Chapter 85

At this moment, it was noon, and it was mealtime. KFC was bustling with people, with several children running around. All the staff were busy, and finding an empty seat was not easy.

Sunlight streamed in through the glass curtain wall. Before Lu Siyu and Song Wen arrived, they had already eaten lunch. Lu Siyu still instructed Song Wen to buy some mashed potatoes, fries, egg tarts, and a cup of hot milk. Then he pushed the fries towards Zhuo Zhuo. Zhuo Zhuo didn’t hesitate and reached out to take the fries, along with a packet of ketchup, which she used to dip the fries.

In front of them sat a very thin woman with slender, slightly upturned eyes, giving her a smart and alert appearance. Her lips were very thin, almost non-existent, evoking the phrase “cold-hearted.”

Song Wen also had an egg tart. His mind was always on the case, and he couldn’t help but ask, “What exactly were you talking about in the group chat last night regarding the job?”

The three of them sat by the window in KFC, discussing serious topics, but it looked like they were just regular colleagues having a meal together.

Zhuo Zhuo looked at him, wiped the tomato sauce off her fingers with a napkin, and said, “As for the job, it’s nothing more than having an employer pay money to get people to do things.”

“Specifically?” Song Wen continued to inquire. He glanced at Lu Siyu, who was drinking milk beside him, his head lowered in concentration, still looking indifferent.

“People who are terminally ill and close to death are generally bolder than ordinary people,” Zhuo Zhuo said as she reached out to grab a paper from under her tray. She tore it open and whispered, “Based on my experience, there are cases where forceful evictions are needed. Sometimes, when conflicts escalate, having a seriously ill person lying on the ground adds more weight than saying a lot of words. There are also cases where people need help transporting things back to China. As for what they’re transporting, I’m not sure. Baby formula? Animal specimens? Or… there are also cases where people need organ donations. Once, there was an employer who took a fancy to a girl’s kidney. The girl had stomach cancer that had spread. At the time, I advised the middleman to reconsider, in case the cancer had spread to the kidney as well. But the other party said that the match was there. Without a transplant, she could live for another six months. With a successful transplant, even with cancer, she might live for another two years. Profit.”

Her words were thought-provoking. As she spoke, Zhuo Zhuo tilted her head as if these things were perfectly normal, as ordinary as eating and sleeping. “There will be one of these job opportunities every once in a while.”

To Song Wen, these words sounded bizarre. As a police officer, he had never heard of such things, let alone considered them. Any of these matters, if posted online, would surely spark lengthy discussions.

Lu Siyu continued to ask, “So, what about the time Chen Yanqiu went?”

Zhuo Zhuo recalled, “That time, they specified that they needed a young man who could drive. They had to send over medical records, lifestyle photos, and ID photos.”

Song Wen interjected, “What did Chen Yanqiu specifically do?”

Zhuo Zhuo shook her head, “I don’t know. After that, it’s between the buyer and him. Whether it succeeds or not depends on them. I’m just a middleman. Once both parties are notified, my job is done.”

“What about the timing?”

Zhuo Zhuo calculated the time, “It was around the end of December last year.”

“The exact time,” Song Wen pressed further. Sometimes, the timing of events is crucial.

Zhuo Zhuo checked her phone, “It was early morning on December 25th last year, Christmas Eve. They contacted me around 2 a.m., and I received the money at around 6 a.m. It went smoothly that time, and the transaction was completed on the same day.”

Song Wen reviewed the timeline. This time was before Zhang Rui’s death, and even before Chen Yanqiu’s death. With only this information, they couldn’t determine whether this “job” had any connection to Chen Yanqiu’s subsequent actions. The only certainty was that after this “job,” Chen Yanqiu was still alive.

Song Wen thought for a moment and asked, “How much money did they offer Chen Yanqiu for this job?”

Zhuo Zhuo lowered her head, folding the napkin in her hands slowly, “I’m not sure. The price was negotiated between them. But based on the commission they gave me, it wouldn’t be less than five hundred thousand.” Then she paused, “With that five hundred thousand, you could buy his life.”

“Is there anything else you remember about this?” Song Wen inquired.

Zhuo Zhuo continued folding the napkin meticulously, “The person on the other end seemed quite urgent. That’s all I remember. It was because they were so generous. I woke up after a nap, and the money was already in my account.”

“Who was the person who hired him?”

Zhuo Zhuo replied, “The person who contacted me was also a middleman, who handed over to the upstream employer. They would find the most suitable person based on different situations. They don’t just know me; every time something happens, they select the most suitable person and proceed.”

Song Wen furrowed his brow slightly. From what he heard, this underground market was probably even bigger than he imagined, with both buyers and sellers making independent choices. “What about that time Chen Yanqiu went? Did the middleman mention who wanted him to do the job?”

“The employer behind the scenes, I don’t know, and I don’t care. I’m not curious,” Zhuo Zhuo seemed a bit impatient with Song Wen’s questions. She looked out the window.

Lu Siyu took out the envelope filled with money and placed it on the table.

Zhuo Zhuo’s gaze was drawn to the envelope, like a boy seeing his favorite race car, like a girl seeing her favorite cosmetics, like a starving person seeing delicious food. She squinted slightly, “But about this middleman, I’ll give you some information. There’s a woman in Nancheng called Fish Goddess who specializes in these kinds of job opportunities. She has both laborers and intermediaries under her. Laborers are people who need to engage in special labor for a long time. Many laborers have been raised since childhood. Intermediaries will select from the candidates provided by us, the downstream labor bosses.”

As she spoke, Zhuo Zhuo lowered her head again, “I’m just doing business for the money. I don’t know anything else.”

Whether those who worked for her lived or died, or what they did afterward, she didn’t care at all. Even if they were sent to their deaths, she wouldn’t mind. That indifferent expression seemed to suggest that what beat in her chest wasn’t a heart.

“Do you know how to contact them?”

Zhuo Zhuo shook her head, “I don’t know because they always contact me. If you can’t find out anything, it’s because those people are very cautious. They know we might have their information, so they clear it out after each transaction. If they find out I’ve leaked anything, I won’t be able to handle the consequences.”

“What about Zhang Rui? How much do you know about him?” Song Wen added another question.

Zhuo Zhuo replied, “Him? He always wanted to work, but his luck wasn’t as good as Chen Yanqiu’s. He signed up several times…” She paused, seeming hesitant.

Song Wen caught onto the hesitation sensitively, “What? Were there any twists in this matter?”

Zhuo Zhuo shook her head, “It’s not exactly a twist. Initially, the employer chose Zhang Rui and asked about some basic information, but he suddenly said he couldn’t go and asked if Chen Yanqiu could take his place.” She sighed, looking down at her hands, “Zhang Rui, he’s not very lucky. He couldn’t get selected no matter how much he tried before. Finally, when he did get chosen, he couldn’t go, so he had to give the opportunity to his friend.”

Song Wen’s questions were almost finished, and he couldn’t help but reveal his disgust, “Do you call being selected luck? Aren’t you afraid the other party might be involved in illegal activities and implicate you?”

Zhuo Zhuo didn’t answer his question. Instead, she turned to Lu Siyu and asked, “Is the information I provided enough?”

Lu Siyu didn’t speak but handed her the envelope.

Zhuo Zhuo took it, sniffed it, then rubbed the texture of the banknotes with her fingertips. “Before I got sick, I was an accountant. I handled a lot of money every month. Those weren’t mine, but I counted them myself. When I was young, I didn’t think much of these things. It wasn’t until I got sick that I fell in love with them. Fresh banknotes have a smell. They smell so good.”

“After I got sick, my family gradually went bankrupt. We couldn’t afford haircuts, new clothes, fruits, or meat. My father sold our house and borrowed money everywhere…” Zhuo Zhuo finished speaking, put the bag away, and then played with the napkin she had just folded with her fingers, glancing back and forth between Song Wen and Lu Siyu, “Are you police officers?”

Song Wen didn’t say anything, and Lu Siyu placed the milk on the table and answered her, “If you’re not breaking the law, we won’t arrest you.” The implication was clear: if you do break the law, then who knows.

“I’m just curious, can you reimburse these expenses?” Zhuo Zhuo asked with her head down. After asking, she suddenly grinned. At this moment, Song Wen noticed that she had a dimple. When she smiled, she didn’t look bad, but her words were like knives.

“Threatening me won’t work. Everyone understands the logic. But, we’re not afraid of death, so why fear these things? Whether it’s the law or not, at least in prison, someone will feed us and take care of us when we’re sick. Many of us don’t even have these basic guarantees. For us, leaving some money for our loved ones before we die is enough. If someone gave me a million yuan to leave for my parents, I’d be willing to die now.”

Zhuo Zhuo smiled at the two men in front of her. The smile was beautiful but poisonous. “Being a good person, can it make me live two more days?” Before they could answer, she shook her head. Then she reached into her bag and patted the ten thousand yuan that Lu Siyu had just given her. Her eyes curved with a smile, but there were twinkles in her eyes. “But, it can.”

Song Wen looked at this woman who operated in the dark. She was like the people he had encountered before, with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, but somehow different. It seemed that her character had changed from within, making it difficult to judge her with the moral standards of human society.

If measured by law, she seemed to have no substantial evidence of wrongdoing that could be used to catch and prosecute her. She was disgusting to look at, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit sympathetic.

Lu Siyu glanced at her and said, “Being sick must be tough, right?”

Zhuo Zhuo looked up at him with a somewhat aloof expression, as if implying that she wasn’t worth his concern, “Being sick is like drawing a bad lot. I just happened to be unlucky. When you experience it in the future, you’ll know. Life is a process of bodily decay. It’s just that the speed varies from person to person.”

Her tone was very calm, revealing resignation and unwillingness beneath the surface. After speaking, she stood up, adjusted her clothes, and said, “I have chemotherapy in the afternoon. I’ll leave first. Officers, I wish you success in solving the case.”

Song Wen watched Zhuo Zhuo leave and then sighed, “Even if you’re about to die, what’s the point of living like this?”

“Anyway, she’s not the murderer. Now we need to find out what Chen Yanqiu did at the time, whether it’s related to his death, and where the other money he received went…” Lu Siyu spoke, sighing, “People change. Perhaps she wasn’t like this in the past.”

Zhuo Zhuo’s splendor, this was originally supposed to be a name full of fiery enthusiasm.
*zhuo zhuo – burning