Chapter 224: Watch

Chapter 224: The Watch

The silence stretched on.

Shen Qingye was silent for a long moment before asking, "What did that vehicle look like?"

Yan Haifeng replied, "Just an ordinary van—nothing special."

Yue Lingchuan perked up. "And the license plate? Which province was it registered to?"

Yan Haifeng glanced at him. "Yunnan."

"The license plate is from Yunnan."

Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan exchanged a glance. Just as they’d suspected.

Dai Chuanyi kept his eyes fixed on the surveillance screen as he spoke in a steady voice, "Yunnan is a border region, bordering Myanmar, Thailand, and India—countries infamous for their black markets. Organ trafficking happens all the time there."

"Chances are the organs collected by Shengxin Hospital were sent to those areas, and Yunnan is the gateway to that region. Wang Hongji’s backers must be hiding there."

Yan Haifeng added, "The Ministry has already issued orders to Yunnan authorities to restrict entry and exit. Everyone on highways, trains—they all get screened."

"But this won’t work long-term," Yan continued. "There are too many people coming and going. A short lockdown won’t raise alarms yet, but if we still haven’t found their hideout by morning, we’ll have no choice but to lift it."

Even a temporary lockdown of such a massive city could lead to major chaos.

They’d caught a lucky break timing-wise—most people were still asleep. But come noon, everything would change.

Time. They were racing against it.

Back in the interrogation room, Wang Hongji remained half-lidded, playing dumb and refusing to cooperate. Facing him were some of the country's top interrogators, but with so little time and almost no information to go on, even the best of them were stuck.

After watching the surveillance feed for a while longer, Shen Qingye suddenly looked up. "Has Wang Hongji’s residence been searched?"

Yan Haifeng nodded. "We’ve torn the place apart, but like everything else—no leads."

"I'd like to go take a look myself."

Yan paused, studying her for a moment before nodding. "Alright. You’ve got a good eye."

The case was going nowhere fast, and they were grasping at straws. Better to let her try than waste time waiting around.

He had worked with her enough times to know her capabilities.

Maybe… she really could find something?

"Take Yue Lingchuan with you."

Even though everyone at Shengxin Hospital had been detained, there was no telling who else might still be out there lurking.

With a transnational crime syndicate like this, no chances could be taken.

Shen Qingye nodded. That suited her just fine.

·

Wang Hongji’s home wasn't far from Shengxin Hospital, both located in the outskirts of the city—a quick twenty-minute drive.

The villa was a typical European-style mansion with an expansive area, featuring a lawn and fountain in the center of the courtyard—the height of luxury.

When they arrived, police were posted around the villa. Shen Qingye showed her ID and entered with Yue Lingchuan.

The spacious hall showed clear signs of a search. The study had been their main focus.

But as Yan Haifeng had said, no useful clues were found.

Shen Qingye wasn’t surprised. Since no one at Sacred Heart Hospital knew who their trading partners were, it was clear how cautious Wang Hongji usually was.

Someone who never let even a hint slip in daily life wouldn’t leave obvious evidence at home, would he?

As she walked through the living room, kitchen, and even the bathroom, Shen Qingye softly asked if anything could talk. Yue Lingchuan watched from the side, eyes filled with curiosity.

Even though he had seen her speak to Little Stone before, seeing this never ceased to amaze him.

They checked the first floor, then the second, and finally reached the third. Pushing open a small door in the bedroom, they found a wardrobe filled with suits and many drawers beside it. Shen Qingye pulled one open—inside were various luxury watches, cufflinks, and tie clips.

She felt a slight stir—an inexplicable gut feeling telling her it was here.

Her gaze swept over the items one by one before settling on a watch tucked in the farthest corner of the drawer.

The watch had a silver-white case and a gray dial, looking refined and elegant, radiating sophistication. However, perhaps due to its age, it bore some faint signs of wear.

Catching her gaze, Yue Lingchuan glanced over and said, "Patek Philippe 5056P, launched in '99 and discontinued by 2000. It's been about four years now."

Shen Qingye nodded in understanding.

"It’s you, isn’t it?" She put on gloves and tapped the watch lightly.

At first, there was no response. After a long pause, a hesitant voice finally replied:

"Are you talking to me?"

The voice was steady, with a touch of refinement, sounding like a man in his 20s or 30s.

Shen Qingye remained calm. "Yes, I am."

The voice asked curiously, "How can you hear me?"

"I don’t know," she answered. "One day, I just could."

The voice fell silent for a moment, as if processing this, before asking, *"Then why are you looking for me?"*

He sounded displeased. "Are you with those people from this morning?"

Shen Qingye understood—he must mean the officers who had searched earlier.

She replied, "That’s not the best way to put it. Technically, they’re my colleagues."

She asked, "You don’t like them?"

The watch scoffed. "Who’d be happy getting woken up from a sound sleep?"

"And they had no appreciation at all, clumsy handling. At least they didn’t damage me."

"They were on a case, so they were probably rushed," Shen Qingye said. "But they meant no harm."

The watch grumbled slightly, grudgingly accepting her answer, then asked, "So why are you here? Here for the case too?"

Shen Qingye said, "Exactly. The evidence against Wang Hongji is solid—he's already confessed. We're just following up on some leads."

The watch asked, "What did he do?"

Shen Qingye replied, "Organ trafficking."

The watch went "Huh," then remarked, "You're way behind—it took you this long to look into it?"

Shen Qingye's brow twitched. "You knew what he was doing?"

The watch's voice suddenly turned proud. "Of course! I was worn by him for two years—there's nothing about him I don't know!"

Shen Qingye asked, "Then can you tell me about it?"

The watch's tone shifted. "Of course... not." It declared haughtily, "Why should I tell you?"

Shen Qingye pondered for a moment before saying, "Given the crimes Wang Hongji has committed, after the court's verdict, even if he doesn't get the death penalty, he'll likely spend the rest of his life in prison. Whether he'll ever get out is uncertain."

"All his money's dirty. Once he's convicted, most of his assets will be confiscated. And as part of his property, you'll probably go up for auction."

The watch got huffy. "Are you threatening me?"

Shen Qingye smiled. "No."

"I just wanted to say—that band of yours is looking pretty beat up. How about a new one?"

The watch hesitated. "Can you take me with you?"

Shen Qingye answered honestly, "Not right now. But once the public auction process begins, I'll bid for you. Then, I'll have you cleaned, repaired, and fitted with a new band."

The watch grumbled again, though less forcefully this time. After a pause, it said, "Well... make it a gold one!"

Shen Qingye replied calmly, "You got it."

The watch immediately brightened. "Good! You'd better not go back on your word!"

"Cross my heart," Shen Qingye assured. "So, can you tell me now?"

The watch said, "Whatcha wanna know?"

Shen Qingye thought for a moment. "Do you know where the organs he received were sent?"

The watch pondered. "My guess? Yunnan. I caught him on the phone a bunch of times mentioning shipments going to Yunnan or 'the usual spot.'"

"'The usual spot'?" Shen Qingye pressed. "Any specifics?"

The watch admitted, "Beats me. He never brought me along, and he never said it outright."

Shen Qingye fell silent for a while before asking, "Then do you know who he dealt with?"

The watch's voice weakened. "Also no... Folks he met when he had me on always seemed normal, and they never talked shop."

Shen Qingye opened her mouth, and the watch, suddenly worried she might change her mind, quickly added, "But I know someone who would know!"

Shen Qingye perked up. "Who's that?"

Yue Lingchuan, seeing her excitement, got nervous even though he didn’t know what was going on.

"Guo Tianqi!" the informant shouted a name.

"Guo Tianqi?" Shen Qingye locked eyes with Yue Lingchuan, both met with equal confusion.

"Who is this?" she asked.

"He's Wang Hongji's nephew!" the informant explained.

Shen Qingye frowned and turned to Yue Lingchuan. "In the background check we did on Wang Hongji in Hui’an, was there any mention of a nephew named Guo Tianqi?"

Yue Lingchuan thought for a moment and shook his head. "No."

The informant continued, "It’s normal nobody knows! Because he’s not one of his sisters’ kids from home—he’s the son of a sister who was adopted out when she was young!"

"Not even the hospital or his inner circle knows."

Shen Qingye nodded in understanding and asked, "Then why do you think he’d know about those things?"

"Because he’s working for Wang Hongji right now!" the informant said. "He's in the hospital procurement department and keeps traveling under the guise of business trips—really, he’s just running errands for Wang Hongji."

"He’s been to the villa several times—I’ve seen him myself!"

Her pulse quickened as she quickly filled Yue Lingchuan in. He raised an eyebrow. "Procurement department?"

They exchanged a look, hatching a plan between them.

"Thank you," Shen Qingye said solemnly. "Hang tight here for a bit longer. When the time comes, I’ll get you out."

The informant pleaded hopefully, "Then... promise you’ll come for me..."

"I will."

·

After discussing their next move, the two didn’t go directly after Guo Tianqi. Instead, they returned to the hospital and requested a list of procurement staff. Using the addresses provided, they located Guo Tianqi’s apartment without raising suspicion.

It was a new residential complex, seventh floor.

Knocks rang out against the door for some time before dragging slippers could be heard inside. A clearly annoyed voice called out, "Who is it?"

The door opened to reveal a man in his thirties, bleary-eyed from sleep, looking them up and down irritably. "Yeah? What do you want?"

Shen Qingye asked, "Guo Tianqi?"

He grumbled, "That's me. What’s going on?"

Yue Lingchuan flashed his badge. "We’re police. We need you to answer some questions—we’d like you to come with us."

Guo Tianqi went rigid. "C-cops?"

He licked his lips nervously. "What kind of case?"

Yue Lingchuan replied, "Your uncle, Wang Hongji’s black-market organ ring."

Guo gaped at him for a second, then suddenly shouldered past Shen Qingye and made a break for it.

"Stop!" Yue Lingchuan’s eyes hardened as he gave chase.

Guo Tianqi stumbled down the stairs in panic. Yue leaped over the banister and cut him off before he could escape.

Guo Tianqi’s chest rose and fell rapidly as he spun around to run back, only to find Shen Qingye standing on the floor above, her gun trained steadily on him.

Guo Tianqi’s expression turned grim.

A sharp *click* sounded as the handcuffs locked into place.

Shen Qingye descended the stairs, and Yue Lingchuan gave her a concerned glance. “You okay?”

Shen Qingye smiled. “He just shoved me—he didn’t hit anything. Don’t worry.”

Her gaze settled on the dejected Guo Tianqi, her eyes turning thoughtful.

·

Yan Haifeng was just coming out of the monitoring room when he saw Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan bringing in a suspect. He raised his eyebrows in question. “This is…?”

Yue Lingchuan grinned. “Guo Tianqi—our prime suspect in this case, Wang Hongji’s nephew.”

Yan Haifeng’s pulse quickened. If they had brought him in, that meant the suspect must know something.

He quickly said, “I’ll go get Director Dai and Captain Wu!”

·

Inside the monitoring room, a group of people were gathered around, watching the screen.

Wang Hongji was in his late sixties, having seen it all in his lifetime. Facing police interrogation, he remained composed and silent. But Guo Tianqi was different. Not yet thirty, he was green. Under relentless questioning from the experts, he folded quickly.

“What exactly did you do for him?”

Guo Tianqi slumped in his chair, answering weakly, “If there was any business or meetings in the organization that he couldn’t attend, I was his stand-in. Sometimes, if there was a big client, I’d represent him when necessary.”

“How many people are in your organization?”

“Tens, maybe hundreds? I don’t know. It’s usually the same crowd. My uncle told me just to do my job and not ask too many questions, so I never dared to speak up…”

“What’s Wang Hongji’s position in the organization?”

“I’m not too sure… He hasn’t been back there in a long time—I’m always the one going. But judging by how people treat me… he’s got to be somebody important?”

“Besides him, are there others in charge?”

“Yeah, there are two bosses above him.”

“What are their names?”

“I don’t really know. One of them is called Brother Fei—he’s usually the one calling the shots, so I’ve seen him more often. The other… I don’t know his name. Everyone just calls him ‘The Boss.’ He rarely shows up—I’ve never even met him…”

Behind the interrogation table, Wu Zhengfa’s expression was stern, his brow furrowed into a severe crease. His heavy brows shadowed piercing eyes.

The veteran detective, with over forty years of experience, barked the final question:

“Where do you usually meet them? And—do they have guns?”