Change “customer-oriented”
Xue Ting, Song, and Zhao Death investigated Zhou Ting’s interpersonal relationships on behalf of Renwei Hong Gen.
They conducted a thorough investigation into the shareholders within the Zhou Group, including several with Chengquan’s authority, and even examined some employees from He Yuan and Niu.
In the end, nothing substantial was found.
Zhou Mao was quite lenient with Xian and Dafang, helping Rui to reverse authority over Youbo’s business operations, arranging work for Tangshi Di, and his own company also handled their affairs smoothly.
Xu received a considerable share of the Hongbu dividends over the years.
He died, and these declarations deeply saddened Liyue.
The entire family’s most resilient and sincere person, Chun Wusi, was gone; it seemed impossible to carry on as before.
Wandu said, “Yihao came to Hao’s line to gather intelligence, and it turns out the biggest and most suspicious figure is Zhou Yaoshi. His mother has already passed away. His heirs are his Shu Zi and Xiao Zi, but neither of them has made any moves recently. There’s also the investigation into Li Sheng and Zhou Tiantai, who dearly love the bureau’s elders. Their eldest son died in a car accident several years ago, and the younger son just started junior high. I think we can rule out this mother and son duo for now. As for those authority figures like Youbo, Bai, and the others, we’ll look into them further later.”
Gu Zhiye ordered the collection of the Zhou family’s financial information and said, “Captain Sun, I think the current key lies with Xue Dawei. He is a driver with a medical history but somehow managed to abandon his post. Someone behind the scenes must be involved.”
“Indeed, there has to be someone behind it. Dawei is suspicious,” Captain Sha added.
At this moment, Liu Mujia said, “I checked. Dawei only drove alone for Zhou Tiantai. He often stayed in the company’s common areas like the teachers’ lounge and break room, where Zhou Tiantai was. No one saw him interact suspiciously with anyone.”
He mulled over this for half a day but still felt two approaches would be more efficient: one was to analyze the timing and routes of when the keycard was used to enter the room and open the door.
The other was to interrogate and examine Dawei himself.
Outside, a few people gathered. “Captain Xiao, Captain Gu, when will Zhou Xiaoheng’s big case be opened?” someone asked.
This person was quite clever and, without being asked, unanimously denied any involvement in kidnapping Lin Tan Song, only vaguely mentioning some letter exchanges with Zhe.
They claimed that the firearms in Dawei’s possession had nothing to do with them.
They were merely victims themselves, intimidated by others.
Yu Ying was also unwilling to let go.
The case wasn’t described in great detail in the records; most of the main information came from the female lead’s testimony.
She carefully recalled the finer points and had logically arranged the entire sequence of events.
“He certainly didn’t steal any confidential information from me. He only insisted I was the shooter and even tried to threaten me. Gu Ren, I suspect Xue Dawei’s real target wasn’t obvious; it might have been Zhou Tiantai, or perhaps he wanted to kill two birds with one stone — pushing Zhou Tiantai to shoot at the fox, so the bureau would throw the blame onto him. That way, Zhou Tiantai would become the murderer. Whether he actually committed the killing is another matter, but there must have been other schemes involved because Chengquan’s authority was certainly exploited.”
Gu Zhiye’s tone grew grave, “Our target is clear: Tan Song. I believe the police will focus on Zhou Tiantai and Bao.”
Yu Ying nodded decisively at the conclusion, “That’s right. I want reconciliation. She went with Zhou Xiaoheng and Sha to the police station for questioning but only came out after some time.”
Gu Zhiye briefly smiled but remained serious, “This isn’t He Yuan’s nature. They wouldn’t have been tricked into going to Hong Gen’s factory to investigate if they weren’t sure. Renwei, you need to cooperate.”
Renwei laughed, “Captain Song, you underestimate me. You don’t really know me. How could you know whether I’m cooperative or not? They weren’t tricked; they went willingly. I even sang praises myself. The biggest target was Zhou Tiantai and Dawei. I never said I trusted him.”
Gu Zhiye inwardly confirmed his suspicion that Renwei was indeed a murderer, but with doubt lingering, he decided to loosen the pressure for the time being.
Seeing others willing to reconcile, he didn’t intervene.
Dawei, following Zhou Tiantai and Zhou Xiaoheng’s instructions, was soon allowed out after the investigation.
First, he asked for Lin Shui, then for Ye Hou. He expressed his bravery and lamented his destruction, “Comrades from the Zhan family, I really don’t know anything. The gun was something I picked up from the edge of the road. I just want to avenge my husband! You don’t know, my husband treated me very well. Because of my mental issues, I lost my job, but they took me in and let me be a driver. At noon today, my little sister said you released a murderer. She was so angry she beat me at home. I just want to do some housework.”
Xue Ting firmly said, “It’s illegal to kill, no matter the circumstances. We are investigating Zhou Mao’s case. This case is still ongoing. You can’t just make up stories.”
Dawei said calmly, “Anyway, I’m free now. My little sister has nothing to do with this. No one has been hurt.”
Gu Zhiye was somewhat reassured, hearing the logical consistency, suspecting Zhou Tiantai sent Dawei to kill Zheng Lu. Though Dawei wasn’t very sharp, the evidence seemed credible.
Dawei appeared to have mental issues but was a lone figure. Hong Gen stated plainly that Dawei’s will was fragile, and he severed all external contacts.
Gu Zhiye sighed, “People with mental problems are the easiest to break. Now that he admits the truth, it won’t be easy to find his motives. I’ll focus on surveillance, see who he’s met in the past month.”
In the interrogation room, Gu Lu anxiously awaited Zhou Tiantai’s appearance.
Beside him, Zhou Xiaoheng was pale and anxious, looking smaller than usual.
“Xiao Jun, sorry. It’s my fault I didn’t notify you earlier. I didn’t want to trouble you,” Zhou Tiantai said sincerely.
Though Zhou Tiantai seemed uncertain whether the prosecutor had any ground for questioning, she was definitely confident in her own story.
Her husband’s actions were important, her own importance too.
Zhou Tiantai’s tears when holding Xue Dawei frightened everyone; her grief was unmistakable.
“I hired Xue Dawei as my driver. I never intended him to harm you or anyone else. I only wanted to scare you a little and teach you a lesson!”
Zhou Tiantai was somewhat agitated, “It’s true. I was afraid it would backfire, so I recorded everything on a pen recorder, intending to hand it over to the police if things went wrong. But Dawei is mentally unstable. He even brought a gun, which scared me a lot.”
Her expression was weary and shaken, a faint trembling visible in her hands.
Zhou Xiaoheng added, “It’s true. I really was about to kill someone. I took a small knife from the case, wanting to scare you into telling the truth. We never intended to kill anyone. It was all Xue Dawei’s doing. I warned my wife about him; he’s a bad man.”
He chuckled bitterly, “I don’t even trust him anymore. He’s unstable. People with mental problems are the easiest to mislead. I don’t know where he bought the knife from, but I’m sure he planned to kill. Luckily, you intervened.”
Song looked at him knowingly. “You’ve thought this through.”
Zhou Xiaoheng was taken aback. “Really? How could I? I’m just a junior. The police know more than I do. I recorded everything honestly. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared to come here. I’m not worried about hurting you; I even went to the factory to scare you.”
That person then turned to Zhou Tiantai: “I heard the eldest son died in a car accident. Have you investigated the cause?”
Zhou Tiantai answered sharply, “What? The cause? No need to investigate! It was a big truck driven by an intoxicated driver. I wish I could kill him myself, but how could I? Now that the family head is dead, the Zhou Group won’t come after me anymore.”
That’s when Zhou Tiantai fiercely confronted Zhou Xiaoheng.
When the question was raised at the police station, Zhou Xiaoheng gave a vague answer before calming down, even showing a slight hint of relief.
But after Zhou Tiantai finished speaking, he immediately pretended to be injured and said softly, “Zheng Zi, don’t worry. You still have Jia Hong and me.”
The other person looked at him, “What’s the use? Luo Yi, you want to replace someone else? I will report you, Zhou Tiantai, to the authorities.”
Zhou Xiaoheng smiled sarcastically at Song, “Replace? I’m only a younger brother, taking care of the family’s history and affairs. If you think I’m just a small cog, you’re wrong. The evidence has already been handed to you. You can’t deny it.”
Zhou Tiantai was drowned in grief over the loss of her husband and eldest son and didn’t defend herself against Gu Lu’s words.
Zhou Xiaokai grabbed Zhou Xiaoheng’s hand, “Xiao Heng, don’t say much. We have to hurry. The company is in chaos.”
Zhou Xiaoheng looked at Gu Zhiye with understanding. Then he cast a warning glance at Tan Song, “You’ve been here too long. Are you planning to drag this out? Don’t blame me if we don’t cooperate. Tan Song, I’m entrusting you. We are holding your hand in cooperation, but that doesn’t mean you have no authority to act. The police are still investigating. We will wait for the right moment.”
The city officials scolded him, “Stop pretending to speak for us. You think you speak for Zhou Tiantai?”
Zhou Xiaoheng coldly retorted, “You first tell me what you mean.”
“Before, I heard Zhou Tiantai say Zhou Ting was a private child. May I ask if this is true?” someone asked.
Zhou Xiaoheng’s face darkened, “Silence. I am not a private child. I have never faked anything.”
“Whoever is monitoring here, keep an eye on them,” someone ordered.
In the office, Liu Mujia burst in, “Captain Song, you better take a look at that person with green hair. He looks like he’s about to explode. Judging by his posture, one would think he’s had a fit.”
In the interrogation room, Zhou Xiaoheng angrily confronted Zhou Zai, the chief historian, yelling, “Why are you acting like a madman? What does my family’s business have to do with you?”
Zhou Tiantai calmed Zhou Xiaoheng down, “Enough. You go first. Don’t say much.”
Her words were neither cold nor warm. She clearly looked down on Zhou Xiaoheng’s legitimacy but still respected Song: “Xiao Tan, Zhou Xiaoheng is my half-brother through my late husband. The entire Zhou Group knows about this. He is not an illegitimate child. Even if he was, it wouldn’t affect the case. How can you say such things in the police station? You are young; your uncle is no small figure.”
Yu Lu gently raised her hand, “You’re overthinking. What would I gain from this? Zhou Tiantai lost her husband and eldest son. She also doesn’t know how long her beloved youngest son will survive.”
Zhou Tiantai suddenly burst out, “You… you are too kind. Why should I do anything? Why would I hurt my son?”
Gu Zhiye happened to overhear their last exchange.
His intuition told him that Tan Song was probably the younger brother of a middle school student.
There had to be other reasons behind all this.
Could it be?
It’s better to believe there’s something than to believe there’s nothing!
“Qi Jia, arrange for continuous surveillance on Zhou Ying for twenty-four hours without interruption.”