Chapter 83
Who is Lin Jin to you? My wife.
Ji Nanxing, with the case files he had just retrieved from the archives tucked under one arm, was about to turn the corner back to his office when he happened to run into Cheng Sangluo, who was reporting for duty, in the stairwell.
The two women stood facing each other, one above the other. The atmosphere wasn't too bad, but their unspoken silence created an inexplicable sense of unease.
Cheng Sangluo put her hands in her back pockets and nodded politely to Ji Nanxing. Although she acted naturally, her emotions were full of resistance to her surroundings. This unease and aversion stemmed from her criminal background.
It's understandable that she had a bad impression of the police station. She had spent a lot of time in this area before and could practically recite the interrogation process by heart, so this trip seemed so easy for her.
Ji Nanxing was not good at smiling and always had a cold face that kept strangers at bay. However, she treated Cheng Sangluo well, probably out of respect for his special forces identity. So after looking at each other for a while, a faint smile appeared on her lips.
"Perfect timing." She grabbed the documents from under her arm and waved them at Cheng Sangluo. "Let's go, let's sit in my office and talk."
Cheng Sangluo's gaze fell on the thick stack of leather-bound files. She paused for a moment, then pointed slowly toward the interrogation room, "Shouldn't we go over there?"
"Whether you've committed a crime or not isn't up to me to decide; it depends on the evidence and whether you actually did it. If the evidence is conclusive, I wouldn't be contacting you by phone; I would be arresting you personally. This is just a routine invitation for your cooperation in the investigation, so you don't need to go to that place." Ji Nanxing's meaning was simple: he currently didn't have direct evidence proving Cheng Sangluo's crime.
She is always meticulous in her investigations, and in her eyes, other people's reports are just empty words.
However, Xu Songheng's whereabouts are currently unknown, and he is also involved in a fight. To find out the connection between the two incidents, it is necessary to intimidate Cheng Sangluo so that this person with a criminal record can cooperate with the work.
Cheng Sangluo was clever and naturally understood her arrangement, so she simply followed quietly behind.
Before long, the two entered the criminal investigation team's office one after the other.
"Cheng Can, pour me a glass of water." Ji Nanxing gestured to his team members to greet Cheng Sangluo, then pushed open a door inside, making way for her and inviting her in: "Come in."
Cheng Sangluo reverted to her usual taciturn state, walked in with her head down, and subconsciously scanned the unfamiliar space.
Ji Nanxing's private room was at the very back of the office.
The small space had good natural light, was neatly organized, and was spotless. In particular, the desk was so clean it was like a mirror.
Cheng Sangluo felt that this place was different from the environment she had imagined. After all, the criminal investigation team handled major cases and was so busy that they worked day and night, which was even more grueling than keeping an eagle awake. How could this room be so ridiculously clean?
Ji Nanxing sat down in the chair, noticing that the person across the table was lost in thought, and simply raised his voice: "Cheng Sangluo, sit down."
"Here!" Cheng Sangluo's reaction was a bit overreacting; the immediate "Here" easily shattered her sore spot.
Not everyone who calls her name will have such a strong reaction. It's probably because Ji Nanxing is wearing a police uniform and his cold, resounding voice has triggered her muscle memory.
Ji Nanxing did not show any mocking or teasing attitude. He turned around and opened the window to let fresh air into the office, so that the person who was lost in thought could calm down.
Fortunately, Cheng Can came in with a glass of hot water, dispelling the awkward silence surrounding Cheng Sangluo.
"Thank you." She forced a dry smile and thanked them politely, holding the quilt in both hands, looking somewhat lost, so much so that she forgot the water was very hot.
"Would you like some more tea? I have some here..." Ji Nanxing's words and actions were much warmer than her cold face, perhaps she wanted to change the subject so that the other person would feel better.
"No need." Cheng Sangluo refused the offer before Captain Ji could finish speaking.
She took a small sip to moisten her throat and said helplessly, "Even the best tea here is still hard to drink for me."
“That’s true, nobody likes sitting in the police station, right?” Ji Nanxing nodded in agreement and then got straight to the point: “This missing person case was reported by Xu Songheng’s mistress. The local police station searched for two days without any results. Normally, even if they couldn’t find the person, they wouldn’t have handed it over to our criminal investigation team. But coincidentally, someone reported that you were involved in a case about fighting with him, so the two cases were combined and handed over to me. Tell me, what happened?”
Cheng Sangluo listened attentively to Ji Nanxing's words, her fingertips constantly picking at the rim of the disposable paper cup.
Without thinking too much, she confessed everything about saving Lin Jin at the port that night: "That night, Lin Jin and I were looking at the night view on the hill behind the villa when we suddenly received news that her father was critically ill, so we rushed to the health center."
After we got onto the mountain road, we were blocked by a group of motorcyclists, and the leader of this group was Xu Songheng.
The situation was complicated. Our driver was Sheng He, Lin Jin's assistant. Just as we were hesitating about how to deal with the situation, Sheng He took a gun and knocked me unconscious.
I was later awakened by the alarm sound on Lin Jin's phone. Her phone had a tracking app that would keep alarming if she strayed from a safe distance until she returned to a safe distance.
I used the software's tracking feature to drive all the way to a container terminal.
Ji Nanxing was taking notes in her notebook when her voice abruptly stopped. She looked up at Cheng Sangluo and asked, "Did you miss some important memory?"
"That container terminal seems to belong to the Lin Group, if I remember correctly."
"Okay, you can continue."
"I located the container where Lin Jin was being held based on the location. Xu Songheng's men were guarding and patrolling outside. I climbed onto the container to listen to what was happening inside and heard Xu Songheng preparing to do something shady to Lin Jin."
The situation was urgent and there was no time to call the police, so I took advantage of the opportunity when he sent his men away to sneak in.
You should understand that I could easily subdue him with my skills, but the people outside are blocking our way, so I have no choice but to take this opportunity to kidnap him in order to try to get Lin Jin to escape.
Lin Jin's foot was injured, so I had Xu Songheng arrange for his men to prepare a getaway car for us. What followed was a long, drawn-out chase. Whether what I'm saying is true or not, your police can check the traffic surveillance footage to confirm."
Cheng Sangluo did indeed recount the whole story in detail, but she also harbored a secret thought. She believed that since Xu Songheng had disappeared, he was probably already dead, so she concealed the fact that she had stabbed him with a dagger.
Ji Nanxing stared intently into Cheng Sangluo's eyes, as if he were both thinking and trying to discern the truthfulness of her words.
She quickly analyzed the conversation. From beginning to end, the timing and location were all logically connected, and it didn't sound like a fabricated lie. However, whether there were other suspicious points in the details still needed to be investigated and confirmed. "Then do you know why Xu Songheng would act as an obstacle?"
"There's a possibility that what I said isn't objective enough. How can you accept this kind of information?" Cheng Sangluo picked up her water glass and blew on it to cool it down. Even now, talking about past grievances and grudges, even though the hateful people are probably dead most of the time, doesn't make her feel any better.
Ji Nanxing fiddled with the pen and demanded, "Then try to say something objective that I don't know."
Cheng Sangluo lowered her eyes to look at her reflection in the cup. She wanted to laugh heartily, to laugh at herself for getting to where she was now, step by step, and finally, after successfully leveraging the momentum, she had also successfully established a connection with Ji Nanxing.
What kind of murderer can absolve themselves of all responsibility?
Of course, it's about using someone else to do the dirty work.
Now all she has to do is direct all the suspicion and blame at that despicable instigator, who deserves to be punished by law.
Cheng Sangluo only uttered one name, "Lin Sheng".
Ji Nanxing asked suspiciously, "Lin Jin's brother?"
"You don't need to ask me and Lin Jin what kind of person Lin Sheng is. Go ask your girlfriend. Gu Shinian was at the nursing home that night helping Lin Jin with her father's emergency treatment. I don't know what happened at the nursing home. Get a third-party bystander to explain and see what she has to say."
Cheng Sangluo revealed the truth that Gu Shinian was also there that night, her bright eyes fixed on the pensive Ji Nanxing, her expression utterly honest.
Ji Nanxing knew that Gu Shinian went to the health center that night, but her elusive girlfriend never liked to share her life, so he really didn't know what had happened.
She sighed helplessly and then asked, "So what does this have to do with Xu Songheng blocking the way?"
"Go and investigate the relationship between Lin Sheng and Xu Songheng, and all the doubts will be resolved."
The reason why so many things happened that night is actually quite simple: the impact of Lin Zhen's critical illness report was nothing more than a question about inheritance.
Xu Songheng and I have an old grudge, that's an undeniable fact, but even so, he wouldn't do anything to kill me, especially since he has no grudge against Lin Jin and no direct conflict of interest with her.
He led his men to block the road and take Lin Jin hostage, his purpose being to prevent Lin Jin from reaching the health center. As for why he did this, I suggest you investigate the nature of his relationship with Lin Sheng.
Let's continue talking about Lin Sheng. Just think about it: what if the old man doesn't make it through that night? The entire massive Lin family business will then face the issue of inheritance. Who will be the heir, and how will the inheritance be distributed? Whether the inheritance information announced later is true or not, only ghosts know.
If I don't rescue Lin Jin using Xu Songheng's method of holding her hostage, Lin Jin will only have one fate—certain death. So, for Lin Sheng, wouldn't that be considered eliminating future troubles forever?
Besides, regardless of whether Lin Jin lives or dies in this kidnapping, there is only one outcome—Lin Sheng will be the one who benefits from the property.
Now that Lin Sheng has rightfully inherited all of Lin Zhen's estate, a new question arises: should those who know about his illegal activities simply disappear?
Lin Jin never revealed anything about the inheritance to Cheng Sangluo; these suspicions were all based on what happened that night, which she deduced step by step.
She had a pretty good idea of all the superficial relationships, the intricate entanglements behind the scenes, and even Lin Sheng's motives and his complementary multi-pronged plans.
Ji Nanxing was an experienced detective. After listening to this long deduction, he extracted the most important information and asked, "I understand. You mean that Xu Songheng's death is related to Lin Sheng. So here's the question: where did the body go? Where did those so-called Xu Songheng's men go? Speculation without witnesses or physical evidence is just subjective conjecture."
Cheng Sangluo knew that this case wouldn't be resolved so quickly. After all, finding a complete chain of evidence to convict someone was no easy task, especially since Lin Sheng was a cunning fox who did things meticulously, otherwise he wouldn't have given a policeman like Ji Nanxing such a headache.
Fortunately, today's conversation undoubtedly added fuel to the fire, putting all the old and new grudges between her and Lin Jin concerning Lin Sheng back on track.
Cheng Sangluo shrugged nonchalantly, throwing all the difficult questions at Ji Nanxing. "I've told you everything I know and have experienced. Now it's up to you how you investigate this case. Will you treat it as an ordinary missing person case, or as a premeditated murder case involving silencing and organized crime?"
She felt parched, so she simply held the cup to check its temperature.
The water was no longer scalding hot; it was the perfect time to drink and quench her thirst, just as her plan was progressing smoothly and as perfectly timed as this moment.
Revenge must be carried out in an orderly manner.
Everything is just right.
'Ding-ding-'
Cheng Sangluo's cell phone rang, breaking the silence in the room.
She glanced at the time and realized that her conversation with Ji Nanxing had gone so smoothly that she had forgotten the passage of time.
She took out her phone and saw that it was Lin Jin calling, so she assumed he had successfully logged off. She chuckled and asked, "My wife is checking up on me. Can I take the call?"
Ji Nanxing leaned back in his chair, still pondering the case, and waved with a smile: "Answering the phone is your prerogative, wait a minute..."
"Your wife? When did you get married?" The usually calm and collected Captain Ji suddenly dragged his swivel chair closer to the table, craning his neck to look at Cheng Sangluo's phone screen. He saw that the caller ID showed the name Lin Jin and asked incredulously, "Who is Lin Jin to you?!"
Cheng Sangluo grinned: "My wife."
[Author's Note]
1. My pre-order novel, "The Sinful Lover," is available for collection. It features Ji Nanxing and Gu Shinian.
2. I know that after this chapter, I'll lose another wave of readers because people don't like plot-driven stories, but the story requires it, so there's nothing I can do.
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