There had been two other men in Zhou Rongfeng’s office. The thin one wearing glasses was He Qi, and the fat one was Xie Tangmao. Both were company vice presidents.

The police interviewed them separately.

Xu Mengshan: “You’re a vice president at Fenjin Bao Company?”

He Qi appeared very calm. It seemed that people who worked in such grey industries naturally carried an obscure quality about them, never easily letting others see through them.

He Qi answered: “Yes.”

Xu Mengshan: “What are your specific responsibilities?”

He Qi: “Accounts receivable.”

Xu Mengshan: “Debt collection?”

He Qi: “You could say that.”

Xu Mengshan: “How exactly do you carry out your work?”

He Qi’s face remained undisturbed: “Just the usual methods – text messages, phone calls, communication. We also contact their relatives and friends, trying to get them to repay as soon as possible.”

Xu Mengshan smiled at the euphemistic description. The man before him was an old hand, answering police questions with exactly what was asked, not a word more.

“Do you know Fan Lingling?”

He Qi responded candidly: “No.”

“Aren’t you in charge of debt collection? She started receiving various harassing and threatening messages last week – wasn’t that your doing? And you’re saying you don’t know her?”

He Qi smiled slightly and said: “Officer, our company has thousands of clients. I’m in management – how could I know everyone personally?”

Without missing a beat, Xu Mengshan stared directly into He Qi’s eyes: “But Chen Zhaoci said that when the company boss saw Fan Lingling that day, it was under orders from above that they brought her to the company. Who gave those orders? Wasn’t it you?”

He Qi’s lips twitched before he said: “I’m not sure. If that’s what Chen Zhaoci said, you should ask him.”

Xu Mengshan stared at him coldly for a moment before continuing: “What were you doing at the company today?”

He Qi: “Handling work matters.”

“What kind of work?”

“Just some accounts receivable, work arrangements, all in the office – you can check.”

“Where were you between 6:30 and 8:00 PM?”

“Initially in my office, then when I heard something had happened, I rushed to Manager Zhou’s office.”

“Who can verify this?”

“Company employees, I gave work instructions to several people.”

“What did you see when you got to Zhou Rongfeng’s office?”

He Qi: “I saw Manager Zhou lying on the floor, bleeding quite a bit. I was the one who called for company staff with medical knowledge to bandage him.”

Xu Mengshan: “How long after you entered did he regain consciousness?”

He Qi: “About ten minutes or so.”

“So the people who went after Fan Lingling – you arranged that?”

He Qi: “…Yes.”

“You said you don’t know Fan Lingling, so why did you immediately gather people to catch her after finding Zhou Rongfeng injured?”

He Qi paused for several seconds before saying: “I wasn’t trying to catch her specifically – I didn’t know who it was. But seeing Manager Zhou’s condition, it was obvious someone had attacked him. I just told them to find the perpetrator.”

“But I asked them, and they said you specifically told them to catch a young girl! Still claiming you don’t know Fan Lingling?”

He Qi’s expression remained blank as he fell silent for a moment, then slowly said: “As a superior, I knew Chen Zhaoci was bringing a female client to discuss business today, but that doesn’t contradict my not knowing Fan Lingling personally.”

Xu Mengshan sneered: “But your boss was injured and unconscious, and although you called for company medical staff, you took it upon yourself not to call an ambulance or the police. You said he was unconscious for ten minutes before waking up! Why? Why didn’t you call, and only handle it privately?”

He Qi’s face finally showed some color as he picked up his teacup and took a big drink before saying: “Our company’s medical staff are quite capable. Everyone usually goes to them for any issues, and they can handle fairly serious injuries. I was planning to call an ambulance if Manager Zhou hadn’t woken up after a while.”

Xu Mengshan slammed his hand on the table: “Nothing but lies! Do you even believe these far-fetched excuses yourself? Huh? How much do you know about Fan Lingling’s situation? Why were you afraid to call the police and ambulance? What are you trying to cover up? What are you hiding? Come clean now!”

…

You Mingxu and Yin Feng stood behind a one-way glass wall on the first floor.

You Mingxu said: “Aren’t you good at behavioral analysis? And that micro-expression thing? Can you tell which parts are lies and which are true?”

Yin Feng: “Uh…”

You Mingxu glanced at him.

He said: “Ah Xu, you’ve been watching too many TV dramas. I’m not a miracle worker. If micro-expressions were foolproof, we wouldn’t need police investigations. Micro-expression experts could just look at someone and catch the criminal.”

You Mingxu snorted and looked at the people in the interrogation room, saying: “Xu Mengshan’s questioning is excellent, but even though He Qi’s testimony is far-fetched, we have no evidence right now.” She punched the wall hard.

Another fist appeared beside hers, pressed against the wall right next to it. She turned her head to see Yin Feng’s gentle, understanding smile. You Mingxu’s surge of anger and grief suddenly felt contained by that smile.

Next up for interrogation was Fenjin Bao Company’s other vice president, Xie Tangmao, with You Mingxu and Yin Feng taking the lead.

Just by appearance, Xie Tangmao was the type to easily win people’s favor – average build, clean face, smiling before speaking, and it was the kind of smile that carried a hint of kindness and warmth. When he sat down, he was extremely polite, nodding and bowing.

You Mingxu asked: “What are your responsibilities at Fenjin Bao Company?”

Xie Tangmao answered: “Officer, I’m mainly in charge of human resources, administration, and business point development – opening new locations. I handle all the miscellaneous matters, but I’m less involved in specific business operations. The work records and financial records under my supervision are all clear and available for inspection. My work is really above board.”

You Mingxu smiled and asked: “Do you know Fan Lingling?”

Xie Tangmao shook his head: “I didn’t before, but today I heard about this girl injuring Manager Zhou at our company and then disappearing, so now I know of her. Ah, regardless of what wrong the girl did, now that she can’t be found, her family and friends must be so worried. I can’t bear to see families suffer like this. Since she disappeared from our company, once this is all sorted out, I’ll do my part to help find this girl…”

He spoke eloquently, appearing moved and even somewhat impassioned. You Mingxu kept watching him as he seemed focused only on expressing himself, continuously emphasizing his fairness, kindness, and enthusiasm.

You Mingxu asked again: “Where were you and what were you doing between 6:30 and 8:00 PM today?”

Xie Tangmao smiled: “Oh, I was in my office, working overtime. The company’s business volume has been high lately, so my workload has increased accordingly. As the head of logistics, I must ensure support services keep up, right? I didn’t know what was happening outside – I had my door closed and truly didn’t notice anything. If I’d noticed something was wrong earlier, I would have rushed out immediately to mediate between Fan Lingling and Manager Zhou, then she wouldn’t have injured anyone, right? And Fan Lingling probably wouldn’t have run away.”

“When did you get to Manager Zhou’s office, and what did you see?”

Xie Tangmao answered: “Maybe 7:30, not quite 8:00. When I went in, everyone was already there. Manager Zhou was slumped on the sofa, unconscious, with blood on the floor – it was terrifying. Everything was fine before, why would a young woman resort to violence? Isn’t that hurting both others and herself? Fortunately, Manager Zhou is okay, otherwise wouldn’t this girl have to go to jail?”

“Why wasn’t the police or an ambulance called? Why were people sent to chase Fan Lingling?”

Xie Tangmao hesitated, then said: “Well, I’m not sure about that. He Qi was the one who said not to call the police, and what could I do? He’s the company’s second-in-command – I couldn’t override his decision. As for chasing Fan Lingling, I’m not clear on that either, you’d have to ask He Qi.”