WWY Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Anonymous Person – The Feeling of Being Praised…

Dust floated in the dimly lit room, filled with empty bottles, cardboard boxes, and other packed recyclables. The pervasive stench made one’s skin crawl, making it hard to imagine that living in such an environment for a long time wouldn’t lead to some chronic illness.

The child on the bed, startled, suddenly burst into tears. The police officers exchanged awkward glances. Tuxi Ling, who had followed them in, felt a headache coming on. He covered his nose, trying to block out the foul smell in the house, silently cursingKe Yaojin for being unreliable.

After showing the search warrant, Shengbo Xia led people to search Yishi Li’s house for antiques. Tuxi Ling finally cleared a space on the sofa large enough to sit on and began questioning the suspect’s wife.

The woman held her child, neither frightened nor surprised. Either she already knew what her husband was doing, or she knew nothing at all.

Looking at the environment in the house, Tuxi Ling guessed it was the latter.

He sized her up and asked, “You said Yishi Li hasn’t been back for over a month. Has he done this before?”

“There were times before when he wouldn’t come back for two or three months, but that was always because he went out to work! He didn’t tell me this time!”

“What kind of work does he do?”

“He works on boats, taking people abroad. Sigh! He doesn’t earn much money!”

“Do you know that it’s illegal to take people abroad privately?”

“Illegal? I don’t know! Why is it illegal? Isn’t he just helping people? He’s kind-hearted!”

“Smuggling is illegal. The income from his so-called work is illegal income and should be confiscated.”

“Confiscated? Oh dear! That cursed man! How will my daughter and I live!”

The woman immediately began to beat her chest and stomp her feet. Tuxi Ling was waiting for her to cry. Some suspects’ family members clearly knew everything but pretended to be ignorant in front of the police. But this woman was clearly not one of them.

She cried bitterly, “Officer, look at our home. We rely on the little money I make from collecting garbage to eat, and it’s not even enough to buy milk powder for the child! He steals, steals that stuff, but he doesn’t make any money at all!”

Tuxi Ling had a bit of a headache.

What she said seemed to be true, but how could a smuggler who had been in the business for many years not even be able to afford milk powder?

The woman was still wailing, talking about how Yishi Li had broken the law and whether her daughter would be able to work for the government when she grew up. Tuxi Ling interrupted her.

“Does your husband have any other residences outside?”

“Residence?” The woman was stunned, then seemed to understand something. “Are you saying he’s been seeing another woman this month? That cursed man! He… I’ve heard people say that he’s been messing around with a prostitute for the past two years. I kept saying that my Yishi Li wasn’t that kind of person, the cursed man!”

She wailed and threatened to die, but when Tuxi Ling asked about this mistress, she knew nothing.

She was too simple-minded. From the beginning, she didn’t believe that such a person existed, so naturally, she wouldn’t have taken the initiative to find out.

Unsurprisingly, the police officers found nothing at Yishi Li’s home. When they returned to the team, Shengbo Xia sighed, “Ling team, what should we do? Another dead end!”

Tuxi Ling sorted through his notebook. “Didn’t she provide the name of the person who told her that Yishi Li was seeing a mistress back then? I’ve already gotten his information from Xiao Xu. We’ll go visit him now.”

“Alright!” Shengbo Xia turned on the police siren and plunged the car into the bustling traffic.

–

The circumstances of Han Dan’s fainting were a bit frightening, but fortunately, he lived in a sanatorium and received treatment immediately. He was weak and in a bad mood after waking up, but he was fine.

Lan He saw that he was okay and didn’t bother him much. He chatted with Minhu Luo for a while before going home.

Back at the villa, Aunt Long had just finished cooking dinner. The four of them, master and servants, had a very pleasant dinner together. He returned to the balcony of his room, sat in a lounge chair, and stared blankly at the sky, lost in thought.

It wasn’t until a muffled thunder rumbled across the horizon and the last ray of sunset light disappeared into the dark clouds that he returned to the bedroom and turned on the lights.

Looks like this rain won’t be light!

He opened the drawer and took out the paintings that Han Dan had recently helped him appraise, along with the painting of the dragon-patterned jade disc. He took photos of them all and uploaded them to the x Gallery.

“Hello, Juris.”

“Lan, I’ve been waiting for you! I got two more!”

“Thanks, I just uploaded six more. I’m counting on you!”

“You trust me that much?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t have receipts when I buy things!”

“Aren’t you the living receipt? The Juris boss always has the highest credit.”

Juris laughed a few times on the other side of the ocean, then asked worriedly, “Lan, is your funding okay? You don’t even ask about the price? I’ve spent a lot of money. Are you sure you want to buy everything in the paintings? You need them urgently, and those devils are raising prices on the spot. Some of them have even doubled in price, they’re not worth it at all!”

“Don’t worry, the funding is fine.” Lan He said readily, “Everything is going smoothly on my end. I didn’t expect it to be so smooth. Even if you buy everything, it won’t bankrupt me.”

“Okay, I’m relieved to hear you say that!” Juris finally couldn’t hold back and asked dissatisfiedly, “Haven’t you seen the news? Aren’t you going to give me some feedback?”

“News?” Lan He really hadn’t had time to look at his phone all day. He paused, then suddenly laughed, “You’ve already done it?”

“Yeah!” Juris drawled. “Aren’t you always telling me to do it as soon as possible? I’m really working hard! Please take a look, your domestic social media platforms are exploding!”

“OK, thank you very much!”

“You’re welcome, this is just a transaction, hmph, I won’t lower my commission just because of a few kind words!”

Juris hung up the phone in a huff. Lan He smiled knowingly, opened the largest domestic social media platform, and the top trending topic was what he was looking for.

#Anonymous Patriotic Person Donates Four Overseas Lost Cultural Relics#

[Awesome! That Crouching Tiger Pottery Figurine was lost at the end of the Qing Dynasty, right? I saw it at the Netherlands National Museum!]

[Overseas Chinese people’s awareness is high. I’ve always said that the longer you stay abroad, the more you can feel the goodness of the motherland! I just don’t know why they’re anonymous?]

[Tycoon, I bow to you!]

[A true hero serves the country and its people!]

……

Lan He looked at the constantly refreshing discussions under the topic. The strings of real-time scrolling characters illuminated his eyes. His eyes gradually narrowed, and a faint mist flickered in his smile.

The feeling of being praised is really good!

–

Tuxi Ling and Shengbo Xia, after visiting the informant in the Yishi Li case, drove directly to Qiu Na’s house. They had agreed with Mrs. Qiu yesterday to meet at her home at five o’clock this afternoon.

Mrs. Qiu was also a teacher at Jiannan University, her surname was Guan, and her name was Shuxiang Guan. She taught history.

Shengbo Xia held the steering wheel. “The professions of these two can complement each other!”

“Yeah.” Tuxi Ling responded casually, habitually looking at the content in his notebook, which he had just written down.

He seemed to be talking to himself, and also asking Shengbo Xia, “Saying that he saw Yishi Li hugging a woman in Butterfly Lane two years ago, two years ago, didn’t Butterfly Lane have a lot of KTVs?”

“Yes, and they were all a bit on the edge. None of them were clean, it’s just that their backgrounds were too deep, so it was difficult to move them. Yishi Li’s wife said that his mistress was improper, so she may really be a worker there, but now there are all karaoke places outside, plus the crackdown for a month at the end of the year before last, those KTVs in Butterfly Lane are almost all closed.”

“It seems that woman’s identity is really not easy to find. Do you think there’s hope of checking the originally registered employees?”

“Let’s try!” Shengbo Xia said, then smiled slyly, “Let the First Brigade check it out, it’s their job anyway!”

“Them? I’m not reassured. This matter today is outrageous. Director Liu will definitely scold us when we get back.” Tuxi Ling sighed, closed his notebook, and shrank back into his seat, his eyes looking at the dark clouds gathering in the sky. “Let’s do it ourselves. Tell everyone later to work harder. I’ll treat everyone to dinner when the case is closed!”

“Okay!” Shengbo Xia thought for a while, “But it may not be that woman, right? For people like them, it’s normal to switch from this one today to that one tomorrow, right?”

“But it shows that Yishi Li is indeed unfaithful in this regard. Think about it, he makes so much money as a smuggler, but his wife lives so miserably. His wife also said that he doesn’t touch gambling or drugs, so where’s his money?”

“Ah……”

“His bank account doesn’t have much savings either, so where’s his money? It has to go somewhere, right?”

“Ling team, are you saying that he gave all the money to his mistress? That’s too stupid!”

“Stupid or not, we’ll only know after checking the clues. If he often appears in the Butterfly Lane area, there will always be three or five people who are familiar with him, right?”

“Yes, we must check! Let Wu Li take people to go, she’s a girl, she can chat with women!”

Tuxi Ling glanced at him. “You’re not stupid!”

Qiu Na’s home was not far from Jiannan University, only ten minutes away on foot. All vehicles were concentrated in the parking lot outside the residential area and were not allowed to enter.

This was a well-greened, stylish residential area. The pedestrians on the road gave the impression that their temperament was different, and they always had a kind of indifference and refinement.

Qiu Na’s home was even more so. The simple new Chinese style decoration revealed an ancient charm, ink landscapes, meticulous female figures, pottery carvings, retro ornaments, cultural atmosphere was hidden everywhere.

After not seeing each other for two days, Shuxiang Guan looked haggard, but she still adhered to the way of hospitality, preparing fruit and tea for the two in the living room.

“Two police officers, please have some tea.”

“Teacher Guan, you don’t have to be so polite. We’re just here to find out if Professor Qiu had any conflicts with anyone before his death. Maybe he didn’t show it outside, but you are husband and wife, maybe he only mentioned some things to you.”

Shuxiang Guan thought for a while and shook her head sadly, “No, really no.”

“Please recall carefully…”

Shuxiang Guan suddenly clutched her chest, slowly interrupting Tuxi Ling’s words, “Officer, Old Qiu is dead, all the evidence shows that he committed suicide, can you return his body to me? Please stop tormenting him and let him rest in peace!”

It’s normal for work to not be understood. Tuxi Ling was still trying to fight for it, but Shuxiang Guan raised her hand, “Officer, now, the colleagues at the school, the students, and those old friends of his from before are all asking me when to hold a memorial service. I can only tell them that the person is still at the Public Security Bureau. What is this? It’s like he committed something and was detained at the Public Security Bureau and not allowed to be cremated! Old Qiu is a pure scholar, working diligently to cultivate talents for the country. He’s been clean all his life, you can’t do this!”

Tuxi Ling and Shengbo Xia exchanged glances. They hadn’t considered the social impact beforehand.

“Teacher Guan, sorry, we still have doubts.”

“What doubts?” Shuxiang Guan’s calm eyes stirred with waves, “Officer, you always say there are doubts, but what evidence do you have to prove that he didn’t commit suicide? Isn’t the surveillance very clear?”

“We are worried that someone induced Professor Qiu to commit suicide.”

Shuxiang Guan shook her head, “Old Qiu is not a child, he has a very high IQ, how could he be jumped by a few words and jump off the building, are you mistaken?”

Tuxi Ling sighed secretly and asked in return, “Then you say, why would Professor Qiu suddenly commit suicide when he was doing well?”

“Doing well… Maybe it wasn’t doing well?” Shuxiang Guan looked at the thick cumulonimbus clouds outside the window, “You’re not entirely right. Old Qiu is actually very stuffy and has a very sensitive mind. We’ve been married for almost forty years, and I dare not say that I completely understand him. Maybe he just has something on his mind and can’t figure it out, right?”

Shuxiang Guan wiped her eyes and told them about Professor Qiu’s past. In general, he usually acted indifferent, and his joys and sorrows were rarely expressed in his face. If he really had something on his mind, it might not be discovered.

They talked for more than an hour. When Tuxi Ling and Shengbo Xia walked out of the residential area, there was lightning and thunder in the sky, and several huge raindrops fell down.

Seeing that they were about to become drowned rats, the two of them started running all the way. When they returned to the car, their upper bodies were all wet.

“I’ll go!” Shengbo Xia shook the water off his hands, “It started raining as soon as it started!”

Tuxi Ling divided his wet bangs to both sides, causing Shengbo Xia to laugh out loud. Tuxi Ling glared back at him mockingly, meaning: you’re not any better than me!

Recently, Shengbo Xia was ordered to not drive after dark. As a “senior citizen” of twenty-five years old, his astigmatism suddenly worsened. He could only see a red taillight when driving at night, which was unsafe.

Tuxi Ling started the car and carefully drove away from the parking lot.

The windshield wipers were frantically shaking, and the rain was too heavy to wipe away. They were squeaking and groaning in vain. A thin layer of frost formed on the inside of the car window, so they had to park the car on the side of the road and wait for the rain to slow down before leaving.

Having not eaten anything all day, Shengbo Xia’s stomach ached from hunger. He rubbed it hard twice. “Ling team, can we apply for funding so we can get a car that can defrost?”

Tuxi Ling glanced at him. “Why didn’t you eat some fruit to fill up just now?”

“I wanted to eat, but the old lady made the atmosphere so depressing, how could I be embarrassed to eat?” Shengbo Xia sighed plaintively, “We’re getting a thankless job, or should we close the case as a suicide? What she said is right, we have no evidence!”

Tuxi Ling shook his head. “I still want to try harder.”

“Why?”

“A policeman’s intuition.”

“Okay!” Shengbo Xia looked helpless and pulled out his phone to browse randomly.

“You have astigmatism, play with your phone less!” Tuxi Ling reminded him like an old mother, and was still thinking about the scene just now, and asked, “Did you notice that Professor Qiu’s home is very high-end?”

Shengbo Xia’s eyeballs were glued to the phone, and he didn’t even raise his head. “Of course it’s high-end, both of them are university teachers, their taste is definitely different!”

Tuxi Ling held the steering wheel, staring at the raindrops on the windshield gathering into a small river, and muttered, “This set of decoration in his home is not cheap, right?”

“I don’t know about that…” Shengbo Xia suddenly sat up straight, “I went, there are really people with high awareness!”

Tuxi Ling was startled by his yell and poked his head to look at his screen, and also saw the line of red words at the top of the trending topics.

#Anonymous Patriotic Person Donates Four Overseas Lost Cultural Relics#