Chapter 73

When he saw Fang Kai, Li Qingyao was slightly surprised.

She thought that following Chen Pu to investigate a case was hard enough for her. But when she saw Fang Kai's obvious dark eye bags, his face that seemed to be covered with a layer of dust and not washed clean, a circle of stubble on his chin, and smelled the faint sour odor on him, it was really hard to connect this sloppy guy in front of her with the usually clean and decent Brother Fang.

It's only been a few days since we last met. Li Qingyao suddenly had mixed feelings towards Mr. Ding Guoqiang, the chief commander of this case. He was moved, awed... and also had a subtle sense of luck.

She glanced at the handsome and clean-cut Chen Pu next to her, and could not imagine him looking as unsightly as Fang Kai. But when she thought of his proud experience of squatting in the trash can, she felt that she would see him like that sooner or later.

The two men were obviously used to it. Chen Pu patted Fang Kai on the shoulder and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

Fang Kai looked as haggard as an old flower about to wither, but his eyes were very bright. He gave them a thumbs up and said, "Awesome, you have dug out such a person. Report:
Last night we checked Zhang Chaohua's background. He has no apparent relationship with Xiang Siling and their family. But at the end of last year, his 40-year-old son got a rare disease and needed a lung transplant. The application for a lung source and the yuan surgery fee were all paid for by a charity foundation company called Yuai. Behind Yuai is Huayu Group, and Li Meiling is the legal representative and general manager of Yuai. "

Hearing this, Li Qingyao suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

Fang Kai continued, "I interrogated Zhang Chaohua for half a night. At first he was not very cooperative and said he didn't know anything. But his mental defenses were not strong, and he quickly confessed some things."

Fang Kai remembered that last night, when he showed the photos of Xiang Siling and Li Meiling to Zhang Chaohua, the other party had a blank expression, which did not seem like a disguise.

According to Zhang Chaohua, at the end of December last year, he was desperate and was sitting in the stairwell of the hospital smoking a cigarette. Suddenly, a woman appeared and said that she was seeing a doctor in the hospital and saw that his family was too pitiful. She had a charity fund and could help him. Zhang Chaohua thought it was a scam and was skeptical until half an hour later, when the doctor contacted him and said that a charity company called and was willing to help him with the surgery expenses and fight for lung sources. Zhang Chaohua cried with joy and wanted to thank the woman, but she had already left.

As for what the woman looked like or how old she was, Zhang Chaohua said he didn't know because the woman wore a mask the entire time.

Fang Kai immediately contacted the hospital to retrieve the surveillance footage according to the date Zhang Chaohua mentioned, but half a year had passed and the hospital's surveillance footage had been automatically overwritten and deleted.

However, Fang Kai found out from the hospital medical records that Li Meiling had gone to see a doctor for stomach problems that day.

Hearing this, Li Qingyao glanced at Chen Pu, who was listening with a serious expression. Noticing her gaze, he nodded and raised his chin. Without saying a word, Li Qingyao understood immediately: I know what you are worried about, don't worry, just keep listening.

Later, Fang Kai asked Zhang Chaohua whether the woman took his night bus last Saturday.

Zhang Chaohua said, I don’t even know what she looks like, how can I know whether she has been in my car.

Fang Kai asked coldly, even if her face is covered, can't you recognize her by listening to her voice and looking at her figure?

Zhang Chaohua replied calmly that he couldn't recognize him.

Fang Kai thought about it and changed the question: Did a woman wearing a mask and a hat to cover her face get on his bus that night and hit him? Although there is no surveillance on the bus, there are surveillance cameras on the road, and the relevant police have already got hold of it. Let him think it over before answering. Such obvious and abnormal appearance characteristics, and there are few passengers at night, it is impossible not to notice. This is related to an important case, and perjury will be sentenced to jail.

Zhang Chaohua's expression changed after being frightened. After a moment of silence, he nodded: "It seems that there is a woman wearing a mask and a hat."

"Get on the bus at Yingzhu Town and get off at Huanhu East Road?"

"probably."

"Yes, yes. No, no. Is it or is it not?"

"……Yes."

"Did she say anything to you in the car, or contact you again?"

"No."

"Think carefully before answering!"

Zhang Chaohua's face turned red, and his lips trembled a little, but he still answered: "Really, no, we have never spoken. She always sits in the last row with her head down, and I never take the initiative to talk to passengers."

He said never.

As perceptive as Fang Kai was, he immediately asked the same question that Li Qingyao had asked: Before this, had the woman wearing a mask and a hat ridden in his car at the same time?

At first, Zhang Chaohua said he couldn't remember, but after being criticized by Fang Kai for a few more sentences, he said it seemed to have happened two or three times, but he really couldn't remember the specific day.

"Then why did you deny it when my colleague asked you in the car?"

Zhang Chaohua lowered his head and said that he had always felt that the woman was hiding her face in the middle of the night and was sneaky. Today, Chen Pu and the others kept asking him questions, but he didn't know who they were. He was afraid of getting in trouble, so he thought it was better to have less trouble than more, so he simply said nothing.

Fang Kai asked again why he drove so slowly in the first 2/3 of the journey and so fast in the last 1/3, and whether someone had told him to do so.

Zhang Chaohua insisted that he had not, saying that he was driving slowly because he had a cold and felt dizzy. Later, when Chen Pu asked him about it when he got off the car, he realized that he was afraid of delaying the rest of the route, so he sped up to finish the trip.

Fang Kai interrogated him for a while, but couldn't get anything out of him, so he detained Zhang Chaohua temporarily and would release him at a certain time.

After reporting the situation, Fang Kai asked, "What do you think, two Lone Rangers?"

Chen Pu raised his chin towards Li Qingyao and said, "You speak first."

Fang Kai knew that he was training newcomers, and he also looked at Li Qingyao. Li Qingyao: "Zhang Chaohua must have recognized the woman in the car. She was the woman from the hospital, and also his benefactor - Xiang Siling. Xiang Siling had ridden in his car several times to scout the area, and I think he guessed something. That's why he concealed it from us at the beginning, and deliberately drove very slowly. When you lied to him and said that the surveillance camera captured it on the road, he couldn't argue, and he might be afraid of really taking responsibility, so he admitted the existence of this woman."

Chen Pu said: "In any case, he personally admitted that this woman existed and walked this route on the night of the crime, which has proved that our speculation is correct. I think he really has never seen Xiang Siling's face. She has made this preparation from the beginning, just for today. Even if the driver is found by us, he still cannot serve as a witness."

Li Qingyao said, "Yes, even if we let Xiang Siling wear a mask and bring him in front of Zhang Chaohua, he can still close his eyes and say he doesn't know him, and there's nothing we can do. After all, it's reasonable for him not to recognize him, and subjective ability can't be considered perjury. I even suspect that Xiang Siling has reminded him of this, what to say and what not to say. Look at him, a driver who doesn't understand the law, how well he has grasped the situation."

Fang Kai tapped the table with his finger: "You two, although I don't know the specific progress of your investigation, I want to remind you that the general manager of the charity fund is Li Meiling, and the signature of the payment is also Li Meiling. I can also say that the woman is Li Meiling. Xiang Siling is completely innocent in this, but the fact that she stayed at Yingzhu Mountain that night does not mean that the woman is her."

Sure enough, Li Qingyao thought, she had expected it from the beginning when they said the general manager of the fund company was Li Meiling. At first it was a wanted criminal, then it was the mysterious man in the flowered shirt, and now it was Li Meiling. Every time she and Chen Pu got a glimpse of the real murderer, a perfect shield immediately appeared. Their real murderer really played the routine clearly, this was not a cunning rabbit with three burrows, this was taking one step and looking ten steps ahead.

Zhang Chaohua has signed the transcript, so they can say that they have made some progress, but not much. If this transcript is really submitted, anyone who reads it will think that it points to Li Meiling, Xiang Siling's biological mother.

"What should we do next?" Li Qingyao.

"How about we go talk to Xiang Siling directly?" Chen Pu didn't seem discouraged at all. He looked at her with a warm smile, "It's time to cut the grass and scare the snakes away."

Although Li Qingyao was still very aggressive these days, he was actually very convinced of Chen Pu in his heart. He naturally would not argue with him in front of outsiders and simply answered, "I listen to you."

Chen Pu raised his eyebrows and curled the corners of his lips slightly.

Fang Kai, who was standing by, was stunned.

How poisonous is the old detective's eyes? Li Qingyao was still normal, but the way Chen Pu looked at people, that sticky and warm feeling, was completely different from the cold and noble Captain Chen in the past.

-

Xiang Siling remembered that the first time she attended a business reception, it was Luo Hongmin and Li Meiling who took her there. She was a well-behaved daughter who was dressed up beautifully and followed behind the couple. Soon someone noticed her, and Luo Hongmin's friend asked with a smile if she had a boyfriend, and jokingly wanted to introduce his son to her.

Luo Hongmin laughed even more heartily. It was up to him to make the decision regarding his children's affairs.

Everyone looked at Xiang Siling, who had just graduated from college. She lowered her head shyly and said, "I, I'm still young."

Everyone laughed. Li Meiling smiled faintly, and Luo Hongmin also laughed.

Later, she fell in love with Qian Chengfeng. From then on, she no longer had to follow the couple. It was Qian Chengfeng who accompanied her to attend events again and again. Xiang Siling asked herself, at that time, she really wanted to be a good couple with him, and wanted to rely on this man to be happy. She also put her love for Luo Huaizheng deep in her heart. Although that love once hurt her to the bone marrow, her whole body seemed to be rotten from the inside out.

But what did she get in the end for her sincerity towards her husband? Only endless insults and a clean break.

From then on, Xiang Siling became silent. It didn't matter to her who was around her or what kind of person she was.

Until today, when she, as the actual controller of Huayu Group, attended a cocktail party, it was Luo Huaizheng who accompanied her.

She was wearing an expensive evening gown, sitting on a dignified leather sofa, looking at Luo Huaizheng, who was dressed in a suit and had an extraordinary temperament not far away. She felt that this scene was like a dream that she had never dared to hope for.

But, Xiang Siling, didn’t your dream come true?
She drank the red wine in the glass, toasted herself, then placed the empty glass on the attentive waiter's tray, stood up, and walked towards the man who only appeared in her dreams in a swaying manner.

Luo Huaizheng was talking to someone with a faint professional smile on his face. He suddenly walked towards Si Ling and took his arm. Luo Huaizheng paused.

Seeing this, the other party smiled and greeted Xiang Siling again. Xiang Siling smiled like a flower, and a few words made the other party feel like spring breeze, and then said "don't disturb" and politely left.

Luo Huaizheng immediately pulled his arm back.

Unexpectedly, Xiang Siling reached out and held his arm again, and she came closer and said, "There are so many people here, Huai Zheng, please give me some face. I did a good job today, didn't I? I introduced you to so many connections."

She looked up at him. Under the bright lights, the beauty looked up, so beautiful that she was beyond description.

Luo Huaizheng was silent for a moment and said, "Thank you."

Xiang Siling shook his head and said, "This is nothing, just some petty gains, the real compensation is not this. By the way, do you want to study in Tsinghua again? Are you considering EMBA?"

Luo Huaizheng raised his eyes and looked at her.

Xiang Siling laughed and said, "Don't look at me with such a creepy look. I said that I want to do this for your own good. I want to make your dream come true. I really won't hurt you again."

After the cocktail party, Xiang Siling and Luo Huaizheng walked out of the hotel lobby together. The driver had already driven Xiang Siling's car over. Xiang Siling got in the car first, while Luo Huaizheng stood outside the door without moving.

She stuck her head out and called out, "Huaizheng, get in the car."

Luo Huaizheng already had one hand on the door handle, but he was still like a sculpture. Xiang Siling followed his gaze and saw Chen Pu and Li Qingyao standing a few meters away.

　Sorry for the late update.

　　(End of this chapter)