Sweeping Mouse Ridge – Chapter Five : 5

Just as Ma Xiaozhong and Guo Xiaofen knocked on Teacher Zhu’s door, Huyan Yun and Li Ziyong arrived at the Yanzhao Hotel, intending to find Sun Jinghua, the manager of the conference department, to inquire about her reasons for helping Zhou Liping find a job.

The Yanzhao Hotel was converted from a Soviet style building from the 1950s. Previously, it only hosted official meetings and events. Later, to revitalize the economy, it opened its doors to wealthy private or foreign-invested enterprises. Meetings held here and printed in brochures often appeared more “authoritative,” making it particularly popular with health product vendors and pension insurance salespeople… Entering the courtyard gate and walking along the tree-lined path strewn with fallen leaves, one could see the towering spires, gray building facade, and large, old-fashioned windows from afar. Late autumn was the most arduous time for the ivy’s colors, a riot of green turning to deep green, red to deep red, and a hazy gray veil covering the half-green, half-red hues. Upon closer inspection, even the indistinct brick carvings on the balcony were adorned with tattered spiderwebs. Everything seemed to have been cast into cement—rigid, conservative, stubborn, and tinged with a touch of self-mockery. Walking past the tall pillars at the entrance felt like stepping into another time.

Unfortunately, a staff member from the exhibition department bluntly told Huyan Yun and Li Ziyong, “Manager Sun isn’t here today; she’s out on business.”

Disappointment was etched on their faces, a sense of having made a wasted trip. The staff member asked, “What do you need her for? Do you need to reserve the exhibition hall?” He then retrieved a registration book from the light blue drawer on his desk. Li Ziyong quickly said, “We’re not here to book the convention hall.”

The staff member’s face darkened: “Then why are you looking for Manager Sun?”

Li Ziyong tugged at Huyan Yun’s sleeve, and the two quickly slipped out of the convention department’s office.

“Why do we need to register in a notebook to book convention hall reservations?” Huyan Yun muttered. “Even elementary school students book their tutoring classes online…”

They had no choice but to change their plans and went to Block E of the Hefeng Hotel to investigate the Love Charity Foundation’s local office. On the way, Li Ziyong, while driving, repeatedly instructed Huyan Yun, “I’m not exactly close to the people there. After all, they are our ‘superior unit,’ and they all think they’ve given us our jobs. They are always putting on airs. Don’t say anything careless when you get there; it will be troublesome if you give yourself away.”

The Hefeng Hotel and the Yanzhao Hotel were completely different. If the latter was like a disgruntled old man, the former was a mature woman hidden away, exuding charm. Although the high walls outside were made of tiger skin stone, a specialty of Xishan, giving it an imposing appearance, once you step inside, besides the hotel’s magnificent main building, nestled among lotus ponds, artificial rocks, and blooming flowers, were rows of small villas, each with a different architectural style and no more than four or five stories high. It was as if the villas of Qingdao’s Badaguan area had been enlarged and heightened, then scattered throughout the various landscaped courtyards.

In comparison, Block E was the most hidden. First, one had to pass through a white moon gate and then walk along a winding, vine-draped corridor before finally reaching a small white building. The security guard at the entrance nodded to Li Ziyong and let them in. A thick red carpet stretched from the entrance to the depths of the corridor, making no sound as one walked. The building itself was quiet, as if the solid walls, dark brown wooden doors, and dim wall lamps had disrupted its time zone.

At the elevator, they bumped into a man with a large head and a thin build, resembling a bean sprout. To Huyan Yun’s amusement, Li Ziyong introduced him. “This is Mr. Dou, the deputy director of our office, mainly responsible for internal affairs—specifically, all matters within this building.” Such a fitting surname and physique were indeed rare.

Director Dou looked unwell, his face etched with worry, constantly pulling crumpled tissues from his pocket to blow his nose. “Zhiyong, what brings you here today?”

“It’s all because of Zhou Liping!” Following prearranged instructions, Li Ziyong said with a smile, “He committed such a serious crime in Sweeping Mouse Ridge. The police are practically coming to our Mingyi Company eight times a day, giving General Manager Zheng a major headache. He’s terrified of letting something slip and getting caught by the police, so he sent me and this new guy, Little Zhang,” pointing to Huyan Yun, “to ask if the police have come here to investigate any new issues these past few days and what our answers have been, so we can coordinate our stories.”

Director Dou thought for a moment, “In the first few days after the case came out, the police came quite frequently. Old Zhai handled everything, and I didn’t really manage it. Later, Vice President Xing spoke to his superiors, so the police have been coming less these past few days…”

“What did he say?” Li Ziyong asked.

“What else is there to say?” Director Dou blew his nose. “Saying hello is just saying hello; it isn’t a big deal.”

“Vice President Xing’s really something,” Li Ziyong laughed. “By the way, has Chairwoman Tao returned?”

“No, she should still be in France. I haven’t been able to contact her…” Director Dou suddenly remembered something. “Zhiyong, have you seen Zhang Chunyang these past few days?”

Li Ziyong shook his head: “Didn’t see him—didn’t Chairwoman Tao take him to France?”

“No, he doesn’t deserve it!!”

“What’s wrong? Did he and Chairman Tao have another fight?”

“He wouldn’t dare!” Director Dou glared, perhaps from the force of his glare, his nose stinging. He pulled out a tissue and blew it all out. “That kid’s a gigolo. The chairwoman treats him like a toy, and he really thinks he’s something special. I bet after the chairwoman gets married, he will be wearing a burlap sack and busking on the subway.” Realizing he’d said some inappropriate things in his anger, he quickly added, “I have something to attend to. I need to go out for a bit. Old Master Tao’s coming today; Vice Chairman Xing and President Cui are at the airport to pick him up. I need to arrange his accommodations and such.” With that, he hurried away.

“So Tao Bing’s here?” Li Ziyong muttered to himself. Seeing that Huyan Yun didn’t seem familiar with the interpersonal relationships, he whispered, “Before retiring, Tao Bing was the director of the Social Welfare and Charity Promotion Department of the Civil Affairs Bureau of Province A. He founded the ‘Love Charity Foundation,’ and the chairwoman, Tao Zhouyao, is his daughter. Tao Zhouyao’s stranded in France, and her father rushed to this city. It seems both father and daughter understand this is serious.”

“Didn’t Director Dou say he ‘made arrangements’ with the higher-ups? What are they worried about?”

Li Ziyong smiled knowingly. “Come on, let’s go up to the third floor and find Old Liao. That guy can still say something serious.”

Stepping into the elevator, Huyan Yun asked, “Who’s Zhang Chunyang?”

“He used to be a fitness instructor, then he got together with Tao Zhouyao. That guy’s good-looking, but he’s cunning, ruthless, and full of tricks and bad ideas. He’s quite close to Xing Qisheng.”

The elevator stopped on the third floor, opened, and they went together to Old Liao’s office. Old Liao was also the deputy director of the office, a tall man, and a former soldier who transferred to the foundation after his demobilization. When Li Ziyong opened the office door, he was playing solitaire on the computer. He was very happy to see Li Ziyong and invited him and Huyan Yun to sit down, offering them water and cigarettes.

Li Ziyong repeated the purpose of his visit as with Director Dou, and Old Liao said with a smile, “The police have indeed come less these past few days. We are a special agency, with very strong connections, so we aren’t afraid of anything!”

“But, after all, both the victim and the perpetrator are from units under our foundation,” Huyan Yun said, looking at him. “The pressure from public opinion is still quite significant, which is why General Manager Zheng’s so worried.”

Old Liao laughed again: “General Manager Zheng’s company is there to help us deal with public opinion. Besides, public opinion’s just a blank bomb; it sounds loud, but it’s useless—your General Manager Zheng’s just too timid!”

“Speaking of which—” Li Ziyong adopted a gossipy expression, leaning forward, “I heard that the night Sweeping Mouse Ridge had the incident, you were on night shift in this building. What exactly did you see?”

“What night shift? Just sitting in this office, scrolling through WeChat, using the computer. Nobody knew something like this would happen; nobody noticed anything… But, around eight o’clock, I went to the convenience store in the main building to buy beer and saw Xing Qisheng sitting in the lobby bar eating something.”

Before Huyan Yun could speak, Li Ziyong asked first, “Just him alone? What did he eat?”

“Just him alone. He was too far away, and he was sitting quite far in, so I didn’t see what he was eating.”

“Did you see Zhou Liping that day?”

“No.”

“The brothers in the police force told me that Chairwoman Tao suddenly booked a ticket to Paris around 9:30 that night. Was she staying in this building that day?”

Old Liao nodded, then shook his head: “I’m not entirely sure. Generally speaking, Chairwoman Tao would definitely have gone back to her private suite on the fourth floor at night, but it’s possible she went to another hotel. You’d have to ask Little Hu, the housekeeper who cleans Chairwoman Tao’s room, for specifics.”

“I see security guards on duty downstairs,” said Huyan Yun. “Besides you on duty at night, aren’t there any security guards at the building entrance?”

Old Liao narrowed his eyes: “Brother, aren’t you being a little too concerned?”

Li Ziyong quickly smoothed things over: “Little Zhang’s new to our company and doesn’t know much. He’s just trying to be helpful, wanting to understand the situation fully. Things aren’t looking good right now; some people might want to try and shift the blame to Chairwoman Tao. So we need to find out what Chairwoman Tao was up to on the night of the incident so that if any dirt gets smeared on her, we can help clear her name.”

Old Liao paused, glanced at the tightly closed door, and lowered his voice, saying, “Xing Qixian, Cui Wentao, and Old Dou?”

“You know what I mean,” Li Ziyong replied vaguely.

“Damn it, I knew they weren’t good people!” Old Liao cursed angrily. “Ever since Old Tao retired, Xing Qixian has been trying to squeeze Zhuoyao out of the foundation and become the chairman himself. Now that Elder Brother’s dead, he, as the victim’s family member, can demand exorbitant prices. I was wondering why Old Zhai has been looking so gloomy lately; their first step might be to get Old Dou to replace Old Zhai as the office director.”

Huyan Yun was completely unaware of the personnel disputes involved and could only remain silent. Old Liao cursed a few more times before saying, “Our building has a back door that leads directly to the stairwell, and it’s also very close to the elevator. However, only Chairwoman Tao, myself, Old Zhai, and Old Dou have the key. Also, since the first to third floors are office spaces and the fourth floor is Chairwoman Tao’s living quarters, there’s a security door at the top of the stairwell. The elevator can only go up to the third floor; you need a card to go up to the fourth floor. The key and card for that security door are also only held by Chairwoman Tao, myself, Old Zhai, and Old Dou.”

“Director Liao,” Huyan Yun suddenly said, “Could you take us to the fourth floor to see Chairwoman Tao’s room?”

Old Liao waved his hands repeatedly, “No, no, if Chairwoman Tao finds out—”

Huyan Yun stared into his eyes: “Didn’t you ever consider that maybe Old Dou already took people up there without your knowledge and might even have left something there to prove that Chairwoman Tao and the Sweeping Mouse Ridge Case are related…?”

Old Liao stared blankly for a long time, then suddenly stood up and said, “Come on, I will take you up to the fourth floor!”

Despite being somewhat prepared, the sheer luxury of the fourth floor’s decor still took Huyan Yun by surprise. Leaving aside the hallway adorned with rose-embossed wallpaper that resembled a fairyland, the ivory-white European-style bookcases that formed an integrated study, and the private cinema furnished with ebony and leather sofas, the walk-in closet alone was larger than Huyan Yun’s living room. In the adjacent shoe room, various designer women’s shoes were neatly stacked to the ceiling on open oak shoe cabinets, gleaming and dazzling. The fabric shoe-fitting stool in the center, with its four black and silver legs resembling four legs wrapped in black stockings, was incredibly graceful and sexy.

Huyan Yun asked Old Liao, “Where’s Chairwoman Tao’s bedroom?”

Old Liao led him and Li Ziyong to a suite at the end of the hallway. This suite had only one door leading to the hallway. Inside was a living room furnished with a sofa, television, desk, etc., and then a bedroom. A dark brown sliding door separated it from the living room. The door was made of solid wood and was quite thick, presumably providing excellent sound insulation. Huyan Yun noticed that the bedroom window was also double glazed… Judging from the pink wallpaper, the full-length mirror on the ceiling, and several provocative paintings of nude women, the soundproofing clearly wasn’t for focused studying.

Just then, Old Liao, who had just made a phone call, stepped forward and said, “I will have Little Hu from the housekeeping department come over right away. I really need her to check if anything has changed in this room since Zhuoyao went to Paris.”

Huyan Yun leaned out the window and looked down at the backyard of Block E. This backyard connected to the back door of the building; it was very quiet, with a few cars parked there. He looked away and walked around the suite inside and out: all the trash cans were empty, the toothbrushes and cups in the bathroom were neatly arranged, the camel-colored carpet had clearly been vacuumed, not a single lint was left, the newly made sheets gave off a faint lavender scent, the TV remote lay straight on the coffee table, and he even checked the notepad on the desk; it seemed to be just for decoration, the snow-white paper had no writing on it.

“Little Zhang,” Old Liao frowned and asked, “You aren’t a policeman, are you?”

Huyan Yun said confidently, “Don’t worry, I’m one hundred percent not!”

Li Ziyong nudged Old Liao with his elbow: “What, looking down on me? If we really need to investigate a crime scene, do I, a former policeman, need to find someone to stand in for me?”

Old Liao chuckled and said, “I just thought Little Zhang seemed pretty professional!”

“To be honest, Little Zhang did attend police academy, studying forensic examination. So, with just a glance, he can tell if there’s anything in this house that could be detrimental to Chairwoman Tao,” Li Ziyong said.

Old Liao nodded, seemingly understanding.

A woman with a slightly long face, wearing a light gray cleaning uniform, walked in. Old Liao introduced her: “This is Little Hu, responsible for cleaning the entire fourth floor where Chairwoman Tao lives. You can ask her if you have any questions.”

Huyan Yun asked Old Liao, “Didn’t you say that only four people have the key to the security door and the elevator card at the fourth-floor entrance? How does Little Hu get up here?”

“Oh, you’re quite perceptive.” Old Liao slapped the back of his head. “I forgot to tell you, the housekeeping department has another set of keys and cards, which Little Hu carries with her for cleaning purposes.”

Huyan Yun nodded and turned to Little Hu, asking, “When was the last time you cleaned this suite?”

Xiao Hu thought for a moment and said, “The morning after Chairwoman Tao left the country.”

“Which areas did you clean?”

“The same old areas.”

“Could you be more specific?”

“Just this room, what else could it be…”

Huyan Yun noticed that this young woman, perhaps arrogant because she was Tao Zhouyao’s “personal cleaner,” was acting somewhat haughty. He was pondering what to do when Li Ziyong, standing beside him, unbuttoned his suit jacket, his usually simple-minded face suddenly turning stern: “Lady, I know you’re here cleaning because you’re probably a distant relative of Chairwoman Tao, but let me tell you frankly, someone wants to stab Chairwoman Tao in the back while she’s abroad! We’re asking you to take the fall for her. Don’t be ungrateful. Think about it; if she falls, forget about the fourth floor of Block E, you won’t even be able to get into the building!”

Little Hu immediately looked panicked: “I… ask whatever you want.”

“Very good.” Huyan Yun asked her, “What did this room look like when you came to clean it the morning after Chairwoman Tao left the country—in other words, did Chairwoman Tao stay there that night?”

“Yes.”

“Did she stay alone or with someone?”

“With someone…”

“But Chairwoman Tao boarded a plane at 1 a.m. the next day to leave the country…” Huyan Yun said, “When you were cleaning, do you remember what the toothpaste and toothbrush looked like?”

“Toothpaste and toothbrush?” Little Hu didn’t quite understand what he meant.

“Did she use it that night?”

Little Hu thought for a moment: “I don’t think so.”

“Can you confirm?”

Little Hu pondered again, then nodded: “Definitely not.”

“Okay,” said Huyan Yun, “think again. When you were cleaning the dressing room and shoe room, did you notice if they were messier than usual?”

“They were a bit messy,” Little Hu said. “Sister Tao likes things clean. Before, when she picked out clothes and shoes, she would put away the ones she didn’t wear, but that night she seemed to have left them in a mess and then didn’t bother with them anymore…”

Huyan Yun pondered for a moment, then stared into Little Hu’s eyes and asked, “Little Hu, I have another question for you—who was the person who came here with Chairwoman Tao that night?”

Perhaps feeling the question was too “sensitive,” Old Liao tried to stop him, but was stopped by Li Ziyong.

Little Hu shook her head: “I wouldn’t know…”

“How could that be? With Chairwoman Tao’s status and position, she wouldn’t just pick someone off the street and bring them here, would she?” Huyan Yun asked.

“I really don’t know,” Little Hu said. “Zhang Chunyang used to come all the time, but lately, Sister Tao is preparing to marry Jiang Lei, so she occasionally brings him here. Zhang Chunyang has been coming less often. And in the past, when I cleaned the house in the morning, I would always find those…condoms wrapped in toilet paper in the trash can in the bedroom or bathroom. But that morning when I cleaned, I only saw that the bed was particularly messy, but I didn’t see any used condoms…”

“Could it be that the person who slept with Chairwoman Tao that night was a woman?” Li Ziyong asked, blinking his small eyes.

“No way!” Old Liao immediately said, “I haven’t heard that Zhuoyao has developed this new habit. Maybe she just flushed it down the toilet after she’s done.”

“Who’s Jiang Lei?” Huyan Yun asked.

Old Liao mentioned a state-owned enterprise: “Jiang Lei is the chairman’s only son. He used to live abroad but returned to China six months ago and started dating Zhuoyao. They are now planning to get married… Little Zhang, you’re practically interrogating me! Any questions? If not, let’s get out of here.”

They walked to the door together, and just as they were about to leave, Huyan Yun suddenly stopped, looked back at the bedroom, and then turned back, searching the walls for something. He searched for a long time without success, but he wasn’t giving up and kept looking. Li Ziyong couldn’t help but ask, “What are you looking for?” He didn’t answer, but his brows furrowed more and more tightly. Suddenly, he raised his right hand and tapped his head repeatedly with his index and middle fingers, as if he had found something. He walked out of the bedroom, stood in the living room, and slammed the dark brown solid wood sliding door shut.

The light in the living room dimmed abruptly. Huyan Yun carried a stool, placed it in front of the sliding door, jumped on it, and searched carefully—

Found it!

Like the face of a fluorescent watch, indistinct in half light, but its true nature revealed when all light was completely blocked!

Huyan Yun smiled slightly as he gazed at the tiny, fingertip-sized opening that only became visible above the two overlapping doorframes when the sliding door was fully open.