The person filming was very careful. Aside from Zhou Huaijin himself, there was nothing in the frame but a dilapidated wooden chair and a small section of the ropes binding him. The background was all black. You couldn't see anything. And the video was very short, less than a minute long. It filmed all around the unconscious Zhou Huaijin as if afraid he wouldn't be recognized, striving to let all the viewers see every pore on his face.
Aside from this, the kidnapper didn't make a sound.
"The person who posted this video used a heap of proxies. We won't be able to trace him for a bit," said Lang Qiao. "Boss, this is my first time running into such a quaint kidnapper. What does he want? What are we going to do?"
Luo Wenzhou didn't answer. He looked down and scrolled through the phone.
Lang Qiao's response had been rather quick; she'd dealt with the video as soon as she'd found it. But the news that Zhou Huaijin had been kidnapped by unknown individuals had grown wings and appeared under several keywords, scurrying hither and thither over the internet.
Luo Wenzhou asked, "What time was this uploaded?"
"6:00 AM."
Six o'clock was when the city began to awaken.
Aside from an alarm clock, what was more bracing than a piece of living, breathing gossip?
Fei Du sighed, taking a step back. He asked, "Captain Luo, should I keep away to cooperate with the investigation?"
Lang Qiao didn't understand what he meant and let out a single querying syllable: "Huh?"
"Huh yourself. He's one of the suspects, too." Luo Wenzhou gave Lang Qiao the phone and rudely turned to Fei Du. "Right now I need to know which people could have taken part in this, and which groups are speculating in the background. Give me a list of names."
Zhou Huaijin was very low-key and rarely appeared on camera. There were hardly a dozen clear photographs of him in circulation. The ordinary common folk recognized actors and celebrities, but who was going to know what a wealthy heir who spent most of his time abroad looked like?
So how had this video, not even a minute long, managed to attract so much attention? Who was promoting it?
At first glance, Zhou Junmao's death and Zhou Huaijin's kidnapping seemed closely linked, as if someone had wanted to kill the elder and then act against the younger, the whole thing hiding a "wealthy family drama" with a thousand and one links. But thinking about it closely, it was very strange.
Accepting for the moment that Zhou Junmao's car crash had been deliberate, then the person who'd plotted it had undoubtedly wanted him dead, and dead moreover without anyone being the wiser—with the responsible driver already dead, if the police couldn't find any definite evidence of a murder, it was very likely they would handle this case like a traffic accident.
On the other hand, Zhou Huaijin's kidnapping was too ostentatious, with an evident flavor of showmanship and sensationalism. The aims of these two crimes were in direct opposition.
It didn't make sense.
But aside from making the police and the populace jump at their own shadows, what benefit was there to anyone in announcing the kidnapping on such a grand scale under the heavens? With such a sensitive event coming at such a sensitive time, it seemed that the only people who could reap any spoils from it were the capitalists who wanted to take the opportunity to bleed the Zhou Clan dry.
For example, Fei Du's ilk.
If not for the fact that the city's public security bureaus were "not for sale," a certain person would have made enough money in one night to buy two City Bureaus.
"I can give you some people I'm familiar with." Fei Du unhurriedly picked up his phone and sent an e-mail, then said, "But you must know, the whole world is full of people looking to seize an opportunity. Leaving out private investors, I don't know how many institutions are mixed up in this. I'm not an immortal who knows everyone."
"Being able to snatch him from the airport without anyone the wiser looks like the work of a major local operator." Luo Wenzhou's gaze fell on him like a knife. "You aren't going to tell me you don't know everyone in this sandbox, President Fei?"
"As an acting suspect, let me give you a suggestion. Only for reference, not necessarily correct," Fei Du said reasonably. "My guess is the kidnappers may have contacted the people promoting this, but the promoters aren't necessarily the kidnappers, and they didn't necessarily collaborate ahead of time. While Das Kapital says that when the profits are 100%, capital will trample on all human laws, I personally think that that valuation isn't very amicable. In reality, everyone knows that even if the profits are 1000%, they're no good if you aren't alive to receive them. Captain Luo, we may eat buns with human blood, but we don't eat humans."
His words were as cold-blooded and disgraceful as you could ask for. Luo Wenzhou looked at him coldly. For a moment, they seemed to have returned to the time of He Zhongyi's murder investigation, when Fei Du had come to the City Bureau to provide Zhang Donglai an alibi and had spouted a lot of absurd rhetoric.
"All right, let me say it more precisely." Fei Du spread his hands, smiling as he poured oil on the fire. "We don't eat humans in broad daylight."
Lang Qiao was scared stiff by this thick and frozen atmosphere, thinking the two of them were about to come to blows. Their gazes, neither yielding a bit, seemed to be light beam weapons out of science fiction, about to collide in midair. She stood to one side, prostrate with fear, wanting to try to ease the atmosphere but being at the disadvantage of not knowing why the two of them were at odds. After an age, she still hadn't come up with the appropriate wording and wanted nothing better than to switch places with Tao Ran, who had been sent to search the Baisha River Basin.
But just then, Luo Wenzhou suddenly took the lead in averting his gaze, withdrawing from this round of mutual hostilities.
He calmly said, "From the time the video was posted to the time it had spread over the whole internet, not a full half-hour passed. This operator's methods are clearly very mature. The person behind the scenes isn't doing this for the first time. Also, it's likely that they have an irreconcilable rivalry with the Zhou Clan. Adding in these clues, how long will it take you to get me a list?"
When Luo Wenzhou had spoken, Fei Du's phone rang a sweet-sounding e-mail notification.
As if Fei Du had already known what was going on, he passed his phone to Luo Wenzhou without even looking at it. "I figure it must be one of these two or three. This is a list my assistant put together. You can arrange to talk to the people in charge."
Then he didn't look again at Luo Wenzhou. He put one hand in his pocket and walked back into the magnificent Zhou residence, very familiarly accepted a cup of tea from the housekeeper, and went to talk to the weeping Zhou Huaixin.
Luo Wenzhou scanned the contents of the e-mail. This person who worked for Fei Du was evidently very reliable. In such a short time, they'd not only put together a list of suspicious operators, they'd also attached the contact information for the relevant management, as well as summaries of cases they had previously been involved in, almost like an exquisite little report.
Luo Wenzhou forwarded the e-mail to Lang Qiao. "Run along and go through the formalities. We not only need to meet with the people in charge, we also need to investigate their work e-mails, phone records, and financial circumstances. You have to get sufficient authority, and get some guys from economic crimes to come help."
It took him just a few words to order what was a great heap of tedious work for Lang Qiao; all the hairs on the back of her neck bristled just hearing it. But Luo Wenzhou still added, "If Fei Du's inference that the promoters don't seem to be acquainted with the kidnappers is correct, there's no telling what will happen next. These people may do anything to get eyes on them, endangering the victim. Hurry up, don't delay!"
Lang Qiao sucked in a breath. After he'd laid half a ton of pressure on her out of nowhere, she had no more attention to spare for the turbulent undercurrents between her superior and the pretty boy. She took to her heels and ran.
Untouched for a long time, Fei Du's phone locked itself. The lockscreen was the system default. The metal case had been warmed by Luo Wenzhou's hand. He raised his head and looked at Fei Du from a distance, watching him very familiarly saying something to Hu Zhenyu and Zhou Huaixin, his body language very relaxed; probably he was relating the progress of the investigation into Zhou Huaijin's kidnapping.—Luo Wenzhou didn't go to mind him; anyway, Fei Du wasn't the type to put a word out of place.
A long time before, Luo Wenzhou had thought that Fei Du was a dangerous element—
While there was more or less no ceiling on human nobility and baseness, outside of an emergency situation, the thoughts of a regular person who had grown up in a society with a legal order would be limited—for example, if they knew that there was someone gathering up a crowd to do something bad, the ordinary person's reactions would be along the lines of "go investigate it with daring curiosity," "report it to the proper authorities," "avoid it because I don't feel like getting involved," and so on; sometimes, people with comparatively corrupt morals wouldn't be able to resist the lure of going to wallow in the same mire.
But thoughts like "kill someone and attract the police's notice by dumping the body where they operate" weren't at all normal.
In an age of peace, even a diabolical murderer would know in his bones that driving someone into a fatal position wasn't something ordinary like eating and drinking. All of society was divided up by the red lines of the law, repeatedly reinforced over many years, so that age after age of people unconsciously had a benchmark for what was taboo.
But Luo Wenzhou had clearly felt that Fei Du wasn't the same. In his mind, these taboos were all rules in a game, the same as conduct like "using a legislative loophole to evade taxes" or "accumulating foreign funds to avoid regulation"; if he didn't do these things, it was to avoid trouble, and when there was a need to do them, he wouldn't feel any guilt. He was even willing to make a close investigation into these means of "trifling with the law," against the day when he had a need to use them.
But Fei Du had sat with He Zhongyi's mother Wang Xiujuan in an ice cold chair, had spent money like water to show himself on the Skyscreen, had even gone with a fractured arm to rescue Chenchen from under Su Luozhan's knife in the middle of the night; Luo Wenzhou had thought that he simply had a sharp tongue but a soft heart.
Until just now, when there had been an instant where Luo Wenzhou had suddenly felt a taste of something out of the ordinary among Fei Du's unassailable smile and consistent asking for a spanking.
Luo Wenzhou remembered Fei Du's vague speech in the car the evening before and found that he hadn't been avoiding the subject after all. Fei Du seemed to have grown up in a different place, where the good was truly good and the bad was truly bad; the rules of this place were entirely different from those of the real world. As clever as Fei Du was, he must be well aware of how he didn't fit in, so he carefully wore a human skin, restricting himself to a circle, imitating Tao Ran, imitating Zhang Donglai, imitating all the people he came into contact with… Only in front of Luo Wenzhou, who'd thought so highly of himself when he was young and had always wanted to pry people's painted faces off, had he given up the act, simply letting the human skin he wore hang loosely, letting him see the vicious fangs.
For some reason, as soon as this thought appeared, Luo Wenzhou suddenly didn't want to hold it against him as he usually would have. In his eyes, all of Fei Du's capricious behavior from yesterday evening to now resolved into something comprehensible. Luo Wenzhou dimly touched that calculating, tense, composed self-protection, a softness made up of a hundred feelings rising in his heart.
Just then, Tao Ran's sudden phone call interrupted Luo Wenzhou's gaze and train of thought.
"We've found the taxi," Tao Ran puffed, "abandoned by the reservoir. There's a lingering smell of ether in the car. Aside from a footprint on the back of the driver's seat, there aren't any very clear signs of struggle. I suspect there was more than one kidnapper, or else how could he have taken a grown man off guard and subdued him while driving? Oh, right, Zhou Huaijin's bag is in the car, his ID, phone, and wallet are all untouched… Hey!"
Tao Ran's words cut off, and he suddenly sucked in an angry breath; Luo Wenzhou could feel him biting back a curse and immediately asked, "What is it?"
"There's someone taking pictures," Tao Ran said quickly. "They may have followed us from the airport. I'll go deal with it."
Luo Wenzhou hung up the phone and rubbed the center of his brow, simply unable to imagine anymore what degree matters had fermented to. He really didn't want to go online again. He issued a series of orders: "The taxi that kidnapped the victim has been found. Zhou Huaijin is over 1.8 meters tall, not a child you could lift with one hand. Anyone who wanted to transport the victim would need a vehicle. Investigate all the security cameras within a three-kilometer radius of the location where the taxi was abandoned, looking for suspicious vehicles. Get in touch with the media, let them know to do as they see fit about stirring up trouble again. Aside from that, get the internet monitoring department to assist…"
Luo Wenzhou hadn't finished speaking when a technician suddenly looked up. "Captain Luo, the person who uploaded that video has uploaded another one!"
Luo Wenzhou's heart sank.
It was the same black background again, with an unconscious Zhou Huaijin. There was also a hand in the frame wearing a black glove. The hand was holding a knife, the bright blade held at Zhou Huaijin's neck. Then it suddenly pressed down—as everyone instinctively cried out in alarm, a wound opened in a very critical location on Zhou Huaijin's neck. The unconscious man instinctively twitched, and blood spurted out.
Next, the camera panned down. The black-gloved hands tore open the front of Zhou Huaijin's shirt and dipped a small brush in the blood that had just spilled. On Zhou Huaijin's chest, the brush wrote: "A cut for each deleted video."
The internet police officer just about to delete the post broke out into a cold sweat and immediately phoned. "Captain Luo, what should I do? Do I delete it or not?"
The morning sun had fully enveloped Yan City; the morning rush hour had started.
A moment's hesitation, and the video was being re-posted at unbelievable speeds, spreading like an explosion.
Zhou Huaixin had of course seen it, too. He screamed at a decibel level that nearly brought down the ceiling. Fei Du picked him up by the waist, wrestled away his phone, and shoved him at the stunned housekeeper. "Take him upstairs to rest."
Just then, a car stopped at the Zhou residence's gates. A young man of twenty-eight or twenty-nine got out, looking hurried, and was about to go in. He was blocked by the police guarding the door. He fished out his ID in a flurry. "Sorry, here's my ID and business card, I'm the Venerable Zhou's…"
Zhou Huaixin turned his head to get a glimpse at the newcomer and immediately began to struggle fiercely. "I won't! Arrest that bastard! He's the murderer! You're even shameless enough to dare to come here! You dare to come to our house!"
Even though Zhou Huaixin was a walking skeleton, his mad efforts now weren't to be looked down on. Fei Du and Hu Zhenyu, neither of whom looked especially strong at a glance, couldn't hold him for the moment. Zhou Huaixin flailed his arms like lethal weapons, carelessly knocking off Fei Du's glasses.
Suddenly, a hand reached out of nowhere, grabbing Zhou Huaixin's wildly brandished clubs. Lifting him like a chick, Luo Wenzhou roughly held down little Young Master Zhou's precious head, rolling him into a ball and shoving him onto the soft, genuine leather sofa. He looked loftily down on him and asked, "Do you want a tranquilizer or a rabies shot?"
Zhou Huaixin: "…"
Zhou Huaixin being forcibly calmed down, the young man at the door gave a bitter laugh and was finally able to finish introducing himself. "I'm the Venerable Zhou's aide, and secretary to the conglomerate's board of directors. I'm called Yang Bo."
When he had spoken, everyone's gazes converged on him—Yang Bo, suspected illegitimate son, suspected criminal, one of the potential beneficiaries of getting rid of Zhou Junmao and Zhou Huaijin…
He'd shown up pretty early.