Chapter 201: There’s Another Person
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The benefit of having Miao Ying as a partner was that Zhao Yu did not need to drive himself. Miao Ying would also discuss the case with Zhao Yu as they drove, which made it more interesting compared to investigating by himself.
"I’ve heard," Miao Ying said to Zhao Yu, "that the Missing Persons Department has found a few people that look similar to Liang Sisi?"
"Yeah." Zhao Yu nodded. "But none of them passed the DNA test!"
"Sigh!" Miao Ying sighed. "It’s like looking for needle in a haystack! Although we hope that Liang Sisi is still alive, the possibility of it is pretty low! Do you think that maybe it was a prank that the kids were pulling back then but it got out of hand?"
"Oh please!" Zhao Yu shook his head. "It could be possible if we were talking about kids nowadays, but kids back then were simple minded. Besides, do you think that kids could pull off ransom, hiding in a mine, and use dynamite?"
"That’s also true!" Miao Ying nodded and continued to fill in Zhao Yu with her bizarre predictions and hypotheses. Zhao Yu could tell that Miao Ying was interested in the Mianling Case to the point of obsession.
They were chatting when Miao Ying brought up Captain Jin Zhenbang. "I heard from Bureau Chief Liang in Ruyang Branch that he was on the same team as Captain Jin back in the day. I also heard that he was a typical spirited detective when he was young. He solved many significant cases and arrested many villainous criminals!"
"Yeah, he is really a remarkable man! Quite stubborn too!" Zhao Yu got upset when he thought about Captain Jin.
"Bureau Chief Liang says that Captain Jin would have been a bureau chief by now if he was willing to!" Miao Ying continued, "Unfortunately, he preferred to be at the front lines to solve cases and capture criminals, and was not interested in being the chief at all!"
Zhao Yu thought, "Jin has the same beliefs as you do. You’d rather be degraded to get your hands on the Mianling Case!" But he was afraid that he would say it out loud so he kept quiet.
"This old man’s temperament should be quite difficult." Miao Ying seemed to be quite interested in Captain Jin and continued, "He didn’t inform anyone after getting surgery for his femoral head necrosis! If Bureau Chief Liang hadn’t run into him in the hospital, no one would have found out!"
"Hmm…" Zhao Yu thought for a minute, but asked once he realized, "What did you say? femoral head necrosis?!"
"Look," Miao Ying joked, "even the underlinings didn’t know about this! This old man is too stubborn! But don’t you worry, I heard he got a new one and is able to walk now. Hey? Zhao Yu, are you okay? Why do you look like you’re swearing?"
"Old man!" Of course Zhao Yu was swearing, even to the point that his gums were almost bleeding! "Didn’t know that this old man would play tricks too! It really is an evil world out here, everyone has some ulterior motive!" he thought to himself. But as Zhao Yu thought about it, he calmed down quickly, because even though Jin Captain had tricked him, his intentions were good. Maybe he had been worried that Zhao Yu would leave the police force because he was suspended, so he decided to put on this show.
"Also, him giving me the precious yellow notebook is the biggest way to show his faith in me," Zhao Yu thought. But Zhao Yu did not feel good knowing he had been tricked!
Miao Ying’s driving skills were as amazing as her martial art skills. They got to Mafang Town pretty soon in her Phaeton.
According to the information that Zhang Jingfeng found, Han Wenjun had dealt with colored metal since the nineties. He built his company and provided one stop service from mining, trading, and to processing. His business was rather steady. His current headquarters was even located in the capital!
Zhao Yu tried to make a call before they went over for investigation, but nobody answered or it was an invalid number. So they had no choice but to visit in person.
Han Wenjun was really well-off. He built a majestic garden mansion in the better area of town. God knows that when Zhao Yu and Miao Ying arrived, they only managed to see Han Wenjun’s eldest grandchild. His grandchild told them that Han Wenjun hardly ever returned and stayed in capital permanently. They would have to look for him in the capital.
Zhao Yu asked the grandchild a couple of questions about Han Wenjun’s past, but he could not answer due to the age gap. Zhao Yu left after getting his phone number and immediately made a call. The call was answered by Han Wenjun’s secretary. Zhao Yu explained why he called, and the secretary set up an appointment in the capital for the upcoming weekend before she hung up.
"Damn it!" Zhao You was irritated. "Why must we go and visit? Can’t he just answer the call? Hmph. So what if you’re rich? Watch how I’ll pull a prank on you!"
However, Miao Ying highly valued this lead and told Zhao Yu, "We can’t lose this lead! We have to meet Han Wenjun regardless of the inconvenience. If this person really worked in the mine tunnel at Yinpan Town back then, we will definitely get more clues from him even if he is not the kidnapper."
Zhao Yu and Miao Ying left to visit another person on the list right after they left Han Wenjun’s mansion. He was also another old man that lived in Mafang Zhen, around eighty-years-old. This person had worked in the mine tunnels at Yinpan Town, and was pretty well-off too.
This time was very straightforward. They found the man, and he was pretty energetic and friendly even though he had some difficulties with his legs. They found out that he had been an accountant for the mining business. He had never been to the mining area even though he worked for Cheng Sanli. But he told them that he knew Han Wenjun, and that Wenjun was in the mine prospecting team. He worked there for a while when Cheng Sanli contracted the mine tunnel. He also mentioned that Han Wenjun was a top student and was very knowledgeable as well. Han Wenjun was even more capable now, being a boss and really, really rich.
Zhao Yu asked him without any hesitation whether or not Han Wenjun knew anything about dynamite. The old man’s memory was quite good and he answered that the main job of a mine prospecting team was to demolish, so it is would be normal for Han Wenjun to know how to handle dynamite.
Zhao Yu and Miao Ying were thrilled when they heard that. From what it seemed, Han Wenjun was definitely looking more suspicious. They needed to look into this person in detail.
Zhao Yu called Zhang Jingfeng immediately after they left the old man’s house and told him to find out every single details about Han Wenjun as quickly as possible, including his family, children, and career—everything that was there for them to find out.
Zhang Jingfeng could tell that it was something really important when he heard Zhao Yu’s tone. He promised to complete the task ASAP. Zhao Yu and Miao Ying then left Mafang Town and went to visit the next two people on the list.
After running around for half a day, they eliminated the remaining two suspects. Even though the two suspects knew Cheng Sanli, they had never worked for him or been to the mines in Yinpan Town. Therefore, Zhao Yu and Miao Ying believed that the investigation should be directed at Han Wenjun.
"Han Wenjun," Miao Ying repeated his name as she drove, trying to figure something out. Suddenly, she asked Zhao Yu, "It doesn’t make sense. This name did not appear in our records, how did you find him?"
"Cough!" Zhao Yu explained calmly, "What is there to explain? I asked and investigated one by one according to Cheng Sanli’s relationship!"
"But," Miao Ying was dumbfounded, "no one has found out about him even though they had investigated for so long!"
"Hehe." Zhao Yu said arrogantly, "They couldn’t find him because they started their investigation based on the mining area, while I started my investigation based on the individuals. Once I find one person, I can find two or three more. After that, it’s all about looking for them and questioning them one by one!"
Although that was not a lie, the reason why he took this approach was because he had been a debt collector for his bosses in his previous life. He had used all kinds of methods to dig up the debtors. He could also be referred to as an expert in tracking people, to a certain extent. Certainly, one that did not admit defeat.
"Oh." Miao Ying nodded and said, "I thought you were going to say something silly, like your friends from above helped you or something. Eh, Zhao Yu, I think something’s up with you today. Why are you so honest all of a sudden?"
Duh! Zhao Yu thought, "I’ll be transferred if I lie again!" referencing Miao Ying’s past experiences. But obviously he could not say that, so he teased, "Miss, what do you want? You hated it when I teased you, so now I’m speaking honestly, but you still don’t like it. You are too hard to please."
"Hehehe, that’s quite true! I actually am not used to you not behaving like a gangster!"
Damn it! Zhao Yu was thinking in his heart, "Who is the masochist among us?"
"Eh? That’s not right." Miao Ying thought about something and asked, "Cheng Sanli is definitely not related to the kidnapping case. Why did you pick him?"
"Hmm, my friends from above told me so!" Zhao You replied seriously. "They want me to look into Cheng Sanli. Hey? Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Zhao You saw Miao Ying roll up her sleeves and he changed his explanation. "The hostages were hidden in one of Cheng Sanli’s mine tunnels, so I went off of that. I’m guessing that the kidnapper must’ve been someone who worked for him, so I thought Cheng Sanli might possibly lead me to the kidnapper. F*ck, don’t hit me when you’re driving! This is a freaking mountain road." Miao Ying had made the fearless Zhao Yu crack.
"Hmm. It totally makes sense! You are pretty impressive!" Miao Ying was driving single-handedly and nodding to herself. After she thought for a while, she turned around and said, "Zhao Yu, if we are using Cheng Sanli as a starting point, didn’t we miss something? There is one more person that we can look into."