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墨書 Inktalez
The Hongda Corporation was not far from here; it wouldn't take long to drive there. When we arrived at the Hongda Corporation, the front door of the office building was wide open, and there were no security guards on either side. It seemed that due to the deaths of Wu Shuhau and Wu Jianye, Hongda Corporation was facing a significant crisis.
We casually entered the company, and as we walked, Mary said, "Hongda Corporation mainly engages in heavy industries like chemicals. The combined shares of Wu Jianye and Wu Shuhau accounted for about sixty percent, giving them substantial influence over the company. Now that these two major shareholders are dead, the entire company is falling apart. Bankruptcy seems inevitable unless someone can inject a large amount of capital to take over this mess."
The mergers and acquisitions between large companies were not our concern at the moment. What I wanted to find out was who the person in the photo with Xing Jie was, whether they were in a romantic relationship, and what connections existed among those individuals. Apart from that photo, Mary couldn't find any information about the girl’s name on the computer.
As we walked further inside, many people were packing up their desks, and not a single person seemed to notice our arrival. A few glanced at us but quickly returned to their tasks. It truly was a case of minding one's own business; everyone was too busy with their own issues to care about others.
Seeing this situation, I decided to stop being discreet and started asking questions directly. Although the name tag indicated that this woman worked in sales, it appeared that chaos had taken over the company. It was hard to distinguish which department was which.
When it came to asking questions, it was essential to target the right individuals. Typically, women in their thirties were the best sources of information, especially if you observed their eyes closely—those who had quick-moving eyes were often more talkative about gossip. After questioning several people, we finally found a woman from the sales department.
At that moment, she was packing her things and preparing to leave the company. However, when she saw us holding the photo, her dull eyes suddenly sparkled with eagerness to help as she stopped us and asked, "Who are you looking for regarding Xiaoqing?"
It felt like a stroke of luck; we had finally found someone who recognized the woman in the photo. I addressed this kind-hearted person and said, "To be honest, we're here investigating a case. Have you seen Xiaoqing or the man in this photo? They have both gone missing. We only found this picture; do you recognize either of them?"
"Missing?" The woman pondered for a moment while stroking her chin before saying, "I wondered why Xiaoqing hadn't been coming to work for so long; turns out she's missing? I thought she had quit her job and hit it big in life! Officer, to be frank with you, Xiaoqing has been somewhat inappropriate at work."
"Inappropriate?" I didn't comment but encouraged her to continue.
She glanced around to ensure no one was paying attention before continuing, "Xiaoqing and I both work in sales; I've been here longer than her. If nothing unexpected happened, I would have been promoted to sales team leader instead of her. But ever since that vixen showed up, our sales manager has been completely smitten."
"The sales manager is Wu Shuhau, the son of our big boss—a rich second-generation heir who can be quite reckless. Initially, I thought he was rather composed; however, I later realized that wasn't the case at all." The woman gritted her teeth as she spoke. "These rich kids are all cut from the same cloth. That vixen wears so little every day and spends all her time fawning over the manager; it didn't take long for her to become his secretary."
At this point, she scoffed and added, "Everyone in our sales department knows how she got that position—it's disgraceful. Once, I went into the manager's office to deliver some materials when I noticed the door wasn't closed properly. You won't believe what I saw! If I didn't witness it myself, I wouldn't dare spread such rumors! They were getting intimate right there on his desk!"
I hummed in response and asked in detail, "Are you saying that Xiaoqing used her sexuality to climb the social ladder? How do you know if it was her who seduced Wu Shuhau, or if Wu Shuhau was the one who took an interest in her first?"
The woman replied without hesitation, "They were both in on it, of course. With those shifty eyes, they must have seen each other and gone for it. If either of them had any integrity, they wouldn't have done something like this. You don't believe me, do you? You shouldn't doubt it! If this were before, I would never have shown you this video, but I heard that Wu Jianye fell from the building and died, and his son got into a car accident while speeding! Look at that, neither of them has done any good deeds!"
As she spoke, the woman pulled up a video for me to watch. It was short, just over a minute long, but it was enough to prove that what she said wasn't false. In the video, we could see a woman sitting at a desk with her clothes open and her skirt pulled up to her waist. A man was standing across from her, repeatedly thrusting—who else could it be but Wu Shuhau?
In this context, it was clear that Xiaoqing was very cooperative; otherwise, with just one shout from her, Wu Shuhau would have been taken to the police station. Xiaoqing and Wu Shuhau definitely had something going on. If we could connect Xing Jie into this as well, the motive would be very clear.
I didn't ask why the woman had kept the video; it seemed that if Wu Shuhau hadn't died, she would have likely used it for some leverage against either Xiaoqing or Wu Shuhau. I shook my head, refusing to judge others with my own malice. I asked, "What is Xiaoqing's full name? Do you know this man?"
"Oh, her real name is Liu Fangqing," the woman blurted out. Then looking at the photo of Xing Jie, she said, "I've seen this guy a few times but don't know him well. According to his work ID, he's from the technical department. Wait a moment; let me ask around!" With that, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Engineer Wang! Engineer Wang! Come over here!"
"What is it?" Engineer Wang replied.
"Just come over."
We clarified our identities again, and the woman jumped in front of us to ask, "Hey Engineer Wang, is this guy from your department? He looks familiar but I can't remember his name."
Engineer Wang nodded and said, "That's right; his name is Xing Jie. He's from our department. But he resigned a while ago; we can't reach him on his phone and don't know what he's up to now. It's strange for someone with such a promising job to just leave."
"Engineer Wang," I asked, "do you know if Xing Jie has a girlfriend? Take a look at this photo." I handed him the picture.
Engineer Wang examined the woman in the photo closely and nodded before saying awkwardly, "This woman is indeed his girlfriend. To be honest, our company prohibits relationships between employees. When Xing Jie told me about it back then, he seemed a bit secretive."
"He mentioned he found a girlfriend from the company—this one in the photo—but didn't say which department she was from," Engineer Wang continued. "I never saw them together at work; they wouldn't dare do that here. But I know Xing Jie treated his girlfriend really well; out of his five thousand monthly salary, he gave her four thousand."
"I did tell him not to throw money around like that," Engineer Wang lamented. "But he wouldn't listen; he said the money wasn't being spent but saved in an account for their future down payment on a house when they got married. By the way, on the day he resigned, he seemed a bit downcast. When I asked if he had broken up with her, he didn't give a clear answer—he nodded and shook his head at the same time. I couldn't figure out what was going on."
The woman spoke up before we had a chance to say anything, "What? This vixen is actually Xing Jie's girlfriend? This man must be really foolish; he doesn't even realize how many green hats he's wearing because of her. And he spends four thousand a month supporting her! With his salary, he could be making twelve thousand a month! I thought Liu Fangqing was bad enough, but this person is even worse. Just thinking about it makes me sick! If I were Xing Jie, and I found out one day, I would definitely kill that bastard!"
Her last statement hit the nail on the head. No man would tolerate his woman fooling around with others. If Xing Jie found out about this, it wouldn't be surprising if he resorted to murder. The motive for killing would be clear, but what role did Xu Rong and Wu Jianye play in all this? After killing someone, how did Xing Jie end up dead? Did he kill himself?
The long silence without any news of a female corpse indicated that the missing Liu Fangqing was likely still alive, and she would be the key to solving this case and proving my innocence. With this thought in mind, I immediately asked, "Did Liu Fangqing say anything unusual when she left the company? Do you remember what day it was?"
The woman tapped her head with her hand and replied, "Let me think... Oh! It was the twenty-fifth of last month. Yes, September twenty-fifth. I remember it was a Friday because there was a TV show that was about to air. After September twenty-fifth, Liu Fangqing never came back. I thought she was being supported by Wu Shuhau, but now it seems that's not the case."
"Do you know when Xing Jie left?" I turned to Engineer Wang and asked, "Was it on the twenty-fifth as well?"
Engineer Wang pondered for a moment before nodding heavily and saying, "You know what? It really was the twenty-fifth. If you hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have remembered. It was definitely the twenty-fifth. Could it be that Xing Jie and Liu Fangqing eloped? That seems unlikely; even though the company strictly prohibits relationships between employees, they wouldn't just abandon their work to run away together!"
After thanking both of them, we left Hongda Corporation. I immediately instructed Mary to conduct a thorough investigation into Liu Fangqing, hoping to find her whereabouts. The simultaneous departure of Xing Jie and Liu Fangqing surely meant something significant had occurred. If the killer truly was Xing Jie, then it was likely that something between Liu Fangqing and Wu Shuhau had been exposed.
From Engineer Wang's words, we could sense the deep love that Xing Jie had for Liu Fangqing. Turning love into hate might be one of the hardest things in the world, but turning love into hate can often happen in an instant. Thus, he would want to kill Wu Shuhau. He couldn't tolerate another man touching his beloved, just like that perverted doctor from four years ago. To keep Liu Fangqing, he would do anything.
On my first voyage at sea, I encountered a well-known Bengal Aid Worker. Young and impulsive, but too poor to really make a move until the First Mate told me that a bag of instant noodles could get me through the night with a group of women...
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