Chapter 168: The Contractor Whose Family Broke Apart and Died Himself
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the few days he had not seen the other, Yang Wentao became incredibly thin. His face was covered with stubble and his body looked like a stick. His face had yet to recover. The stitches on the edge of his right eye showed clearly and still had not been taken off. His nose was set with a fixture, and his forehead was still green and bruised.
As it turned out, the other "professional" Zhao Yu was referring to was Yang Wentao. After a short few days of temporary custody, he was transferred to the Qinnan jail, waiting for his final judgement.
Seeing that the police officer in front of him was the person who had captured him in the cave, Yang Wentao’s emotions were complicated. On one hand, he hated the officer for his ruthlessness; on the other hand, he was impressed by Zhao Yu’s skill. He had hid so well, but had still been captured! Not only that, but the thing that confused him the most was that he still could not understand, how could Zhao Yu, in the pitch-black tunnel without any light, could clearly see? It seemed like this rather dumb looking cop held many secrets.
"What’s up, Yang Wentao?" Zhao Yu asked affectionately. "Your parkour can’t be used in jail, right? Did someone…" Zhao Yu continued with a series of vulgar insults to taunt Yang Wentao.
Yang Wentao looked at Zhao Yu without a word. Right now, what he felt the most, was utter regret! If he had just been a little calmer back then, maybe he would not have ended like this.
"It’s fine, let’s save the banter!" Zhao Yu kindly handed a cigarette to Yang Wentao, and once again, repeated what he had said to Jiao Hai. "Yang Wentao, I’m here to actually help you this time! You know that tunnel area where we had our Player kill is related to the Mianling Kidnapping Case, right? I just want you to tell me what you know. If you can help me solve this case, you might get a lighter sentence!"
"Cough…" Yang Wentao coughed once, dejected as he spoke, "How would I be able to help you? The kidnapping case didn’t have anything to do with me!"
"Of course, it had something to do with you! Otherwise, why would I look for you?" Zhao Yu’s expression hardened as he said seriously, "I heard that you previously attended a scientific investigation, and did field research at Yingpan Mountain tunnel area for a few years, right? Now tell me, does the section of the tunnel with the corpse have any history? Also, during your investigation, was there anything related to the kidnapping case?"
"I…we were just doing scientific investigations, that’s all." Yang Wentao heled the cigarette, his brows furrowed. "What does that have anything to do with the case investigation?"
"No need to rush, just tell me anything you can think of!" Zhao Yu pulled out his lighter and lit the cigarette for him. "You’re not an idiot, you know your crime carries the death penalty! If you want a good result when you get your sentence, this is your only chance to save yourself!"
"I…I know, I know!" Yang Wentao inhaled deeply a few times and spoke cooperatively, "My information filled fifteen portfolio bags! On my computer, there is also a specific folder! Anything you guys need, just take them all!"
He took a long sigh and started his recollection. "That year, I was also quite rash. If there was anything valuable in the silver tunnel that I could use as a project basis, then I’d make a ton of money! That tunnel, I’ve been there countless times. Because I was so familiar with it, I chose to take refuge there!
"The place where you caught me was where the bodies were buried. On the map it was a waste pit. The waste pit is basically what we dug up, but we couldn’t find anything and gave up! If you make an explosion in those kind of places, there won’t be any large-scaled collapse!"
"Oh…" Zhao Yu nodded. What Yang Wentao said perfectly matched the idea that one of the kidnappers was an expert in using explosives.
"To me, that place had no research value," Yang Wentao comfortably enjoyed a few puffs of smoke, "thus, I never really paid attention to it! When you chased me, I entered because I was out of options!"
"You knew it was a dead end, but you still crawled in?" Zhao Yu asked.
"At the time I didn’t know" Yang Wentao responded. "I only knew afterwards, when you were chasing me so urgently, so I was panicking as well!"
"Do you know who put up that wooden fence?" Zhao Yu asked.
"I don’t" Yang Wentao responded. "It’s been many years! It was only when we went in there that I saw it!"
"Then…what about the owner of the location? Was the tunnel owned by the government?"
"Strictly speaking, the entire tunnel was owned by the government" Yang Wentao said. "But in the 1980s, due to limited resources from Ying Tunnel area, it was basically abandoned. At the time, to get one last piece of value out of the tunnel, the tunnel’s management had an event to sell the areas!
"For example, if you were an investor, and you wanted to bet your luck, then you could give some money to management and take over one or multiple tunnels! If you could get silver out of those tunnels, then you won and would have hundreds time more than what you invested! But on the contrary, if you don’t dig anything up, then you lost!"
Oh…Zhao Yu had never heard of this before. To think they ended up making the tunnel like gambling!
"The tunnel we were at was also rented out!" Yang Wentao said. "I saw the contract from back then. The contract was very vague. There was no exact time limit or anything. In other words, from a legal standpoint, this section of the tunnel still belongs to the person who bought it!
"Hmm…If I remember correctly," Yang Wentao recalled, "the entire back mountain of Yingpan Town was given to one person! If I wanted to establish a project there, then I’d need that person’s permission. I tried to find him before too!"
"Oh? So, there was an owner!" Zhao Yu asked urgently, "How about it, did you find them?"
"Mm," Yang Wentao scratched his head, "I forgot what company it was, I remember the person’s name is Cheng Sanli! I think that guy was originally selling building materials or some sort of construction stuff. Either way he was some sort of really powerful upstart! In the end, we did find him, but he was already dead! Not only did he die, but his family fell apart as well, it was a sad death!
"Since he was already dead, we didn’t have anything to worry about, so we just kept working on our project!
"Officer, I’ll tell you honestly, in Yinpan mountain, at least half of the silver hasn’t been discovered! The silver is buried too deep. Only by using the most advanced mining techniques could you find it! Unfortunately, because of the upfront fee, all of the higher-ups didn’t dare risk it, so they didn’t allow it!"
Zhao Yu did not have any interest in mining, but his mind kept pondering over the contractor named Cheng Sanli!
Cheng Sanli? Upstart? Business in materials, and contracted the mining area? Tsk, tsk…This person…
"Yang Wentao," Zhao Yu asked urgently, "this person named Cheng Sanli, how old were they?"
"Not sure, probably not young?"
"Then…what year did he contract the mining tunnel?" Zhao Yu asked again.
"I forgot, I can’t remember, but on my computer there was a picture of the contract. You can go find it!" Yang Wentao spoke honestly.
"Why is it that the police couldn’t find it, but you knew about the mining area being contracted?" Zhao Yu was curious.
"That’s easy to explain!" Yang Wentao spoke openly, "The mining area originally belonged to the Mining Department, but the name changed later and then merged. Of course it was hard to find! Originally, we could only get this information from the National Land and Resource Bureau! You can go there and check!"
Oh…Tsk, tsk…Cheng Sanli?!
Zhao Yu once again remembered the name, and asked Yang Wentao, "You said Cheng Sanli’s family broke apart and died. Can you give me any details? Also, how did Cheng Sanli die? When Cheng Sanli contracted this tunnel, did he get any silver?"
"That…I really don’t know!" Yang Wentao shook his head. "I’ve also only heard this information from others! You can go investigate. It probably shouldn’t be hard, right?!"
Mm…Zhao Yu pondered seriously and suddenly felt that Cheng Sanli was a huge suspect. Could it be, he was the culprit in the Mianling Kidnapping Case?!
The reason he had dared to use so much money to contract the mine tunnel was probably because there was someone who knew the mining area well, and that person…could possibly be his partner?!
He and his companions committed the Mianling Kidnapping Case and became upstarts, then they contracted this mountain? Then he and his companions had a conflict and it ended up with his family broken and him dead?
"What a shame. This person is dead. If he was alive, then I would just need to use the lie detector and then they case might be over! But no matter what, my trip to Qingnan Jail was definitely worth it!" Zhao Yu thought. When he went back to the officer, he would have to investigate this Cheng Sanli thoroughly!!!