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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
Just as I pressed the doorbell, I suddenly slapped my forehead. Damn, I finally remembered who that person was. When I was saving Zhou Zhixiong at Star River, this person was floating around next to Zhang Hao and Wen Xiaoxiao with a big belly. It was only when I recalled the black mole at the corner of his mouth that I remembered him.
Since this middle-aged man also lives in this area, he should know Zhang Hao. However, I didn't see them greet each other at that time. Then I thought again, times have changed; even if people live on the same floor facing each other, it's not uncommon for them not to greet each other for a year and a half. Moreover, Zhang Hao lives in a standalone villa, so it’s really not strange that they don’t know each other.
At this moment, a female voice with a strong Star City dialect came from the intercom at the door, sounding somewhat flustered: "Who are you? What do you want?"
"I am a... police officer!" I cleared my throat; I almost blurted out 'I'm a cop.'
"You are a police officer?" The female voice murmured softly and then suspiciously asked, "Why aren't you in uniform?"
"I am an undercover police officer!" I could only smile wryly.
"An abnormal police officer?" The woman exclaimed in surprise.
"No, undercover, as in cheap!" I couldn't help but raise my voice, feeling somewhat annoyed. Who is this person who enjoys teasing others so much?
"Cheap Police? Are there expensive and cheap police officers?" The female voice was even more astonished. Before I could respond, an Ancient Voice from inside asked: "Ying, who is it?"
The girl named Ying answered loudly: "Grandpa, he is a police officer!"
"A police officer? Quickly let him in!" The Ancient Voice said hurriedly. Ying responded with an "Oh," and then the Copper Door of the yard clicked open. She walked into the yard and crossed the lawn until she reached the front of the villa. At the entrance stood a thin, dark-skinned girl who looked about twelve or thirteen years old. She wore an oversized apron that nearly reached her feet and nervously twisted her hands on it while looking at me with a panicked expression.
"Cheap Police, are you here to help catch bad guys?" As I approached, the girl asked in a low voice.
"Yes." My earlier displeasure had vanished completely. This girl was likely the nanny hired by the Zhang family. Nowadays in Star City, many wealthy people prefer to hire rural girls like her; they are efficient workers and most importantly, they won't harm their own children. As for whether their own children might harm these girls... cough cough, let's not dwell on that.
This girl seemed to have just arrived in Star City not long ago; there was still a hint of timid restraint in her demeanor. How could I possibly hold anything against her?
"Officer, my young master has been kidnapped. You must rescue him!" the girl said nervously.
"Why don't you let me in first?" I replied with a smile.
"Oh, okay." The girl hurriedly took a pair of shoe covers from a drawer by the entrance and then hesitated for a moment before pulling out a pair of slippers. "You're a police officer, so you can wear slippers."
I couldn't help but chuckle. As I mentioned earlier, times have changed. In the past, anyone could walk around your room with dirty shoes, but now it's common sense to take off your shoes upon entering. For those close to you, you offer slippers; for those not so close, it's better to stick with shoe covers—who knows if they have athlete's foot... To the girl, I was still considered a distinguished guest.
I put on the shoe covers and asked with a smile, "What's your name?"
"My name is Ying!" The girl beamed and then whispered, "The young master is very nice. A few days ago when I wasn't feeling well, he even helped me massage my chest. You must bring him back!"
Massage her chest? I was taken aback, and an inappropriate image flashed through my mind—an unscrupulous master training a young maid. How did I end up in this situation? It felt like a cliché plot twist.
After I put on the shoe covers, Ying led me through the entrance, and the scene in the living room came into view.
Although the house had a traditional Chinese exterior, the living room was quite modern. It was spacious, furnished elegantly with stylish furniture. In the center of the room hung a giant crystal chandelier that sparkled brilliantly. Below it was a set of genuine leather sofas arranged in an L-shape, with a coffee table in the middle. Sitting on one of the sofas were a middle-aged couple who appeared to be Mr. and Mrs. Zhang Dingcheng. In an armchair sat an elderly man with white hair but youthful features; he must be Zhang Hao's grandfather.
Upon seeing me, the middle-aged couple didn't react much—just nodded slightly—but the old man raised his hand to invite me to sit down and asked Ying to pour me some tea.
As I sat down, I started to speak nonsense: "I am Officer Zhong Zhengnan from the Star City Public Security Bureau... Special Security Consultant. I'm in charge of the case regarding your young master's kidnapping."
"Zhong Zhengnan? You're Zhong Zhengnan? The one they call Ghost Brother on the streets, who has dominated Star City's top ten gangsters list for three years?" To my surprise, the old man had heard of me and stood up to ask loudly.
Honestly, I felt embarrassed. Just moments ago I was acting as a police officer, and now I was being exposed as just another gangster. It felt like boasting to my first love about my friends' Golden Gun Never Falls only to embarrass myself before even entering; or like a seemingly respectable professor caught sneaking peeks at female students showering... In that instant, I felt utterly humiliated.
With an awkward laugh, I scratched my head and said, "Sir, I didn't expect someone your age would still be involved with the mafia."
"What's the deal with the Mafia? Tang the Elder is my card buddy!" the old man exclaimed. "Just call me Old Zhang. When did you become a police officer? If you're the one investigating this case, then I can relax."
Hearing Old Zhang's words, both Zhang Dingcheng and his wife looked at me in surprise, with Mrs. Zhang eagerly asking Old Zhang, "Dad, what's going on with Officer Zhong?"
Old Zhang frowned and replied, "Don't worry about what's going on; just know that Zheng Nan is incredibly capable and can definitely help us."
I felt a bit embarrassed. If I were really that capable, I would have caught Mr. Qian and dealt with him when Zhou Zhixiong had his incident, and there wouldn't have been a chance for him to kidnap Zhang Hao. I cleared my throat and said, "You should tell me everything you know."
"We don't know anything at all; it was a classmate who called us to tell us. We were at an internet café playing games when a few masked men burst in and dragged him away. There were so many people in the café, yet not a single person tried to stop them," Mrs. Zhang said, unable to hold back her tears. "At that time, there were seven or eight of his classmates there, but not one of them stood up; they just watched him get taken away."
Zhang Dingcheng had remained silent until now. Seeing his wife like this, he turned to pat Mrs. Zhang on the shoulder. She collapsed into his arms and began to cry uncontrollably.
"Uh, have the kidnappers called you?" I pondered for a moment, too lazy to ask any more irrelevant questions since they didn't know anything anyway.
"No!" Zhang Dingcheng replied solemnly.
At that moment, Ying brought me a glass of water and placed it in front of me. As she turned to leave, something felt off, and my eyes caught a glimpse of something unusual; I noticed a dark fingerprint on her ankle.
This fingerprint looked exactly like the one left by the black hand that grabbed Zhou Zhixiong. My scalp tingled—could it be that Ying had also been grabbed by that black hand?
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but shout, "Ying!"
Hearing my call, Ying turned around in shock, and the other three looked at me in surprise as well.
"What’s that mark on your ankle?" I pointed at the dark fingerprint on Ying's ankle, trying to keep my tone calm.
"What do you mean?" Ying asked in astonishment as she looked down at the dark mark on her ankle. The crystal chandelier's light was as bright as day, making the dark fingerprint stand out even more glaringly.
The streetlights outside were dim, and her oversized apron obscured my view, so I didn't notice the black handprint until Ying turned around in front of me just now. To avoid startling her, I kept my tone calm and feigned curiosity, "So, how did this black handprint get here?"
"This happened when Ying went swimming. She suddenly slipped into the deep end, and this handprint must have been left by someone who pulled her out too forcefully," Old Zhang interjected.
"Is that so?" I nodded.
"Yeah, anyway, there was no black handprint before swimming, but it appeared after she was rescued!" Ying frowned and continued, "My brother wanted to save me too, but he isn't a strong swimmer. Not only did he fail to rescue me, but he almost drowned himself. Later, I heard from others that my brother was rescued first before I was saved. After that, my brother helped me with chest compressions..."
So that's what your chest compressions were about; it's called artificial respiration, not just touching your chest. I almost thought your brother was a beast.
Hearing Ying's words, Zhang Dingcheng's face flushed slightly as he cleared his throat, "Ying, let's keep this conversation between us and Officer Zhong. Don't mention the chest compressions to anyone else."
"Why not?" Ying asked in confusion but then seemed to realize something and nodded, "Okay, sir."
This topic couldn't continue any further, so I quickly asked, "Did this happen when you went swimming at Star River with Zhang Hao?"
"No, it happened at the community swimming pool!" Ying replied in surprise.
Old Zhang coughed lightly, "The swimming pool in the community is relatively safe. It's not very big, so if anything happens, others can notice and rescue immediately. For instance, Ying's incident was resolved by a middle-aged man who pulled her out. However... that middle-aged man wasn't from our community."
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