Chapter 2844
Confusion
Chapter 2844 Confusion
"Xiao Yang, this is really damn strange."
"How could something so big just disappear right under our noses?"
"Even if it's a magic trick, there should be some kind of mechanism, right? There's nothing at all, damn it, it's weird."
Old Wang plopped down on the railway tracks next to him, complaining incessantly.
What came to Yang Xiaotao's mind when he heard the word "organization"?
The so-called magic trick is simply the ability to hide.
Hiding various props.
Various kinds of people are hidden there.
Thinking of this, Yang Xiaotao waved to the security officer standing to the side.
"Minister Yang."
It was clear that the other party was somewhat dejected. After such a major blunder during the cargo transport, a disciplinary action was inevitable upon their return.
I might even have to take off these clothes.
Yang Xiaotao took out a cigarette and offered one to the other person. Cao Jun glanced at Old Wang sitting on the railway tracks, and finally lit one himself.
"Officer Cao, there's something I need to ask you."
"Minister Yang, please speak."
"You didn't leave the carriage the entire time?"
Cao Jun nodded vigorously, "Yes, ever since we got on the train, we've been sleeping in the carriage. And at night, each group of two people are on duty. Actually, even when we're on duty, I'm half asleep and I wake up at the slightest noise."
“Minister Yang, we really didn’t lie. We really were watching from inside the carriage the whole time.”
"We...we don't know either. We guarded it all night, and...how could it just be gone?"
After saying that, Cao Jun squatted down on the ground, tears streaming down his face.
The security personnel who were also escorting the shipment nearby looked saddened upon hearing this.
Even Old Wang kept his head down, his face showing even more sorrow.
Yang Xiaotao took a deep drag on his cigarette and said nothing more.
But deep down, I always felt like something was missing.
At noon, the members of the investigation team ate steamed buns at the station and exchanged information about the progress of the investigation.
Yang Xiaotao held the steamed bun, deep in thought.
I always feel like I'm just one step away from the truth, but I just can't seem to take that step.
Even with Wangcai and Xiaowei using their methods, there was still no progress.
An indescribable feeling of discomfort.
Old Wang was even more upset than Yang Xiaotao, and was staring blankly at the steamed bun.
Wang Lei had no appetite. If it were anything else, he could have shifted the blame to the local police, but now it seemed that saboteurs were likely behind it, which meant they had failed in their duty.
Yu Zecheng looked at everyone present, finished his steamed bun, took a sip of cabbage soup, and broke the silence, saying, "After we arrived, we completed the investigation of the escort personnel, learned about the situation from the train staff, and conducted an on-site investigation."
"In addition, we went to the parking area, but after investigation, we found no clues there."
"Now I'll describe the findings of the investigation."
As Yu Zecheng spoke, everyone turned their attention to him, and he continued, "According to our investigation, the eight comrades from the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry have been cleared of suspicion."
"The train staff said that there are passenger cars ahead of this train, and this freight car is a trailer, which is not connected to the passenger cars, basically cutting off the possibility of the passenger cars going to the freight cars."
"According to the investigation of the accompanying passengers by the platform staff, no suspicious persons were found."
At Yu Zecheng's prompting, Xiao Bo said, "I conducted a thorough inspection of the carriage and found no signs of dragging inside."
"The door lock is also intact, with no signs of being pried open."
"Also, the box is intact, with no signs of being disassembled..."
While Xiao Bo was explaining the situation, Yang Xiaotao immediately communicated with Xiao Wei in his mind.
"Xiaowei, is there anything wrong with this wooden box?"
“Master, this box is made of ordinary poplar wood, there’s nothing wrong with it.”
After Xiaowei finished speaking, she added, "Master, Wangcai said there are too many smells around the carriage, making it difficult to distinguish them!"
"There's nothing particularly unusual about it."
"And this wooden box smells bad."
"In short, we didn't find any useful information."
Xiaowei was mentally translating for Wangcai, and Yang Xiaotao nodded gently in response.
Upon seeing Yang Xiaotao nod, Yu Zecheng immediately looked up and asked, "Minister Yang, what have you discovered?"
Yang Xiaotao shook his head, "Not yet!"
"There were too many people around, and Wangcai had no clear target, making it difficult to distinguish them."
Yu Zecheng responded and continued listening to Xiao Bo's examination report.
"We inspected the contents of the box and found that most of them were poplar leaves, but there were two other types of leaves that we should pay attention to."
After saying that, he pointed to the ground next to him and said, "There are still these two kinds of leaves in here. They must have been put in there by accident."
Yang Xiaotao followed the gaze and picked up two small piles of leaves next to him, some dark green and some emerald green.
"This should be a ginkgo leaf, and this is a locust leaf."
Because of Xiao Wei, Yang Xiaotao is practically a botanist; he can tell the two types of leaves apart at a glance.
Everyone looked at the pile of leaves, and Wang Lei said directly, "This is the biggest harvest."
"They must have been in a hurry to put it in the bag and just stuffed it in there carelessly."
Yang Xiaotao nodded, then said to the dejected Old Wang beside him, "Old Wang, this is a direction for investigation. You can have someone inquire about it."
Yang Xiaotao pointed to the leaves on the ground and said, "Don't worry, I'll go and check where there are ginkgo and locust trees along the way." Old Wang's eyes immediately lit up.
"I'll go right away."
After saying that, Old Wang didn't even bother to eat and quickly ran into the station.
The others didn't seem to care, and Yu Zecheng continued to chair the meeting.
"After this period of investigation, we have roughly outlined the direction of our investigation."
"The first and most important thing is to determine when and where the computer was lost."
Everyone nodded in agreement, but Wang Lei was puzzled. "All eight people are very certain that they have not left the carriage, and even when they urinate, they do so within ten meters of the carriage."
"Under such circumstances, the other party actually switched the computer right under their noses. How did they do it, and where did they switch it? It's incredibly bizarre."
Yang Xiaotao shared the same thought, nodding silently to the side.
“There might be some clues along the way. Next, Xiaobo and I will go to check out the cities mentioned above.”
"Boss, we still need you to stay here and oversee things."
Wang Lei nodded, "You can go without worry."
Yu Zecheng nodded, then looked at Yang Xiaotao, "Minister Yang, you and Wangcai come with us."
Yang Xiaotao nodded, "Okay."
After the group finished their meal, Yu Zecheng prepared to get up and leave.
They wanted to travel north along the railway, so Mr. Wu specially arranged a train heading north to Beijing.
As the group boarded the train on the platform, stationmaster Li Rui approached Yu Zecheng and asked, "Director Yu, I've come over to ask you something."
Yu Zecheng turned around and nodded. "Go on."
Li Rui turned his head to look at the group of people on the platform, and then said, "Director Yu, these people have been here for quite a while. The investigation won't yield results anytime soon, and we can't leave them here indefinitely."
"And in such hot weather, there are elderly people and children inside."
"And the person can't go back to their family."
Yang Xiaotao looked at the crowd not far away and saw that some people were already lying on the ground.
Yu Zecheng hesitated for a moment, then sighed and said, "How about this, Station Master Li, you have someone register their place of origin information and then arrange trains for them to go back."
Li Rui breathed a sigh of relief. If they stayed here, their train station couldn't afford to take any risks if something happened.
"Wait a minute."
Just as Li Rui was about to leave, Yang Xiaotao called out to stop him.
The group looked puzzled, then Yang Xiaotao said, "Have your cafeteria prepare some food, including meat. I'll have someone reimburse you later." Yu Zecheng nodded gratefully to Yang Xiaotao. After this meal, he figured the complaints from those people would be much less.
Upon hearing this, Li Rui immediately smiled and said, "Okay, I'll go arrange it right away."
After Li Rui walked away, Yang Xiaotao and Yu Zecheng continued to wait for the train.
"I've been doing this for so many years, and this is the first time I've encountered something so strange."
Yu Zecheng suddenly sighed, "Do you think if we can't catch those people, they'll laugh at us for being incompetent?"
Xiao Bo scoffed, "Who knows?"
Yang Xiaotao shook his head as well, "They'll probably laugh at us, since we didn't catch them, right?"
Yu Zecheng stared silently at the train tracks stretching into the distance.
Not far away, Li Rui approached the stranded passengers and shared the good news with them.
"Comrades, please don't worry. Thank you all for your cooperation this time."
"We'll arrange a train to take you all home right away, so don't worry."
As soon as Li Rui finished speaking, the stranded crowd exclaimed in surprise, each one overjoyed.
The women in the crowd also stood up and smiled.
This time I'm truly happy.
Because once the other party lets me leave, it means that this matter is about to end.
That's the end of what happened with them.
And they can return to their former peaceful lives, allowing time to heal the damage caused by these events.
At the same time, I felt a sense of pleasure in making others drink the water I used to wash my feet.
"Comrades, don't rush, don't rush, let me finish speaking."
Li Rui shouted loudly again, and the crowd gradually calmed down. The women also pricked up their ears to hear what was going on.
"After consulting with the authorities, our train station will provide our comrades with a lunch, a lunch with meat."
"Go to the platform to register in a bit. After you're registered, you can have a meal, including meat."
After Li Rui finished speaking, the crowd was silent for a moment before erupting into a loud shout.
The woman was overjoyed to hear this; getting a free meal of meat was a small profit for her.
Then, under the guidance of the staff, everyone began to line up and soon headed towards the cafeteria.
On the platform, Yang Xiaotao and his friends were still waiting for the train.
Wangcai ran around casually to the side. After getting off the plane, he felt lightheaded and hadn't quite recovered.
Xiao Wei landed on Wang Cai's body, lying in his fur and trying not to think about those troublesome things.
Yang Xiaotao smoked, while Yu Zecheng passively inhaled secondhand smoke; both of them looked preoccupied.
"Xiao Yang, Xiao Yang!"
Just then, Old Wang's voice came from afar.
Yang Xiaotao threw his cigarette butt on the ground and saw Old Wang running up to him, so he hurriedly asked, "Old Wang, do you have any news?"
Old Wang took a breath, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then said, "We're starting to see some progress."
"Say it."
Yu Zecheng asked impatiently.
Old Wang didn't care and said directly, "I had someone inquire about where there are poplar, ginkgo, and locust trees along the railway line, and it turned out there were indeed a few places."
"Where? Tell me quickly."
Old Wang took a piece of paper out of his pocket, and the group immediately crowded around to look at it.
"so much?"
Yang Xiaotao glanced at the list and saw at least five or six place names.
Yu Zecheng frowned as well. "There's a Stone City here too? But Stone City is too far from the train station."
Yang Xiaotao nodded and pointed to a spot, saying, "I know this place; it's not close to the train."
"And then there's the city of Beijing, everyone knows that exists."
"Old Wang, is your assessment accurate?"
Looking at the note in his hand, Old Wang said somewhat uncertainly, "It should be correct. Anyway, everything along the train route is on here."
Yu Zecheng was somewhat disappointed, but it was still a research direction. "Alright, since it's like finding a needle in a haystack anyway, let's just follow the above."
Old Wang rubbed his hands together and nodded in agreement, then took a deep breath and said, "If we don't have enough manpower, I'll go find some."
Yang Xiaotao shook his head, feeling that doing so was a complete waste of time.
However, since both of them had said so, Yang Xiaotao had no choice.
With a direction in mind, a smile appeared on Old Wang's face. He casually took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one for himself, and then handed it to Yang Xiaotao.
Yang Xiaotao took the cigarette, pulled one out, and held it in his hand. Then, he asked suspiciously, "Why are there three different kinds of leaves in this bag?"
Old Wang looked up, then shrugged and said, "Who knows? Maybe he just picked it up on the way and put it in there."
Yu Zecheng nodded in agreement.
At the very least, this is the most important breakthrough at this moment.
Yang Xiaotao was still full of doubts, feeling just like before, there was a layer of paper on the window that he wanted to break through, but he couldn't.
It's really uncomfortable.
He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.
A moment later, Wangcai returned, and Xiaowei was in his pocket.
Not far away, a train slowly approached, its whistle blaring.
Yang Xiaotao, however, seemed to be thinking of something. "Xiaowei, have you ever seen locust trees, ginkgo trees, and poplar trees together?"
Xiao Wei was puzzled, but she quickly said, "Master, poplar trees and locust trees cannot be together; they should at least be far apart."
"Also, poplars grow fast and ginkgoes grow slowly, so they are not suitable to grow together."
Hearing Xiaowei say this, Yang Xiaotao's eyes lit up.
It seems I understand something.
"Xiao Yang, get ready to get on the bus."
Old Wang watched the train slowly come to a stop and prepared to board.
But Yang Xiaotao shook his head. "Old Wang, Old Yu, I have a question for you."
The two were about to get into the car when they heard Yang Xiaotao say this and quickly stopped. Then they heard Yang Xiaotao say, "There is a conflicting relationship between poplar trees, locust trees, and ginkgo trees. You know what that means, right?"
Old Wang's eyes widened, while Yu Zecheng's brows furrowed slightly.
"Therefore, these three types of trees will not be planted together, or at least not very close to each other."
"But these three kinds of leaves just happened to appear in the bag. Don't you find that strange?"
Yang Xiaotao spread his hands, and Old Wang also felt something was wrong.
Yu Zecheng directly stated, "This is misleading the public."
Yang Xiaotao clapped his hands and said, "Yes."
"Have you noticed that we don't have a single definite clue so far? We don't even know when it was lost?"
"What a meticulously planned scheme! How could such a mistake be made?"
Old Wang then realized what was going on and picked up the note in his hand. "So, all of these are wrong?"
"Why do you do this?"
Yu Zecheng said coldly, "Let us investigate, but in the wrong direction."
"Then they can leave at their leisure."
Yang Xiaotao added a sentence, then looked at the station canteen not far away.
Following Yang Xiaotao's gaze, Yu Zecheng also looked in that direction.
"Old Yu, wanna take a gamble?"
Yu Zecheng pondered for a moment, then nodded, "Let's take the gamble!"