Chapter 28 Chapter 27 Message

Tao Zhanwen visited Wuxing Company on the second floor before 5:5 pm, and the employees were just getting ready to leave work. "Ah, Mr. Tao." As soon as President Li saw him, he warmly shook hands to express his welcome. "I think it's time for you to come back, so come and have a look." Tao Zhanwen said. "I chatted with Mr. Xi at the hotel for a while, and I just came back." "I have nothing else to do." Tao Zhanwen said, "After you and Mr. Xi left, a man named Mark Gu came to see you with his wife. He met me outside by chance and asked me about Wuxing Company Location."

"Mark Gu?" "It's a second-generation Chinese from the United States. He said he wanted to see the president, so I told him you were not here." "I don't know this person...Mark Gu...Is he an old man?" "No, around thirty years old. However, it seems that the one who really wants to see you is his wife, who is said to be your former acquaintance." "A former acquaintance?" The president tilted his head and pondered for a moment, "Forget it, let's talk in the reception room!" "No need. The lady just asked me to bring a message, so I don't need to sit down and say it. She didn't know when you would come back, and she caught a cold and felt very uncomfortable, so she went back to the hotel to rest early. In short, she just wanted me to tell you You, she will come again tomorrow morning."

"Didn't you ask the name of the lady who said she wanted to see me?" "Hmm..." Tao Zhanwen tilted his head and thought for a while, "I did ask her name... But I'm sorry, I seem to be a little old and faint lately, and I forget everything right away... By the way, her name The last word on the tree is 'Jade'... Shuyu? No, not that. Ruby? No, it sounds like an apple, and it's not..." "The last word is jade..." President Li pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Is it Qiao Yu?" "Yes, yes, it's Qiao Yu. Oh, I'm too forgetful...I really don't want to grow old! She asked me to bring you a message, and immediately took a taxi back to the hotel. We only talked for less than two minutes. "

"Qiao Yu... What a nostalgic name!" Saying this, President Li closed his eyes and asked after a while, "Is she alright?" "She has a cold and is a little weak. However, she said that when she comes back next time, it can be seen that she must want you to see her in a healthier state. If not, she should wait for you to come back." "Qiao Yu..." President Li said in a low voice with deep emotion, "Is she already married? In my impression, Qiao Yu was still a child. The last time we met, she was only fourteen or fifteen years old. Thinking about it now, it's like yesterday." generally."

"Haha, old people always say that! Sure enough, we are all old." "Yes!" The old gentleman nodded politely with a smile on his face, "As you can see, my hair is all white too." At this time, the staff began to leave one after another. "Let's stop talking standing up, let's talk in the reception room!" "I've brought Qiao Yu's message, there's nothing else to do..." "Have a cup of tea, there happens to be Tieguanyin." "Oh? Tieguanyin?" Tao Zhanwen's eyes lit up, "It seems that I, a glutton, can't move when I see famous tea."

"Come here!" President Li stopped a female employee who was about to leave with a bag, and told her to go make tea.However, his tone sounded more like a solemn request from a gentleman than an order from the president. "Forgive me for bringing up my age all the time..." Tao Zhanwen sat down on the sofa in the reception room and said, "Although I want to stay young forever, the growth of my children clearly tells me that I am getting old. Entering elementary school and entering junior high school , High school entrance examination-every time my child enters school and graduates, I feel lost in my heart. My daughter will marry soon. Alas, just thinking about it makes my heart ache."

"I don't have any children." President Li said without any ups and downs, "However, if you see Qiao Yu, you will definitely realize your age involuntarily." "In addition to the growth of the child, there is also the death of a friend, which makes people feel sad!" "Yes." President Li nodded heavily and said, "I was really shocked by the murder of Mr. Xu not long ago. My friend who had been away for more than 20 years, just met, and he died before he could be happy—and he died like that. .Who killed such a good old man? Haven’t the police identified the murderer yet?”

"Xu Mingyi's case is complicated. Since he lends money to others, it is inevitable that he will be hated. Moreover, he also has a secret relationship with local politicians. From the point of view of motives, there are many clues beyond expectation. Also, although it is a bit confusing It's unbelievable, and it seems that there is also a relationship between a man and a woman." "Relationship between men and women?" At this time, the female staff came in with tea, bringing a scent of Tieguanyin. "President, then I'll go back first." After finishing speaking, the female staff member left.

"However, the clue of the relationship between men and women should be the most unlikely." Tao Zhanwen took a sip of Tieguanyin and continued, "Because that is very far away." "What's the most suspicious clue?" President Li asked. "In comparison, isn't the relationship with politicians just mentioned suspicious enough?" "I've heard that there seem to be close ties between some Japanese politicians and violent groups." "You mean a killer?" Tao Zhanwen laughed, "On TV, you are often active! But nowadays, you can't live with killing as a career. However, if it is a temporary sideline, then you don't know. If for Keep it a secret, and maybe someone will pay a lot of money to hire a killer - if it's worth it."

"According to newspaper reports, a man came into Mr. Xu's room whistling, didn't he?" "That man's name is Tamura, and he's the nephew of that great man, Sozo Yoshida." "Ah, it's the man named Tamura!" President Li's voice was always as calm as a pool of stagnant water, but perhaps due to psychological effects, sometimes his tone fluctuated quite a bit.At this moment, his voice is also the same, as if he said with a hint of excitement hidden in the depths: "I heard that he was poisoned to death by whiskey mixed with potassium cyanate... I don't know why he went to Mr. Xu's room .Anyway, Yoshida-san sent Tamura to me before. By the way, you were also there at the time, didn’t you?”

"Really?" Tao Zhanwen said, "Although we are in the same building, including this time, I have only been here twice. The first time was to inform Xu Mingyi's funeral...ah, there was a man at that time, I As soon as the front foot arrived, his back foot left." "That man is Tamura, sent by his uncle Yoshida... Now that I think about it, it's really creepy! If the man who whistled is Tamura, what is the relationship between him and Mr. Xu?" "Through Uncle Yoshida, there should be some relationship between him and Mr. Xu." "The newspapers have written a lot about the whistling man as an enigma, and the police seem to be doing their best to track down the man." "They guessed wrong." At some point, Tao Zhanwen's tone became similar to President Li's. He said such an important assertion with ease. "Oh?" A suspicious expression flashed across President Li's face, but it was fleeting. "Before the man who whistled appeared, Mr. Xu was still alive, right? I heard there were witnesses at that time." "It's the waitress at the café." "That's right, it was also reported in the newspapers." "It is very difficult to find a flaw in a well-planned crime." Tao Zhanwen said, "In this way, we can only find a breakthrough from the motive. For example, in the case of Tamura's murder, the police are desperately investigating Tamura's past. In short, according to It is common sense that the motive of the crime must be hidden in the victim's past. However, Tamura has changed many jobs, and the scope of investigation is unimaginably large, and even the police are helpless. It must be extremely hard to investigate one by one." "That would be a lot of work! But, can't they narrow the scope of focus coverage? After I learned that Tamura visited Mr. Xu that day, I suddenly felt that the case of Tamura must be related to the case of Mr. Xu... If you focus on the relevant parts of the two cases, maybe you can find something, can't you? But even a layman like me can figure this out, and the police must have already started investigating." "Actually, the police don't know that the man who whistled is Tamura!" Hearing this, even President Li couldn't help being dumbfounded. Tao Zhanwen moved his gaze out of the window.The sun has set, and the street is gradually being soaked in a layer of twilight.It was off-duty time, and there was a lot of noise in the corridor.The female staff liberated from work wore overcoats of various colors and shuttled on the street in front of the building, red, blue, yellow, green... "I know a lot of things that the police don't know." Tao Zhanwen smiled. President Li remained silent, as if he didn't know what to say. Tao Zhanwen continued: "There is a reason why I didn't tell the police what I knew. The police must have found out the relationship between Xu Mingyi and Tamura, because the string of numbers recorded in Tamura's notebook is the same as the day before Xu Mingyi was killed. The amount of cash withdrawn from the bank exactly matched. Maybe the police also guessed that the man who whistled was Tamura, but that was only a guess. But I know it is true. The reason why I keep silent is because I think that It has nothing to do with the nature of the case." "It seems that you know a lot about the inside story of this case!" "That's right." Tao Zhanwen said, "I also hid one thing from the police. According to the administrator's testimony, a man visited Mr. Xu as soon as you left. As for who that person is, the police have not yet investigated clearly. But I know. Although the man was hiding his whereabouts, I still found out. I will definitely catch him tomorrow." "You are stronger than the real policeman!" President Li said, staring intently at Tao Zhanwen's burly body, "After you catch that man, are you going to hand him over to the police?" Tao Zhanwen shook his head: "If you can't hand it over, you won't hand it over." Since just now, President Li has noticed that Tao Zhanwen lazily closed his eyes.When he shook his head, his eyes opened slightly.He muttered "Xu Mingyi is so pitiful", a light flashed behind his squinted eyes. "It's really pitiful!" The old president kept blinking his eyes and said. "Speaking of which, you are Xu Mingyi's old friend. Xu Mingyi and I have only known each other for more than ten years, and you are his real old friend." As he spoke, Tao Zhanwen rummaged through his pocket and took out a round ivory chess piece . "This is for you!" Tao Zhanwen said, "I planned to leave it as Xu Mingyi's relic, but I have been selected as one of the administrators of the estate of the deceased, so I can look for other items. You are an old friend of Mr. Xu, so I'd better give this to you first! Xu Mingyi attaches great importance to chess pieces. He used to have a pair of good wood-carved chess pieces, but they were stained with ink, so he gave them to Zhu Hansheng. He just bought this chess piece. He will never use it Chess with flawed pieces." President Li took the chess piece and looked at it for a long time, "It's ivory. This chess piece is very delicate. He liked to play chess before." "Yes!" Tao Zhanwen said, "Xu Mingyi likes to play chess, and we always play chess in his room. On that day, we hadn't played for a long time. The reason why we said it was a long time is because before the ivory chess pieces were bought back, There was no chess piece at hand. By the way, we were in the midst of a fierce battle, so you came. I remembered that it was when Zhu Hansheng of Anji Company and Xu Mingyi played against each other. Zhu Hansheng won that game. Maybe it was Seeing you coming, Xu Mingyi couldn't think carefully, so he was in a hurry. He is very strong in chess, and he rarely loses like that." "I also remember." President Li said, "On that day, I wanted to discuss with Mr. Xu about meeting Mr. Xi." "However, for Zhu Hansheng, your coming is a good thing. Before that, Zhu Hansheng had been losing chess, and he was so happy that he won the game that he knocked over the chessboard." "Yes, yes." "He went to pick up the chess pieces in a hurry, but he didn't find it. A chess piece was caught in the hem of his trousers. He returned home as if nothing had happened, but I found the chess piece and kept it—that is, this A pawn." "I see. Then I will accept it, and I will treasure it as a precious souvenir of my unfortunate old friend..." President Li stared intently at the red "handsome" character engraved on the chess pieces. "Mr. Li." Tao Zhanwen got up and said, "You should go home soon, please forgive me for saying so many boring things...then I will leave first." "Why don't we talk for a while?" President Li said, "Anyway, I have nothing to do when I go home. Although I am at this age, I still live alone." "I'm just here to convey Qiao Yu's message, and now the message has been brought... By the way, how long has it been since you and Qiao Yu have seen each other?" "Ten years...maybe longer!" "In this way, this meeting must be very touching, and I really hope to witness it as a witness!" "Doesn't the Witness already have her husband? Besides, you must be very busy to arrest people tomorrow." "I will solve it in advance. In short, I hope to be there to see the situation of your meeting no matter what!" Tao Zhanwen smiled softly. President Li also smiled and said: "Although we are in the same building, we have never had the chance to get close. It would be great if we could get to know you earlier." Tao Zhanwen came to the corridor, and President Li also saw him off. "I'll take you to the stairs!" "Thank you." Tao Zhanwen did not forcefully refuse. There is a square window at the top next to the stairs, part of the sky can be seen, and a red advertising balloon is floating there. "Excuse me, I have to go back to the office to tidy up a bit—yes, I have to deal with the aftermath." Saying this, President Li stretched out his hand. "Thank you for giving me the gift." Tao Zhanwen said while holding the old president's hand. President Li's face is withered, like an old monk in the mountains, and his handsome face is also dull. Tao Zhanwen had just walked down two or three steps when President Li behind him suddenly remembered something and asked, "Which hotel does Qiao Yu and his wife live in?" "Well, what's the name of the hotel?" Tao Zhanwen turned around, "I did ask them the name of the hotel, but I forgot. Oh, I'm so old!" "Since Qiao Yu is unwell, I don't want to disturb her. I just want to make a phone call and listen to her memorable voice." As he spoke, President Li gazed condescendingly into Tao Zhanwen's eyes. Tao Zhanwen remained silent.However, after a while, a warm smile like a spring breeze appeared on his face, and he said, "I finally remembered, it's called the Oriental Hotel. Yes, if you call, she will be very happy." President Li stood there like a dead tree, watching Tao Zhanwen go down the steps and disappear at the corner of the corridor on the first floor.