Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 308 Business Failure (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Ding Wenyuan's trading company is not actually very large.

The moment Zhou Yi saw Ding Wenyuan, he knew that this man was probably not connected to the crime, because he was a dark-skinned middle-aged man with wrinkles on his face. When Zhou Yi shook hands with him, he could feel his rough skin and thick calluses.

When he learned that they had come for Fu Daqing, he was visibly taken aback, as if trying to recall who that name belonged to.

Until Zhou Yi whispered two words to remind him: "Brother Gua".

He suddenly realized and exclaimed, "Oh dear, I haven't heard this name in years. Please, officers, have a seat."

Ding Wenyuan wanted to find a cup to pour water for the two of them, but after searching for a long time, he couldn't find one. In the end, he cut up a plate of honeydew melon and placed it in front of them.

He chuckled sheepishly, "Sorry, we don't have any cups. Why don't you two have some melon? It's really sweet. We don't have much else here, but we have plenty of fruit."

Zhou Yi looked at the melon in front of him and found it quite novel, as this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

He didn't stand on ceremony, said thank you, picked it up and took a bite. It was indeed sweet and crisp, with an excellent texture.

"Hmm, Mr. Ding, this melon is pretty good," Zhou Yi said in surprise.

Ding Wenyuan smiled smugly and said, "See? I didn't lie to you. Young comrade, you should try some too."

Xia Yu was initially quite reserved, but seeing how composed Zhou Yi was, he picked up a piece as well.

"Hmm, delicious. This isn't a melon from Anyuan, is it?"

"No, they came from the north and just arrived yesterday. It's a good thing they arrived yesterday, otherwise these melons wouldn't have lasted long after today's heavy rain," Ding Wenyuan said enthusiastically. "You two can take a couple back and try them later."

After finishing a piece of melon, Zhou Yi wiped his mouth and waved his hand, "That's not appropriate. I'll buy two to take back later. Boss Ding, don't sell them to me cheaply. Pay the proper price."

Ding Wenyuan laughed and said, "Okay, come again if you like it, hahaha."

Zhou Yi said, "Boss Ding, let's talk about something serious. We'd like to ask, when was the last time you saw Fu Daqing?"

"Brother Gua, that's been a long, long time, maybe five or six years."

"Five or six years? Was it during the time his business failed?" Zhou Yi asked.

Ding Wenyuan nodded: "Yeah, back then, Brother Gua hadn't gotten into trouble yet."

"Mr. Ding, are you aware of the specific circumstances surrounding Fu Daqing's business failure?"

They had investigated when they were in Hongcheng, but all they knew was that Fu Daqing had failed in his fruit business and lost a lot of money. They didn't know the specifics, and even Fu Daqing's ex-wife didn't know much about it.

"Of course I know. Others may not know that Brother Gua was scammed, but I know it all too well."

"Scammed?" Zhou Yi's criminal investigation nerves immediately kicked in, and he hurriedly asked, "Could you please tell me more details?"

Ding Wenyuan nodded and then said, "You guys eat, there's more if you're not full."

Ding Wenyuan said that he and Fu Daqing were introduced by a friend. Fu Daqing initially ran a fruit shop in Hongcheng, and the business was doing well.

However, he felt that the profit margin of the fruit store was limited, so he decided to start his own fruit wholesale business.

He tasted the watermelons from Anyuan and found them particularly delicious. Since it was summer at the time, he decided to start by selling watermelons from Anyuan. Through a friend in the industry, he met Ding Wenyuan.

At that time, Ding Wenyuan was still a self-employed individual, also doing wholesale business, but on a relatively small scale. He was mainly responsible for buying melons from local melon farmers. Fu Daqing would then purchase the melons from him, transport them back to Hongcheng, and sell them to retailers, namely fruit shops.

They had been working together for four or five years and had a good relationship. Hongcheng's market was indeed larger than Anyuan's, and Ding Wenyuan was honest in business and never cheated Fu Daqing.

Fu Daqing's business was doing very well in those years, which earned him the nickname "Brother Melon". He would frequently travel to Anyuan every summer.

Gradually, Fu Daqing became dissatisfied with the local market in Hongcheng and wanted to expand outwards, selling Anyuan melons throughout the province.

At this point, Ding Wenyuan sighed, "Alas, it was supposed to be a good thing, but making a living in the fields depends on whether God will grant us food or not."

"What happened?" Xia Yu asked.

"That year, Anyuan had a heavy rain, even heavier than today's rain, which lasted for several days. It was right when the watermelons were ripe, and the heavy rain soaked all the watermelons in the fields. The watermelon farmers suffered terribly that year, with almost no harvest."

"Does the melon all spoil if it gets rained on?" Xia Yu asked curiously.

Zhou Yi said, "If you pick them in time, they won't spoil in a short period of time, and it's fine to eat them yourself. But melons that have been soaked in rainwater will have a shorter shelf life and will spoil more easily. I don't know if I'm right, Mr. Ding."

Ding Wenyuan gave a thumbs up and said, "That's right, this police officer knows his stuff. Watermelons are drought-resistant but waterlogged-sensitive crops. They're not afraid of heat, but they are afraid of heavy rain."

"So, exactly why was Fu Daqing scammed?" Zhou Yi asked.

“That year he was expanding his business when this heavy rain came. The melons grown by the melon farmers in my area were all flooded, so we couldn’t supply him. He was very anxious because he had already received deposits from many people, and if we didn’t supply them, he would lose money.”

"Later, I don't know where he found someone and got a batch of melons. I even warned him to be careful not to get scammed, but he said the person ran a greenhouse and the melons hadn't been soaked in rain. I immediately felt something was off; Anyuan isn't that big, and I'd never heard of such a person before." Zhou Yi asked, "And then what happened?"

"And that's when the problem arose. Those melons weren't from greenhouses at all. Someone bought a batch of waterlogged melons at a low price and then sold them as good ones, cheating him. So a lot of the melons were fine at the time, but they all spoiled soon after. I think Melon Bro lost a lot of money because of this, and I haven't seen him since."

Ding Wenyuan's words made Zhou Yi realize just how Fu Daqing's life had taken such a sharp turn for the worse.

Aside from the person who lied to him, the main responsibility for this matter really lies with Fu Daqing himself. If he had been more cautious, Zhou Yi believed he would have figured out the problem.

But he was too eager for quick success and instant benefits, and he wouldn't listen to Ding Wenyuan's advice.

This outcome was entirely their own doing.

"Boss Ding, you haven't seen Fu Daqing since then?" Zhou Yi asked.

"No, I didn't even remember you if you hadn't mentioned it was Brother Gua," Ding Wenyuan said naturally, seemingly without pretense.

"Do you know who swindled Fu Daqing back then? You all know each other in your circle, right?"

"Oh, I really don't know that, but I can try to find out for you."

"That's great. If it's convenient for you, Mr. Ding, could you expedite this matter? We're in a bit of a hurry about it."

"Okay, okay, it's nothing."

Zhou Yi looked at Xia Yu and said, "Officer Xia, why don't you leave Mr. Ding's contact information? If Mr. Ding finds out anything, he can let us know anytime."

Xia Yu immediately nodded and said okay, then wrote down a landline number.

Ding Wenyuan put the number away and asked with some concern, "Comrades, can I ask what happened to Brother Gua? He's a good person. We haven't been in touch for so many years, I wonder how he is now?"

Zhou Yi smiled and said, "He's fine. We're just conducting a routine investigation. By the way, Mr. Ding, besides you, does he have any other acquaintances in Anyuan?"

Ding Wenyuan thought for a moment and said, "Acquaintances? They should be friends I used to drink and eat with when we were doing business together. They're all in the fruit business. But as far as I know, they haven't had much contact with Brother Gua for many years, because I've never heard anyone mention him when we were drinking together."

"If it's convenient, could you write down the contact information for all these old acquaintances for us?"

Hearing Zhou Yi say that, Ding Wenyuan immediately became nervous again. This didn't seem like anything was wrong at all.

"Let me look for my business cards, please wait a moment." Ding Wenyuan began rummaging through drawers and cabinets on his old desk.

This trading company has only one office of about 30 square meters; the rest is warehouse space. The office has a few tables, and things are piled up in a mess.

At this moment, a young man walked over, holding a stack of receipts, and asked Ding Wenyuan a few questions in the local dialect. Ding Wenyuan also replied in the dialect.

Then Ding Wenyuan took out a few business cards from a worn-out business card holder and handed them to Zhou Yi and the others, saying that they were all from when they were doing business together and had dealings with Brother Gua.

Zhou Yi handed his business card to Xia Yu, then thanked Ding Wenyuan for his cooperation and bought two melons at market price.

Ding Wenyuan saw them out the door, looked at the rain outside, and sighed, "Sigh, I hope it won't rain this hard when the watermelons ripen this year, otherwise we'll be starving again."

Once in the car, Zhou Yi asked, "Officer Xia, what did that employee say to Ding Wenyuan just now?"

"Oh, it's about the invoices. Apparently, the previous accountant quit, and when asked what to do with these invoices, Ding Wenyuan said he's already looking for someone else."

Zhou Yi nodded, as long as it had nothing to do with the case.

"Officer Zhou, are we going to find those people Ding Wenyuan just mentioned next?"

"Okay, whatever you say," Zhou Yi said with a smile.

"Why don't we eat first? It's past lunchtime already. If Captain Pan finds out, he'll definitely scold me for not taking good care of you."

Zhou Yi didn't refuse, and the two found a small restaurant nearby and ate something casually.

Ding Wenyuan gave Zhou Yi five business cards. Zhou Yi looked at them, took out his mobile phone, and dialed the numbers on the business cards one by one.

As a result, one number couldn't be reached, two numbers went unanswered, and when the other two were answered, both said they hadn't contacted Fu Daqing in a long time.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yi said, "Officer Xia, let's go and question these two people in person. I'm afraid I might miss something if I ask them over the phone."

"Okay, this guy surnamed Wang lives nearby, we can go find him first."

That being said, the actual road conditions were much worse than expected, as the continuous heavy rain had flooded many roads, and the two spent a lot of time on the road.

After questioning the two men, it was already dark, but they had gotten nothing.

(End of this chapter)