In a spacious conference room, several police officers were quickly adjusting audio and video recording equipment.
Niu Daixing sat on the sofa, appearing calm, but his tightly clenched fists indicated his nervousness.
Gao Xiaofei sat in a chair, looking worried. He had interrogated Monk all night, but the latter refused to speak. Without any reason to detain him, they had to let him go.
Mei Qian, who had been pulled in by Gao Xiaofei, looked excited.
Yan Qing entered with several police officers and sat on the sofa to Niu Daixing's left.
"Xiao Niu, I need to inform you that falsely accusing someone is also against the law." Yan Qing spoke, then, without waiting for Niu Daixing's reply, pointed to the people beside him and said, "These are leaders from the provincial department assisting us in the investigation. Due to confidentiality, they have been investigating independently. Their analysis of the case differs from ours. Alright, Gao Xiaofei, you may proceed."
"Wait a minute!" A police officer sitting next to Yan Qing suddenly interrupted the inquiry.
"I heard that Comrade Gao Xiaofei is a good friend of the suspect Ping'an?" the officer asked sternly.
"Yes! No, when did Ping'an become a suspect?" Gao Xiaofei asked indignantly.
"This officer is a leader from the provincial disciplinary inspection department, his name is Huang Sha," Yan Qing coughed lightly and said. Huang, the team leader, had identified Ping'an as a suspect during his independent investigation.
"What? Impossible?" Gao Xiaofei and Mei Qian both exclaimed in disbelief.
"We have indeed gathered some clues. And now, hasn't this comrade also come to report?" Huang Sha said.
"How did your investigation proceed? Why don't we know anything?" Mei Qian stood up and asked.
"You are with that Ping'an every day. Due to discipline, we couldn't notify you. Alright, let's first hear the report from this comrade," Huang Sha said.
Niu Daixing, who had been waiting for a long time, seemed to sense that Huang Sha was leaning towards him. He boldly said, "My father was going to report, not the police at all! He was going to report Chen Nairong from the beginning!"
"No, we have a recording of your father's call to Ping'an. He clearly said 'police'!" Gao Xiaofei stated righteously.
"I was by my father's side when he called Ping'an. It was I who persuaded my father not to commit illegal acts for me." Niu Daixing's face was already streaming with tears as he spoke.
Niu Daixing said that he had always been an excellent student. If it weren't for Wu An's seduction, he would have successfully been admitted to university and become a college student.
"Wu An, Chen Nairong's subordinate, has been my father's arch-rival for many years. One day last autumn, he invited me out for grilled skewers, saying he hoped I would tell my father that he wanted to back down, and that he would let my father take over the ride-hailing business." Niu Daixing said, "I've always disliked my father's involvement in gangs, so I flatly refused Wu An's offer. But when I wasn't paying attention, he pricked me. I didn't notice at the time, thinking he was enraged and had stabbed me with something sharp. But the next day, he stopped me again, pricked me again, and then asked if I felt good."
Last year, Niu Daixing was just an 18-year-old boy. After being pricked the second time by Wu An, he felt extremely excited, experiencing an indescribable pleasure. In a daze, he seemed to have taken a box of medicine and a syringe from Wu An.
For the next few days, he gradually realized that he might have injected drugs. But because he was so addicted to that feeling, and since the medicine and syringes Wu An gave him were readily available, he continued to inject for a period of time. Later, Wu An continuously supplied Niu Daixing with a batch of injectable drugs until he became addicted.
"My father was the first to discover my drug use. To be honest, after I started using drugs, I couldn't absorb anything. I just wanted to immerse myself in that vague feeling. While bathing with me, my father accidentally noticed the needle marks on my arm, and that's when he found out I was using drugs. In desperation, I told him the truth. My father locked me in the basement at home and called a bunch of people, saying he was going to kill Wu An. I was terrified, and my addiction was acting up, so I begged my father, for my sake, not to go after Wu An, but to make peace with him and let him continue supplying me." Niu Daixing recounted slowly, with tears streaming down his face. Gao Xiaofei listened intently, correlating it with what he had previously heard from interrogating Ren Liu.
Perhaps for his son's sake, the usually strong-willed Niu Jian bowed his head this time. The man who had led a group of people clamoring to decapitate Wu An miraculously had a private conversation with Wu An and reached a reconciliation.
"After my father reconciled with Wu An, he brought me drugs and comforted me, saying Wu An had compensated our family, giving him a 'lucrative opportunity.' If done well, he could earn tens of thousands a month..." Niu Daixing sobbed intermittently, clutching his head and crying, "I always wanted to quit drugs, but I lacked the willpower. By chance, I learned that my father was selling drugs for Chen Nairong for my sake, so I... I couldn't go on like this anymore! That's why I persuaded my father to report him and surrender myself. I also made up my mind to go to a rehabilitation center. So, my father called Ping'an. But, unexpectedly, Ping'an turned out to be the mastermind behind this drug trafficking ring."
At this point, Niu Daixing placed a mobile phone in front of Huang Sha.
"Fearing an accident, I recorded videos before and after my father's first call to Ping'an. This is the video footage from that time," Niu Daixing said.
"Connect the technical personnel and display the video on the big screen." Huang Sha, as if seeing a treasure, quickly asked the technician to play it. Gao Xiaofei noticed this and subtly frowned.
The video opened, showing Niu Jian sitting on his sofa. On the coffee table in front of the sofa, the ashtray was filled with cigarette butts.
"Xingwa, are you ready? Can I make the call?" Niu Jian asked to the camera in the video.
"Yes Dad, you can call!" Niu Daixing's voice came from outside the frame.
"Reporter Ping'an?"
"My name is Niu Jian, I'm a taxi driver. I have a big scoop to report to you."
Just then, Niu Jian in the video suddenly felt his phone ringing. He looked at his phone in his hand, and a look of terror appeared on his face.
"Dad..."
Niu Daixing gently reminded him after noticing his father's reaction.
"Oh!" Niu Jian paused. "No, I can't show my face. I'm scared."
"I want to report!" Niu Jian seemed to have made an important decision.
"Not this. I want to report a police officer. He has serious violations of the law." In the video, Niu Jian spoke, appearing agitated and flustered. Niu Daixing, standing nearby, looked at his father with some confusion.
"No, Reporter Ping'an, if you're interested, wait for me to call you again. My phone is set to only make calls, not receive them, so don't call me," Niu Jian said hurriedly, his expression having changed drastically.
"Uh, that's all for today!" After the call ended, Niu Jian put down his phone. A few seconds later, he picked it up again, showed a photo to Niu Daixing, and said, "Xingwa, look at this photo. Is Ping'an the one pictured with Chen Nairong?"
"What? No, Dad, weren't you going to report Chen Nairong? Why are you talking about a police officer?" Niu Daixing asked after speaking, and the video ended.
In the conference room, the viewers were still savoring the video.
"Yes, that photo is this one! It's a photo of Chen Nairong and Ping'an," Niu Daixing spoke first, taking the phone and opening a picture.
In the photo, Chen Nairong was holding a bag of white powdery substance, with Ping'an smirking as he put an arm around him. Ping'an also held a stack of banknotes in one hand.
"My father had met Ping'an before due to a traffic accident, so he recognized Ping'an in this photo along with Chen Nairong at a glance," Niu Daixing said. "As for what Chen Nairong is holding, it wouldn't be laundry detergent, would it? And what Ping'an is holding, could it be just paper?"
If Niu Daixing's report today was like a detonated landmine, causing an immediate and violent reaction, then this video and photograph were like shrapnel blown out by the explosion, hitting everyone unexpectedly and fiercely.
"How is this possible?"
"Ping'an, could he really be the mastermind?"
"A person who has always navigated both sides of the law, seemingly ordinary, is actually very capable."
"I also heard that Ping'an and Chen Nairong have an unusual relationship."
In the conference room, no one made a formal statement, but whispers filled the entire room.
"This photo, it's not the original, is it?" Mei Qian, who had been silent, remained calm and rational, as he didn't know much about Ping'an's situation.
"Moreover, with such low resolution, it doesn't look like it was taken by a smartphone?" Gao Xiaofei, a beat slower, also noticed the problem. At this moment, without the original and evidence, he couldn't determine if the photo had been photoshopped. He could only find issues with other aspects of the photograph.
Mei Qian and Gao Xiaofei's questions, posed one after another, seemed minor, but the experienced police officers present understood the implication. No one was questioning the content of the photo itself. Instead, they first needed to clarify the origin of the photo and its legality. Furthermore, was the item in Chen Nairong's hand necessarily drugs? Couldn't Ping'an and Chen Nairong be friends?
"My father suddenly received this photo via MMS during his call with Ping'an, which is why he temporarily changed his story. Originally, he was going to report Chen Nairong, but then he changed it to reporting a police officer," Niu Daixing continued, unconcerned by the questions. "There is another piece of evidence, a witness. He is a taxi driver who, on the night before my father's death, picked up a fare in this city and took someone from a warehouse in Hexian City to a place six hundred kilometers away. Do you know who this person was? It was Ping'an!"
"What?" Yan Qing looked surprised.
"This driver's name is Wang Nonggui. He is my father's apprentice and is willing to testify under his real name that he served Ping'an that night," Niu Daixing said.
"Even so, what does that prove?" Mei Qian said. "I investigated. On the night your father was murdered, Ping'an had a solid alibi!"
"Why did Ping'an go back the night before my father was murdered? Because he had already communicated with Chen Nairong and guessed that my father was actually going to report Chen Nairong!" Niu Daixing said agitatedly.
"Your report and so-called evidence are actually of little use," Mei Qian said calmly. "Your father wouldn't have randomly said he was going to report a police officer. Why would he mention a police officer?"
"My father had reported a police officer before, didn't you know?" Niu Daixing said. "It was Su Xia! My father had been reporting Su Xia by name for three years. This time, when he reported Chen Nairong, he also reported him."
"Why report Su Xia?" Huang Sha, who had been silent, asked.
"Su Xia extorted my father's fleet!" Niu Daixing said.
"So, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision by Niu Jian, and the content he later told Ping'an was all about Su Xia? Accounts? Dirty money?" Mei Qian asked.
"Yes, but I don't know the account number now. My father knows," Niu Daixing said.
"Alright, that's all for today. We have a case analysis meeting soon," Yan Qing said sternly.
Niu Daixing was led out. Huang Sha and the others from the provincial department said they would discuss it before the meeting and went to another office. Gao Xiaofei and Mei Qian sat in the conference room, staring blankly at Yan Qing, who was also sitting there.
"How credible do you find Niu Daixing's account?" Mei Qian asked.
"I believe it's all true, but the conclusion is wrong. Ping'an wouldn't associate with Chen Nairong. I spend more time with him than most couples do. Would I not know if he was involved in drug trafficking?" Gao Xiaofei said angrily. "Is he short of money?"
"Watch your tone. Everything needs evidence. You two also organize yourselves, you'll need to give a report later. I'm warning you in advance, Huang Sha has brought substantial information this time," Yan Qing said. "Their suspect is very clear: it's Ping'an."
"How could Ping'an do these things?" Mei Qian said. "I feel like these cases always revolve around Ping'an! The drug trafficking case we've been treating as a major case has become a secondary one in these investigations."
"Where is Ping'an? He should be reporting by now!" Yan Qing lit a cigarette, thought calmly, and then said.
"He's in seclusion, right? Or should we give him more time?" Gao Xiaofei took out his phone, hesitated, and still didn't make the call.
"Keep an eye on him!" Yan Qing said with some helplessness.
In fact, Ping'an didn't need to be watched at this moment. He had successfully "emerged from seclusion." Or rather, he still needed to meet two more people before "emerging."
Ping'an rode his motorcycle along the airport expressway towards the city, looking extremely cool. After a night of deep thought, he had basically figured out the doubts in several cases but couldn't connect them. Subconsciously, he felt the forces behind these cases were "exerting pressure" on him, so he had to deal with the real masterminds before he himself was "dealt with."
"It's time to wrap things up!" Ping'an muttered to himself.
The motorcycle sped towards the city. Following the address Gao Xiaofei had provided earlier, he arrived in front of a small supermarket. The supermarket was located not far from Ping'an's own home, within a ten-kilometer radius, just a block away.
Ping'an dismounted his motorcycle, hung his helmet on the handlebars, and walked directly into the small supermarket.
The supermarket was not large, truly living up to its name. Inside, two neat rows of shelves were filled with all sorts of small commodities. A man wearing glasses sat at the cash register, looking at him with curiosity and surprise.
"You're called Gao Min, right!" Ping'an walked up to the cash register, took out his wallet, and produced a hundred-yuan bill. Pointing at the cigarette display, he said, "Hey, your little shop even has Hongmei cigarettes. These are hard to find. Give me a pack!"
"Reporter Ping'an, hello. You came all the way to my little shop just to buy a pack of cigarettes?" Gao Min replied with a smile.
"Yes, yes. I came to see you, and also to ask your wife something. Is Liu Juan here?" Ping'an took the pack of Hongmei cigarettes from Gao Min.
"She went out to buy groceries." Gao Min handed over the cigarettes, then returned the hundred-yuan bill Ping'an had placed on the table. "A pack of Hongmei is only five yuan. If you want to smoke, consider it my treat. I can't make change for such a large bill."
"Don't be like that. Leave it here. Put it on my tab. I'll come by to shop when I have time!" Ping'an said with a smile.
Normally, when someone spoke like this, everyone would be happy, laughing and chatting like old friends. But at this moment, Ping'an's words carried a strong sense of provocation. This wasn't politeness; it was clearly a message of "I've got my eye on you."
Faced with Ping'an's provocation, Gao Min was momentarily speechless. He stared fixedly at Ping'an, his hands fidgeting uneasily. Just then, the door of the small supermarket suddenly opened. Liu Juan, wearing a tracksuit, entered energetically with a large bag of vegetables. As she walked, she said, "Hey, the spinach is so fresh today! Shall I make you spinach noodles for lunch?"
"Sure, can I have a bowl too!" Ping'an chimed in with a smile the moment Liu Juan saw him.
"Ping'an! What are you doing here? Chen Nairong and I have cleared things up. Even if I was a little greedy and wanted to keep some of his money, it was all handed over to the Public Security Bureau!" Seeing Ping'an in the store, Liu Juan was somewhat surprised. Her previously innocent and cute housewife expression instantly changed.
"I just came to see you. Look, oh, see if there's anything I can help you with. After all, I blocked a sum of your wealth!" Ping'an said.
"Gao and I are living very happily now. We're not rich, but we're fulfilled. I don't want anything to do with anyone or anything related to Chen Nairong anymore!" Liu Juan moved aside and said firmly, "Please leave."
"Don't be like that. At least let me have a meal. What are you afraid of?" Ping'an brought over a stool and sat down casually.
"I'm not afraid, I just don't want to see..." Liu Juan said in a low voice.
Gao Min, who had been silent, suddenly sighed softly, walked to the door, took the vegetables from Liu Juan, and patted her shoulder reassuringly.
"Since you're here, you're a guest. If you want noodles, let him have them. We're living with integrity now, and we're not afraid of anyone!" Gao Min walked around Ping'an, who was sitting in the entryway, and carried the vegetables into the back room, starting to cook on his own.
Hearing her husband's words, Liu Juan sighed softly and also went into the back room to help with the cooking.
No one paid attention to Ping'an, but he didn't seem to mind. He opened the pack of Hongmei cigarettes in his hand, took one out, placed it in his mouth, lit it casually, took a deep puff, and said contentedly, "Old brand cigarettes still have a rich flavor. The name itself is good, Hongmei, meaning 'only fragrance comes'! Excellent!"
From the back room, the sound of a knife chopping on a cutting board could be heard intermittently. Before long, the aroma of fried sauce meat filled the entire room. After finishing one cigarette, Ping'an indeed lingered on the small stool. Seeing the couple cooking, he even helped arrange a business transaction, selling a lollipop to a five-year-old boy.
When Liu Juan set up a small folding table, Gao Min came out with a steaming bowl of fried sauce noodles.
"This first bowl is for you. Eat it and then leave. My wife and I have nothing more to say," Gao Min said in a low voice.
"Tsk tsk, where's the garlic? The noodle soup? The vinegar? The pickled cabbage shreds? A proper meal should have all the fixings!" Ping'an picked up the bowl of noodles without hesitation and began to eat with gusto.
"Wait, if you want pickled cabbage, I'll get it from the cellar for you." Gao Min said, sounding somewhat exasperated.
The nightlife of the night before last had been haunting Ping'an. Two days had passed, and he hadn't had a truly satisfying meal. Now, the delicate handmade noodles and the fragrant fried sauce meat filled his stomach and, along with a bowl of noodle soup, revitalized his spirits after several days of颓废 (tuífèi - decadence/degeneration).
"Refreshing!" After drinking the noodle soup, Ping'an placed the bowl on the folding table, looked up at the couple, and saw that they were also eating noodles, but their minds seemed elsewhere, as if they were waiting for something to happen.
Just then, a stone smashed through the glass door of the small supermarket, landing directly on Ping'an's foot. Before he could cry out in pain, three or four young men who looked like thugs arrogantly rushed into the supermarket.
Needless to say, this was what the couple had been waiting for, this event and these people.
"Liu Juan, you little bitch, have you and your bastard husband scraped together the money?" A thin, tall man with a thick beard emerged from the crowd, stepping onto the folding table.
"Chen Nairong's debts, why should I pay them?" Liu Juan stood up indignantly and said loudly, "I don't have the money now, and even if I did, I wouldn't give it to you. Get out, or I'll call the police."
"Damn, I almost forgot. This bitch calls the police. Is she also involved with the police?" the bearded man said with a lecherous laugh to those around him.
While the thugs were making lewd jokes, Ping'an, who had been holding his foot and enduring the pain, suddenly stood up.
"Hey, who among you threw this stone?" Ping'an said through gritted teeth.
"Oh ho, we have a guest. Liu Juan, is this your new bed guest?" the bearded man continued to mock without caring.
"You, aren't you Boss Wan's cousin, the one named Sang Biao or something?" Ping'an stared at the bearded man for a long time and said.
"Who the hell are you?" The bearded man took a step closer to Ping'an.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I remember a certain gang leader was caught by the police during the crackdown a few years ago. He wet three mattresses the first night in the detention center." Ping'an stared at the bearded man and said, "Wasn't that scoundrel you?"
"You are? You look so familiar." The bearded man looked at Ping'an with some curiosity.
"I heard that Boss Wan vowed never to be a thug again after he got out of prison. So, what are you doing now? Oh, you're working independently!" Ping'an continued.
"Who exactly are you?" The bearded man drew a knife from his back and pointed it at Ping'an.
"During the last crackdown, it was me who sent you and your cousin in. You're quite forgetful, aren't you?" Ping'an picked his nose nonchalantly and said.
"You are, you're Ping'an, that reporter named Gu Something?" the bearded man said in a panic.
"That's right. Not long ago, I dealt with the killer Chen Nairong hired at a high price. I've been very tired these past few days. Bastard, do you want to go in again?" Ping'an said fiercely.
"Brother, I just came to collect a debt. I'm not doing bad things anymore." The bearded man, having confirmed Ping'an's identity, instantly became submissive.
"Bullshit! You're so tough, tell me, was this damn stone that hit my foot thrown by you?" Ping'an picked up the stone by his foot and said.
"Brother Ping'an, I really didn't know you were inside. If I had known, I would have avoided this place." The bearded man stood up straight and said to Ping'an, "Chen Nairong, that bastard, borrowed ten million from me a month ago. Liu Juan was the one who handled the business back then. Now Chen Nairong is missing, so I had to come find her. To be honest, I'm working for a lending company now, and I'm really not doing anything bad."
"The debtor pays the debt! If you have the paperwork, go to court, report to the police, and follow the legal channels. What is this you're doing now, trespassing?" Ping'an said as if scolding a son. "You must act legally! The state's laws protect legitimate businesses, so you should compensate them for the broken glass immediately and then get lost! Do you want me to call your beloved little brother to have a chat?"
"Uncle, you are my uncle! I'll leave now!" The bearded man took out three hundred yuan from his pocket, placed it on the table, and left the supermarket with his head bowed and knees bent.