Free Web NovelChapter 359: Chapter 346 Half-Brothers with the Same Father_1
Mr. Zhao leaned in, put on his gloves, and took out the bag from the drawer.
There was a layer of plastic packaging on the outside of the bag. Although the adhesive on the seal had lost its effectiveness, the creases of the green bag were very intact, indicating that the bag was new. Mr. Zhao quickly took photos, then bagged it in an evidence bag.
After reviewing the photos and looking at some of the words on the side, Mr. Zhao heaved a sigh of relief.
"Finally figured it out, I thought this person was in some special logistical department, able to get different equipment, after all, the camouflaged portable bags issued by the military are for common use, and it’s a tradition in the military to pass luggage bags down through three generations.
This was donated, as written on it ’Gift to Hua Country Navy’, followed by ’Qindao Municipal Government 1999·Spring Festival.’ This is one of the consolation materials donated by the Qindao Municipal Government to the navy during the 1999 Spring Festival. This item is not under strict control, having a few in possession is quite normal."
Liu Yongxin glanced at the evidence bag; the translucent bag allowed a rough view of the contents inside.
"This distinction is quite clear, which means this item was consolation material presented by the municipal government to the military. It was distributed loosely, and it’s normal to have one or two per person; did the kidnapper take it to carry cash because it’s sturdy?"
Zhou Ning remained silent for a long while before finally speaking up:
"Since it’s new, it’s highly likely that the kidnapper touched it. Let Mrs. Cui use the previous methods to check for fingerprints and DNA, the preservation environment here is pretty good, there may be findings."
Mr. Zhao gave a simple-hearted smile.
"Not a small harvest, I’ll head back now for the testing. We’ve got too many samples this time, and each one needs to be explained individually; I’m afraid that just sending someone might lead to confusion. Zhou Xiaozhou, will you and Mr. Liu wait here, or come back with us?"
Zhou Ning glanced at the door, guessing that Xu Dayuan would want him to tag along and listen.
"I’ll stay with my master, you guys go send the samples. Let Gao Tie stay with us."
Mr. Zhao naturally had no objection. As the group left, Yang Xuetong was also wrapping up; the sheer number of collected samples stunned Mr. Zhao, as he pointed at a large box on the ground.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, you’d better explain to Mrs. Cui before sending this for testing. I’m afraid I’ll get smacked to death."
Zhou Ning ignored him, but still composed a text message and sent it to Cui Lili. Upon exiting the yard, he saw Xu Dayuan, who quickly walked over, carefully inspecting the expressions on their faces.
"Any findings?"
Zhou Ning nodded. freewёbnoνel.com
"We’ve found quite a few things, but further testing is needed to confirm. I’ve sent Mr. Zhao and the others to do the testing. The investigation on Chen Gang, Director Xu will oversee it."
Xu Dayuan grunted in acknowledgment and waved to Mr. Zhao.
"You guys go ahead, Zhou Xiaozhou and Mr. Liu will follow me here to listen. Notify us immediately if there are results from the testing. As for the fingerprints that were collected, send them to Zhang Haohao first for us to compare with our fingerprint information."
Mr. Zhao, without a trace of irritation, quickly left with Zhu Xingxing and Yang Xuetong to head back to the city bureau’s technical department, as testing was a major task. He was already on the phone with Cui Lili to coordinate, since the case had been stalled for so many days without any complaints from Cui Lili and her team.
Zhou Ning got into the car without asking more questions and, along with Liu Yongxin, headed to the Qidong Sub-bureau’s criminal police team. Upon arrival, they joined Xu Dayuan in the observation room next to the interrogation room, where Xu Dayuan made some arrangements, and soon an old man was brought in.
Liu Yufei and He Chunyang were responsible for the questioning. Xu Dayuan reviewed the previous interrogations and passed the information to Zhou Ning, which also included fingerprint information just compared.
"This is Mr. Chen, Chen Gang’s uncle. Chen Gang’s old house is full of fingerprints from him and his wife."
Liu Yongxin snorted, looking at Mr. Chen, the old man whose gaze continually shifted among Liu Yufei and He Chunyang, sniveling more dramatically than any woman.
"Not to speak of Chen Gang’s character, but for a child who lost his parents at fourteen—if they had given him any food, Chen Gang wouldn’t have had to mingle with society so soon; he could have studied for a few more years. Even if he couldn’t make something grand of himself, at least he could have avoided dubious people and wouldn’t have had the chance to entertain crooked ideas.
When people just died, everyone avoided him, that was when the demolition talk started. They heard some whispers and wanted to lay their hands on the property deeds of Chen Gang’s old house. So, they searched through what was left; this couple is no good."
Xu Dayuan rubbed his nose, amused by Liu Yongxin’s firecracker temper, making him less angry now.
"Already Mr. Zeng had talked to this couple once before. Let’s see how Liu Yufei does with questioning."
Zhou Ning kept silent, having much confidence in Liu Yufei. One could say that, in some aspects of ability, within the whole brigade, only Liu Yufei could compare with Xu Dayuan; during questioning, she was both courageous and strategic with an overwhelming presence and keen observation.
Inside the interrogation room, Mr. Chen continued to cry. He Chunyang grabbed a tissue but before he could hand it over, Liu Yufei slapped the table.
With a loud bang, not only Mr. Chen but also He Chunyang was startled, halting his action.
"Can you control your emotions? If not, just say so, and I’ll speak to Mr. Sun first. I’m giving you a chance here—don’t play tricks with me, I don’t have the time to listen to your sob story. My name is Liu Yufei, I’m with the Qindao City Criminal Police Brigade, not from Qidong Sub-bureau.
We only handle major cases. If I’m being nice, I called you here to understand the situation. But if you insist on lying to me and obstruct our investigation, I’ll find you a place to sober up for a while. This isn’t a threat; it’s a statement. If you understand, control your emotions. I’m giving you a minute to think it over."
After speaking, she set a one-minute timer. Liu Yufei fell silent, He Chunyang slowly clenched the tissue in hand, silently checking his watch. Though it was a subconscious move, such coordination made Mr. Chen anxious. He cleared his throat and wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve.
Discovering that Liu Yufei and He Chunyang were just staring at their watches, he could no longer cry at this moment. Following the two ding-ding sounds from Liu Yufei’s phone, Mr. Chen shivered, too. Liu Yufei looked indifferently at Mr. Chen as she raised her eyes.
"Time’s up. If you can answer questions, we’ll continue, but the premise is the whole truth, nothing else. Don’t waste my time, give me a straight answer."
"Wuu wuu~ Officer, I’ve been telling the truth all along..."
Liu Yufei stood up directly, startling Mr. Chen, who quickly wiped his face and hurriedly stood as well.
"I’ve got my emotions under control, Officer... the Government... give me a chance. The key is that you need to know something, so you have to ask, right?"
He Chunyang’s cheeks twitched. Mr. Chen wasn’t in the interrogation room for the first time. This guy was an old hand at this. Last time he had Mr. Zeng all over the place, and this guy even wanted the government to compensate for some expenses after Chen Gang’s death, talking more and more nonsense.
Liu Yufei made such a fuss that he became honest.
Liu Yufei continued to press the countdown timer, and then she glanced at the stenographer before asking Mr. Chen,
"Where was Chen Gang adopted from?" freewebnovel.cσ๓
Mr. Chen was taken aback, not expecting Liu Yufei to ask such a question. His facial expression hardened, blinking as if trying to come up with some sort of argument, but Liu Yufei didn’t give him any eye contact, focusing solely on the countdown timer on her phone without raising her eyes.
The implication was clear: speak if you want to; otherwise, the Sun Family would come forward and confess.
Clenching his teeth, Mr. Chen sighed.
"Chen Gang... Chen Gang was brought back by my wife from her maiden home. They say it was a woman named Da Man’er who got pregnant before marriage and was jilted. She couldn’t raise the child and so she gave him away."
Liu Yufei looked up, glancing at Mr. Chen briefly.
"You mean you don’t know which family the child was adopted from or who the parents were?"
Mr. Chen’s throat tightened with discomfort under such pressing questioning, but he knew the policewoman in front of him wasn’t one to be trifled with, so he quickly said,
"I know, I know, his birth mother is called Yu Xiulian, living in Tongshan District. I think she was still a college student when she had Chen Gang, the kind not yet graduated, under twenty years old. As for his father, he seemed to be an official, but I don’t know his exact name."
He Chunyang quickly stepped forward with pen and paper, urging Mr. Chen to write down those characters.
"Is Yu Xiulian a relative of your wife?"
"Not closely related. Yu Xiulian’s grandmother was my wife’s great-aunt. Although the old people have passed away, they still visited each other once a year."
At this point, Xu Dayuan had already searched for the name Yu Xiulian. There were quite a few people with the same name, and according to Mr. Chen’s description, she would be around fifty years old having given birth to Chen Gang when she was under twenty. However, there was no information on a Yu Xiulian in that age group.
Liu Yongxin glanced at it and naturally saw the details.
"Did Mr. Chen lie?"
Not waiting for Xu Dayuan to answer, Zhou Ning shook his head first.
"It doesn’t seem like he’s lying. Maybe she’s no longer alive. But if that’s the case, it means his identity is even harder to investigate."
Xu Dayuan didn’t say a word but wrote a note and had it sent to the interrogation room. Liu Yufei looked at the note, her expression unchanged.
"It seems you haven’t been telling the whole truth. When was the last time you and your wife met this Yu Xiulian?"
Mr. Chen became anxious, waving his hands continuously.
"I’ve only visited relatives in Qindao with my wife twice; she went on her own the rest of the times. But I heard that Yu Xiulian died years ago. I don’t know how she died. Anyway, she didn’t keep in touch with her family after getting married. She moved to some country in her twenties to marry someone. Who Chen Gang’s real father is, I honestly don’t know."
Liu Yufei raised her hand, stopping Mr. Chen’s words.
"Just answer when I ask questions. You don’t need to explain too much. Understood?"
"Understood. I’ll just clarify one thing, if Yu Xiulian hadn’t had the baby and needed to find someone to adopt it, we wouldn’t even know about it. After all, everyone knows that my brother’s couple couldn’t have children, and we couldn’t just go around inquiring about who the child’s father was! I won’t say anything more; go ahead and ask."
Mr. Chen’s explanation was indeed believed by everyone. In such a situation, especially in that era, not drowning the child was already considered being responsible. As for the biological father, it would be very difficult to trace, especially since Chen Gang’s birth mother was already deceased.
"Then I’ll change the question. After Chen Gang’s parents died, did anyone come looking for him? Provide assistance to him? Or were there any friends who had a close relationship with him?"
Mr. Chen thought for a bit, then slapped his thigh.
"There was a soldier who came by to see Chen Gang when he was free, even bringing him food and stuff."
