NOS Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Fish Cliff Island (2)

Early in the morning, before dawn, Guan Yao and Wang Zhen were already rushing to Songlan West Station.

Hua City wasn’t far, and the high-speed rail round trip only took two hours. However, the case was pressing, and neither of them dared to delay. As soon as they got off the train in Hua City, they headed directly to the Tianyun Metallurgical Factory.

“Colleagues in Hua City said that the metallurgical factory’s performance is average. Yang Xiaowei also said that she has been trying to sell the factory in the past two years, but the location and equipment are old, and it can’t be sold,” Wang Zhen said.

Guan Yao was puzzled, “Did Yang Xiaowei say why she bought the factory from Wang Xinsheng in the first place?”

Wang Zhen chuckled, “That’s the crux of the matter. Yang Xiaowei told us that the factory wasn’t bought with her own money at all, but rather it was her ex-boyfriend’s breakup fee. Eleven years ago, Yang Xiaowei and her ex-boyfriend’s son died in an accident, which caused a lot of conflict between them. After a whole year of quarreling, her ex-boyfriend spent money to set up shops and businesses for her in Hua City and Songlan as compensation, so they could break up cleanly. This Tianyun Metallurgical Factory and the beauty salon downstairs from her house were among these businesses.”

Guan Yao asked again, “Is it confirmed that Yang Xiaowei’s ex-boyfriend is He Wang?”

“Barely,” Wang Zhen replied, “He Wang is very cautious. Even though he was with Yang Xiaowei for so many years and had a child with her, he never revealed his real name. Yang Xiaowei said that her ex-boyfriend’s name was Fang Dian. Even the deceased child’s registered name was Fang. We checked around according to the information she provided, but couldn’t find this person. We had to show her photos of He Wang to confirm it. This woman is really too careless. He Wang went to the police station to pay her fine and sign, and they had known each other for several years, but she still didn’t know his real name. She just said he was a ‘boss,’ and in the end, she got pregnant without even getting a marriage certificate.”

These words made Guan Yao think for a long time. He asked, “How exactly did Yang Xiaowei and He Wang’s child die?”

“Traffic accident,” Wang Zhen replied. “According to Yang Xiaowei, when He Wang took the child out to play, he didn’t keep a close eye on him when he put him on the side of the road. As a result, the child ran into the middle of the road and was hit by a car. The child was only two and a half years old at the time. I asked the traffic police brigade to check the case files, and her description was accurate.”

Yang Xiaowei was an innocent woman who didn’t understand the situation, and Wang Zhen couldn’t reveal any information related to the case to her. He could only ask about her past experiences with He Wang and her understanding of Wang Xinsheng.

“This woman said that before taking over the Tianyun Metallurgical Factory, she didn’t know Wang Xinsheng at all, and wasn’t very clear about her ex-boyfriend’s past. Oh, right, she also said that before she quit the bar, she knew a contractor who was very interested in Wang Xinsheng and kept asking her about him. But after she really got to know Wang Xinsheng, that contractor disappeared,” Wang Zhen said.

“Contractor?” Guan Yao’s brow tightened inexplicably, and he asked, “Did Yang Xiaowei say what this contractor looked like?”

“She doesn’t remember clearly. She just said that he was relatively tall, but she can’t describe the specifics,” Wang Zhen waved his hand at a red light. “This woman is muddle-headed and works as a hostess, so she speaks incoherently. She said he was a contractor, but who knows what his actual job is? Who would tell the truth to someone in the ‘service industry’?”

Guan Yao frowned, pondering something.

Wang Zhen continued, “But one thing is very coincidental, and that is… this contractor had just inquired about Wang Xinsheng’s news, and within two days, Yang Xiaowei’s son died.”

Guan Yao immediately understood what Wang Zhen meant. He considered, “If we can completely confirm that Wang Xinsheng is Xu Wen, then the person who tried to inquire about him through Yang Xiaowei…”

“There’s a high probability that it’s Yi Jun,” the red light turned green, and Wang Zhen started the car again. He sighed and said, “So, this chase between these two people actually started a long time ago.”

When did “Yi Jun” start targeting “He Wang”? Previously, the police had many doubts.

For example, Yu Chunming believed that the two had known each other for a long time, and their meeting before the major 6.13 case last year was just a reunion of “old friends” or “enemies.”

However, the surveillance video recorded their conversation in the stairwell, and there was not much evidence to support this guess, so the guess could only remain a guess.

But now, they followed the clues to find Yang Xiaowei, and further dug into “He Wang’s” mysterious private life through Yang Xiaowei, discovering that in his decades of living in hiding, it seemed that “Yi Jun” was everywhere.

“Who do you think this ‘Yi Jun’ is?” Wang Zhen couldn’t figure it out. “Before, Chunming went through the list of old employees of your No. 2 Timber Factory, but couldn’t find a single suspicious person.”

“Maybe he’s not from the No. 2 Timber Factory,” Guan Yao said.

“Not from the No. 2 Timber Factory?” Wang Zhen didn’t agree.

After all, in this small city of Za Mu Er, almost everyone from the older generation was an old employee of the No. 2 Timber Factory under the One Zero Three Forest Farm. Even if they weren’t directly affiliated, they were from the children’s school or the affiliated hospital. Moreover, who else could be related to Qian Guowei, Xu Wen, and Ai Hua, these three children of the No. 2 Timber Factory, besides the people from the No. 2 Timber Factory itself?

“These past two days in the hospital, I re-verified the 12 people who disappeared in the 9.24 fire, including Qian Guowei and the other two. There are still two who are relatively suspicious. I’ve already asked our police station’s deputy directors Shu Wen and Wang Zun to investigate,” Guan Yao paused, “But I don’t think there’s much hope of getting useful clues.”

Wang Zhen didn’t reply. He had already driven off the bypass expressway, and the Tianyun Metallurgical Factory was almost there.

“Hey, I forgot to ask you yesterday, that kid from your police station, named Meng, Meng what was it again, has he been found?” As he drove into the narrow urban-rural fringe area, Wang Zhen turned his head and asked.

“Meng Changqing,” Guan Yao pinched his brow, answering, “Not found, but the pool of blood that Li Xiaotian and the others found on the snow… was confirmed to belong to him yesterday.”

Wang Zhen’s expression froze slightly, hesitant to speak.

Four days had passed since Meng Changqing disappeared, and the optimal search and rescue time had long passed. The Jin A Lin Mountain was covered in white snow, who could survive for four days in such an environment? Even a child like Xiao Meng, who had grown up in the mountains since he was a child, couldn’t possibly have the ability to escape alive. Moreover, it had now been confirmed that the pool of blood belonged to him.

It was feared that the worst had happened, and everyone had the same thought in their hearts.

“He’s your apprentice?” Wang Zhen asked.

Guan Yao nodded.

“Apprentices never let people rest easy…” Wang Zhen said with emotion.

“Changqing is definitely still alive,” Guan Yao said instead.

Wang Zhen wasn’t one to be a downer, and he immediately replied, “That’s right, that kid is clever, he’s definitely still alive.”

These words made Guan Yao’s eyes twitch and his nose tingle. He took a breath and said in a low voice, “This isn’t me being blindly optimistic, but… before I can deceive Chunming into believing that Changqing is still alive, I have to at least convince myself first.”

Wang Zhen didn’t speak.

When Meng Changqing was assigned to the Linchang Police Station two years ago, he hadn’t graduated yet. His round face still had baby fat, and everyone wanted to pinch it – except for Guan Yao, so Meng Changqing resolutely became his apprentice.

In the blink of an eye, two years had passed. This kid was still as rash as when he first arrived, and his baby fat had faded a lot, but where was he? Where had he gone?

“We’re here!” Wang Zhen’s voice interrupted Guan Yao’s memories. The Tianyun Metallurgical Factory had arrived.

This place was remote, and even the surrounding urban villages didn’t have many people left. Only the large gray chimney in the distance was still puffing out black smoke. The director of the local police station had been waiting at the intersection for a long time. When he saw the two of them, he hurried to meet them.

“Old Wang, good to see you, good to see you,” said Liu Ying, the enthusiastic director of the Guanwen Town Police Station.

Wang Zhen pointed at him and introduced him to Guan Yao: “My old classmate from police academy, unambitious, just here to retire.”

Liu Ying seemed to have a good temper. He smiled and replied, “I’m not ambitious, so I have a happy family. You’re too ambitious, so you’re all alone.”

These words made Wang Zhen immediately withdraw the corners of his mouth that had just turned up.

Liu Ying was quite interested. He sized up Guan Yao: “Is this your new apprentice? I haven’t seen him before. Where’s that pretty one, why didn’t he come?”

Wang Zhen coughed softly, “Chunming is holding down the fort. This is Officer Guan from the Za Mu Er Linchang Police Station. He’s not my apprentice. He’s been temporarily transferred to the task force to assist in the investigation.”

“Pleased to meet you, pleased to meet you,” Liu Ying said cheerfully.

“Let’s go,” Wang Zhen waved his hand, “Let’s go in and take a look.”

Several police officers from the Guanwen Town Police Station had already inspected the metallurgical factory and brought the relevant personnel to the administrative office.

Wang Zhen stood at the window and looked down, “The performance here… isn’t very good.”

The deputy director was a middle-aged man with a greasy face. He offered cigarettes around, but no one took one, so he awkwardly said to himself, “Earlier, our factory was an affiliated unit under the Hua City Construction Investment. Later, they all reformed, reformed, reformed… and the factory was reformed out. The performance was okay when it was first privatized, but in recent years, it’s been reorganized and resold several times, and it’s getting worse and worse. Who knows, maybe in another two years, we’ll have to declare bankruptcy.”

“Transferred hands several times?” Wang Zhen asked.

“A total of four times,” Guan Yao, who was flipping through the documents, answered for the deputy director, “Eighteen years ago, the Construction Investment first sold it to foreign capital, then Northern Science and Industry bought it back. Wang Xinsheng bought their entire smelting company from Northern Science and Industry, but later, a portion of it was re-nationalized and given to Nonferrous Smelting. What’s left is this marginalized metallurgical factory in Hua City.”

“They didn’t leave any good stuff for the private sector,” Wang Zhen joked.

Guan Yao was puzzled, “This Wang Xinsheng is quite rich. I haven’t seen any resume of him going into business, how could he buy the entire smelting company in one go?”

Wang Zhen frowned when he heard this, but the past was so long ago, and it was difficult to investigate the past without an information network. It was hard to say how Wang Xinsheng had obtained a large amount of wealth back then. Whether the money was legal and whether the channels were compliant, even if they traced back twenty years, it would be difficult to find out.

Guan Yao shook his head, put down the documents, and asked instead, “Have you met Wang Xinsheng?”

“Me?” The deputy director was startled by Guan Yao’s gaze, and he quickly replied, “I’ve met him a few times, police officer, I’ve definitely met Director Wang a few times, but I’m not very familiar with him. I deal with Sister Xiaowei more.”

“Yang Xiaowei?” Guan Yao raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, yes.” This burly deputy director with a beer belly smiled obsequiously, “Police officer, has something happened to Sister Xiaowei?”

“Nothing’s happened,” Wang Zhen retorted, “Stop asking around.”

After speaking, he asked again, “Do you know a person named… He Wang?”

“He Wang?” The deputy director looked even more confused, “I don’t know him, and I haven’t heard of him either.”

“Fang Dian? That is, your Sister Xiaowei’s ex-boyfriend.” Wang Zhen continued to ask.

“I know Fang Dian,” the deputy director nodded this time, “I’ve heard Sister Xiaowei mention him, but I haven’t met him. I only know that he dated Sister Xiaowei for a few years, and, and even had a child.”

That was all. In addition to these things, the people here basically knew nothing and couldn’t get any useful information.

Guan Yao had an extra thought, and he mentioned, “What about Ge Xiaopei? Does anyone here know Ge Xiaopei?”

“Ge Xiaopei?” The deputy director still looked confused.

However, at this time, a foreman behind him called out, “I know Ge Xiaopei! About ten years ago, he worked in the factory, and it just so happened that I was working under him. But he wasn’t honest and stole things from the workshop, so the director fired him later.”

These words instantly cheered Guan Yao and Wang Zhen up. Wang Zhen quickly waved his hand, “Come, come, come, comrade, come and sit in the front.”

According to this foreman, Ge Xiaopei was indeed from Za Mu Er. Eight years ago, he came to Hua City to work, and worked in many construction sites and factories before finally coming to Tianyun Metallurgical.

When he first came to the factory, Ge Xiaopei was still considered down-to-earth and hardworking, but after three months, he began to show his true colors. First, he was lazy and slippery, then he started stealing small things. In the end, the workshop director had no choice but to fire him.

“Actually, he’s not a bad person,” the foreman said, “But he got involved in gambling with his fellow villager, and he became addicted to it.”

“Fellow villager?” Guan Yao, who was taking notes, looked up and asked, “There aren’t many people from Za Mu Er in this factory, right?”

“Not many, but it just so happened that there was one during that time, named, what was his name again, I…” The foreman suddenly stuttered when he said this, and his eyes involuntarily drifted towards the deputy director. Guan Yao keenly realized that this person probably realized that he had said something he shouldn’t have said.

He heard him stammer and continue, “I don’t remember the specific name, I just remember that he came in with Ge Xiaopei in the same batch. He wasn’t in our workshop, but because Ge Xiaopei played well with him, I knew that he was also from Za Mu Er.”

“What did this person look like?” Guan Yao asked again.

The foreman replied, “He looked, he looked, a bit gloomy.”

“A bit gloomy? What about his height and build?” Guan Yao wanted to continue asking more deeply.

But Wang Zhen pressed him down and said with a smile, “Comrade, tell me more, what did Ge Xiaopei do after he was fired?”

“After he was fired…” The foreman thought for a while and replied, “After he was fired, he didn’t work here anymore. Later, he worked as a bartender in a bar in Hua City, and drove a car… I heard this from other people. Oh, right, he also worked in an internet cafe in that village last year.”

“I see…” Wang Zhen pondered for a moment and continued, “Is Ge Xiaopei’s fellow villager still working in our factory?”

“He left a long time ago,” the foreman first stuttered, and then pretended to be generous and said, “He’s technically good, so he was poached by a state-owned enterprise to do outsourcing.”

“State-owned enterprise? Which state-owned enterprise?” Guan Yao asked.

“Just that… Nonferrous Smelting, when they re-nationalized, they, they poached a lot of people.” The foreman said.

“Nonferrous Smelting,” Guan Yao looked at Wang Zhen, “Do you know anyone from Za Mu Er who works at Nonferrous Smelting?”

“Who?” Wang Zhen was staring at the deputy director, who was winking at him, and he replied absentmindedly, “Do you know him?”

“I really do know him,” Guan Yao said coldly, “Li Ying’s son, Li Qie.”

Li Ying’s son, Li Qie, hadn’t been home for a long time, at least that’s what Li Ying himself said.

Standing at the entrance of this dilapidated village of Qianjinping, Han Chen looked at the notes in his hand and couldn’t help but sigh, “Why does Guan Yao always think he has a problem? He’s been investigated three times, what’s wrong with him?”

Na Fei stood aside, not saying a word.

“Let’s go back,” Han Chen irritably brushed his hair in front of his forehead, “After Chunming’s accident, the task force panicked, and you’ve also been half-hearted. I think we shouldn’t stay here.”

Na Fei took a deep breath and said, “I’m half-hearted, not only because I’m worried about Chunming, but also because the Linchang Police Station lost a policeman, a policeman who had been on the job for less than two years. Now four days have passed. Li Xiaotian and the others have been searching on the mountain for four days. Do you know what four days means? It means that Meng Changqing is likely already…”

“I know!” Han Chen impatiently interrupted Na Fei, “But considering Meng Changqing at this time is just womanly kindness!”

“Womanly kindness?” Na Fei was amused by Han Chen’s anger. She nodded and said, “As a people’s policeman, indifferent to your comrades and daring to say such discriminatory words against women, no wonder you can do that kind of… that kind of disregard for the danger of explosion, but also…”

“Did I do it?” Han Chen said angrily, “The higher-ups have defined it, Yu Chunming did it!”

Na Fei looked at him and sneered: “Han Chen, the lies you tell, you can deceive others, but don’t deceive yourself, in the end, be careful of being punished.”

“You…”

Ding——

Before Han Chen could finish speaking, his phone suddenly rang, and the caller was his master, Wang Zhen.

“Li Ying’s son Li Qie has a problem, you guys hurry up and investigate this person, don’t alert the snake.” After just speaking, without waiting for Han Chen to answer, Wang Zhen neatly hung up the phone.

The two who were originally arguing were stunned and couldn’t help but turn to look at the Li family at the end of Qianjinping.

[The author has something to say]

Regarding who Li Ying is, please see Chapters 6 and 25.