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Chapter 87

Sun Yiyao's reaction was flawless, without any makeup, she looked a bit haggard, showing none of the radiance or even arrogance seen in her photos. 

  

"I don't know. Isn't this something you police should be investigating yourselves?" Sun Yiyao's tone grew slightly annoyed as she turned away, leaning against the staircase railing and looking down at her nails. "If you're here to humiliate me, it's unnecessary. If you're curious about my sources of income, you can check through your legitimate channels. I have nothing more to say about Zhu Shujun." 

  

Xu Yu smiled apologetically, trying to lighten the mood. "Don't be upset. We're just trying to understand more about Zhu Shujun. Could you tell us a bit about her income back then?" 

  

"Her income? It’s all based on her own abilities. In any case, it wasn't small, probably more than your annual salary in a single month." Sun Yiyao shot her a sideways glance. "Didn't your department already raid our club? You've asked this question several times before." 

  

Xu Yu walked down the stairs, sensing that Sun Yiyao's answers were less than sincere, and was about to press her further when the sound of slippers shuffling came from outside. 

  

Sun Yiyao fell silent, pulled open the wooden door, and stepped out, only to hear a man impatiently calling from across the way, "Are you done talking? The child's been crying non-stop." 

  

Xu Yu followed her outside, realizing that the opportunity for further questioning was gone for now. She said, "We'll be on our way then. Thanks for your cooperation. We'll reach out if we have more questions." 

  

The two took the elevator down. Shao Zhixin stared at the red numbers on the display, and once they were a distance away, he whispered, "She's changed a lot." 

  

Xu Yu sighed wistfully. "What can you do? Ordinary life wears people down with its trivialities. Besides, it's clear that Sun Yiyao is fully committed to her family now and isn't too willing to cooperate. Hopefully, things will go more smoothly with Liu Huirong." 

  

She pulled up Liu Huirong's details and entered the address into the GPS. 

  

Liu Huirong was currently working in a bar. She had invested a portion of her money, making her a co-owner. 

  

The bar was located on the outskirts of downtown. A few years ago, foot traffic on this street was sparse, but due to the surrounding commercial developments, business had been booming in recent years. 

  

Xu Yu parked the car a hundred meters away in a parking lot, and she and Shao Zhixin jogged over. 

  

The bar had a side entrance. As they slipped in through a crack in the door, a waiter quickly stopped them. 

  

"Sorry, we're not open for business yet. Please come back after 7 PM." 

  

"We're here to see Liu Huirong." Xu Yu wiped the sweat from her brow and handed over a photo of Zhu Shujun. "Tell her we need to talk." 

  

The waiter, half-believing, took the photo and went to the back. He returned shortly, his attitude more polite, waving them over from a distance, "Sister Rong said that you can come in." 

  

"I'll take you there." 

  

The lighting in the bar was dim, and the two of them walked down the corridor until they reached the innermost section, where they finally saw Liu Huirong sitting by the wall, playing on her phone. 

  

Liu Huirong was dressed in a spaghetti strap top, her long curly hair tied up high, revealing her slender neck and the silver chain around her collarbone. The outfit was simple yet elegant, making her appear even more youthful and vibrant than the person in the photos from four years ago, as if she had gotten younger. Seeing them approach, she put down her phone and casually pointed to the opposite side, saying, "Sit." 

  

Without waiting for a response, she grabbed a bottle of wine from the table, opened it with ease, and brought two wine glasses to the center of the table. As she poured, she asked knowingly, "You guys are cops, right?" 

  

Shao Zhixin, having been trained by Brother Huang, had yet to fully grasp the unspoken rules of various entertainment venues, but he had developed a keen sensitivity to money matters. Before his seat even touched the chair, he quickly stood up again, pushing Xu Yu further in while loudly declaring, "We're not here to spend money!" 

  

Xu Yu: "??" How did this stingy guy even manage to get a girlfriend? 

  

Liu Huirong was momentarily stunned, but then she laughed coquettishly, "Really, little brother? Are you that stingy? You come to our place and can't even order a bottle of wine?" 

  

She waved her hand, trying to pull Shao Zhixin closer, but this "little brother" had already retreated to the outer edge, sitting at a diagonal that put him just out of her reach unless she stood up. 

  

Shao Zhixin, looking wary, clutched his phone tightly and repeated, "We're not here to spend money. We didn't order this bottle... If it's too expensive, we're not paying for it." 

  

In order to keep the conversation going smoothly, he left himself a bit of a way out, though he felt a mix of heartache and fear as he said the last part. 

  

Watching his array of changing expressions, Liu Huirong laughed so hard that tears nearly came out. She wiped the corner of her eyes with her finger and said, "Got it, sis is treating you. Oh my, you cops are really something these days." 

  

She still poured half a glass into each of the two glasses and added half a glass for herself. Leaning back comfortably on the sofa, she asked, "What's up with Zhu Shujun?" 

  

Under the table, Xu Yu was giving Shao Zhixin a thumbs-up, but she quickly retracted her hand and put on a stern expression as she asked, "Did you know she's been missing for over three years?" 

  

Liu Huirong took a sip of her wine, appearing thoughtful. "Missing? I thought she ran off with someone back then." 

  

Xu Yu pressed further, "Why do all of you seem to think that?" 

  

Liu Huirong replied matter-of-factly, "Of course. Working in that kind of club, you think anyone says goodbye or gets sentimental before leaving? They run as fast as they can, hoping never to meet again. Especially Zhu Shujun... that's her name, right? She had quite the attitude, might as well have written 'Once I make enough money, I'm out of here' right on her face." 

  

Xu Yu watched as Liu Huirong pushed the wine glass toward her, but hesitated to take it. 

  

"I am driving, thanks," Xu Yu said, then quickly followed up with another question: "Based on what you know about Zhu Shujun, what kind of person was she? Did she have any enemies in her personal life?" 

  

Liu Huirong swirled her wrist, crossing one leg over the other, lounging in her seat as if she had no bones. After a moment of contemplation, she said, "Zhu Shujun... how should I put it? She definitely had a bit of an aloof attitude, and she didn't really understand the situation she got herself into. She just stumbled into this line of work, just like Jiang Jingcheng. Both of them were pretty clueless, which is why they got along so well." 

  

Xu Yu slid a photo of Shen Wenzheng across the table. Liu Huirong glanced at it briefly, then set down her wine glass. "That club was pretty good at maintaining confidentiality. Some clients were very discreet, they would only request specific girls for company, sneak in through the back door straight to a private room, and their personal information wouldn’t be recorded in the system. So, we didn't necessarily know who each other's patrons were." 

  

She tapped her finger on the photo. "Anyway, I've never seen this person before. He's not one of my clients." 

  

Xu Yu took the photo back, listening as Liu Huirong added, "That clueless girl was introduced by Sun Yiyao. If you want to know which clients she used to entertain, you'd be better off asking Sun Yiyao. She’d definitely know more." 

  

Shao Zhixin was busy taking notes, leaning so close to his notebook due to the dim lighting that it was practically touching his face. Upon hearing the familiar name, he let out a less-than-bright "Huh?" 

  

"Huh, what?" Liu Huirong leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table, and teasingly said, "Did you just come from Sun Yiyao's place? Didn't get much out of her, huh?" 

  

Xu Yu cleared her throat and put on a flawless smile. "Why don't you try guessing something else?" 

  

Meanwhile, He Chuan Zhou was driving, casually chatting with Brother Huang. When they returned to the station, they spotted Zhu's mother sitting under the shade of a tree not far away. 

  

The late afternoon sun was halfway down, but the stifling heat still lingered. Beside her was a large blue cloth bag, and in her hand, she held a bag of corn buns. She took a couple of bites and then picked up a misshapen plastic bottle to drink water. 

  

The bottle was clearly reused, filled with plain boiled water she had made herself. 

  

After a whole day, most of the water was gone, leaving only a thin layer at the bottom. She turned it over to check, then screwed the cap back on. 

  

The area around the station was occasionally frequented by a few stray cats, darting around unpredictably. The locals would sometimes feed them and even give them names. 

  

At that moment, a sleek orange tabby cat was lounging by her feet, boldly climbing onto her bag. It ignored the crumbs of the corn bun she tried to share, its tail curled contentedly as it pretended to sleep. 

  

He Chuan Zhou got out of the car early, letting Brother Huang take it back. He grabbed two unopened bottles of water from the backseat and walked over to Zhu's mother. 

  

"Aren't you feeling hot out here?" he asked, placing the bottles on the stone steps. "Do you have somewhere to go tonight?" 

 

Zhu's mother shook her head. 

  

Her hair had been tied up again, but without a comb, her half-gray long hair was tangled and messily gathered at the back. 

  

He Chuan Zhou pointed ahead, "There's air conditioning inside the station. They won't kick you out. Across the street, there's a budget hotel. If you need, I can talk to them, and with a discount, it would be around 80 yuan per night." 

  

Zhu's mother replied quietly, "I just came out for some fresh air. I don’t like staying inside." 

  

He Chuan Zhou didn’t push her, choosing to sit with her for a while. 

  

Above them, a few sparse clouds drifted by, occasionally accompanied by a humid breeze. The late summer sunlight was a soft golden hue, giving off a gentle warmth, though it still burned when it touched the skin. 

  

Both of them sat in silence, with He Chuan Zhou idly scrolling through the latest updates in the group chat on his phone. 

  

Zhu's mother wrapped the remaining corn bun in a plastic bag and set it on her lap. She bent down to gently stroke the cat. 

  

The cat opened its eyes, let out a faint meow, and darted away. The woman watched its retreating figure, momentarily lost in thought. Finally, she couldn't hold back and turned to ask, "Officer, if it weren't for that one hundred million news story, would you still be investigating my daughter's case?"