Animal Detective

Chapter 245 - 228: Male-Female Relationship (3)

This way, they wouldn’t alarm the villagers.

When they arrived at Luo Limei’s house, the elderly woman was just about to head out.

They had told her the day before not to spread the word about the reopening of Han Xiaolong’s case.

So upon seeing Shen Xin, she lowered her voice and asked secretively if they had found anything.

"Aunt Luo, please don’t worry. Just go about your day as usual. We’ll notify you the moment we have any results."

Shen Xin added this reminder, then called out to the old dog in the yard.

After all, they had spent a day together, and his Druid talent wasn’t for nothing.

He beckoned, and the old dog slowly ambled over.

"Aunt Luo, we’re going to take a walk around."

Shen Xin let Aunt Luo get back to her business, then took the old dog and went door-to-door to raise awareness about electronic fraud.

They told people they were volunteer community liaisons from the police station.

Ding Yuwei had obtained the original visitation list from the case and a map of the village.

This way, as they spread awareness about fraud and collected a signature, they could confirm a person’s presence and cross their name off the list.

They had the old dog with them the entire time, so if he reacted, they could immediately make a note of it.

It was a tedious task.

Moreover, many people no longer lived in the village, so they had to take it slow.

They also had to look after the old dog.

His stamina had declined, so after walking for a short while, he would need to lie down and rest.

Shen Xin gradually figured out how to get along with him.

Although a favorability icon hadn’t appeared above his head yet, Shen Xin could sense the growing bond between them.

Shen Xin found that he could increase his favorability just by walking him around the village and keeping him company.

This was especially true in certain places.

For example, when they passed the concrete bridge west of the village, the dog took the initiative, ran over, and lay down at the bridge’s entrance, watching for a long time.

"Did you use to come play here with Xiaolong often?"

Shen Xin gently stroked his fur.

Even Luo Limei called him Xiaolong.

That’s why the old dog reacted to the name.

He turned his head to look at Shen Xin. He didn’t make a sound, but his gaze was confirmation enough.

"Good boy."

Shen Xin patted his head.

After gazing at the scenery for a while, he jumped down and obediently came to Shen Xin’s side.

He could feel that his favorability had increased quite a bit.

"Alright, on to the next house."

Even with a lead, there was no substitute for the fundamental legwork of canvassing the area.

In one day, they visited several dozen households, crossing more than 170 names off the list.

They were making decent progress.

What was encouraging was that the old dog showed no reaction to any of the people they had screened so far.

The longer this went on, the more it strengthened the suspicion surrounding Zhou Hui.

That evening, they left the old dog at Luo Limei’s house again and returned to the town to sleep.

They checked in with Liu Jie, but his team hadn’t made any major discoveries yet.

Zhou Hui now owned a small factory that manufactured gas water heaters, located near Zhang Jun Road on the west side of town.

Business was reportedly doing well.

Business records showed he was only a partner; the other shareholder was his father-in-law.

Background interviews suggested that he had relied heavily on his father-in-law to open the factory and get the business off the ground.

His father-in-law only had one daughter. According to villagers from Dongliang Village, the father-in-law hadn’t been very keen on the marriage at first.

He thought that while Zhou Hui was handsome enough, he was a bit of a slick talker and seemed unreliable.

But Li Jing was smitten.

It was an indirect confirmation of the old adage that women love bad boys.

However, they still hadn’t found any record of conflict between Zhou Hui and Han Xiaolong.

The next day, Shen Xin continued with his electronic fraud awareness campaign.

「That afternoon.」

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Shen Xin knocked on the door repeatedly. There was no padlock, which meant someone should be home.

The two of them were now near the old well.

The house they were knocking on was the one just northeast of the old well.

Its main gate faced north, away from the well.

After a few more knocks, the door of the house diagonally opposite opened.

A middle-aged woman came out and asked the two of them what they were doing.

Perfect. Shen Xin approached her to start his canvassing there.

The man of the house wasn’t home; he was at work.

The old dog had no reaction.

Shen Xin quickly ran through his awareness spiel, then asked about the people in the house across the way.

The middle-aged woman said, "There’s just an old couple left in that house. They can barely use a cell phone, who would bother scamming them?"

Shen Xin said, "That can’t be right. The information we got from the station says they have a son named Yang Maocai."

The records showed the family name was Yang, a household of five. ’How could there only be an old couple left?’ he wondered.

"Did he move away for work?"

"You don’t know?"

The middle-aged woman was taken aback. "Yang Maocai is dead. His wife took their kid and left. That was years ago."

It dawned on Shen Xin. He quickly said the station’s information must be outdated and casually asked how the man had died.

"Don’t even get me started. He died in a car accident in Lishui."

The woman was the type who couldn’t stop talking once she started. Clicking her tongue, she said, "That was back in ’14, I think. A car accident at night. I heard he was drunk, riding his electric scooter, and got hit by a car. They never found the driver."

"Such a tragic death. His wife stuck it out for two years, but she couldn’t take it anymore and left with the child."

"Now it’s just the old couple. The old woman, especially, is a nervous wreck now. The two of them almost never leave the house. I’m telling you, when you walk past their front door, it just feels so gloomy and creepy."

The middle-aged woman shivered, then pursed her lips. "Goes to show, you shouldn’t be too smug. For a couple of years there, who knows how he struck it rich, but he built a new house, got married, and acted all high and mighty. Wouldn’t even say hello when he saw you."

"And how long did that last? See? It was like he was just asking for disaster to strike."

Shen Xin nodded.

’This woman is probably the village’s top gossip,’ Shen Xin thought. ’She must know a lot.’

He was tempted to ask more but feared that if he did, the whole village would know his business by the next morning.

He had no choice but to let it go and lead the old dog away.

After walking a few steps, Shen Xin stopped and glanced back at Yang Maocai’s house.

"What is it?" Ding Yuwei asked.

Shen Xin shook his head and they continued on their rounds.

That was enough progress for one day.

And on the dog’s end, there was still no reaction.

This was a good thing; the suspicion against Zhou Hui was mounting.

They returned to town that evening.

After dinner, they had just returned to their hotel when Shen Xin received a call from Liu Jie.

They had a lead!

Their spirits lifted, and they rushed over to the police station.

For the past two days, Ding Junbao had commandeered an office at the station to work from.

When Shen Xin and Ding Yuwei arrived, a group of officers was in the middle of dinner.

Shen Xin immediately noticed a person’s photo posted on the blackboard across the room.

Mao Yanru!

After a quick greeting, Shen Xin eagerly asked what they had found.

While shoveling rice into his mouth, Ding Junbao motioned for Shen Xin and Ding Yuwei to sit. "Zhou Hui has a flagship store over in Lishui," he said. "While we were running a check on it, we accidentally stumbled upon a prior incident he was involved in there."

"On September 13th, 2015, he got into a conflict with someone, and it turned physical. The Zhangwang Town police station responded. It was mediated, and Zhou Hui ended up paying the other guy one thousand yuan."

"The key point is that the conflict took place inside Mao Yanru’s massage parlor."

Shen Xin immediately sat up straighter. "And?"

’They wouldn’t have put Mao Yanru’s photo on the board unless she was significant,’ he thought.

Liu Jie picked up the story, gesturing toward Mao Yanru’s photo with his chopsticks. "We talked to our colleagues at the Zhangwang Town station, and also to the other party involved. The story is that this guy was getting a massage at the parlor and started getting handsy with one of the masseuses."

"They started arguing. Right then, Zhou Hui came out of a back room with Mao Yanru. He stepped in on her behalf, traded some harsh words with the customer, and a fight broke out."

"The crux of the matter is that Zhou Hui and Mao Yanru’s relationship is clearly not ordinary. When he went to the station to sort things out, Mao Yanru went with him."

"And what’s interesting is, the officer who mediated the dispute recalled that Zhou Hui was being very aggressive at first, refusing to pay. But as soon as they mentioned notifying his family, he immediately agreed to pay up and settle it."

"Doesn’t that suggest he didn’t want his family to know about his relationship with Mao Yanru?"

"We want to focus on that point and clarify the nature of their relationship first."

He stared intently at the blackboard, a smile spreading across his face.

Something clicked in Shen Xin’s mind.

"Liu Zhi, are you suspecting the conflict between Han Xiaolong and Zhou Hui was over Mao Yanru?"

Shen Xin thought of someone else.

Wang Chenghui!

Why had Wang Chenghui been listed as a key suspect?

It was because he was trying to pursue Mao Yanru, and Han Xiaolong, who disapproved, had thrown rocks at him.

In other words, Han Xiaolong felt protective of Mao Yanru.

If that was the case, could it have been a similar situation with Zhou Hui?

Plus, Lai Yong had mentioned that after her divorce, Mao Yanru had been involved in ambiguous relationships with some of the men in the village.

It was highly likely that she also had some kind of relationship with Zhou Hui, which Han Xiaolong discovered, leading to a confrontation between the two.

And in the end, it resulted in a fatal accident.

Liu Jie was taken aback for a moment, then said in surprise, "Xiaoshen, you’re quick on the uptake."

He had barely laid out the premise, and Shen Xin had already guessed his line of thinking.

Liu Jie felt that even without his Druid talent, Shen Xin would be a top-notch detective.