Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 827: Chapter 71: Bullet

In front of the university.

After Xiaobao got out of Lin Feng’s car, he quickly said to Lin Feng, “Thanks for bringing me here, Brother Feng.”

Li Feng waved his hand and said, “Alright, alright, quickly go get the materials from that professor and come back out. I’m rushing to get something for Officer Ma.”

“What are you getting?”

“Baby supplies!” Lin Feng said helplessly, “Hasn’t Mrs. Ma been pregnant for several months now? Officer Ma is cherishing her greatly, he already found people to buy lots of baby supplies early on and brought them back.”

Xiaobao laughed loudly, “Since when has your department become so idle? The rising star of the criminal investigation team is actually running errands to buy baby supplies?”

Lin Feng reached out and tapped Xiaobao’s forehead, “Aren’t you just wasting time in the office every day playing that game of fantasy or whatever? Are you going in to find that professor for the stuff or not? Otherwise, I’m leaving!”

“It’s Professor Ouyang!” Xiaobao quickly corrected, “He’s our Chief Qin’s mentor. He’s a very skilled forensic doctor! He came here to teach after retiring a few years ago!”

“Alright, alright, Ouyang it is. Hurry up and go!”

Xiaobao showed Lin Feng the third finger in sequence as a greeting before hurriedly running into the university campus.

This visit was because he’d recently encountered a rather tricky case. Xiaobao heard that this Professor Ouyang had handled similar cases before, so he specifically sought him out to look for information. Now that Chief Qin is on indefinite leave, Xiaobao could only rely on himself.

This is Chief Qin’s teacher, in Xiaobao’s eyes, practically a grand master-level figure. So when he reached the office door, Xiaobao quickly tidied his clothes.

“Professor Ouyang went out for something, he left this for you.”

However, what Xiaobao saw was a young female assistant, and Xiaobao felt disappointed. He sighed and took the materials offered, then said, “Hey, you look familiar? Did you graduate from Class of Four Realms? I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere?”

“I’m from Class of Five Realms.”

“So you’re a junior…”

Didn’t see the grand master… then let’s flirt! Xiaobao blinked.

“Um… can you help me carry some things? They’re a bit heavy.” The female assistant pointed at a few boxes nearby.

Xiaobao immediately patted his chest and said, “No problem!”

And so the two of them left the office… after the office door closed with a click, another door inside the office also opened with a click at this moment.

A man in a black suit stealthily glanced over before closing the door again — in this inner office, a bald old man was staring in fear.

He was tied up with ropes, and there were two men holding his shoulders on either side.

The man in the black suit was playing with a knife. He sat on the office desk and calmly said, “Professor Ouyang, shall we continue discussing the matter we talked about before?”

He motioned for them to rip off the tape over Professor Ouyang’s mouth, and Professor Ouyang said in fear, “What, what do you want to do! Is this a kidnapping?”

The man said, “I already explained the purpose; we’re just here to ask you some questions, Professor Ouyang. Once we’re done, you’ll be safe. So, I hope you can cooperate.”

The shining knife reflected the sunlight outside, hitting Professor Ouyang’s eyes, and he panicked, “What, what do you want to ask?”

“I wonder if Professor Ouyang recalls an armored car hijack incident about four years ago?” The man bent down, “That case was quite sensational, seven robbers carrying many weapons fought with the police. Many people died, including a policeman named Luo Qi. You were still working at the bureau then, right? You wouldn’t say you have no impression at all?”

“I… remember, I do.” Professor Ouyang’s face changed slightly, then he quickly said, “Officer Luo Qi was an excellent public servant… why are you asking about him?”

The man moved the knife to Professor Ouyang’s face, “I heard that the autopsy report stated Luo Qi was shot seven times, six shots were non-lethal, but one hit directly in the heart… such a pity, such a good officer lost his life because of that one shot.”

“Indeed, a real pity.” Professor Ouyang nodded, but his eyes never left the knife pressed to his face.

“I heard, you personally examined Luo Qi’s body, right?”

Professor Ouyang nodded nervously.

The man suddenly said, “Not long after that, you applied for retirement. But at your age, retirement seems appropriate. Then you were rehired to this university, becoming a head of the forensic department. Hmm… your wife was also a university teacher, she’s graduated now. You have one daughter who works in a state-owned enterprise, and a son-in-law who works as a sales manager in an auto dealership… oh, right, your grandson is about to enter high school, right?”

“What do you… what do you want! Don’t harm my family!” Professor Ouyang struggled immediately.

The man pressed down, “Don’t get excited, listen to me first… logically, Professor, your family is quite good, seems like a happy one. But it’s strange, why do you have a villa overseas under your name? And it’s not cheap… hmm, let me think, according to your salary, including your retirement money, with your family’s entire income, I’ll even double all of it…”

He smiled, leaning in, “It still doesn’t add up, does it? How did you manage to buy it, Professor?”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

The man sneered, “Professor, you’re quite clever, initially the property wasn’t under your name, but at the beginning of this year, you quietly transferred it over. We also found you have an account abroad with a good amount of money in it.”

Professor Ouyang’s face changed drastically.

The man suddenly grabbed Professor Ouyang’s head, slammed it onto the desk, stabbed the knife beside his ear, and said calmly, “Professor, do you think if I cut off your ear here, would it be a problem?”

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk… don’t kill me! Don’t kill me… I’ll talk… I’ll say everything!” Professor Ouyang widened his eyes, full of fear, “Someone… someone secretly gave me a large sum of money and made me change the autopsy report… the bullet that hit Luo Qi’s heart didn’t match any of the weapons found on the scene. It was… an unidentified gunshot…”

“Unidentified?” The man suddenly squeezed Professor Ouyang’s neck.

“It was… a police-issued bullet. That person replaced it, swapped it with a type used by the robbers. The bullet, that person gave it to me!”

“Someone gave you money? Who?” The man held Professor’s head without any intention of letting go.

This made Professor Ouyang extremely painful, he said in great agony, “I… I don’t know, he never told me who he really was, we never met, only contacted through phone… but he threatened me, if I didn’t do it, he would… wouldn’t be kind to me and my family, I… I had no choice… don’t kill me, don’t kill me…”

The man pulled the knife out and then slammed it down — but the knife only stuck into the desk, and Professor Ouyang’s eyes rolled up before falling unconscious.

The men beside him checked and said, “Passed out, scared faint.”

“Coward.” The man disdainfully knocked the knife on Professor Ouyang’s head and shook his head, “But heroes mostly die at the hands of cowards.”

“Big brother, how should we deal with this guy? Can we trust what he says?”

“This cowardly guy can’t hide anything…” The man picked up Professor Ouyang’s phone and took a look, then sneered: “As for how to deal with him… Oh, this professor is quite lecherous, with so many photos of female students in bed… Afraid of dying, yet a dirty old man, let’s turn Professor Ouyang into a celebrity.”

The man casually handed the phone to his subordinate, “Take care of it. I’ll report back to President Shi.”

…

The man quickly exited the university gates and got into a black Bentley.

Waiting inside the car was Shi Shijie from the Zhang Corporation. He looked at the man calmly and said, “Dragon, how did it go?”

The man… Dragon quickly replied, “This old guy indeed has issues…”

Dragon explained the situation once, then continued, “This guy got scared and passed out. Hehe, we were just scaring him a bit; we’re not the ones to spill blood.”

Shi Shijie nodded, “If Bureau Chief Zao Gao hadn’t dined the day before yesterday and I hadn’t casually asked about this matter, noticing his unnatural expression, we wouldn’t have pursued this Professor Ouyang.”

Dragon said, “If it weren’t for President Shi suggesting a thorough investigation into Luo Qi’s cause of death, we found during a review of hospital records that the records were deliberately destroyed this year, which led us to Professor Ouyang.”

Shi Shijie said indifferently, “Is there a result?”

Dragon inferred, “Luo Qi should have been murdered. During a shootout with the bandits back then, he took several shots, but could have been saved. Someone put an additional shot in the back, and Professor Ouyang said that bullet was fired from a police firearm. But with his authoritative forensic report and the chaotic firefight at the scene, the truth was likely covered up by people in the dark.”

Shi Shijie frowned slightly, “You say it was done by someone within the police force?”

Dragon pondered for a moment, “It can’t be ruled out, but it could also be a counterfeit or a lost police firearm… that’s possible as well.”

Shi Shijie was silent for a while but then said, “The second possibility is almost negligible. If it was an assassination targeted from the beginning, why find Professor Ouyang to falsify evidence afterward? Furthermore, they wouldn’t use a weapon with such an obvious trail… It’s estimated the real murderer acted on impulse at the time… Dragon.”

“Here!”

Shi Shijie said seriously, “Investigate all the police involved when this case happened years ago. Many years have passed, and evidence has likely been destroyed by those in the dark, making the investigation troublesome. Be meticulous and leave no stone unturned. I must go back to Mrs. Ma’s place.”

“Don’t worry, investigation is my specialty!” Dragon smiled slightly.

Shi Shijie said indifferently, “A reconnaissance ace from the military, I certainly trust you. Go back to the company for compensation and let your men do their best.”

“Thank you, President Shi.”

…

…

Luo Qiu had ample experience dealing with crying people.

The sadness and grief of Elder Song had been buried for decades, and it’s better to vent than to suppress, so letting him cry freely to release the tension is the best approach.

He didn’t plan to console this elder, and Song Haoran didn’t plan to comfort his father either. As for Butler Uncle Wu, he probably had a similar thought.

Song Tianyou’s crying began to lessen, and he exhaled a breath, finally calming down. Luo Qiu handed over a handkerchief.

Song Tianyou was startled, then took it, wiped away his tear stains, and awkwardly smiled: “Few young people carry handkerchiefs these days.”

Luo Qiu smiled and said, “Probably because I’m rather old-fashioned, and using a handkerchief isn’t as wasteful, plus it’s more eco-friendly.”

“A gentleman should be gentle and kind” Elder Song smiled slightly and suddenly said, “Could I have this handkerchief?”

Luo Qiu nodded.

Elder Song then said, “You go ahead and light a few incense sticks; it’s like paying respects to your ancestors.”

Luo Qiu compliantly followed suit.

Only then did Elder Song say, “It’s about time; let’s go for a meal.”

…

Having a meal not only fills one’s belly but often signifies a gathering. It’s an excellent way to exchange and connect emotions with others.

A Ba Xian table, a small hall, three people, four chairs, one might be missing, perhaps the niece Song Ying whom Song Haoran mentioned.

“Grandpa, Uncle.”

A clear and pleasant sound reached Luo Qiu and the others soon after they sat down, coming from the side door of the small hall.

Still in the well-tailored cheongsam and the eye-catching pink bun, though due to the lighting, it seemed to have a hint of purple.

The color produced a magical transformation under the lights, shifting unpredictably.

Elder Song pointed to the cheongsam-clad woman and said, “This is Song Ying, my niece. This is Luo Qiu…”

Song Tianyou slowly exhaled at this moment, “He is my brother’s grandson, the rightful heir of our Song Family.”

Uncle Wu trembled inwardly; although from the start at the memorial chapel with the Elder Song, he nearly guessed it, the subsequent conversation at the chapel confirmed it, yet Elder Song’s words were the most shocking.

Because Song Tianyou’s words directly established Luo Qiu’s position in the Song Family’s continuation far away in South America… the firstborn grandson.

Song Tianyou valued tradition and etiquette heavily, never changing throughout the years. Even though he single-handedly created a new Song Family empire, he never declared himself the head of the Song Family to those closest to him.

Elder Song said this belonged to his brother, and he was merely safeguarding and managing it well on his behalf.

Because without his brother, he wouldn’t exist.

“Song Ying, we’ve met.”

Song Ying calmly extended her hand to Luo Qiu at this time and smiled slightly.