Seeing the crime scene flashbacks made me the darling of the police station.

Chapter 216 What is their relationship?
Jinghai University of Science and Technology.

More than a decade has passed since Kang Hong started school.

He found his advisor, department head, and teachers from his school days in the academic affairs system.

The information about him found in the school's academic affairs system did not include any disciplinary record.

So Su Miaoyi and Lu Zhishen met with his advisor at the time.

The advisor is now the department head, while the department head at the time left the school due to health reasons.

Su Miaoyi and her advisor asked Kang Hong.

The counselor had an impression of Kang Hong.

Because he is very smart, has excellent grades, and is the president of their department's student union as well as the class monitor.

I interacted with my advisor a lot.

Listening to the instructor's praise of Kang Hong, Su Miaoyi and Lu Zhishen couldn't understand why such an outstanding person had ended up like this.

"Do you remember when someone reported Kang Hong to the school for frequenting brothels and committing fraud?"

“I remember this incident. I was shocked when I learned about the contents of the report, and I couldn’t believe it. This was because it was completely different from the Kang Hong I usually knew.”

"How was the matter resolved later?" Lu Zhishen asked.

“I talked to Kang Hong, and he said he had never done any of these things and there must be some misunderstanding,” the counselor said. “At the time, I was wondering if he had offended someone and been set up.”

"And then?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"Later it turned out to be a misunderstanding. About a week later, our department head told me that the matter had been resolved. It was a misunderstanding; the whistleblower had mistaken the person for someone else."

"Did the whistleblower mistake someone else? That's what they said at the time?" Su Miaoyi asked again.

“Yes.” The counselor recalled, “I should not be mistaken. I remember saying exactly what was said back then. The whistleblower had the wrong person; it was a student from another school with the same name.”

This reason doesn't match what Xie Lili's mother said at all.

"Was Kang Hong the only one reported at the time?" Lu Zhishen asked.

The counselor thought for a moment and said, "Yes, he's the only one."

Lu Zhishen nodded.

Xie Lili's mother did not know Zhang Bai, and Kang Hong was the main target of the report.

It's reasonable to report only this one person to the school.

"When did the department head resign?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"It's been six or seven years," the counselor said. "I heard it was a serious illness, and there was no need for treatment anymore, so she resigned."

"Have you seen this person before?" Lu Zhishen took out Zhang Bai's photo.

The counselor stared at Zhang Bai's photo for a long time.

Lu Zhishen looked at her, paused, and then asked, "Kang Hong's friend, have you seen him around Kang Hong?"

The counselor looked at him for a while before saying, "I don't know him, and I've never seen him around Kang Hong. Kang Hong is often with his roommates, some from our department and some from other departments, and I know them all. I should be able to recognize him if I see him or a photo now."

After the counselor finished speaking, he was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly added, "But I think he looks familiar."

Su Miaoyi and Lu Zhishen were both looking at her.

“I have a good ability to recognize people. I can remember people I’ve met a few times. This person looks familiar, but I’m sure I haven’t seen him around Kang Hong.”

Hearing her words, Lu Zhishen suddenly realized something. He took out his phone, found a photo, and showed it to his advisor: "Have you seen him before?"

"Yes, I've met her," the counselor said. "This is our department head, who was Kang Hong's husband when she was a student."

Su Miaoyi's eyes darkened, and although her expression didn't change much, she was startled.

The photo on Lu Zhishen's phone was of Zhang Bai's father, Zhang Yanyu. "I knew the photo looked familiar; they look so alike," the counselor said.

"Are you sure this is the department head's husband?" Lu Zhishen asked.

"Yes, he often came to school to pick up our director after get off work. We were all so envious of them back then," the counselor said.

"Do you know what her husband does?" Su Miaoyi asked.

The counselor thought for a while and said, "It seems like they were in the import and export business, but I can't really remember clearly. I just remember that one year they brought me some gifts from abroad."

After leaving the school, Su Miaoyi drove directly to the head of the department's house.

The school has information about the department head, including their address.

Ding Ruoyan, female, 55 years old.

The police system showed that he was single and not registered as married.

Zhang Yanyu is also single.

Furthermore, no information about Zhang Yanyu's ex-wife could be found; only information about Zhang Bai was available.

Su Miaoyi and Lu Zhishen arrived at Ding Ruoyan's residence, only to find out from the property management that Ding Ruoyan's family had moved out more than six years ago and the house had been empty ever since.

After showing their police IDs, the property management staff took Su Miaoyi and Lu Zhishen inside the house for a look.

The room was empty.

It was so empty that there wasn't a single piece of furniture.

According to information from the property management, Ding Ruoyan has always lived here with her parents.

The whole family then moved away together.

Su Miaoyi and Lu Zhishen returned to the Municipal Bureau from Ding Ruoyan's residence.

Upon arriving at the Municipal Bureau, we went to the conference room first.

“Now, Zhang Yanyu, Zhang Bai, Ding Ruoyan, and her parents are all missing,” Su Miaoyi said.

"Ding Ruoyan moved around a year before and after Zhang Yanyu sold the repair shop," Lu Zhishen said.

Chu Xingrou looked at the compiled information and said, "So it was Ding Ruoyan who orchestrated the report against Kang Hong, which is why Kang Hong wasn't punished?"

"Why should we help him?" Qi Feng asked.

"Because of Zhang Bai and Kang Hong's relationship?" Chu Xingrou said.

"What kind of relationship would require this level of involvement? Zhang Bai isn't a student at the University of Science and Technology, so Xie Lili's mother's report won't harm him. It's Kang Hong who will be affected. But what does Kang Hong's influence have to do with Zhang Bai?"

"What if it's just a good relationship?"

“That makes some sense,” Qi Feng said, then added, “What’s the relationship between Zhang Bai and Ding Ruoyan? Stepson? Stepmother?”

"And... what happened that made both families move away and then disappear without a trace?" Lu Zhishen said. "In this information age, how could someone be alive without leaving any trace?"

"Could they already be out of the country?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"Shouldn't there be a record for going abroad?" Qi Feng asked.

“What if he’s a drug dealer?” Su Miaoyi suddenly asked.

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

“I have no direct evidence, and I’m just speculating,” Su Miaoyi said.

"Tell me your guess," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

“Kang Hong’s drug use led to the involvement of so many people, and Kang Hong and Zhang Bai have maintained contact for so many years. After Kang Hong killed his wife, Zhang Bai helped bury the body. According to Kang Hong’s parents, Zhang Bai handled the matter quite professionally. Zhang Bai even asked if Zhang Yanyu was involved with drugs? Was it because of drugs that he became involved with Kang Hong?” Su Miaoyi said, “And is there even a larger trading network behind them?”

(End of this chapter)