Chapter 118: Hibernating in the Dim Sunlight – 12
A series of urgent footsteps echoed on the ground as Tang Yingli ran back to the special task force room at top speed.
“What’s the important news?” she asked, wiping her sweat and taking off her coat as she looked at the whiteboard.
“First, the person in charge of the construction company,” Jian Minggui placed a freshly printed paper on the whiteboard, “as the deputy chief said, the person in charge of the company changes every year to avoid investigation. The real decision-maker is this person.”
She stared at the photo. “Wei Shenghui… a Taoyuan city councilor?” Jian Minggui’s information was very detailed, including his political experience and his family’s political and business background. It was better not to look. This family was almost a political dynasty. And Wei Shenghui was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and had worked his way up from the grassroots to a city councilor, and was running for re-election at the end of the year.
“So this is their family business?”
“Yes, the current person in charge is his cousin.” It was conceivable that all the shareholders on the document were Wei Shenghui’s relatives and friends.
She pushed up her glasses. “I see. Although there’s still some time before the end of the year, if it were to be revealed that his construction company had a major industrial accident, and even used so many illegal workers, it would probably have a great impact on his political career, right?” Ironically, when he had run for election, he had used “fighting for labor rights” as his slogan.
“The real key is at the end.” Jian Minggui was on edge. “The chief just received a report, and the person who reported it was Wei Shenghui’s assistant.”
“His assistant?” Yingli frowned. “What’s going on…”
“According to his assistant, they left Givenchy last night, and in less than five minutes, they were attacked by a group of people with clubs, and then Wei Shenghui was quickly taken away.”
The person who spoke was Cai Yuwei. “Teacher, look at the projection screen.”
Yingli looked up and saw that a street corner surveillance camera had captured an imported car being smashed by six masked culprits with clubs. A moment later, the right rear door was opened, and a man in a suit was dragged out of the car in a sorry state. Three of them surrounded him, and a moment later, he was hooded and tied up, and dragged to a blind spot of the surveillance camera, leaving only the smashed car and the assistant and the driver.
“Was the culprits’ car not caught on camera?”
“It was just at an angle that couldn’t be captured. I checked a few other nearby surveillance cameras, and two of them found a suspicious vehicle.”
The screen was divided into left and right, and a familiar dark blue van flashed by.
“This car… is it the same one that picked up the six missing and escaped foreign workers?”
“The license plate wasn’t captured, but my thoughts are the same as the teacher’s.”
Yingli’s eyes widened. “So you’re saying… Wu Jianxiong kidnapped his own client?” she quickly put the two and two together, “first, he provided illegal labor to Wei Shenghui, and then he caused an industrial accident, and when the time was right, he had these people kidnap him…”
Whether it was the industrial accident, or the fact that Wei Shenghui, as a councilor, was secretly in charge of a construction company, or even the long-neglected work rights of foreign migrant workers, they would probably all be exposed to the media.
But what was Wu Jianxiong’s… no, Li Yuejiao’s real purpose? She couldn’t just be trying to reflect the current state of society.
“Has this case been reported by the news media yet?”
“Let me see…” the crisp sound of a keyboard sounded, “not yet. At least there are no large-scale reports in the online news yet, only the industrial accident from a few days ago.”
Yingli rested her chin on her hand and quickly reviewed the other members of the Wei family—including the director of a certain food manufacturer that had had a food safety incident, who was also on the list.
Among them, a seemingly inconspicuous name caught her eye.
“This person…” Wei Yumin. Her black-painted nails rested on this name, and she decisively pulled down the file Jian Minggui had organized.
“Uh, Teacher?” Jian Minggui held the file that had been stuffed into his chest.
“Help me look up Wei Shenghui’s uncle, and find out his position when he was in politics.”
“His uncle?” he found the name “Wei Yumin,” “why are you suddenly looking him up?” Aren’t we focused on Wei Shenghui’s case right now?
“Although it’s just my deduction… but I have a feeling that Li Yuejiao’s real target is him.” Yingli squinted, and a vague intuition flashed through her mind… a key point that could link the poisoning death of Lin Pinyi and the kidnapping of Wei Shenghui.
“Oh, since you’ve said so, Teacher…” he rubbed his nose and resignedly returned to his seat.
She looked at Lu Tingfeng, who had not had a chance to speak since he had come in. “Officer Lu.”
“What’s wrong?”
“When we were investigating the Lin Pinyi case, did we collect the reports he had written before?”
“We only brought back a part of them. But we can contact the magazine he submitted to, and maybe we can find more.”
“Please give me the contact information for the magazine. I’ll contact them directly.”
“No problem.”
**
After confirming the magazine’s account, Yingli hung up the phone.
“Teacher, I’ve already found the information you wanted.”
“Please send it to me directly.” Jian Minggui quickly sent the file, and she immediately opened it and found the position of “investigator” in his resume.
As expected. She was right…
“Teacher, this information… is it helpful?”
“Yes, according to the information, Wei Yumin is a hated enemy to some specific victims.” She circled the position of “Taipei City Investigation Bureau investigator” on the file. This position, with its hands stained with blood, was so lightly described in this file. “And I just confirmed that Lin Pinyi did indeed focus his reports on early artists… especially a group of people who had been persecuted by the authoritarian regime.”
In this way, the connection between the two cases was indeed found.
Wei Shenghui, as a councilor, had used the slogan of “fighting for labor rights,” but had secretly hired illegal workers and had disregarded the rights of foreign migrant workers. And behind him, there was an elder who had been in charge of fabricating charges and imprisoning innocent people back then. And Lin Pinyi was a freelance journalist who had made it his mission to interview this group of artists who had been persecuted by the authoritarian regime.
“I see… so this is the real purpose of Mountain Wind?”
“What purpose?” Jian Minggui was confused.
“Well…”
Before Yingli could explain, Fang Zijun and Chen Huomu returned to the team room together.
“Chief Fang?”
“Chief.” All eyes were on him. His expression was serious, and after a look around, his gaze fell on Yingli.
“You’re back too, Teacher?”
“Yes, I just arrested the culprit in the Lin Pinyi poisoning case.” She stood up. “How did the on-site investigation go, Chief?”
He frowned. “The original target was the councilor Wei’s election opponent, but during the search, the director sent this video.”
The video that was broadcast through the projector shocked all the team members except for Fang and Chen.
The tied-up Wei Shenghui was in tears, and in front of the camera, he confessed how he had hired illegal workers through an underground agency, including wage shortages, overtime work, disregard for labor rights, and disregard for construction site safety, for more than three minutes.
Yingli bit her lip. “This video… where did it come from?”
“A friend of the director. His real identity is not convenient to disclose, but he said the culprit sent this threatening video through email.”
“Are there any conditions?” she asked, looking at Fang Zijun, “to send such a threatening video, they must be planning to use Councilor Wei’s personal safety as a bargaining chip. If this video were to be leaked to the internet or the media, not to mention the construction project, his political career would probably be over.”
At Yingli’s questioning, Fang Zijun pursed his lips and finally shook his head forcefully. “The director only told me to rescue Councilor Wei as soon as possible, and he didn’t say anything else.”
“If it’s not that the source is tight-lipped about it, then it’s that the director is deliberately protecting it?” she walked to the whiteboard and tapped Lin Pinyi’s photo with her knuckles, “I’ve finally found the connection between the two cases… and this may be the real target of Mountain Wind’s actions.”
“It’s of course important to understand their target, but right now there’s someone waiting for us to save.” Fang Zijun raised his voice. “Besides, even if the other party really has any demands, we police absolutely cannot dance to their tune. As for the other problems, we’ll talk about them after this mission is over.”
The team room was silent. Fang Zijun and Yingli faced off, and after a moment, she pursed her lips and crossed her arms.
“Let me see that video again.”
**
Yingli repeatedly examined the video clip and deduced that the filming location was likely a large construction site.
“Could it be the construction site where the accident happened before?”
“I don’t think so. It’s only the second day of Councilor Wei’s kidnapping. Look here,” Yingli pointed to the background in the video, “it looks like the early morning. Officer Zhou went to Givenchy to investigate last night at eight, and it’s not impossible to go back to Taoyuan, but if they want to make this case eye-catching… they would definitely choose a more sensational location.”
“This steel bar in the distance…” Lu Tingfeng covered his mouth, “I have a feeling it looks more and more like an arc, and it’s also rusted.” Is there any large building that is temporarily suspended and has this kind of large, curved roof?
“Could it be the… dome stadium that’s currently suspended?”
A single sentence from Cai Yuwei instantly set everyone’s nerves on edge.
“Check the intersections of Guangfu North Road, Civic Boulevard, and Zhongxiao East Road, and see if you can find that suspicious van you saw before.”
Twenty minutes later, Fang Zijun, who had confirmed the whereabouts of the culprit and Wei Shenghui, immediately contacted the Xinyi precinct for assistance. The original special task force was not enough, and many detectives were notified and dispatched to support.
“What case happened?”
Jinglin, who was processing documents, turned and saw Yingli, in a coat, hurry past. “Teacher?” she wanted to call out, but Yingli’s movements were too fast. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that even Xiangrong was preparing to move out.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Oh, the chief said there’s an emergency rescue operation… the others have also received it, right?” Xiangrong pointed to his phone. “I won’t say any more. I’m going now.”
“I didn’t get it.” Jinglin checked her phone screen again and again, but the message field was blank. “Xiangrong? Hey.”
“Little Zhou, if you didn’t get it, it means you’re on standby in the division. Sit down first.” The police officer across from her smiled, and it was clear that he was also one of those who had not been called.
In the past, no matter how big or small the case, she had always been one of Fang Zijun’s most favored subordinates. But ever since the special task force was formed, whether it was the special project itself or a general emergency deployment, she had almost always been excluded from the chief’s sight.
Although she didn’t feel very good about it, she saw that the others were all continuing to carry out their duties. She bit her lip and could only silently continue with her work.
**
Yingli, Fang Zijun, Chen Huomu, and the others were in the same car, and two other service vehicles were following behind.
‘Chief, I don’t know if this is related to the case…’ Jian Minggui, who was still providing support in the team room, said through the radio, ‘Councilor Wei and the person in charge of the dome stadium project, that is, Zhao Chenghong, seem to be quite close…’
“Is that the construction group CEO who was bailed out for a sky-high amount before?”
‘Yes, if you look at it from this point of view, it’s understandable why they would choose the dome stadium as the kidnapping location.’
“They’re both involved in the construction industry…” Yingli, who had heard the conversation, rested her chin on her hand, “maybe this CEO Zhao has even given Councilor Wei some guidance before.”
“What do you mean, Teacher?”
“Ah, it’s nothing, I was just talking to myself.” She sneered and suddenly thought of the six masked culprits who had filmed the kidnapping. “If the people involved in the crime are really the six Vietnamese workers led by Nguyen Thi Xuan… they’ve already committed such a major crime, how can he see his daughter?”
“Teacher?” Fang Zijun heard her muttering.
“Ah, don’t mind me. I was just thinking about something else.”
In the evening, the sirens and the blue and red flashing lights of the service vehicles were out of place in the rush hour traffic.
A tall iron fence had already been erected outside the dome stadium. It was covered with posters questioning this large construction project and the administrative head. This dome stadium had been forcibly suspended because it had not passed the public safety review, and the exposed large steel bars were rusted and mottled everywhere.
Fang Zijun was in constant contact with the precinct police during the drive. “…Is that so? Okay, I understand.” He turned off the radio. “We’ve found the dark blue van used to kidnap the councilor.”
The service vehicle arrived at the van’s parking spot, and Yingli used a flashlight to look inside, and found what looked like a rope and a hood to cover the face.
“Teacher, they should be up there.” Chen Huomu pointed to a certain spot on the towering dome stadium.
She looked up, and the steel structure happened to block the setting sun. In the dim light, the entire building looked strangely and eerily sinister.
Pushing up her glasses, she followed without hesitation.
