Chapter 2 lively and fragrant

"Ugh-"

"Captain Zhang, I, ugh, I-"

"I can't take it anymore, ugh!"

Behind Zhang Donglei, the young male officer also covered his mouth, turned away, and vomited against the wall. It seemed even the leftover dinner from the night before was regurgitated.

Even Zhang Donglei, an experienced officer with limited exposure to murder cases, stood frozen in the initial moments, unsure of what to do.

Similarly, his stomach churned violently. When the male officer finished vomiting and Zhang Donglei regained composure, they exchanged glances. The young officer, leaning against the wall, said, "Captain Zhang, what should we do?"

Zhang Donglei's lips twitched. "What else can we do? In-form, inform..."

Zhang Donglei hesitated to speak, but as soon as he did, he lost control. The male officer immediately approached, gently patting Zhang Donglei's back. "Captain Zhang, I understand. Shall we report to the municipal bureau?"

"Yes, yes! I'll make the call to the city, and you go, go get some buckets..."

"Have Wang check the victim's identity, Li Tao investigate the accounts, Chen Yan look into the victim's social connections, Xu Ming, Xu Ming extract footprints and fingerprints from the scene, and, um..."

"Have Jiang Hua contact the forensic examiner!"

"Alright, alright!"

A few minutes later, Zhang Donglei forcibly held back the urge to vomit, but his face was incredibly pale, devoid of any color.

About twenty minutes later, several police cars arrived at the Dream East Villa, parking in front of the B021 gate.

Lei Ming, the captain of the Cang'er City Criminal Investigation Brigade, led his team inside with a grave expression, proceeding to the second floor.

Looking at the buckets placed outside the bedroom door and sensing the pungent odor in the air, Lei Ming asked Zhang Donglei's group, "Did someone throw up here?"

Zhang Donglei and his two subordinates looked at each other, nodding in succession.

Lei Ming uttered, "Zhang Donglei, aren't your men seasoned officers? Do they not understand the importance of preserving the crime scene? Do they think I share their carefree attitude?"

"Do they think I'm like them?"

Zhang Donglei remained silent with his head down. Pale and bloodless, he turned away and gestured toward the bedroom with a painful expression.

"Look at yourself! Is it not just a dismembered corpse? I've seen worse. Is there a ghost inside?"

Lei Ming stood in front of the bedroom door, glanced inside-

**********!

Gulp!

Lei Ming swallowed hard, standing motionless at the bedroom entrance. However, his shoulders moved rapidly several times.

The officers behind Lei Ming also turned pale, and two young officers silently turned away, their faces drained of color. Zhang Donglei pointed to the buckets he had prepared.

The two officers expressed their gratitude and took a bucket each, one of them muttering, "Ugh!"

Listening to the continuous vomiting behind him, Lei Ming silently stepped away from the door, surveyed the surroundings, walked to the window, reached into his pocket, and fumbled for a while, finding nothing.

A cigarette was handed to Lei Ming by Zhang Donglei's slightly trembling hand. Lei Ming tried to light it with his own lighter, but after a few attempts, he couldn't get it to ignite. He glanced at Zhang Donglei, who shook his head, lifting an unlit cigarette from his hand. "Don't look at me; my hands are shaking too."

Lei Ming placed the cigarette in his pocket, took a deep breath, pursed his lips, turned, and opened the nearby window a bit.

After a while, Zhang Donglei heard Lei Ming make a forceful swallowing motion, followed by, "Lao Zhang, prepare yourself; we're going to be in the news."

Taking the wrinkled, unlit cigarette from his pocket, Lei Ming held it under his nose and took a deep sniff. "Understood."

Half an hour later, all the officers gathered around Lei Ming and Zhang Donglei.

Lei Ming asked, "Did we find out about the victim? Share the details!"

A young officer, pale-faced with traces of vomit around his mouth, held a folder. "The victim's name is Wu Tian, a changed name. His original name was Zhang Hui, divorced and living alone. He was a human trafficker."

"He had a previous prison term, five years, and was released in April last year."

"From the time of his release until three months ago, we found no criminal activities. However, in April this year, he made an unusually large transfer, noted as 'buying dolls,' suspected to have returned to his old ways."

Another officer, weak and colorless, continued, "I checked Wu Tian's account. He was very wealthy, especially in the last two months. Wu Tian had remarkably good luck recently."

"Whether in stocks, cryptocurrencies, or gambling, he seemed to win big in everything he invested in, all jackpot wins!"

"The 'unusual transfer' Wang Qi mentioned was a transfer of two million made by the victim three months ago, using his ex-wife's account. We also traced the recipient's information!"

Lei Ming and Zhang Donglei said in unison, "Speak!"

The female officer glanced at the folder in her hand, frowning. "A seventeen-year-old boy named Yang Ning."

...

In Zhongzhou, on the airport expressway.

A well-dressed young man, wearing white clothes and trousers, carrying a white cloth bag, with gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, sat in a taxi heading towards the city. He looked out of the window at the passing scenery, picked up his phone, and placed it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Mr. Yang Ning?"

"Yes, it's me."

"Mr. Yang, hello. Are you planning to visit the shops on Yundu Road? I am Chen Lan, the leasing agent who contacted you before. What time are you expecting to arrive today?"

"I have about two hours and twenty minutes left."

"Oh, okay. I'll go there early and wait for you!"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Mr. Yang. Goodbye!"

Hang up the phone, Yang Ning continued to look out the window, the scenery rapidly retreating. The driver grinned and said, "Young man, it won't take you two hours and twenty minutes to get to Yundu Road! I've been driving a taxi in Zhongzhou for over twenty years. I know this route very well! You can trust me; I'll get you there in no more than an hour and a half!"

Yang Ning turned his face slightly and revealed a faint smile, whispering, "Alright, thank you, sir."