Chapter 22: The Mysterious Family Massacre (6)

At ten o’clock in the evening, Meng Siqi finally arrived home. She hadn’t expected Ye Xiuhui to still be awake. The woman was lying on the sofa in the living room, watching TV, with a thick blanket covering her lower body.

The moment she saw Meng Siqi, Ye Xiuhui frowned. “Why are you coming home later and later?”

Meng Siqi retorted, “And why are you staying up later and later?”

“I wanted to talk to you this morning, but you ran off so early…”

Meng Siqi started heading upstairs and asked, “What’s so urgent?” Her leg was still aching, and she wanted to clean it up and reapply medicine.

“Hey, don’t go yet.” Ye Xiuhui moved the blanket aside and beckoned her over. “Come here, come here.”

“I’m all sweaty and dirty. You’re not worried I’ll stink up the place?” Meng Siqi deliberately tried to rush the conversation, not wanting to prolong it. After running around all day, she did feel quite uncomfortable.

Seeing that she had stopped, Ye Xiuhui’s expression brightened with a smile. “Yesterday, that President Jiang—Jiang Sheng. What do you think of him?”

“What do you mean, what do I think?” Meng Siqi asked blankly.

“You took his business card yesterday. Don’t tell me you’re not interested at all? The Jiang family is a wealthy family in Jinyang, much richer than ours. His father…”

“That’s right…” Meng Siqi interrupted, clearly feeling the discomfort in her leg. “I’m actually going to his company tomorrow.”

Ye Xiuhui’s smile deepened. “See? You’re not completely indifferent.”

“If that’s all, I’m heading upstairs.”

“Let me know how it goes tomorrow!”

“Got it.” Meng Siqi turned and started climbing the stairs.

“Wait a minute,” Ye Xiuhui suddenly called out. “What happened to your leg?”

“It’s nothing,” Meng Siqi replied calmly. “Just a scratch from a tree branch.”

Ye Xiuhui’s face grew serious. “I really don’t see the point of being a police officer. Either you’re getting hurt or constantly worrying. The salary is pathetic, too. With the Jiang family’s wealth, if you were with him, you wouldn’t have to lift a finger for the rest of your life—”

Meng Siqi, already halfway up the stairs, cut her off. “That’s exactly the kind of life I don’t want. If I had everything handed to me, what’s the difference between me and a corpse?”

“You—” Ye Xiuhui shivered. “Can you not say such ominous things at night?”

The next morning, when Meng Siqi woke up, her leg hurt even more than the day before. She carefully moved her injured leg off the bed and slowly stood up. As long as she could stand, it shouldn’t be too big of a problem. The initial burst of pain was sharp, but after a while, she adapted. She’d need to go back to the hospital to change the dressing.

During breakfast, Ye Xiuhui nagged her again, trying to confirm what time she was going to Jiang Sheng’s company. Meng Siqi casually gave her a time. Just then, the phone rang. Aunt Chang picked up the call and turned to her. “Siqi, it’s for you.”

Hardly anyone ever called Meng Siqi at home. Even Ye Xiuhui was surprised, but then her lips curled into a knowing smile. She must have assumed it was Jiang Sheng.

Meng Siqi was also puzzled about who would call her at home, but when she answered, she realized it was Zhao Leiting. They had planned to visit Longcheng Enterprise together that morning. Zhao Leiting sighed over the phone, “Siqi, my car broke down on the road. I think I hit a rock while driving through the mountains yesterday. I won’t be able to pick you up.”

“So, when are we going to their company?” Meng Siqi asked.

“It’s gonna take a while for me to fix this. I can ask Xiaochuan to pick you up if you want.”

“Oh, no need,” Meng Siqi quickly declined, not wanting to trouble anyone. “I’ll just go ahead and wait for you there. When you’re done, you can meet me.”

“Alright, that works too.”

After hanging up, Ye Xiuhui immediately pried, “Was that Jiang Sheng?”

Meng Siqi took a mouthful of her porridge and grabbed her half-eaten steamed bun. “I’m heading out to catch a ride.”

“Hey, I can ask your brother to drive you.” Ye Xiuhui continued her nagging as Meng Siqi walked out the door.

She hailed a taxi. At this time of day, the buses were likely packed, and with her injured leg, she doubted she could stand for the entire ride.

Half an hour later, she arrived at the entrance of Longcheng Enterprise. She had looked into it beforehand—Longcheng Enterprise was actually owned by Jiang Sheng’s father. As the only son, Jiang Sheng had started taking over parts of the family business in recent years, making him the company’s second-in-command with real authority.

There was a waiting area in the lobby. After waiting for a while without seeing any sign of Zhao Leiting, she decided to proceed without him and approached the front desk to explain the purpose of her visit.

The receptionist immediately called the company’s higher-ups. Meng Siqi could faintly hear parts of the conversation.

The receptionist spoke into the phone, “Officer Meng from the City Public Security Bureau is here to inquire about the land acquisition for the Xiangjiang Hotel development from two years ago.”

“Understood, President Jiang. I’ll inform the administrative department.”

After nodding several times, the receptionist turned back to Meng Siqi with a professional smile. “Officer Meng, may I have your full name?”

Meng Siqi took out her police badge again and showed it. “Meng Siqi.”

“Officer Meng Siqi,” the receptionist relayed into the phone, then listened attentively. Finally, she nodded firmly.

Hanging up, she turned to Meng Siqi with a polite smile. “Apologies for the wait, Officer Meng. I will take you to President Jiang’s reception room now.”

“Thank you.”

Taking the elevator up to the fifth floor, the receptionist led Meng Siqi into a conference room. She pulled out her notebook, already prepared.

The door was slightly open. Moments later, Jiang Sheng, dressed in an expensive suit, appeared at the entrance. As he closed the door, he smiled and said, “Miss Meng, you have my business card, don’t you? You could’ve just called, and I would have come downstairs to greet you.”

Meng Siqi smiled slightly and said, “It’s fine, just handling official business.”

The smile on Jiang Sheng’s face faded a little. He loosened his tie slightly, sat down on the sofa, and slowly lifted his gaze to look at Meng Siqi. “I’ve asked someone to prepare coffee. Before we get down to business, we can chat for a bit.”

Meng Siqi did not refuse. She was here to gather information, and as long as the other party cooperated, everything would go smoothly. It was only polite to follow the host’s lead.

As she smiled faintly, Jiang Sheng said, “I heard you studied at the police academy.”

“Yes, I went straight to the police department for my internship after graduation,” Meng Siqi replied while taking a pen from the notebook she had brought.

“I really envy you.”

Meng Siqi was puzzled. “Envy?”

“You fight against criminals. Isn’t that something to admire? When I was a kid, I had a dream—to marry a police officer when I grew up,” Jiang Sheng said with a casual smile. He took out a cigarette from his pocket. “Back then, I was small and weak, always worried about getting bullied. I just wanted someone to protect me. Haha…”

Meng Siqi wasn’t sure how to respond. However, as Jiang Sheng spoke with ease, his eyes never left her for a second. Just as he was about to light his cigarette, he suddenly paused. “Ah, look at me. I’m so used to this habit, but I should quit smoking in situations like this.”

With an air of disillusionment, he added, “The women around me are nothing like you. They’re always trying to get close to me, but none of them have any real thoughts of their own.”

Meng Siqi maintained a polite smile but said nothing.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Jiang Sheng said, “Come in.” A staff member entered and served coffee before quietly exiting.

Once the door closed again, Meng Siqi decisively picked up her pen. “President Jiang, can we begin now?”

Jiang Sheng smiled and said, “Just call me Jiang Sheng. No need to be so formal.”

Meng Siqi pressed her lips together slightly before speaking in a calm tone. “Two years ago, Longcheng Enterprise acquired land for hotel development in the old pedestrian street. You were in charge of handling the demolition compensation, correct?” Meng Siqi had done her research. At the time, Jiang Sheng had been assigned by his father to oversee the matter.

“Yes.” Jiang Sheng nodded with a firm motion.

“Do you remember a pair of siblings who caused a commotion at the time over the compensation?”

“Who are you referring to?”

“You Meihua and You Shenghua.”

Jiang Sheng’s expression froze momentarily as if trying to recall something. After a while, his face darkened slightly. “You Meihua… Wasn’t she the one who was recently found dead at home?”

It seemed the case had been all over the news. Meng Siqi nodded. “Yes, that’s her.”

Jiang Sheng’s previous casual smile faded. This was now a murder investigation. He twirled the cigarette between his fingers before quickly asking, “Meng Siqi, you’re not suspecting that I had anything to do with this, are you?”

“Of course not. The issue with the demolition compensation may be a lead in the case, so I’m here to gather some information.”

“Oh, I see.” Jiang Sheng nodded slightly. “Go ahead and ask. Though, I may not remember everything clearly.”

“Do you still remember the siblings? It was reported that they had a huge argument at your company over the compensation distribution.”

Jiang Sheng’s gaze lingered on Meng Siqi’s face as if he were deep in thought. However, his eyes also held an intense heat, forcing her to shift slightly to the side.

After a moment, he suddenly had a realization. “Now that you mention it, I do remember. There was a pair of siblings who fought right in our lobby. The brother was a big guy, and the sister was no pushover either. They turned the whole place into chaos. In the end, security had to step in and break them apart.”

“Do you recall the specific reason for their fight? Or how the compensation was divided that led to the dispute?”

“I do remember. The property was co-owned by the siblings, and they were given sixty thousand yuan as compensation. The paperwork was handled by my subordinates, but if you need, I can get a copy for you. Basically, the sister ended up receiving an extra twenty thousand yuan.”

“You mean the sister received forty thousand yuan, while the brother got twenty thousand yuan?”

“Yes. The contract was signed, so it’s possible that the sister used some tactics to sign first, leaving the brother at a disadvantage.”

“That seems unfair.”

Jiang Sheng chuckled. “There was nothing we could do. That was the total compensation amount we had agreed to give. How they divided it among themselves wasn’t our concern. Besides, we needed them to sign quickly. Any delays would have affected our project schedule.”

Meng Siqi acknowledged his point and continued, “Did the younger brother, You Shenghua, ever come back to demand compensation?”

“Yes, more than once. He was quite a troublemaker, which is why I remember him so well. Our legal team showed him the signed contract, and he couldn’t do anything about it.”

Meng Siqi nodded, quickly piecing the situation together in her mind. The storefront was jointly purchased by the siblings, but when it came time for compensation, the split was unfair. Based on the testimony of You Shenghua’s wife, Xu Hongxia, the sister had used the excuse of supporting their elderly mother to justify taking the extra twenty thousand. This had been the root of their conflict and ultimately became the motive for the crime, with You Shenghua as the prime suspect.

After confirming a few more details, Meng Siqi finished her notes and put her pen away. She closed her notebook, slipped it into her bag, and stood up with a polite smile. “Thank you, President Jiang, for your cooperation. I’ll take my leave now. If I need any further documents, I hope you can assist.”

“Siqi,” Jiang Sheng also stood up. “Why don’t you stay for lunch?”

“Sorry, I have to report back to the department. Maybe next time.”

Jiang Sheng’s gaze lingered on her, his eyes tracing her figure. She was tall with perfect proportions. The open trench coat revealed her fitted olive-green police uniform, which accentuated her form. His lips curved into a faint smile. “Since that’s the case, I won’t insist. Let me walk you out.”

“There’s really no need.”

“I happen to be heading downstairs anyway.” He stepped forward and opened the door.

Inside the small elevator, she deliberately stood to one side. However, Jiang Sheng positioned himself in the center, standing so close that she could hardly avoid him.

Every time the elevator doors opened, the company’s employees hesitated to enter. As a result, the entire ride downstairs consisted of just the two of them. Jiang Sheng stood close beside her, his tall frame nearly pressing against her. The scent of tobacco clung to the air, brushing against her ear like an invisible presence.

She even had the unsettling feeling that Jiang Sheng was secretly inhaling her scent. His breath was heavy, making her uncomfortable. With a crisp ding, the elevator reached the first floor.

They walked toward the lobby entrance together. Just as they neared the glass doors, a group of three to five men approached from the outside. Leading them was a tall and imposing man who walked with a steady and confident stride.

Meng Siqi immediately recognized him—it was Lu He.

Their eyes met directly. Lu He’s gaze was indifferent, calm yet deep like the vast sea, steady and restrained, carrying a faint chill.

However, there was something peculiar about his eyes. They seemed to have a penetrating quality, as if he were reading her.

She offered a slight smile as a greeting, but before she could say anything, Lu He and his team stopped directly in front of them.

Just as she was wondering what was going on, Lu He pulled out his police badge and said, “Are you Jiang Sheng?”

So they were here for Jiang Sheng. Meng Siqi instinctively stepped aside to make room.

Lu He’s deep, authoritative voice echoed in her ears. “I am Lu He, Captain of the First Unit of Jin Yang City’s Criminal Investigation Department. Based on reports, your company’s hotel properties are involved in multiple cases of organized prostitution. We need you to cooperate with our investigation.”