Chapter 216

Jianyuan Avenue.

Both sides of the road were planted with dense, tall trees and bamboo forests.

Behind the bamboo forests were vast numbers of small restaurants.

Company employees who didn't want to eat in the cafeteria would roam this street like foraging antelopes, striving to fatten themselves up.

Jiang Yuan and the others found a noodle shop, each ordered a bowl of board noodles and triple the portion of braised beef, then sat on the second floor, wearily admiring the beautiful scenery outside the window.

The lushly growing bamboo was about a story and a half high, forming a beautiful green shade that still allowed the sunlight to shine through in dappled spots.

The long table in the small restaurant was oily and shiny but still relatively clean. The bowls for the noodles were quite unique, large enough to fit a head inside, though they were wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, so the actual portion size didn't change.

The noodles, full of red chili oil, were bright and red, whetting the appetite.

The braised beef on top of the noodles had both fat and lean meat, stewed until extremely tender. The soup was a slightly salty, thick broth, and the noodles were thick, hand-kneaded ones.

Several people slurped away as they ate.

Five hours of on-site investigation were enough to exhaust a person's energy and physical strength for the entire day.

"It would be best if we can catch the person, catch them red-handed, and then this case will be clean and simple." Huang Qiangmin finished the last mouthful of noodles, wiped his mouth, and started talking about the case again.

There were no other customers on the second floor, so the atmosphere was a bit more relaxed.

Jiang Yuan also put down his bowl, gave a "Yeah," and said: "That would naturally be best."

Wu Jun chuckled twice, translated his apprentice's words, and said: "Captain, we can't just think about the good things."

"I know, I know..." Huang Qiangmin rubbed his head, frowned slightly, and said: "The key is where the documents are. If we can find the documents, the problem will be more than half solved."

"Looking at President Yuan's meaning, even if the documents are found, he also wants to know whose hands they fell into and whose hands they passed through." The thin crime scene investigator was from Qinghe City and was likely acting under the instructions and requirements of his superiors.

Local police for local matters—it's inevitable.

Although Ningtai County was also under the jurisdiction of Qinghe City, it was ultimately still a layer removed from the city's enterprises. But for the Qinghe City Bureau, ensuring the listing of a key enterprise about to go public was truly a duty that could not be shirked.

Huang Qiangmin scoffed and said: "Do you think we're counter-espionage agents, checking whose hands it passed through... It's good enough if we find the documents. If they burn them or throw them away, then that's that. Our ability is limited; if we can't do it, we can't. All I can do is try my best to catch the person and find the items. As for what happened in the middle, whether we can interrogate it out or not, that's up to fate."

The thin investigator thought to himself, if you have no desires and no demands, why come here? Anyone can say pretty words, but when the leaders call, will you answer or not?

However, he wasn't from the company, and it wasn't his place to command or supervise Huang Qiangmin's work. Having made his side's thoughts clear, he couldn't control what Huang Qiangmin chose to do.

Moreover, Huang Qiangmin saying this also reduced the pressure on them.

Indeed, clarifying the intermediate links was extremely complex; not only did it have to be interrogated out, but it also had to be proven. If the documents had value, certain intermediate links might only be known to the two parties in the transaction, so what could be done then? If the documents had no value to the thief and were discarded, it would be very difficult to verify what happened during the discarding period.

Slurp, slurp...

The chubby investigator, facing his second bowl of noodles, was eating earnestly and happily, sweat breaking out all over his head.

The thin investigator handed him a tissue, sighed, and said: "No one is snatching it from you, why eat so fast?"

"I'm afraid there won't be anything to eat at night." The chubby investigator still looked very diligent and said: "I'd rather be full now to avoid regretting it when eating instant noodles at night."

"You already know you'll have to pull an all-nighter?" the thin investigator said.

"In a case like this, where is there ever no all-nighter?" The fatty's reasoning was sound.

Just as they were talking, a Jianyuan executive walked in.

He was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, looking very much like a successful person, and his hair was meticulous.

"What a coincidence." The executive smiled very warmly.

Huang Qiangmin frowned: "Contacting investigators in private won't do you any good."

The executive said earnestly: "Officer, I want to report some information that is hard to say at the company. When Yuan Yutang was young, he used to hang out in the underworld. He knows a lot of petty thieves."

He was talking about Yuan Jiansheng's third son, who was also a major participant in the Jianyuan Company succession war.

A particularly lively person.

Jiang Yuan remembered that when he was taking photos, that person was even making faces, leaving a deep impression.

Huang Qiangmin was noncommittal: "And then?"

"Honestly, for someone like me, if I wanted to find a locksmith, I'd have to search online, ask friends, or look in the hallways of old, dilapidated buildings. Yuan Yutang can not only find local ones, but he also knows people from out of town—professional thieves, even out-of-town thugs—he can find them all."

The executive said very earnestly: "He used to be in cahoots with the underworld. Now he's been called out by President Yuan, but people don't change."

Huang Qiangmin gave a "Yeah" and asked back: "Where did you get the news? That we're looking for professional thieves?"

"Captain Huang, aren't you looking down on people?"

The middle-aged executive revealed a "you know" expression and continued: "In short, the third son has been unruly since he was a child. He's from the generation that grew up watching 'Young and Dangerous' movies. He's settled down in recent years, but was propped up by a group of old men wanting to seize power. Actually, it's still that same 'Young and Dangerous' set. He's the only one who would use these kinds of methods."

"Alright, we've received your information." Huang Qiangmin took out his notebook and wrote it down. Anyway, if there's information, just write it down; it's better than nothing.

The middle-aged executive felt he hadn't achieved the desired effect, but he didn't say anything more, nodded, and walked away with his head held high.

When he got downstairs, he even patted his pant legs.

Thinking that a bunch of poor cops could only afford to eat at this hole-in-the-wall restaurant.

The little fatty investigator had put down his chopsticks when the person arrived. Now, he poked his head to look through the glass at the person's movements and asked very strangely: "Have we gotten ourselves involved in a family drama?"

"Not necessarily, a listed company, a scale of ten billion... that's all..." The thin investigator said a couple of things, then clicked his tongue and said: "If it were me, I wouldn't be convinced either. Why should someone born a few years earlier be able to inherit a family business worth tens of billions, while the other brothers have to live under his thumb..."

The little fatty looked up with his triple chin and asked: "So, in that case, this third son really is a major suspect. Is it possible he's the one who found people to steal the documents?"

The thin investigator, as the master, was older and more sensitive. He didn't say a word, just smiled and looked at Huang Qiangmin and Jiang Yuan and the others.

In this case, the two of them were just assistants.

If it's solved, they are good assistants.

If it's not solved, they are still assistants.

Huang Qiangmin also had some doubts and asked Jiang Yuan: "What do you think?"

"I don't know." Jiang Yuan said directly: "Our evidence is very sufficient now, so we'll just follow the evidence."

Huang Qiangmin and Wu Jun couldn't help but nod.

It wasn't that they agreed with Jiang Yuan's plan so much, but after working together for so long, Jiang Yuan's work style and case-solving efficiency were obvious to all.

If Huang Qiangmin were left to solve this case on his own, he wouldn't even touch it.

Of course, if it weren't for Jiang Yuan, he, as the captain of a criminal investigation brigade in a remote county, wouldn't be able to touch a case like this either.

The Qinghe City Bureau was probably also afraid of getting involved and had considerations about avoiding suspicion, but overall, the final considerations of all parties stemmed from their recognition of Jiang Yuan's ability.

After all, for this matter, the main leading party's stated goal was still to solve the case and find the lost items. At the same time, if they could maintain a certain degree of confidentiality, that would be best.

"Let's go. Get to work."

Huang Qiangmin shouted, and several people went downstairs and went straight to the police station at the end of the street.

There was an internal network here. After downloading the corresponding software, they could compare fingerprints in the high-level database. Otherwise, if they only used mobile phones or the regular internet, they could only view the basic database.

Jiang Yuan got a computer and went to do the fingerprints himself.

The two investigators were using the various lists sent over by the bureau to do the screening. If they wanted to investigate, they had to define a scope. Although screening wasn't a good choice, there were actually only a few routes for solving this kind of case.

Wu Jun brewed a cup of tea and watched Huang Qiangmin chat with the station chief. He was originally just here to accompany people; without a corpse, there was nothing else he could do.

At night.

The third son, Yuan Yutang, who the executive said grew up watching "Young and Dangerous," appeared.

Yuan Yutang was dressed very fashionably.

Flowery pants paired with a red shirt.

Unlike when his father was there in the morning, he was very flamboyant.

He was followed by a few lackeys, but he was alone when he first came in.

Seeing Jiang Yuan working, the third son strolled over, looked him up and down, and said:

"Officer Jiang, your color coordination is not bad. I can tell at a glance that your level is different."

The third son pointed at Jiang Yuan's clothes and pants combination.

Jiang Yuan was still wearing his police pants, but he had changed into a shirt he brought himself to work at night.

He had previously received the legacy of "Trendy Clothing (LV2)," and although he hadn't used it deliberately, he was using it naturally now.

He was tall, and for a guy, you often don't need to look at his face; his height is enough.

As for now, his appearance was more composed than when he first started, and he didn't look as green.

He was dressed neatly and had style.

It's just that in the police station, the only ones who care about fashion are forensic experts—because when writing reports, they often have to describe the deceased's clothing—but his master Wu Jun's fashion sense was still stuck in the last century, and he was indifferent to Jiang Yuan's and the latest deceased young person's attire.

Jiang Yuan looked at the third son, Yuan Yutang, thinking to himself whether this person might have some issues with his sexual orientation.

Mainly because the other party was wearing a pair of Gucci leather slippers, the golden kind, with all sorts of messy, bling-bling accessories flashing on them, and his face even had light makeup on, exquisite beyond the self-cultivation of a rich second generation.

Even though Jiang Yuan's footprint identification level was very high, seeing such a pair of shoes at first glance made him want to shout "The male rabbit's feet are jumping" (a reference to a poem about gender confusion).

Thinking back to how this gentleman looked like a workplace elite during the day, he suddenly felt that the Yuan father and son were particularly "criminal."

The third son didn't care about Jiang Yuan's gaze; he had specifically dressed like this to come over. He started with an opening and then went straight to the point:

"Officer Jiang, I'm here to provide you with clues."

Huang Qiangmin and the others also pricked up their ears.

The third son said: "My eldest brother is very utilitarian. He's the type who, if he wants to do something, will stay up until five in the morning every day to finish it. The old man said long ago he wanted to hand the company to him, but that's been said for more than ten years. If I were the eldest brother, I couldn't stand it either."

Seeing Jiang Yuan listening earnestly.

He continued: "I know some dogs went to complain to you today about my past. I admit to those things, but who hasn't been young? To tell you the truth, when I fought with people, I was always the one standing at the back with the loudest voice, not daring to step forward—just a keyboard warrior. This time, it has absolutely nothing to do with me."

The third son felt it was a bit exciting to analyze his past to the police and continued:

"My eldest brother has problems, but my second brother is the real dog. Look at how he usually acts like he's just eating, drinking, and having fun, not caring about company matters. Hmph, in reality, his hands reach further than anyone's. I saw him having a private meal with the company's old men last time."

"This time, it's very likely my second brother wants to finish off both me and my eldest brother."

"How to finish them off?" Jiang Yuan asked back.

"The listing is led by my eldest brother. My father is an old-school person and originally wanted to run a family business. But now the city has requirements, and my eldest brother wants to list to raise money. Plus, others on the board of directors have the same idea, so my father agreed." The third son paused and said: "If it's framed as me finding someone to steal the items, and then those documents are released, causing the listing to fail, then wouldn't my father have no choice but to choose the second brother?"

The third son finished saying what he had to say, turned around to leave, and then turned back to say to Jiang Yuan: "Buddy, when the case is solved, let's drink together. I like you."

Jiang Yuan stared at his shoes, shook his head, and refused: "Let's wait until it's solved."

"Alright, won't hold you up." The third son finished speaking and swayed away.

Jiang Yuan and the others looked at each other and continued to get busy.

Just as the little fatty said, in a case like this, where is there ever no all-nighter?

However, they didn't stay up too long.

Three in the morning.

Jiang Yuan matched the fingerprints.

Just as he had guessed, this was a 35-year-old veteran professional thief with a 20-year history of theft, having spent half his life in prison.

This time, he had two fingers pressed against the inside of the door frame, likely touched when he first opened the door. When he wiped it later, he had also skipped this spot.

Fingerprints are a professional thief's greatest enemy.

The Yuan residence's study door was high-end enough that even a professional thief might have to hold his breath and stare intently to pick the lock, and he certainly couldn't wear gloves; otherwise, the tactile sensation of his fingers would be different, and the efficiency of picking the lock would be very low.

As for wiping away fingerprints, thieves have never been professional enough at that.

Jiang Yuan sent the information to Huang Qiangmin, watched him use his phone to wake up Wu Junhao and the others from the First Brigade, and then returned to the nearby hotel with the fat-and-thin duo to rest.

The next day.

Jiang Yuan was still in his dreams when he was woken up by Huang Qiangmin's phone call.

"Are we leaving?" Jiang Yuan asked groggily.

"The third son is dead." Huang Qiangmin was concise.

"One minute." Jiang Yuan was completely awake.