Sweeping Mouse Ridge – Chapter Five : 6

“That hole, was it dug by someone to spy on us?” After walking out of Block E with Huyan Yun, Li Ziyong couldn’t help but ask.

“More or less, but not really,” Huyan Yun said vaguely.

Li Ziyong knew that people like them always spoke in such a vague way until they completely understood the truth: “Where do we go now?”

“Didn’t Old Liao say he saw Xing Qisheng eating in the lobby bar of the main building that night? Let’s investigate and hopefully get the video footage from that night.”

“Okay, leave it to me,” Li Ziyong said.

The Hefeng Hotel’s properties were mainly divided into two types: one was small buildings or villas like Block E, mainly for long-term guests; the other was guest rooms for short-term individual guests, concentrated in the main building. When Huyan Yun and Li Ziyong entered the main building, it was around three or four in the afternoon. The lobby was nearly empty, and soft, mellow music filled the air, its gentle buoyancy like the surface of a swimming pool, making one feel drowsy.

Li Ziyong walked to the bar located on the west side of the lobby, went straight to the manager, and gestured with his chin. “Are you in charge?”

The manager, seeing his demeanor and manner, assumed he was from the government and quickly said, “Hello, how can I help you?”

Li Ziyong gave a timeframe, specifically the night of the Sweeping Mouse Ridge Case: “Someone reported that a Rolex worth over 500,000 yuan was stolen while dining here around 8 p.m. that night. Show me the security footage.”

The manager immediately led them to the security department on the basement floor of the main building and retrieved the security footage from the lobby bar that night. It showed that there were quite a few customers dining at the bar that day, with waiters carrying trays constantly moving around.

“Which one’s Xing Qisheng?” Huyan Yun asked Li Ziyong in a low voice.

Li Ziyong looked around and pointed to a seat towards the back. A close-up of the video showed a short, stout man with a greasy face and severe balding hair stuffing a large piece of smoked salmon into his mouth with a fork. He was watching the lobby warily, seemingly trying to avoid being noticed, and kept checking his phone, as if waiting for a call. The video was fast-forwarded; he was the only one eating there the entire time. Around 8:10 p.m., he received a call. Judging from the speed of his answer, it was the call he had been waiting for. After hanging up, he quickly paid his bill and left.

The bar manager couldn’t help but say, “Is this the person you’re looking for too?”

“Mind your own business!” Li Ziyong glared at him, then whispered in Huyan Yun’s ear, “The police must have reviewed this video after the incident.” The implication was that they hadn’t found anything of value.

Huyan Yun ignored him and said to the manager, “You should still have this person’s receipt from that night in your cash register, right? Could you show it to me?”

The manager had no choice but to take them back to the lobby bar and retrieve Xing Qisheng’s receipt from that night. It showed he had a bowl of cream of mushroom soup, an Australian veal salad, pan-fried foie gras, and smoked salmon, with truffle risotto as his main course—the same conclusion as the forensic pathologist’s analysis of his stomach contents after the autopsy.

“That guy’s a real idiot,” Li Ziyong muttered, noticing Huyan Yun’s serious expression. He asked, “What did you find?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? Why does your face look like it’s made of lead?”

Huyan Yun sighed. “It’s precisely because there’s nothing that it’s so strange.”

He turned and walked outside, with Li Ziyong following, completely bewildered.

Just as they were about to exit the Lotus Breeze Hotel after passing the white marble lotus sculptures directly in front of the main building, they suddenly heard someone call Li Ziyong’s name. Looking closer, they saw it was Chai Yongjin.

Li Ziyong and Chai Yongjin hadn’t seen each other for a while. Li Ziyong went up to shake hands and exchange pleasantries, but Chai Yongjin kept glancing at Huyan Yun out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, he asked, “Yongzi, what are you doing here?”

Li Ziyong chuckled, “Mingyi Public Relations Company is affiliated with Love Charity Foundation, right? After the Sweeping Mouse Ridge case, our leaders are overwhelmed and have been sending me here every few days to report to the higher-ups—”

Chai Yongjin interrupted him, “Report on the situation? What are you doing bringing Huyan Yun with you when you report on the situation?”

Li Ziyong was somewhat embarrassed, but Chai Yongjin’s tone became increasingly blunt: “Yongzi, criminal investigations can’t be handled by non-police personnel. You know that rule, right? You’re an old Elder Brother and a former detective, aren’t you? If you want to understand this case, I can tell you about it without violating organizational discipline. But if anyone else wants to play detective games, they’d better go to an escape room!”

Then he turned to Huyan Yun and said coldly, “Mr. Huyan, if it weren’t for your friend protecting Zhou Liping ten years ago, there wouldn’t be so many corpses lying in Sweeping Mouse Ridge now. To put it bluntly, if Zhou Liping’s hands were stained with blood, Lin Xiangming would be the one handing him the knife. If I were you, I’d obediently go home and reflect on my poor choice of friends and stop making a fool of myself in public. What era are we living in? Even novelists don’t mention the ‘Four Great Mystery Clubs’ anymore. What kind of Detective Conan are you pretending to be?!”

Li Ziyong’s face turned a deep purplish red, like a liver, but Huyan Yun remained unperturbed. Looking at Chai Yongjin, he slowly said, “Old Chai, I don’t deny that criminal investigation work needs specialization and elite status. However, with the widespread adoption of the internet and the development of intelligent technology, humanity will inevitably enter an era of more convenient information access, blurred professional boundaries, and greater diversity. In such an era, social jobs are becoming increasingly specialized, and criminal motives are becoming more complex. Police officers will need broader and more diverse support during investigations. Some of this support comes from professionals in various industries, and some, like myself, can offer unique perspectives and ways of thinking, helping police officers to promptly identify blind spots in the investigation process and correct misunderstandings in criminal investigations. In recent years, higher level leaders have repeatedly required that police work must mobilize, organize, and rely on the masses. Why can’t you also understand accepting and embracing clues and suggestions from non-official personnel as a way of practicing the mass line?”

Chai Yongjin was speechless after hearing this. He chuckled awkwardly and said, “Well said, Mr. Huyan! You’ve left me speechless! Now I have a headache to deal with, and I need your unique perspective and some special way of thinking. Could you, as a helpful bystander, lend me this favor?”

Li Ziyong quickly winked at Huyan Yun, signaling him not to respond to Chai Yongjin. Huyan Yun pretended not to notice and nodded.

“Alright, I will get straight to the point,” said Chai Yongjin. “You’ve probably heard that on the day of the incident, Zhou Liping was driving a black Spire in a Sweeping Mouse Ridge. According to him, he got out halfway up the mountain and let Xing Qisheng drive up alone… Whether he’s telling the truth or not, the police have thoroughly searched the Sweeping Mouse Ridge area and all the places Zhou Liping might have hidden the car, but they haven’t found it. This car is crucial evidence; it might still contain some criminal information. So I’m giving you one day to find it for me, okay? One day. If you can find the car, I will report to my superiors and apply to appoint you as an assistant consultant for the Sweeping Mouse Ridge Case. What do you think?”

Li Ziyong was getting impatient: “Old Chai, so many of you have searched for so many days and still haven’t found that car. Now you want Huyan to find it in a day? Isn’t that making things difficult for him—”

“Don’t worry about this!” Chai Yongjin rudely interrupted him. “Mr. Huyan wants to help us. If I don’t quickly hand him some credit, what will he have to brag about? So, Mr. Huyan, do you agree or disagree? Give me a straight answer!”

Huyan Yun was completely confused: “Isn’t that car in your hands? Why would I help you find it?”

“Nonsense!” Chai Yongjin said impatiently, “If it were in our hands, would I let you find nothing?!”

Huyan Yun was a little anxious, raising his hand and making a gesture as if piecing together a toy train track. “Um, maybe we aren’t on the same page… What I mean is, I’ve looked at Sweeping Mouse Ridge’s map. The alley leading to that nursery is very narrow. On the night of the incident, before the police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances arrived at Sweeping Mouse Ridge, the traffic police must have towed away illegally parked cars in the alley to make it easier for them to park…”

As if struck by lightning, Chai Yongjin’s face froze.

Li Ziyong slapped his hand hard: “Old Chai, hurry up and call the traffic police to check if there are any unclaimed illegally parked cars in the past few days.”

Chai Yongjin’s face twitched, a look of impending tears appearing on his face: “This, this…”

Huyan Yun pulled Li Ziyong away, leaving him with the last sentence, “Old Chai, quickly have someone seal off Block E, and retrieve and save the surveillance video from the night of the incident. There might be very important findings in it.”

Even after they had walked a long, long way, Chai Yongjin remained standing there, dumbfounded.