After arriving at the County Governnt and eting up with the other inspection team mbers, the group departed in a grand, bustling manner toward their destination.
The destination this ti was Shiqiao Town.
After completing the inspection, Yao Pang detained everyone intentionally.
During the al, Liao Ruoji abandoned her usual composed, slow eating deanor.
She hastily finished her food and stepped away from the table.
After all, aside from Chen Bin, she didn’t know anyone else here.
Being constantly stared at by those n during the al made her feel uneasy.
When leaving the restaurant, Liao Ruoji motioned toward her cara in a way that suggested she was planning to go out and take so photos.
Chen Bin nodded back, signaling he understood.
After eating, Chen Bin went out for a stroll but found no trace of Liao Ruoji.
He imdiately gathered others to search nearby the restaurant.
However, there was still no sign of her.
Logically, since Liao Ruoji didn’t have acquaintances in Shiqiao Town, she shouldn’t have ventured far.
So where could she have gone?
Realizing sothing was amiss, Yao Pang quickly deployed his resources and began widening the search range for Liao Ruoji.
Yet, even after searching tirelessly until past 9 p.m., the entire Shiqiao Town was practically turned inside out, but still, no sign of Liao Ruoji was found.
At last, Chen Bin panicked.
Though he didn’t know much about Liao Ruoji’s true identity, it was certainly far from ordinary.
Now that she had gone missing, he genuinely had no idea what to do next.
Without delay, he drove back to the county and headed straight to the County Public Security Bureau.
Upon entering, he went directly to the on-duty officer and said,
"I have a friend from the Imperial Capital, a young woman in her twenties nad Liao Ruoji, wearing a floral dress. She disappeared around 5 or 6 p.m. tonight near a restaurant in Shiqiao Town. Can you help look for her?"
The on-duty officer frowned and replied, "County Magistrate Chen, please don’t worry. It’s best to provide a photo of the person; otherwise, the process will be much slower."
"But I don’t have a photo of her at all."
"You should try looking for one. Having a photo would make it much easier for us to mobilize the officers."
Nodding slightly, Chen Bin imdiately drove back to the Qinghe Town Guesthouse.
After knocking on the door for a long ti, Liao Ruoli finally opened it.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes and, upon seeing that it was Chen Bin, curiously asked,
"Why are you back so late? Where’s my sister?"
Chen Bin replied gravely, "She’s missing!"
"Missing?"
Liao Ruoli froze briefly, suddenly wide awake.
In disbelief, she stared at Chen Bin. "You’re not joking, are you?"
Without hesitation, Chen Bin explained the details of Liao Ruoji’s disappearance.
Upon hearing this, Liao Ruoli grabbed his collar and scolded fiercely,
"Chen, if anything happens to my sister, I won’t let you off the hook!"
Chen Bin quickly followed up, "Give a photo of your sister. I need it to get the police to help us search."
Hearing this, Liao Ruoli first tried calling her sister.
After receiving no answer, she furiously began scrolling through her phone.
Finally, she found a photo of the two sisters together and cropped out her own part.
After adding Chen Bin on WeChat, she imdiately sent him the photo.
Without delay, Chen Bin told Liao Ruoli to stay at the guesthouse and rest while he turned around and left.
That evening, Liao Ruoji’s photo was distributed by the County Public Security Bureau to every local police station.
Yet, the entire following day went by with no news whatsoever.
Sitting alone in his office, Chen Bin was filled with frustration.
He couldn’t understand for the life of him how a perfectly normal person could vanish so easily.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Chen Bin resolved to seek help from Cao Sanjin in the city if she wasn’t found by nightfall.
Just then, his phone rang.
Seeing an unknown number, Chen Bin directly declined the call.
However, the caller dialed again shortly afterward.
After so hesitation, Chen Bin finally picked up.
A man’s voice ca through on the other end.
"County Magistrate Chen, I’m Zou Daxing, the Deputy Director of the County Public Security Bureau. Do you have ti tonight? Let’s et."
In all of Chen Bin’s mory, he had no recollection of knowing soone by that na.
But for this person to reach out at such a ti, Chen Bin speculated it could be related to Liao Ruoji.
He imdiately replied, "Alright, where would you like to et?"
"After work, Dexing Tea House, Room 08!"
"Alright!"
Chen Bin couldn’t even wait till the end of the workday. After hanging up, he imdiately drove over to Dexing Tea House.
He waited in Room 08 for nearly half an hour before Zou Daxing walked in from outside.
The man, in his forties, had slicked-back, greasy hair.
Dressed in casual clothes, he looked more like a businessman than a civil servant.
Giving him a quick glance, Chen Bin asked, "Are you Director Zou?"
Zou Daxing first looked around outside, ensuring no one had followed him, before closing and locking the door.
Fixing a calm gaze on Chen Bin, he said, "The person you’re looking for is currently at the Shiqiao Police Station."
Hearing this, Chen Bin froze.
Imdiately, he stood up and grabbed Zou Daxing’s arm in agitation, saying,
"My friend, her na is Liao Ruoji. Are you sure she’s at the Shiqiao Police Station?"
"I’m sure. And I also know she’s currently in an interrogation room on the second floor."
"Interrogation room?"
Frowning, Chen Bin found this information dubious.
"The entire county’s Public Security Bureau has been mobilized to find her. If the Shiqiao Police Station found her, why didn’t they send her over? What’s she doing in an interrogation room?"
Looking at Chen Bin, Zou Daxing clarified further,
"The truth is, the Shiqiao Police Station wasn’t even searching for her. She was brought in by them!"
Clenching his fists, Chen Bin gritted his teeth and asked,
"Who? Who took Liao Ruoji?!"
"That..."
After a mont of thought, Zou Daxing shook his head.
"I don’t know."
"You don’t know? Or you don’t dare to say?"
Faced with this question, Zou Daxing fell silent.
Chen Bin pressed on, "Just tell . I promise no one else will ever hear about this from ."
After a long hesitation, Zou Daxing finally said,
"It was Ye Pei!"
"I won’t forget this favor. I owe you one!"
With that, Chen Bin stord out with rage burning inside him.
He never expected Ye Pei would be bold enough to detain even soone like Liao Ruoji.
anwhile, in the interrogation room at the Shiqiao Police Station.
Ye Pei stood with his arms crossed, angrily berating Liao Ruoji.
"Will you admit it or not? If you won’t, you can forget about ever leaving here!"
Liao Ruoji stared coldly at Ye Pei, her expression rigid and grim.
"I didn’t do anything. What do you want to admit?!"
"Didn’t do anything? Then tell , why were you taking photos all over Shiqiao Town? Who do you work for? What spy organization are you with? Who’s your contact?"
Since being detained, Liao Ruoji hadn’t had a mont of rest.
Her eyes were bloodshot, yet she still refused to yield.
"Taking a few pictures makes a spy now? With your imagination, why aren’t you writing novels?"
"Cut the crap!"
Ye Pei slamd the table with force, yelling furiously.
"If you don’t start cooperating, I’ll make sure you regret it!"
Bam!
As his words landed, the interrogation room door was suddenly kicked open from the outside.
A roar of fury erupted instantly.
"Ye, if you so much as touch a hair on her head, I’ll tear you apart!"
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