Investigative Approach

Luohu Public Security Bureau, Criminal Investigation Detachment.

Gu Huai respectfully withdrew from Wu Feilin's office.

"Hey, Ah Huai, slow down!" Hou Hao anxiously chased after him from behind.

He immediately put his arm around Gu Huai's shoulder and asked curiously, "Tell me, how did you dare to do that just now? I don't dare to say a word if my master glares at me."

Gu Huai shook his head noncommittally, without answering his question.

Wu Feilin does indeed possess the aura of someone in a superior position, which is more than enough to deal with Hou Hao.

But for Gu Huai, his imposing aura wasn't enough to intimidate him.

Seeing that Gu Huai didn't speak, Hou Hao didn't press further, but instead asked, "Huai, what's our next step in the investigation?"

Although Hou Hao was unwilling to admit it, the reality was that while he also felt that something was amiss, he had absolutely no investigative ideas.

In the year since joining the police force, he has always investigated whatever his mentor tells him to investigate, and has never actually handled a case on his own.

Upon hearing him mention this, Gu Huai stopped in his tracks and looked at Hou Hao with a serious expression.

"Brother Hou, I hope you can fully cooperate with me during the investigation, and that the investigation approach will be based on my suggestions."

"It's possible, but..." Hou Hao was clearly not used to Gu Huai's sudden change of expression, his expression showing surprise and a hint of confusion.

At this moment, Gu Huai clearly understood the specific meaning behind Hou Hao's expression. He directly explained, "I'm not trying to intimidate you. I just made a solemn promise in the office: if I don't find anything out about this case, I think you should understand what the consequences will be."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hou Hao's expression changed from surprise to understanding.

As Gu Huai said, if the investigation of this case makes no progress or yields any results, then Gu Huai's days in the police force will be difficult in the future.

Although the team wouldn't directly fire Gu Huai, a public reprimand was inevitable.

And this is the least of it. If the older members of the team knew about this, they would definitely gossip behind his back.

Thinking about this, Hou Hao couldn't help but feel a little worried for himself.

He didn't want to get himself into trouble by getting involved in this matter.

Just as Hou Hao was starting to worry about his reputation within the team, Gu Huai's words dispelled his doubts.

"So, I'll have to trouble you to help me out from now on, Brother Hou. If anything happens, just tell everyone that Captain Wu sent you to help."

Seeing how considerate Gu Huai was of him, Hou Hao felt a pang of guilt.

"Ah Huai, please don't say that, I..."

Looking at his colleague, who had been almost completely manipulated by him, Gu Huai couldn't help but smile wickedly.

"It's alright, it's alright, Brother Hou. I've always had a thick skin, I can handle this."

"This..." Hou Hao was at a loss for words.

"Stop with the 'this' and 'that'." Gu Huai waved his hand, rubbed his stomach, and said, "I haven't eaten anything since I arrived in Pengcheng. Brother Hou, you're a local, take me to get something good to eat."

"Okay." Hou Hao patted his chest. "I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

-----------------

Dongmen Old Street, Deji Wonton.

"Boss, the usual, one bowl of bamboo-pressed noodles and one bowl of wontons." Hou Hao sat down briskly after entering the room.

"Alright, good morning, Officer Hou." The shop owner greeted Hou Hao with a smile, clearly a regular customer. "What would you like to eat, officer?"

"Same as above, plus a braised platter."

Gu Huai had eaten at this restaurant before, and the food was quite good.

I heard that the pastry chef here used to be an apprentice at Green Kee, and the taste is most similar to that of the old Green Kee.

However, with the renovation of the old Dongmen Street in the mid-90s, Deji also closed down completely.

Having been given a second chance at life, Gu Huai was much happier to be able to eat authentic Deji braised dishes and wontons again.

Before long, the owner quickly brought out the ordered dishes.

"Let me tell you, the old Lv Kee used to be in this location, but unfortunately it moved to Renmin North Road a long time ago. Last year, the last master chef also retired, and the original flavor was completely lost. But my dad said that De Kee is the most similar to Lv Kee, and I've been eating their wontons since I was a child."

Do you live around here?

"No, my dad works in our bureau, he's the one who taught me."

"Oh, I see." This kind of situation, where fathers and sons live one generation after another, was particularly common in the 90s.

Gu Huai didn't take it to heart. He slurped up a mouthful of noodles and asked, "When will you take me to meet your uncle?"

"Let's wait for an opportunity," Hou Hao waved his hand. "Let's talk about what to do next."

Seeing that they had gotten down to business, Gu Huai put down his chopsticks and said seriously, "The first step is for us to go to the taxi company and investigate Zhang Zhenhua's situation."

"Go to the company?" Hou Hao frowned. "What does the taxi company have to do with this case?"

"There is still some connection," Gu Huai explained. "Didn't they tell the police that Zhang Zhenhua fled to Hong Kong? We need to make them produce evidence that Zhang Zhenhua fled to Hong Kong."

Hearing this, Hou Hao frowned slightly, his expression serious, and said, "Are you suspecting that the taxi company is hiding something from Zhang Zhenhua?"

"I don't know if they're hiding anything, but the only way to break this deadlock is to start with the taxi company." As he spoke, Gu Huai began to discuss with Hou Hao, asking Hou Hao to cooperate with him.

After explaining his plan, Gu Huai quickly finished the food in his bowl, got up, and took out his wallet.

"Boss, check please!"

"Hey, Ah Huai, let me do it, let me do it!"

-----------------

Pengcheng Penggang Taxi Company.

Although today is the second day of the Lunar New Year, due to the special circumstances of the taxi company, there are still people on duty at the company.

Furthermore, due to the unique nature of their industry, they frequently need to coordinate with the police on various matters.

Therefore, the company's receptionist was not particularly surprised by Gu Huai and Hou Hao's sudden visit.

The two were led to the reception room, where the receptionist served each of them a cup of coffee. "Please wait a moment, the manager will be here shortly."

After saying that, he left the room.

After the receptionist left, Hou Hao took a sip of his tea or coffee and sighed, "These capitalists really know how to make money. Their subordinates drive day and night just to earn a little bit of hard-earned money, while these capitalists can make money just by lying down."

Although the speaker meant no harm, Gu Huai, a former capitalist, couldn't help but chime in: "You only see the thief eating meat, but you don't see the thief getting beaten. Being a capitalist isn't that easy. Their money isn't earned piece by piece, it's not like it fell from the sky."

While sipping his coffee, Hou Hao casually remarked, "I don't know if this is the company or not, but how much money did they make by windfall?"

"Cough cough cough." Gu Huai was choked by Hou Hao's words. After thinking about it, he realized that what Hou Hao said made sense, so he didn't continue to argue.

He put down his coffee cup, glanced at his colleague who was slowly sipping his coffee, and thought to himself that the colleague knew quite a lot; he had underestimated him before.

Just then, the door to the reception room opened, and a middle-aged man wearing glasses and a suit walked in with a professional, fake smile on his face.

As soon as he entered, he strode up to Hou Hao, who was dressed in a police uniform, and extended his hand warmly, saying, "Excuse me, I just received a phone call and kept you waiting, officer. My surname is Zhu, may I ask your surname, officer?"

Hou Hao stood up and politely extended his hand.

Before the manager could speak, he preemptively introduced, "Manager Zhu, you're too kind. Let me introduce you. This is Gu Huai, the person in charge of this case. I'm just accompanying him."

Manager Zhu was a seasoned veteran, and faced with this awkward situation, he reached out his hand to Gu Huai almost without hesitation.

"Officer Gu..."

Before he could finish speaking, Gu Huai waved his hand, interrupting his politeness, "Manager Zhu, there's no need to be so polite. Let's get down to business."

Seeing that Gu Huai wasn't buying it, Manager Zhu sat down without a care, still wearing that professional fake smile.

"You know Zhang Zhenhua, right?" Gu Huai asked directly.

"I know, he used to be an employee of our company, but he fled to Hong Kong a couple of days ago," Manager Zhu said calmly.

Manager Zhu's answer surprised Gu Huai.

He didn't expect that Manager Zhu would not hold back at all and would speak his mind directly.

He glanced at Hou Hao beside him, thinking to himself, "Why isn't this going according to plan?"

He originally thought that Hou Hao would try to fool him and dodge the question, and that he and Hou Hao would have to play good cop and bad cop to get the truth out of him.

Since he readily admitted that there were cases of "escaping to Hong Kong" within the company, it's either because he has a clear conscience or because they had already agreed on a unified story.

Neither approach is conducive to making a breakthrough from the company's perspective.

Despite his internal complaints, since Manager Zhu brought it up himself, it saved him a lot of trouble. "You said he fled to Hong Kong, what evidence do you have?"

"Evidence? What evidence do you need for something like fleeing to Hong Kong?" Manager Zhu shrugged. "Haven't these kinds of things happened a lot in Shenzhen?"

Gu Huai frowned slightly but did not interrupt him.

"Officer, if you're willing to wait, in a few days our company's cars will appear in some city in Guangdong Province. Those cars are sold by people like Zhang Zhenhua who fled to Hong Kong. They sell the cars and then flee to Hong Kong to make a fortune. After a few years of reunification, they will come back as if nothing happened, and their identities will be completely cleared."

Manager Zhu spoke with great enthusiasm, his expression filled with anger.

Hou Hao, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but nod slightly. As a policeman, he understood the mentality of people who fled to Hong Kong.

However, Gu Huai gleaned some different information from their words.

He quickly waved his hand and said, "How do you know the car will appear in other cities?"

"Of course I know!" Manager Zhu said matter-of-factly, "Because this has happened three times in the past two months."

"What did you say! This has happened three times already!"