Qiming Chapter 9

Chapter 9

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Gu Yunfeng leaned against the wall of the lounge, keeping his head down to avoid the sunlight streaming through the window, standing in a shaded area.

"Captain Gu?" No response.

"Gu Yunfeng?" Xu Chengyue called again.

Only then did Gu Yunfeng snap out of his daze, pointing towards the restroom at the end of the hallway. "Yuan Man is touching up her makeup in there. I'll send her and Chen Yu back in a bit."

"What's wrong?" Xu Chengyue noticed dust from the wall on Gu Yunfeng's fingers and knew he was troubled.

"Nothing..." He forced a smile, turning his face away to avoid eye contact. The summer evening sunlight was piercing, trying to cut through the darkness at the end of the long corridor.

Unfortunately, darkness cannot be cut, only illuminated. But this small beam of light was merely a temporary fix, highlighting a shadow within the darkness.

"Is it certain that Guan Jianhua was one of the offenders in that case?" Gu Yunfeng asked Xu Chengyue.

"Mhmm, and it's confirmed that the main culprit, Cao Yan, was released two months ago and is currently staying at a friend's place in Shangnan District." Xu Chengyue adjusted his slightly slipping glasses. "Also, per Chen Yu's request, let's keep the details of this case confidential from the rest of the team for now."

"Alright, I'll send you Yuan Man's statement later and have Shu Pan organise it." He waved the notebook in his hand and gave Xu Chengyue a pat on the shoulder. "Have you obtained the recording of the blackmail call?"

"Chen Yu provided it this afternoon, and there's this too," Xu Chengyue said, taking out several white envelopes. "These are the threatening letters Yuan Man received, printed on ordinary A4 paper."

He took the envelopes and withdrew the threatening letters inside, flipping through them one by one. Each letter was similar, extremely perfunctory. The criminal was doing a half-hearted job, unlike the spider in the corner that at least knew how to weave a proper web, waiting for its prey.

"Professor Xu, what do you make of these letters?" He fanned the letters out in front of him.

"The person who wrote the letters and the one doing the blackmail are not the same," Xu Chengyue responded.

"Explain?"

"The wording, tone and style are completely different."

Hearing this, Gu Yunfeng smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "So their objectives must also be different. I'll have someone keep an eye on Cao Yan. I’ll give you the task of investigating the current status of all those involved in the human trafficking case from back then."

As he was talking, Yuan Man came out with a light gait, her makeup freshly done. She smiled and waved at them, exuding youthful energy. He looked at her, momentarily lost in thought, and instinctively took her handbag, opening the door.

"Captain Gu, you mentioned wanting my help with something?" Xu Chengyue suddenly called out.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot." Gu Yunfeng tapped his forehead. "Can your lab access the historical surveillance footage from the Third Institute?"

"Yes, we use that data for experiments, but it doesn't include personal footage."

"Can you retrieve all surveillance footage of Guan Jianhua's activities in Nanpu City over the past month?"

"That's against protocol," Xu Chengyue refused outright. Surveillance footage obtained through facial recognition searches, even in public places, falls under personal privacy and requires certain permissions and the subject's consent. Since Guan Jianhua was deceased, consent wasn't needed, but the approval process was still necessary.

"I understand, but time is of the essence. Guan Jianhua was just murdered, and Cao Yan has been released. If this is a revenge crime, there might be another incident soon." Seeing Xu Chengyue hesitate, he suggested an alternative.

"Professor Xu, just give me the conclusions, suspicious people Guan Jianhua met, suspicious places he visited. Surveillance footage only needs formal approval if used in the evidence chain. I'll apply for it later."

—————

"Professor Xu, where's Captain Gu?" Shu Pan asked when he saw Xu Chengyue return alone.

"Captain Gu took Yuan Man and her agent back." He picked up his thermos from the table and went to the tea room to make a cup of black tea. He was still thinking about the task Gu Yunfeng had given him, to go to the lab and use its facial recognition system to track Guan Jianhua's movements in Nanpu City over the past month.

"Eighteen years ago, Nanpu City cracked a human trafficking case involving girls aged twelve to twenty. Yuan Man and Chen Yu are being blackmailed because of this case," Xu Chengyue explained. "Are you both familiar with this case?"

"I know it, it was so heinous that it shocked the entire city," Wen Xin tilted her head. "I was young then, but for years, my parents kept reminding me to be cautious."

Xu Chengyue drew a simple relationship diagram on the whiteboard in the office. In the centre was Guan Jianhua, with one line pointing to the human trafficking case from eighteen years ago and another line pointing to Yuan Man and her agent, Chen Yu.

"Based on Chen Yu's statement, Guan Jianhua's case might be related to this old case. What are your thoughts?"

"I was only five years old then, so my memories are vague," Wen Xin replied. "I just remember that around forty to fifty girls were deceived and taken to special locations and remote areas, and the crimes spanned from 2002 to 2005."

"The case was quite sensational at the time, but it's been so long that I don't remember the specific details."

"Where are the case files?"

"We can't see the files for such a big case. After all, they're not in a small detachment like ours." Shu Pan pouted. "Professor Xu, I've noticed that in just a few days, you've gradually shed your boring professor bookworm style and transformed into a righteous police officer who saves the world."

"Thanks." He detected the sarcasm but still thanked him.

"What are you discussing?" A burly man in a white lab coat walked by. He looked to be in his thirties or forties. He stopped at their office door, craning his neck to look around.

"Good morning, Old Xu."

"It's not morning anymore, it's already noon."

"This is... the new Professor Xu, right?" The man in the white coat gave him a meaningful look and introduced himself, "I'm Xu Yuanqiao from the forensic department."

He put down his pen and nodded in greeting.

"Old Xu, you're idle again."

"Indeed, ever since we automated autopsies, our forensic department has become much more relaxed." He pulled a few cigarettes from his pocket and, while handing one to Shu Pan, asked, "Your Captain Gu isn't here, right? That guy chases people away at the slightest smell of smoke."

"He's not here, feel free to smoke." Shu Pan said, pulling out a lighter. He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and leisurely said, "Our Captain Gu doesn't smoke or drink, as a man, he should have some hobbies."

"You guys don't know this, but Gu Yunfeng can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk. Last time Director Zhao treated us to dinner, he drank a whole jin of baijiu without turning red or skipping a beat. Saying he doesn't drink is just fooling you." Xu Yuanqiao lit his cigarette, the smoke drifting lazily out the window.

"Your Captain Gu is a peculiar one. His aversion to smoking is famous across the system. Last time Director Zhao went to his house for dinner, guess what?" Xu Yuanqiao, a talkative and outgoing person, didn't wait for others to chime in before continuing with Gu Yunfeng's anecdotes. "He never uses a knife to cook, always tears things apart by hand."

"Isn't it ridiculous? So peculiar." Forensic Doctor Xu shook his head in mock sympathy. "His cooking is pretty good though. At a glance, you can tell he's been doing household chores since childhood, with his parents being mere ornaments."

The three of them exchanged puzzled looks, unsure of how much was true and how much was false.

Xu Yuanqiao's gaze shifted to the character diagram on the whiteboard, immediately recognising the case from a few days ago involving the strangulation in the garbage bin.

"Professor Xu, this is the case on Huanan Road, right? I handled the autopsy. Our forensic department isn't as busy as it used to be, we used to be as busy as a dog every day, but now it's much better and we can even come to your place for a cup of tea and a chat. This is thanks to your school's artificial intelligence lab."

"Oh?" He sensed a hint of bitterness.

"Professor Xu should be from that lab too. Lu Yong, Professor Lu, the head of your lab, is an old professor at Nanpu University. He's the one who designed the automated autopsy system."

"He's my mentor." The automated system Forensic Doctor Xu mentioned was indeed designed by Professor Lu. As long as a body was placed on the instrument, the system could automatically perform dissections and a series of tests on the body, ultimately generating a complete autopsy report with accuracy no less than that of manual autopsies.

This technology had been implemented in Nanpu City about a year and a half ago, and its coverage seemed quite extensive.

"Old Xu, don't be bitter, it's supposed to lighten your workload, not steal your job."

"Bah, bah, bah, when did I say that?" He glared at Shu Pan, making Wen Xin laugh beside him.

"Forensic Doctor Xu, do you remember the human trafficking case in Nanpu City in 2005?" Xu Yuanqiao looked to be in his thirties or forties, so eighteen years ago he would have been a hot-blooded young man. Xu Chengyue figured he might remember more.

"Of course! If it weren't for an abducted girl dying before she could be sold in 2005, the case would have dragged on for years. Why, Professor Xu, have you forgotten? Back then, Nanpu City was small, and a major case like that made everyone anxious. Everyone knew about it. You weren't that young then, were you?"

"Mhmm, but I have no memory of it." Xu Chengyue looked bewildered. He was ten years old in 2005 but had no recollection of the event. He often tried to recall past stories from his life, but he remembered very few things clearly. It was as if his memories were fragmented, only remembering significant events while ignoring those unrelated to him. He wondered if this was a side effect of last year's accident.

He opened his laptop and saw that Gu Yunfeng had sent him Yuan Man's statement.

She received the first threatening letter on June 9th. Surveillance was damaged, indicating an internal crime was possible.

Xu Chengyue used a marker to write "internal crime" next to Yuan Man's photo on the whiteboard and meticulously added "90% possibility" beside it.

An internal crime was highly likely to be a retaliatory murder.

"An abducted girl died before she could be sold in 2005." He recalled what Xu Yuanqiao said and circled Tianyi, Yuan Man's agency, on the board. "We should... look for employees related to the 6.24 case eighteen years ago in the Tianyi building, focusing on whether there are any former victims or their families among the employees."

‿︵‿︵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: June 25, 2024 by Angel

Edited: June 27, 2024 by Angel