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In Linpu, just as dawn was breaking, Duan Ruiming arrived alone at the bar where Fei Li had been.
This bar is called Black Smoked. It's usually open all night. It's not usually open at this time, but the door isn't completely closed; it's just slightly ajar.
Because no prior notice was given, no one came out to greet us.
A few waiters were cleaning the dance floor. Not noticing who was looking at them, one casually blurted out, "We're not open at this time. If you need... a... policeman?"
Duan Ruiming felt something was wrong. He had never been here before, so how did the waiter know his last name?
The waiter turned to call someone, but Duan Ruiming stopped him with a raised hand.
Duan Ruiming wandered around the bar alone and found the private room shown in the surveillance footage.
In the private room, Duan Ruiming recalled the scenes in the video, then looked up at the monitor, trying to remember Fei Li's every move from that angle.
First, they were timid and hesitant; then they offered toasts and tried to ingratiate themselves; finally, the screen went black...
What exactly did the disconnected surveillance cameras capture?
Was it accidental or deliberate?
"Why didn't Officer Duan say anything before he came?"
He looks like the owner of the bar.
How do you know me?
“Officer Duan… has worked in Linpu for so long, I know that.”
Knowing it was just a polite remark, Duan Ruiming remained unfazed.
The boss was dressed casually in a gray long-sleeved shirt, and seemed to have also stayed up all night, with stubble growing on his chin: "Officer Duan, what do you want to investigate? Just tell us and we'll definitely cooperate as much as possible."
The two walked into the monitoring room.
The boss touched his face, somewhat embarrassed: "The surveillance footage of Fei Li has been handed over to the police station, and he hasn't come here again since."
Duan Ruiming's gaze swept across the surveillance video: "You know Fei Li?"
"I don't recognize him. If the police hadn't come to our area last time, I wouldn't have known that such a person had ever been here."
"Hasn't he been here a few times before?"
"This is a bar, and to put it bluntly, it's a mixed bag. How could I possibly remember so many people all day long? I've asked the staff, and none of them have any impression of him."
Do you know the two people he was with in the private room?
"I can't see the faces clearly in the video, but I probably don't recognize them. If I did recognize them, I would remember them..."
Halfway through his sentence, Duan Ruiming suddenly noticed something awkward.
Then, without batting an eye, he asked, "Your surveillance system was repaired later, right? It broke down so many times before, it must have caused quite a problem, right? How long did it take for the workers you called to fix it?"
"Yes, it turns out that the problem was with the system and the circuit was burned out. It took several days to repair, and the monitoring system was also unusable for those few days."
Duan Ruiming patted the man on the shoulder: "Okay, it's fixed now. I didn't have anything else to do today, so I just came to take a look."
On the bus, Duan Ruiming recalled the scene he had seen in the monitoring room.
The boss said that the surveillance cameras were not recording during the few days of maintenance, but he clearly saw in the monitoring room that after Fei Li's last visit to the bar, which should have been the time for maintenance, the computer showed surveillance footage.
Contrary to what the boss said, when Duan Ruiming thought he had misremembered, he specifically asked the boss.
Why would he lie?
Is it an accomplice covering it up, or is it a secret all along?
So, what else was captured on the surveillance footage? Did Fei Li come back again? And who were the other two people in the private room?
Duan Ruiming drove alone, not knowing where he was going.
Before we knew it, we had driven to the vicinity of Xu Li's school, which was a few streets away.
Duan Ruiming got off the bus, intending to visit Xu Li's school one last time; this might be the last time he went there.
There was a dilapidated little brick house by the roadside, without a proper sign. The words "Recycling Waste" were written crookedly on a piece of cardboard with a black marker.
An elderly man came out; he was probably the owner of the shop.
Accompanying the old man was a beige country dog.
The old man seemed to be in good health, but the dog looked rather listless.
Duan Ruiming saw it and casually asked, "This dog is only a few months old, why does it look so listless?"
"It's been like this since last month, probably because of the books I bought from the bar last month."
As he spoke, the old man took a broom and swept the dust out of the corners along the cracks in the floor.
"Books collected by the bar?"
“These are some books we received last month. I don’t know why hotels still collect books. They’re over there with the ones we received from the school. I figured they couldn’t be from the school. Anyway, my dog sniffed them a few times and started jumping around. Then, I don’t know what happened, he started vomiting and having diarrhea. He’s better now, but he’s not as energetic as before.”
Duan Ruiming looked at the white powder swept out of the ground, which contained some dust and hair.
Suddenly, a terrifying thought crept into Duan Ruiming's mind.
Books? Bar?
Are these books by Fei Li?
That white powder? Did the dog accidentally ingest it?
These symptoms seemed familiar, and Duan Ruiming felt a chill run down his spine in an instant.
Duan Ruiming quickly sorted out his thoughts and suddenly remembered that a teacher at school had mentioned that Fei Li seemed to be under a lot of pressure, which caused him to lose weight and sleep at his desk every day…
Drug use causes people to gradually lose weight and become mentally unstable, not because of stress or staying up late.
poison!
Yes, it's drugs!
Fei Li is using drugs!
Then everything makes sense.
Fei Li unintentionally met a drug trafficking organization outside of school, either because of his excessive curiosity or because he was lured into drug use.
However, when did Fei start, and how long has it been? Since he still has the awareness to go to school, it shouldn't be too long...
And those two people in the private room, were they supplying drugs to Fei Li?
Since the transaction took place in a bar, the bar owner must have known something. Moreover, the surveillance footage was arranged to be deleted, and the bar owner was making excuses. They had already prepared for dealing with the police and had already prepared an escape route for themselves.
Then why did the surveillance cameras clearly record it, and why did they lie and say that it was under maintenance and not captured? What happened in between? Did Fei Li come back?
Duan Ruiming remained rooted to the spot, and no one knew the turmoil churning within him at that moment.
…………
If it really is drug use, then the severity of this matter will escalate to another level.
This is no longer just a simple missing persons case; it may also involve the interests of a huge drug trafficking organization.
what does that mean?
This means that he might face even more severe punishment than he had ever imagined. If Xu Li is involved in this matter, then what will Xu Li face?
A criminal case combined with the organization of a drug trafficking gang—no one could bear such a heavy burden.
Duan Ruiming thought of Fei Li's parents again, their aged hands and wrinkled faces, repeatedly shouting for justice in front of the police station.
At that time, they certainly didn't know their beloved son was using drugs. They always believed in their son and fantasized that he would go to university and start a new life...
They had high hopes for their son, but only Philip himself knew he was falling into an abyss.
So how deeply is Xu Li involved in this matter? At what stage did her entanglement with Fei Li end? Classmate? Disappearance? Drug use?
Zhou Junchang became increasingly frightened as he thought about it. Why was Xu Li unwilling to return to Linpu? Xu Li didn't have such poor stress tolerance, so it must be more than just a simple matter. Was it a matter of life and death or the illegality of drug trafficking?
Every outcome left Duan Ruiming breathless.
He had worked so hard for so long, hoping that Xu Li could have a future where she could turn back, but in the end it was all for nothing.
He gambled his future, but couldn't get a good outcome for Xu Li.
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