"Director, Xiao Fei is indeed missing," Li Qian reported as she entered Zhang Yi'ang's office.
Xiao Fei and Li Feng had been prison mates for three years, so his identity was quickly verified. The Three Rivers Estuary police immediately contacted the local police station in his area, which reported that Xiao Fei had gone missing six months ago. Generally, released convicts are required to check in with their local police station periodically during the first two years to update their status. Even if they move elsewhere, they must maintain phone contact with the station. Six months ago, the local station couldn't reach Xiao Fei—his phone was unreachable. When officers visited his home, his parents said they hadn't heard from their son in a long time and were worried something had happened. Later, after reaching out to some of his friends, they learned Xiao Fei had gone to Zhejiang for work. Initially, he kept in touch with friends, but then he suddenly vanished. For the past six months, no one had been able to contact him.
Zhang Yi'ang pondered for a moment. The most likely scenario, as Li Feng had suggested, was that Xiao Fei had been silenced by the employer who hired him to kill Lu Zheng. With Xiao Fei's trail gone cold, the leads in Lu Zheng's case had completely dried up. To this day, Lu Zheng's fate remained unknown, and there were no clues whatsoever. Investigating the truth behind this case seemed impossible for now.
For the time being, they had no choice but to set aside Lu Zheng's case and wait for the whistleblower who claimed to be gathering evidence in the anonymous letter to come forward. The current priority was to focus on pursuing the Ye Jian case.
Li Qian then handed Zhang Yi'ang another document—information about the "Brother Zheng" mentioned by Zhou Qi.
"Zheng Yongbing, 46 years old. First served three years for theft at 17, then got five years for illegal tomb raiding and damaging cultural relics at 23. Since his release, he hasn't been involved in any criminal activity. Currently runs a jewelry store and lives in a high-end single-floor apartment on the 16th floor of Building 2 in Three Rivers Prefecture—one of the more upscale neighborhoods in Three Rivers Estuary. On the family front, he divorced many years ago, and his ex-wife has custody of their child. Captain Wang's informants mentioned that aside from his jewelry business, he privately deals in stolen goods and traffics cultural relics, though it's all small-scale."
"Did he really say Zhou Rong came to him to buy something?"
"That's unclear, but a few days ago, someone saw Zhou Rong's secretary, Hu Jianren, visit his jewelry store."
Zhang Yi'ang narrowed his eyes in thought, then told her to summon Song Xing.
Shortly after, Song Xing arrived at the office. Zhang Yi'ang had Li Qian brief him on Zheng Yongbing's background and instructed Song Xing to dig deeper into Zheng Yongbing's connections, particularly whether he had any ties to Zhou Rong.
Song Xing acknowledged the order and left. Li Qian eagerly requested, "Director, can I join the investigation too?"
"No," Zhang Yi'ang refused without hesitation. "Investigating someone like Zheng Yongbing, a repeat offender, will inevitably involve dealing with underworld figures. There's always the risk of encountering dangerous criminals during operations, and you're a female officer—"
"What's wrong with being a female officer?"
Zhang Yi'ang paused, wary of being accused of sexism, and rephrased diplomatically, "For instance, some of the places involved may be highly unsuitable for female officers."
Li Qian wanted to argue further, but Zhang Yi'ang reassured her, "Don't worry. I have another crucial task for you here."
Her spirits lifted—finally, she was being assigned meaningful work. Even her tone became more respectful: "Please give me your instructions!"Zhang Yi'ang earnestly explained to her, "Investigating someone's background often involves many people around them. Some we know about, others we know nothing of. Overlooking seemingly insignificant individuals can lead to major trouble. Typically, the most crucial information lies in the unnoticed people and trivial details—these should be our breakthrough points. So, solving a case is like marching into battle: we need an efficient and reliable intelligence unit to grasp key information accurately and promptly. The intelligence unit is the eyes of our entire investigative team. Without eyes, we’re completely blind. Are you willing to be the eyes of the entire criminal police team?"
"I am! What exactly do I need to do?"
"Thoroughly investigate the target’s information through the computer."
"Checking data again?" Li Qian nearly exclaimed.
Seeing her dissatisfaction, Zhang Yi'ang added with deep sincerity, "Remember, the criminal police have many roles, and each is equally important. Every position allows you to utilize your abilities fully."
Zhang Yi'ang nodded solemnly at her, his expression reminiscent of Liu Shaoqi’s words to a night-soil collector: "You collecting night soil serves the people, and I serving as the state chairman also serves the people. We both serve the people—only our jobs differ." So, you focus on checking data, while the male officers handle the dangerous fieldwork. I’ll command from here. Isn’t this division of labor ideal?
Song Xing worked with high efficiency. Using the public security database, informant tips, and surveillance footage near Zheng Yongbing’s residence and shop, he quickly gathered basic information on Zheng Yongbing.
Hu Jianren, the board secretary of Rongcheng Group, had visited Zheng Yongbing’s jewelry store at least twice recently, staying over an hour each time. The first time, he left with something resembling a scroll, and the second time, he brought it back. According to their intel, Hu Jianren was Zhou Rong’s trusted aide, suggesting Zhou Rong’s dealings with Zheng Yongbing weren’t fabricated.
But Zhou Rong buying something from Zheng Yongbing didn’t prove much. Shopping on Taobao doesn’t mean you have business ties with Alibaba, right?
Zhou Rong was a genuine tycoon, while Zheng Yongbing was merely well-off—they weren’t even in the same league.
Early intelligence indicated Zhou Rong had a fondness for women, frequently changing girlfriends. Perhaps he’d met someone new and sent Hu Jianren to buy gifts from Zheng Yongbing’s store.
However, while reviewing road surveillance near Zheng Yongbing’s residence, Song Xing noticed something suspicious. He showed the footage to Zhang Yi'ang.
In the video, Zheng Yongbing exited a roadside fruit store and stopped abruptly at the neighborhood entrance, looking around for several seconds before entering. Once inside, he glanced back outside again before proceeding.
"He’s cautious, as if afraid of being followed," Zhang Yi'ang concluded immediately. As seasoned officers, they’d seen this behavior countless times when surveilling suspects before arrests.
"We checked other cameras but found no signs of anyone tailing him," Song Xing said.
"But his demeanor suggests he’s afraid of something."
Song Xing paused, suddenly alert. "Could he have killed Captain Ye?"Zhang Yi'ang widened his eyes, then after a long pause, coughed and said, "Your train of thought is quite... lively."
Song Xing quickly lowered his head.
Zhang Yi'ang tilted his head back, organizing his thoughts. They had been investigating Ye Jian's murder and found a VIP card, which led them to the Hydrotherapy Club. The madam Zhou Qi revealed that Zheng Yongbing claimed to have dealings with Zhou Rong. Zhang Yi'ang had originally just wanted Song Xing to do a basic background check on Zheng Yongbing—he hadn't expected to find anything linking Zheng to Zhou Rong, let alone Ye Jian; the two were worlds apart. But now, after seeing this video, Zhang Yi'ang was also puzzled. Did Zheng Yongbing really have secrets? After a long silence, an idea struck him. Since Zheng Yongbing seemed afraid of being followed, why not play along? The police could tail him and see what was really going on.
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