Translator: 549690339
Before long, the girl’s boyfriend rushed over, protecting her and trying to take a swing at Biao, but he was no match for him and got subdued in just a couple of moves.
The scar-faced man was brutal, resorting to force when gentler methods failed, and dragged the girl upstairs in front of everyone. The surrounding customers were all frightened by the scene and didn’t dare to make a sound, even the nightclub’s security guards turned a blind eye.
The boy who had been beaten up, upon seeing his girlfriend being dragged away, got up from the ground and unwillingly chased after them.
Subsequently, the nightclub manager came out to defuse the situation, claiming that the girl had stolen a customer’s money. Then, with the encouragement of the DJ, the bar quickly returned to its bustling atmosphere.
Naturally, no one cared about what was happening in the VIP room on the second floor.
Moreover, Lin Mo noticed that during the time the scar-faced man was causing trouble, the surveillance camera in the corner had conveniently turned away.
Considering what Chen Kainan had done to that nurse in the hospital before, Lin Mo felt that the girl, Xiaonuan, was probably in for a world of trouble.
Of course, Lin Mo certainly had no intention of playing the hero to save the damsel in distress; he wasn’t capable of it.
Calling a waiter over, Lin Mo spent some money to have two hostesses accompany him.
Through chatting casually with these two hostesses, Lin Mo learned that the girl who had been dragged upstairs was called Xiaonuan, her real name unknown, a poor student from a nearby university working part-time at the bar to earn money, having started just a few days ago.
Her boyfriend didn’t trust her being alone, so he followed her there.
Lin Mo also inquired indirectly about the clout of the people in the upstairs rooms, wondering how they could be so influential?
Both girls admitted they didn’t know much, only that those who could go up to the VIP rooms were really big shots, and the amount they could make from serving them once would match half a year of their own hard work.
They hoped every day that they might get the opportunity to go upstairs, but never had the luck.
Afterward, until the bar closed, Lin Mo never saw Xiaonuan or her boyfriend come down from the second floor.
Two days passed.
Since there wasn’t much good information today, Lin Mo came to the bar again, hoping to find the waitress who had been forcibly taken upstairs by the scarfaced man to learn more about the situation, but bumped into an acquaintance at the entrance of the bar.
Seeing Lin Mo, Captain Bai from the Criminal Police team asked in surprise, “You are… Lin Mo?”
Lin Mo was also taken aback, smiled, nodded in greeting, and said, “Captain Bai, long time no see, what brings you here?”
“I’m here to investigate a case.”
Without specifying the details, Captain Bai frowned slightly and asked, “Do you come to this bar often?”
In his eyes, a man in his thirties with a family, like Lin Mo, should not frequent such places.
Moreover, Lin Mo was a construction worker, not well-off in the least.
“How could l!”
Lin Mo decisively shook his head: “You know what I do for a living. How could I come here often? Including this time, I’ve only been here twice, and the last visit was two days ago when a friend came to Rakshasa City and insisted on dragging me along.”
“Oh.”
Captain Bai nodded.
Uh?
Upon hearing it was two days ago, Captain Bai’s eyes lit up with interest, and he pressed Lin Mo about whether he had seen anything at the bar that day.
“Two days ago? Let me think…”
Lin Mo gave a brief recap, but subconsciously skipped over the matter involving Chen Kainan.
He was indeed in the shadows now, and no one paid attention to someone of his minor status.
But if, by some chance, Chen Kainan found out that Lin Changshui’s son had been to the same bar on the same day as him, it would inevitably raise unnecessary suspicions.
Lin Mo didn’t know the full story behind Captain Bai, and for all he knew, Bai could be affiliated with Chen Kainan.
Many things required caution.
After Lin Mo finished his version of the story, with some indirect inquiries, he managed to find out the reason Captain Bai had come to the bar.
A homicide had occurred here.
A male waiter had committed suicide by jumping off the building, and his girlfriend had disappeared.
Captain Bai showed Lin Mo a photo and asked if he had seen them.
Lin Mo recognized them immediately as the very couple that had suffered that day.
One dead and one missing?
Thinking of his own family’s misfortune, an unnamed anger rose in Lin Mo’s heart.
It was as if human lives were treated as nothing more than weeds.
One could only imagine what other heinous deeds that seemingly illustrious businessman committed behind the scenes.
Lin Mo did not show his emotions to Captain Bai.
He wouldn’t reveal his innermost thoughts either.
Again, Lin Mo couldn’t guarantee that Bai Feng was definitely a good person.
Even if Bai Feng was a good cop.
It wasn’t certain whether Bai Feng could outfight Chen Kainan.
If he rashly revealed his identity and the news leaked, his entire family would be doomed.
He wouldn’t gamble, nor would he stake the lives of his family on it.
“I don’t remember much… the bar was crowded, and I drank a bit too much that day.”
“Okay, I’ll leave you to it then. I’ve got to go; still a lot to do,” Bai Feng nodded, didn’t press further, and before leaving, he offered one more piece of advice, “Last time you came with friends, but this time? I didn’t see them around.”
“Don’t get hooked, you’ve got a wife and kid, and earning money isn’t easy. You can’t squander it in a place like this.”
Because Lin Mo had helped his mother before, Bai Feng had a pretty good impression of him.
“Officer Bai, you’ve misunderstood, I actually came here looking for a job. I heard the pay is high.”
“Listen to my advice, don’t work here. This place is too chaotic. Even the police struggle with it. If you really want a job, come see me when you’re free. We’re recruiting auxiliary police. If you’re interested, you can give it a try. The pay isn’t high, but it’s stable,” Bai Feng added before leaving without lingering.
Lin Mo didn’t stay longer either. He left the bar, got in his car, and headed back to the guesthouse.
Back at the guesthouse, Lin Mo walked into the bedroom where the wall he faced was already densely plastered with sticky notes, photos, clipped newspapers, and various bits of intelligence he had jotted down.
The time for Chen Kainan to lose his position as chairman was drawing nearer, but Lin Mo still had made little progress.
He felt like he was just treading water.
He really didn’t have much time left.
After several days of enduring this, Lin Mo’s beard had grown in, his temples had turned somewhat gray, and his complexion was haggard. He looked as if he had aged ten years, resembling a disheveled vagabond.
He didn’t have time to tidy himself up.
He wrote down the day’s intelligence on a sticky note, then stuck it in an available space.
The bar waitress Xiaonuan had disappeared, her boyfriend had fallen from a building…
It didn’t take guessing to know that something horrific must have happened in the private room of the bar that day.
Even Lin Mo didn’t dare to think too deeply about whether Xiaonuan’s boyfriend had committed suicide or had been murdered and then staged to look like a jump.
With Chen Kainan’s ruthlessness, it was definitely something he could do.
“No time to think about others now, I have to take care of myself!”
“If I can’t handle Chen Kainan’s trouble in the next few days, my family and I won’t end up any better than them!”
Lin Mo rubbed his sore, aching eyes, walked to the very first sticky note, and began to re-read each one.
In the past few days, Lin Mo had gathered a lot of intelligence on Chen Kainan.
For instance, Chen Kainan had been forced by his family to practice martial arts from a young age, becoming proficient in judo and Muay Thai, as well as learning plenty of lethal techniques. Although his long-term drug use and indulgences had greatly weakened his physical condition, he could still handle one or two men in a fight with no problem.
Besides, he had guns at home, in his car, and always carried one with him; his sense of security was extremely high!
Some of the intelligence pertained to Chen Kainan’s family.
To be honest, Lin Mo never would have guessed that someone like Chen Kainan still lived with his parents and was very obedient and respectful at home, showing none of the arrogance he exhibited outside.
This man was truly strange; you’d think he was crazy, yet he had a cunning mind and was meticulous in his actions, especially regarding security – practically impenetrable. You’d say he was cruel, but he was very gentle with his parents, wife, and family members.
A very complex character indeed.
Unfortunately, the intelligence obtained in the past few days did not disclose Chen Kainan’s exact residence, and Lin Mo’s recent investigations had failed to uncover it either.
This was actually quite normal. Given Chen Kainan’s cautious nature, it was absolutely impossible for him to expose his home address.
And Lin Mo was sure that he didn’t have just one residence.
The slightest hint of trouble, and he would immediately choose to move.
Buzz… Buzz buzz…
As Lin Mo was engrossedly reviewing the intelligence and organizing his thoughts, his phone suddenly rang. He took it out and saw it was a WeChat video call from his wife, Li Jinwen.
He was momentarily startled.
Instinctively heading to the living room, he was about to answer but then remembered something.
“I can’t let my wife see me like this!”
Lin Mo didn’t accept the video call. Instead, he went to wash his face and quickly shaved his beard. After freshening up a bit, he called back using video on WeChat.