The Brain Science Case 113

Chapter 113: Hibernating in the Dim Sunlight – 7

Adjusting her breathing, Jinglin attacked the punching bag in rhythm. Whether it was kicks, knee strikes, or elbow strikes, she did them all with precision. After twenty minutes of continuous high-intensity practice, she hugged the punching bag and panted. First, she had run two thousand meters, and then she had immediately started boxing. She was drenched in sweat.

But behind the exhilaration was a deep sense of emptiness.

No matter how she pressed, Dingdang would not talk. Did she know her mother had been taken away by Wu Jianxiong? Did she know she had already been killed? Why was she so indifferent?

The special task force’s investigation had also begun, but strangely, whether it was Ah Wei, Chen Huomu, or Lu Tingfeng, it felt like they had all colluded, and they were all tight-lipped about the investigation… this feeling of being kept in the dark made Jinglin even more unhappy.

After panting, her mood finally settled down. She wiped her sweat and was about to leave when a crisp sound of a firing pin made her jump.

Who’s at the shooting range at this time?

The training room was right next to the shooting range. Although there were no strict rules, shooting practice was usually done in groups, and it was rare for anyone to apply for it outside of the scheduled time…

She peeked her head out curiously and found that the person who had come to shoot was not a police officer, but Tang Yingli.

Yingli was focused on the target, in a standard shooting stance, and her trigger pull was extremely smooth, and every bullet hit the target with precision. Jinglin was stunned and couldn’t help but admire her.

“Phew, a little rusty…” Tang Yingli let out a “tsk” and turned to see Jinglin hiding in the corner. “Officer Zhou?”

“Ah… I-I heard a gunshot, so I came to see.” Jinglin looked embarrassed at being caught peeking. “Don’t mind me, you can continue to practice.”

Yingli gave a wry smile and removed the magazine. “You’re drenched in sweat… did something happen to upset you?”

“Um, actually, it’s just that the investigation has hit a snag.” She walked to Yingli’s side, and Yingli took off her goggles and shook her hair.

“You said before that your shooting evaluation scores were very good, and now I’ve finally seen it for myself.”

“You still remember?”

“Yes, I often look at the photo you have on your TV cabinet.” Taking a deep breath, she asked with a smile, “How is your investigation going?”

“Ah, it’s going well.”

“So it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to relive the feeling of pulling the trigger?” Jinglin met her gaze. “After all, you’ve never been here to shoot before. So I guess… could it be that you’ve also run into some trouble?”

Facing Jinglin’s probing, for a moment, Yingli was at a loss for how to answer.

Qian Hanliang had finally admitted that he had seen Wu Jianxiong, and he had also given a more detailed explanation of his subsequent actions. Although he still insisted that he had indeed stabbed Li Yuejiao, after she had obtained the plastic surgery information from Su Huiquan, she had officially overturned this statement.

From the photos, Li Yuejiao had traces of a uterine fibroid surgery, and a suture wound that was not recorded in her medical records but was likely related to a cancer cell removal surgery, but there was no fatal wound like a seppuku. As for the cancer cell removal surgery not being recorded, Yingli instinctively felt that it needed to be investigated further—of course, that was for later.

He had fled in a panic after he had acted, which had led to Jinglin witnessing Li Yuejiao’s “death”… it seemed that the facts were already close to her speculation, but Yingli was instead worried.

No matter how cleverly Li Yuejiao had faked her death, or how Zhou Zengxiang had tried every means to exclude Jinglin from the special task force, Yingli always believed that Jinglin would eventually find out the truth. The only difference was when she would find out, and from whom.

“Teacher?” Jinglin asked with a confused smile, “what’s wrong? You look so down.”

“Ah…” she stared at the Walther PPQ-M2 in her hand and shook her head, “just… I just wanted to try it out. After all, I’ve never actually used this model of gun before.”

“This batch of guns was replaced shortly after I joined the Criminal Investigation Division last year. It was just a coincidence that they were being replaced…”

“Teacher, so you’re here.” Jian Minggui came around. “I’ve found a new batch of clues, Wu Jian…” he was startled to find Jinglin also there when he got closer. “Uh, Little Zhou?”

“Senior Ah Gui.”

He gave a strained smile and turned to Yingli. “I’ve found a clue to their company’s operations… and a suspicious news report.” He covered his face with a folder and hinted in a low voice.

“Yes, I understand.”

“How can you understand that? The senior was so unclear… I think I just heard Wu something.”

“Ha, no, you’re too sensitive. We’re investigating something else.”

“It’s about the special project, right?” Seeing Jian Minggui nod awkwardly, she turned to Yingli again. “Could it be that your investigation… is also related to Wu Jianxiong?”

“It’s not very certain yet.” Yingli lowered her eyes and began to pack up her magazine and holster. “It’s getting late. You’re drenched in sweat… you should go back and change. Officer Jian, we’ll talk in the team room.”

“Oh.”

Yingli and Jian Minggui spoke in low voices and quickly left, leaving her, who was still in the dark.

**

Returning to the special task force room, the projection screen showed a newspaper page. The bold headline indicated a serious industrial accident.

“Scaffolding collapse, crane steel bars break…”, “the safety crisis of construction sites has come to the surface”, “it’s both an accident and a man-made disaster”, and other sensational words were highlighted in eye-catching phrases, which quickly caught Yingli’s attention.

“Yesterday’s incident?”

“That’s right. After Ah Gui found this accident, I contacted the Taoyuan City Immigration Agency’s special task force, and they also mentioned that the situation was very chaotic, and that after the incident, several Vietnamese workers were missing.” Fang Zijun’s expression was grave.

“Officer Jian has already briefly explained it to me, so… it’s now confirmed that these missing workers were all introduced by Wu Jianxiong’s human resources agency?”

“That’s right. All six of them have records in the immigration agency.”

Jian Minggui operated the projector, and the screen quickly switched to the six missing Vietnamese workers, including their photos and personal resumes.

“Legally introduced…”

“And then I asked the captain of the special task force. With this accident, they brought back sixty-seven illegal workers in one go, fifty of whom were directly or indirectly controlled by Wu Jianxiong’s underground agency,” Fang Zijun explained.

And now all the illegal migrant workers have been brought back and are ready to be repatriated one by one.

Fifty out of sixty-seven? And the six missing workers before… the more Yingli thought about it, the more she felt that something was wrong. “Which construction company does this project belong to?”

Jian Minggui handed her another paper file. It was a urban renewal project in Taoyuan City, a conversion of an abandoned old fruit and vegetable market. Although it was originally planned as a commercial district, the location of the industrial accident was clearly planned as a residential building.

“The person in charge of this company… is there any information?”

“The person on the file is just a figurehead.” Chen Huomu interjected. “I know someone in the Pingtung special task force. They often conduct cross-regional raids and also cooperate with the military police. There are a lot of construction projects in Taoyuan, and a lot of illegal workers. The employers are very good at evading criminal responsibility, so it’s impossible to catch them all.”

“So… are you now suspecting that this was a deliberate ‘accident’ by Mountain Wind?”

“It’s not impossible. A lot of his people were used here, and after the accident, six of the foreign workers he had introduced just happened to go missing.”

“Have you not found their whereabouts yet?”

“Not yet. It’s not uncommon for foreign workers to run away from their original employers. There are a lot of them, and it’s not easy to catch them.”

Pushing up her glasses, Yingli pointed at Jian Minggui. “Let me see the information on those six people again.”

Almost instinctively, she immediately locked on to one of them. “Nguyen Thi Xuan… is he the only one who speaks Chinese?”

Chen Huomu explained, “It’s usually like that. Unless it’s a caregiver who needs to communicate a lot, otherwise, in a construction site, only one of a group of foreign workers will speak, and then he will be in charge of the others.”

Yingli paid special attention to the look in his eyes in the photo, and after carefully reading his personal information, she couldn’t help but shiver. This person had been a butcher, a porter, and had done almost all kinds of heavy manual labor. He was married and had a daughter.

“This person… doesn’t feel right.”

“What do you mean?”

“He reminds me of the look of a serial killer.” She felt an inexplicable tension in her nerves. “Don’t you think his eyes are a little similar to those of Qian Hanliang and Su Yijie, Chief Fang?”

“Well… I think it’s okay.”

“Can you let me talk to someone who has had contact with him? Maybe I can get a better understanding of his situation.”

“There should be someone among those illegal workers who has had contact with him… okay, I’ll contact them.”

“Also, please have Officer Jian try to track down the real person in charge of this construction company. If Wu Jianxiong really acted after planning, then we will definitely be able to find some connection.”

“I understand.”

“Officer Cai.”

Cai Yuwei, who had not had a chance to speak, jumped up. “Yes, Teacher?”

“Can you get the surveillance footage?” she paused and added, “from Taoyuan City.”

“That would be cross-regional… but I think it should be possible.”

“Please start the search from the scene of the accident.” She stared at the six workers on the screen. “I want to know their whereabouts.”

“Okay… I’ll check right away.”

Yingli gazed at Nguyen Thi Xuan again, and in less than half a minute, Fang Zijun, holding a phone, waved at her.

She immediately took it.

**

Wei Shenghui, with a cigarette in his mouth, listened to the phone, his expression growing more and more ferocious.

“What did you say?” he jumped up from his chair, “one of your documents still has my name on it.”

Although he was only one of many shareholders and his identity as a decision-maker in the company’s operations was not exposed, it was enough to cause him great harm.

“The election is at the end of this year… if this kind of thing gets out, will I ever be able to get rid of the label of colluding with the government and enriching myself?”

The person on the other end apologized profusely. ‘In the end… it’s all the fault of those foreign workers. They tied things up like that.’ If it weren’t for that, how could it have attracted the attention of reporters or the police?

“The crane’s steel bars breaking is also a fact. Who told you to turn a blind eye to industrial safety issues? Now it’s a big deal.”

‘I know I was wrong… brother. What should we do now?’

The special task force had already arrested all the illegal workers, and the remaining people couldn’t do their work… not to mention that if the document records were exposed and affected the election, the losses would be huge.

“In any case, get my name off of it first. As for the construction site… I’ll find a way to get more people.” He took an angry drag and threw the cigarette butt on the floor, stamping it out. “I’m also very tight on funds. If the project doesn’t proceed quickly, I won’t have enough funds to run for election… yes, that’s all for now.”

As soon as he hung up, he saw his assistant peeking around with another phone. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Boss Wu.”

“He still has the nerve to call me.” Wei Shenghui angrily took the phone. “Hello, Boss Wu, how did you guarantee it to me before?”

Didn’t he say that these people were obedient and willing to work? But it was his people who tied the steel bars, and it was his people who ran away after the incident. He now really regretted trusting Zhao Chenghong’s words, which had made it difficult for his project to proceed.

But at this time, Wu Jianxiong had changed his tune. ‘I heard from my people that under the councilor, they ate poorly, slept poorly, and not only did they work twelve hours a day, but sometimes even fourteen hours.’

“This… the schedule at the construction site is all handled by my cousin. But your people are just digging a hole…”

Wu Jianxiong sneered. ‘As the saying goes, “other people’s children never die.” You’re really good at shifting the blame, councilor. Wasn’t it you who said to rush? And I calculated before, your project needs at least a hundred people, but in the end? The total number of Taiwanese and foreign workers is only eighty, and the locals get the good and easy jobs, and the foreign workers are the ones who are overworked.’

Wei Shenghui was so speechless that his original intention to question him was instantly weakened. “Okay… okay. You have a point, Boss Wu. But the project still has to go on. What do you want to do now?”

‘Simple. I still have people here. I’ll get you more… I’m also responsible for this incident today. Why don’t we meet tonight and talk it over, and we can both take a step back.’

Wu Jianxiong’s timely lowering of his stance effectively soothed his emotions. “Okay, then how do we meet?”

‘The old place.’