NOS Chapter 94

Chapter 94: Boundary Marker (2)

Chapter 94: Boundary Marker (2)

There were no plum blossom carvings in Chen Yupei’s house, nor any tools required for drug use. His bed was clean, and the entire house was in plain view. Apart from this ID photo, no suspicious points could be found.

Of course, this ID photo was the biggest suspicious point.

“We visited Chen Yupei’s neighbors and his old colleagues at the construction site. No one had seen Li Guanglai, but Chen Yupei’s neighbors said that in recent weeks, Chen Yupei often went out. With the weather so cold, his actions seemed a bit abnormal to the neighbors.” Guan Yao said after returning to the city branch bureau.

Wang Zhen found it strange, “Went out? Did anyone know where he went?”

“No,” Guan Yao replied, “Chen Yupei is aloof, and his relationship with his neighbors isn’t very harmonious. He doesn’t have many friends, and not many people know him well.”

Wang Zhen frowned, glancing at Yu Chunming, who was leaning aside, scrutinizing his own ID photo.

“Moreover, Chen Yupei’s neighbors haven’t seen the gray-blue pickup truck. His colleagues at the construction site said that Chen Yupei injured his elbow in his early years, so driving is inconvenient for him, and he usually travels by tricycle.” Guan Yao added.

Wang Zhen couldn’t help but sigh, “These clues just don’t add up.”

“We can wait for Han Chen. Maybe there will be some gains on the Hu Yang Village side.” Guan Yao said.

Yu Chunming spoke at this time. He held up the photo, raising an eyebrow, “When our system was updated last year and the old and new Police IDs were replaced, did everyone uniformly take a new version of the ID photo?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Wang Zhen replied.

Yu Chunming straightened up, pushing the evidence bag onto the table, “But this is the old version of the photo I took when I entered the detachment.”

That’s right, the young man in the photo had youthful eyebrows and eyes, and his face was immature. Even his hair was much shorter than it is now. It was clearly Yu Chunming from ten years ago.

How did this old photo end up in Chen Yupei’s hands?

“When the system was updated last year, the Songlan City Bureau was renovated, and many useless paper files were cleaned up and destroyed. At that time, because the workload was too large, I remember that the police security department hired outside property management to help.” Yu Chunming flipped through his phone’s contact list, “Na Fei has a junior classmate who works in the Songlan City Bureau’s police security department. I’ll have her ask.”

The call went through, and Na Fei’s side was noisy with something, but the matter was quickly settled. The police security department’s “junior classmate” directly sent the bidding list from last year, which included three bidding companies: Songlan Hongtai Property, Songlan Tianxiang Property, and Songlan Hechun Property.

“The main responsibility for the sanitation cleaning should be Tianxiang Property.” Na Fei’s “junior classmate” said over there, “Their people work conscientiously and clean up quickly. After the renovation, they cleaned up the useless waste and garbage. The cleaners sent by the remaining two companies weren’t clean, always stealing waste paper shells to sell, so we returned them after a few days of trial use.”

“Not clean, Songlan Hechun Property…” Wang Zhen held the list, his brow twitching, “Does that sound familiar?”

“Familiar,” Yu Chunming had already pulled up the relevant information on “Yi Jun” on the computer, “That’s the property company that Li Guanglai joined in order to enter the South Mansion Neighborhood and approach Qian Guowei.”

“Perhaps it’s a coincidence, but if there are too many coincidences, it’s not a coincidence.” Wang Zhen clicked his tongue, “Although the evidence isn’t conclusive enough, it’s conceivable how your photo was circulated from within.”

Perhaps things were as everyone guessed. Li Guanglai obtained Yu Chunming’s ID photo through Hechun Property, but then again, if it was really Li Guanglai, why would he hire Chen Yupei to kill someone? To put it another way, why would Chen Yupei willingly kill someone for Li Guanglai?

For money? But the police didn’t find any debts of Chen Yupei, nor did they discover any places where Chen Yupei urgently needed money. A normal person couldn’t possibly be law-abiding for decades and suddenly take a risk and lick blood from a knife’s edge.

But besides money, what else could move Chen Yupei?

“Even if we speculate that Chen Yupei is Chen Yujie’s brother, we can’t find out what Chen Yupei’s motive for killing was.” Guan Yao said, “Chen Yujie killed Li Qie, but Chen Yujie is already dead. Even if Li Guanglai has a deep relationship with Li Qie and wants to avenge Li Qie, it would be enough to implicate Chen Yupei. As for letting Chen Yupei drive to hit Chunming… Chen Yupei is a mobile adult, and he must have his own motive. Moreover, judging from Chen Yupei’s drinking and doing drugs in front of the airport before driving into people, he may also believe that he can’t be cruel in a sober state.”

“What if Chen Yujie’s death wasn’t an accident?” Yu Chunming suddenly interrupted, “Chen Yujie killed Li Qie for Wang Xinsheng. Less than two months after Li Qie died, Chen Yujie also died. Yu Zeng said he died accidentally, but what if this accident wasn’t an accident, but man-made?”

These words shocked everyone. Wang Zhen continued, “If this accident wasn’t an accident, Chen Yujie was silenced by Wang Xinsheng, and Li Guanglai happened to know all this. He told Chen Yupei and used money to bewitch Chen Yupei to avenge his younger brother… That doesn’t make sense either.”

That’s right, how does avenging his younger brother have anything to do with driving to kill Yu Chunming?

Guan Yao’s face was a little ugly. He thought of something, but it was inconvenient to say it.

Yu Chunming smiled generously, raising an eyebrow, he said to Wang Zhen, “Why doesn’t it make sense? There are many people who hate me and want me to die. Their reasons are nothing more than one. You also interrogated Qin Tian, ​​have you forgotten?”

Wang Zhen was silent.

Just then, Han Chen and Min Chao, who had returned from Hu Yang Village, walked into the meeting room. Min Chao was elated, and he stepped aside, pointing to the dozen or so villagers wearing “silver bracelets” on their hands, saying, “Team Leader Wang, take a look, a major harvest!”

These dozen villagers came from Jin Gou Temple Village in the Jin Gou Mountain area, which is less than ten kilometers away from Hu Yang Village. It is an abandoned forest farm worker dormitory. During the population census six or seven years ago, Jin Gou Temple Village was already uninhabited, but now, the villagers who were cuffed by Han Chen and Min Chao all claimed that they were locals from Jin Gou Temple.

Where did any locals come from?

“They’re all smugglers!” Min Chao shouted, “Originally, I just wanted to try my luck. I didn’t expect that when I walked towards Patrol Station No. 1, I found something was wrong. Now the mountain is blocked by heavy snow, and it’s not easy to get in and out, but outside Jin Gou Temple, there were tire tracks all over the place. I called the young men in the team to sneak in and take a look. Oh my god, a group of old men were nestled in other people’s worker dormitories gambling! When they were pulled out, I took another look, and under the bed were stuffed drills and sleds.”

Drills and sleds are tools used by local fishermen to drill deep wells on the Black Water River in winter to catch cold water fish. Now at this time, the Black Water River is completely frozen. To fish, you can’t do without these tools.

But why would good fishermen not go to work on the river and shrink back to Jin Gou Temple?

“On the way back, two people in a car, asked separately, and before they even got on the national highway, they all confessed.” Min Chao said with a smile, “This isn’t it, the one squatting in the corner with moles on his face is the leader, called Er Mazi. He said that they recently took a big order to go north, and they will be ready to set off in just over a week.”

“Big order?” Guan Yao asked, “What specific time?”

“Probably… December 2nd, they agreed to meet at Patrol Station No. 1 in Jin Gou Mountain.” Min Chao replied.

“It matches up!” Wang Zhen slapped his hand, “December 2nd, isn’t that the time written on the note we found under Li Ying’s pillow?”

Guan Yao guessed right. The information on the note was indeed the specific location and time that the suspect was preparing to flee across the border. It seemed that someone couldn’t sit still anymore.

Guan Yao frowned, “Could it be that Li Guanglai is going to run?”

Wang Zhen asked, “Did these people confess what the name of the ‘client’ who contacted them to leave the country was?”

“They confessed,” Min Chao pointed to Er Mazi, “He confessed, he said the ‘client’s’ surname is He, but he doesn’t know what He is. Hey, don’t you have a suspect named He Wang?”

“He Wang?” Guan Yao was surprised, “Not Li Guanglai?”

“Not Li Guanglai doesn’t mean Li Guanglai doesn’t know.” Yu Chunming suddenly sat up straight. He thought and said, “Li Ying left this information at home, maybe he was trying to notify us that Li Guanglai would chase his most hated person and fight and kill him under the boundary marker.”

The handwriting appraisal had already confirmed that this note was written by Li Ying himself.

But why would he write such a note and leave it under his pillow? When did he write such a note, on the night before his suicide? Was it at the last moment when his conscience was uneasy? Was it after recalling his daughter Li Shengnan who died unjustly?

Unfortunately, Li Ying is already dead, and no one can answer these questions. Perhaps only when Li Guanglai is brought to justice will the last bit of thick fog in the mystery be completely dispersed.

“Arrange the action plan,” Wang Zhen said, “In any case, we can’t let the suspect slip away from under our noses again.”

That night, the lights in the city branch bureau were brightly lit.

The smugglers who were arrested and brought back stated the process of committing the crime one by one. After several rounds of interrogation, it was already five o’clock in the morning.

Yu Chunming fell asleep in Wang Zhen’s office. When he woke up, he found Guan Yao sitting next to him. He whispered, “Have all the suspects confessed?”

“Yes,” Guan Yao nodded, “Old Min is discussing with Team Leader Wang. We will bring people ourselves to disguise as smugglers and re-survey and collect evidence around Hu Yang Village. We were too reckless and rash last time, and we lost a lot of clues. This time, if we can’t find new clues, we’ll go to Jin Gou Temple and stay there to avoid alerting the enemy, and when the time comes, it will be easy to fish and close the net.”

“Are you going too?” Yu Chunming asked.

Guan Yao nodded, “Team Leader Wang and I are both going. Old Min is staying behind to guard the house.”

Yu Chunming looked at him without speaking.

“I will pay attention to safety.” Guan Yao squeezed Yu Chunming’s hand.

Yu Chunming lowered his eyes and held his thick, knobby fingertips in return.

“Just now, Team Leader Wang also asked his colleagues in Songlan to re-interrogate the deputy director and foreman of Tianyun Metallurgical Plant and confirmed Chen Yujie’s time of death, and that before and after Chen Yujie’s death, He Wang, that is, Qian Guowei, frequently appeared around Wang Xinsheng.” Guan Yao’s voice was low, “Perhaps Chen Yujie was killed by these two people together, and Li Guanglai knows the truth and has evidence in his hands, so he will lure Chen Yupei to do drugs and then kill people, like he lured Qin Tian, ​​to avenge his brother Chen Yujie. Maybe, Li Guanglai sneaked into his house on the night of Chen Yupei’s accident, intending to find the plum blossom carving and Li Shengnan’s will.”

“Chen Cheng did say before that he saw a glass-style handicraft when he was a child. It was originally in his grandmother’s room, but after moving once, he couldn’t find it.” Yu Chunming pinched his brow, saying, “Over the years, Li Guanglai has probably been looking for Chen Yujie’s family, wanting to take back the plum blossom carving and the will that belonged to Li Shengnan.”

Guan Yao couldn’t help but ponder. He was full of questions, “As Li Ying’s biological son, and the lover and brother of Li Shengnan back then, it’s reasonable for him to want to find the will, but why are Qian Guowei and Xu Wen so persistent? They even let Lin Zhimin impersonate him and kill people to silence them?”

Yu Chunming couldn’t figure this out either.

Guan Yao sighed, “Forget it, once Li Guanglai and Qian Guowei are arrested and brought to justice, these doubts will be clear.”

After he finished speaking, he put his arm around Yu Chunming, “Let’s go, the cafeteria is open. After we finish eating this meal, I’m afraid we’ll have to leave.”

These words made Yu Chunming’s expression darken. He unwillingly said, “Is this the oldest leader in the city branch bureau? Does the task force and Min Chao’s subordinates lack you alone? Or…”

Bang—

Before Yu Chunming could finish complaining, the office door was suddenly pushed open violently. When the two looked up, they saw Han Chen standing outside angrily.

“What did you say to Master?” Han Chen pointed at Yu Chunming’s nose and questioned.

Yu Chunming was stunned, “What could I say?”

Han Chen glanced at Guan Yao next to him, gritting his teeth, “Did you, did you tell Master about the explosion site last year again?”

Yu Chunming frowned, a little impatiently, “No, I didn’t say anything. Don’t piss everywhere here.”

“You definitely said it!” Han Chen was furious, “If it wasn’t for you, would Master scold me inexplicably and then throw me into Jin Gou Temple as bait?”

These words made Guan Yao unhappy. He “hey”ed and opened his mouth, “Deputy Team Leader Han, what’s wrong with being bait in Jin Gou Temple? Aren’t I also bait in Jin Gou Temple? The two of us go together and catch some big fish there. Is there any problem? Or is it that the weather is cold, and Deputy Team Leader Han can’t go out on field work, and is only happy to stay in the office?”

Han Chen was hit in the heart by a sarcastic remark, and his face became even more embarrassed. He pointed at Yu Chunming and said, “In the future, say less nonsense in front of the leaders. Why did you say it was my fault in front of Political Commissar Liao in the hospital before? What qualifications do you have to say that?”

“What qualifications do I have?” Yu Chunming pushed Guan Yao away and stepped forward to push Han Chen out of the office. He stood in the corridor and said loudly, “Just because I blocked you at the auto repair shop and saved your little life!”

“You…”

Han Chen wanted to argue further, but Yu Chunming’s loud voice had attracted many onlookers. If he continued to speak, Yu Chunming might say something that would make him lose face, so this person sneered and changed the subject.

“Chunming,” Han Chen adjusted his glasses and said seemingly politely, “Have you ever thought about why you are immediately taken advantage of by your colleagues whenever you show a little sign of making a mistake? Have you ever reflected on yourself?”

Yu Chunming’s forehead twitched, and he instinctively felt that Han Chen was going to say something wrong.

Sure enough, the person who had said a few days ago that he wanted to win him back again said pretentiously, “I only knew that you were the son of Deputy Director Yu before, and you could be regarded as a high-ranking cadre’s son. It doesn’t matter if you are arrogant, but I didn’t expect that Deputy Director Yu is not your biological father at all. You couldn’t even be considered a bully or a lackey in the city bureau before. Chunming, who is your biological father? Could it be that…”

Dong! Before he could finish speaking, there was a muffled sound, and Guan Yao punched Han Chen in the face.