CH 50

“Professor Fu…” Lin Chen lifted his head to look at Fu Hao.

Fu Hao felt shivers, being called like that, “Brother, if you have some command, just say it. Saying my name like that makes me nervous!”

“I need a bit of Professor Fu’s help…” Lin Chen paused, but didn’t give Fu Hao any time to think. “I remember when incoming students arrive, they will record an introduction to use as a file. So, I wanted Professor Fu to go look for Wang Shi Shi and Xu Hao Xhen’s admissions self-introduction.”

Hearing this, it was like Fu Hao was struck by lightning. He looked at Lin Chen with a gaze that said “Brother, how dare you treat me this cruelly?”

As Xing Cong Lian watched the scene, although he didn’t know why there was difficulty associated with the file, he still mourned for Professor Fu.

Lin Chen only patted Fu Hao’s head, saying, “Be good.”

Professor Fu couldn’t conjure any ounce of resistance, and could only leave in a stupor.

Xing Cong Lian watched his retreating form and only found it funny, “What’s this? It’s like a hero going on a quest for justice.”

“The person managing the admissions introductions is a senior that has always been very interested in Fu Hao.”

“So is Fu Hao going to sell his soul?” Xing Cong Lian looked down at the unmoving profile of Consultant Lin, laughing.

“He can’t sell us out anyway.”

“You sure love scheming.” Xing Cong Lian said emotionally, remembering the two loving food stall owners at the school gate.

“He’s happy to do it, don’t worry.”

“Why did you suddenly think of looking at the admission files?”

“There are some problems I can’t figure out.” Lin Chen shook his head, asking Xing Cong Lian in return, “What kind of girl do you think Wang Shi Shi was?”

“Wang Shi Shi? She seems pretty complicated.”

“Yeah, not just complicated, she’s also contradictory.” Lin Chen paused, and said, “I looked over Wang Shi Shi’s dormitory in detail. Her bunk was clean and her possessions were tidy, giving people a sense of nobility and independence. At the same time, she was busy working and earning money everyday, and loved her little brother. You can see that she’s filial, hardworking. Yet this kind of person filmed a sex tape, acting that bold and wild.”

“Is it contradictory? Every person has many sides. A person will always want to hide some things, but inadvertently, something will be exposed.”

Lin Chen looked deeply at Xing Cong Lian, then said, “Let’s think about it from another angle. If we only look at Wang Shi Shi’s mother, what kind of person would you think her daughter would be?”

Remembering Wang Shi Shi’s strong-willed mother, Xing Cong Lian felt a slight headache, “The mother is so intense, her daughter would either be particularly deviant, or cowardly and obedient.” As he finished, he suddenly realized that Want Shi Shi was practically a perfect combination of the two types.

“It’s weird, right?” Lin Chen thought for a bit, then said, “Wang Shi Shi grew up in a classic, authoritarian style family. From a statistical point of view, most children coming from these kinds of families are submissive, cowardly, and lack confidence. Some extreme individuals will be cold, cruel, and aggressive…”

“But Wang Shi Shi doesn’t seem to fit into either…”

“Yeah, anything that deviates from the norm must have a deep reason behind it.”

“What about Xu Hao Zhen, then? Does this thing have something to do with Xu Hao Zhen?” Xing Cong Lian acutely remembered that junior that caught Lin Chen’s attention because of nail polish.

“I can’t say yet, but Xu Hao Zhen seems cheerful and friendly, like a beautiful social butterfly. This sentence isn’t meant to be insulting, but these kinds of people should have very strong opinions. If so, why would she feel embarrassed to reject a nail polish that didn’t suit her? Even if I’m really just splitting hairs, this is too contradictory, it doesn’t make sense.”

“So you asked Fu Hao to retrieve their introduction files to start from square one?”

“Yes, I want to see them as a blank canvas.”

______________

Professor Fu in the file room was, of course, unable to hear that conversation.

The dehumidifier hummed gently. There were no man-eating seniors, nor any cute juniors here. There wasn’t a single person in the vast file room.

The curtains were half drawn, making the room a bit dim. Fu Hao walked towards the depth of the two rows of file racks. Suddenly, the door creaked shut. He hurriedly turned around, but couldn’t see anyone. He could only hear leather boots squeaking against the floor, step by step.

“Senior Wang?” He probed, receiving no response.

Fu Hao looked left and right. He was surrounded by iron racks, with no tools handy.

As he hesitated, the footsteps drew nearer. From under the filing cabinet, he could vaguely see the intruder was wearing a pair of black calfskin boots and smokey grey trousers. The clothing was fine. The pace was neither fast nor slow.

Fu Hao took a deep breath. The other person was only one bookshelf away from him. He could clearly see a corner of a black cashmere sweater on the other person.

He ran through a list of his colleague’s names, but it seemed like no one wore those kinds of clothes. The tension in his heart was growing stronger, “Who are you?”

No response.

The next moment, the other person moved again. His profile flashed for a moment, and Fu Hao’s heart pounded. He looked back and saw a handsome and elegant face.

Linen colored hair, amber colored pupils, eyes that were a bit long, eyelashes slightly curled. He was smiling, yet his gaze had a certain coldness to them.

Oh shit, your mom, you crazy…

Countless greetings to his whole family were stuck in his chest. Fu Hao watched that person like he had seen a ghost. His body reacted faster than his head, and he turned to run away without another word.

However, before he could exit, a warm, male voice came from behind him.

“If you walk out that door, I’ll break your legs.”

Fuck…

_______________

Traffic in the big city was always too crowded. When Lin Chen and Xing Cong Lian returned to the station, a young man wearing a black baseball cap was already sitting in the Second Branch’s office, being worshipped and fed by the whole station.

Xing Cong Lian had just pushed open the door, when he heard a dissatisfied voice come from the office.

“Boss, you know it’s very cheesy to play name games?”

T/N: Name game as in making a pun with someone’s name

Wang Chao, with a cola flavored lollipop in his mouth, pointing at that strong-willed little officer across from him, said unhappily.

“You can’t blame me!” Little comrade Ma Han said helplessly.

“How did you get here so quickly?” Xing Cong Lian looked at the time. It had been about three hours since he made that call.

“Oh, I hitchhiked from the entrance of the highway and zoomed here.”

“Didn’t I tell you to take the high-speed rail?” Xing Cong Lian said as he walked to Wang Chao.

“No! We said the money was for charging Love Nikki!”

Xing Cong Lian gave the shaggy head of the young man a pat. As he neared the laptop screen he realized Wang Chao was taking the pictures Wang Shi Shi’s mother “handed over” and, one by one, putting them on a timeline.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making an MV.” Little comrade Wang Chao giggled, “It moves.”

Xing Cong Lian gave the back of his head a smack, “Did you find the thing I asked you to investigate?”

“It was no big deal.” Wang Chao dangled his lollipop and beckoned Ma Han with his finger. A personal profile was offered with two hands.

Xing Cong Lian frowned slightly and took the file.

As expected, the other girl in the video was also a student of Yong Chuan College.

Jiang Liu, female, 20 years old, a talented biology major of Yong Chuan College.

Xing Cong Lian skimmed through the file and passed it on to Lin Chen. He then looked at Wang Chao, but before he could open his mouth, Wang Chao beat him to answer.

“I already looked into it. Yong Chuan College uses fingerprint access. This little girl hasn’t been back to her dorm since last night. She also didn’t go to class today. There was no record of her ID card, which means she also hasn’t rented a hotel room with anyone.”

Xing Cong Lian opened his mouth again, but Wang Chao continued to answer.

“Jiang Liu and victim Wang Shi Shi didn’t have any obvious contact, seeing as there was quite a distance between them. However, she and victim Wang Shi Shi are both officers of the student union arts department. They worked together to organize the National Day Dance.” Wang Chao finished, and spread out his hands, meaning “I can only help you to this point.”

Xing Cong Lian nodded, only to see Jiang Chao approach from afar.

Seeing Xing Cong Lian, Vice Captain Jiang acted like he had seen his lifeline, and started lamenting from afar, “Ol’ Xing, when will you guys go question Wang Shi Shi’s insolent mother? She’s already threatening our station for emotional damage compensation!”

“This handsome gentleman, is there anything else I can be of service to?” Comrade Wang Chao interrupted.

“Come take a statement with me.” Xing Cong Lian answered.

Wang Chao felt a bit flattered.

Ol’ Xing called on him to get a statement, not Ah Chen. What does that mean? That means he’s finally rising from a technician to a formal detective position!

Inside the interrogation room, sat a woman with messy hair and a strong aura. She sat at the table with her arms crossed.

Wang Chao followed Xing Cong Lian through the door. The woman looked him up and down once, and he instantly felt his knees go weak. Yet Ol’ Xing acted like it was nothing and dragged a chair to sit across from the mean woman. Of course, there wasn’t a third chair in the interrogation room, so he could only stand there. Dumbly stand there…

“Madame Wang, I hope you can hand over the original video and strive for leniency.”

“Captain Xing, are you joking? You police kept me here without reason for more than three hours, and now you want me to strive for leniency?” The woman sat with her legs crossed, toes tapping, appearing very cold and arrogant.

“Madame Wang, I think you don’t understand the current situation…” Xing Cong Lian said as he reached out to point at Wang Chao. “This is Officer Wang from the Yong Chuan City information security office. He’s been sent by the higher-ups to investigate the pornographic materials in your possession.”

Wang Chao, being called out by name, rushed to stand straight. He looked at his rigidly sitting boss, and then at the proud woman. He quickly understood the situation. Alright, the boss just brought him to be a front…

“Yes, Madame, we are currently catching standards. Your case is especially representative. According to Article 8 of Chapter 3 of the country’s Internet Video Security Management Regulations, we will impose a 15-day sentence and fine you 10,000 yuan.” Wang Chao began spewing professional nonsense.

“Are you kidding? I’m just here to assist with the investigations. I have never spread any pornographic materials, you can’t arrest me!” Madame Wang still appeared like a calm barrister, but in her tone was a shred of inadvertent panic.

“Of course, the severity of the punishment will be mainly dependent on the number of videos you broadcast and the number of viewers. But first, you must provide the original video, then we can proceed with the judgement.”

“I-I don’t have the original video…”

Xing Cong Lian violently pushed forward, his tone was very cold, “Madame Wang, please do not question the intelligence of the police. The pictures you had were obviously screenshots from a full video. Are you telling me that you don’t have the original video? You think you can absolve yourself of crime like this?”

“But I really don’t have the video. I secretly saw them on Shi Shi’s computer while she was showering.” Madame Wang said this much, then seemed to suddenly remember something. She raised her voice, “Oh yeah, the computer. You can find the video on Shi Shi’s computer.”

“You’re saying, you had time to watch the video and screenshot these photos, yet you didn’t save the whole video?” Xing Cong Lian asked coldly.

“The video isn’t on her computer, it’s on the internet. I couldn’t download it. It was a website in English.”

“What kind of website?” Wang Chao quickly asked.

“It was completely in English. The page was black. It was scary to look at.”

“Do you have a URL?”

“The URL can’t be replicated, it was very long…”

“Did it start with www?”

“I think so… I can’t remember.”

The face of the little officer across from her was pale. The more Madame Wang said, the more guilty she felt.

Wang Chao had a rarely seen seriousness. He grabbed the notebook from Xing Cong Lian’s hands and ripped out a page. He handed it and a pen to the woman, “Draw the website. Draw whatever you can remember.”

Xing Cong Lian didn’t expect this. He only brought Wang Chao to fool someone, but seeing the young man’s state, he seemed to have found some incredible lead.

Madame Wang quickly drew the page. Since it had been a while, the page she drew didn’t have too many details.

Wang Chao took a glance at the paper and bolted out the door.