he also looked at this parachuted-in girl with tinted glasses at first. After all, she had a good relationship with Lu Zheng, and Tan Li believed her for no reason, giving her the opportunity to discover clues again and again.
However, after spending some time together, Zhao Zhuoqun gradually realized that Ji Yinhe was not what Lao Che said.
At least she is a simple person, works seriously, and has sufficient insight into the case. She is much better than many grassroots police officers who are just sitting in their positions and doing nothing, such as Che Zhiwen himself.
In the rearview mirror, Lu Zheng's Grand Cherokee was following the police car from a distance.
Zhao Zhuoqun withdrew his gaze, glanced at the absent-minded Ji Yinhe, exhaled, and slammed on the brakes.
Ji Yinhe stumbled and looked over, confused: "Captain Zhao, are we there yet?"
"Not yet." Zhao Zhuoqun said lightly, "But I just remembered that the task assigned to me by Captain Tan is quite easy. I can do it alone, and you don't need to come with me... Get off now."
"……ah?"
Ji Yinhe was completely confused.
"Get off the bus," Zhao Zhuoqun said impatiently, "and get on the one behind."
"later?"
Comrade Xiao Ji stuck his head out of the car window and noticed that the Grand Cherokee had caught up with them and stopped.
In an instant, she understood her master's good intentions.
"You've suggested another direction for investigating the case to Captain Tan, right?" Zhao Zhuoqun glanced at her. "Lu Zheng is probably here to pick you up."
"Thank you, Captain Zhao... But can you really do it alone?" Ji Yinhe put on her bag and asked worriedly, "How about we let Teacher Lu come with us to visit first, and then-"
Zhao Zhuoqun laughed, "I'm just an old policeman, your master, how could there be any problem?"
Ji Yinhe arched his eyebrows. Doesn't calling him "Master" mean that Deputy Team Leader Zhao is finally willing to accept him as his disciple?
She chuckled and answered loudly: "Okay! Then I will listen to Master!" Then she jumped out of the car with a bang.
Zhao Zhuoqun looked at her back as she ran away happily in the rearview mirror, and couldn't help but smile and shook his head, muttering "This kid...", and then drove quickly to the next destination.
On the other side, Ji Yinhe had already climbed into the passenger seat of the Grand Cherokee.
"Where do you want to go?" Lu Zheng asked in a tacit understanding. "You have a new theory, right?"
"Yes!" Ji Yinhe nodded and gestured forward, "Tongrong River Park! Let's go!"
Lu Zheng was familiar with the location of Jingzhou, so he immediately turned the steering wheel and chose the nearest road to turn around.
The other big hand grabbed the aluminum lunch box on the armrest and handed it to Ji Yinhe.
"……Um?"
Comrade Xiao Ji reacted and realized that this was the lunch box that he had just seen Lu Zheng holding outside Tan Li's office.
Lu Zheng chuckled, "Have you eaten anything today?"
Ji Yinhe touched his head belatedly, "Ah..."
"Eat it." Lu Zheng raised his eyebrows and said gently, "Three-fresh bean curd, it should still be hot."
"Wow!"
Ji Yinhe quickly opened the lunch box, and a strong burnt aroma wafted throughout the carriage.
She looked at the golden tofu skins neatly arranged in the lunch box, wiped her fingers on her clothes, and carefully picked up a piece.
With a light bite of the amber crispy shell, chopped fresh bamboo shoots, amber mushroom pieces and translucent glutinous rice all flow into your mouth, forming a rich and delicious aroma.
"Delicious!" Ji Yinhe praised, "It's even better than what my mom makes! ...Teacher Lu, where did you buy this?"
Lu Zheng curled his eyes and said, "My mother did it."
Ji Yinhe was very surprised, "Auntie is so good at cooking?"
"Yeah, but it can't compare to Boss Lian's." Lu Zheng explained, "My mother is from Seoul, and she's best at making this. The others... aren't as tasty!"
Ji Yinhe couldn't help but stuff the remaining half piece in his hand into his stomach.
She gave a thumbs-up and said, "Auntie is awesome... But aren't we all together at noon? When did you get home?"
"My mom sent it to me," Lu Zheng explained succinctly. "I said the team's been busy lately, and some colleagues haven't even had time to eat. I asked her to make some afternoon tea... so you'll have more energy to move bricks this afternoon."
Ji Yinhe chuckled, "Thank you so much, Auntie!"
After saying that, he added, "I also want to thank Mr. Lu, who is so handsome and kind-hearted!"
Lu Zheng rubbed his fingers on the steering wheel, and the smile on the corners of his lips suddenly deepened.
…
The Grand Cherokee drove along a path covered with falling spring flowers and stopped outside Tongrong River Park.
Before Ji Yinhe went to the recycling station to find Zhao Liu, he ran to the noodle shop across the street and bought a big hot meat bun.
Lu Zheng couldn't help but want to laugh, "You used this to make Zhao Liu tell the truth?"
"That's right!" Ji Yinhe raised his chin and shook his finger. "My mother's wise words, no one can resist the temptation of delicious food, no one!"
Tan Li had issued a patrol order earlier. It was a weekday afternoon, and there were more police officers from the police station patrolling in Tongrong River Park than tourists playing in the water.
Moreover, everyone was walking around the roads on both sides of the river with batons in their hands, looking very alert.
However, Ji Yinhe suddenly remembered the Jiangtan national treasure theft case, when the security guard in the museum seemed diligent but was actually slacking off at work.
She grabbed a passing police officer and went over to him. "Hello, I'm Ji Yinhe, a criminal police officer from the provincial department's crackdown team. May I ask how your patrols are scheduled? Are you here at night as well?"
The police officer nodded, "Yes."
Ji Yinhe thought for two seconds and then asked further: "How many people are there here at night? The river bank is so long, and there are small woods and reeds on both sides. Will they all go in?"
The police officer was a little embarrassed. "About three or four. There have been a lot of petty thefts in our station recently, and we're short on manpower. We have to let everyone go home and rest, don't you think?... And there are a lot of men in this park at night, so there shouldn't be any unsafe situations..."
“There are more men…”
Ji Yinhe repeated it silently and looked up at Lu Zheng beside him.
Lu Zheng also gave him a thoughtful look.
"Okay, we got it." Ji Yinhe thanked the police officer and walked towards the garbage room.
Having eaten two candied haws, Zhao Liu squatted obediently by the wall, playing with the dogtail grass in his hand while singing an incomprehensible nursery rhyme.
He smelled the aroma of meat buns from a distance, looked at Ji Yinhe with a smile and stood up.
"Good, good policeman!" Zhao Liu pointed to his mouth. "Buns."
Ji Yinhe hid the paper bag behind his back and said in a coaxing tone:
"We agreed before that you have to tell me who you're playing the police game with before you can eat the buns."
She actually didn't hold out much hope and thought she would have to coax Zhao Liu a few more times before he would tell the truth.
Unexpectedly, the homeless man opened his silly eyes and answered blankly: "Play, play games, it's the worker uncle, the good uncle gives me medicine, the bad uncle lets me eat, eat vegetarian buns!"
"——Medicine?" Ji Yinhe grasped the key words and quickly asked, "What medicine? What worker uncle?"
"Wear factory uniforms!" Zhao Liu nodded firmly. "Bitter soup, uncle said, is good for your health. It won't cause you diarrhea all the time!"
Strange details began to emerge and connected like lightning in Ji Yinhe's brain.
...Chinese medicine! The indigo plant that Lu Zheng found on the corpse is also a Chinese medicine called Qingdai!
Could it be that the murderer is——
Workers at a Chinese medicine factory?
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