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墨書 Inktalez
Song Zhe hated one person more than anyone else: Zhang Yunhu. It was clear that the problem lay with him, yet Zhang Yunhu had become the star of the school, while Song Zhe found himself sinking into obscurity. He had thought about revenge, but every time he saw Zhang Yunhu smile at him, he found himself unable to act.
Zhang Yunhu treated him well; during their freshman year, he was the only one who took Song Zhe out and could be considered a friend. Song Zhe self-deprecatingly thought that perhaps he was just too sensitive.
"I'm sorry." After listening to Song Zhe, Zhang Yunhu stood up and sincerely apologized.
Song Zhe waved his hand dismissively.
Now that his secret was out, he felt less awkward than before and faced them with much more openness.
There were many ways to like someone, and perhaps Song Zhe had chosen the most humble and lowly one. Yet he had not harmed anyone and had never shown it in front of outsiders.
Love hidden in dark corners was both sad and laughable.
"It's okay," Song Zhe said lightly, eyes closed. "This world is indeed full of unfairness, but I've learned to accept it."
After hearing this, Zhang Yunhu said nothing but tightly embraced Song Zhe. A sly smile appeared on his face, and a flicker of disdain crossed his eyes, which I caught clearly.
After a long moment, they parted.
"There's nothing more to discuss. Zhang Yunhu, you can leave now. I'll let you know if anything comes up," I said to Zhang Yunhu.
He nodded and turned to leave. Watching him walk out the door left a bitter taste in my heart.
Guan Zengbin spoke up, "Song Zhe, since we've opened up, there's no need to hide anything anymore. You’ve been so concerned about Liu Fei'er; you must know she’s gone missing."
At the mention of Liu Fei'er, worry was written all over Song Zhe's face. He replied, "I know. The news has been spreading like wildfire on the internet; there are all sorts of rumors. I only found out about it yesterday. At first, I thought Liu Fei'er just took a leave of absence, but it turned out to be something else."
I looked at Song Zhe seriously and asked, "So who do you think might be behind this? Could it be Hou Yao?"
Although I had basically ruled out Hou Yao as a suspect, it never hurts to keep an eye out.
Song Zhe shook his head and said firmly, "It can't be Hou Yao. Although she can be a bit domineering, she wouldn't do something like this. I know she wanted Liu Fei'er to disappear not long ago because she thought Liu Fei'er was trying to seduce Zhang Yunhu. But when I told Hou Yao the truth about the situation and that the drugging plan had been exposed, she backed off."
"It's just that one school beauty lost to another. Hou Yao couldn't handle it and started going out to nightclubs and such. She wouldn't have the time to make Liu Fei'er disappear."
"Are there any suspicious individuals?" I asked next.
Song Zhe nodded and glanced to the right.
In psychology, this is an unconscious action of recalling events. When someone lies, they often avoid looking you in the eye; this is actually an older version of psychological theory. Numerous experiments have shown that when a person looks directly into your eyes while speaking, they want you to believe them because their statement is likely false.
After a moment, Song Zhe lowered his head and said, "During those particularly confusing days, I followed Liu Fei'er in hopes of alleviating my own confusion. During that time, I often saw a man following her as well, but he was too far away for me to see his face clearly."
"A man was frequently following Liu Fei'er?" I asked.
Song Zhe recalled, "That was probably two or three months ago because Liu Fei'er always had bodyguards with her when she went home, so we didn't dare get too close. The man was about six feet tall and always wore black clothing; beyond that, I don't know much else."
Hearing Song Zhe's words, I rested my chin on one hand. Could the man who followed Liu Fei'er two or three months ago be someone sent by the kidnappers to scout? Given the caution of these kidnappers, it seemed quite possible. They probably didn't expect that Song Zhe would discover their whereabouts ahead of time.
Song Zhe continued, "At first, I didn't pay much attention because there are hundreds of people at school who like Liu Fei'er. If I could follow her, others could too. But now that something has happened to Liu Fei'er, I feel that man might be somewhat suspicious."
"You didn't catch even a glimpse of his appearance?" I pressed on.
Song Zhe shook his head. "I didn't dare get too close; I just watched Liu Fei'er from afar. That man was a bit closer than me, so I could only see his back. Oh, by the way, he might be left-handed."
"Oh?" My interest piqued. "How did you figure out he was left-handed?"
"Ordinary people twist off bottle caps with their left hand holding the drink and their right hand twisting the cap," Song Zhe explained while gesturing in mid-air. "But that guy held the drink with his right hand and twisted the cap off with his left hand. I think if he weren't left-handed, most people wouldn't do it that way."
I snapped my fingers and said, "That's right, bottle caps are all designed to be opened by turning them to the right. This design is meant to accommodate the majority of people, sacrificing the comfort of left-handed individuals. If that's the case, then this person is most likely a lefty."
Song Zhe earnestly replied, "That's all I know. I hope you can find Liu Fei'er soon."
As he spoke, his expression fell into despondency, as if he had lost the entire world. Perhaps Liu Fei'er was indeed his whole world; it was just that this world had never noticed the tumultuous emotions within him.
With nothing more to discuss, we let Song Zhe leave, telling him to contact me if he had any news.
Watching Song Zhe's retreating figure, Guan Zengbin remarked, "Does he still have the face to live in Zhang Yunhu's house? Zhang Yunhu has been so open-hearted with him, yet he treats Zhang Yunhu like this?"
I sighed heavily, pondering something but ultimately deciding against it.
Was Zhang Yunhu really considering Song Zhe's feelings? Did he truly regard Song Zhe as a brother? At least I didn't think so. From Zhang Yunhu's last glance, I saw only indifference and disdain. With Zhang Yunhu's high emotional intelligence, how could he not understand the need to protect Song Zhe's fragile pride?
Liu Fei'er knew that matters involving dignity should be kept secret from everyone. Yet Zhang Yunhu had laid bare Song Zhe's life for all to see, completely disregarding his wounded sense of self-worth.
In truth, Zhang Yunhu was acting for his own benefit. His kindness towards Song Zhe and organizing parties were merely ways to gain fame for himself. By using others to promote himself, Zhang Yunhu became a heartthrob; people viewed him as kind and sunny, allowing him to attract beautiful and wealthy women like Liu Fei'er.
But what was the reality? People's hearts are inscrutable; one can never truly know.
I hoped my suspicions were wrong, which is why I didn't share them with Guan Zengbin. After all, it's better to have a bit of hope in this world.
After a simple lunch, we returned to the City Bureau. Sister Mao seemed to have already left. Upon seeing us, Mary spoke up, "Back already? Based on the clues provided by your Sister Mao, we've found about five or six places in Dongxing City selling Davidoff English Mixture Tobacco. Gu Chen has already gone undercover to investigate; we should have leads soon."
I nodded and said, "That's good. As long as we can find one living kidnapper, we can track down all of them."
"Also," Mary continued, "I've used software to restore the kidnapper's voice. It's a male voice with a slight rasp; he should be between twenty and twenty-five years old. The rest is unclear."
A young yet experienced kidnapper in that age range was quite rare.
Who could this person be?
Shaking my head, I set the matter aside for now.
I reported my whereabouts along with Guan Zengbin to Captain Shao. One name was missing from the whiteboard; Hou Yao was indeed not someone capable of such actions. The only ones left for us to investigate were Zhao Dong and Cao Jie. Meeting Zhao Dong required an appointment, so we planned to first check in on the soon-to-be bankrupt Cao Jie.
Just as we stepped out of the office, Mary called out to us, "The kidnapper's on the line!"
Earlier that morning, the kidnapper had just called, and I thought he wouldn't call again today. But here it was, just past two in the afternoon, and the kidnapper was calling once more. I wondered what he wanted this time.
We hurried back to our seats, following the same procedure; Captain Shao could directly command Liu Yinyan's villa from here.
As soon as he spoke, the kidnapper let out a big yawn, sounding as if he had just woken up. "Hello there, Boss Liu. Have you figured out what you've done yet?"
"Bring up a few trivial matters, but don't drag it out," Captain Shao quickly advised.
Liu repeated this beside him.
Liu Yinyan said, "I... I don't know what specific matters you're referring to. How about you give me a hint first?"
The kidnapper sounded quite exasperated. "Liu Yinyan, this is getting pointless. When I was six years old, I had a friend who loved playing games just like me. One time, while I was stuck on a level at home, he came over and told me how to get through it."
"But," the kidnapper's voice suddenly turned sharp and piercing, "guess what happened next?"
"What happened?" Liu Yinyan instinctively asked.
The kidnapper burst into laughter. "I smashed his head with my computer! You see, those who give hints are despicable, but those who ask for hints are even worse. So you have no chance now; it's quite fair. I'll send you a gift; don't worry."
With that, the kidnapper hung up the phone.
We looked at each other, unsure of what had just happened and what the kidnappers were after.
Half an hour later, the door to Liu Yinyan's room was knocked open.
The butler walked in. "Liu Lao, a toy airplane just landed with a box at the entrance of our villa. It has a note on it—'A gift for Liu Yinyan.'"
We immediately understood that this was a gift from the kidnappers.
Liu Yinyan was about to open it right away when Captain Shao hurriedly stopped him. "Don't touch it; what if there's a bomb inside..."
But before Captain Shao could finish his sentence, Liu Yinyan had already unwrapped the package.
Inside was not a bomb, but a severed finger.
A long, snow-white middle finger, neatly cut off at the base, with a bow tied around it.
Liu Yinyan took one look and collapsed backward onto the floor.
The finger fell to the ground, propped up against the wall, as if it were giving everyone the middle finger.
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