Skin - Chapter 68

Chapter 68 – Meng Jing’s Diary

　　After Zhu Wenxiu’s son finished speaking, he hung up the phone.

　　”Find a way to return…” Meng Zhao repeated this sentence in a low voice.

　　After thinking for a while, he looked up and said to Cheng Yun, “Keep in touch with Zhu Wenxiu’s son at any time and confirm his return plan as soon as possible. If there are any difficulties, we can coordinate immediately.”

　　”Yeah!” Cheng Yun responded.

　　At this moment, Meng Zhao’s phone vibrated and he received a message: “Zhao’er, come here.”

　　It was sent by Zhang Chao.

　　”I’m going to the technical investigation department.” Meng Zhao said to Lu Shichen, then quickly walked out of the office.

　　Pushing the door open, he walked towards Zhang Chao’s workstation: “Brother Chao, any progress?”

　　”Didn’t you ask me to identify the clients of the Dark Cage server?” Zhang Chao opened a folder on the desktop. “I guess I found some information. However, these scumbags are very smart and didn’t leave any lists or evidence of personal information. The only thing that can be used for identification is surveillance. But they are either wearing masks or masks. We can only capture their facial features from the limited footage that has been retained. It is basically impossible to accurately identify them.”

　　Meng Zhao looked at the dozens of photos of men wearing masks on the screen, frowning slightly. “Try harder. If the internal system really can’t recognize them, you can only apply to the higher-ups to make the photos public and issue a wanted warrant. I don’t believe that no one can recognize them.”

　　”That’s the only way.” Zhang Chao scrolled the mouse. “In fact, the fastest way is to get Wu Weihan to speak up. But he still refuses to confess? He can’t even protect himself, so how can he still protect these clients?”

　　”It means he doesn’t think he can’t save himself. If he recruits all these clients and ruins all the partners of Wu Group, then he might really be in trouble.”

　　Zhang Chao leaned his head back on the chair and looked at Meng Zhao: “Do you mean that you think there is something wrong with Wu Jiayi?”

　　”It’s hard to say whether Wu Jiayi participated in the operation and management of Dark Cage, but there is always an inseparable relationship between father and son. Wu Weihan is just running a small live broadcast company. He attracted so many customers and did such a big thing just for the live broadcast rewards or membership fees? In short, the ultimate beneficiary of Dark Cage will never be Wu Weihan.” Meng Zhao stood up, “Let’s not talk about it for now, copy this file to me.”

　　”It’s already been copied,” Zhang Chao leaned over and pulled out the USB drive and handed it to Meng Zhao, “Hey, you didn’t bring my USB drives!”

　　”I’ll definitely do it next time.” Meng Zhao took the USB drive and walked out. His voice came in, “Remember to remind me.”

　　Zhang Chao: “…”

　　Just after talking about the dark cage, Meng Zhao started to think about Shao Qi’s abnormal reaction.

　　Thinking of the scene with horror on Shao Qi’s face, and then thinking about the news content on TV, he always felt that something was wrong.

　　The news about the dark cage incident was being broadcasted on TV since they entered the ward. Why did Shao Qi not show any abnormality at first, but suddenly became frightened?

　　Was it that although her eyes were open at the beginning but her consciousness had not yet awakened, or was it that there was some change in the TV screen at that moment?

　　Meng Zhao carefully recalled the news footage at that time. When they entered the door, the TV was introducing the Dark Cage Case. At this time, Shao Qi had no reaction. After the introduction to the Dark Cage Case was finished, the next content on TV was… Wu Jiayi participating in a charity event. Could it be that Wu Jiayi aroused her fear?

　　Meng Zhao walked back while thinking about it. When he looked up, he saw Lu Shichen standing by the window in the corridor and making a phone call: “Yes, I have contacted your family… Are you in Mingtan City now? If it is convenient, I would like to meet you… It’s not an important matter, I just want to learn some old things from you…”

　　‘Old things? Why did he pay attention to his past events? Was he trying to retrieve his memories?’ Hearing Lu Shichen say this, Meng Zhao slowed down his pace and couldn’t help but have some guesses.

　　Meng Zhao approached, and Lu Shichen finished the call. He put away his phone and said to Meng Zhao, “I have something to do. I can’t accompany you to investigate the case for the time being.”

　　Seeing that Lu Shichen’s expression was more serious than before, Meng Zhao knew that this was not an excuse: “Go ahead.”

　　”Okay, let’s have dinner together tonight.” Lu Shichen said.

　　Back in the office, Meng Zhao said to Cheng Yun, “Print out a few photos of Wu Jiayi and Wu Weihan, and then go to the hospital to confirm the source of Shao Qi’s fear.”

　　Cheng Yun looked up from the computer screen: “Okay, Brother Zhao, I found it for you right away.”

　　After taking a glass of water, Meng Zhao walked towards Cheng Yun and looked at her computer screen: “Have you found everything so quickly?”

　　”I’ve found all the ones for Wu Weihan,” Cheng Yun browsed the webpage, “I’ll find another one for Wu Jiayi.”

　　The webpage is full of pictures of Wu Jiayi, ranging from more than ten years ago to the present.

　　Meng Zhao’s eyes stopped at one of the photos, and he suddenly felt that it looked familiar, but Cheng Yun quickly swiped past it, and he said, “Wait.”

　　”What’s wrong?” Cheng Yun paused.

　　”Paddle up.”

　　Cheng Yun swiped the pages online as instructed.

　　”Stop,” Meng Zhao bowed slightly and pointed at a photo of Wu Jiayi when he was young, “Enlarge this photo.”

　　Cheng Yun clicked on the photo and Meng Zhao stared at it closely.

　　”What’s wrong, Brother Zhao?” Cheng Yun turned her head to look at her, “Do you want to choose this photo? It’s too young…”

　　”I’ve seen this photo,” Meng Zhao frowned and said, “No wonder I felt that Wu Jiayi looked familiar when I saw him that day. It turned out it’s not because I’ve seen him in person, but because I’ve seen this photograph of him when he was young…”

　　”Ah? You saw it on TV, right?”

　　”I can’t remember it at the moment.” Meng Zhao stood up. “When you print the photos later, make an extra copy of this one for me. As for Shao Qi, wait until her body recovers before going to her. Don’t give her too much stimulation.”

　　”Yeah.” Cheng Yun responded.

　　•=|=•

　　Until he had dinner with Lu Shichen, Meng Zhao was still thinking about the photo.

　　Sitting opposite Lu Shichen, Meng Zhao held the photo, puzzled: “Why does it look so familiar? Where else can I have seen this photo except on TV…”

　　Lu Shichen reached out and took the photograph from him, looking at Wu Jiayi in the photograph: “Why does Wu Jiayi have white hair at such a young age?”

　　”Yes, gray hair has always been his signature feature.” Meng Zhao said, then suddenly paused, “What did you just say?”

　　”Why does Wu Jiayi have white hair at such a young age?” Lu Shichen repeated.

　　Suddenly, a sentence flashed through Meng Zhao’s mind.

　　”Mom, this uncle is so strange. He is so young, why does he have white hair?”

　　When did he say this to Meng Jing? Meng Zhao began to try to recall the scene at that time.

　　”Mom, why aren’t you sleeping yet?” young Meng Zhao pushed the door and walked into Meng Jing’s bedroom, raising his hand to block the light from the desk lamp.

　　”It’s time to go to bed,” Meng Jing stood up and turned to look at Meng Zhao, “What’s wrong, Xiaodao? Can’t you sleep?”

　　”I’ve already had a nap.” Meng Zhao shook his head.

　　He walked towards Meng Jing, curiously leaned over to the table and looked at the notebook in Meng Jing’s hand, pointing to one of the photos: “Mom, this uncle is so strange, he is so young, why is his hair white?”

　　”This is called premature graying. It means you have white hair at a very young age,” Meng Jing closed her notebook. “If you are picky about food and don’t eat vegetables, you will also have premature greying. Did you know?”

　　”Yeah.” Ten-year-old Meng Zhao nodded.

　　It’s Meng Jing’s notebook!

　　”What did you think of?” Seeing Meng Zhao’s expression change slightly, Lu Shichen asked him.

　　”I want to go home.” Meng Zhao stood up.

　　”I’ll go with you.” Lu Shichen stood up with him.

　　The two paid the bill and walked out of the restaurant quickly.

　　It was the busiest time after work, and the intersection was packed with people. Seeing the traffic jam ahead, Meng Zhao turned the steering wheel and drove into a narrow alley next to it. He took shortcuts all the way, avoiding all the congested sections, and finally drove to the downstairs of the community.

　　Lu Shichen opened the car door and walked out: “Mingtan City is jammed every night, do you always take a shortcut like this?”

　　Meng Zhao locked the car and said, “Do you think we, criminal police, can get off work on time every day?”

　　The two of them hurried upstairs. Meng Zhao pushed open the door, changed his shoes, walked towards his bedroom, and dragged out a rectangular wooden box from under the bed.

　　Lu Shichen reached out to help drag him out, but Meng Zhao stopped him, saying, “Don’t move, your arm is still recovering.”

　　The box was locked, Meng Zhao took out the key to unlock it, and then opened the box. Inside were all Meng Jing’s belongings. Meng Jing’s university diploma, police ID, photo album, and various honors she had received during her lifetime were all packed in this box.

　　Meng Zhao took out two notebooks from the bottom, one with a black leather cover and the other with a dark blue leather cover. The words “Mingtan City Public Security Bureau” were printed on the lower right corner of both.

　　Meng Jing always had the habit of taking notes during her lifetime. She usually kept this notebook in a locked drawer in her bedroom. Meng Zhao remembered that after returning home from getting off work at night, Meng Jing would often ponder over it in the middle of the night.

　　Meng Zhao vaguely remembered that the notebook Meng Jing held that night had a black cover, but it had been so long that he couldn’t remember it clearly.

　　”I remember seeing it in the notebook,” Meng Zhao handed the dark blue notebook to Lu Shichen and kept the black one for himself, “Let’s check one each.”

　　The two of them sat on the wooden floor, bent their long legs, leaned their backs against the bed, and quickly flipped through Meng Jing’s notebook.

　　Perhaps because she was worried that the loss of the notebook would leak the case secrets, Meng Jing did not record too much textual content in her notebook. Instead, she pasted photos of the people involved in the case and the victims on each page to sort out the clues of the case. Where there were no photos, Meng Jing also drew simple sketches instead.

　　Meng Zhao quickly flipped through the pages one by one. When he turned to a page in the middle, he paused and his expression changed slightly.

　　Lu Shichen raised his eyes and looked at him: “Found it?”

　　”No,” Meng Zhao quickly returned to normal and continued to flip through the pages. “I read it wrong.” As he said that, he continued to look through the pages.

　　Lu Shichen’s eyes stayed on his face for a moment, but he didn’t say anything and continued to look through his notebook.

　　A few minutes later, Lu Shichen finished flipping through his notebook and said, “I didn’t find it in this one.”

　　”I didn’t find it either,” Meng Zhao closed his notebook, “Could it be that I remembered it wrong…”

　　”Do you want to exchange and check?” Lu Shichen handed the notebook in his hand to Meng Zhao.

　　”No need,” Meng Zhao took it, “Don’t I still believe in your ability? Or do you think I might have missed something?”

　　”Just in case,” Lu Shichen said, “Since you said so, forget it.”

　　”Maybe I remembered it wrong, or maybe there are more than just these two notebooks,” Meng Zhao put the notebooks back into the box and locked it again. “I’ll ask Director Xu later. He’s my mother’s colleague, maybe he knows.”

　　”Um.”

　　”Let’s go. I’ll take you back.” Meng Zhao pushed the box back under the bed.

　　It was past rush hour when they returned, so the ride was relatively smooth. Compared to before, both of them were a little more silent.

　　Meng Zhao turned on the car stereo and asked, “Where did you go during the day? You looked like you were in a hurry.”

　　”I had something urgent to do, so I left first.” Lu Shichen said.

　　”You…” After hesitating for a moment, Meng Zhao asked, “Are you looking for your past memories? I heard what you were talking about on the phone when I passed by during the day.”

　　”Um.”

　　”Don’t you get a headache when you think about what happened before? Do you need me to go with you?”

　　”You’re already too busy with the case, how can you still have time to accompany me?”

　　Lu Shichen’s words left Meng Zhao speechless. Thinking about the fact that Meng Jing’s family broke apart because she was too busy with work, Meng Zhao suddenly felt a sense of crisis.

　　”Being a police officer is a little busier than having a normal job. However, I wasn’t this busy before I met you. It’s just a coincidence that after I met you, I haven’t had a full day off. It’s rare to encounter such a big case. The son of Mingtan’s richest man committed a crime, and you actually caught up with him…” Meng Zhao drove the car, “I will apply for annual leave after this case is over.”

　　”Yes.” Lu Shichen said, “Will you return to the bureau later?”

　　”Yes.”

　　The car drove to Yuhu Bay, Lu Shichen pushed the door, got out, and walked towards the building entrance.

　　Meng Zhao looked at Lu Shichen’s back, leaned back in his seat, and let out a breath. After Lu Shichen went upstairs, he slowly drove out of Yuhu Bay.

　　He did not go back to the municipal bureau, but returned home along the same route.

　　After opening the door, Meng Zhao went straight to his room without even bothering to change his shoes.

　　He dragged the wooden box out from under the bed again, opened it and took out the black leather notebook.

　　Then he turned to a page in the middle and stared at the photograph of Wu Jiayi, who was in his thirties or forties with short gray hair.

　　Next to this photo, there were three more photos.

　　On the left side of the notebook was Wu Jiayi and a man he had never seen before, dressed like a migrant worker. On the right side were a man and a woman.

　　Looking at the handsome young man in a suit on the right, Meng Zhao recalled the shock he felt when he first saw the photograph. It was because of this photograph that he almost subconsciously concealed the truth about Lu Shichen. Until now, he still couldn’t calm down. This man looked very similar to Lu Shichen, but with a slight smile between his eyebrows, which was completely different from Lu Shichen’s aloof temperament. This was… Lu Chengze when he was young!

　　The woman next to Lu Chengze had a classic and gentle face, and she also had some similarities with Lu Shichen. This woman… was Lu Shichen’s mother, Shi Xin?

　　Who is this man dressed as a migrant worker?

　　What is the relationship between these people?

　　Why are they on the same page?

　　Questions one after another kept popping up in Meng Zhao’s mind. Suddenly, Meng Zhao was stunned.

　　He thought of Lu Shichen’s slightly stunned expression when he saw the name “Wen Ding Real Estate”. Obviously, Lu Shichen was hiding something at that moment.

　　‘Lu Shichen…will he know something about it?’

　　As soon as this thought came to his mind, Meng Zhao felt fear, a fear he had never experienced before and one he dared not face.