I slept with my sister's classmate, and she turned out to be my boss.

Early the next morning.

Captain Wu is at the police station reviewing surveillance footage near Zeng Guosheng's villa, looking for clues about when he left.

The phone rang; it was Chen Yuanda calling.

He quickly answered the call.

Chen Yuanda asked bluntly:

"Zeng Guosheng has fled. What's the situation now?"

Captain Wu paused the surveillance for a moment.

"I'm looking at the direction he left in. The road in front of the villa only has two exits, one going north back to the city, and the other going south along the coastline. If he drove, then the security cameras at the gas stations or shops along the way should have captured his car."

How long will it take to get the results?

"If the local police cooperate by retrieving surveillance footage from the surrounding roads, they should be able to pinpoint the general direction by today." Captain Wu paused for a moment, "but that's on the condition that he didn't change vehicles along the way."

Chen Yuanda paused for a moment:

"Tell me as soon as you find out."

After the call ended.

Captain Wu turned his attention back to the surveillance footage. There was a gas station at the intersection of the road in front of the villa.

He contacted the gas station staff and retrieved the surveillance footage from four days prior.

The picture quality wasn't great, but it was visible around 7:20 PM that day.

A black sedan drove out from the side road.

We didn't stop at the gas station, but turned directly onto the coastal highway and headed south.

Captain Wu recorded the footage and then asked the gas station staff if they had seen the driver in the car.

The other party said they didn't remember, because too many cars pass by every day.

Captain Wu didn't ask any further questions. He noted down the time and direction and then contacted the local police at the southern port.

Please ask them to assist in checking the vehicles that entered the port area during this period.

……

That afternoon, around 3 p.m.

The Southern Port Police Department called:

"A suspicious black sedan appeared in a public parking lot near the port. It was parked around 8 p.m. four days ago. The car did not move after it was parked, but the passengers got out and left the parking lot."

Upon receiving the message, Captain Wu immediately had an officer drive him there.

It takes about two and a half hours to drive from the coastal city where the villa is located to the southern port city.

The police officer slowed down at an intersection and asked him where he was going first.

He said he would go check where the car was parked first.

The parking lot is located on the east side of the port. The ground is paved with uneven cement, and a few cars are scattered around.

The officer parked the car at the entrance, and the two men got out and went inside.

The black sedan was parked in the innermost corner, covered in a layer of dust, and looked like it hadn't been moved for several days.

Captain Wu walked to the car and glanced inside through the window. The car was empty with few items inside.

He stood still, glanced around at his surroundings, then took out his phone and snapped a few photos, saving them to his daily log.

After leaving the parking lot.

Captain Wu and the police officers began checking the hotels and guesthouses around the port.

The port city is small, with only three or four proper hotels.

Most of the hotels are small inns scattered in the alleys of the old town, some of which don't even have signs.

They did not go into each store to inquire.

First, I obtained the hotel check-in records for the past five days from the port police station and then filtered out the entries that were not registered using a passport.

The investigation continued until evening that day.

In the register of an old hotel near the port, the police officer found a record—

A guest checked in two days ago.

The registered name is: "Li Wei".

I didn't register my passport number, I only wrote down my mobile phone number.

The officer took a picture of the name and the phone number and sent it to Captain Wu.

Captain Wu read it once, then glanced at the handwriting—

The handwriting is quite neat, unlike what a local would casually fill out.

"Check this number."

The police officer checked the number and found that it was a prepaid card that was not registered under a real name and had been deactivated.

Captain Wu put down the photo in the register:

"This person's description matches Zeng Guosheng's. The time he registered was exactly the day after that black sedan was parked in the parking lot."

The officer put away the register and went over to knock on the door behind the hotel reception desk.

A boss in his fifties came out from inside.

The police officer showed Zeng Guosheng's photo to the boss.

The boss leaned closer to take a look and thought for a while.

"I vaguely remember that this person did stay at the store for two days. He didn't go out much and ordered takeout to be delivered to his room for meals."

On the day of checkout, he came downstairs, left the key at the front desk, didn't say much, and just left.

Did he call a taxi when he left?

"I didn't notice, but I remember that after that person checked out, they didn't head towards the station, but towards the port."

The owner pointed in the direction of the road in front of the hotel and added:

"The port is at the end of that road."

Captain Wu stood at the hotel entrance and glanced in the direction the owner pointed—the road wasn't long; the port area was at the end.

He stood there for a moment, then turned to the officer and said:

"Let's go back and sort out what happened today."

……

That evening.

Captain Wu made a phone call to Chen Yuanda:

"Director Chen, Zeng Guosheng has arrived in the southern port city."

He stayed at a small hotel for two days, then checked out and headed towards the port.

Chen Yuanda asked, "Can you pinpoint exactly which ship he boarded?"

"Not at the moment. Cargo ships and fishing boats come and go from the port every day, and they may not necessarily use the formal channels."

Tomorrow I will coordinate with the port police and coast guard to check the departure records for the past two days to see if there are any suspicious boarding records.

"Okay, let me know as soon as you have the results."

After hanging up the phone, Captain Wu sat down in his hotel room and compiled the information he had gathered that day into a report to send back to China.

He added a line at the end:

"After checking out, Zeng Guosheng headed towards the port. The next step will be to check the port's departure records."

……

Domestically, at the fugitive apprehension team office.

Upon receiving the report, Chen Dapeng immediately printed it out and went to Chen Yuanda's office.

The door was ajar, and the light was on inside.

He knocked on the door frame twice.

Chen Yuanda looked up and saw it was him:

"Come in."

Chen Dapeng walked in and placed the folder on the corner of the desk:

"Director Chen, this is a report from Captain Wu."

"Put it here, I'll check on it later."

Chen Dapeng paused for a moment, then said, "Zeng Guosheng has run away again."

"I see."

Chen Dapeng turned around, preparing to leave.

"Dapeng," Chen Yuanda called out to him, "Don't worry, Captain Wu is experienced enough, he knows how to handle this. Just keep things in order on your end."

Chen Dapeng turned around, replied "Okay," and left the office.

As he reached the door, he mentally went through the timeline—

Zeng Guosheng left the villa four days ago.

I arrived in the southern port city two days ago and stayed overnight.

Then I checked out and went to the port.

Each step has intervals, not too tight, but without unnecessary stops, as if there is a pre-planned route, with each step hitting a specific node.

"Where will he go next?"