"Diana was also a model in the beginning. I once heard her driver say that she was also tricked by Ma Delu," Han Shi said. "Diana claimed she was unmarried and had no children, but in reality, she has a daughter who is currently studying at Shanhe University, named Dai Lian. This information is not known to most people, not even Ma Delu. I discovered it accidentally while following Diana."
"Do you have any other findings? Stick to the important points, don't talk about trivial matters!" Ping An said impatiently.
"I investigated Diana's financial situation and found that she frequently receives remittances from a company, sometimes over a hundred thousand yuan, sometimes tens of thousands, about once or twice a month," Han Shi said. "The company that remits money to her is called Awei Culture, an online live streaming company. At first, I thought this was Diana's legitimate income. Out of curiosity, I looked into this company and discovered that it was actually under Ma Delu's name."
"Hmm? What's so noteworthy about that?" Ping An asked.
"But as far as I know, the financial transactions between Ma Delu and Diana were conducted through another account. Since Awei Culture also belongs to Ma Delu, why didn't he settle through it? Was it to pay more taxes?" Han Shi said. "This matter is neither big nor small. I initially thought it had nothing to do with my investigation, but the more I thought about it, the more something felt off. Perhaps this cultural company was just registered under Ma Delu's name and not actually controlled by him. Later, I also investigated Ma Delu's daily business multiple times and found that his daily operations had no intersection with Awei Culture whatsoever."
"Continue, and then what?" Ping An said.
"Please get me my phone. I have a video to show you," Han Shi said, suddenly making a request.
Mei Qian glanced at Ping An and saw him nod casually. He immediately arranged for a police officer to retrieve it.
"While continuing to investigate Awei Culture, I watched many videos produced by this company, both live streams and recorded ones. The content was mostly young girls dancing, doing fashion shows, and so on," Han Shi continued. "Then, on one occasion, I found an important clue in a video."
As he spoke, the phone was brought over. Following Han Shi's instructions, Mei Qian logged into cloud storage and found a video. When he opened it, he saw several girls dancing in front of a shipping container.
"Look at this shipping container. It has five Cs on it," Han Shi said excitedly. "This was not a coincidental shot. When I was investigating these five Cs, I found that this company's shipping containers were very well guarded. If they could conduct live streams under such circumstances without being disturbed, don't you think something is wrong? And look closely at the video, is there a slight tremor? This indicates that the live stream was filmed at sea."
He had been struggling to connect the Five Cs company with Ma Delu, but through Diana, he had stumbled upon something else. Although Han Shi's investigation had only scratched the surface, it finally seemed to be yielding some results.
"After discovering Awei Culture, I started investigating this company. First, I watched the live streaming videos. Although the content was monotonous, I still found something," Han Shi said. "I reviewed a large number of live streaming videos and carefully examined the comments on the streams. I noticed that some 'tourists' would inexplicably type several triangles. Sometimes seven or eight, sometimes three or four. This made me very curious."
Saying this, Han Shi pointed to several more live streaming videos, paused them, and showed them to Ping An and Mei Qian one by one.
"After discovering this, I was excited, but I didn't know what it meant. So, I took the initiative to find an opportunity, using the excuse of the police inquiring about Meiqi, to demand money from Ma Delu," Han Shi said. "Ma Delu readily gave me money. I took the opportunity to ask him about Awei Culture and the triangles. His face changed as soon as he heard it. He grabbed my collar and asked me what else I knew. Seeing his agitated state, I deliberately mentioned the Five Cs. As expected, he became even more agitated, his eyes looked like he could devour me."
"After Ma Delu calmed down, he voluntarily gave me another two hundred thousand yuan and repeatedly warned me not to investigate further, saying that if I did, I would lose my life," Han Shi said. "My mind went blank, and I lied to him, saying it wasn't me investigating, but Ping An who had already secretly started investigating – Teacher Ping An, I said that at the time because I really wanted to scare him and see his reaction. As expected, as soon as he heard you were investigating, he immediately panicked again and left without even looking at me."
"So, that's why after the explosion, he came to find me, right?" Ping An rubbed his head and said. "You little brat, you weren't just thinking blankly; you were clearly trying to drag me down."
"Teacher Ping An, it's too late to say anything now—but it's also because of you that we got to the more crucial part later," Han Shi said. "The day after that meeting, Ma Delu approached me again. He first asked me how much Teacher Ping An knew and how much he had investigated. I feigned ignorance. He then tried to trick me, saying he didn't believe I knew you. Fortunately, I had a photo of myself with Teacher Ping An. I used it to make him believe I was your disciple. This finally broke his last line of defense."
"After much deliberation, Ma Delu gave me a portable USB drive and told me to give it to you if he died," Han Shi said. "I asked him why he would die. He said he had revealed too much and could no longer hide it. After his superiors used him as a scapegoat, they would come after me. He said he felt guilty towards Ajiao and Meiqi, and if something happened to him, it would be his just deserts. He only hoped that Ajiao, who had been hurt, could live well. When he died, as long as Teacher Ping An investigated, he would surely find some clues. Combined with what he gave me, if he made a desperate gamble, he might be able to bring down all the dark forces behind this."
"So, Ma Delu's kidnapping of me at that time was actually him wanting to talk to me, and then those assassins were killed, perhaps because Ma Delu wanted to silence them so his superiors wouldn't know?" Ping An said, somewhat belatedly. "You're not a good boy either. You didn't have me helping you investigate at the time, but you boasted about it. You thought that if Ma Delu really died, and you couldn't find anything, your family would be ruined too. That's why you orchestrated Ma Delu's death in advance, so Ma Delu's superiors would think they didn't need to kill you to silence you. Secondly, you designed the plan to ensnare me with Su Tang. This way, Ma Delu's superiors would truly believe that I was persistently opposing them. While they were fighting with me, you would quietly take the money and run, wouldn't you? My former good disciple!"
"Because I was scared," Han Shi said, taking a deep drag. "I discovered that behind Ma Delu was an organization, perhaps a vast criminal syndicate. Killing me would be too easy for them."
"So, you were scared and gave up your investigation?" Ping An lit a cigarette as well and said. "Ah, smoking really feels good. Kid, if I say we'll break this case together, are you willing?"
"Willing!" Han Shi said without hesitation. "It's just that I calculated against you and caused innocent people to die..."
"Consider it atonement," Ping An said. "I also have a responsibility for not teaching you well, so consider it atonement..."
It must be said that Han Shi's investigation was helpful to solving the case. Especially the 41 names, they all turned out to be girls who had been reported missing in Hechuan City over the past decade. This elevated the case from a simple murder to a major, organized, and premeditated criminal act, possibly involving international crime. The criminal activities involved included fraud, human trafficking, illegal kidnapping, illegal prostitution, intentional injury, and even smuggling and illegal immigration.
"If these 41 girls are all victims, then it will be the greatest shame for the Hechuan police!" Xiang Wanfeng said earnestly at the subsequent emergency meeting. "When the grassroots police stations received reports of missing girls, did they really investigate thoroughly? How many times did they dismiss it as freedom, perhaps elopement, running away from home, or going out with someone, and use such excuses to pacify our citizens? One or two cases might seem insignificant, but comrades, 41 of them! These are living people! These young girls, who have just come of age, were tricked into going overseas, suffered abuse, and died in a foreign land, their deaths unclear, and we didn't even file cases—what is this! This is a disgrace! It is the greatest disgrace to Hechuan Public Security. We have failed the people and the victims' families! I now demand that you all memorize these 41 names, then proactively contact the families. The criminal investigation department must be on high alert and investigate thoroughly. Don't care if they are overseas, even if they are on Mars, we must bring them back to face the judgment of the people!"