Chapter 65 04

Chapter 65: 04

An hour later, He Lin and Li Shang had yet to reach Yuncheng.

Meanwhile, Cheng Xiaoyi was making swift progress. She shared a location in the group chat: "This is the address of the study room. Lian Xuan bought a 24-hour annual pass there. I contacted the owner, who just arrived. Lao Wu and I met with him."

Wu Yunsheng promptly added more details to the group: "The owner, Zheng Yi, is a rich second-generation heir. He initially opened the study room to pursue a female academic overachiever. He has since graduated and usually resides in the southern part of the city, so he rarely comes here."

"The study room occupies the entire tenth floor of an office building, which he purchased and renovated. It operates on a fully automated self-service system, with facial recognition at the entrance and remote control for everything inside."

"The owner claimed complete ignorance of Lian Xuan’s disappearance, only learning about it when we questioned him. He stated he’s open to any investigation and will cooperate fully."

He Lin sent a voice message asking, "Are there any other staff members at the study room?"

"There’s a part-time cleaner, Ms. Zhao, 45 years old. She cleans three times a day—morning, noon, and evening—and only comes for fixed periods. She’s not involved in management."

A while later, Cheng Xiaoyi sent another message: "The owner provided us with Lian Xuan’s ID card access records. Before the postgraduate entrance exam, he studied here almost daily. He also frequented the place between the exam and his disappearance. The owner said they retain surveillance footage for a period and will copy it for us later."

"Oh, and to assist our investigation, he also provided a few temporary administrator IDs. We can enter by inputting the passwords."

He Lin checked the location on his navigation app: "That study room isn’t far from us. Let’s go check it out in person."

Li Shang nodded in agreement: "Alright."

Early-stage investigations for missing persons cases primarily involve traveling to various locations, and business trips are common. Visiting one more place could potentially yield more clues.

The study room was situated in an office building, one subway stop away from the university district.

By the time they arrived, night had fallen, and the city lights were beginning to twinkle.

Most other floors in the office building had already closed and darkened, but the tenth floor remained brightly lit, standing out prominently from a distance.

From outside, they could see the words "Self-Service Study Room" on the glass, displayed in a simple yet striking font.

They took the elevator up and walked along the corridor toward the study room’s entrance.

The walls on both sides were adorned with various inspiring slogans.

"If you lack talent, then repeat relentlessly."

"It’s never too late to strive."

"Flowers will bloom along your path, and so will your future."

"Those who chase the light will eventually shine brightly."

These motivational words were uplifting, as if injecting a surge of drive and determination.

They soon reached a glass door, entered the password provided by the owner, and stepped inside the study room.

The study room was exceptionally quiet, with only the soft rustle of pens on paper audible.

The interior was immaculately clean and quite spacious, covering over 600 square meters.

Near the entrance, there was a row of storage lockers. Clear instructions in the upper right corner indicated that the lockers were linked to ID cards, and annual members were assigned a fixed compartment.

One side of the study room featured large floor-to-ceiling windows. Although it was already dark outside, one could easily imagine how well-lit the room would be on a sunny day.

Being nighttime, the view from here offered a panoramic sight of Yuncheng’s nightscape.

Amidst the dazzling lights, the city’s vibrant prosperity felt within reach.

In the center of the study room were several cubicles enclosed by white gauze curtains, resembling small tents that created quiet, private spaces.

Other areas were furnished with various small desks—some with partitions on both sides, others completely open. There were also several height-adjustable desks and various chair styles, even comfortable small sofas, allowing students to choose according to their preferences and needs.

The corners of the study room were adorned with potted plants and fresh flowers. The kitchenette area featured a water dispenser, a microwave, and even complimentary tea bags and instant coffee, demonstrating thoughtful consideration.

To be fair, the study room’s decor was quite impressive.

At that hour, quite a few students were still studying, with about half the seats occupied.

The students kept their heads down, deeply engrossed in their studies. Even when they heard footsteps entering the room, none of them looked up, as if the outside world held no relevance to them.

The study room was open 24 hours, almost always occupied. It was unlikely to be the crime scene, but they had finally found the place Lian Xuan frequented most before his disappearance.

A strange feeling welled up in He Lin’s heart.

If the small rented room had housed Lian Xuan’s body, then this place must have held his spirit—it was where his dreams and future once resided.

They took a quick tour of the study room.

A cleaner, who was tidying up, looked up at them.

Noticing this, He Lin immediately approached her and politely asked, "Hello, ma’am. Do you know a student named Lian Xuan?"

"No, I don’t. I know nothing. If you have questions, go ask the boss." The cleaner’s eyes darted away, her expression peculiar, as if she was afraid to speak. She lowered her head, grabbed her cleaning tools, and hurried out.

He Lin took a photo of the storage lockers and sent it to Cheng Xiaoyi: "Ask the owner to check which locker belongs to Lian Xuan."

A few minutes later, one of the lockers made a "click" sound and automatically opened.

Impressed by the increasing intelligence of remote control systems, He Lin reached out and opened the locker. It was empty, with nothing inside. It seemed Lian Xuan had left no traces here either.

After a brief inspection, the two met at the entrance. He Lin whispered, "The cleaner ran off as soon as she saw me. Lian Xuan’s locker is empty, and there aren’t enough surveillance cameras—there are quite a few blind spots."

This meant that even if Cheng Xiaoyi retrieved all the surveillance footage, it might not capture Lian Xuan’s movements entirely before his disappearance.

Then he asked Li Shang, "Any findings?"

Li Shang took out his phone and pointed to a constantly active group chat: "I scanned the QR code and joined the study room’s group chat." He added, "Using an alternate account."

The group chat was named after the current year and had over 600 members.

Messages kept pouring in, with everyone exchanging study tips and exam preparation experiences.

He Lin nodded: "Good. Share it in the group later so the others can join, too. We might find people closely connected to Lian Xuan among the members and uncover more clues."

Starting that evening, several officers quietly joined the group chat undercover using pseudonyms.

With so many people in the group, a few more or fewer members went completely unnoticed.

The group chat was like a lively little world, with conversations jumping from topic to topic. Whether day or night, people were actively chatting.

Some were planning meetups at the study room, others posted tough problems they encountered while studying, and some were selling postgraduate exam preparation courses.

From time to time, the group would get pumped up, with students flooding the screen with messages like "God of exams, bless me, and may I pass soon."

The young officers gradually started piecing things together. Fang Jue took a moment to jump in with a few messages.

His age was similar to that of the group members, so there was no generation gap, and he quickly integrated, chatting enthusiastically with the students in the group.

Wu Yunsheng, however, looked utterly bewildered, his expression reminiscent of the viral "confused subway guy" meme, staring blankly at the screen: "I've never seen a group with so much enthusiasm. The feed’s moving too fast to follow, and there are all sorts of bizarre memes. The people in this group seem a bit unhinged."

Fang Jue explained with a smile: "Master, you don’t understand—you have to be a little crazy to succeed. People who come to these study spaces are here for the environment and the community. As the saying goes, 'to make yourself feel like you’re not going crazy alone, but struggling together with a group.' Everyone is chasing their dreams and motivating each other, so the atmosphere naturally gets intense."

"There are a few guides in the group files," Cheng Xiaoyi said while operating her computer. "And what’s particularly valuable is that much of the shared experience is applicable to students in Yuncheng. It almost makes me want to take the grad school entrance exams myself."

Upon hearing this, He Lin opened the group files.

The administrator had uploaded several tables recording the number of successful candidates in civil service and grad school exams over the years, along with some success stories/experiences.

Among them, the most popular was a postgraduate exam guide, which covered everything from choosing a major and supervisor to purchasing reference materials. Every detail was meticulously laid out, clearly the result of considerable effort.

Just by looking at the title and table of contents, He Lin could tell the guide was of high quality.

He asked the others: "Any clues in the group chats? Did anyone mention Lian Xuan?"

Li Shang, who had joined the group earliest, had been keeping a close watch on the screen and replied firmly: "No."

Then he looked up at He Lin and asked: "Perhaps we could ask directly in the group?"

Fang Jue frowned instantly, his face full of concern: "Wouldn’t that risk tipping our hand? If we alert anyone involved in Lian Xuan’s disappearance, the follow-up investigation will become much harder."

He Lin thought for a moment and said: "Go ahead and ask. Tipping our hand isn’t necessarily a bad thing—at least it lets us know where the snake might be hiding. It might even draw out some hidden clues." He turned to the others and instructed: "Keep an eye on the group’s activity. At critical moments, you can guide the conversation to draw attention to Lian Xuan."

With He Lin’s approval, Li Shang sent a message in the group: "Does anyone know Lian Xuan?"

The previously lively conversation came to an abrupt halt. After three seconds of silence, a few people simply replied with "Don’t know."

Before Fang Jue and Cheng Xiaoyi could think of how to steer the topic back, Li Shang’s question was quickly buried by a flood of new messages and disappeared from the screen.

Fang Jue put down his phone and said somewhat helplessly: "No response from the group. Maybe no one noticed… Should we try a different approach? If we keep going like this, we might not make much progress."

But Li Shang remained calm and said: "A group admin named Twelve Xin just sent me a friend request."

He Lin recalled that several of the postgraduate exam summaries had been uploaded by this person and leaned over to look at Li Shang’s phone.

Twelve Xin sent a message: "Are you looking for Lian Xuan?"

Li Shang replied: "Do you know him?"

Twelve Xin followed up: "Are you the police?"

Li Shang looked up at He Lin. Before He Lin could respond, the other party sent another message, and then another.

Li Shang thoughtfully read the messages aloud: "Don't get me wrong—I know Lian Xuan and I’m very concerned about his disappearance. We go to the same school; he was my junior, and I was the one who introduced him to this study room."

"Several of us from the same school are very close. After Lian Xuan disappeared, we’ve been looking for him. We’ve asked everyone nearby, but there’s been no news."

"I approved your join request last night. It’s been almost two months since this happened, and you’re asking about him right after joining, so I guessed you might be the police."

They hadn’t exchanged many words, but the other party had already deduced so much—and correctly at that. He also seemed to know Lian Xuan well.

"Confirm who you are," He Lin replied. He had been waiting for a breakthrough like this. "Ask if he has any clues. He might provide crucial information."

Li Shang nodded and began typing a reply.

Twelve Xin added: "I do have some information. Here's an idea—it’s better not to talk about this online. Let’s meet up. I’ll bring along a few other students who knew Lian Xuan. We can talk face-to-face and get into more detail."