The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 199 The Middleman

Even at this moment, Jin Yan's shrewdness as a businessman remained. He weighed the pros and cons and said, "I only bought low-priced diamonds from Su Jing. I didn't kill anyone. This... this isn't illegal, is it?"

"Confess and you will be treated leniently." Qi Fei said those four words again.

"Murder is punishable by death..." Jin Yan murmured to himself, as if trying to convince himself, "I didn't kill anyone..."

What exactly happened on March 24th?

“In Nancheng, we have a circle of people who play with jewelry. Everyone knows Su Jing. You can buy loose diamonds with very high cost performance from her. I get my goods from her, design and package them, and then sell them to those rich people. I can make a lot of money from buying and selling…” Jin Yan swallowed hard. It’s strange how people’s psychology works. No matter how much they try to hide it, when they are ready to confess, they become very verbose and detailed. “Before, I would go directly to her clothing store to get my goods.”

I never ask where her goods come from. According to normal market prices, given the quality of her diamonds and the price she quoted, she would definitely be losing money.

"There are some things we can guess, but we can't say them out loud, right?" Jin Yan said, looking at Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu as if seeking their approval.

He was met only with two expressionless faces.

Having been rebuffed, he had no choice but to continue, "In the past two years, Nancheng has been cracking down on this, and I've heard in the industry that several people who were too high-profile have already been arrested."

Su Jing is a very cautious person; she deleted many clients.

For someone like me, who is considered a major client, she contacted me and said that the transaction method needed to be changed.

Such online contacts are easily monitored, so offline transactions are necessary.

She said she had found someone at the airport and told me to just wait for that person's message and do as they said.

One day I received a call from an unknown number. The caller said he was a ticketing manager introduced by Boss Su and asked if I wanted to book a plane ticket.

As soon as I heard that, I knew what was going on, so I did as he suggested and chose the shortest flight.

That's how I got to know Chen Hao.

I was quite surprised when I saw this person at the airport; Su Jing had actually found such an honest man.

Damn it, looking back, I really did pick the wrong person.

This person is completely unreliable.

Let's put aside the human element.

First of all, Su Jing's method was good, because Chen Hao picking me up from the airport seemed to be doing nothing wrong, and we had plenty of time to talk along the way. The airport was so noisy that no one cared what we said.

At first, it felt pretty good. He was familiar with the airport and would always take me to the area near the toilet in section F. There were no security cameras in the toilet, so each time we would choose a stall. He would go in first, and I would pretend to wait in line. After that, I would go in, and Su Jing's goods would be placed inside.

They are usually disguised as ordinary handicrafts or daily necessities. The diamonds are mixed in with a bunch of glass beads and artificial diamonds. Even if others find them, they will only think that they are worthless.

My job is to hand over the cash for the transaction to him during the luggage handover.

This man was indeed honest. He only accepted the agreed-upon commission each time, and kept the millions of dollars until Su Jing returned to China next time, as agreed.

This way, you don't need to go through customs or go through bank transfers.

As for me, I'll just take the diamonds, go for a quick look around, and come back. Everyone gets what they want. I thought I was overthinking it. Luckily, Chen Hao is an honest man. Anyone with a bit of greed would have tried something crooked seeing millions in cash.

That's often how things are; the moment you relax, something bad is bound to happen.

On March 24th, just like the previous times, I spent 3 yuan to buy a plane ticket to Baicheng. When I arrived at the airport, Chen Hao and I went to the F section to "go to the toilet".

After I went inside, I saw the cosmetic box on the phone stand.

I know this is Su Jing's stuff. The problem is, who am I? The top jewelry expert in Nancheng! Damn it, I don't even need to check it. These things on the plastic box are, to put it nicely, rhinestones, but to put it bluntly, they're just glass beads. They're obviously fake.

It doesn't even add up to twenty yuan.

It turns out Chen Hao was just pretending to be weak; after all that, he didn't care about those few million worth of goods and was waiting for this ten million big order!

I was furious. There was no sign of Chen Hao in the restroom. I thought to myself, "Oh no, did he run away with the diamonds?"
I rushed out of the bathroom and saw Chen Hao pushing my suitcase outside, pretending to say he was waiting for me.

This is what you saw in the surveillance footage. I threw that broken box at him, not caring about the surveillance or anything, and asked him where the diamonds were.

He's pretending to be clueless, saying it's just this, that's what he got from Su Jing.

I argued with him for a bit, telling him that these are glass beads and he shouldn't take advantage of me.

He even pretended to look at it a few times, knowing he couldn't deny it, so he acted all dramatic, saying that someone had switched it and that he would definitely find it back.

They made a solemn vow, speaking as if it were the truth.

At first, I was so angry that I lost my temper, but then I thought, I've only put down a deposit, I can just ask Su Jing for it back later, right? The biggest loss isn't Su Jing's, so why am I arguing with this Chen Hao like this?

Thinking about it that way, I stopped arguing with him and said that Su Jing would ask him for the ten million anyway, and then I left.

He was still acting when I left, saying he would definitely find him and give me an explanation. "At this point, Jin Yan repeatedly assured me, "This is the last time I will see Chen Hao. I didn't kill him."

"You should understand by now. The most likely person to kill him isn't me, it's Su Jing. You need to find Su Jing, why are you looking for me?"

Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu exchanged glances. If they hadn't already investigated how Chen Hao lost the diamond, Jin Yan's vivid and moving account would have made them almost believe that Chen Hao had embezzled it.

Qi Fei knew that Jin Yan wasn't lying; he was simply judging Chen Hao by his own standards of conduct.

“Indeed, someone took the wrong item at the airport, taking the loose powder box inlaid with real diamonds,” Qi Fei said to Jin Yan. “It sounds bizarre, but it’s true. Chen Hao didn’t embezzle your goods.”

"Huh?" Jin Yan was stunned. "Then, that diamond..."

“Chen Hao did try very hard to find the lost diamond; he almost found it before he died,” Qi Fei said.

"Almost, does that mean you know where the diamonds are?" Jin Yan couldn't help but ask impatiently. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately did a 180-degree turn, feigning innocence, "Of course, this has nothing to do with me, it belongs to the public, hehe..."

He smiled obsequiously at Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu.

His response was still met with two expressionless faces.

Having been met with indifference, Jin Yan curled his lip and said, "In the end, the one with the most reason to kill Chen Hao is definitely Su Jing. The loss of ten million must have driven this woman crazy, right? By the way, have you contacted Su Jing? She should know more about Chen Hao's situation."