"Uncle Tan, are you sure it’s Zhu Changyong himself?"
"Cannot fully confirm, but there is a high probability it is him.
Because when applying for visitation, he provided proof of his relationship with Zheng Haiyang’s mother as a colleague and a photo of them together."
"Does the ntal hospital have a record?"
"No."
Indeed, ntal hospitals exercise more stringent supervision, but that is directed internally, not externally, and moreover, family visitations for patients are exceedingly rare.
Many families, after admitting a family mber with ntal illness, hope to forget about that person.
"Uncle Tan, are you confirming it was suicide?"
"Her thod of suicide was to slit her throat in public."
Li Zhiyuan raised his shirt collar a bit.
That ans it was suicide; after all, if there were other hidden circumstances or sinister forces involved, it wouldn’t have been done in this way.
"Uncle Tan, isn’t Zhu Changyong under suspicion for incitent or abetnt?"
"The law does account for it, but how do you adjudicate that? Zheng Haiyang’s mother was already ntally ill. What the local police station could do was summon him for questioning. He did leave an address and phone number on the application form, though it’s only a hotel’s."
Li Zhiyuan looked up at Tan Yunlong, suddenly understanding the real reason Officer Tan had co here.
"Uncle Tan, you’re here looking for Zheng Haiyang."
Tan Yunlong nodded, feeling a sense of relief inside. Talking to Xiao Yuan was indeed much simpler than talking to his own foolish son.
"Xiao Yuan, the hotel address Zhu Changyong left is in our Shigang."
When Zheng Haiyang ca out of the school, he had lunch with Tan Wenbin and Li Zhiyuan, and since Tan Wenbin followed Li Zhiyuan and skipped the evening self-study, Zheng Haiyang left by himself.
"Brother Bin, why are you still here?" Zheng Haiyang first noticed Tan Wenbin and went over to greet him.
Tan Wenbin nudged in that direction with his mouth.
"Oh, Uncle’s here too."
Naturally, Tan Yunlong had also taken notice. He turned his head, pointed at Tan Wenbin, and called out, "You go and eat with Haiyang in the cafeteria, then accompany him to the evening self-study."
"What?" Tan Wenbin was slightly taken aback. Eating with a buddy was fine, but skipping morning and evening self-study was a matter of pride for his rebellious nature!
Tan Yunlong gave him a stern look.
Tan Wenbin’s knees went weak instantly, and he imdiately responded:
"Sure!"
Sons understand when a tiger—old man—is just playfully angry and when it is truly dangerous.
After all, even a tiger doesn’t eat its cubs because the cubs know how to behave.
"Let’s go, Haiyang, we’re off to the cafeteria."
"Brother Bin, if we go to the cafeteria now, we’ll have to line up and might even find there isn’t much food left..."
"Quit your yapping. If all else fails, we’ll get so ’Monk’s at’ from the school store. If you don’t co with now, my dad might just take off his belt and whip in front of the school gate."
As Tan Wenbin and Zheng Haiyang went in, two plainclothes police officers also followed, clearly there to protect the target.
During the school pick-up and drop-off tis, security at the school gate doesn’t stop young-looking people, but is more vigilant with adults.
So those several guards greeted those two plainclothes officers with enthusiasm.
It’s a small town; they’re familiar faces, and those officers frequently co to the school for legal education promotion.
Having them there makes it easier to communicate with the teachers and avoid misunderstandings.
Soon, two sports teachers from the school, Luo Jinwen and Luo Wenhu, were handpicked to coordinate with the police operation.
These two teachers were cousins. One was planning to shop for groceries after work to celebrate his wife’s birthday, the other had a date to watch a movie after work. Now, both plans were canceled.
After the headmaster briefed them, he also comforted them, reassuring them that they were highly valued by the school leadership.
And that was true. The last ti they were sent to Beijing to investigate Li Zhiyuan’s school registration, it was them, and they were the ones who installed curtains and a spring bed in the principal’s office.
"Let’s go, Xiao Yuan, we’re heading to the hotel."
"He hasn’t checked out yet?"
"The station called earlier to check; he checked out this morning, but we still need to take a look. Additionally, I’ve arranged for officers to protect Zheng Haiyang’s ho."
"Uncle Tan, wait a mont."
Li Zhiyuan ran to Run Sheng’s rickshaw and explained the situation to Alii, who nodded in agreent.
Aside from the ti when Alii decisively left after discovering Li Zhiyuan’s self-harm, she never complained about anything else Li Zhiyuan wanted to do.
Run Sheng asked if he should take Alii ho first and then co back with equipnt, but Li Zhiyuan declined.
After saying goodbye, Li Zhiyuan ran back, got on Tan Yunlong’s motorcycle, and soon they arrived at the hotel.
The hotel had a very common na, "Happiness Inn."
To the left of the entrance was a breakfast shop, to the right a hair salon.
An ordinary salon would at least have an iron hairdressing chair, but this one not only lacked chairs but had no scissors or combs visible on the desk—just a crude, long sofa inside with two won with lurid makeup sitting on it, legs up, knitting sweaters.
On the glass door, besides the words "Haircut, Shampoo," there were also "Cupping, Foot washing, Massage, PSA."
Li Zhiyuan suspected the last one was a typographical error.
The hotel entrance was small, with just a staircase leading up to the second floor where the front desk was.
Tan Yunlong showed his badge, requesting the check-in records from the staff.
The station had already confird Zhu Changyong’s stay and requested that his room be kept vacant for the ti being.
Led by the owner into the depths of the hotel, they opened a door and walked in.
The space was very small, with just a bed, a bedside table, and a coffee table, and no TV.
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