The situation was a tangle of mysteries, and for the moment they could reach no conclusion.
The information Ming Han and Wen Wu brought back from the reception offered indirect confirmation that Yunquan Group’s labor-placement fair operated in gray areas, creating opportunities for illegal businesses overseas. But the police still lacked a complete body of evidence. Brother Du could change his story at any time, and not one of the overseas workers they had checked admitted to illegal gambling or providing sexual services.
When the Mobile Unit dug deeper into Jin Xiaoquan’s background, it found details at odds with its earlier deductions. He had first come to Hua Country only six years ago. Although he was from Country K, there he seemed to have been an utterly ordinary businessman. Without riding the wave of Yunquan Group’s labor-placement operation, he would never have attained his present standing. His center of activity was not his native Country K but Southeast Asia, where most of the workers entering his company were sent.
“That’s strange,” Ming Han said, chin in hand, his brows drawing together. “His ties to Yunquan Group should go back further than that. You can barely tell he’s a foreigner from the way he speaks. He can’t have been here for only six years. And if it’s only six years, how does he know Bu Yangyun? Not only did they know each other, they worked together. Did he go to Country G?”
Tang Xiaoli shook his head. “Not according to what we’ve found. We have no record of him going to Europe. He’s mainly been active in Southeast and South Asia.”
“Then he’s lying,” Ming Han said. “Maybe he doesn’t know Bu Yangyun at all, but knows our relationship and brought him up deliberately to throw me off. Or perhaps his current identity is forged: he may have come to Hua Country much earlier, and may not have been an ordinary businessman in Country K either.”
Jin Xiaoquan still needed investigation, but the Mobile Unit faced a problem: he could leave the country at any moment. They had no evidence of a crime. At most, they could ask him to cooperate with inquiries, not simply keep him in the country. The labor-placement fair had ended, and many successful applicants were now in training. He had every reason to accompany them abroad.
Besides Jin Xiaoquan, the Mobile Unit had uncovered another clue related to Yunquan Group, one that also had some connection to Junan City.
Yunquan Group and Junan’s Huyun Tea Factory appeared to have nothing to do with each other, but the two companies had in fact established ties nine years earlier. The tea factory had opened a pharmaceutical production line while still trading under the factory’s name. Yunquan Group was among its earliest investors.
At first, Huyun Pharmaceuticals operated on the tea factory’s premises. After years of development, however, the tea and pharmaceutical businesses had formally separated. The latter even dropped “Huyun” from its name, becoming Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals.
This pharmaceutical company was small and little known even within Junan. Its principal products were weight-loss drugs and health supplements.
“That doesn’t fit Yunquan Group’s business either,” Ming Han said. Then he remembered Liang Yueze’s compassionate, concerned expression. Liang had claimed to open vocational schools and organize labor-placement fairs to provide jobs for more disadvantaged workers, cooperating with businesses in all kinds of unrelated fields. Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals did not stand out much by comparison.
“That man surnamed Du is still in Luocheng. Keep him in custody for a while and see what he says.” Ming Han abruptly stood. “I’m going to Yunquan Group.”
Tang Xiaoli stopped him. “You’re rushing.”
Ming Han frowned. Yes, he knew he was impatient. But Chen Zheng had already suffered one attack in Zhuquan. The remarkably skilled killer was still missing; there was no telling whether he would appear before Chen Zheng again.
Ming Han did not want to waste another second in Luocheng, yet he had a duty here too. He could not abandon his assignment and rush off to stand guard over Chen Zheng. The only option was to dispel Luocheng’s fog as quickly as possible.
Brother Du was taken to an interview room, where he shouted that the police were violating his human rights.
Wen Wu stared at him coldly. “What kind of work were you doing on Jinsi Island?”
Brother Du’s real name was Du Tianjun. He had grown so used to being called “Brother Du” that he genuinely believed himself someone important. At the reception, he had drunk quite a bit. Ming Han was handsome, and appeared to have paid to sneak in looking for a job. Wanting to bring Ming Han into his circle as a subordinate, Du had blurted out the nature of his work abroad.
Now he had long since sobered up. Sitting in an interview room with a camera facing him, he could hardly repeat those words. He hurried to play dumb. “Proper jobs, obviously! We signed labor contracts, okay? What kind of person do you think I am?”
“I’m not interested in what kind of person I think you are,” Wen Wu said. “You’ve already told us what kind of person you are.”
Du Tianjun was left speechless, but he insisted he had broken no law. “Jinsi Island is a tourist destination. It needs lots of service staff. Me? I serve the tourists. Whatever they ask for, we have to accommodate them, right? Foreign countries are just that open. What can I do? Anyway, I’ve done nothing outside the scope of my job. Not just me, either. Everyone President Jin sends overseas is completely aboveboard!”
Completely aboveboard. Right. Wen Wu asked, “Then what about the drugs you mentioned last time?”
Du Tianjun looked embarrassed. After thinking a moment, he said, “That’s not something I can control. Country M allows certain drugs. I’ll tell you the truth: some customers really do go there for that. But they’re a minority. We workers from Hua Country absolutely don’t touch that stuff. President Jin forbids it too.”
“Quite the self-control you have,” Wen Wu said.
“Of course!” Du Tianjun replied. “I’m not staying there forever. I still have to come home, don’t I?”
The Mobile Unit tested Brother Du for drugs; the result was negative. They also investigated his social network. Most of his associates lived abroad. In Hua Country he had only relatives, none with criminal records. They could be considered law-abiding citizens. Investigating those he knew overseas would not be easy in the short term.
Du Tianjun gave Wen Wu a smug look. “Officer Wen, I suggest you let me go sooner rather than later. Keeping me here is just delaying your real work.”
Wen Wu was unmoved. He insisted on keeping Du until the permitted detention period expired.
At Yunquan Group, meanwhile, Ming Han met Liang Yueze again. Liang should have been recovering in the hospital, but had already returned to headquarters to run the company.
“President Liang really can’t sit still,” Ming Han said, looking around his office.
“Likewise,” Liang Yueze replied calmly. “What brings you here today, Officer Ming?”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard a thing.” Ming Han was never polite with Liang Yueze. “That labor-placement fair of yours isn’t so straightforward, is it? I know exactly what the workers you sent out were doing in Southeast Asia.”
With one hand braced on the desk, Liang Yueze calmly met his gaze. “If you mean your little ‘fishing expedition’ at the reception, I have heard something about it.”
Ming Han raised an eyebrow.
“But President Jin and the heads of the other intermediary companies have explained it to me. The process of sending workers overseas is legal and compliant. Once they arrive, they obey local laws. None of them are engaged in illegal work,” Liang Yueze said. “Officer Ming, perhaps there’s been a misunderstanding between you and President Jin.”
“Which is exactly why I’m investigating, isn’t it?” Ming Han took two steps nearer. “President Liang, how did you meet Jin Xiaoquan?”
“Does that have anything to do with your investigation?”
“Do I look like someone who enjoys wasting words?”
Liang Yueze frowned, displeased. “I met President Jin at a business conference overseas. He has a talent for helping different people make use of their abilities in suitable jobs. Yunquan Group had stabilized by then. I was beginning to understand my grandfather better and wanted to do something, but hadn’t found a good plan. After talking with President Jin, everything suddenly became clear.”
“So the labor-placement fair was really Jin Xiaoquan’s idea?”
“Not entirely. He merely gave me a direction to consider,” Liang Yueze said. “Many people among the working poor want to go abroad. They’re usually young, hoping to work hard for three to five years, save enough, then come home, buy a place and get married. But the practical problem is that it’s extremely difficult for them to leave on their own. They have to go through intermediaries, and that business is full of traps. Many go abroad only to make no money and become lambs led to slaughter.”
Liang Yueze gave Ming Han a pointed look. “The situations you mentioned were common for people who went abroad in the past. Whether they could even make it home was a matter of luck. So I thought Yunquan Group might have the resources to make overseas labor placement more regulated. And President Jin is an intermediary himself. Like all of them, he has ‘sold’ workers before. But our contracts place him under supervision. For those who go abroad through us, he must guarantee they aren’t led into the pits everyone knows about.”
Ming Han narrowed his eyes. “Why would he listen to you?”
Liang Yueze smiled. “Because I can provide a huge number of workers? He’s certainly more expert at overseas placement, but without the platform of Yunquan Group’s fair, how could a foreigner like him recruit so many people? To work with me, he must follow my rules. It benefits both him and the workers.”
“And what do you get out of it?”
“As I’ve said, a company Yunquan Group’s size has to shoulder some social responsibility. The fair doesn’t make money. It’s entirely our way of giving back to society. At first I only meant to help those who wanted to go abroad and guarantee their safety there. But once we put it into practice, we discovered that a fair this large would be wasted if all we did was send people overseas.”
“In fact, far more people want steady jobs at home. By now, eighty percent of those attending the fair want to stay in Hua Country. Overseas work has become the minority option. That doesn’t matter, though. The event is enormous, and its influence grows every year. Even if only twenty percent choose to go abroad, the actual number is still substantial enough for President Jin and the other intermediaries to profit.”
Liang Yueze spoke clearly and logically without missing a beat. Ming Han studied him. “So you do know Jin Xiaoquan has plenty of shady businesses on the side, especially around Southeast Asia?”
Liang Yueze sighed. “Our partnership is limited to the labor-placement fair. I have no authority to interfere with whatever other business he does in foreign countries.”
Ming Han paced twice across the vast office. “When my brother came to see you last time, was it here?”
Liang Yueze seemed surprised at the sudden mention of Chen Zheng. “In another room. Why?”
“Have you spoken since?” Ming Han leaned casually against the desk, arms folded.
Liang Yueze’s expression darkened with a hint of desolation. “Chen Zheng suspects me. We can barely talk anymore.”
“Something happened to him,” Ming Han said, watching Liang Yueze’s eyes.
Liang Yueze froze, a little alarmed. “What do you mean?”
“Someone unidentified attacked him,” Ming Han said. “His investigation has made certain people very uneasy. They want him gone.”
Liang Yueze frowned deeply. “Is he all right? What happened to him?”
“So you still care about him.”
Liang Yueze realized he had reacted too strongly. “We… have been friends for many years, after all.” He sighed. “From your tone, I take it he’s not badly hurt?”
“Who do you think attacked him?” Ming Han asked.
Liang Yueze hesitated. “Are you testing me? You think I did it? That I’d hurt my childhood friend?”
Ming Han laughed. “I didn’t say that. But I’ve always been rather cold-blooded. I’ve never believed childhood friendships or brotherly bonds last forever without changing.”
Liang Yueze shook his head and sat down. “All of you come to test me, yet not one of you will answer my questions. Have you forgotten that my family were the victims back then? Chen Zheng hinted he had leads on the people who killed them, but refused to tell me. You’re the same. You want me to tell you everything, while you tell me nothing. How does that make sense?”
Ming Han was a little taken aback. Was Liang Yueze losing his composure?
“Fine. Fine.” Liang Yueze pressed his forehead, his eyes shadowed. “If you suspect me, investigate Yunquan Group from top to bottom. Then have Chen Zheng come explain everything to me!”
Ming Han stepped to Liang Yueze’s side as if to leave, but said, “President Liang, do you know Junan City?”
Liang Yueze was confused. “I’ve been there. Why?”
“We found that nine years ago, Yunquan Group invested in Junan’s flagship business, Huyun Tea Factory, when the factory was expanding into pharmaceuticals,” Ming Han said. “The two businesses have completely separated now. Huyun Tea Factory remains Huyun Tea Factory, while the pharmaceutical operation is Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals. I’m curious why Yunquan Group would partner with a tea factory and a drug manufacturer when your businesses had nothing in common. Besides, you hadn’t begun carrying out all this social responsibility you talk about back then.”
Liang Yueze was quiet for a long time. “My grandfather was a loyal customer of Huyun Tea Factory. He tasted countless teas in his lifetime, including many expensive ones, but the ones he loved most came from our own Han Province.”
When he spoke of his family, his voice softened with nostalgia. As a child, he had spent a long period living beside his grandfather. The old man’s office and bedroom were always filled with the scent of tea. Liang Yueze’s parents were fond of pleasure and extravagance and had long since disappointed the old man. As his eldest grandson, Liang Yueze had been particularly cherished. But he, too, was a wastrel and disappointed his grandfather again and again.
Later, it was Liang Yubin whom the old man kept by his side. Liang Yueze no longer revolved around his grandfather, but the scent of tea lingered in his memory.
Nine years earlier, Huyun Tea Factory was struggling, an old man abandoned by changing times. One group wanted to modernize it to suit younger consumers; another wanted to expand into pharmaceuticals. Their arguments threatened the factory’s survival.
One of the factory’s former senior managers approached Liang Yueze to ask Yunquan Group for help. Liang did not know him, but the man produced an old photograph of himself with the Liang family patriarch.
Years before, it turned out, the old man had visited Huyun Tea Factory privately, befriending several of its leaders. Over a banquet he had even promised that if the factory ever needed help, they only had to ask!
The tea factory was still thriving then. Nobody took him up on his promise before his death.
The former manager explained that internal conflicts had become severe, and tea sales alone could no longer revive the business. He and several colleagues had tried different approaches. Only moving into pharmaceuticals offered a way forward, but they lacked capital.
Because of a promise the old man had made casually all those years ago, Liang Yueze agreed to consider investing. Professional evaluations concluded that pharmaceuticals were not simply the factory’s last attempt to grab some money. With capable management and sufficient funding, there was a real possibility of turning things around. Yunquan Group, meanwhile, had spent years rebuilding itself and could now afford the investment.
The factory received the funds that saved its life, and the pharmaceutical business gradually established itself. The tea business was restructured too. With support from the pharmaceutical operation, the factory finally came back from the brink. Not long afterward, the tea factory and drug manufacturer formally separated. Today both operated on a healthy footing.
Liang Yueze looked worried. “Does Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals have a problem? Yunquan Group has never interfered in its day-to-day operations, and we only provided funding once.”
“No,” Ming Han said. “I’m personally curious, that’s all. You must have heard about the string of cases in Junan City over the Spring Festival?”
“One of the dead was a major celebrity,” Liang Yueze said. “The Huo family has dealt with me before.”
“And the other victims?”
Liang Yueze shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t have much time for social news.”
“Some of the dead were former Huyun Tea Factory workers,” Ming Han said. “I can’t disclose more than that. But there’s something strange about that factory. Several disappearances have never been solved either. So when I learned Yunquan Group had invested there, I couldn’t help thinking about it.”
Liang Yueze looked out the window, saying nothing.
“Well, I’ll head off for today,” Ming Han said politely. “Sorry to disturb you again, President Liang.”
Liang Yueze escorted him to the lift. “I’m sorry you were injured.”
“Oh?” Ming Han said.
“The killer came for me. You were just doing your duty as a police officer when you gave chase,” Liang Yueze said. “So the problem still lies with me. You were injured because I dragged you into it.”
Ming Han lowered his head with a smile and patted Liang Yueze’s shoulder. “No need to stand on ceremony, President Liang.”
Liang Yueze looked troubled. “I hope the misunderstandings between us, and between Chen Zheng and me, can be resolved soon.”
The lift had arrived. Ming Han stepped inside, turned around, and pressed the ground-floor button. Just as the doors were about to close, he said, “I hope you can be a little more honest too.”
The doors closed completely. Liang Yueze’s reflection appeared in their frosted surface. He adjusted his tie, his face gradually blurring in the understated silver-gray.
“What?” Kong Bing slammed the desk and leapt to his feet. “You want to use yourself as bait? I refuse! Anyone can act as bait, but not you!”
Chen Zheng regarded him calmly. “Why not me? Because I’m not from Beiye Sub-bureau, so I’m not one of your own?”
“That’s not what I mean!” Kong Bing was frantic. “Even if we need someone to be bait, it absolutely can’t be you! Tell me what the plan involves. I’ll do it!”
Chen Zheng laughed easily. “Look at you. You don’t even know what the bait is supposed to do, and you want to take my place. Xiao Kong, you’d just spoil the whole operation.”
Kong Bing was already upset. Hearing “Xiao Kong” made his hackles rise. “What do you mean, Xiao Kong? Are you pulling rank on me now?”
“You’re the one who doesn’t consider me one of your own,” Chen Zheng said seriously. “I’m going to be the bait. That’s settled.”
Kong Bing grabbed him in a hurry. “What do you mean, settled? I’m telling you, I won’t agree!”
Chen Zheng sighed. “Captain Kong, the situation is very bad for us right now. Someone has begun attacking police officers. This injury was a warning, and they won’t be content with warning me only once. If we don’t make a move, we’ll never regain the initiative. Things will only get worse.”
“That’s exactly why I can’t let you be the bait! Because they’ll come again!” Kong Bing struggled to explain. “You’re not like us. We’re only local police. Ming Han once told me there were many things I wasn’t told because I didn’t have the required clearance. But you know much more than I do, and you see far more. If something happens to you, the loss will be worse than losing any one of us!”
Looking at Kong Bing’s eyes, red with anxiety, Chen Zheng was moved. He drew a deep breath and replied patiently, “Captain Kong, I understand what you mean. I won’t offer any polite platitudes. I have to be the bait. It would be pointless to substitute anyone else.”
Kong Bing was bewildered. “Why?”
“Because I can feel that this time, they’re coming for me,” Chen Zheng said. “I mean something different to them than other police officers do. That day at my apartment, the man wasn’t trying to kill me. Normally, after one attack like that, they’d pull back from me for a while. But they haven’t. I can still feel that gaze fixed on me.”
“How do you know they won’t try to kill you next time?” Kong Bing asked.
“Maybe I’m still useful,” Chen Zheng said. “But if you want me to guarantee they won’t kill me, I can’t promise that. Nobody can. We have to take risks to seize the initiative. Besides, there’s a theory I want to test.”
“What theory?”
Chen Zheng shook his head. “It’s too early to say. Anyway, Captain Kong, I have to be the bait. We can’t keep letting those people do whatever they please. I’ll do everything I can to protect myself. The rest is up to you.”
Seeing his resolve, and knowing his argument made sense, Kong Bing had no choice. “Then I’ll do everything I can to protect you too.”
Chen Zheng smiled and punched Kong Bing lightly on the shoulder. Usually Kong Bing was a solid, sturdy fellow, but his thoughts were so troubled that he actually lost his balance and stumbled. Chen Zheng teased him again. “Getting a little weak there, Xiao Kong.”
Kong Bing scowled. “Out-of-towner. Get lost!”
Chen Zheng, the out-of-towner, strolled away with his hands behind his back. The moment he left the sub-bureau, that sticky sensation of being watched returned. He knew this was partly because someone truly was observing him, and partly because his nerves were stretched so tight that his senses had become infinitely heightened.