Chapter 194: Social Connections

"If I remember correctly, myna birds have a habit of collecting shiny things." No sooner had Zhong Kui finished speaking than, in the livestream video, Xiao Hei the myna bird was seen swiftly pecking at Lv Ying's left ring finger the moment her hand brushed past it.

This movement was so swift that Lv Ying, focused on the livestream interaction, didn't even realize the pink diamond on her nail had been snatched away by Xiao Hei.

Everyone who saw this scene took a deep breath at the same time.

At that time, in a livestream watched by over ten thousand people, only Chen Hao had noticed this detail.

It was this very moment that shifted his focus from Lv Ying to Xiao Hei.

And it also pulled him one step closer to death.

Liu Binjie's expression perfectly demonstrated what it meant to be "dumbfounded."

"Wait, you suspect Xiao Hei snatched a diamond worth millions?" His hand made a blocking gesture, as if to reject the words he had just heard.

"At the very least, we are certain it snatched a pink diamond from Lv Ying's nail. As for whether this pink diamond is really that valuable, we have to find it to judge," Qi Fei said, not forgetting to be rigorous.

Zhong Kui, who was standing to the side and not saying much, cast her gaze on Liu Binjie and saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed dryly.

"Do you know where Xiao Hei hid the things?" Her languid voice came, yet it exerted endless pressure on Liu Binjie.

"Tsk... Myna birds are about the same as crows; they both like to hide things. Last time it snatched my keys. But would Xiao Hei really steal a diamond?" Liu Binjie still couldn't believe it, but he started walking outside anyway. "Follow me. If Xiao Hei hid something, it's highly likely to be in one place."

As he spoke, he headed toward the Bird Pavilion and climbed up the rockery that Chen Hao had once climbed.

He fumbled familiarly in an inconspicuous crevice in the rocks.

"Last time, I found my keys here." He found a screwdriver and carefully picked at the crevice, which was filled with bird droppings.

Xiao Hei seemed to sense the tense atmosphere at the scene, flapping its wings and shouting: "Idiot! Idiot!"

As the screwdriver slid slowly through the crevice, some tiny, fragmented things began to be dug out: shriveled insect carcasses, colorful plastic scraps, various nut shells...

It seemed this was Xiao Hei's secret base.

As its "family fortune" was gradually emptied, everyone's expectant hearts were in their throats.

Finally, in the sunlight leaking down from the glass ceiling, Liu Binjie's fingertips flashed with a dazzling light.

This was a natural fire that artificial diamonds could not compare to; only diamonds of extremely high quality would have it.

"Found it!" Qi Fei whispered. The place where Xiao Hei had hidden the diamond was only a palm's width away from the last traces of Chen Hao's climbing. He had been so close to finding it.

Unfortunately, there are no "ifs" in this world.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star~~~" Xiao Hei's singing voice came. The flash of the diamond made it excited, and it kept flapping its wings, eager to fly over to Liu Binjie and snatch the diamond away.

The diamond was found, but what about the cause of death?

Qi Fei couldn't help but look back at the area under the trestle bridge, where Chen Hao's body was discovered. What exactly happened that night that caused him to "drown" there?

Four pairs of eyes stared at the cleaned diamond.

Unlike ordinary diamonds, this rare pink diamond had the luster of cherry blossoms, and its precisely cut facets refracted blue-purple iridescence, making it breathtakingly beautiful.

Especially when compared to the cheap rhinestones on the original loose powder box nearby, if one looked closely, setting aside the superior texture, the size and shape were not exactly the same either.

"So beautiful..." Wu Shanqiu stared without blinking. "Lv Ying actually didn't notice that this diamond was different from the others."

"A real diamond disguised as a fake and set on a loose powder box—a classic case of cognitive focus shifting. By utilizing people's default perception of functional items, the high-priced diamond became a redundant element. It's a brilliant scam," Zhong Kui said.

"Ah, we found a professional to appraise it. This pink diamond is at least three carats, worth about 8 million. Fei-ge's estimate was quite accurate..." Wu Shanqiu muttered.

Liu Tong couldn't help but exclaim after hearing this: "Whoa... 8 million. No wonder Chen Hao was willing to risk his life."

"The key is, Chen Hao was just a ticket sales agent. Where did he get this diamond?" Qi Fei's focus was on Chen Hao, not the diamond.

"What's interesting is that the loose powder box that replaced the real diamond as a decoration was itself an authentic StarDust product," Wu Shanqiu said.

"It's very simple. Because carrying fakes on a plane is more likely to be checked; there's no need for that at all," Zhong Kui said, casually picking up the old loose powder box that Lv Ying had "contributed." "If it's a lady's own cosmetics, it's much more convenient when going through customs."

"Ha, Chen Hao hadn't even left the airport. The only ones taking planes were his clients," Wu Shanqiu said immediately.

The speaker had no intention, but the listener did.

"Two months ago..." Qi Fei was lost in thought. "Illegal transactions will try to stay offline as much as possible to avoid regulation and tracking. It seems Chen Hao was chosen to be a human courier for smuggling."

"So we still need to further investigate his social connections," Wu Shanqiu said.

"His social connections are complex if you say they are complex, and simple if you say they are simple. A person who has been wandering in the airport for a long time, besides colleagues, there are only clients."

Liu Tong took a sip of hot tea, held the thermos with both hands, and said unhurriedly: "Then let's check with the Jitong Aviation Ticketing Company to look into all of Chen Hao's business over the past six months. Hmm~ this loose powder box, to be able to think of such a tricky angle, it seems we need to focus on the situation of female passengers."

On the office desk lay a thick stack of printed business lists.

"This Chen Hao is really a workaholic. This volume of business is terrifying," Wu Shanqiu said, standing by the desk with her hands on her hips, feeling a headache. "Can't we just filter it with a spreadsheet..."

"On-site investigation doesn't let a single grain of dust go, and the chain of evidence doesn't allow for a single inch of breakage. Have you forgotten what they taught in school?" Qi Fei's chair spun, and he had already picked up the first business sheet, reading it carefully word for word.

Wu Shanqiu took a deep breath helplessly, rolled up her sleeves, pulled over a chair, and sat opposite Qi Fei to analyze it together.

Qi Fei had already entered work mode. While looking at the list, he muttered: "According to the people at the ticketing company, Chen Hao was famous for his good service. As long as he was the one booking the tickets for a client, he would wait at the departure level and accompany them until they reached the security checkpoint. For returning clients, he would also wait at the arrival gate to help with luggage and send them to their car. During this time, there was plenty of time to complete offline transactions." ===== CHAPTER 195 =====