The Same Fate Awaits All Sins Chapter 67

Final Part – 08

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Chen Qinglong gave a slight nod. "Go back and look into it, find out who is Li Kui and who is Li Gui!"

Seeing that Chen Qinglong had nothing more to say, Lu Zheng and Gu Yanta rose to take their leave.

By the time they stepped out of the teahouse, the sky had already darkened. Lu Zheng suddenly asked, "What you said about Director Lin, was that real?"

"Of course not," Gu Yanta replied. "Chen Qinglong is a shrewd and cunning man, and judging by the clues he provided today, he's just as eager to get rid of Ma Shuo. If he can use the police to do it, all the better."

"Mhmm..." Lu Zheng murmured. "I figured as much."

"So I deceived him a little," Gu Yanta said. "He might not have entirely believed it, but providing those leads was a convenient move for him anyway. The problem is, he still wanted to use it as leverage to gain an opportunity to work with your brother, that's where he crossed the line..."

"How did you know all this about him?" Lu Zheng asked.

"It wasn't hard to guess," Gu Yanta explained. "It just so happened that when he was developing Harbour City, there were some issues during the approval process. A case was even filed, and I happened to see that file."

"I see..." Lu Zheng nodded. "What do you think Chen Qinglong meant when he mentioned Li Kui and Li Gui?"

"It means we have a Li Gui within our ranks!" Gu Yanta said. "But why did he also mention Li Kui? What does that mean?"

"If he deliberately brought it up, he must have had a reason," Lu Zheng said. "Could it mean there are two people?"

"I'll have Chen Chen look into it discreetly," Gu Yanta said solemnly. A sense of foreboding rose in his heart. Li Kui and Li Gui? His mind immediately linked it to Zhang Bin and Wei Liang. Could it be that there was a Li Gui within the police force as well? Gu Yanta immediately sent a message to Chen Chen, instructing him to conduct a thorough background check on the officers in the Xia County police team, especially those with siblings close in age.

Just as the two of them returned to their dormitory, Chen Chen's hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor, and he pushed the door open.

"Boss! I found what you asked me to check!" Chen Chen said anxiously before even sitting down. "I went through everyone in the team who has been in close contact with this type of work one by one, and in the end, I found that only Chang Le meets the conditions you mentioned!"

"Chang Le?" Even Gu Yanta was surprised.

"Actually, this situation actually looks kind of familiar..." Chen Chen stared at the information on the internal police network displayed on his computer screen, lost in thought.

Gu Yanta pulled the laptop in front of him. The screen flickered with a police officer's photograph, wheat-coloured skin, a solemn expression, a younger Chang Le. Below the image, densely packed text documented his life from birth.

Chang Le, male, born January 1984 at Xia County First People's Hospital. Father, Chang Jin. Mother, Li Caixia.

January 1988, both parents died in a car accident. Chang Le and his twin brother Chang Xi were sent to Xia County Welfare Institute and later adopted separately.

2000 – 2006, served in the XX special forces unit.

July 2006 – June 2009, assigned to Chengnan Road Police Station in Xia County after discharge.

2009 – present, Xia County Sub-bureau's criminal investigation team.

"This first half... why does it look exactly the same as the brothers in the Huang Chufeng case?" Chen Chen remarked.

"You mean Zhang Bin and Wei Liang?" Gu Yanta frowned.

"Right! I couldn't recall their names for a moment..." Chen Chen said. "But the situation is identical! Look, both lost their parents at a young age, spent time in a welfare home, and were later adopted separately... No. In this case, Chang Le wasn't adopted, only his brother was."

"Can we find the file on Chang Le's twin brother?" Gu Yanta was now uncertain. This was indeed strikingly similar to the experiences of Zhang Bin, a key figure in the Huang Chufeng case. Could Chang Le really be a problem?

"We can!" Chen Chen opened another programme and navigated to the household registration inquiry page.

"The family that adopted Chang Xi was quite well-off," Chen Chen said as he scrolled through the mouse. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "The adoptive parent's name is..."

"Ma... Ma Xiangrong!" Gu Yanta couldn't help but feel a little alarmed as he saw the name. The amount of information was overwhelming, and for a moment, he couldn't make sense of it all.

Even Lu Zheng was visibly shocked. When Chen Chen mentioned that the internal suspect was Chang Le, it had still been within his expectations. But now, with Ma Xiangrong's name appearing out of nowhere, it caught him completely off guard!

A chill ran down Gu Yanta's spine. "If the brothers Chang Le and Chang Xi are somehow connected to Ma Xiangrong, then I now have every reason to suspect that the 'Ma Shuo' Chen Qinglong spoke of is actually Ma Xiangrong himself!"

"Who exactly is this Ma Xiangrong?" Chen Chen asked in confusion. "Why does he seem to be involved in everything?"

"The grudge between Ma Shuo and Chen Qinglong, based on the timeline, happened around the same time Ma Xiangrong adopted Chang Xi," Lu Zheng frowned. "Could it be that Ma Shuo really is Ma Xiangrong?"

"But how did he manage to become a professor at Yuchuan University?" Gu Yanta was puzzled. "A drug trafficker?"

"There's nothing unusual in Ma Xiangrong's records," Chen Chen said. "He was indeed born in Xia County. Due to his family's financial difficulties, he dropped out of school. In 1993, he gained admission to Yuchuan University's chemistry department through independent entrance exams."

"Could it be that during the time he dropped out, he was involved in drug trafficking?" Gu Yanta still couldn't wrap his head around it. That period was just at the beginning of the economic reform, and the thinking of the Chinese people had not yet changed. Most people still clung to the conservative idea of having stable 'iron rice bowl' jobs. Could Ma Xiangrong, a young man in his early twenties from a rural background, really have the courage and boldness?

"It's not impossible," Lu Zheng analysed. "Based on my assessment, the 'Ma Shuo' that Chen Qinglong mentioned is a ruthless person who will go to any lengths to achieve his goals. Moreover, judging by his attitude towards drugs, he actually despises them, he only uses them to gain benefits to achieve his goals. People like this tend to be highly self-disciplined and extremely conceited."

"You mean," Gu Yanta heard Lu Zheng's analysis and found it somewhat reasonable, "if we assume that Ma Shuo is indeed Ma Xiangrong, then it's possible that during his time away from school, he got involved in drug trafficking and made a fortune. Then, he sought out Chen Qinglong, a small-time contractor from his hometown, hoping to work on a project with him and go legitimate. But instead, he was swindled by the even more cunning Chen Qinglong... This made Ma Shuo realise his shortcomings, so he worked hard to pass the independent university entrance exams, studied chemistry, and then went back into the drug trade?"

"That... is too outrageous!" Chen Chen said. "Who would give up being a university professor to become a drug manufacturer?"

"Ma Xiangrong would!" Lu Zheng replied. "Maybe becoming a professor was never his real goal in the first place!"

"You mean... he studied chemistry back then with the sole intention of making drugs?" Gu Yanta asked.

"Given his intelligence, it's possible that during his dropout years in drug trafficking, he mastered certain patterns," Lu Zheng analysed, "but he was still lacking the core technology."

"So he taught himself the core technology!" Gu Yanta concluded. "If that's really the case, then Ma Xiangrong is no ordinary person. But the fact that he used his talent and energy for crime, what a waste of talent!"

"Let's not talk about Ma Xiangrong for now, after all, this is all just speculation," Lu Zheng shifted the focus. "Our top priority is to flush out this Li Gui!"

"Right!" Gu Yanta nodded. "One rat can spoil the whole pot of soup! If we don't solve the internal problem first, then no matter how carefully we plan and prepare, it'll all be for nothing!"

"Chen Chen, can we track Chang Xi's whereabouts?" Lu Zheng asked.

"This is another reason why I said the situation is identical to Zhang Bin's case!" Chen Chen replied. "Chang Xi is dead!"

‿︵‿︵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: February 20, 2025 by Angel

Edited: February 26, 2025 by Angel