Chapter 78 Chapter 78 You have met too few men.
That afternoon, the Provincial Department’s Crackdown Group Office.
"...The good news is that the ancestral hall has reviewed the materials and has agreed to merge the cases."
Tan Li sat at her desk, her fingers folded. She looked at Ji Yinhe, who was dancing with joy before her, and curled her lips. After a long pause, she whispered, "There's another piece of news, which shouldn't be bad for you and Teacher Lu—the team hopes you can solve the case as quickly as possible, ideally apprehend the suspect within three days."
Ji Yinhe paused, his throat moving with difficulty. "...Three days? What if I don't finish it?"
"It's fine, and we didn't ask you to sign a pledge." Tan Li smiled. "The case management department has calculated the timeframe for solving all the cases you participated in this year, and almost all of them were within five days... The leaders are saying that since this case has been assigned to you and Teacher Lu, if you can complete it quickly, they'll help you apply for a third-class individual merit by the end of the year."
She raised an eyebrow at Officer Ji, who still hadn't grasped the implications. "This way, you'll be promoted to First Class Superintendent next year, a three-star rank. Do you understand?"
"..." Ji Yinhe's eyes lit up when he thought of the gleaming new epaulettes. He saluted with a snap. "Good leader, I will do my best!"
Tan Li nodded and said with a smile, "Go get busy."
Ji Yinhe came out of the team leader's office with an excited look on her face, and just saw Lu Zheng leaning next to the fax machine waving at her.
"You've arrived just in time." He handed over a stack of documents. "Xiao Wu just sent over the entire case file on Xu Yanhong's disappearance."
Ji Yinhe held the hot paper roll, took a deep breath, and said, "Let's get started!"
The two sat down in front of the big blackboard, laid out all the materials one by one, picked out the useful information, and pasted it on the blackboard.
Suddenly, Ji Yinhe's eyes fixed, attracted by a piece of paper with a postcard printed on it.
There is also Xiao Wu's handwriting below - this is the physical evidence that the Nanjiang Police Station just sent to the Jiangtan Municipal Bureau this morning. The post office is closed for the past two days, so it has not been sent out yet.
Judging from the date, it was delivered the day before Xu Yanhong disappeared!
Ji Yinhe took a deep breath and looked down. The mailing address was the address of the school where Xu Yanhong worked. There were only two words on the postcard: "Thank you."
The recipient was actually in Jingzhou, and she was Shi Youhua, the female owner of Baihualou Hotel!
"...Woman?" Ji Yinhe frowned in confusion.
Lu Zheng heard her mumbling and turned his head to take a look, "...Baihua Tower?"
"Why, have you been there?" Ji Yinhe blinked.
Lu Zheng said solemnly, "This is one of the most famous restaurants in Jingzhou. They have opened several chain stores. Although the taste of the dishes cannot compare with Boss Lian's, Boss Shi once opened a hotel in Shanghai, so the decoration of Baihualou is very fashionable. The wealthy families in Jingzhou often go there for festivals, weddings and funerals."
Ji Yinhe let out a long "Oh" and flicked his finger over the word "Thank you". "Then let's go meet Boss Shi this afternoon!"
*
The main store of Baihualou is located in the center of Jingzhou City. Its facade is a high curved wall paved with snow-white tiles, with small European-style windows on it, which looks neat and depressing.
In fact, Ji Yinhe had passed by the hotel entrance countless times, but every time he treated this skyscraper with more than 20 floors as a serious club where the powerful and wealthy negotiated business.
This was her first time stepping into such a high-end and classy hotel.
"...Our main hotel received tens of millions of yuan in foreign investment last year, and both the interior and exterior have been renovated. Boss Shi wants to build it into the most prestigious five-star hotel in the province, and even in the eastern region of China."
After seeing Ji Yinhe's police ID, the manager politely made a phone call, then gestured and led them through the carpeted and printed wallpaper lobby, into the glass vertical elevator, and pressed the button for the top floor.
A moment later, with a "ding" sound, the metal door slowly opened to both sides.
The manager gestured, "Boss Shi's office is at the end. Please come in."
Ji Yinhe and Lu Zheng walked over side by side.
There are no windows here, and lewd music comes from behind the heavy wooden door. The dim light gives the entire corridor an atmosphere of decadence and extravagance.
"Stand behind me." Lu Zheng whispered.
Ji Yinhe took a step back silently, holding the telescopic baton tied to his waist with one hand.
"Knock knock knock--" Lu Zheng knocked on the door gently.
A pleasant yet dignified female voice came from inside, "Come in!"
Lu Zheng reached out and pushed open the door. Through the gap between his shoulders, Ji Yinhe saw a fashionable woman wearing a burgundy suit and skirt and with big wavy hair. She looked to be about forty years old and was wearing a sparkling diamond ring and a Rolex watch.
The office is luxuriously decorated, with all the furniture imported, which, together with the famous oil paintings framed on the walls, demonstrates the unimaginable wealth of the female boss.
"Officers, please take a seat." Shi Youhua turned off the record player, casually pointed at the leather sofa, then picked up the wine glass and shook it gently.
Ji Yinhe stared at the amber liquid in surprise, "You started drinking in the afternoon?"
"Women, you can't be too sober." Shi Youhua drank it all in one gulp and sat down opposite him with a smile. "How can I face life if I don't get drunk? ... Tell me, what's going on that has you bothering two provincial police officers to come to my little temple?"
Ji Yinhe swallowed his saliva and thought to himself, if this is a small temple, then what is the difference between us and sleeping on the street...
She took a deep breath and secretly pressed the recorder in her bag, "Boss Shi, do you know Xu Yanhong?"
Shi Youhua's expression shifted slightly, and then she admitted frankly, "I know him, what's the matter?"
"Xu Yanhong disappeared ten days ago." Ji Yinhe stared at the other person's eyes, trying to see any unusual emotions in them.
However, the veteran Shi Youhua was only slightly surprised and quickly regained his composure.
"Then why did you come to see me?" She spread her hands. "Xu Yanhong is in Jiangtan, right? I've been in Jingzhou this month, and all the hotel employees can testify to that."
"But we found a postcard that hadn't been delivered yet." Lu Zheng took out the evidence, placed it on the coffee table, and pushed it in front of Shi Youhua. "After leaving the post office, she left Jiangtan for Jingzhou and has been completely lost since then."
Shi Youhua raised her eyebrows as she looked at the postcard.
Ji Yinhe asked softly, "Boss Shi, why should Xu Yanhong thank you?"
"..." After a long silence, Shi Youhua shook her head and took the initiative to explain concisely, "She has been having an affair with my husband Dong Sihai for several months... Some time ago, I went to Jiangtan on a business trip and stopped by her school. I told her that Mr. Dong was not a good person and told her to live her own life."
“…”
Ji Yinhe and Lu Zheng looked at each other - as expected of a female boss who runs a five-star hotel, her thoughts are open-minded!
Shi Youhua continued, "The female teacher was very wary and didn't believe me at first, so I showed her photos of Dong Sihai with other women... Only then did she realize I wasn't lying."
"Wait." Ji Yinhe frowned, "Have you told all your lovers one by one? Then your identity as a wife must be very tiring..."
"Of course not. All those beautiful women before him were after his money." Shi Youhua leaned forward. "The private detective I hired told me that Xu Yanhong was a simple-minded girl who thought she had found true love. And since I always respect intellectuals, I kindly gave her a warning—"
She pointed at the postcard and said, "Although the little girl was devastated at the time, but... isn't this a thank you?"
Ji Yinhe was puzzled. "Even now, you don't want a divorce?"
Shi Youhua laughed heartily. "Divorce? Why would I want a divorce? You young people have been brainwashed by those Hong Kong and Taiwan love songs, right? You still think love is everything in life... I'm living with Dong Sihai simply because he has a good image, is good at handling things at the table, and often interacts with the education system. He's halfway into the system, so bringing him out can save face."
Lu Zheng suddenly asked, "Isn't it almost time for the election of CPPCC members this year?"
Shi Youhua pointed her index finger at him, "Provincial police are really smart! Yes, I'm running for this year's CPPCC, and I'm also going to join the Women's Federation and the Provincial Entrepreneurs Association... At this critical juncture, my marriage can't afford to have any problems."
"Aren't you afraid that he'll be discovered having an affair?"
"He's been pretty honest the last few times." Shi Youhua looked quite helpless. "How can a man be flawless? Don't you think so, handsome boy?"
Ji Yinhe looked over along the direction of her raised chin, only to see Lu Zheng, who was being called out, saying seriously, "...Maybe you've met too few men."
“…”
Shi Youhua sighed, patted her skirt and stood up. "Is that all the questions? Anything else?"
Ji Yinhe quickly stopped her and asked, "Where is Dong Sihai now?"
Shi Youhua found it funny. "How should I know? We've been separated for a long time. I only call him when I need him to show up. Private detectives are expensive. I can't afford to hire someone to keep an eye on him, right?"
Ji Yinhe thought of what she had said before about Dong Sihai having several lovers, and asked without stopping, "Have you heard of these names? Wu Sijia, Jia Guifang, Chen Xiaomei..."
"Sijia?" Shi Youhua paused on her way to the tea table. "She's... a flight attendant?"
"Yes!" Ji Yinhe was excited and held out the photo with both hands. "Have you seen it?"
Shi Youhua took a look and said thoughtfully, "She looks familiar... But if there's anything about this stewardess, it was before Xu Yanhong... Well, let me think - at the beginning of last year, I had a meeting in the capital, and Dong Sihai wanted to go with me to see the world. On the return flight, a stewardess accidentally spilled orange juice on Dong Sihai's pants. I glanced at the name tag on her chest, and it said her name was Sijia."
"And then?"
"Dong Sihai was quite upset. Those trousers weren't cheap, but the flight attendant brought a towel and kept bowing and apologizing, saying she didn't mean it... I didn't want to make a big deal out of it in public, so I just took Old Dong and left. As for whether they had any contact afterwards, the detective I hired didn't catch any footage... Well, if I do find anything, I'll let you know immediately."
“…” Ji Yinhe sighed.
Obviously, Shi Youhua didn't know that Wu Sijia had turned into a cold corpse on the dissection table and would never be photographed again.
Seeing that she was lost in thought, Lu Zheng nodded and said, "Okay, thank you."
Although it was not the answer they wanted to hear, Dong Sihai and Wu Sijia were not complete strangers, and this was enough for them to dig further based on the confession.
Before leaving, Ji Yinhe suddenly came to his senses and slapped his head.
"Boss Shi, you're all so rich, you must all drive luxury cars, right? ...What does Dong Sihai drive?" She dug into her bag and pulled out the artificial flowers she'd gotten from the Jiangtan Municipal Bureau. "Have you seen this before?"
Shi Youhua took a quick look and shook her head. "I've never seen it, but I can tell you its model and license plate number. Go check it out yourself!"
*
However, at the same time the next day.
After chasing Dong Sihai's car to a small courtyard in a village, Ji Yinhe did not expect that his initial judgment on the case would be completely overturned.
She stared at the woman crawling on the ground in disbelief and asked in a trembling voice:
"...So, you're the one who took Wu Sijia away from Jiangtan back then?"
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