Chapter 297 Go Early and Return Early
Zhou Yi's other worry was that today was already April 23rd, and it was less than two weeks since the grand case in the previous life.
He had thought that his intervention had caused Lu Xiaoshuang's life trajectory to deviate greatly from that of her previous life. Would this also affect the occurrence of a major case in this life?
Maybe it will happen earlier, maybe later, or maybe it won’t happen at all.
But he didn't dare to gamble on this uncertainty because it concerned Lu Xiaoshuang's life and death.
He wanted to refuse the business trip to Anyuan at this critical juncture.
But when he saw Zhang Xianglan's distraught look, and remembered Niu Fengxian's pitiful begging, Zhou Yi's heart softened again.
He said to himself in his heart: Let’s go and try to make a quick decision!
"Captain Wu, I'll listen to your arrangements. I want to finish this case as soon as possible."
Wu Yongcheng patted his shoulder and said, "Don't put so much pressure on yourself, brat. Not all cases can be solved just by saying it."
Zhou Yi sighed in his heart: Captain Wu, I have no choice.
Since the decision had been made, Zhou Yi walked over to Zhang Xianglan and said, "Ms. Zhang, don't worry. Our leader just decided to let me go to Anyuan to assist in the investigation of your husband's case."
A glimmer of hope flashed in Zhang Xianglan's eyes, and she asked, "Then...can I go with you?"
"I need to go through some formalities here, so it might not be that fast."
"It's okay, I can wait."
"Okay, then leave me your contact information and I'll contact you later."
"Okay, okay, thank you, Officer Zhou." Zhang Xianglan bowed to Zhou Yi, then bowed again and again to Wu Yongcheng. "Thank you, Chief. Thank you, Chief."
After returning to the bureau, Wu Yongcheng asked Chen Yan to call An Yuan. In addition to confirming that Li Youqiang was carrying a gun, he also included the water and electricity conditions in Fu Daqing's home that Jiang Biao had later found out.
Sure enough, it was exactly the same as Zhou Yi's guess. Fu Daqing's family used water and electricity in both March and April, and the amount in April was obviously more than that in March, which means that he spent less time at home in March than in April.
This is basically consistent with Zhou Yi's speculation about his movements.
That means, according to Zhou Yi's speculation, Fu Daqing may not be the murderer of Li Youqiang.
The two sides communicated over the phone about the specific investigation situation.
The next focus in Hongcheng is relatively clear. The first is to track down and capture the fugitive Fu Daqing, focusing on the ideas provided by Zhou Yi, tracking him in the direction of remote rural areas, and mobilizing resources from inside and outside the province to jointly track him down.
The second one is a man named Da Jun who has connections with Fu Daqing and Li Youqiang. He is the only clue on Hongcheng's side at present.
Pan Hongjie stated that they had already begun a large-scale investigation in Anyuan, starting with hotels to track down Li Youqiang and Fu Daqing. Later, based on clues provided by Hongcheng, they would investigate watermelon wholesalers and farmers in Anyuan to see if they could find anyone who had contact with Fu Daqing.
At the same time, a carpet search was conducted outward from the well where the body was found, in order to find any discarded murder weapons.
However, given the current situation, no matter which direction of investigation is taken, it is extremely time-consuming and laborious.
Zhou Yi discovered that Wu Yongcheng did not mention to Pan Hongjie about sending him there, probably because he thought it would be better to go through the upper level route for such matters.
Before the conference call ended, Pan Hongjie asked a question: "Deputy Captain Wu, I would like to ask you a question."
"you say."
"I've heard you mention the name Zhou Yi several times. I want to ask who Zhou Yi is?"
Zhou Yi immediately leaned over to the phone and said, "Hello, Captain Pan, I'm Zhou Yi, a member of the Third Squadron on Captain Wu's side."
"Oh, this voice sounds very young. With such good analytical and reasoning skills, I thought he was an old detective." Pan Hongjie said in surprise.
"Hey, it's just a little brat, guessing." Wu Yongcheng said, "I was thinking about sending him to your place to study someday."
"No problem, welcome, let's learn from each other."
Pan Hongjie might just be being polite, but Zhou Yi knew that Wu Yongcheng was not. Although it seemed like a casual remark, he was actually laying the groundwork in advance.
Captain Wu is really good at the trick of moistening things silently.
After hanging up the phone, Wu Yongcheng patted Zhou Yi on the shoulder, stood up and said, "Get ready yourself. I'll go find Director Xie."
The other three asked in confusion: "Preparing for what?"
Zhou Yi spread his hands innocently and said, "Zhang Xianglan insisted on going to Anyuan to collect Li Youqiang's body. Captain Wu was afraid that something might go wrong, so he asked me to do the hard labor and run errands."
All he could say was to keep a low profile for now so that he could deal with it later.
Jiang Biao said with a smile: "Business trip, not bad, not bad. I heard that the watermelons in Anyuan are delicious. It's a pity that it's not summer yet, otherwise you must bring back two."
"By the way, Brother Biao, speaking of watermelon, I just thought of something." Zhou Yi said.
"What is it?"
"Fu Daqing was doing business back then, importing watermelons from Anyuan. It's definitely impossible that he made that connection out of thin air. We can look up his relationships from when he was doing the fruit business, and probably trace them back to his social connections in Anyuan. But it's a bit of a while ago, so it'll take some effort."
"It's okay, I'll check it out."
In terms of severity, the case of Li Youqiang is a regular homicide, and the crime scene is not in Hongcheng, so it is impossible to deploy a large number of police forces, and the Third Brigade will conduct visits and investigations on its own.
So just following a few clues takes a lot of effort.
After Wu Yongcheng came back from the director's office upstairs, he told Zhou Yi that Director Xie agreed. It just so happened that Li Youqiang had already been listed as a missing person, which coincided with the searchlight plan initiated by the city, so it was necessary to follow up and cooperate in the investigation.
He will say hello to An Yuan and let Wu Yongcheng go through the case handling and joint investigation process.
"This is my first business trip, so I'd like to say hello to my family so they don't worry," said Wu Yongcheng.
"clear."
"You can decide the timing yourself."
Zhou Yi said without hesitation: "Let's do it tomorrow. I'll try to go early and come back early."
Zhou Yi immediately called Zhang Xianglan and told her that they would meet at the train station at nine o'clock tomorrow morning.
The straight-line distance from Hongcheng to Anyuan is more than 500 kilometers, but there is no highway directly connecting the two places, so taking the highway requires a considerable detour.
Moreover, Zhang Xianglan is a relative of the deceased, and it is not in accordance with regulations for Zhou Yi to drive with her. If any accident happens on the road, Zhou Yi will have to bear the responsibility.
So the safest way is definitely to take the train, but these days, express trains have just appeared and are not yet popular. Most trains are still ordinary trains, that is, the old green-skinned trains.
The speed is just over 100 kilometers per hour, but because there are many stops in between, it takes more than seven hours to get from Hongcheng to Anyuan.
Zhang Xianglan asked on the phone: "Officer Zhou, do I need to bring anything?"
"Your ID card, household registration booklet, and your marriage certificate with Li Youqiang will be necessary for the application. Also, bring some money with you, as you must stay there that day. I suggest you come back the next day after you finish the report. Once the procedures are completed in Anyuan, and if cremation is permitted, you can come back."
"Shouldn't I...wait there?"
"Zhang Xianglan, you still have a son. You have to consider him. He needs his mother the most right now."
This one sentence made Zhang Xianglan break down completely. She sobbed softly and said, "I understand. I'll listen to you."
On that day, several reconnaissance directions were advanced simultaneously, but there was no progress until the evening.
Wu Yongcheng handed the approved documents to Zhou Yi and told him that he had already communicated with Pan Hongjie. After he arrived in Anyuan, he would go directly to the Municipal Bureau to find Pan Hongjie, who would arrange the follow-up matters.
Then Wu Yongcheng asked him to go back and pack his things quickly.
"Zhou Yi." Wu Yongcheng shouted at Zhou Yi who was about to turn around and leave.
"What's wrong, Captain Wu?"
"be safe."
Zhou Yi nodded and walked away.
Zhou Yi went straight back to his parents' house, just in time for dinner.
There was no meat on the table, the only dish was leeks and eggs.
When Zhang Qiuxia saw her son coming back, she immediately put down her chopsticks and said she wanted to fry some bacon for her son.
"Mom, no need. Chives and eggs are just fine. Just give me a bowl of rice."
"It's okay, it will be quick. You eat first, it will be ready soon." Zhang Qiuxia said as she brought the bowl and chopsticks and placed them in front of Zhou Yi, then went back into the kitchen. Soon the sound of spatulas colliding was heard.
Zhou Jianguo said, "Don't stop your mother. Your grandfather and I have been eating vegetarian food for several days. We are almost monks in the temple. It's just a good opportunity to take advantage of you."
"Dad, is there any news from Uncle San?"
"I was just about to tell you. Your third uncle just called this afternoon and said the steel coils from the tractor factory have passed the trial."
"Great, did Uncle San send the contract?"
"It arrived the day before yesterday, by registered mail. I've already given it to the factory. Your third uncle told me to go and ask them tomorrow morning. If the factory has no problem with the contract, he'll have them stamp it and send it over."
Zhou Yi nodded. This matter finally had a good result.
"Dad, go and urge the factory manager to confirm the contract tomorrow. If you have any questions, call Uncle San right away. You don't understand contract matters, so let him come."
"good."
"Remember to bring Kong Lao San with you."
Zhou Jianguo was stunned: "Why should I take him with me? He can't even read a few words."
"Let him take the rope."
Hearing the rope, Zhou Jianguo instantly understood. "Okay!"
Soon, a plate of steaming fried sausages was served.
Zhang Qiuxia placed the sausage in front of Zhou Yi and said, "Eat quickly, son."
Zhou Jianguo said, "Son, you're right. The factory is already buzzing with rumors that the second batch of layoffs will be announced soon."
Zhou Yi thought about it and felt that the announcement of the second batch of names was later than in the previous life, which might be caused by his father's disturbance.
"A lot of people came to me today and asked if I could..."
Before Zhou Jianguo could finish his words, Zhou Yi said firmly: "No!"
He knew what his father was going to say.
"I haven't said that yet..."
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