Li Yunmo frowned and said, “This family seems both right and not right.”
Zhang Jingchan nodded. After pondering for a moment, he called Ding Chenmo and spoke a few words.
Ding Chenmo said, “This isn’t quite according to regulations.”
Zhang Jingchan said, “My father, my mother, the bodyguard, Uncle Li, Zhang Fengming, the nanny, the arsonist—seven lives. Plus my half-life as a vegetative patient. Although the case was closed long ago and you’ve retired, if I uncover something, will you reopen the case or not?”
Ding Chenmo was silent for a moment before saying just one word: “Reopen.”
Before long, Ding Chenmo sent over some household registration materials and photos containing all the relatives of the aunt’s family: the couple’s cousins, clan relatives, even blood relatives within three generations.
Zhang Jingchan and Li Yunmo saw two familiar names among them:
The uncle’s second female cousin: Liu Guizhi.
The aunt’s younger male cousin: Wang Ming.
Liu Guizhi’s photo was from when she was young, but both Zhang Jingchan and Li Yunmo recognized her at a glance as Sister Liu, the Zhang family’s former nanny. As for Wang Ming, his photo also matched the person Zhang Jingchan had previously found who had made three hundred million from the futures market.
Li Yunmo looked at these photos and names, imagining the web these people formed. He felt waves of coldness in his heart and said, “Damn, they had your family in their sights from way back.”
The Zhang family’s nannies were all found through employment agencies. Liu Guizhi had been employed for several years. Who would investigate these roundabout connections?
Zhang Jingchan supported himself against the car door with one hand while lowering his phone with the other. He raised his head to look at the blue sky, his Adam’s apple rolling gently as he said, “A lot of information—whether my father hired external teams to audit accounts or bought futures—wasn’t leaked from within Fu Ming, but from my home. No one would notice a nanny. I suspect she installed listening devices in my father’s study. That person behind everything, although my father’s subordinate, has a very strong desire for control and has been secretly monitoring my father and my family’s situation all along.”
Li Yunmo swallowed, “Have you guessed who it is?”
Zhang Jingchan didn’t answer. Instead, he made another call to Ding Chenmo, “Old Ding, Liu Ying took her stepfather’s surname. Her mother was divorced. Help me check what her previous husband’s surname was and whether there were any other children.”
Li Yunmo asked, “Why do you think that person would be Liu Ying’s brother?”
Zhang Jingchan replied, “Liu Ying’s private life is chaotic—she doesn’t take men seriously. What kind of person could make her willingly stand in the open as a target? What kind of person would kill to protect her? Only blood relatives who depend on each other for survival.”
Because Liu Ying’s ex-husband lived in another province and his household registration had been transferred out, it took Ding Chenmo some time to investigate the materials. By the time dusk fell and Zhang Jingchan and Li Yunmo had already checked into a local hotel, Ding Chenmo finally sent over the information.
Liu Ying’s mother’s ex-husband was surnamed Xu. Back then, the couple had a son and daughter. After the divorce, the daughter followed the mother and the son followed the father. That son was five years younger than Liu Ying—by now he would be thirty-four. His registered name was Xu Conglan.
There was only a photo from when he was seven or eight years old. Li Yunmo held the photo, frowning, “Brother Chan, why do I feel like I’ve seen this person somewhere…”
—
That day, before it got dark, Li Xiaoyi was cooking and discovered she was missing stewing spices and preserved eggs. Li Weiyi volunteered to go downstairs to the supermarket to buy them. Zhong Yi smiled and followed along.
The supermarket was only seven or eight hundred meters from her sister’s home, all along main roads. Seeing her brother-in-law staying close by her side, Li Weiyi smiled helplessly and said, “Brother-in-law, I’m not a child anymore. It’s just one main road with so many people—what could happen? Can’t you stay home and keep my sister company?”
Zhong Yi shook his head, “Since I promised Achan, I have to follow through.”
“What did you promise him?”
Zhong Yi glanced at her and pulled out his phone to show her. Li Weiyi saw Zhang Jingchan’s instruction to “help me protect her” and her face flushed slightly. She said, “Brother-in-law, he just said that casually. You don’t need to take it so seriously.”
But Zhong Yi answered, “You just handed materials to the police. It’s a serious matter. Being careful never hurts.”
“Alright then.”
Although he said this, Zhong Yi also felt that in such a prosperous urban area, nothing could possibly happen. The two walked along the main road for a stretch and were almost at the supermarket entrance.
Next to the supermarket was an alley wide enough for vehicles, leading to the supermarket’s back door—usually used by delivery vehicles. When they were just a few steps from passing the alley entrance, a van suddenly backed out. Zhong Yi’s eyes narrowed as he grabbed Li Weiyi’s arm and stopped.
The van door slid open with a whoosh. Two burly, solid men jumped out, wearing caps and masks, holding long steel rods. Zhong Yi pulled Li Weiyi toward the crowded supermarket behind the car, but the two men reacted quickly—clearly trained fighters. Both steel rods swung down toward Zhong Yi’s head in unison.
Zhong Yi pushed Li Weiyi forward and shouted, “Run!” He twisted his body to narrowly avoid those two strikes and threw a punch at one of the men. Zhong Yi’s punch was both fast and fierce, carrying a bloodthirsty killing intent that ordinary people didn’t possess. That man took the punch squarely and his movements slowed. The other man’s rod struck Zhong Yi’s back. Zhong Yi’s back collapsed, but he kicked out. The man’s knee buckled from the kick and he fell to his knees. Zhong Yi moved lightning-fast—with a backhand motion, he seized the rod and mercilessly struck several times, directly taking this man down.
The other man was shocked, probably not expecting Zhong Yi to be this formidable. He swung his rod to attack, but Zhong Yi deflected his rod with one strike and smashed another blow to his neck. Today, Zhong Yi held nothing back—this man was directly knocked unconscious.
Zhong Yi wiped the sweat from his head and, enduring the severe pain in his back, grabbed the steel rod and ran toward Li Weiyi’s direction behind the car.
As for Li Weiyi, when Zhong Yi had pushed her forward earlier, her heart was both anxious and frightened. But she was very clear-headed that she couldn’t help at all. She gritted her teeth and ran, simultaneously pulling out her phone to dial 110. But just as she pressed the call button, the van door on the other side facing her opened and two men rushed out. One man’s steel rod struck at her. Li Weiyi’s hand took a hard hit. The pain made her stumble and her phone flew from her hand, falling to the ground.
She wanted to pick it up again, but another man grabbed her waist from behind and dragged her toward the vehicle. Li Weiyi struggled desperately, but the man’s arm didn’t budge an inch. Li Weiyi shouted loudly, “Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law!” While also shouting to the surrounding onlookers, “Call the police! Call the police! Dial 110! Report the license plate number…” Before she finished speaking, her mouth was forcefully covered by the man.
However, among the onlookers, someone was already secretly reaching for their phone. It was just that these men looked too fierce—for the moment, no one dared step forward.
Zhong Yi was only a few meters away from her. Hearing her cry for help, he rushed out in one swift motion, his eyes full of ruthless intent. He struck the man holding Li Weiyi on the back with the rod. Li Weiyi simultaneously bit down hard on the man’s arm. The man cried out in pain and released her. The moment Li Weiyi’s feet touched the ground, the other man came to grab her again. Li Weiyi shrieked “Ah!” and desperately kicked and pushed him. Zhong Yi roared, “Let go—” One precise strike knocked the steel rod from the man’s hand. With a backhand swing, another strike knocked the man flat to the ground.