Beneath the Marriage Pact

Chapter 7: Data as Bait, Each taking a step Back (2)

On the way back to the villa, Chen Mo called and said that the old ghost had taken the bait. Besides cash, there was also a bank card in the cowhey bag, which was the "hush money" that Ling Zhengxiong had asked his secretary to give - the old ghost's secret account recorded that Ling Zhengxiong had misappropriated the Ling family's public funds three years ago to help Qin Zheng fill the hole, and Ling Zhengxiong was afraid that he would expose it.

"Got the secret account?" Ling Xu 'an asked.

"Got it!" Hidden in the toilet tank, wrapped in oiled paper." Chen Mo's voice was filled with excitement. "Boss, you haven't seen it. The details on it are clearer than the account book, even the sports car that Uncle Ling bought for Qin Zheng is recorded!"

Ling Xu 'an hung up the phone and turned his head to look at Shen Zhixia: "Uncle Er can't run this time."

Shen Zhixia looked out of the window at the street lamps passing by and suddenly laughed: "If my mother knew, she would surely say, 'It should have been like this earlier.'" She paused and fished out the USB drive from her pocket. "Right, I saw a report in the data room just now. It was the 2012 Ling's laboratory test record - the catalyst sample my mother sent had been swapped."

Ling Xu 'an's hand, which was holding the steering wheel, paused: "Changed?"

"HMM." Shen Zhixia nodded. "The test record says' sample purity 30% ', but my mom wrote 'purity 65% after secondary purification' on the back of the letter of intent. Someone must have swapped out the high-purity sample and framed my mother with the low-purity one."

Who could have swapped it? Ling Zhengxiong? Or Qin Feng?

"I'll ask Chen Mo to check the old surveillance in the lab." Ling Xu 'an took out his phone. "The surveillance from 2012 should still be there."

When the car reached the entrance of the villa, Uncle Zhao was standing under the street lamp waiting, holding a thermos bucket in his hand: "Boss, Miss Shen, there's silver ear soup in the kitchen, just warmed up."

Shen Zhixia took the thermos, touched the warm wall of the thermos with her fingertips, and suddenly remembered the photo of her mother and Grandpa Ling in the data room - her mother smiled with her eyes curved, just like herself now.

While drinking the silver ear soup, Chen Mo called again, but this time his voice was a little deep: "Boss, the old surveillance footage in the laboratory can't be found - the surveillance hard drive from September 2012, said 'accidental damage', it was thrown away long ago."

Throw it away? How could it be such a coincidence? It must have been deliberately destroyed.

"Got it." Ling Xu 'an hung up the phone, frowning tightly.

Shen Zhixia scooped up a spoonful of silver ear soup and brought it to his mouth: "Don't frown. Maybe there are other clues." She paused, "Isn't the old ghost still here? He's the accountant of the Qin family. Maybe he knows who has changed the sample."

Ling Xu 'an opened his mouth and drank the silver ear soup, his eyes shining: "Yes, how could I have forgotten him." He picked up his phone and was about to make a call when Shen Zhixia held his hand down: "Ask tomorrow. It's already midnight."

Ling Xu 'an glanced at the clock on the wall. It was indeed nearly twelve o 'clock. He put down his phone and scooped the remaining silver ear soup from her bowl into his own: "Do you want to see Ling Zhengxiong being caught tomorrow?"

"No," he said. Shen shook his head. "It's enough to see the news of his conviction." She didn't want to see that hypocritical face again, nor did she want to recall those bad things.

Ling Xu 'an made a "mm-hmm" sound and said no more, quietly sipping the soup. The warm light in the living room shone on the two of them, and the atmosphere was unusually peaceful.

Shen Zhixia suddenly remembered something and fished out the photo of her mother and Grandpa Ling from her pocket: "Can you lend me a copy of this photo? I want to keep it."

"Take it directly." Ling Xu 'an glanced at the photo. "It was yours anyway." He paused, "When the second uncle's business is settled, shall we go and see my grandfather? He's always talking about you."

"All right." Shen Zhixia smiled and nodded, carefully putting the photo back into the notebook.

The next morning, Shen Zhixia was woken up by the ringtone of her phone. It was Chen Mo calling. She picked up in a daze: "Hello?"

"Miss Shen! Oh no! Old devil... The old ghost is dead!" Chen Mo's voice had a wailing tone.

Shen Zhixia's head buzzed and she woke up in an instant: "What did you say? "!"

"Just now the guards went to deliver food and found him in the detention room... Hanged!" Chen Mo's voice trembled violently. "We checked the surveillance footage. It was around three o 'clock in the morning... He used his belt..."

Shen Zhixia's hand, which was holding the phone, trembled and the phone nearly dropped to the ground. Dead? How could you die suddenly? Were you silenced? Or...

"Where's Ling Xu 'an?" She asked, pretending to be calm.

"The boss has gone to the police station! Let me inform you first!"

After hanging up the phone, Shen Zhixia slumped into bed, her mind in a jumble. The old ghost is dead, and the clue is cut off... Who did it? Ling Zhengxiong? Or that Qin Feng hiding in the shadows?

She suddenly remembered the "Red Camellia" cigarette box that the old ghost had dropped on the ground, and that Aunt Zhang always smoked this brand of cigarettes... Will Aunt Zhang and the old ghost know each other?

Shen Zhixia suddenly got up from bed and pulled out the old rattan box she had brought back from the old house - all of Aunt Zhang's stuff was in it. She found an old cigarette box at the bottom of the box, also "Red Camellia", exactly the same as the one that the old ghost had dropped. There was no cigarette in the box, only a small folded piece of paper.

Shen Zhixia's heart was beating fast and she trembled as she unfolded the note - it was Aunt Zhang's handwriting, only one line: "The old ghost is tight-lipped, unless 'Qingyao's gardenia' is mentioned."

Gardenia? Is it mom's brooch?

Shen Zhixia suddenly understood - the old ghost didn't commit suicide! He was threatened by something about the gardenia!

She grabbed her phone and ran to the police station with only one thought in her mind - she must find the murderer! Don't let the old man die in vain!

The corridor of the police station was dazzlingly white. Shen Zhixia, clutching the note from the cigarette box, rushed in. Just as she reached the door of the detention room, she was stopped - Ling Xu 'an was squatting on the ground looking at something, his fingertips pinching a thin thread, his face as gloomy as if it were about to rain.

"Let her in." He didn't even raise his head.

When Shen pounced, he saw clearly that the iron bars of the detention room were wrapped with a brown belt, the very one the old ghost had tied yesterday. The thread that Ling Xu 'an was holding had fallen out of the buckle of the belt, shiny silver, like... Chain from a brooch?

"This is..." Her voice trembled.

"The chain break of your mother's gardenia brooch." Ling Xu 'an brought the thread close to her eyes, the end of the thread still tinged with dark red. "The old ghost held this before he died, not suicide."

Shen Zhixia's heart skipped a beat -- Aunt Zhang's note said, "Bring Qingyao's gardenia," was the murderer deliberately using this to force the old ghost? Did he know that the old ghost knew his mother?

"What does the forensic doctor say?" She pressed.

"It's still being tested." Ling Xu 'an stood up and pointed to the surveillance in the corner. "The surveillance at three o 'clock in the morning was pinched for five minutes - someone tampered with it." He paused, his Adam's apple rolled, "I was careless and didn't keep a close watch on it."

Shen Zhixia shook his head and handed over Aunt Zhang's note: "It's not your fault. The murderer is too cunning. Aunt Zhang had long expected the old ghost to be tight-lipped and to carry the gardenia... The murderer must have known the connection."

"Few knew about it." Ling Xu 'an squinted his eyes as he held the note. "Aunt Zhang, Old ghost, your mother... There's one more person."

"Qin Feng?" Shen Zhixia blurted out.

Ling Xu 'an said nothing and turned out: "Check the old ghost's call records - he must have been in contact with people before he died."

The technical department of the police station was efficient and retrieved the call records in half an hour. The last call was made at 2:50 a.m. The number was unfamiliar and the location was... The public phone booth next to the second-hand market in the west of the city.

"It was he who deliberately turned the surveillance away." Ling Xu 'an glared at the call record with a sneer, "Make a call and ask the guard to go out and check, and take the opportunity to cut off the surveillance and act." He looked up at Chen Mo and said, "Check the surveillance near the phone booth. Even if he's wearing a mask, I'll know what he looks like."

Just as Chen Mo was about to run away, the forensic doctor suddenly came out of the autopsy room, took off his mask and said, "Mr. Ling, there were sleeping pill components in the deceased's stomach. The dosage was not large, but it was enough to make people lose consciousness - he didn't hang himself; he was strangled to death and then hung up."

Strangled to death! Shen Zhixia clenched her fist's nails into the flesh - the murderer was so ruthless that he even pretended to commit suicide so meticulously.

"And this one." The forensic doctor handed over a bag of evidence, which contained a small piece of fabric, "found in the nail crevices of the deceased, not on his clothes."

The fabric was dark grey, felt like suit material, and had worn edges. Ling Xu 'an pinched the bag of evidence and looked it up to the light, then suddenly changed his expression: "This is... The material of Ling's executive uniform!"

Shen Zhixia was stunned -- Senior executives of Ling? Could it be someone from the second uncle? But Ling Zhengxiong is still staring at the air ticket. How could he have time to act?

"It's not necessarily Uncle." Ling Xu 'an seemed to see through her mind. "Ling's executive uniforms are custom-made every year, with a collar number - check the collar number of this piece of fabric and you'll know whose it is."

The technical department quickly got the result: "The number corresponds to a batch of uniforms from last year, among those who received them... There's secretary of Vice President Ling."

That's the secretary who went to deliver money to the old ghost yesterday!

"He ran away!" Chen Mo suddenly rushed in with his phone, "The airport said Ling Zhengxiong's secretary took a flight to Southeast Asia at seven this morning! One day earlier than Ling Zhengxiong!"

Sure enough, he! Shen Zhixia bit her lip - it must be Ling Zhengxiong who, fearing the old ghost's confession, had his secretary kill him to silence him and then run away.

"Chase!" Ling Xu 'an's voice was as cold as ice. "Even if we chase him to the ends of the earth, we'll catch him back!"

Chen Mo ran away at the sound, leaving the two of them in the corridor again. Shen Zhixia looked at the belt in the detention room and suddenly remembered something: "What about the old ghost's hidden account? Is it still there?"

"Yes." Ling Xu 'an fished out an oiled paper bag from his pocket. "Chen Mo put it away yesterday and didn't let Old ghost touch it." He opened the oiled paper bag, and inside was a yellowed notebook, which was the Qin family's secret account.

Shen Zhixia moved closer to look and suddenly stopped turning to the last page - there was a strange expense written on it: "2012.9.15 Send catalyst samples to 'Sir', address: West wing of Ling's old house."

September 15, 2012! Exactly three days before Mom's accident!

"Who is the gentleman?" Shen Zhixia's voice trembled, "The west wing of Ling's old house... Isn't it the place where Uncle Er lives?

Ling Xu 'an's face was so dark that water could drip from it. His fingertips tapped heavily on the words "West Wing of Ling's Old Residence" : "It was he who changed the sample." " He slammed the secret account, "I'm going to the old house!"

Shen Zhixia hurriedly followed - she wanted to see with her own eyes what Ling Zhengxiong had hidden in the west wing back then.

The west wing of the Ling family's old house had been locked for several years. Ling Xu 'an asked the butler for the key, and when he opened the door, dust "clattered" down. There was an old desk in the room, and the drawer was locked. Ling Xu 'an pried it open with a crowbar. There was nothing special inside, just some old documents and an iron box covered with dust.

The moment Shen Zhixia opened the iron box, she gasped - inside was a gardenia brooch, exactly the same as the one grandpa Ling had given her, except that the "Yao" character at the stitch had been worn off and the base was stained with a little dry yellow powder.

It was a sample of the catalyst!

"He's hiding the real sample here." Ling Xu 'an's hand was shaking as he held the brooch. "Back then he swapped the sample your mother sent and handed over this fake (low-purity) one, making everyone think your mother was not skilled..."

Shen Zhixia looked at the brooch and suddenly remembered the brooch pinned by her mother in the photo - it turned out that her mother had discovered the sample had been swapped long ago and had hidden the real sample in the brooch and handed it over to Grandpa Ling for safekeeping? No, how could this be with Uncle Er?

"It's Grandpa Ling..." She suddenly realized, "Grandpa Ling knew the sample had been swapped and deliberately left this fake brooch with Uncle Er to make him think he got it!"

Ling Xu 'an was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "It must be so. My grandfather's termination of cooperation back then was a signal to my second uncle - 'I know you're doing something wrong.'" He put the brooch away, "With this and the secret account, even if the secretary runs away, I can still convict my second uncle."

Shen Zhixia heaved a sigh of relief, leaning against the doorframe and looking at the dust in the room - after all this trouble, the key evidence was finally found.

"Right," Ling Xu 'an suddenly turned to look at her, his eyes a little soft, "yesterday... Were you scared?"

Shen Zhixia shook her head and nodded again: "A little. But I'm not afraid now." She walked up to him, tiptoed and kissed him on the cheek. "You're here."

Ling Xu 'an's ears turned red in an instant. He reached out and pulled her into his arms with great force: "Don't run out by yourself again. What if something happens?"

"Got it." Shen Zhixia buried herself in his arms and laughed, "I'll report to you wherever I go next time."

The day Ling Zhengxiong was caught, the sky cleared up. When his secretary was stopped at an airport in Southeast Asia, he was still carrying a briefcase containing core data of the Ling family - which Ling had asked him to take out and sell for money.

When police officers came to the villa to deliver a copy of the arrest warrant, Shen Zhixia was sorting out the mass production plan of the "Starlight Project", and Ling Xu 'an was beside her peeling an orange.

"Ling Zhengxiong has summoned." " The police officer who delivered the documents laughed and said, "Not only about the sample swap, but also about the incident of joining forces with Qin Zheng to harm Miss Shen's mother back then - exactly as recorded in the secret account."

Shen Zhixia paused her pen tip and looked out of the window - the sun was shining brightly on the gardenias in the courtyard.

Mum, look, the bad guys have been caught.

After the police left, Ling Xu 'an held the peeled orange to her lips and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"Thinking about..." Shen Zhixia took a bite of the orange, sweet, "When we're done with the 'Starlight Project', let's go to the Xishan cemetery that Aunt Zhang mentioned, and the old ghost's grave - though he's trying to get a little advantage, he's still helped us."

"All right." Ling Xu 'an nodded and suddenly fished out a small box from his pocket. "Almost forgot this."

It was a new ring, simpler than the previous one, a plain silver ring with words engraved inside. Shen Zhixia put it on her hand and touched the inner ring with her fingertips - it was "Xia An", her and his names.

"We'll have our wedding on the day we succeed in production." Ling Xu 'an held her hand, looking serious. "This time we won't make a deal. Just treat the family to a meal and have some quiet time."

"All right." Shen Zhixia smiled and nodded, but tears fell - tears of joy.

A few months later, the first batch of new energy equipment of the "Starlight Project" was put into use at the northern heating station, and the news broadcast the smiling faces of the residents, saying, "This winter is warmer than usual, and there is not so much soot smell."

Shen Zhixia and Ling Xu 'an's wedding was held by the seaside, and Lin Yue, Chen Mo and Grandpa Ling were invited. Grandpa Ling held Shen Zhixia's hand and laughed, saying, "If Qingyao were here, she would surely be happier than I am."

After the wedding, they strolled along the coastline, and the sea breeze, carrying a salty taste, was very pleasant.

"Ling Xu 'an," Shen Zhixia suddenly stopped and took something out of her pocket and handed it to him - it was the note that Aunt Zhang had given her back then, "Qin Shi has the answer you want."

Ling Xu 'an took it, looked in the wind and suddenly laughed: "Now the answer is found."

"Um." Shen Zhixia nodded and laughed too.

The answer is not only mom's innocence, but also the light of the Starlight Project, and... The person by her side who could watch the sea with her.