hsntnovel Chapter 17: Feida Logistics
Chapter 17: Feida Logistics
"Will you still go to work as usual afterward?"
"On the surface, he seemed no different from usual, and he didn't slack off at work." Qian Shengli rubbed his face, sighing deeply. "Looking back now, he probably already had a premonition that something bad was going to happen."
It was already 4:30 pm when I left Feida Logistics.
The sky grew increasingly dark, with low-hanging clouds almost touching the rooftops. A cold wind swirled fallen leaves and plastic bags around in the square, and a red plastic bag was whipped into the air by the gale, fluttering wildly like a tattered flag.
Su Wan leaned against the car, closed the interrogation logbook, and sorted through the clues.
Liu Qiang's portrait is becoming increasingly clear and complete.
An ordinary logistics truck driver, burdened with high-interest loans and secretly involved with his ex-girlfriend and young child, died with a fearful expression and deliberately left a message, already aware of the impending danger.
He was just an ordinary member of the masses, earning a modest income, carrying the worries of an ordinary person, living a mundane life, and dying a tragic death for no apparent reason.
But his death was by no means accidental; it was more like a key.
A key that can unlock the long-buried secrets of Chengxi Vocational College and expose layers of hidden darkness.
"Officer Su." Jiang Chen got into the back seat of the car, the handcuffs on his wrists gleaming coldly in the gloomy daylight. "I want to go somewhere."
"Where to?"
"Ma Ge BBQ Main Store".
Su Wan glanced at him in the rearview mirror: "Are you hungry?"
"I'm really hungry, but not to eat." Jiang Chen opened his phone and brought up the navigation address, "Jianshe Road Main Store, less than two kilometers from Chengxi Vocational College. We have to go and meet this legendary Brother Ma."
Su Wan remained silent for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. The other party was involved in shady and criminal activities, with an unclear background, but the clues were currently stuck, so it was indeed necessary to investigate in person. She said no more and started the car.
The engine hummed and roared, and the headlights shone two white beams, piercing the hazy twilight.
The car drove out of the logistics park and merged into the evening rush hour traffic. The roads were bustling with cars, their red taillights forming a long, winding line that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Su Wan tapped her fingers lightly on the steering wheel, quickly listing the clues to be investigated in her mind:
Li Yutong's colleagues, relatives, and former classmates;
List of faculty and staff of Chengxi Vocational College before its closure;
The true whereabouts of the 30 million yuan unexplained loan;
The actual legal representative of a shell company;
A mysterious man with his face obscured in the photo;
The enigmatic "Laughing at the World" on WeChat...
The clues are piling up, intertwining layer by layer, weaving a dense and intricate web.
All the witnesses, physical evidence, and hidden details point to one thing—
This is not an isolated case of two murders; behind it lies the collapse of an entire chain of interests and a mature organization.
The drizzling rain finally began to fall.
At first, it was just a few scattered drops, hitting the windshield with a soft patter. In an instant, the rain intensified, pouring down in dense torrents, pounding against the car body like countless invisible fingers tapping on the windows.
The windshield wipers swung back and forth at a steady pace, pushing away the rain, but they couldn't stop the continuous downpour.
Jiang Chen leaned against the car window, watching the street scene outside gradually blur in the rain.
The streetlights along the roadside lit up one after another, their orange-yellow glow filtering through the rain and spreading out in patches of shimmering gold on the wet asphalt.
He suddenly remembered a sentence he had read in his previous life.
"Everyone is a book. Some are hardcover collector's editions, some are paperback everyday books, some are hastily handwritten copies, and some... are books whose pages have been forcibly torn out and whose marks have been erased."
Liu Qiang's life has been torn apart.
Li Yutong's life has also been torn apart.
Meanwhile, the person who tore up the book is hiding in the shadows, quietly waiting for the next target.
Just then, Su Wan's phone vibrated, displaying a work message from Xiao Zhang.
"Team Leader Su, the technical team reports: The WeChat account 'Laughing at the World' has no real-name registration. It was newly registered two months ago and is linked to an unregistered data SIM card, making it impossible to trace its identity. Chat logs show that since its registration, this account has only had private chats with Liu Qiang."
Su Wan read the contents aloud to Jiang Chen in a low voice.
Jiang Chen slowly closed his eyes, instantly clarifying the key logic in his mind.
The registration period was short, there was no real-name authentication, it was a one-time data SIM card, and Liu Qiang was only contacted via a single line.
This WeChat account is not used for daily social interaction at all.
It seems more like a one-time anonymous identity specifically created to get close to and control Liu Qiang.
Once used, it can be discarded at any time without leaving any trace.
Just like the two strangers who moved the body and the blank account that sent the anonymous email.
Every link in this organization, every person who appears, and every online identity is a disassembled, disposable, and untraceable fragment.
Only the entire behind-the-scenes team remained hidden in the shadows, complete and meticulous.
Their actions were sophisticated and their plans were professional, a feat that no ordinary young person could accomplish.
As the car slowly turned the corner on Jianshe Road, a neon sign came into view—the four red characters "Ma Ge Barbecue" shone brightly in the rainy night. The light tubes were filled with rainwater, their hazy and distorted halos resembling a pair of eyes with smudged makeup from crying.
"We've arrived." Su Wan parked the car steadily on the side of the road.
Pushing open the car door, rainwater mixed with the rising smoke from the barbecue restaurant hit me. The strong aroma of cumin and chili pungently filled my nostrils, but underneath it was a thick layer of greasy smoke, as if too many ingredients had been fried repeatedly, and their original flavors had long been changed.
Jiang Chen took a deep breath, suppressed the distracting thoughts in his mind, and prepared for a probing confrontation.
I stepped into the puddle by the roadside, splashing up tiny droplets of water.
With a snap.
Across the street on a rainy night, the neon reflection of Ma Ge Barbecue fell into a puddle, distorted and reddish, like a pool of blood that had not yet dried.
Qian Shengli's words echoed repeatedly in his mind.
Ma Ge's men in the west of the city.
They specialize in the gray market of usury.
His car is a black Passat.
The leader's nickname is Iron Head.
A seemingly legitimate chain barbecue restaurant secretly employs debt collectors and thugs, using the restaurant's guise to conceal its shady business operations. Each branch is an independent legal entity, and its accounts are meticulously maintained, leaving no trace on the surface.
Liu Qiang was nothing more than an insignificant name in their loan sharking business, a bad debt that no one cared about, and a nobody who could be easily erased once he died.
Jiang Chen took a step and walked steadily toward the entrance of the barbecue restaurant.
Behind her, Su Wan pressed the car key.
Chirp-!
A short, sharp electronic lock clicked, standing out clearly in the noisy, rainy night.
...
Gollum-
The wheel rolled over a raised paving stone on the road, making a dull thud.
As the car turned onto Jianshe Road, the streetscape on both sides changed from tall buildings to low buildings, and then from low buildings to shops.
Jianshe Road is on the edge of the old city. After the closure of Chengxi Vocational College, this street also declined.
Half of the shops along the street were closed, with red "demolish" characters sprayed on the roller shutters.
But Ma Ge BBQ's main branch is different.