Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 106 The Army of Justice 8
The next morning, Zheng Yan picked up Tan Jia and took him to the scene.

Building 3 of Xiangfu Residential Area is still surrounded by police tape, but there are far fewer onlookers now, only the thumping footsteps of people hurrying to work.

Tan Jia got out of the car and walked towards a black car while pressing pleats onto the buns she had just made. When she arrived, she first held up the dough buns in the sunlight to admire them for about ten seconds. After she was satisfied, she tapped on the car window next to her with her other hand.

"Wake up, it's time to work again."

With all the car windows rolled down, Tan Ming and Xiao Chen, who had been sleeping soundly in the driver's and passenger's seats with their faces crooked and necks sore, opened their eyes with yawns.

"Time flies so fast. It's already dawn as soon as I close my eyes. With this kind of time flow, it feels like retirement is just around the corner," Xiao Chen said, his eyes half-open. He saw a plump white thing in her hand and reached out to take it. "You even bought steamed buns? That's so thoughtful of you, Green Little Wolf."

Tan Jia swatted his hand away: "Your observation skills are terrible, but your taste is good. I'll pay for the steamed buns for you later, since you said that."

After admiring it one last time, I placed the dough-shaped buns on the passenger side to dry.

Xiao Chen leaned closer to look: "Is this a dough sculpture? You've improved quite a bit, it even looks pretty much like one."

He paused, then, still half-awake, thought for a moment and said, "Clay figurines are also made from wheat flour and glutinous rice flour..."

“I think you’re really hungry. This isn’t a steamed bun made from cooked dough,” Tan Jia steered the conversation back to the main topic. “Did you discover anything last night when you followed Jin Xiangyuan?”

“No,” Tan Ming, the driver, said, rubbing his neck. “When we saw him last night, he was indeed on his way back to the steamed bun shop. After going back, he went home but didn’t stay. He went back to the steamed bun shop again and kept kneading dough and making steamed buns until two employees came to help around 4 a.m. I had the police keep watch. At 6 a.m., I went to ask around on the street near the hospital and found that a noodle shop had ordered steamed buns from him. He must have gone to deliver them to the noodle shop last night.”

"So everything is fine?"

"It seems so."

She hesitated for a moment, then remained silent.

After speaking with the police, Zheng Yan walked over and said, "There are no other problems here. Jin Xiangyuan's ex-wife, Qu He, will probably arrive around 10 o'clock. In the meantime, we can go to the steamed bun shop."

Upon hearing this, Tan Jia waved his phone, which had a full balance, and said, "I'll treat you to steamed buns. Three steamers each, eat as much as you want."

It was during the morning rush hour, and there were many office workers and students coming and going at the intersection, so the Jinbaozi shop was doing quite well.

The two employees were so busy that they didn't even feel the heat of the steamer. They quickly took out a steamer and sold it all in two minutes.

Upon arrival, Xiao Chen was the first to get off the bus, saying he wanted to order two baskets of steamed buns. However, after walking a few steps, he stopped in his tracks.

"What are you doing?" Zheng Yan and Tan Ming pushed his shoulder, but he was stopped after taking two steps forward.

"What are you doing?" Tan Jia peeked out from beside their arms and spotted Lin Zhiyue sitting at the entrance of the steamed bun shop.

It was too conspicuous, like a green cypress tree in a withered forest. The two bodyguards at the small table were dressed in ordinary black T-shirts, like strangers sharing a table.

Zheng Yan turned to look at her: "What's this young master doing here?"

She said casually, "Judging by sight, they're probably here to eat steamed buns."

"Can't I tell he's sitting in the steamed bun shop to eat steamed buns? The point is, why is he even here?"

"How would I know if you ask me?" She shrugged and walked to the tall steamer to order, "Four baskets of small steamed buns, please."

Lin Zhiyue, standing in the crowd, looked up and stared at her with unerring accuracy, as if a radar had been activated.

Tan Jia didn't see it; he lowered his head as if he were just glancing at a stranger passing by.

Zheng Yan and the others followed with strange expressions. The shop assistant immediately recognized them and hesitated for a moment: "Do you really want steamed buns?"

It's not some kind of code?
"Yes. Why didn't Boss Jin plan to close for a few days? This just happened."

Many people asked this question this morning, and the employees' answers have become muscle memory: "How would we know what the boss is thinking? We'll keep working here as long as he hasn't told us to close down."

"Where is Jin Xiangyuan?" "Brother Jin is inside. Someone wants to order steamed buns for the school, and they are discussing cooperation inside."

The school ordered steamed buns? These steamed buns are so delicious and so cheap?

Xiao Chen immediately ordered four more large steamed buns with braised pork and bamboo shoots.

There were no seats left in the shop, so they planned to take the food to their car to eat, which would also make it easier to observe the people around the steamed bun shop.

If it was a habitual thief who only had his eye on the Jin family's money, the murderer might just be a regular customer who came to buy steamed buns.

As soon as he got back to the car, Zheng Yan didn't even eat his steamed buns before launching a special interrogation of Tan Jia.

"What exactly happened to Lin Zhiyue?"

“I asked him for a favor,” Tan Jia said, breaking the bun in half, looking at it, smelling it, and then starting to eat it. “I’ve always felt that Jin Xiangyuan is a bit strange, but it’s not strange enough to warrant a police investigation. And since he offered to help, I thought I might as well use his help.”

"What kind of help is he giving? Keep an eye on Kim Hyang-won or observe the murderer? He looks at people like an unpredictable emperor staring at a eunuch. Not to mention the murderer, even Kim Hyang-won would feel uneasy under his gaze."

"...Although it's a very fair assessment, it's still a little bit harsh."

After swallowing a bite of steamed bun, she explained, "I'm not stupid, of course I wouldn't let him keep an eye on people. I had him take the cook from home to put on a show, saying that he thought the steamed buns tasted great and wanted to order a batch for the private elementary school."

It turns out that the person Kim Xiangyuan was negotiating with was an actor.

Zheng Yan asked in confusion, "What conclusion are you trying to reach by designing this plot?"

"It's not certain yet. I'll let you know when we have the results. Anyway, this won't affect the investigation."

Zheng Yan was skeptical.

While they were talking, Xiao Chen had already finished a large steamed bun with braised pork and exclaimed, "When a man is pursuing a girl he likes, he's full of energy, even digging and chopping wood. Sure enough."

The next second, Tan Ming kicked him in the confined space and snatched the second bun he was trying to take.

"If you can't speak, don't speak."

Then, glancing at Jia.

Tan Jia was completely unaffected. After finishing one bun, he broke open the second one to look at it, smell it, and take a couple of bites.

The car was filled with the aroma of steamed buns, so we had to roll down the window a little. The four of us ate while keeping an eye on the steamed bun shop in front of us.

Seeing Lin Zhiyue finish eating and leave, getting into a car across the street, watching Jin Xiangyuan see off the person he was discussing cooperation with, watching one customer after another buy steamed buns and chat with the employees, watching Jin Xiangyuan ignore the busy scene at the store entrance, frowning as he went straight back into the store.

After looking around, I couldn't find any problem with any of the customers.

Zheng Yan finished eating first, pinched the bridge of his nose, and looked down at his phone to look at the information on more than a dozen theft cases that he had sorted out yesterday.

"Of the eleven theft cases that Wu Yang pulled up, five occurred on the same street, and the thief should have lived nearby. In all the cases, he didn't let the surveillance cameras capture his face, and he disappeared from the surveillance footage along the way after leaving the building. Only in one case that happened at the hospital, there was surveillance footage of him walking straight for two blocks after leaving, crossing a road, as if he was very familiar with the area. The police suspected that he was from one of the residential areas across that road, but they checked the surveillance footage at the entrance of all the residential areas and didn't find anyone who matched him."

"What way?"

"Jiefang South Road".

Tan Ming recalled the network of relationships of the Jin family that he had investigated: "The Jin family's relatives and friends, the kindergarten, the stores they cooperate with, the park where Jin's aunt exercises, and Jin Xiangyuan's ex-wife's second and third husbands are all not there."

Therefore, the thief has no apparent connection with the Kim family, which contradicts their analysis that "the Kim family and the murderer knew each other."

Zheng Yan was pondering how to conduct a more in-depth investigation to uncover any relevant information when Wu Yang called to say that Qu He had arrived at the police station ahead of schedule.

(End of this chapter)