Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“What, my goodness!” Liang Huan was dumbstruck. “So much!?” Li Beini was also shocked and kept exclaiming, “You’re really amazing bro! Are you on the way to striking it rich?”
“Zhao!” Liang Huan pointed at the handbag and asked Zhao Yu in agitation, “Tell me quick, are these twenty stacks all in running numbers?” Zhao Yu nodded as he zipped open the handbag to show Liang Huan.
“Oh my goodness!” Liang Huan was too shocked to close his mouth. “If these twenty stacks are in running numbers, then…you’re rich!” Liang Huan exclaimed as he looked at the handbag. At the instant Liang Huan saw the handbag, however, something no one had expected happened! Liang Huan had wanted to see the money, but after his eyes fell on the old yellowish handbag he was startled! Zhao Yu had thought that he was stunned by the money in the bag, and even felt pleased with himself, quirking up the corners of his mouth.
Liang Huan did not care about the money, however – he stretched out his hands to hold the handbag instead and started to look at it carefully. His eyes were fixed on the butterfly logo on the handbag! He got more shocked and agitated as he looked further, so much so that his arms even started trembling.
“Huh? Why…” Zhao Yu noticed Liang Huan’s unusual behavior and was about to ask him, but Liang Huan suddenly grabbed Zhao Yu’s wrist.
“Zhao Yu, tell me quick!” he said. “This bag…this bag…where did you get it from?”
Zhao Yu got a shock and pouted. “Why? What’s wrong with this bag?”
“N-no…” Liang Huan seemed to be possessed by something all of a sudden. After letting go of his hand, he pressed tightly on his own forehead, as though he was unable to understand this unexpected matter.
“Oh!” Li Beini was smart and came to the realization. “I get it, Liang, is this bag more valuable than the money inside? Antique!? Branded!?
“Ah!?” It was Zhao Yu’s turn to be stunned. “You gotta be kidding?”
Could it be…there were additional rewards?
“What! You…what are the both of you thinking about!” Liang Huan shouted, his body trembling in agitation. After he looked carefully at the scene, he pushed Zhao Yu aside and sat on the swivel chair in front of the computer. Then, he snatched the mouse from Zhao Yu and started using the computer.
Holy sh*t! What exactly happened? Zhao Yu was a little confused and did not understand what had gotten into Liang Huan? Li Beini was also clueless and, together with Zhao Yu, looked blankly at Liang Huan. The computer that Zhao Yu was at was used specifically by the Cold Case Unit. Liang Huan had worked here for half a year and was naturally familiar with it. Shortly after, he found a folder in the computer and opened an image file. The picture that appeared was also a handbag, and the handbag’s design, color and logo were exactly the same as the one Zhao Yu picked up!
Zhao Yu and Li Beini looked at each other – it was their turn to be puzzled! Why was there a picture of a handbag that looked exactly the same? This…
“Here…the butterfly logo has a missing edge here!” Liang Huan enlarged the image and pointed to it in agitation, “See it!?” Zhao Yu looked at the image and then at the handbag he picked up. The butterfly logo on his handbag also had a missing edge, exactly the same as that in the image!
“Liang! This…what does this mean?’ Li Beini could not help but ask.
“What does this mean? Mianling! Mianling!” Liang Huan’s eyes were bloodshot at this point, looking like a madman and speaking incoherently. “I…I’ll show you…look…” With this, he minimized the image and then opened another file that was linked to the image. The file was densely filled with numbers!
Liang Huan then took out a stack of money and read out the last few digits of the number on the first banknote, “There…the first one is 524! Look at the last one, 623! This stack is 524 to 623…” He searched the file as he repeated these two numbers, and suddenly the cursor stopped on top of a string of numbers. The three took a closer look and saw that the last few digits of that string of numbers were also 524 to 623!
“Ah! Ah…” Being overly agitated, Liang Huan did not sit tight and fell onto the ground together with the swivel chair! The table was also tilted over and the objects on the table clattered all over the floor! The helpful Li Beini quickly helped Liang Huan up, whereas Zhao Yu’s eyes were focused entirely on the computer screen. After he used to mouse to minimize the image and the file, he was shocked to see the name of the folder opened by Liang Huan. The folder’s name was: Mianling Major Kidnapping Case!
Ah!? At that instant, Zhao Yu felt as though he had had an electric shock! My goodness, how did this happen!?
…
The Mianling Major Kidnapping Case was once at the top of the list of major cases in Qinshan City in the recent decades. As this case was extremely complicated, with extensive impact and numerous victims, it was once named by a leader as the Nemesis of the Qinshan Police! There was no local in Qinshan City above the age of thirty who did not know about this case!
Twenty-six years ago, there was a major kidnapping case in Qinshan City’s Mianling Town. Five elementary school students were kidnapped on their bus ride back home. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of two hundred thousand RMB from each family before they released the hostages. In the end, after the families handed over the ransom, the five students disappeared together with the bus driver and could not be found until now!
Twenty-six years! The Qinshan Police had never stopped investigating this case. The case data had always been stored in the computer of the Key Case Investigation Department of every branch in Qinshan, and it was listed as a prioritized major case! There had even been province-level special agents being assigned to investigate on this case. However, it had been so many years and nothing had been found!
The children who were kidnapped were missing! The suspect vanished! Even the ransom money also disappeared without a trace! The five children, together with the bus driver, were gone just like that, causing pain and sorrow to their families, and sadness to those who heard.
After Zhao Yu had picked up this handbag full of money from the collapsed mine pit, however, everything was different! When Liang Huan was on the Cold Case team, he had studied the information of this case in detail – the moment he saw Zhao Yu’s handbag, he thought of this major unsolved case!
According to the information on the computer, the handbag that Zhao Yu picked up was one of the many bags of ransom money that year! The two hundred thousand RMB inside belonged to the family member of one of the victims! Although Zhao Yu did not have as deep an impression as Liang Huan, he had still heard of the major case. After knowing that he had unintentionally opened the door to this major unsolved case, he suddenly had extreme mixed emotions! At the same time, he also thought of another important thing: Could it be…the “Kun” hexagram of the system was linked to this major unsolved case!?