Chapter 61

On the morning of the 18th, You Xinfah dragged his still-sleepy body downstairs to head for the Jiangnan Branch, having spent the entire night interrogating He Jian in the hospital ward—only to find the man was as tough as a copper pea, uncrushable and unboilable!

After half the night of turmoil, the man dismissed them with a single sentence: “I alone kidnapped the victim, and the money was stolen by someone in the chaos!”

Seeing the man wouldn’t crack anytime soon, You Xinfah wasn’t in a rush—he didn’t believe anyone could hold out forever. “Hmph,” he sneered silently in his mind. With three or four hours left until dawn, he returned home to catch a few hours of sleep.

Just as he stepped out, his pager buzzed. A line of text flashed: “Captain You, Tao Xiaoyong has returned! Call back immediately!” The number listed was one he recognized—the neighborhood committee’s number for the Jiangnan Chemical Plant.

He spun on his heel and dashed back home. He grabbed the phone and dialed back; it rang once before being answered: “Captain You?” A strange woman’s voice came through. You Xinfah recognized it as the neighborhood committee aunt deliberately lowering her tone. He smiled wryly: “It’s me, Director Jiang. You say Tao Xiaoyong came home? Did you just see him?” He worried Tao Xiaoyong might have returned last night or in the middle of the night—and might be leaving again now.

On the other end, Aunt Jiang still spoke in a hushed, mysterious whisper: “No! He just got back—we’ve been watching his house nonstop!”

You Xinfah couldn’t help but feel moved. Though this aunt was talkative, her dedication to this case truly impressed him.

“Ah! Thank you so much! I’ll be there in fifteen minutes—keep watching him, and don’t alert him!”

He hung up, immediately called the task force leader Wang Feihong, quickly reported the situation, then rushed downstairs, jumped on his motorcycle, and sped toward the Jiangnan Chemical Plant’s residential compound.

At the compound gate, Aunt Jiang burst out of the guard booth—startling You Xinfah, who hadn’t expected her.

Aunt Jiang grabbed You Xinfah’s arm and tried to pull him upstairs. He quickly stopped her: “Director Jiang, wait a moment. Tao Xiaoyong is still only a suspect. Could you help us by getting him out of the house so we can search inside first?”

Aunt Jiang nodded knowingly. “How much time do you need?”

You Xinfah said: “The longer, the better. How about an hour? Can you manage that?”

Aunt Jiang thought for a moment, then waved her hand decisively: “Fine! Leave it to me! Tell me—when do we move?” She suddenly looked strikingly commanding. You Xinfah was momentarily stunned.

He asked cautiously: “Director Jiang, could you explain your plan? I need to know what to expect.” He had no idea how this aunt intended to pull it off.

Aunt Jiang spoke with solemn seriousness: “Captain You, don’t underestimate me. I used to be the militia captain—I’ve hunted spies and captured traitors before. Handling this kid is child’s play!” Then she laid out her plan. You Xinfah listened, even more impressed—true masters really did live among the common people!

The operation plan was set. The next civilian expert—Aunt Jiang—was about to act.

Aunt Jiang, accompanied by another woman her age, calmly walked up to the fifth floor and knocked loudly on Tao Xiaoyong’s door: “Bang bang bang!”

After a while, an irritated voice came from inside: “Who is it?” It was Tao Xiaoyong.

Aunt Jiang raised her voice: “Little Tao! It’s Director Jiang from the neighborhood committee! Open up! I’ve got good news for you!”

Tao Xiaoyong seemed to be asleep. More silence followed. Aunt Jiang kept knocking and calling his name. Finally, unable to bear the noise, the door creaked open. A neatly dressed, handsome young man appeared.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes and yawned: “Director Jiang, what’s so urgent? I was just having the best dream!”

Aunt Jiang spoke seriously: “Oh, come on! Dreaming in broad daylight? Sleeping? I’ve applied for your unemployment subsidy—it’s about to come through, but you need to fill out some forms and sign and stamp them. Today’s the final deadline to submit. Come with me to the committee right away!”

Tao Xiaoyong knew about this subsidy—he’d heard others applying. He thought: Why not take free money? He said: “Oh, thank you, Director Jiang. I’ll just get dressed and come.”

“Good, hurry up!” Aunt Jiang said, then exchanged a glance with the woman beside her. The woman understood and immediately dashed downstairs, panting heavily as she reappeared at Tao’s door moments later. Seeing Aunt Jiang, she loudly exclaimed: “Oh! Director Jiang! What a coincidence—you’re here to see Tao Xiaoyong too?”

At that moment, Tao Xiaoyong stepped out, fully dressed. The panting woman said: “Oh, Little Yong, you’re finally home! Are you leaving? Your balcony’s been leaking into my place—since you’re home today, I brought a technician to check it!”

Tao Xiaoyong was about to say he was going to the committee, but Aunt Jiang cut in: “How about this? I’ll take you to the committee to fill out the forms. Meanwhile, let Aunt Zhang and her crew check your balcony—fix the leak today. You’re both from the same factory, so what’s there to worry about?”

Tao Xiaoyong rarely spoke, but he knew all the neighbors from the factory. After a moment’s thought, he said: “My place is messy—don’t touch my things!” Then he followed Aunt Jiang downstairs.

Behind Aunt Zhang, disguised as a repairman, You Xinfah exhaled in relief. He entered Tao’s apartment while Aunt Zhang stood guard at the door. You Xinfah shook his head with a smile and began carefully observing the small, old but spotlessly clean two-room apartment—roughly fifty square meters.

He immediately spotted something suspicious! On the kitchen counter sat a wooden cutting board, one side deeply indented from frequent use. Close inspection revealed several deep, axe-like grooves. Turning it over, he saw dark stains on the back. As he puzzled over this, his eye caught white marks on the cement floor beside the counter.

He knelt and touched them with his finger—they felt like cuts made by a sharp blade. Just as he rose, he noticed several dot-like black spots on the underside of the counter’s cement slab. He pulled out his flashlight, leaned close—and saw they looked exactly like dried blood splatters. His heart leapt. He quickly scraped off one spot with his pocket knife and carefully wrapped it in a white tissue.

He searched the rest of the kitchen but found nothing else. As he turned to leave for Tao’s bedroom, he noticed something covered by an old cloth behind the kitchen door. Curious, he lifted the cloth—and revealed a single-door refrigerator.

You Xinfah froze. Tao’s household was destitute—besides an old TV, the only electrical appliance was a lightbulb. Yet here was a refrigerator in the kitchen? This was unexpected.

You Xinfah opened the fridge door to investigate—and the next second, he knelt on the floor and vomited.