Liu Yufei was taken aback and quickly took out her cell phone. After glancing through the photos, she handed it over to Mr. Zhao and Zhou Ning.
"You make sense, Zhang Wannian lives in Villa Number Three, which is right next to a road that leads directly to the south gate of the sea therapy facility. There’s a pathway here and as long as a vehicle has a pass, it can enter directly without being stopped for inspection," she said.
At this point, Xu Dayuan waved his hand.
"Stop thinking about it here, hurry up, Yufei, take Mr. Zhao and the others to the scene to take a look. As for Mr. Qu, when you find information give us a call. Zhou Ning, you go with them. I’ll have the tech team follow, can’t let Mr. Qu do everything."
Xia Momo was standing next to Mr. Qu, as if they had found sothing, and quickly raised her hand.
"Director Xu has already found their two QQ numbers; Zhang Wannian’s WeChat is very clean. Liu Xiangrui’s WeChat friends and content are a bit more substantial. We have recovered the data for you all to look at, they definitely knew each other."
Her words were like a shot of adrenaline that snapped the morose crowd in the room back to reality. Xia Momo distributed the printed materials, then she stood next to Zhou Ning.
Zhou Ning and the others looked through it once. The chat content was baffling—seemingly unrelated—and though their interactions weren’t frequent, they did chat back and forth every three to five days.
Liu Xiangrui’s online alias was Huining Yizhihua, and Zhang Wannian’s was Qindao Kumu Chun. These two nas didn’t seem like much individually, but together they were indescribably odd.
Before Zhou Ning could finish reading the cryptic content, Xu Dayuan was already frustrated. He flipped through several pages, and after seeing more of the sa type of content, he exclaid:
"Are these two sick or sothing? Can’t they speak plainly? Why write all this jumbled nonsense? This one called Qindao Kumu Chun said, ’A: Is one person beautiful or are two people beautiful?’ B: One person is beautiful! Huining Yizhihua replied with a B. What does that an? Is this so sort of quiz or a taphor?"
Liu Yongxin tugged at Xu Dayuan’s arm. Xu Dayuan sighed and sat down. The interns in the room were frightened into silence, not daring to speak or co closer, but Mr. Zhao was unfazed.
He was eating a spicy strip, continuously nibbling and pondering, sucking his fingers clean; his eyes brightened. Seeing Zhou Ning staring at his fingers, he rolled his eyes and quickly wiped them before moving closer and said with a sly grin:
"Well, boss, I think I might have figured so things out. But if I say it, you might flip out. I’m just analyzing the content here. Do you want to hear it or not?"
Xu Dayuan glared at Mr. Zhao, barely resisting the urge to lift his foot. Mr. Zhao quickly scooted next to Zhou Ning with a look of aggrieved innocence:
"You’re too bureaucratic, always ready to kick soone at the slightest provocation. If that’s how it’s going to be, I won’t say anything."
Zhou Ning nudged him.
"Just say whatever you’ve thought of. This isn’t a large-range special case eting; we’re all on the sa team. It’s okay to make a mistake, so go ahead!"
Assured by Zhou Ning’s words, Mr. Zhao nodded.
"He chose B, which I think refers to the extended aning of the phrase. ’One person is beautiful’ can an ’Dan i,’ which, if you take the homophone, there’s a genre of internet literature that is called ’Dani’, dealing with romantic relationships between n—they are often quite tragic. I’ve only read the descriptions; I haven’t actually read the stories, can’t handle the details."
This statent left everyone with strange expressions on their faces. Liu Yufei quickly took out her phone to search and then showed the search results to Xu Dayuan.
"There really is such a term. Does it an that their coded language is them probing each other, asking if they are the type of person they’re seeking, communicating about dates and such through these codes?"
Xu Dayuan frowned at the coded conversations on the few pages in front of him, then slapped them into Mr. Zhao’s hands.
"Okay, you’ve finished the autopsy. Let Mr. Yang and his team check out the sea therapy facility. You’re not leaving the office today. Work on translating these codes for , word by word. I want to know what they’re talking about."
After speaking, he stood, gestured to Zhou Ning,
"Let’s go check out the sea therapy facility. If we’re really going to investigate in this direction, we need to thoroughly survey the place. If Liu Xiangrui stayed there, he must have left traces. In addition, I’ll have Zhang Ping take Mr. Qu and Mr. Xia to the tech team. You take those people and carefully search the surveillance footage. We already know Zhang Wannian’s car model and number; I want to know where that car is."
Mr. Zhao looked bewildered, spreading his hands helplessly,
"Co on, boss, analyze it with . It was just a thought that slipped out; how am I supposed to translate all this code? I’m not a fan of male-male romance, am I?"
"Quit your yapping. I want results by tonight."
With that, Xu Dayuan led Zhou Ning and the others out quickly, leaving Mr. Zhao alone in the large office.
Mr. Zhao was on the verge of a breakdown, giving himself a slap to the face—but not too hard since it was still his own face that would hurt—then quickly logged onto the computer. The docunts Mr. Qu sent were still there, so at least he didn’t have to print them out again.
He opened WeChat, found his classmates’ group chat, sent a crying emoji, then ntioned everyone.
Zhao Dazhao @All mbers: Stop lurking, guys. Co out and save ! I’m stumped. Can any of you crack the aning of these codes for ? I’m willing to pay for the answers!
Mr. Langlang: What’s the matter? You’re not doing forensics and just whining instead? Got sothing funny to share? Co on, out with it, let get a look!
Taxes: Stop ssing around. What happened? Quit the sniveling. A big guy like you has to be strong. Let see what’s got you all upset?
Call Brother E: ?
Hongng Bingbing: Speak up!
Seeing many people chi in, Mr. Zhao quickly glanced over. He could guess the gist of the first few pages, but the latter part was very fantastical and seed a bit artsy. He hurriedly copied and pasted a sentence and sent it over.
Zhao Dazhao: A asks, "Will it rain today?" B: "If not today, then tomorrow." What does this conversation between two people an?
Mr. Langlang: Interesting, this line is from "Yu Guanyin."
Taxes: Are the two a couple?
Mr. Zhao rubbed his chin, his spirits suddenly lifted. He hadn’t seen this TV show, but he knew of it. But how to answer whether they were a couple?
Zhao Dazhao@Mr. Langlang: I don’t know how to describe their relationship, two n, about the sa age, contacting each other every three to five days, their conversations always like this, one asking and the other answering. It seems irrelevant, but it’s certain they know each other. They appear to be travel buddies to the outside world, nothing more at the mont.
Hongng Bingbing: Ahhh! I like the idea of two n together, such a thrilling thought. But speaking of Yu Guanyin, isn’t there a scenic spot called Yu Guanyin in Tongshan of Qindao? It’s not very famous, but I heard about it from a friend who likes climbing.
Mr. Zhao was stunned; Tongshan was a famous Daoist mountain, how could there be such a place he didn’t know about? He quickly logged onto a map on another computer and searched ticulously. Sure enough, on the northern foothills of Tongshan, on the periphery, there really was a place called Yu Guanyin.
Excited by this revelation, Mr. Zhao concluded that his guess was right; it was a rendezvous, probably eting up to go out and play. This dialogue confird the chosen location to be at Yu Guanyin.
Zhao Dazhao: You guys are brilliant, sothing that baffled all day, and you solved it in seconds. Hurry up and help with the rest. What does this sentence an? Is it the agreed ti? "Dongfang Middle School, lifting tomorrow’s sun."
Taxes: The youth are the sun at eight or nine in the morning, obviously implying to set off at dawn, arriving at the designated place by eight or nine!
Mr. Zhao’s eyes shone; he promptly sent a red envelope, everyone pecking at it in seconds, with the lucky ones grabbing more than twenty bucks, everyone praising Zhao for his generosity. He quickly sent these chat records over, one by one, then noted down the translated anings in another docunt.
The more he studied, Mr. Zhao started to discern so patterns, so answers he knew without needing to ask. His plump hands danced and fluttered across both keyboards.
...
Outside the south gate of the Seascape therapy center, in the car.
Zhou Ning rinsed his mouth, and Pang Tianhang cleared away the empty lunch box. Not brushing after a al was especially uncomfortable for him, but there was no ti to fuss; he quickly put on his mask and stepped out of the car.
The others in the vehicles also got out one after another. Liu Yongxin stood next to Zhou Ning, pounding his back.
"Will Director Xu’s promised al happen within this year?"
Zhou Ning smiled; it wasn’t that Xu Dayuan was stingy, he simply didn’t have the ti.
"Forget about that. I’ll organize a gathering for everyone before the New Year."
Liu Yongxin waved his hand.
"I won’t go, I’m just waiting for your engagent and wedding banquets. Once I’ve attended those, I’m good for anything."
Mr. Yang laughed on the side, sidling up to Zhou Ning to join the fun.
"We’ve got the red packets ready; boss, you need to hurry up. Your sister’s kid will be born soon, right? You need to get on the schedule. The parents have already t, and your master agrees a thousand percent. Don’t make Mr. Xia wait too long."
Without arguing, Zhou Ning just nodded.
"I know, it won’t be too long. Let’s go, Director Xu is here, we need to examine this suite carefully, especially the bedding. If the housekeeping staff hasn’t cleaned it, take it straight away. Trash cans, personal items, these are all key points. Mr. Wang, follow Mr. Yang’s lead to take pictures, make good marks, you two follow and learn."
Everyone nodded quickly, and Zhou Ning walked over to Xu Dayuan. Several managent personnel from Seascape had arrived; the abundance of police officers and police cars made for an intimidating sight. A manager-like figure quickly ca forward.
"Officer, how can we assist you?"
Xu Dayuan nodded to the man.
"We need the room key, please hand it over, and then everyone step back. Call over whoever from the housekeeping departnt was responsible for cleaning this suite. Don’t leave anyone out; we need to speak with them. Even if there are off-duty staff, please contact them as well. You received my call about this earlier, right?"
The manager nodded repeatedly, handing over a master room card to Xu Dayuan, which Liu Yufei received.
"They’re all here, waiting in the next suite. I thought it would be inconvenient to set up far away, making you run back and forth."
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