Free Web NovelChapter 657: Chapter 625 Showing Off_1
After the introduction, Zhou Ning finally realized that the old man he had encountered in the corridor was the principal of the school.
Thinking about what he had said, he felt somewhat embarrassed.
Mr. Wang, the principal, however, praised them, saying that their insight was exceptional and that the collective quality and vision of the researchers at Qin University were not ordinary at all.
Mr. Lu leaned in, with his hand on Zhou Ning’s shoulder, and said with a smile:
"Actually, Director Zhou Ning here is one of the main researchers of the Qin University Technology Center’s R&D team. It’s because of his research that the center was established, allowing Qin University to have a say in economic investigation technology. But he is also the Deputy Director of the Technical Division at the Qindao City Public Security Bureau."
Mr. Wang had an epiphany, after all, he had been hearing the name Zhou Ning since yesterday.
"So young, that I did not expect."
Mr. Lu came over and pulled Mr. Wang away, as he knew Zhou Ning’s personality all too well—he disliked this kind of small talk, especially when there was work to be done on his end, anyone who approached for pleasantries was asking for awkwardness.
Seeing that everyone had dispersed, Zhou Ning hurriedly approached Elder Hu.
"Elder Hu, Elder Zhu, have those documents been processed yet?"
Xu Dayuan slightly bowed his head, shielding his eyes with his hand, his shoulders slightly trembling. Mr. Zhao, always the cunning one, recognized Xu Dayuan’s gesture for what it was.
He quickly nudged Zhou Ning’s shoulder and raised his hand towards Elder Hu.
"Don’t be like Zhou Xiaozhou, who is just being impatient. After all, none of the investigation directions have yielded anything yet, so some anxiety is inevitable."
Elder Hu waved his hand with a smile, looking over at Zhu Guozheng.
"Alright, this young man is even more difficult to deal with than their leaders. You can still talk back to his leaders, but would you dare to speak up to him? Better update him on the progress quickly."
Zhu Guozheng also smiled helplessly.
"Come with me, the chemical soaking has already started. Every ten minutes, we can lift a layer, with about two or three sheets per layer. At this rate, it should all be done by tomorrow. Don’t worry, the soaking solution has been treated with a color preservation agent, so the ink will not fade."
Zhou Ning breathed a sigh of relief, with Xu Dayuan standing beside him, arms crossed.
"If you had told me earlier, it would have been fine. You had to wait for this kid to arrive before saying anything."
Zhou Ning didn’t bother watching their banter, focusing instead on the documents that were being taken out of the chemical solution. Some had already been separated but were sandwiched between glass plates, with someone scanning and photographing them. Elder Hu came closer.
"We’ve cleared some of it. They can’t be dried too quickly or exposed to sunlight, that would fade the colors. Take this document, for instance, the writing inside and out is consistent, and it’s all very fluent, looking like it was recorded all at the same time. The other documents are pretty much the same."
Xu Dayuan came over, looking around as he spoke:
"Everyone involved in this restoration work has handed in their mobile phones to prevent any leak of the content."
This arrangement was very much in Xu Dayuan’s style, but until everything had been thoroughly investigated and those hiding in the shadows had not emerged, caution was the only approach.
If it was indeed those remaining members of Minjin who last entered the cave, and they had given up on any absurd plans to destroy the city, instead changing their direction to seek to influence people on a psychological level, then these methods were truly characteristic of Minjin style.
"Since Elder Hu has already confirmed the authenticity of these documents, should we hand them over to the special departments for processing afterward?"
Xu Dayuan shook his head, a gesture that greatly surprised Zhou Ning.
"I’ve consulted Mr. Hu, and he has also made contact with the local National Security Department in Qindao. After all, this involves archival restoration work as well as the investigation in the Ganzhou area and is related to the case of the eight murdered children. So for now, we won’t be transferring them."
Mr. Zhao joined in.
"Leader, it’s okay not to transfer the case, but in terms of investigation, what else can we do? The coffins are full of burial goods, with no skeletons. These Boyegu ancient people actually practiced cremation, which is quite rare. The bodies of the other six children are being handled by Zhu Xingxing and the team.
Everything here, we need to wait until tomorrow to get all the information. With so many things inside the cave and armed police guarding and even clearing the site, there’s no way we can help. Do you want us to help check the missing persons records or criminal cases in Ganzhou City over the past twenty years?"
"I think it’s a good idea. Since there’s nothing to do, let’s leave. Elder Hu and Elder Zhu are busy working here, and our presence is just annoying people. After everything is cleaned up tomorrow, all the files will be scanned, then we’ll wait for Elder Hu to verify their authenticity."
Zhou Ning didn’t say anything, but Mr. Zhao had a look of utter distaste on his face.
"This is too much, we are a forensic doctor and a trace evidence expert, and you’re making us do labor?"
"Quit complaining and let’s go!"
They descended the building and left by car. At this moment, Zhou Ning noticed that there were armed police guards at a hidden spot below, clearly showing that although the place seemed relaxed, the surrounding checks were very strict. Huang Yubin had indeed put in a lot of effort to make this happen.
Mr. Zhao drove the car; the three of them didn’t say much and went straight back to the bureau, this time directly to the annex building on the west side.
Upon entering, they saw the corridor filled with desks, chairs, and cabinets. They reached the door and saw Liu Yufei and the team already buried in the file room, all of them covered in dust and dirt.
"How’s it going? Are you checking the files in reverse, or did you start directly from twenty years ago?"
Liu Yufei patted the dust off her clothes and stood up to walk toward Xu Dayuan.
"We began by organizing the computer entries. Qindao started implementing digital records in 2006. Here, from 2010 onwards, records were entered sporadically, but luckily the paper version of the archives is quite complete.
However, criminal cases and some special operations against organized crime were not separated, which makes searching a bit troublesome. We need to look through each file one by one. After all, we are comparing them to the computer archives, so we started by reviewing the criminal cases from 2012 and worked backward."
Xu Dayuan nodded and walked around the file room, with Huang Yubin following him.
"Our place isn’t big, and there are many minor incidents, but there are not many serious criminal cases involving deaths. As for missing children, I reviewed them last night, and there are a quite a few, not just children but also cases where wives disappeared with their children.
Moreover, such cases usually end up unresolved, without a final conclusion. After all, the photographs left behind by children are very limited, and some don’t even have a recent photo.
Children can change so much in just a few months, let alone a few years. Put in a different environment, dressed up differently and raised differently, even their own parents wouldn’t recognize them, let alone the DNA information which we’ve only started to keep in the past two years. The information in the previous files, some of it is incorrect.
It’s hard to say. If a child goes missing in a village or town, and the parents can’t find them after filing a report, they often have another child, especially since the policy has become more relaxed. But if a child is lost in the city, sometimes it can tear a family apart.
Fathers want to escape it all, disagree about finding the child and may even come to blows with their spouse. Mothers always hold out hope and can’t let go. I’ve met quite a few such people."
Xu Dayuan heaved a sigh. Not just in Ganzhou City, but in almost any place across the country, some people feel that by separating they won’t blame themselves for the loss of their child, but such guilt follows them for life.
After all, most missing children are not simply lost.
"I understand. Mr. Huang, please take the trouble. As I said yesterday, we can’t just look at Ganzhou City, especially since we’ve already discovered that these two children are not Han Chinese; they’re closely related to the people around Tianshan, so for the external collaboration, we need you to handle that. Leave this place to us." free𝑤ebnovel.com
Zhou Ning glanced at the clock and it was nearing noon. The DNA of the remaining six victims had been sent to the provincial city for analysis a day ago, but the results had yet to come.
"Mr. Huang, if you’re going to the provincial city, please inquire about the DNA results. It’s been a day since it was sent, but we haven’t heard back yet."
"Don’t worry, I’m leaving now. I’ll directly report the situation to the provincial bureau leadership and urge them for the analysis results. Once we have them, do we need to do some comparisons?"
"Yes, the main thing is to see if there’s any genetic similarity among these eight children, so we can compare it to the other two children. This would be a major breakthrough in the origin investigation of the bodies."
Huang Yubin patted his chest, his chin tilting upward.
"Understood. Once the results are out, I’ll have someone send you the electronic version. We’ll proceed with the comparison as needed. Ganzhou has always dragged its feet in the provincial bureau, but not anymore. It’s my time to shine."
