Fan Jia muttered under her breath, “She has nothing, nothing to offer as collateral. This company sure is generous, willing to keep lending her money.”
Han Feng, who was more familiar with these third and fourth-tier city campus loan companies, explained, “They probably have compromising videos of her in their possession. With that kind of leverage, they’re not worried about her defaulting. They want her to borrow more so that when they cast their net, they can bleed her dry for half her life. Thirty thousand in interest? Want to bet it’ll snowball to a million? The moment she shows any defiance, those videos get sent to her classmates, friends, and worst of all, her parents. That alone is enough to drive someone to death.”
Xu Mengshan remarked, “Like vipers.”
At this point, Yin Feng asked, “What kind of compromising videos?”
This was something every first-tier detective knew about – campus loan companies would make female students record videos of themselves holding their ID cards while making loan declarations, which would then be sent to the companies as evidence before the loan was disbursed.
Han Feng explained briefly, then added, “We’ve found loads of these on computers when investigating illegal campus loan companies before.”
Yin Feng furrowed his brow in thought: “Could I see them?”
Just as Han Feng was about to agree, You Mingxu slapped the table and said, “Do we have time for this? Stop getting sidetracked and let’s discuss what to do next.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Xu Mengshan, who just smiled.
Fan Jia said, “Do you think Liu Yisha might have gone to meet someone from Fenjin Bao Company that day she disappeared? To collect that 10,000 yuan loan she applied for? That ‘Apple Bro’ did mention ‘meeting to discuss.'”
This was actually what everyone had been suspecting.
You Mingxu drummed her fingers on the table: “This is our only lead right now. Plus, Zhao Fei’er from a year ago also borrowed a lot of money from this company.”
Han Feng looked at her: “How should we investigate – openly or undercover?”
At this moment, the core detective team members felt a surge of excitement. Even though everyone at Fenjin Bao Company had solid alibis for Zhao Fei’er’s case from a year ago, they still sensed that behind this seemingly profit-driven company lay deeper, more mysterious circumstances waiting to be uncovered.
You Mingxu answered, “Undercover. I suggest we send someone to test Apple Bro and this company first. We need to avoid alerting them. After all, we still don’t know if or how the killer is connected to this company. They could be anyone in the company or just someone related – we have no clues yet.”
Han Feng nodded: “Then we’ll need a female officer.” As soon as he said this, everyone looked at You Mingxu, who leaned back in her chair with folded arms and smiled, “I’ll go, no problem.” She was well-versed in this kind of operation.
However, Han Feng remained silent, while Xu Mengshan and the others looked her over. Although You Mingxu ranked top among provincial female officers in combat skills and was attractive enough to lure any criminal…
“Sister Xu, you’re too beautiful, and your bearing doesn’t match a student’s. They’ll be suspicious,” Yin Feng said earnestly from the corner.
You Mingxu gave him a cool glance, her lips quirking up briefly as she said, “Well… I could disguise myself?”
Xu Mengshan shook his head: “No way, that commanding aura of yours is impossible to hide. Sister You, can you tremble fearfully and look pitiful in front of Apple Bro? How jarring would that be! What if you speak and scare the criminals to tears?”
You Mingxu: “Do you. Want. To die!”
The group of detectives burst into laughter, including Yin Feng. But then he noticed You Mingxu’s glare fixed solely on him – among all the people laughing, she only glared at him. Inexplicably, Yin Feng felt a sweet sensation in his chest, accompanied by a slight tingling. He simply lowered his head and continued laughing.
You Mingxu: “…”
Unbelievable!
At this point, Fan Jia stood up: “I’ll go.”
Everyone turned to look at her, their eyes brightening. Although Fan Jia was currently in uniform, she was more petite than You Mingxu, with a round face and sweet features, complete with two shallow dimples when she smiled. She truly did have a fresh and endearing quality about her.
Xu Mengshan suddenly spoke up: “You can’t go. Your combat skills are too poor. Sit down.”
Fan Jia: “Shut up, Fox Xu. I’m going as bait, not to fight. Besides, even if my skills aren’t as good as yours and Sister You’s, I can still take down a few criminals. Sister You, Captain Han, let me go.”