Chen Zheng listened while analyzing Du Hui. The man seemed sincere, as though he were laying his heart bare, but in reality he was exceedingly shrewd. He had rambled on about everything under the sun without saying a single thing of substance. There had to be something wrong with Yunquan Group’s investment, yet Liang Yueze had framed it as a personal obligation and Du Hui as the employees’ attempt to save their livelihoods. Neither mentioned the most fundamental issue: what each party stood to gain.
“When will President Wu be back?” Chen Zheng asked.
“That’s hard to say. Isn’t Nanshan City holding a research and development conference? Once President Wu finishes there, I imagine he has other engagements.”
“Surely all your executives can’t be away on business. Who else is here?”
“Actually, I’m the only one left. Officer Chen, I do have the authority to make decisions.”
Chen Zheng suddenly changed the subject. “You know there were several major cases in Junan over the Spring Festival, don’t you?”
Du Hui nodded hastily. “You’ve all worked so hard, even over the holidays…”
“Some of the cases were connected to Huyun Tea Factory, so we investigated there as well,” Chen Zheng said. “You’re a longtime employee. Do you remember the children who went missing?”
A vacant look came into Du Hui’s eyes, and his hand tightened unconsciously. “You mean Yan… Yan Ping and those other children?”
Yan Ping was Zhou Xia’s daughter and a close friend of Xu Xinxin, the daughter of Zeng Hong. Zhou Xia had been among the most active parents searching for the missing children. After Yan Ping vanished, Zhou Xia devoted her entire life to finding her daughter, changing from a warm, outgoing woman into someone frantic and overwrought.
“Do you know Zhou Xia?” Chen Zheng asked.
Du Hui drank some tea. After several minutes of silence, sadness spread across his face. “How could I not? We all worked at the same factory. I even used to play cards with her husband. What a shame. Yan Ping was such a good girl, and then one day she just disappeared. Their family fell apart because of it. Officer Chen, have you found those children?”
“Not yet. But we have more leads than before.”
Du Hui considered this. “So there’s hope of finding them?”
“We’re still verifying the leads one by one.” Noticing his interest, Chen Zheng asked, “Yan Ping wasn’t the first to disappear. Other children had gone missing by then. Wasn’t Zhou Xia on her guard?”
Du Hui avoided Chen Zheng’s eyes. “Of course she was. But being careful didn’t help. They were older children, not babies you couldn’t leave alone. Besides, Yan Ping had to go to school. They couldn’t keep her locked in the house just because children had disappeared from the factory.”
“By the way, did Zhou Xia’s family support the idea of the tea factory going into pharmaceuticals? I heard every worker was concerned about that at the time.”
“Of course! It was a matter of survival!” Du Hui slapped his thigh. “Now you mention it, I remember. Zhou Xia and her husband actually wanted to follow President Wu. They were among the more ambitious workers. President Wu held meetings with a lot of employees, and the Zhou family made their support clear early on.”
“And afterward?” Chen Zheng asked.
“Then their daughter disappeared. Zhou Xia blamed herself terribly. She thought that if she hadn’t thrown herself so enthusiastically into President Wu’s plans, she wouldn’t have neglected her daughter, and the girl wouldn’t have disappeared. Personally, I don’t think it was her fault, or President Wu’s either. The factory was in turmoil and everything was a mess, but weren’t we all just trying to survive?”
“So Zhou Xia ended up divorced and stayed at the tea factory rather than joining you at Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals. Do you remember the other children?”
Du Hui shook his head. He knew whose families they belonged to, he said, but he had forgotten their names.
Chen Zheng spoke meaningfully. “They all vanished during Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals’ separation from Huyun Tea Factory. No children went missing from the factory before that period or after it.”
Du Hui’s expression froze. Embarrassed, he said, “Officer Chen, you can’t put it that way. Their disappearances had nothing to do with our pharmaceutical factory. The tea factory was simply too chaotic back then. Everyone was unsettled, and the workers couldn’t look after their children properly. Criminals from outside took advantage of the situation.”
“Why do you assume they were outsiders?” Ming Han interjected.
Du Hui stared. “Officer Ming, what do you mean? Are you suggesting someone they knew did it?”
Chen Zheng produced the investigation permit again. “All right, Secretary Du. We’ve learned most of what we need from you. With President Wu and the other executives away, we’ll report back to our superiors.”
Du Hui visibly relaxed, but Chen Zheng continued, “Of course, we didn’t come here only to talk. I also need to inspect Nanfeng’s production lines and take some samples back for testing.”
Du Hui’s expression chilled. “You… you want to inspect and take samples too?”
“Is that inconvenient?” Chen Zheng asked.
Frowning hard, Du Hui reached for his phone with trembling hands. “I’ll… I’ll have to ask for permission.”
“No need,” Ming Han said. “It’s a lawful investigation. All you need to do is cooperate.”
“But…” Du Hui wanted to object and could not think of a plausible reason.
Li Shu assigned several members of the Criminal Investigation Detachment to accompany the Mobile Unit. Samples were taken from the drugs and raw materials on Nanfeng’s active production lines and in its warehouses, one by one. The municipal bureau was taking a serious risk. Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals was a well-known local company; if such a thorough investigation yielded nothing, someone would inevitably have to take responsibility.
The person helping Li Shu withstand the pressure was Deputy Director Li Zhi.
“Deputy Director Li, we’re troubling you again,” Chen Zheng said.
“Not at all. We still owe you for the Weimo Mountain Resort case,” Li Zhi said. “Last time we couldn’t bring the missing children home. Since the leads now point to Huyun Tea Factory and Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals, let’s see if we can solve that case as well!”
While the drug tests were pending, Chen Zheng contacted Wu Mo through Du Hui. Wu Mo really was on a business trip in Nanshan City. Upon hearing the police had come to his company, he was greatly shocked and repeatedly insisted that all Nanfeng’s production and sales were lawful and compliant and could withstand any inspection.
“President Wu, Secretary Du told you why we’re investigating Nanfeng, didn’t he?” Chen Zheng asked. “It’s mainly a matter involving Yunquan Group. We’re only going through the formalities at your end. You needn’t be too anxious.”
At the mention of Yunquan Group, Wu Mo fell silent. “Officer Chen, let me be frank. Our factory hasn’t had dealings with President Liang for a very long time. Investigating us really is a waste of your time.”
“A waste of time? No, no. Neither you nor President Liang nor Secretary Du has actually answered my question.” Chen Zheng refused to let go of the investment. “President Liang saved Huyun Tea Factory back then. If he wanted to give your pharmaceutical company another helping hand now, it would only take a word.”
“That was a favor owed by the older generation,” Wu Mo said. “Once was enough.”
“If it hadn’t happened that one time, Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals wouldn’t be under investigation now. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s a strange thing to say…” Wu Mo sighed. “All right. I’ll hurry back and cooperate with your investigation. Will that satisfy you?”
“Then we’ll have to trouble you, President Wu.”
Before that call had even ended, Ming Han had reached Cheng Cu.
If there was something wrong with Liang Yueze, then Wu Mo was the most suspicious person at Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals. Ming Han did not believe that, after being alerted, Wu Mo would meekly return to Junan to be investigated. Assistance from the Nanshan police was essential.
Cheng Cu said on the phone, “Wu Mo, the head of Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals? All right. I’ll keep an eye on him until your people arrive.”
To prevent anything going wrong, Tang Xiaoli sent Zhou Jue to Nanshan City with a team, under orders to bring Wu Mo back.
Chen Zheng returned to Huyun Tea Factory. Of the six families whose children had disappeared, only three survivors of that ordeal still lived in the workers’ apartment buildings: Zhou Xia, Zeng Hong, and Wang Wanjian. In just one month, Zhou Xia looked even older. Her first reaction on seeing Chen Zheng was, “Is there news about our Pingping?”
“Did you ever mention at home that you were thinking of going to work at Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals?” Chen Zheng asked.
Zhou Xia stood frozen for a moment, then burst into tears. “It’s my fault! I never should’ve believed Wu Mo and his people! If I hadn’t, Pingping wouldn’t have disappeared!”
“Was the pharmaceutical factory involved in Yan Ping’s disappearance?” Chen Zheng asked quickly.
Zhou Xia shook all over. After a long while she managed to calm down enough to shake her head. “It wasn’t the factory. But it was me, and Old Yan! We were blinded by money. We were determined to follow Wu Mo and were hardly ever home. If it hadn’t been like that, the traffickers couldn’t have found an opening in our family! Pingping hated the idea of us going to the pharmaceutical factory. She even argued with us about it. We should’ve listened to her!”
Chen Zheng heard something unusual. “Wait. Why did Yan Ping object to you going to the factory? Was there something wrong with it?”
“She didn’t like pharmaceutical factories. Children don’t like medicine and sickness and things like that, do they?” Zhou Xia recalled that Yan Ping had always been her precious, considerate daughter. She was pretty and cheerful and got along well with her family and classmates. Back then, the tea factory’s profits were declining and money at home had become tight. Yan Ping was in high school, where comparisons between students were inevitable, but she never came home demanding anything. Zhou Xia noticed the situation all the same and grew more anxious by the day.
Workers kept saying the tea factory might not survive and would lay off large numbers of people before closing. To employees who had spent half their lives there, it was like a bolt from the blue. Zhou Xia discussed with her husband, Old Yan, whether they should resign voluntarily, take their severance money, and learn to run a business of their own.
Old Yan told her not to rush. He had heard that Wu Mo and several other executives intended to establish a pharmaceutical factory, taking some pressure off the tea business and perhaps bringing it back to life. Zhou Xia did not understand much about it, but she was willing to try anything that might earn money.
Sure enough, word of Wu Mo’s pharmaceutical plans soon spread. He and several other tea-factory executives went around rallying the workers, promising dividends to everyone who joined the new factory’s first intake. Zhou Xia thought staying at the tea factory was a dead end and threw herself into the scheme even faster than her husband did.
Other workers considered the people joining Wu Mo oddballs, but Zhou Xia had no time to worry about their opinions. They might all be workers, but their paths were different. Once she was making money, those same people would be green with envy!
Neither she nor Old Yan expected Pingping to oppose their new jobs.
That weekend, Zhou Xia went out specially to buy a duck and made Yan Ping’s favorite soup, old duck with pickled radish. Yan Ping had been eating happily until she learned her parents had become pharmaceutical-factory workers. Her face changed instantly. “Dad, Mom, please don’t go work at that factory!”
Zhou Xia was puzzled. “Why not, sweetheart? Have you been listening to rumors too? Don’t believe them! Those people don’t have the courage to do it themselves, so they want to drag us down with them! Listen, Pingping. The tea factory used to be a good place to work, but that was years ago. If we stay there, our whole family will end up with nothing to eat!”
“Mom!” Yan Ping cried anxiously. “Please just listen to me! You really can’t go to that factory! If the tea factory goes under, find another job. Anything except the pharmaceutical factory!”
Zhou Xia lost her temper. “You’re a girl who should be studying hard, not telling your mother what to do! Your father and I are going to that factory, and that’s final! Have you forgotten who pays your tuition and living expenses?”
In a rare show of defiance, Yan Ping retorted, “So what if you pay? Does that mean you’re always right?”
“You!” In her anger, Zhou Xia slapped Yan Ping. Old Yan hurriedly pulled them apart, sheltering his daughter as he shouted at Zhou Xia, “What do you think you’re doing?”
Zhou Xia’s temper came and went quickly. She regretted hitting Yan Ping almost immediately and knocked on her bedroom door. She peeled fruit for her daughter and patiently asked, “Pingping, what’s got into you today? Why don’t you want Mom and Dad to work at the pharmaceutical factory?”
Yan Ping’s eyes were red. She stayed silent for ages. “Mom, don’t go. Please, really don’t. I’ve heard that factory is dangerous.”
Zhou Xia’s heart softened at once. “How can a pharmaceutical factory be dangerous?”
“It’s all… it’s all chemicals,” Yan Ping said. “Someone at our school was doing an experiment last week and injured their eyes in an explosion.”
Zhou Xia reassured her. “That won’t happen. It’s because you children don’t understand safety precautions.”
In the end, Zhou Xia did not listen. After Yan Ping disappeared, she blamed herself bitterly and devoted all her energy to looking for her daughter. Working at the pharmaceutical factory was the last thing on her mind.
After listening, Chen Zheng sensed there was much more to this. “Had Yan Ping ever strongly opposed something you wanted to do before?”
Zhou Xia looked confused. “No. She was always so obedient.”
Next, Chen Zheng went to see Zeng Hong.
“I… I thought about going to the pharmaceutical factory too. Zhou Xia kept urging me to go, saying we’d make money. But I’m not as decisive as she is. I was afraid I wouldn’t adjust. If I went and couldn’t do the work properly, I probably wouldn’t get my old position back either.” Zeng Hong had never discussed work with Xu Xinxin. Her daughter was quiet, like her, and at home they seldom talked about anything beyond exam results.
Zeng Hong was deeply unsettled. “Officer Chen, why are you suddenly asking about this? Is there news of Xinxin?”
Chen Zheng had hoped Xu Xinxin’s case might reveal clues similar to Yan Ping’s, but it did not. He went on to find Wang Wanjian, whose circumstances were much like Zhou Xia’s. He too had decided early on to work at the pharmaceutical factory. His son, Wang Shixun, however, had not argued with him about it before disappearing. Wang Shixun seemed indifferent to what work his father did as long as the money came on time.
Among the missing children, only Yan Ping had reacted so strangely to the pharmaceutical factory. Given how she normally got along with her parents, she should have been able to speak frankly with Zhou Xia. Her explanation about unsafe chemicals sounded like something she had come up with on the spot to satisfy her mother. What was truly troubling her? Why had she behaved so unlike herself and refused to say?
The investigation seemed to have found an opening, but once again reached a dead end. Meanwhile, the drugs sampled from Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals had completed their first round of testing. Every sample met the required standards.
“This…” Li Shu frowned. “Could there really be nothing wrong with Nanfeng?”
“Don’t rush,” Ming Han said. “There’ll be more testing. If they’re really so clean, what’s going on with those security guards?”
Even the Mobile Unit had not expected that the first irregularity uncovered in its surprise investigation of Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals, a company with ambiguous links to Yunquan Group, would come from Nanfeng’s security team.
At a company of Nanfeng’s size, gatekeepers and security guards would normally be transferred from other positions internally, or be relatives of executives, supplemented by a few discharged soldiers recruited from outside for exceptional situations.
But the more the investigators checked, the more astonished they became. Nanfeng had actually established an entire security company. The huge, powerfully built gatekeepers Ming Han and Chen Zheng had seen were all employed through it.
The security company did not take outside contracts. Its highly trained guards simply patrolled Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals, supposedly ensuring the workers’ safety.
That was extraordinarily unusual. No comparable company would spend its money this way.
As the investigation deepened, the guards’ backgrounds proved just as suspicious. Not one was from Junan. Half came from Southeast Asia and spoke Hua Country’s language, but not fluently. The others were citizens of Hua Country who had worked in Southeast Asia. Some even admitted to having served as mercenaries there.
One of them, a man called A Shuang, claimed he had been born near the southwestern border. His family had been poor and both parents had died. He had followed older relatives of his ethnic group across the border illegally to scrape out a living, only to be sold to local militants. By his teens he knew how to fire guns and had fought in wars, almost dying on the battlefield.
“Then how did you get back here?” Ming Han asked.
A Shuang scratched the back of his head with a dark-skinned hand. “Met Boss Jin, didn’t I? He fed us and had us work as his bodyguards. When he came to Hua Country, we followed him.”
“Which Boss Jin?”
A Shuang could not answer. “Just Boss Jin.”
Ming Han showed him Jin Xiaoquan’s photograph. A Shuang shook his head in bewilderment. That was not the Boss Jin he meant.
Ming Han thought he had stumbled into a whole nest of men surnamed Jin. Questioned further, A Shuang said he had no idea why they had been assigned to Nanfeng as guards. Boss Jin told them to come, so they came.
Then he bared a set of yellow teeth in a proud grin. The job here was wonderful, he said. There was no need to spend their days fighting and killing, and nobody even needed protecting. They took turns standing guard and had plenty of time to play mahjong.
The other guards were questioned in turn, and their stories were much the same.
Ming Han returned from the detention center to municipal headquarters. “Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals is like an outpost. The workers are making real products, but the security guards are monitoring them all the time.”
Chen Zheng considered this. “What does Du Hui say?”
Ming Han jerked his chin toward an interview room. “I’ve been too busy. Haven’t got to him yet.”
As the investigation continued, Du Hui grew visibly more nervous. The moment Chen Zheng opened the door, he stood up. “Officer Chen, are you ever going to finish investigating? When can you let me go home?”
Chen Zheng motioned for him to sit. “No hurry. There are a few more things I need to check with you.”
Sweat covered Du Hui’s forehead. “G-go ahead.”
“What’s this security company under Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals?” Chen Zheng asked. “I simply can’t understand why a pharmaceutical business of your size needs its own security company. And the backgrounds of the guards you’ve employed are remarkable. Some have even worked as mercenaries overseas.”
Du Hui opened and closed his mouth for a long time before wiping the sweat from his face. “I really don’t know anything about that. It was all President Wu’s idea.”
“But you said you were the one who handled things,” Chen Zheng reminded him.
Du Hui hurried to explain. “Look, our factory may not be huge, but there have been plenty of incidents in the pharmaceutical industry these past few years. Competitors steal trade secrets, patients’ families turn up to cause trouble, and ordinary guards can’t handle people like that. We haven’t had that problem yet, but who can say we won’t in the future? That’s why President Wu and the others decided to spend a lot of money setting up our own security team, just to be safe.”
“Planning ahead is a good thing,” Chen Zheng said. “But Secretary Du, after all that explaining, you still haven’t convinced me why you needed to recruit former mercenaries from Southeast Asia.”
Du Hui’s eyes shifted uneasily. “Well…”
“They aren’t people you recruited yourselves, are they?” Chen Zheng continued. “Someone placed them at Nanfeng. The security company was created to give them legitimate identities.”
Du Hui turned pale. “N-no, nothing like that. Really.”
“Who is Boss Jin?” Chen Zheng asked.
Du Hui’s body abruptly stiffened. “I… I don’t know. Y-you’d better ask President Wu.”
Wu Mo was staying at a five-star hotel in Nanshan City. Cheng Cu stationed officers from the Major Crimes Unit inside and outside the building, both to monitor Wu Mo and to prevent any unexpected incident.
Wu Mo was supposed to attend the conference, but given the sudden developments, he had to ask another executive, President Liu, who was accompanying him, to attend in his place.
He spent most of his time inside his room. At eleven that morning he left briefly to eat at the restaurant. He returned at 12:10 p.m. and did not emerge again. At one that afternoon, Zhou Jue and the other Mobile Unit officers reached Nanshan. Cheng Cu felt a wave of relief and immediately led them to Wu Mo’s room.
Nobody answered their knock. Zhou Jue looked questioningly at Cheng Cu, who was equally puzzled. The surveillance footage clearly showed Wu Mo returning to his room, and nobody had entered or left it since. Why would he refuse to open the door? Had something happened?
Cheng Cu immediately used the hotel’s spare keycard to open the door. The room was silent except for the air conditioning. Both he and Zhou Jue drew their guns and cautiously entered the bedroom. Wu Mo lay face down on the bed, motionless, the sheets beneath his face stained red with blood.
“Shit!” Cheng Cu swore and hastily turned the man over. “This man…”
Zhou Jue was equally stunned. “This isn’t Wu Mo!”