You're supposed to be a security officer, what case are you solving?

Chapter 126 The Truth Comes Out!

Ten o'clock in the morning.

Anan City TV Station, on the street outside.

Yang Jinwen, Maozi, Jiang Bala, and Fu Yun looked up at the TV station building, with the bustling street behind them.

Bicycles, cars, pedicabs, and pedestrians, along with their silhouettes, are frozen into an image that is highly characteristic of the era.

"Let's go in!" Yang Jinwen looked at his three companions, and Maozi and the others nodded. The four of them walked towards the guardhouse.

After Jiang Bala showed his identification and registered his name, he easily entered the gate.

In front of the television station building are long steps leading to glass doors, where visitors come and go.

After entering, the four people went straight to the front desk in the lobby.

"Hello, I'm looking for Ms. Yong Hongyong, the director of your news department."

"The news department is on the third floor; the office has a door number," the receptionist replied.

Jiang Bala continued, "Where is the photojournalist here named Hu Aihua?"

"Hu Aihua?" The other person frowned. "He went out this morning."

"Where have you been?"

"do not know."

"Who did you go out with?"

The other person looked suspicious: "No, who are you looking for?"

Yang Jinwen smiled and said, "I'm sorry to trouble you. We'll both look for them and ask them for some information."

The staff member was a young girl. Upon seeing that he was tall, handsome, and polite, her tone immediately softened considerably.

"Hu Aihua went out early in the morning. He is a photographer and goes out to shoot footage every day. He went out with a photojournalist from the Arts and Literature Department. She has only been working for a little over a year and her name is Zhang Wen."

When will they be back?

The girl shook her head: "I don't know. If it's far away, it might be after get off work in the evening."

Yang Jinwen pressed further, "Were they driving a car or riding bicycles?"

"I don't know that."

"Okay, thank you." Yang Jinwen nodded politely.

"You're welcome." The girl blushed and stole a couple of glances at him.

Seeing the other person's infatuated expression, Jiang Bala couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Handsome people are easy to talk to.

It wasn't until they went upstairs that the girl realized they hadn't even asked them why they had come.

The four of them went straight upstairs and searched for a long time on the third floor before finally finding the office of the head of the news department at the end of the corridor.

The office door was open, and several people were talking inside.

They had only seen Yong Hong's photo in the newspaper, but upon closer inspection, they realized that she was a middle-aged woman wearing a floral padded-shoulder blouse.

In 94, she was also one of those who went to Beijing to study, and she was also Hu Aihua's superior.

Yang Jinwen and the others waited for several minutes, but seeing that the conversation in the office was still going on, Jiang Bala held back and knocked on the open door.

Yong Hong, wearing tortoiseshell glasses, was discussing news topics with her subordinates when she saw Jiang's disheveled face and frowned slightly.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Is this Ms. Yong Hong?"

"It's me, what's wrong?"

"Are you free right now? We'd like to talk to you about something."

Yong Hong stared at him warily: "Who are you?"

Jiang Bala glanced at the people standing in the room and replied, "It's not convenient to talk to you right now."

"Then wait outside for a while."

She probably felt her tone was a bit harsh, so she pointed to the side and said, "You can go sit in the reception room."

Jiang Bala didn't like the intellectual stuff and went straight in.

He said to the others, "Everyone, we have a very urgent matter to discuss. Please go outside first. We need to talk to Ms. Yong Hong about some life-or-death matters."

These words stunned the group of people.

Yang Jinwen and Maozi also entered the room, looking like they were eyeing the door with predatory intent.

Fu Yun even closed the door, making a gesture as if to shoo him away.

Yong Hong had never seen such rude people before. Based on her years of experience, she could tell at a glance that the four people in front of her were either gangsters or police officers. Only these two types of people didn't follow the rules.

"You can go out first, and come back in half an hour."

"Director, should I stay?" a young man wearing glasses asked.

“No need.” Yong Hong said with great confidence.

"Okay, we'll stay outside. Call us if you need anything."

Before leaving, these men glared fiercely at Jiang Bala and his group.

Fu Yun closed the door. Yong Hong leaned against the edge of the desk, arms crossed, staring coldly at them: "Speak, what does the police want with me?"

Yang Jinwen was not surprised that the other party could guess his identity. He showed his identification and said, "We are from the Criminal Investigation Team. Isn't Hu Aihua from your office?"

"The criminal investigation team?"

Yong Hong's expression changed. The criminal investigation team had come knocking, but they were all serious murder cases. "Show me your identification."

Yang Jinwen handed her his identification and continued, "Ms. Yong, before we talk, let me make the situation clear to you. You are an intellectual, so you should know that we are not here for some trivial matters. Please cooperate with our investigation."

Yong Hong returned the documents to him, not dwelling on the fact that Yang Jinwen was from the North City Criminal Police Brigade, but instead asked, "What exactly happened to Hu Aihua?"

“I can’t tell you that now. You just need to tell me the specifics about Hu Aihua: where does he live? Who are his parents and what are their names? In what year did he join the TV station?” Yong Hong shook her head: “If you don’t tell me clearly, then I have nothing to say.”

“You…” Jiang Bala raised his hand, wanting to point at her, but after thinking about it, he lowered his hand again.

Yong Hong continued, "Police officers, you need to understand that even though you are from the criminal investigation team, you are still subject to the supervision of the media. What we journalists do is tell the truth to the people. If you don't explain it clearly, I will not cooperate with you."

That was the 1990s. These journalists were all learning the Western system, which made them very difficult to manage.

Yang Jinwen said, "Ms. Yong, we have already made it clear that this is a matter of life and death! You can think about it yourself, but we cannot tell you directly. You should understand, right?"

Yong Hong's eyes gleamed: "Who did he rape? Or did he seriously injure someone?"

Seeing that Yang Jinwen and the other three had ashen faces and did not respond, she lowered her arms from her chest, swallowed hard, and asked, "Did Hu Aihua kill someone?"

Yang Jinwen blinked.

"Oh my God!"

Yong Hong was terrified, clutching her chest: "He really killed someone?!"

Although she didn't get a direct answer, it was clear that this was the answer.

She walked back to her desk, picked up her teacup, took a sip of water, and pointed to the sofa: "Please sit down, let me rest for a while."

Yang Jinwen immediately said, "Ms. Yong, the situation is urgent, let's talk first."

"Okay, okay, I'll be right there."

Yong Hong wiped her mouth with a tissue, walked over, and sat down on the single sofa.

She let out a sigh of relief and said, "If I remember correctly, this Hu Aihua joined the TV station in 90. At that time, she took over the job of her father, Hu Shusheng. Her father used to be a projectionist, the kind who showed movies to people in the countryside."

Hu Aihua worked in the control room for six years, mainly responsible for equipment maintenance and some logistical work for TV drama broadcasts, but he loved photography and even bought a set of photography equipment.

When he has nothing to do, he likes to go out and find materials. After taking the photos, he will take them to our editorial department and ask if they can be submitted as articles.

At first, his photos were just so-so and didn't meet our aesthetic standards, but later, he took some photos of animals, and his technique improved.

At the time, we were setting up a column called "Man and Nature" and needed these photos, so we published his photographs.

Later, our deputy director, Feng Nianbo, saw that he was wasting his talents by working in the control room all day with those devices, so he transferred him to the news department. This happened in 1994.

Yang Jinwen held a notebook and a pen, taking notes as he nodded.

Jiang Bala asked, "Where does Hu Aihua usually live?"

"I don't know about that, but I do know where his father lives. A few years ago, when some of our veteran employees visited him, I went to his father's house once."

"where?"

"In a grove in the northern suburbs of the city, Hu Aihua had an older brother who died in 1990. He was a citrus grower."

So Hu Shusheng retired early to manage his eldest son's citrus orchard, and let his younger son, Hu Aihua, take over his job at the television station.

Yang Jinwen raised his head and asked, "The question I'm about to ask is very important, Ms. Yong. Please think about it carefully."

Yong Hong nodded: "Go ahead."

杨锦文看了看笔记本，问道：“92年1月21日，93年2月9日，95年7月4日，同年的12月12日，96年5月21日，97年的7月8日，这六个时间，胡爱华当天有没有上班？或者是早退过？”

Hearing the long string of numbers, Yong Hong was stunned, and countless thoughts flashed through her mind.

Looking at the nervous faces of the four people in front of her, she shook her head: "I don't know. He's a photographer, and his schedule is flexible."

"You just said that he was transferred to the news department after 94, and before that he worked in the control room. Could you please call and ask him?"

Yong Hong stood up: "I'll go find their people to come over."

"No, just call and ask."

Yong Hong hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "That's fine. He was taught by an experienced master before, so he should know this person."

After saying that, she went around behind the desk and picked up the landline phone.

Yang Jinwen, Jiang Bala, Fu Yun, and Maozi immediately gathered around, listening intently to her phone call.

As soon as the call connected, Jiang Bala immediately reached out and pressed the speakerphone button.

"I'm Yong Hong from the news department. I'll go find Xu Jiang, the XCMG engineer."

"Director Yong, okay, I'll go get him right away."

Immediately afterward, the sound of the receiver being placed on the table came from the other end of the phone.

A moment later, a burst of static was heard, followed by an unfamiliar voice: "Director Yong, I heard you were looking for me?"

"XCMG, is this too much trouble? I need to ask you about something."

"You're too kind, please say so?"

Before 94, did Hu Aihua...?

Yang Jinwen quickly handed the notebook to Yong Hong, but covered the rest of the contents with his hand, only revealing the time.

“他有没有在92年1月21号，93年2月9号请过假？”

"Huh? Why are you asking this?"

"Just answer me directly."

"Is it Tuesday? If it is Tuesday, then it is. This bastard always asks for half a day off every Tuesday during the off-season for maintenance, always finding some excuse."

"Tuesday?" Yong Hong frowned; she clearly didn't know if it was Tuesday.

She looked up at the four men surrounding her.

At this moment, the cat swung its fist vigorously, as if it wanted to do a backflip!

Fu Yun gritted his teeth and yelled, "Damn it! Damn it!"

Jiang Bala, who had been standing with his hands on his hips, now lowered them and exclaimed, "It's him! There's no doubt about it, it's definitely Hu Aihua!"

Yang Jinwen took a deep breath and said to Jiang Bala, "Notify the criminal investigation team to arrest them!"

(End of this chapter)