"It's hard to call for a taxi here at night, I'll give you a ride!" Xu Mingzhi's voice came from the car. After looking at the itinerary on his phone that no one had taken the order from the corner of his eye, he reached out and opened the car door.
As soon as he got into the car, Xu Mingzhi handed him a cigarette.
Looking at the cigarette from the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but smile. When he went out earlier, he forgot to take a cigarette, and now he really felt like smoking.
"Don't smoke?" Seeing that he didn't answer, Xu Minzhi asked.
"Pump it!" After Yu Guang said it, he reached out to take it and put it in his mouth. With a click, Xu Mingzhi lit the lighter and gave way to Yu Guang. Out of the corner of his eye, he leaned over and lit a cigarette.
The astringent taste of tobacco filled the mouth, immediately dispelling a lot of tiredness from his body.
The night wind blew in from the window, picked up the smoke that was lingering in the car, and roared away.
He leaned back in his chair with his peripheral vision and narrowed his eyes in relaxation.
Xu Mingzhi glanced at him, said nothing, started the car and drove forward.
At two or three in the morning, the city is empty and lonely.
The jeep drove along the deserted streets, and the music on the radio was soothing and hypnotic.
Yu Guang didn't know when he fell asleep. When he woke up, the car stopped in front of a dim light.
It's Lily Night Market.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the time displayed on the radio. It was already past four o'clock. From the City Bureau to Lily Night Market, it takes about forty minutes if the traffic is smooth. In other words, they have been parked here for more than half an hour.
Yu Guang pinched his forehead, Xu Mingzhi's 'consideration' was really embarrassing.
"Any more cigarettes?" he asked.
Xu Mingzhi smiled and then threw the whole pack of cigarettes over. After taking one out of the corner of his eye and lighting it, he turned to look at Xu Mingzhi and said, "You shouldn't waste your energy on me. Jin Jiaojiao's death has nothing to do with me, and I don't know how she died. However, For the sake of what you gave me today, I can give you a suggestion."
"What's your suggestion?" Xu Mingzhi immediately became serious.
Yu Guang took a puff of cigarette and said, "Have you checked Jin Jiaojiao's financial resources?"
Jin Jiaojiao’s financial source?
Xu Mingzhi frowned slightly. Since Jin Jiaojiao's identity was confirmed, all her personal information, including her financial situation, were the first things to be investigated. However, in the past two days, he had focused on Yu Guang, so he ignored this aspect. At this moment, when he was reminded from the corner of his eye, he suddenly remembered that when they went to the Qiaoxi Garden house rented by Jin Jiaojiao on the 6th to investigate, they found a lot of brand-name bags and jewelry. These things were not her monthly income. It can be easily afforded by the working-class people with a salary of about 10,000. There must be something wrong with this, but the appearance of 'Yu Guang' prevented him from delving into these doubts for a while.
So, Yu Guang specifically mentioned this point at this moment, what did he want to remind him?
In just a moment, many thoughts went through Xu Mingzhi's mind. He looked out of the corner of his eye and asked tentatively: "You mean Jin Jiaojiao's death has something to do with this?
Yu Guang took a puff of cigarette and replied: "How do I know whether it's relevant or not? I'm just giving you an idea." After saying that, he opened the car door and prepared to get out of the car.
Xu Mingzhi stopped him: "Wait a minute, it's already this time, let's have breakfast together, and I'll take you back."
"No need." Yu Guang decisively rejected him. What he said just now was actually a little out of order. After he waved his hand to Xu Mingzhi, he got out of the car without looking back.
After Xu Mingzhi watched his back disappear into the night, he picked up his cell phone and found He Yu's number and called: "Have you checked Jin Jiaojiao's financial situation that I asked you to check before?"
On the other end of the phone, He Yu couldn't even open his eyes. After hearing what Xu Mingzhi said, he immediately woke up and faltered: "I forgot."
Xu Mingzhi wanted to scold him, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back. In fact, this matter cannot be entirely blamed on He Yu. Didn't he even forget about it? If it hadn't been for the reminder from the corner of his eye, he might not have remembered it.
"I'll check it out early in the morning." Seeing that Xu Mingzhi didn't speak, He Yu quickly added.
"Yeah." Xu Mingzhi hung up the phone after saying that. He looked at the words Lily Night Market not far away, and recalled in his mind the expression on his face when Yu Guang reminded him to check Jin Jiaojiao's financial situation. At that time, there was not much emotion on his face, but there was something in his eyes. Questioning, as if to say: Can you do it?
Yu Guang didn't trust them.
The source of this distrust should be related to the case seven years ago.
Thinking of this, Xu Mingzhi took out Yu Zhiyuan's information on his phone and read it.
After he returned from Wang Yongming's place yesterday, he tried to find some information about Yu Zhiyuan's case, which made the context of the whole case a little clearer.
Yu Zhiyuan, a native of Qingshan Town, Yuehu City, was born in July 1992. He was admitted to Xinhe High School in Yuehu City in 2007. He disappeared from school after class at 5pm on May 18, 2009.
In 2009, surveillance was not as popular as it is now. Xinhe High School only had surveillance in a few important locations. Although there was surveillance at the school gate, Yu Zhiyuan was not found in the surveillance.
At that time, after the school realized that Yu Zhiyuan might not be on campus, it immediately contacted Yu Zhiyuan's parents. But Yu Zhiyuan's parents were not in Yuehu City at that time. By the time they arrived at the school from Qingshan Town, 70 kilometers away, it was already late at night. By the time they realized that Yu Zhiyuan was really missing before calling the police, it was already the afternoon of the next day.
Therefore, when the police arrived at the school and conducted an investigation, even if there were possible clues, they were basically destroyed. The police conducted several investigations but found nothing.
It wasn't until three days later that a cleaner handed over an MP3 player, which was later confirmed by Yu Zhiyuan's classmates and family members to be Yu Zhiyuan's. The cleaner picked up the MP3 by the wall behind the school dormitory area on Tuesday morning. At first, he thought it was just a student who dropped it. Seeing that it was relatively new, he became greedy and wanted to keep it for himself. Later, when I heard about Yu Zhiyuan, I felt worried, so I handed over the things.
The police went to the location where the cleaner picked up the items and carefully inspected them inside and out. Although several days had passed and it had rained, there were no traces left. However, there were several traces on the wall at that location. There is a cave, and there is a tree outside the wall. It is not difficult for a seventeen-year-old teenager to climb out.
In addition, several classmates who slept with Yu Zhiyuan said that Yu Zhiyuan was not in a very good mood during those few days and was not very attentive in class. Especially after returning from home on Sunday, his mood was even more unstable. He studied on Sunday night. I also had a quarrel with a classmate when I was young.
This was also mentioned by the teacher on duty at the time.
Therefore, based on various factors, the police finally determined that he left school on his own initiative.
This result is obviously not so easy for Yu Zhiyuan's family to accept. Otherwise, Yu Guang’s resistance to the police would not continue to this day.
Xu Mingzhi put away his phone and sighed.
Yu Guang, an outstanding graduate of Peking University's Department of Architecture, gave up his bright future in Beijing and returned to Yuehu to work as a private detective, presumably to find his younger brother Yu Zhiyuan.
However, there has been no news about Yu Zhiyuan for seven years...
More bad luck than good.
