Chapter 2429

At the entrance of the supermarket, the boss had met Zhang Zhiqiang once and was deeply impressed by Zhang Zhiqiang. Everyone suddenly began to have hope again.

But after all, the supermarket owner doesn't know what Zhang Zhiqiang's purpose is here. Therefore, Gu Chen planned to ask clearly:

"Are you saying that Zhang Zhiqiang came here and bought a pack of Soft China, then walked over there and never came back?"

"There is no sign of him coming back. Anyway, I haven't seen him since I was here. Of course, it's possible that he came back, but I just didn't see him."

The supermarket owner also paused and continued: "After all, I have to look after the store, and I won't always pay attention to the outside."

"Then do you have surveillance here?" Lu Weiwei looked around and asked.

"No." The supermarket owner shook his head and said with a chuckle: "It's just a small supermarket, no need."

"Then you are not afraid that others will take your things and not pay you?" Officer Wang also said casually.

But the supermarket owner smiled and said: "That's not true. The people who come here to buy things are all workers working nearby. They usually don't look up to see each other, and they are all familiar with me."

"So, if people don't need to take things without paying, I won't install cameras at all. Isn't it good that everyone has a kind of trust in each other?"

"You are quite open-minded." Yuan Shasha saw that the supermarket owner was indeed an old acquaintance here and seemed to know the situation here well.

Gu Chen saw that the supermarket owner didn't know much about what was going on, but at least he knew that Zhang Zhiqiang had been here before.

Afterwards, Gu Chen exchanged a few words with the supermarket owner and took everyone outside.

After that, he asked the workers who were playing billiards outside one by one. After no one had seen Zhang Zhiqiang again, Gu Chen took everyone and continued walking up the slope.

Since this is a demolition area, street lights in many places have been removed.

The broken street lights on the roadside are rarely maintained, so they look very dim.

So Gu Chen and the others all turned on their strong flashlights and started walking along the road.

According to the previous supermarket owner, there are dozens of small processing factories here. Since Zhang Zhiqiang has been here, someone must have seen him.

As long as we conduct a thorough investigation and consult everyone here one by one, we can always find the whereabouts of Zhang Zhiqiang.

This is what Gu Chen thought and did.

The first one came to a small factory building on the uphill section. The door was an iron sliding door, which was ajar. There were some dim lights inside and several machines were placed.

Under the dim light, several men were sorting materials.

They also heard the iron door being pushed open, and several young men subconsciously looked back.

They discovered that they were four men and women wearing police uniforms. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at each other.

It seems that they don't know the purpose of Gu Chen and others coming here.

"Hello, have you seen this person?" Gu Chen opened the photo album on his phone and asked straight to the point.

Several young men, who seemed to be working for others, immediately gathered around and took a closer look.

Soon, several people shook their heads in denial.

"Never seen it? Take a closer look." Lu Weiwei was also very anxious and quickly urged her.

"We have never seen this person." A young man with a greasy face said.

"Okay, thank you." Seeing this, Gu Chen could only say thank you, and then started to go to the next house, and the next one.

In this way, everyone took advantage of the darkness and began to inquire from door to door. Unknowingly, they had reached the central area of ​​​​the community.

At this moment, there was a street lamp at a three-way intersection, and three men were standing underneath it, holding cigarettes in their mouths, talking and laughing.

Seeing Gu Chen and others walking over, the three of them immediately put away their smiles and looked at Gu Chen in unison.

"Hello, have you seen this person?" Gu Chen showed his phone.

"He?" A thin young man hummed.

Seeing this, Lu Weiwei quickly asked: "Have you seen it?"

"I think I've seen him before. This man was here yesterday. I saw him here before." The thin man said.

Hearing this, everyone was overjoyed, and Officer Wang quickly asked:

"Then do you know where this person went yesterday?"

"It seems to be going that way." The thin man pointed to one of the roads and explained:

"It felt like a strange face at the time. It felt like he was looking for someone, right?"

"Unfamiliar face?" After hearing the thin man's words, Yuan Shasha quickly asked:

"Are you familiar with everyone here?"

"I can't say that I'm very familiar with them, but I've basically seen them before." The thin man said.

"Then have you noticed any difference in this person's behavior?" Yuan Shasha asked again.

The thin man scratched his cheek, thoughtfully, and then said: "It doesn't seem to be any different."

"Then did he wait and see around, or did he go directly this way?" Gu Chen also wanted to know if this Zhang Zhiqiang was familiar with the situation.

The thin man also replied directly: "Yes, he is walking directly this way. It looks like he has been here before, right? He is the only one walking this way."

"Very good." Seeing that the information provided by the thin man was more important, Gu Chen continued to guide:

"So, did he go all the way to the end of the road and not go to the factories on either side?"

"It seems so." Faced with Gu Chen's words, the thin man pointed at the road ahead and reminded:

"I remember that he kept walking that way. After turning the corner, I didn't see him. He probably wasn't going to the processing plants on both sides, but a little further in."

"Okay, thank you very much." After hearing what the thin man said, Gu Chen glanced at the people around him. Everyone understood and immediately walked towards the alley.

The alleys here are very narrow, giving people a sense of oppression.

But the alleys here extend in all directions, and it seems that you can go to any area of ​​this old community.

When Gu Chen and everyone walked in this place, it was as if they were entering a maze.

Soon, Gu Chen looked back and could no longer see the three people, so he looked to both sides again.

I found that there are many small doors here, and the buildings on both sides are metal processing factories.

The roar of machinery can still be heard inside some factories.

Gu Chen tried to push open the small door on the right and walked directly into the workshop.

At this moment, various noises became louder, and Gu Chen soon discovered a young man in front of the machine's operating table, looking at the paper form in his hand.

He also heard the small door on the side creak and be pushed open. The young man subconsciously looked in the direction of Gu Chen.

"Hello, may I ask, did you see this person last night?" Gu Chen took out his phone and showed it in front of the young man.

The young man also seemed to be serious about his words. He just took a casual glance and quickly recognized the person in the photo:

"I think I saw this person yesterday."

"Have you seen him?" Seeing that another person had seen Zhang Zhiqiang, Lu Weiwei quickly asked: "Then where have you seen him? Where did he go?"

The young man did not reply directly, but pointed in the opposite direction.

Everyone looked back and saw that there was another factory opposite. Both factories had a small safety door on the side facing the passage.

"You mean, this person went to the factory next door last night?" Officer Wang asked him confirmingly.

The young man nodded silently: "Yes, I did see him entering the factory opposite yesterday."

"Besides, it didn't take long for the machine over there to stop working."

"Then what else did you hear?" Yuan Shasha asked quickly.

"What else did you hear?" After thinking for a few seconds, the young man quickly said "Oh":

"Oh, by the way, there seems to be some movement over there. I don't know exactly what it is?"

"Anyway, after a while, there was no movement over there. I also have to rush to work here, so the machine is always on, and I don't know what's going on on the other side?"

"That's all you found?" Gu Chen said.

"Yes, there is a lot of noise here." The young man reminded again.

Indeed, at this moment, everyone is standing inside the workshop, and the roar of the machine is indeed harsh.

And this old machine seems to be on the verge of being eliminated.

In other words, the machines here are very old and look more like equipment found in the second-hand market.

Following the young brother's prompt, everyone came to the side door together. Lu Weiwei also continued to ask the young brother:

"What does it do across the street?"

"Decorative buckles are the kind of decorative buckles worn on shoes and clothes." said the young man.

"Do you know the boss?" Lu Weiwei asked again.

"I know him. He's a fat man. We've been neighbors for several years." The young man said.

Gu Chen quickly asked: "Is work here suspended or what? Why is there no movement?"

"Maybe there is no order?" Seeing Gu Chen ask this question, the young man quickly replied:

"As you know, small processing plants like ours only produce small items, and orders are very few."

"So, it is usually the salesperson or the processing plant's own people who receive the order from the material market and then send the order back."

"So, business can be good or bad. When it's busy, people stay here all night long. When it's not busy, you can hear the quiet footsteps here clearly."

Since the machines in the workshop are still running, a lot of noise is also generated.

The young man also had to speak loudly when explaining to Gu Chen and others.

Gu Chen and others nodded silently, and then came to the small door opposite.

Lu Weiwei went up and knocked three times: "Dudududu, is there anyone there?"

Because it is a small iron door, the knocking sound is particularly loud.

Even the dogs around were startled and barked.

Lu Weiwei did not give up and continued to knock on the iron door: "Dudududu, is there anyone there? Open the door, Dudududu..."

Just like that, the repeated knocking on the door finally caused a light to light up on a nearby low building.

Then, a middle-aged fat man walked out of the room and stood on the balcony to watch.

Seeing this, Gu Chen took a few steps forward and asked, "Is this your workshop?"

"That's right." The fat man standing on the balcony nodded in agreement.

"Then please, can you come down for a moment?" Gu Chen asked again.

"Wait a moment." Seeing that Gu Chen and others were wearing uniforms, the middle-aged fat man immediately walked back into the house.

Not long after, there was a sound of footsteps downstairs.

The fat middle-aged man who was upstairs just now soon appeared in front of Gu Chen and others.

"Hello." Gu Chen greeted the middle-aged fat man and introduced himself:

"We are from Furong Branch. Have you seen this person?"

After Gu Chen finished speaking, he also showed his phone.

When the fat middle-aged man saw the photos on Gu Chen's phone, he was suddenly stunned.

Upon seeing this, Yuan Shasha quickly asked: "Have you seen him?"

"Yes... yes, I have seen him. He came to my factory last night."

"He came to see you?" Officer Wang asked.

"Yes, he came to me and asked me to customize an eagle button for him."

"Eagle's buttons?" Everyone was confused when they heard this.

So, the middle-aged fat man simply dug in his trouser pocket, then used the key to open the side door and let Gu Chen and others in.

Then, the middle-aged fat man turned on the lights, and the dark workshop suddenly became brighter.

The fat middle-aged man walked directly to a display cabinet, opened the drawer of the cabinet, took out a button at random and said:

"It's almost like this kind of button, but he asked that it must be an eagle on top."

"He said he wanted to order 500 pieces."

"Order 500 buttons with eagle patterns?" Lu Weiwei held her chin in thought, thoughtfully:

"What does he do with buttons? Did he tell you?"

"Well, it seems to say, let's make decorations, but where exactly is the decoration? I don't know, I don't know, but he gave me a sample."

"Where is that quality?" Seeing that the middle-aged fat man still had the sample given by Zhang Zhiqiang, Officer Wang became uneasy.

So the middle-aged fat man continued to open another glass drawer, found a delicate eagle totem button, and said:

"That's it. He asked me to open a mold based on the shape and structure of this button, and then produce this button."

"Then why is it 500?" Lu Weiwei was very puzzled.

But the middle-aged fat man smiled and said: "No why? Because we are a small business here, and the starting price is at least 500 pieces."

"So, I estimate that what he wants may not be that much, but he must order 500 pieces, and then I will open the mold for him."

"It seems to make sense." Officer Wang crossed his arms and thought thoughtfully:

"But, he seems to have found you right away. Have you known him before?"

"I know you." He nodded silently. When he saw everyone looking at him with strange eyes, the middle-aged fat man changed his words again:

"Don't get me wrong, this man also visited my factory before."

"Because he heard from others that the things made by my family are more reliable. Of course, it is indeed true. The things made by my family are indeed the best in this area, and the quality of the things is guaranteed."

"and……"

Halfway through the words, the middle-aged fat man also quickly said:

"Besides, this kind of thing may only be done by my family. After all, it is a craft job."

"It seems pretty good. Did he come here for a visit and get to know you in advance? Then the second time he came here, which was last night, he found you directly, right?" Gu Chen said.

"Yes." Faced with Gu Chen's doubts, the middle-aged fat man nodded firmly and continued:

"The fact that he can find it here means that what he wants must be made into high-quality products."

"Because of our family's craftsmanship, there is nothing to say. I also have a few old masters here who are also very good at work. Therefore, he found the right person when he found me."

Gu Chen repeatedly observed the button of the eagle totem, but found nothing special.

I just think this logo is interesting and the workmanship is exquisite. It is not like what an ordinary hardware processing factory can make.

So Gu Chen used his mobile phone to take a picture of the buttons of the eagle totem, and then began to inspect the interior of the factory.

After a rough inspection, Gu Chen asked the middle-aged fat boss: "Then this person ordered something, did he pay a deposit?"

"Yes." Faced with Gu Chen's question, the middle-aged fat boss answered quite readily.

So Gu Chen quickly asked: "Then when did he leave?"

"When did you leave?" After thinking for a moment, the middle-aged fat man also said slowly:

"I remember that he seemed to have stayed there for a long time, because he had to consider the tools and various operational difficulties, so I gave him some knowledge in advance."

"I originally thought that he wanted to lower the price, but it turned out that he told me that my eagle's buttons are of good workmanship. If they are produced according to this quality, he is willing to pay twice the market price."

"Twice the price?" Upon hearing this, Lu Weiwei replied directly:

"That means he wants to make a high imitation of this kind of button?"

"Yes." It felt like the police had guessed the reason, so they quickly explained:

"He seems to want to use all the buttons on a certain high-imitation object."

"Judging from the price he gave, it is indeed twice the market price. So, I know he has his own ideas, but I can make this money."

"I even told him that it was right to come here to find someone. My family's craftsmanship is inherited from our ancestors."

"If my family can't make this kind of buttons, then the entire area won't be able to make them either."

After the words fell, the middle-aged man continued to lead everyone inside.

After a while, everyone came to a small exhibition hall.

After turning on the lights here, the middle-aged fat man directly opened the push-pull device on the wall as if he was letting everyone admire his art.

Soon, all kinds of colorful and exquisite buttons appeared in front of everyone.

Moreover, all decorative buttons look very high-end under the soft light.

"Sorry, this is my own collection." Walking up to the crowd, the middle-aged fat man instantly transformed into a tour guide and began to introduce these buttons in detail.

"These things are all produced here, and there are all kinds of them."

"Moreover, the decorative buckles for our animal totems here only started this year, so they will look a bit unfamiliar."

"However, the technical masters we have here are really good. It is only under their leadership that our factory can make such exquisite buttons."

"Okay." After a few casual glances, Lu Weiwei asked the middle-aged fat man:

"Then this person, after coming to your place to order the buttons, stayed here for a short while and then left?"

"Yes." The fat middle-aged man nodded silently and said involuntarily:

"This is not surprising, because customers who come to my factory to order goods usually give their requirements, pay a deposit, and then turn around and leave."

"For the rest, we will make all the decorative buckles according to the customer's requirements."

After the words fell, the middle-aged fat man led everyone to the corner.

There are many plastic baskets here, arranged neatly.

Inside the plastic basket, there are some buttons packed in thickened transparent bags.

There are all kinds. Some boxes contain finished products with good electroplating colors, while others are semi-finished products waiting to be sent to the electroplating factory.

Gu Chen took a casual look and found that there were surprisingly many types of metal buckles here.

And this is what the middle-aged fat man is proud of.

Seeing Gu Chen and others standing there thinking about the problem, the fat middle-aged man also smiled and said:

"This person is just an ordinary customer here. How could you think of looking for him?"

"Of course there is a reason to look for him." Officer Wang didn't want to be too clear, so he continued to ask:

"Let me ask you, did he say anything to you before he left?"

"No?" After thinking for a few seconds, the middle-aged fat man continued:

"He rarely talks when he comes to my place. Of course, this is generally the case for customers who come to my place."

"The main reason is that I have a stern face, so no one talks to me much when they see me."

"Okay, got it." After a pause, Officer Wang said again:

"Besides that, did he tell you anything else? For example, didn't he tell you about the purpose of buttons from the beginning to the end?"

"No." Faced with Officer Wang's questioning, the middle-aged fat man continued to shake his head.

Later, after repeated communication with the middle-aged fat man, everyone decided to take the button with the eagle totem back for testing.

Since there is only one sample here, fortunately, the middle-aged fat man has already scanned the data into the computer in advance.

Taking away the samples was not a big deal to him.

Walking to the door, at this moment, a cool breeze blew, making everyone shiver.

Lu Weiwei also questioned: "Junior brother Gu, logically speaking, this Zhang Zhiqiang is not in the metal buckle business. He mainly contracts projects."

"But..." After hesitating for a few seconds, Lu Weiwei said again:

"But why did he come here? He was so mysterious and ordered 500 buttons?"

"Maybe it has another use?" Gu Chen crossed his arms and said thoughtfully:

"If I guess correctly, the metal buckle of this eagle totem must have other meanings."

"We can go back and study it carefully. After all, this metal buckle."

Having said this, Gu Chen weighed the metal buckle wrapped in a transparent evidence bag in his hands and couldn't help but say:

"Looking at the condition of this eagle metal buckle, I feel that it should be a product with a sense of age, and it should have a history of several decades."

"I think so too." As soon as Gu Chen finished speaking, Yuan Shasha on the side also echoed:

"This button looks very high-end. I seem to have seen it somewhere before."

"Have you seen it?" After hearing Yuan Shasha's words, everyone also looked at Yuan Shasha.

Lu Weiwei quickly asked her: "Xiao Yuan, you are quite knowledgeable about luxury goods. Why don't you take a look and see if this thing is worth anything?"

"It's worth a little bit." After holding the button in her hand and observing it for a few seconds, Yuan Shasha frowned slightly and thought about the explanation:

"I only remember that I saw it once somewhere, just once."

"I remember, I seemed to be passing by there, and I noticed that the eagle pattern on this button was very beautiful, so I took a second look."

"But now I can't seem to remember where I saw it? Because it's been a few years."

"But one thing is for sure, this kind of thing is definitely worth a lot of money."

"Is it a treasure? An antique?" Officer Wang said jokingly.

But Yuan Shasha's eyes lit up and she quickly said: "Eh? Brother Wang, don't tell me, I know that there is a rather unique decoration shop in Jiangnan City, which sells many old objects."

"It's not like other antique shops that sell calligraphy, paintings, porcelain, etc. They don't sell anything at his place."

"But the jewelry he wears over there should be considered antiques."

"I even wonder if they are selling antiques? What does it mean to sell this kind of buttons to the public?"

"Could it be that it's a personal collecting hobby?"

"Oops." Listening to Yuan Shasha's explanation, Officer Wang became more and more confused and couldn't help but say:

"Why does this feel a bit complicated? If it is an antique sold in a store, who is the audience?"

"I don't know." Yuan Shasha nodded silently.

When Gu Chen saw this, he quickly asked: "Xiao Yuan, think about it carefully and take a look at this jewelry."

Having said this, Gu Chen held the metal buckle of the eagle totem in his hand and reminded him:

"Look at this ornament. Where is it suitable to hang? Where should it be hung? Is it on clothes? Or somewhere?"

"No, it's definitely not clothes." At this moment, Yuan Shasha was constantly guided by Gu Chen to explore the deepest part of her memory.

But after a moment, Yuan Shasha's eyes lit up, and she said with a smile: "I know, this is not an accessory that is fastened to clothes and shoes, nor is it an accessory that is fastened to bags, but... but... …”

"But what?" Everyone echoed in unison.

And Yuan Shasha also suddenly realized: "This is a collection item."

"It's for collection. There are many types of buttons like this. Yes, I seem to remember that this button and other buttons form a set."

"As for what's the use of collecting this? I don't know about this? But I know where the store is?"

"Do you know the origin of this metal buckle?" Yuan Shasha seemed to remember something? Officer Wang also urged:

"Then what are you waiting for? Xiao Yuan, hurry up, take us there quickly."

"Then let's leave quickly." Yuan Shasha looked at Gu Chen and asked for instructions.

Gu Chen nodded silently, and everyone immediately started walking quickly towards the road they came from.

When everyone jogged all the way and came to the vehicle on the side of the road, everyone quickly got in the car.

Afterwards, under Yuan Shasha's guidance, everyone drove to their destination.

…

…

After 45 minutes of driving, Gu Chen parked the vehicle next to a narrow street.

Yuan Shasha pointed to the alley and said, "I remember that I walked all the way up from here, and when I came to the door of a big stone, there was a shop next to it, which specialized in selling this kind of buttons."

"This kind of button seems to mean something."

"Big stone?" After hearing Yuan Shasha's words, Lu Weiwei was thoughtful, but she soon remembered what? He quickly said:

"Oh, by the way, Xiao Yuan, is the big stone you mentioned a wind stone?"

"That's right." Seeing that Lu Weiwei seemed to understand something, Yuan Shasha quickly replied:

"This stone has always been on a large platform. It is exposed to wind and rain. It looks quite dangerous. It may roll down the hillside at any time."

"But in fact, this big rock never rolled down."

"Moreover, as the wind blows, the stone will sway from side to side. It looks very dangerous and makes strange sounds. But don't be afraid, it won't fall."

"Later, the nearby residents were also very curious, so they protected the stone and built many protection facilities next to it, turning it into a small tourist attraction."

"Oh, when you said that, I also remembered it." Also listening to Yuan Shasha's various explanations, Officer Wang also suddenly understood and said quickly:

"I heard someone talk about it before. There is a huge wind stone in a small alley in Jiangnan City."

"So this is where you were talking about? I found it."

"Yes." Yuan Shasha nodded silently and said truthfully: "Although, it feels like it is just a gimmick for publicity, but many people believe it and will pray in front of the wind stone, and that kind of button, it seems It’s just made for this.”

"Buttons?" Everyone thought of the metal buckle with an eagle pattern, and suddenly felt a strong desire to explore.

Gu Chen also quickly reminded: "Then let's go up and take a look."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Lu Weiwei couldn't wait any longer, so she quickly walked up the alley in two steps.

It didn't take long before everyone came to a gentle area.

But if you want to see Fengshi, you still need to continue climbing.

There is even a steeper slope here.

But when everyone climbed to the end of the alley, they found that the road ahead was surrounded by a wall, leaving only a large iron gate in front of them.

One side of the big iron gate seems to be the pedestrian entrance.

But looking at the situation, it seems that there is a fee to enter.

Officer Wang looked confused: "Is there still a fee to enter this place?"

"It seems so, but, Senior Brother Wang, look at the back." Yuan Shasha pointed at Officer Wang's back row and reminded him.

Officer Wang turned around and was immediately attracted by the decoration of the shop behind him.

The store area here is not large, but the decoration is very distinctive, and it looks like a small folk museum.

There seemed to be no customers inside, it was just so empty, the door was ajar, and there seemed to be no boss.

…