Chapter 81: You're here to see my dad, right?

A pale cyan hue floated over Yunhu Courtyard, where the morning mist had yet to disperse.

Following the address Du Chengfeng had given him, Tang Ye arrived at the entrance of a detached villa and pressed the doorbell.

A moment later, a pretty figure walked out from inside the house.

Their eyes met.

Time seemed to stop, and the air froze as well.

"Tang Ye?"

"Du Xi?"

Tang Ye thought he had gone to the wrong door and re-checked the house number.

"Is this Secretary Du's home?"

Du Xi's mind went completely blank; how could Tang Ye appear here? Seeing the bag in his hand, she quickly reacted, "You're here to see my dad, right?"

Tang Ye realized then, "I didn't expect your dad to be Secretary Du. He said he was hosting distinguished guests at home today and asked me to come over to keep them company."

The artery on the side of Du Xi's neck throbbed as she caught a glimpse of her father's figure appearing.

Du Chengfeng stood under the veranda, wearing a camel-colored cardigan.

"Little Tang is here? Du Xi, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and let your old classmate in! Little Tang, your presence is enough; why bring things? Remember to take them back with you later, or I'll be angry."

Du Xi unlocked the door and took the gift box from Tang Ye's hand.

The current scene felt rather strange.

She wondered what kind of reaction her mother, Xiao Qin, would have when she saw Tang Ye later.

Du Xi did not feel awkward at this moment; instead, she felt her mood brighten.

They say that when people have fate and affinity, they will constantly have intersections.

Her connection with Tang Ye had never been broken.

Hearing there was a guest, Xiao Qin walked from the kitchen to the entrance. Seeing it was Tang Ye, she signaled to Du Xi with her eyes.

Du Xi followed her mother into the kitchen.

Xiao Qin dumped the blanched broccoli into a colander: "Is this the young talent your dad was talking about?"

Du Xi hurriedly explained, "Yes, how about it? Isn't it a huge surprise?"

Xiao Qin thought to herself that this was a good opportunity to observe Tang Ye properly.

She had arranged for people to inquire about Tang Ye; his family background was upper-middle.

Xiao Qin always felt that his approach to her daughter had an ulterior motive.

Du Xi brewed two cups of green tea and delivered them to the study.

Tang Ye was leaning close to Du Chengfeng, watching him practice calligraphy.

As he wrote, Du Chengfeng said with a smile, "I only discovered last month while looking through your file that you and Du Xi were high school classmates."

Tang Ye smiled at Du Xi and said, "Why didn't you say so earlier? If I had known about this connection, I could have saved some trouble."

A charming curve appeared at the corners of Du Xi's mouth, "My dad has always been impartial; don't you even think about pulling strings."

Du Chengfeng laughed heartily, "Du Xi knows me well. If I had known earlier that you were Du Xi's classmate, I would have required even more of you."

Du Chengfeng received a phone call, exchanged a few words with the other party, hung up, and smiled, "The guests have arrived; let's go down together to welcome them!"

After Tang Ye went downstairs, he discovered the guest was Xu Xiangchun, the Vice Chairman of the Northeast Chamber of Commerce.

Besides him, there were also Vice Mayor Zhao Disheng and Hu Zhongping.

The moment Hu Zhongping saw Tang Ye, his expression changed slightly.

He had not expected Tang Ye to appear at Du Chengfeng's home banquet.

Zhao Disheng introduced Hu Zhongping to Du Chengfeng, "Brother Chengfeng, let me introduce you. This is my nephew, Hu Zhongping, who serves as the Deputy Town Mayor and Police Station Chief in Jinshui Town. Zhongping and Du Xi know each other; they both graduated from the Police Academy and are senior and junior schoolmates."

Du Chengfeng nodded toward Hu Zhongping, "I've heard Du Xi mention you; the young man is very outstanding!"

After introducing their identities to each other, Hu Zhongping let out a sigh of relief.

Tang Ye's status was that of a capable subordinate to Du Chengfeng, not Du Xi's boyfriend.

This meant he still had a chance...

Xiao Qin compared Hu Zhongping and Tang Ye in secret; their administrative ranks were similar, but Hu Zhongping had more room for advancement.

Moreover, Hu Zhongping had a deep connection with Zhao Disheng. If he were to get together with her daughter, forming an alliance with Zhao Disheng, a new favorite of the Municipal Party Committee, would be helpful to her husband's official career.

Xiao Qin had a good relationship with Zhao Disheng's wife; they occasionally ate together offline and played mahjong together, and the two had long planned to play matchmaker.

Xiao Qin knew her daughter did not like blind dates and was afraid of a backlash, which was why she was orchestrating it in secret.

Xiao Qin picked food for Hu Zhongping from time to time, "Little Hu, eat more meat; you look quite thin."

Hu Zhongping thanked her busily, "Thank you, Auntie. I'll help myself; please don't be so polite."

Du Xi also picked a piece of braised pork for Tang Ye, "The braised pork my mom stewed is especially delicious; you should try it too."

Xiao Qin was both annoyed and amused. Her daughter's personality was just like that; the more she showed favoritism toward Hu Zhongping, the more her daughter would work against her. She sighed silently.

After the meal.

Zhao Disheng, Xu Xiangchun, and Du Chengfeng went into the study to discuss business.

Hu Zhongping, Du Xi, and Tang Ye chatted in the living room.

Hu Zhongping, figuring that he and Du Xi were both in the public security line, used a popular case to close the distance and took the initiative to bring up a topic:

"A serial murder case has occurred in Hanzhou within the last few months. The killer targets sex workers, and four people have already died. You must have been investigating this case for a long time, right?"

Du Xi's thin eyebrows were tightly locked, "In order to find the real culprit, a special team was established. My master is the Team Leader, and I am a team member. We've spent a lot of energy, but it feels like the more we investigate, the less of a lead we have."

Hu Zhongping crossed his legs and began to cite precedents.

"This case reminds me of the Gilgo Beach killer in the United States. Over the past 20 years, residents of Long Island, New York, have continuously discovered the abandoned bodies of sex workers along the sides of the road. The killer likes to dismember the bodies. Based on the statistics of all dismembered body parts, he has killed at least 12 to 20 victims.

In addition, there is the Green River serial murder case. The case originated from the Green River near Seattle. The police discovered multiple female corpses. After investigation, they suspected the killer was a local painter named Ridgway. Due to the backward forensic technology at the time, Ridgway escaped the net of justice. Finally, DNA testing technology performed a meritorious service, confirming Ridgway as the real culprit. He pleaded guilty the year before last, admitting to killing 48 women, and was eventually sentenced to life imprisonment."

"These two cases might provide some inspiration for your investigation."

Du Xi listened, a bitter smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.

Hu Zhongping's analysis seemed relevant, but in reality, it was not practical and had no value for solving the case.

Tang Ye looked at Du Xi with great interest, "Are there any photos or videos from the scene?"

Du Xi immediately said, "There is a very blurry video."

Tang Ye said with a smile, "Would it be convenient to let me see it?"

Du Xi took a laptop out from the room and clicked to play that video.

It finished playing once very quickly.

Tang Ye gave Du Xi a look.

Du Xi tacitly released the mouse and stepped aside.

Tang Ye took the mouse and faced the monitor screen; the mouse was warm, as if it still held her body heat and lingering fragrance.

However, Tang Ye's attention was clearly not on that.

He set the progress bar to 2 minutes and 12 seconds, then watched this segment of the footage repeatedly.

A look of disdain appeared at the corner of Hu Zhongping's mouth, as he believed Tang Ye was being pretentious.

This video must have been studied countless times by the many criminal investigation experts at the City Bureau.

A Deputy Town Mayor in charge of investment promotion, with no criminal investigation experience, what kind of problem could he possibly spot from a blurry video?

After an unknown amount of time, Tang Ye's eyes lit up, and he fixed his gaze on Hu Zhongping, "Town Mayor Hu, if you felt uncomfortable on the top of your head, what would you do?"

Hu Zhongping shot Tang Ye an annoyed glance, placed his palm on his head, and gave it a rough stroke, "I'd just do this!"

Following Tang Ye's reminder, Du Xi's pupils went from confusion to a violent tremor!

She had realized it!

"The killer's gesture of brushing back their hair is particularly feminine.

So the killer might be a woman!

We were wrong in our direction from the very beginning.

I will call my master immediately!"