We'll start with the girl, Li Qian. The Criminal Investigation Bureau has no information on her. So, we'll call her Li Qian for now. Li Qian approached me after Zhang Keqiang went missing. She collaborated with the real "Li Qian" and deceived me.
However, Li Qian wanted to find Zhang Keqiang through me, but she didn't expect that after I escaped the hospital, I didn't interact with Zhang Keqiang. Instead, I discovered the crime scene of Jin Bengui's death at Red Eagle Industries. Jin Bengui's death pushed the entire Red Eagle Industries into the spotlight. Li Qian also disappeared, and with the progress of the recent major fraud case (107), the gang involved with Jin Bengui could no longer abscond with billions.
Therefore, they relentlessly sought out Zhang Keqiang. But the "Paradoxical Logic" members behind Jin Bengui only found Zhang Keqiang's corpse. They didn't know where the money was, so they had to involve me to find the missing ten billion yuan.
...
Following this assumption, Li Qian began her setup at the hotel.
She first lured me to the hotel, then asked me to take a shower.
The lock in the hotel bathroom was of the internal deadbolt type, with no external key. If someone were trapped inside, a flathead screwdriver could open the lock with a little force.
After I entered the bathroom, Li Qian inserted a pre-prepared iron bar into the flathead lock slot, jamming the cylinder and creating the illusion that I had deadbolted myself in. Once Li Qian completed this step, she removed the bedsheet. The mattress had already been moved out. The body was placed on the bed frame, and with a specially made foldable support, the bedsheet could be spread over it, making it indistinguishable from any other bed.
After removing the bed frame, Li Qian immediately chose to leave. Downstairs, she asked the front desk to send up two bottles of water. The scream I heard from the bathroom was from the service staff. The startled service staff member ran downstairs and encountered the on-duty police officers who had already been alerted. At that moment, I had just broken through the door and was subsequently arrested by the police.
...
This is Luo Bo's capability; in such a short time, he deciphered all the mechanisms and tricks set up by Li Qian.
"Brother Luo, I have a question. Can we find out Li Qian's true identity?"
"She's not from Hohhot. The population census system isn't that comprehensive yet. It's very difficult for us to know Li Qian's identity from a photo. If she used a fake identity in Hohhot, we would never know who she is."
"One more question?"
Yu Xiaoluo became impatient: "Tang Nan, why so many questions?"
"I need to understand the situation, don't I?"
Luo Bo smiled kindly: "Ask away."
"The ten billion yuan that disappeared from the books, could it be related to this fake Li Qian?"
"It's just a guess for now; there's no evidence to prove she's connected to the ten billion."
"How did they transfer this ten billion? Ten billion is not a small amount."
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Luo Bo shook his head with a wry smile. He was good at solving cases, but when it came to finances, he was no better than me. I found that I couldn't find the answer online, and even Luo Bo couldn't answer.
That was ten billion yuan! Just gone like that?
Just as we were lost in thought, my phone buzzed. "Tang Nan, I'm sorry, my father had a fall, so I have to cancel our dinner plans. Come to my place to eat instead." Seeing this message, I handed it directly to Luo Bo. Luo Bo smiled and said, "The house you went to is uninhabited and has always been empty. The chess set you mentioned was left by the previous owner. The identities of the people who treated you to dinner that day are still being investigated..."
"Should I go?" My heart wanted to go. To solve the mystery of the ten billion's disappearance, I had to interact with this fake Li Qian; she was the only breakthrough.
"It's your decision. We won't interfere with your actions, only cooperate."
I took my phone back. "Is Uncle okay? I'll be right over. We can go to the hospital for a check-up if necessary."
"He's fine. I advised him to go to the hospital, but he refused, afraid of the cost."
"Okay, I'll take a taxi and be there soon."
As I was leaving, Yu Xiaoluo reminded me, "Remember to get a receipt for the taxi; it's reimbursable."
"Got it, sis!"
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...
When I arrived, the house was warm and cozy. It was still furnished the same way; it was hard to believe this house was uninhabited. The aroma of stir-frying and sautéing filled the air. I saw Li Qian's "father" lying in the bedroom. I went in and greeted him. He looked like a genuine patient; I couldn't detect anything unusual. Li Qian was with her mother in the kitchen, cooking. I went to the living room alone.
The living room was empty. My gaze fell on Li Father's coat. The coat looked good, and there was a colorful paper corner in the pocket. I gently pulled it out and discovered it was two zoo tickets. After reading the tickets, I acted as if nothing had happened and put them back. When I sat back at the table, "Li Mother" had already brought out a plate of fragrant stewed dishes. She enthusiastically said to me, "Tang Nan, it's stewed today. Don't mind it."
"Auntie, it's fine, I love stewed dishes. Oh, Auntie, I'm not here just for a meal today. Li Qian gave me a task to take Uncle to the hospital."
"That child is making a fuss. Your uncle is fine. Oh my, you're such a kind child. It's a shame you got married so young."
...
Everything seemed normal. I admired them in my heart; this was definitely a good team, with excellent actors. They adhered to their roles, with this uncle playing the part of a patient with lumbar disc herniation, and the mother, a model of a worried mother. She wanted her daughter to marry a kind person but lamented that the kind person was already married.
...
How can I expose them?
I want to break them down one by one. The coat in the living room belongs to Li Father, and it has zoo tickets in the pocket. They are family tickets for tomorrow's date. This type of ticket allows one child to enter the zoo. The problem is, the child of this family is Li Qian, and she doesn't have any younger siblings in this department. So, this should be a breakthrough.
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The meal was harmonious. After dinner, Li Qian said she would see me off. After we left the house, she took my hand. Her hand was a little cold but very soft.
"Thank you for coming to help."
"I didn't help much, did I? Uncle didn't go to the hospital."
"It doesn't matter if he went to the hospital or not; as long as my dad is okay, you being here makes me feel so much more at ease."
When Li Qian spoke, there was no trace of acting; her emotions were genuine. I don't know if it was the cold weather or if she did it deliberately, but I always felt she leaned towards me unintentionally.
The most beautiful woman I've ever seen is Lin Han. Lin Han has that kind of beauty; whether mature or youthful, with a little effort, she can be stunning. Li Qian is different. She's not conventionally beautiful, but she can touch people's hearts with her "sincerity." Her fragility, emanating from her core, evoked a strong protective instinct in men. This felt contradictory; even though I clearly knew her "sincerity" was fake, I couldn't find any fault with it.
This woman is truly captivating!
We soon reached the bus stop. Li Qian lowered her gaze, bit her lip, and then secretly looked at me: "How about we walk another stop?"
"Alright!"
I couldn't refuse. I walked another stop with Li Qian, her arm linked with mine. Only then did I reluctantly part ways with her. I sat in the last row of the bus. Looking back, I saw Li Qian waving goodbye. I tried to force a smile, turned around, and took a deep breath to calm my accelerating heart.
This wasn't the feeling of love; it was fear.
...
The next day, I went to the zoo. As it was the weekend, the zoo was crowded. I bought a ticket and wandered around. After about two hours, I saw a family at the giant python exhibit: a father with a giant python around his neck, holding a boy who looked both frightened and curious, and a gentle woman helping the father and son take a photo. I walked over and smiled, "Excuse me, I'll take a family photo for you."
"Thank you!"
The father opposite was Li Qian's "father." Without his sickly demeanor, I felt it wasn't appropriate to call him "Uncle"; I should call him "Brother."
Li Father recognized me and smiled slightly. He wasn't flustered even when he was seen through. What was going on?
After taking the photo, this Li Father walked over, extended his hand to me, and said, "Teacher, hello, what should I call you?"
The woman also brought the child over and took the phone from my hand, smiling and asking, "Husband, do you know him?"
"Of course. He's the male lead in the play 'Illicit Relationship.' Of course, it's still in the audition stage, but I think among the three Tang Nans, this teacher acted the best."
Audition? They were acting.
I frowned, thinking. As Li Father's face showed some confusion, I smiled slightly: "This is a rather unusual audition process. I didn't even see any cameras."
"They're in the closet, behind the wall. The director and the main camera are behind that false wall."
"That room has a false wall?"
"Yes!"
"I wouldn't have known if you hadn't told me. Thank you, what should I call you, teacher?"
"My surname is Wang."
"Teacher Wang, let me ask you one thing: do you really not play chess?"
"I do."
"Then why did you say you didn't?"
"I don't. Those were lines!"
I was stunned. Not playing chess was a line, meaning they had anticipated everything I might do. I had to do something, so I bid farewell to Teacher Wang. After walking a few steps, Teacher Wang called out to me, "Teacher, what should I call you?"
"Tang Nan."
"Teacher Tang Nan, you are truly extraordinary, truly one with your role!"