Chapter 145 My People

Chapter 145: Someone on My Side

"Just now, Liang Yongcheng's phone received a call—it rang twice. When our officer answered, the caller said that the investigation Mr. Liang had requested regarding the homicide on South China Road on the night of March 27th was complete."

"Our officer pressed for details, sensing something was off."

"The caller stated that no homicide had occurred on South China Road that night."

"Not just South China Road—there were no traffic fatalities anywhere in Pingjiang that night."

Shen Qingye glanced at Liang Wenjun, who sat stiffly in the interrogation chair, his expression blank.

Captain Yang's voice continued, "Our officer realized something was wrong and quickly summoned the caller for questioning. After interrogation, we learned that the man’s surname is Chen, a private investigator by profession, whose usual work involves gathering intel for clients."

"Last Saturday night, around 8 p.m., Liang Yongcheng obtained his contact details from another client and called him, asking him to investigate a woman named Xu Chunli."

"Chen spent two days following the leads Liang provided, but none of the people he found matched the description. He began to suspect it might be a fake name, given that those involved in organized crime often use aliases."

"After hearing this, Liang Yongcheng told him to put the Xu Chunli lead on hold and instead shift focus to investigating the homicide on South China Road that night."

"Such cases are usually easy to verify—after all, homicides always leave a trail. But after days of searching, Chen found no record of a fatal accident that night. Suspecting foul play, he dug deeper and discovered that there were no reports anywhere in Pingjiang of a fatal crash that day."

"Once he confirmed this, he immediately called Liang Yongcheng. But because he had been preoccupied with the investigation and hadn’t kept up with the news, he didn’t know Liang Yongcheng was already dead."

"And so, by pure chance, we ended up receiving that call."

"We speculate that after learning about Liang Wenjun’s activities, Liang Yongcheng must have grown suspicious of this so-called homicide and deliberately hired someone to investigate. But before he could receive the results, he..."

The speakerphone’s voice echoed starkly in the silent interrogation room. Shen Qingye’s gaze remained fixed on Liang Wenjun, who sat rigidly, his eyes hollow, his face ghostly pale.

His voice was weak, repeating over and over, "Impossible... impossible..."

"It can’t be..."

Yue Lingchuan hung up and said to Liang Wenjun, "Liang Yongcheng built his fortune from scratch. A man like that isn’t lacking in cunning or determination."

"From your encounter with She Manqing, to your involvement in gambling, to that supposed 'accident'—every step stinks of coincidence."

"It’s only natural Liang Yongcheng would grow suspicious."

Perhaps Liang Yongcheng never intended to abandon his nephew. He might have simply found the situation too suspicious and deliberately put on a cold, indifferent act to teach him a lesson. But behind the scenes, he couldn’t let it go and quietly arranged for someone to investigate.

He couldn’t have truly stood by and watched his nephew gamble with his whole family’s lives.

But no matter how well he planned, he never expected Liang Wenjun would be so ruthless—embracing a warped idea of 'survival' at the cost of his entire family.

Liang Wenjun suddenly looked up, his eyes burning with rage. "This is just your speculation! How can you claim he did it for me? Maybe he was only protecting himself, worried the truth would implicate him!"

Then, shaking his head frantically, he added, "No, no—maybe none of this is real! You’re making this up, aren’t you? You fabricated this to make me regret it, to watch me crumble in guilt, right? Well, you’re wrong! I didn’t make a mistake! I didn’t!"

Shen Qingye shook her head, her voice calm as ever. "The facts speak for themselves. You know the truth in your heart."

"Like I said before—you’ve confessed. As far as we’re concerned, this case is over. We’ve got no reason to lie to you."

"What’s in it for us?"

Liang Wenjun’s eyes were bloodshot, his whole body shaking. With that, Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan got up and headed for the door.

The moment the interrogation room door closed, Liang Wenjun screamed hoarsely, "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"I didn't do anything wrong!!"

Shen Qingye glanced back at him, her expression calm and composed.

She reached out and, with a quiet click, slowly shut the interrogation room door.

"I didn't do anything wrong! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"It's his fault, he's the one to blame, he's the one who wronged me..."

The shrill protests faded away. Shen Qingye stared at the closed door before her, closing her eyes briefly, then let out a long breath.

Yue Lingchuan patted her shoulder lightly. Shen Qingye looked up at him, giving him a small smile. When she turned back, she was surprised to find the sky beginning to lighten—the darkness receding as the sun prepared to rise.

It was already 4 a.m.

Shen Qingye blinked slowly, her eyes burning from the all-nighter, and gazed at the thin white line on the horizon. She took a deep breath of the cool dawn air, and the tension that had gripped her finally began to ease.

Yue Lingchuan stepped forward, standing beside her. Yan Haifeng copied them, leaning against the railing as well.

"The view here isn't bad," he remarked casually, without any pretense, his tone relaxed and familiar.

Shen Qingye couldn’t help but glance at him. Over the past two days of working together, their interactions had only happened in meetings, discussing case-related matters. Her impression of him had been one of stern professionalism, so she hadn’t expected this more relaxed side to emerge after the case concluded.

Yue Lingchuan replied lazily, "Nothing like the provincial headquarters, right in the city center—open the door and all you see is traffic."

Yan Haifeng shot him a look and snorted, then turned his gaze to Shen Qingye, admiration evident in his eyes. "I'd heard before that Pingjiang had a new female detective with a 100% case-solving rate—a rising star in the force. At first, I didn’t pay much attention, but now I see it’s true. Truly, proof that women can compete with men. I underestimated you!"

He couldn’t help adding, "This case was solved thanks to you. If you hadn’t come up with a different approach and focused on Liang Wenjun’s gambling debts, we might’ve been stuck for days longer."

Shen Qingye smiled modestly. "I just proposed a possibility. Solving this case was everyone working together."

She glanced at Yue Lingchuan. "Like how, if Captain Yue hadn’t suggested that 'Brother Xu' might be a woman, I’d have kept wasting time focusing on the male angle. Compared to you veterans, I still have a long way to go."

Yan Haifeng, seeing her humility, admired her even more. "That’s just a matter of experience. The more cases you handle, the more naturally these insights will come."

He looked at her earnestly. "Experience can be accumulated, but your sharp intuition for solving cases—that’s not something experience alone can make up for."

Shen Qingye didn’t push the humility too far this time, smiling gracefully. "When you praise me like that, team leader, I might get a little proud."

Yan Haifeng laughed heartily. "Good! It's good for young people to have pride—just not arrogance. As long as you solve cases, that’s what matters!"

He then added, "Honestly, before coming here, I never imagined we’d crack this case in just two days. I thought a case this serious would drag on for a while. Who would've thought it would go so smoothly?"

This case had drawn intense scrutiny from higher-ups—not just because of its brutality (a bombing that killed six members of a family) but also because of Liang Yongcheng’s status. As a prominent entrepreneur in the province and a major taxpayer, he was also known for his philanthropy and enjoyed a strong public reputation. If they hadn’t swiftly identified the perpetrator, it would've hurt public confidence.

Even if they’d eventually uncovered Liang Wenjun’s gambling debts, every day we delayed was risky.

Yue Lingchuan smirked smugly. "Someone from my team—what else would you expect? Xiao Shen’s never taken more than a few days to crack any case she’s worked on."

"Looks like you were wrong this time, huh?"

Yan Haifeng, recalling his initial underestimation of Shen Qingye, felt a twinge of embarrassment and rolled his eyes. "What’s there for you to be proud about?"

Yue Lingchuan grinned. "She’s part of my team. Her brilliance reflects on me too."

Shen Qingye tilted her head to look at him, meeting his amused gaze, and her eyes sparkled with amusement.