Chapter 49: Investigation Report on Ecological Slip and Fall

  In the dead of night, Tiehua Street was quiet and deserted. Occasionally, a drunkard would stumble by, but other than that, there was complete silence. Inside Meizi's 10-yuan leisure shop, it was pitch black. Suddenly, Xiao Yan'er crawled out from under the counter and whispered, "Mommy, I'm scared."

  No one answered, the wind blew through the courtyard, and the windows creaked loudly.

  The little swallow pulled out the spittoon from under the bed, sat on it to pee, after peeing found a package of small dried noodles, slowly ate them, and then climbed onto the bed to sleep.

  Several hours passed, a fish belly white appeared on the horizon, the red sun jumped out of the east, and the iron slag street was filled with the sounds of chickens clucking and dogs barking, starting a new day.

  The little swallow got down from bed and took out building blocks to play with by herself.

  Gradually, the streets were crowded with cars and people, and no one noticed that the plum blossom 10 yuan leisure shop had not opened until this afternoon.

  Mei's sister went crazy in the police station, banging her head against the wall and saying that her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter was still at home with no one to take care of her and would starve to death!

  Her crazy behavior finally caught the attention of the police officer, and a policeman agreed with her to go take a look when he had time.

  As this was not Mei's first time being caught for prostitution, the authorities decided to sentence her to a labor camp. The other individuals involved were given administrative detention of between 10 and 15 days.

  There were many things going on in the police station, and almost every police officer was working at full capacity. That police officer soon forgot what Mei Jie said and went to handle other cases.

  ……

  Song Shuang was very excited, finally finding something meaningful to do. She found the student union president Yu Nan and told her about her idea. Yu Nan said that the student union would fully support her, but only in terms of manpower, as for funding, she still needed to raise it herself.

  This didn't stump Song Shuang, she pulled Qin Qin to run to the Public Security Bureau first, to find her father for sponsorship. Song Jianfeng smiled wryly and had his colleagues in the office issue an introduction letter with the provincial bureau's seal, this was a magic weapon that could pass through all levels of public security agencies throughout the province.

  "As for the funds, you have to think of a way yourself. Alright, Dad has to go to work." Song Jianfeng smiled and gave the order to leave.

  Two girls came out of the Public Security Bureau gate, and suddenly the mobile phone rang. It was a call from Ling Zijie.

  "Ling Zijie, something wrong?"

  "Oh, I wanted to ask for your help, I'm planning to conduct a social survey, but I'm not familiar with the local situation in Shiga..."

  "No problem, are you still at the Water Tower Hotel? We'll go find you."

  "I'm now at a youth hostel, can't afford a five-star hotel."

  "See you later." Song Shuang hung up the phone and called out to her best friend: "Qianqian, let's go."

  Seeing Song Shuang's spirited appearance, Pei Pei comforted: "Shuang Shuang, you've finally come out of the shadows."

  "What shadow is there that doesn't have a shadow?" Song Shuang suddenly remembered that he still owed Liu Handong a motorcycle, but this matter wasn't urgent and could be put off for now.

  Two girls arrived at the youth hostel in the city, found Ling Zijie, the best debater took off his suit and tie, put on jeans and sneakers, refreshed and energetic.

  "It's like this, I plan to write a survey report on urban working-class ecology as my graduation thesis, and the entry point is this person." Ling Zijie took out his phone to show Song Shuang, and on the screen was a girl with a ponytail and a backpack, wearing a white shirt, slender and elegant, looking like a high school girl from next door.

  "This is the person, I saw her as a prostitute at the Shuidu Hotel. I'm very interested in her living conditions, can you help me find this person?" Ling Zijie said.

  Song Shuang and Qiangqiang looked at the girl on the phone screen and exclaimed: "Wow, she looks so innocent, not like someone who would do that kind of thing."

  "So I chose her as the first subject of investigation."

  "But in this vast sea of people, it's really too hard to find someone."

  Ling Zijie smiled: "It's not difficult, just retrieve the surveillance video from the Dashuidu Hotel, and you'll not only find this woman, but also the whoremonger, pimp, madam and gigolo. Once the investigation report comes out, I can have your names signed on it."

  Song Shuang and Qianqian exchanged a glance, excitedly saying: "Alright, let's investigate together!"

  The three of them arrived at the Waterfall Hotel in Wenquan Town, driving a Mini Cooper. They went straight to the lobby manager and asked to review the surveillance footage from four days ago during a certain time period.

  The lobby manager immediately declined, saying that it was related to the guest's privacy and it was not good to check. Ling Zijie's eyes rolled over and said that his wallet had been lost in the hall and he wanted to find out who had picked it up. The manager then consulted with the leader and agreed to let them review the surveillance video of the day.

  Three people arrived at the monitoring room, and the staff retrieved the video footage from that time period. Ling Zijie pointed to the screen with his mouth, and Song Shuang and Zhu Qianqian saw a prostitute standing in the lobby, as well as an old madam dressed in leopard-print skirt on the sofa, and university students participating in the debate competition.

  After a while, a slovenly dressed man came in with an old woman and a girl on the elevator. Ling Zijie pointed to the screen and said: "It's possible that they took it, let's check the video from the elevator."

  He took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his bag and handed it to the security guard in the monitoring room.

  The security guard retrieved the footage from the elevator and found the man smoking and pressing the button for the 16th floor.

  "Please return to the hall," Ling Zijie said.

  The camera cuts back to the hall, moving forward for a while, and it can be seen that an Audi sedan has arrived outside. A fat man with big ears gets out of the car, takes the elevator, and goes up to the 16th floor.

  There are also surveillance cameras in the corridor, but not in the room. It can be seen that after Fatso entered Room 1618, it didn't take a few minutes for the old hen to rush out of the elevator, slam the door fiercely, and a few seconds later, the girl who came out earlier went downstairs with the old hen. After a while, Fatso also came out in a rage.

  "Let's cut back to the hall." Ling Zijie said.

  The door of the monitoring room suddenly opened and the hall manager came in with the security captain, his face very unfriendly.

  "What are you doing? Take out your ID cards and let me see." said the security manager.

  "I've lost something..." Ling Zijie said.

  "Lost something, it took four whole days to remember to look for it, do you think I'm an idiot? What are you investigating? Don't think about leaving if you don't explain clearly!" The security manager clapped his hands and four burly security guards came in from outside.

  The Shuidu Hotel has an unusual background, it is a private enterprise run by entrepreneurs in the hot spring town. The boss is well-connected in society and has good relations with both black and white societies. With its superior hardware facilities, national organs, enterprises and institutions all like to hold meetings and events here. The hotel attaches great importance to protecting guests' privacy. These college students used the excuse of losing their wallet to check the surveillance video, they must have ulterior motives.

  "What do you want to do!" Zhu Qiangqiang shouted in a sharp voice.

  The security guards didn't make it too difficult for them, after all this was a regular company, they just escorted the two women and one man out of the hotel.

  "What should I do?" Pingping said with a sigh of frustration.

  "Go find help at the local police station." Song Shuang said.

  Three people came to the police station in Wenshui Town, explained their intention, saying that they wanted to retrieve the surveillance video of the Shuidu Hotel, and asked the police for help. They also showed a letter of introduction issued by the Public Security Bureau.

  The police station warmly received them and asked them to sit in the conference room for a while. Half an hour later, the director regretfully told them that due to poor management, the hotel's surveillance video had been destroyed.

  "Impossible! We were just watching it a moment ago."

  "It's unclear then." The director shrugged and spread his hands.

  Inside the Grand Water Hotel, the security manager and general manager were watching the video. People in the service industry are all old rivers and lakes, and they can see the way at a glance.

  "These young people are targeting Director Jiao of the Transportation Department, probably trying to get something on him." The general manager's gloomy face cracked a smile as he picked up his phone and dialed a number: "Director Jiao, this is Shang Guimin from the Water City Hotel. I have something to report to you. Today, three young people came to the hotel wanting to investigate your whereabouts four days ago. Be careful, Director Jiao, it seems someone is out to get you... They don't seem to be from the Discipline Inspection Committee, they look like they're in their twenties. Alright, I'll help take care of this, but those few people will still need to be handled by Director Xia himself."

  In a office of the suburban road expansion project department, Jiao Shihong was furious. He had control over tens of billions of dollars in funding and held great power, but also made many enemies. This time, he didn't know who was trying to sabotage him, so he needed to teach them a lesson. Given his position, it was easy to mobilize people on the road, just a matter of one sentence. However, to be cautious, Jiao Shihong still called his trusted aide, Cao Junming from the Road and Bridge Development Company.

  "Little Cao, something's happened on the water side, someone wants to investigate me, take a few people to handle it."

  After everything was arranged properly, Director Jiao picked up his briefcase and went to the hall to attend a meeting on Party members' advanced nature.

  ……

  Song Shuang and others came out of the police station with nothing, got on the Mini Cooper and headed back to the city. A black Land Rover Range Rover started immediately and followed closely behind them.

  "It's too much, they actually destroyed the evidence. I think it's 80% likely that they are covering up for that corrupt official." Song Shuang said indignantly.

  "Let Song Bo find out who it is and take him away." Qiongqiong was also very angry.

  "My dad isn't a discipline inspection committee, he can't put people under double regulation." Song Shuang explained.

  Ling Zijie stared at the rearview mirror for a long time before suddenly saying, "It seems like someone is following us."

  "Is it?" Qianqian also went to look at the rearview mirror, and suddenly a strong force came from behind the car, rear-ended!

  The car screeched to a halt, and just as he was about to undo his seatbelt to get out and take a look, Ling Zijie's tense voice rang out: "Don't get out, drive!"

  Song Shuang turned around to see a black off-road vehicle tailing them, and two men got out of the car. They had crew cuts, gold chains, and big sunglasses, looking like they weren't good people at all. Suddenly, various Hollywood movie plots flashed through her mind - murder, assassination, thrilling chases... She let out a sharp cry: "Run quickly!"

  Zhu Qiangqiang reacted quickly, stepped on the gas pedal, and the Mini Cooper shot out like an arrow. The man behind him cursed "Damn it" and hastily got in his car to chase after him.

  In front was a red and white Mini Cooper, behind was a powerful black Land Cruiser, the two cars were chasing each other on the highway outside the hot spring town, kicking up clouds of dust, honking loudly, Song's hands were busy as he hastily pulled out his phone to call Dad, but after ringing for several times, no one answered.

  "Hurry up!" Song Shuang was anxious beyond measure.

  In the provincial hall conference room, Song Jianfeng was presiding over a meeting. His mobile phone had been left in his office and was vibrating silently. The screen displayed an incoming call from his daughter.

  The police station still couldn't get the money from Liu Handong. These days, even the police are afraid of evil people, let alone someone as notorious as him for killing several hitmen throughout the city. It's not worth provoking him, and of course, Liu Handong can't save Mei Jie and Xuan Xi either. He had no choice but to return in a huff, driving his car wildly on the road to vent his frustration.

  Liu Handong had just dropped off a passenger in Wenshui Town and was stopped on the side of the road urinating when two cars sped by, one after another, kicking up so much dust that it almost made him squint.

  The mini Cooper being chased in front looks familiar, it seems to be the car of those two naughty girls who destroyed their own three-wheeled motorcycle, and the big men with gold chains sitting in the back seat don't look like good people.

  Liu Handong took a deep breath, got into the Fengkang, fastened his seatbelt, inserted the key and started the engine. The old four-cylinder dual-valve cast-iron engine of the Fengkang roared to life fiercely. He was in a rage and urgently needed to beat someone up!