Qiming Chapter 20

Chapter 20

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Driving back from the Tianyi building, it was already seven o'clock in the evening by the time he got back to the criminal investigation team. Just in time for rush hour, he found himself stuck in traffic on the elevated road, regretting why he hadn't just taken the metro, which would have brought him back in a leisurely half-hour. By the time he got back to the team, Director Zhao would surely scold him harshly.

Why did his phone have to run out of battery today? With a phone that had such poor battery life, he should have brought a power bank while out on duty. He was just asking for trouble.

When he returned, all the lights in the police station were still on. Nervously, he knocked on Director Zhao's office door. Even before he pushed the door open, he could hear Zhao Chuan's loud voice shouting.

"Gu Yunfeng, where the hell have you been today?!" Zhao Chuan, sporting a balding hairstyle, slammed the desk so hard that the glass almost shook. "I called you this afternoon and your phone was off. This isn't the first time either. What are you playing at? You know you won't pass your probation like this, right!"

Gu Yunfeng had only been promoted to deputy team leader last year and was still in his probation period. His formal appointment depended on his performance in the first-year assessment. If he didn't pass, he would have to return to being an ordinary officer.

Hearing this, Gu Yunfeng quickly bowed his head and admitted his mistake, hurriedly explaining that he had been out on duty and had contacted an important witness in the Guan Jianhua case that afternoon. He earnestly promised to keep his phone available at all times in the future.

"An important witness?" Zhao Chuan raised an eyebrow. "You didn't go out to flirt with a young girl, right?"

Gu Yunfeng replied, "... Absolutely not."

He thought to himself, I haven't even had a meal, where would I find the time to flirt? Director Zhao, at fifty years old, had a style that was always surprising. He was very serious when joking, and very gossipy when scolding people.

"You were in a hurry to find me because of that case in the Shangnan District, right?" Gu Yunfeng quickly shifted the topic to work. He was very experienced in this regard; when the boss gossiped, he brought up work, confident that it would shut him up.

"You still remember." Zhao Chuan sat in his chair at the office desk, one leg crossed, and said coldly, "There was a meeting at the Municipal Bureau this morning. When the Shangnan District Security Bureau reported this case, I noticed that the deceased knew the victim from our previous case. They even went to court and did time together. So, I called you back. Tomorrow, go over there and see if there's any connection. If there is, handle it as a combined case."

"And if it's a combined case... which side handles it?"

"Nonsense! If you really find a connection, you handle it. You're still in your probation period as deputy team leader, work harder and show more performance, and your transfer will be faster." Director Zhao's answer was straightforward. Seeing him stand there in a daze, he slapped the desk. "What are you daydreaming about? Get to work!"

Gu Yunfeng quickly agreed, leaving the office in a hurry. He wiped the sweat off his brow, feeling the air conditioning's chill. He walked briskly towards the criminal investigation team, passing by the smoking area next to the small grove outside, and coincidentally saw Xu Yuanqiao smoking.

"Yo, Captain Gu, good morning." Seeing him approaching, Forensic Doctor Xu quickly stubbed out his nearly finished cigarette, stepped on it, and pretended to look at the moon.

"Get off work and go home already, Old Xu." He glanced at his watch; it was almost ten o'clock, how could it be morning? Last year, Xu Yuanqiao accidentally set fire to a document Gu Yunfeng had just received while smoking in the office, leading to a big fight between them. Since then, Xu Yuanqiao didn't dare to release even a hint of smoke in front of him. Usually mild-mannered, Gu Yunfeng could render someone speechless and unable to move if they truly angered him.

Entering the office, Shu Pan was lying on the desk, snoring. It took quite some effort for Gu Yunfeng to shake him awake. Seeing his half-open eyes, he flicked his forehead hard with his index finger, making Shu Pan fully wake up with a cry of "Ouch!" Rubbing his head, Shu Pan looked at him with aggrieved eyes. "Captain Gu, please be gentler next time."

Not talking nonsense with him, he sank into his chair, finally relaxing after a non-stop day.

"When did Professor Xu return?" he asked.

"He came back not long after I called you, stayed for about ten minutes, and left again."

"He left? That's not very dedicated, I'll have to criticise him." He took a bottle of soda water from the fridge and a wet wipe to dab the sweat from his forehead.

"Of course he went home. Do you really think Professor Xu is like us, slaving away over these cases every day with no time for a love life?" He protested unhappily, "He's a professor from a prestigious school, a technology elite, destined to save the world and mankind."

"How will he save people like us?" Gu Yunfeng couldn't help but laugh.

"I passed by Director Zhao's door the other day and overheard him talking about Professor Xu's lab project, they're working on some AI detective." He looked at Gu Yunfeng with a mysterious expression. "I'm now hoping they hurry up and finish it, to free human hands and minds."

"Who said something about breaking their own rice bowl before?"

"I was wrong then. Now, I just want to eat and wait for death, sleep all day, and leave the job opportunities to the AIs, they'll do better," Shu Pan declared dramatically, clutching his chest with both hands and widening his eyes in an exaggerated manner.

"Look at you, so unambitious," Gu Yunfeng glanced at him disdainfully.

Previously, Gu Yunfeng hadn't paid much attention to what Xu Chengyue was working on. Different fields are like separate mountains, he didn't understand these things. He only knew that Professor Xu came to the criminal investigation team for a project called "AI Detective," saying he needed to collect criminal samples to train the AI.

"Did the bank find anything?" he asked Shu Pan. Previously, they couldn't trace the funds transferred by Tianyi, so they had to take a roundabout way, investigating whether Cao Yan and others had received large sums of money from unknown sources.

"Of course, I've been waiting until now to report the situation."

"Do we have the transfer records?"

"Of course." Shu Pan eagerly opened his computer, casually brushing his hair back.

"Bank of Communications, June 3rd, three hundred thousand yuan transferred to an account under Cao Yan's name. On June 20th, the day after Guan Jianhua's death, seven hundred thousand yuan was transferred to a personal account at China Merchants Bank. This account belongs to Liu Yan, one of the criminals in the 6.24 girl abduction case. He was just a runner back then and was sentenced to twelve years."

"This person was released five years ago. After his release, he started gambling. Initially, he won some money and started lending at high interest rates. Later, he lost money and became heavily indebted, constantly hiding from creditors."

"Pull up a photo of Liu Yan," Gu Yunfeng said.

"Here it is, Liu Yan, forty-three, local." The man in the photo had a shaved head, a shrunken neck, and a sleazy look in his eyes, not at all fierce. He had a noticeable scar on his right cheek and a phoenix tattoo on his left arm. He stood out in a crowd, but since he managed to evade his creditors, he probably put a lot of effort into altering his appearance.

Gu Yunfeng found an email Professor Xu had sent him a few days ago, which contained images of people who had frequent contact with Guan Jianhua over the past month. From the spacing of the eyes and the shape of the face, one of them did resemble Liu Yan. However, the shaved head had become a crew cut, the scar on his face had faded, and it seemed he had undergone rhinoplasty.

But there was still a 70% resemblance.

Gu Yunfeng asked, "Do we have Liu Yan's whereabouts?"

"Not at the moment," Shu Pan spread his hands regretfully. "This guy has been in hiding for years, no one knows where he is. He's so heavily in debt that he doesn't dare show up around familiar faces."

"Hey, Captain Gu, do you think Liu Yan is involved in the deaths of Guan Jianhua and Cao Yan?"

"It's uncertain for now. We don't know if the murderer of Cao Yan and Guan Jianhua is the same person," he frowned. "Tomorrow, I need to go to the Shangnan District Security Bureau to check the autopsy results."

"But we can confirm they formed a small trio, Liu Yan, Cao Yan and Guan Jianhua, all involved in extorting Tianyi."

Shu Pan asked, "Could it be an internal betrayal? Liu Yan, trying to pay off his gambling debts, wanted to take all the money for himself."

This idea indeed had a lot of operational feasibility. The day after Guan Jianhua's death, seven hundred thousand yuan was transferred to Liu Yan's account at China Merchants Bank. Now, Cao Yan was also dead, and her account's three hundred thousand yuan might soon be quietly withdrawn by an unnamed person.

"Once we find Liu Yan, everything will be clear." Either he betrayed and killed his two partners for the money, or he's hiding in some unknown underground corner, trembling in fear, afraid that he'll be the next to die.

"Xiao Man is really pitiful, having a mother who constantly tries to use her," Shu Pan stood up and leaned against the windowsill. The flowerpot by the window contained a few cacti, covered in thorns.

"If it were me, I'd rather be an orphan."

A few minutes later, Gu Yunfeng was the only one left in the empty criminal investigation team office. He stood by the window, gazing at the full moon and distant lights. After a while, he sent a WeChat message to Xu Chengyue:

– Forgot to get your autograph, not a single one.

Several minutes passed with no reply. He then remembered that Xu Chengyue went to bed before ten o'clock every night without fail, strictly adhering to health guidelines.

He packed up the materials Shu Pan had brought and was about to head home when he suddenly saw a friend request from a stranger on WeChat.

– I am Ying Xizi, please add me as a friend, Officer Gu.

Ying Xizi?

He remembered, it was Xu Chengyue's personal doctor.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: July 2, 2024 by Angel

Edited: July 11, 2024 by Angel