Chapter 131 Yao Congxing

Chapter 131 Yao Congxing

Yan Haifeng banged the table hard and demanded, "Still not ready to come clean?!"

Yao Congxing couldn't help but tremble. Although he held a high position in the company, he had never dealt with the police before, especially hearing that they were officers from the provincial level. A cold sweat instantly broke out on his brow.

"I-I-I..." He stammered for ages without stringing together a full sentence.

Yan Haifeng's expression was stern. "Yao Congxing, you're a top suspect in the Liang family massacre."

"We gave you a chance to explain, but you hemmed and hawed and couldn’t account for last night—we’ve got every reason to think you’re tied to the Liang case!"

Though he had never encountered such a situation before, Yao Congxing understood the implication immediately. His eyes widened. "I didn't do it!"

Yan Haifeng stared at him coldly. Yao Congxing took a deep breath. "I-I..."

Clenching his jaw, he spat out, "Alright, I’ll talk!"

In the monitoring room, Shen Qingye leaned forward slightly.

Yao Congxing licked his dry lips and spoke haltingly, "L-Last night, I was out drinking with some buddies."

Yan Haifeng pressed, "What friends? When? Where? Give me all the details!"

"J-Just... some guys from work," Yao Congxing swallowed hard, his eyes skittering away.

"Names. Which companies?"

"There was... uh..."

He listed a few names and added, "They’re with Hongyun Group. We’d done business before, so we got familiar over time. Occasionally, we’d grab a drink now and then."

As he spoke, his hands twitched at his sides, and his eyes kept shifting.

Shen Qingye noticed the subtle movement of his hands and narrowed her eyes.

Coming up through the ranks, Yan Haifeng naturally sensed his unease. He fired back, "What time'd you leave? When'd you get back?"

"We left around... uh, before eight, I think. Came back close to midnight. It was on South Street, the bar district."

Yan Haifeng frowned skeptically. "Just drinking for that long?"

"Uh... well, y'know... Lost track of time... It wasn’t just drinking. We played cards and stuff..." His voice petered out.

Yan Haifeng studied him silently.

Vice wasn’t their department, and he had no energy to pursue that angle now. Instead, he asked, "If it was just drinks, why couldn't you say so earlier? What were you hiding?"

"Look, it’s... not exactly PG-13, okay?" Yao Congxing's voice dropped, his eyes shifting.

That alone told him it wasn’t just drinks. But Yan Haifeng felt there was more to it.

"You left close to midnight? Didn't leave in between?"

"No," Yao Congxing shook his head quickly. "Never left. They’ve got my back!"

Yan Haifeng fixed him with a heavy stare for a long moment. Yao Congxing forced a smile. "Officer, I swear I don’t know anything about the Liangs. I get it—you must've heard about the conflicts between me and Old Liang at work. I admit that! But company matters are company matters. People butt heads—that’s life, right? But business is business. Old Liang and I have known each other for years. I’d off a guy over office drama?"

"Besides, even if I killed him, what good would it do me? He was the largest shareholder in our company. Now that something's happened to him, the company's in turmoil. If things escalate, I can't just walk away unscathed either, can I?"

He looked distressed, kept explaining. Yan Haifeng merely nodded, "We’ve got the gist of things. If everything you’ve said is true, you won’t be wrongfully accused. Don’t worry."

Only then did Yao Congxing wipe his sweat and muttered a reluctant 'okay.'

In the monitoring room, Captain Yang rubbed his chin, eyeing Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan standing beside him. "What do you two think?"

Shen Qingye stared at the figure on the screen, her expression unreadable. "His claim about drinking with others last night is likely true. After all, that’s something easily verified. Why they were drinking is another matter."

He was obviously holding back. Combined with his past conflicts with Liang Yongcheng, he looked pretty suspicious.

Yet Shen Qingye had a hunch that he wasn’t the killer.

She tilted her head slightly and met Yue Lingchuan’s eyes. Neither spoke, but they wordlessly understood each other.

They still needed to investigate.

With Xu Hongxia still unconscious, Yao Congxing was their only solid lead. After Yan Haifeng stepped out, he divided the team—some heading to Liang’s company, others to Yao Congxing’s home, and the rest to investigate the people he claimed to be drinking with the night before.

Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan stuck together as usual. They went to Liang’s company, where they were received by Yao Congxing’s secretary, Xiao Du.

Xiao Du looked startled to see them, clearly puzzled as to why more cops had arrived so soon after the last.

"Please, come in," Xiao Du said, ushering them into the meeting room, weariness written on his face.

He was struggling to process how fast things had gone south. First, news broke in the morning that the Liang family’s home had exploded and caught fire overnight, with no survivors. Then, barely after work started, the police arrived to investigate and even took away the company’s second-largest shareholder.

What the hell was happening?

"We’re here because we need your cooperation in an investigation," the detectives said.

Xiao Du gave a bitter smile. "Shoot. I’ll tell you what I know."

Yue Lingchuan spoke first. "How long have you worked under Yao Congxing?"

Xiao Du thought for a moment. "About... five or six years, I think."

"So you must know him quite well?"

Xiao Du forced a smile. "Well enough. After working together for so long, we’ve got our routines down."

Yue Lingchuan nodded. "Then you must also be aware of Yao Congxing’s relationship with Guo Yaomin and Ji Chuanxin?"

Xiao Du looked blank. "Guo Yaomin? Ji Chuanxin?"

After a pause, he hesitantly asked, "Are they... the Hongyun Group guys?"

Yue Lingchuan and Shen Qingye exchanged a glance. "You don’t know them?"

Xiao Du shook his head honestly. "Not very well."

"Is that so?" Yue Lingchuan pressed. "But your boss seems quite close with them."

Xiao Du was momentarily stunned before replying, "I really don’t know about that..."

"Maybe... Chairman Yao has a personal friendship with them? I stay out of his personal business."

Yue Lingchuan paused, noting that his confusion seemed genuine, then continued, "How often does your company collaborate with Hongyun?"

"Not often, I think." Xiao Du scrambled to remember. "As far as I recall, we only worked together once, around the end of last year. But that project wasn’t even handled by Chairman Yao, so I don’t know much about them."

Now that’s curious.

If they had only collaborated once, and Yao Congxing wasn’t even the one overseeing it, how’d he wind up drinking buddies with them?