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

Chapter 329 Xia Yu's Analysis

After leaving Huang Yanli's house, in the car, Zhou Yi asked, "Officer Xia, how is it? Any thoughts?"

Xia Yu, who was driving, said earnestly, "Officer Zhou, I really want to take you as my role model from now on. You solve cases so calmly, it's just like when I'm working on a case with our Captain Pan."

Zhou Yi realized he had misunderstood and quickly said, "I meant the case. Do you have any thoughts on it?"

"My job is to help the team, look up information and such. I have very little experience..." Xia Yu said apologetically.

Zhou Yi frowned slightly. He didn't know if this was the prevailing trend in An Yuan's area or just Pan Hongjie's personal style of doing things.

But that's obviously not going to work. Since he's a criminal police officer, he can't be used as an assistant. Doing so would easily turn Xia Yu into someone who lacks initiative and independent thinking.

Even if he gains more experience by then, it will be difficult for him to become a capable criminal investigator; he will only be an experienced but inexperienced soldier.

On the contrary, Wu Yongcheng did a very good job in this regard.

Aside from being a "special case" who was highly valued by him, he treated everyone else equally. Everyone had a lot of responsibilities, and he would arrange work according to individual circumstances.

Pan Hongjie's method of leading troops is too conservative and old-fashioned.

No wonder Xia Yu always gives off a sense of insecurity, always having to ask Pan Hongjie for advice.

"Officer Xia, you're wrong. We're criminal investigators. Our job is to solve cases, not to be assistants. Besides, solving cases requires experience, talent, and logical thinking. It's not that being older necessarily makes you better, nor does being younger mean you're incompetent. Young criminal investigators shouldn't underestimate themselves because of this."

Zhou Yi's earnest words surprised Xia Yu, because no one had ever said these things to him before.

He nodded, somewhat excitedly.

"Officer Zhou, thank you for saying that. You are truly a role model for people our age."

Zhou Yi smiled and asked, "So, what are your thoughts on this case?"

"Okay. I think Huang Yanli is lying."

"why?"

"Because she distanced herself too much. Even if she and Zheng Guangming were only superficially in a relationship, it's illogical that they haven't been in contact for so long. Even if she doesn't contact him, she should at least contact the child. She just said that Zheng Guangming spoiled his youngest son, which means that Zheng Guangming and Zheng Tianyu have a good father-son relationship. How could he not call his youngest son for so long?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Continue."

"There's another strange thing. She said Zheng Guangming left on March 16th. According to her, Zheng Guangming wouldn't have arrived in the provincial capital until late at night. He would have taken a plane to Haicheng the next day and then left the country from Haicheng. In other words, according to Zheng Guangming's itinerary, he would have stayed in China for at least three more days."

“If she went abroad, she could make excuses for not contacting us for various reasons, but she hasn’t called at all in the past three days, which is very abnormal.”

"Moreover, Zheng Guangming has been traveling for the past three days, and he's been on planes and trains, which are public places. It's impossible that he's been fooling around with women all the time and doesn't even have time to make a phone call."

"Although Huang Yanli made various excuses to shift the blame for not contacting Zheng Guangming, my feeling is that she was trying her best to emphasize that they had no contact since March 16th, thus giving herself a reasonable excuse for not reporting her husband missing for so long."

Xia Yu said with a solemn expression, "But I think it's more like she already knew that Zheng Guangming died on March 16th, and was afraid that if she said they had been in contact, she wouldn't be able to explain it later and it would arouse the suspicion of the police."

Zhou Yi couldn't help but give a thumbs up and said, "Officer Xia, you're amazing. You're right, Huang Yanli's actions have a strong sense of trying to cover up her true intentions. Just like you said, she's finding all sorts of reasons to make her reasons seem reasonable. Her logic is like a process of deducing backwards from Zheng Guangming's death on March 16th."

Xia Yu nodded excitedly: "You feel the same way? And I also think that Zheng Guangming's eldest son, Zheng Tianlan, is a bit strange. He is the general manager of the company. Huang Yanli said that one of the reasons why Zheng Tianlan's family moved out of the villa was that Zheng Guangming was too involved. So, for the sake of a so-called overseas inspection, he just left the company to Zheng Tianlan and ignored it for more than a month? That's a contradiction in logic."

“That’s right, you’re absolutely right. And the Anyuan Investment Promotion Conference is just around the corner. As an industry representative, Zheng Guangming definitely has to attend. Logically speaking, Zheng Tianlan should be extremely anxious.”

Yesterday, Xia Yu collected information about Zheng Guangming's company.

Zheng Guangming's businesses are not simply a few chicken farms and two pig farms.

Instead, it has built a complete commercial and trade industrial chain centered on chicken farms and pig farms, including breeding, slaughtering, transportation, and wholesale.

In other words, Zheng Guangming raises his own chickens and pigs, slaughters them himself, and then sells them wholesale through cold chain transportation to various parts of the province. From there, distributors sell them to retailers, and finally they end up on the tables of thousands of households.

Although Anyuan is not only home to Zheng Guangming's chicken farm, it is undoubtedly the largest and best-developed.

There was a company that was even bigger than Zheng Guangming's, the one the restaurant owner had mentioned. Unfortunately, after he died, the family fought fiercely over the inheritance, causing the business to plummet and allowing Zheng Guangming to catch up.

Therefore, at Anyuan's investment promotion conference, Zheng Guangming's status should be that of someone who sits on the dais.

Knowing about this matter, how could he have gone abroad and disappeared for so long without a trace? This investment promotion conference was officially initiated and is one of the important measures taken by the Anyuan local government to promote economic development.

This is why the case was passed down from higher levels, setting a deadline for Pan Hongjie to solve it. Zheng Guangming may not be a good person, but he couldn't possibly be a fool to have built such a large business empire. Businessmen most want to curry favor with officials; he certainly knew which was more important.

Xia Yu pointed out some more suspicious points, most of which Zhou Yi had already noticed, but his ability to articulate the logical problems within them still surprised Zhou Yi.

“Officer Xia, don’t do assistant work anymore. You’re a top-notch criminal investigator. Experience can be cultivated over time, but this kind of logical thinking ability and keen observation are invaluable.” Zhou Yi patted him on the shoulder and said, “Don’t waste your talent.”

Xia Yu turned back and glanced at Zhou Yi gratefully.

"Officer Zhou, I have a question that I don't quite understand and would like to ask you."

"You said."

"Zheng Guangming is so rich, why would he listen to Huang Yanli? Huang Yanli is clearly not a strong woman, and her family has no background. Zheng Guangming could do whatever he wanted, right? But judging from Huang Yanli's words, when it comes to playing around with women, Zheng Guangming is constrained by the bottom line she has set."

Zhou Yi stretched. It's not surprising that Xia Yu didn't know the answer to this question, because some things hadn't yet taken shape in small cities in the 1990s.

"Because he was afraid that if they divorced, Huang Yanli would take a portion of his assets."

"As Huang Yanli has said before, Zheng Guangming was already wealthy when he was pursuing her, but not as wealthy as he is now. Their youngest son is already five years old, which means that Zheng Guangming's career has been steadily rising since he married Huang Yanli. Therefore, his money is not his own money, but rather the joint property of the couple."

"I estimate that Zheng Guangming and Huang Yanli did not sign a prenuptial agreement when they got married. He was probably afraid that Huang Yanli would not marry him if he did, because Huang Yanli is shrewd and that's a possibility. Of course, I am more inclined to believe that Zheng Guangming did not understand the law, so he did not have such awareness at the time."

The difference between nouveau riche and capitalists lies in this: nouveau riche are a group of people who were originally uneducated but suddenly became rich and acquired wealth beyond their understanding. As a result, they start to create all sorts of trouble and naturally do not understand how to protect their property.

Capitalists are either high-achieving graduates from prestigious universities who have carved out a bloody path in the business world, or people who are born with wealth. These are not comparable to nouveau riche. They will use legal provisions that ordinary people cannot understand to protect themselves and their money.

Even without a prenuptial agreement, there are countless ways to ensure that the woman receives nothing in a divorce, or even has to pay out of her own pocket.

Zheng Guangming must belong to the former category, which is why he was controlled by Huang Yanli regarding the matter of the illegitimate child.

Otherwise, given his preferences, he might have planted them everywhere, like piglets being born.

"So Huang Yanli keeps saying she wants to protect her rights. She's not afraid of Zheng Guangming divorcing her, but she's afraid of having an illegitimate child who will fight her son for the property."

After all, the Inheritance Law promulgated in 1985 stipulates that children born out of wedlock also have legal inheritance rights, but they need to provide proof of parentage.

It used to be difficult, but now with DNA technology, it's so easy to confirm. Wealthy people can simply go to Hong Kong or overseas for testing.

"Sigh, there's not a trace of affection in this marriage; it's all scheming," Xia Yu sighed.

Zhou Yi smiled helplessly, "You'll see more of this in the future and it won't seem so strange anymore. The world is full of things that defy your values."

The two drove to the headquarters of Guangming Trading Co., Ltd. in Anyuan City. After leaving Huang Yanli's house, Zhou Yi called Zheng Tianlan, who told him that she was at the company.

Upon arriving at Guangming Trade Center, the two showed their identification to the receptionist, who immediately called "General Manager Zheng."

Soon a man in a suit rushed downstairs. Upon seeing the two, he warmly shook hands with them, then invited them to his office to chat, and even instructed the receptionist to brew the best tea and bring it up.

Zhou Yi had seen Zheng Tianlan's household registration information and knew that he was of average appearance and short stature, the kind of person who would be easily lost in a crowd.

Zheng Tianlan pushed open the door to her office and said warmly, "Officers, please have a seat. I wonder if you're here for the investment promotion conference next month? Oh dear, my dad called me from abroad a few days ago, saying he broke his leg there and probably won't be able to come back for a while. He asked me to attend the conference in his place."

"What?" His words shocked Xia Yu.

　Just a quick note: I saw some people questioning the identification of the body found in Xiaoqiushan Park, feeling that the investigation was being forced and that a DNA test would suffice.

　　Please explain:
　　1. According to official records, Beijing police officially and fully implemented DNA testing services for criminal investigations in 1998, which is documented.

　　This means that the adoption rate of DNA is extremely low. In small inland cities, the conditions in this area are at least 5-10 years behind, because DNA laboratories require not only equipment, but also technology, talent, and money!
　　2. In Zhou Yi's own province, the establishment of a DNA laboratory only began in 97, spearheaded by a university. The second case in Donghai Community was triggered by this. Zhou Yi was unaware of the situation in Anyuan, which was smaller and poorer than Hongcheng, and the local police were completely unaware of this.

　　3. Even if there is a place to send DNA tests, the process takes a very, very long time.

　　4. A body buried underground for 40 days is basically impossible to identify by facial features.

　　5. The identification of the corpse is foreshadowing; you'll soon find out what I'm going to do. This is a major foreshadowing, related to a more explicit main plot; you can guess what it is when the time comes.

　　6. Before surveillance and DNA testing, investigations were basically brute-force methods, which is practically giving the protagonist a cheat code in the novel.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)