Era: Starting from the local police station

Soon, Cheng Mingli returned and said to everyone, "I have made the arrangements, and I believe we will hear back soon."

Not long after everyone started chatting, there was a knock on the meeting room door, and then the door was pushed open.

Xiao Zhao strode in, stopped, saluted, and said loudly, "Reporting to the section chief, I just checked the visitor records for all four gates yesterday, and no one came to deliver wild boars."

Cheng Mingli nodded: "You may go now. When Section Chief Qian arrives, please come to the conference room."

Xiao Zhao responded and left.

After Xiao Zhao left, Cheng Mingli said, "Let's confirm again when Section Chief Qian arrives. If no one from the purchasing department brought back wild boar meat, then these two are lying."

"Section Chief Cheng, to be honest, I think you should have guessed which case it is, right?"

Cheng Mingli lowered his head and pondered for a moment before nodding and saying, "Is it the one that sent the photos yesterday?"

"That's right. The branch office assigned this case to our station and the Yu'er Hutong Police Station for joint investigation. It's a murder and body disposal case, and we suspect that the truck wasn't carrying a wild boar, but a corpse."

"Director Qiao, I know the seriousness of the matter. I have already ordered people to step up the investigation of personnel in the factory to confirm whether they are from our factory."

Qiao Fuping said solemnly, "Thanks."

"Let's not stand on ceremony between us."

No sooner had he finished speaking than there was another knock on the conference room door.

Then Xiao Zhao led a middle-aged man in: "Section Chief, Section Chief Qian is here."

When Section Chief Qian saw the police uniforms of Jiang Zhenghua and the others, and noticed that three of them had guns slung over their waists, his expression changed.

He quickly recovered and asked with a smile, "Section Chief Cheng, what can I do for you?"

Cheng Mingli stood up and shook hands with him before pointing to Qiao Fuping and saying, "Let me introduce you. This is Chief Qiao of Taotiao Hutong Police Station. He has something to confirm with you."

Qiao Fuping stood up and shook hands: "Section Chief Qian, I'm sorry to have bothered your work and asked you to make this trip."

Section Chief Qian's lips twitched slightly, but he smiled again and said, "Director Qiao, you're too kind. Please feel free to ask me anything, and I will answer to the best of my knowledge."

Qiao Fuping nodded: "That's right, we just want to confirm whether your purchasing department has purchased any wild boar meat in the past two days. Don't worry, we don't care about anything else."

Section Chief Qian was taken aback, then his expression relaxed, and he sighed, "Well, there's nothing wrong with that. Don't laugh at me, but we haven't been able to get any meat lately, and the deputy factory director has criticized me twice for it. So, I've been going to the meat processing plant every day, pestering their factory director. But there's nothing I can do; the supply is really tight this year, and we haven't been able to get any extra. Today, some people from a sister factory are visiting, and their factory director said they like braised pork, so he asked me to get some pork to serve them. Now I'm worried about how to explain this to them."

Qiao Fuping kept a close eye on the other person's expression and noticed that he seemed a little nervous at the beginning: "Thank you for your cooperation, Section Chief Qian."

Section Chief Qian breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand, "Of course. If there's nothing else, I'll go back and think of a solution."

Qiao Fuping smiled and said, "That's all. I'll treat you another day, and we can have a couple of drinks together."

Section Chief Qian readily agreed, "No problem."

After saying that, he greeted Cheng Mingli and walked quickly outside.

After Section Chief Qian left, Zhang Chongguang said, "Now we can confirm that these two are using the name of the machinery factory to confuse the public."

Qiao Fuping sighed, "In that case, as long as we find these two people, the case will basically be solved..."

Before he could finish speaking, Cheng Mingli suddenly asked, "Old Qiao, tell me honestly, how confident are you?"

Qiao Fuping was taken aback when he was interrupted.

Everyone else turned their attention to Cheng Mingli, whose face showed no sign of relaxation, but rather a serious and solemn expression.

The conference room fell into an eerie silence; the air seemed to freeze, ceasing to circulate, making it feel suffocating.

Qiao Fuping also understood that it was time to be frank about some things: "Zhenghua, why don't you talk to Section Chief Cheng?"

Jiang Zhenghua nodded slightly.

After everyone was seated again, he slowly spoke: "Section Chief Cheng, we currently have no substantial evidence; everything is just speculation."

"I understand, it was those two people's words that aroused your suspicion, right?"

"That's right."

Cheng Mingli fell into deep thought.

No one disturbed them; they sat quietly and waited.

Cheng Mingli raised his head after a long while.

He picked up the cigarette pack on the table and distributed it to everyone, saying in a deep voice, "After I received the photos from the branch office yesterday, I arranged for people to investigate them thoroughly. Just before you arrived, my subordinates reported that no one in the factory recognized this person."

Qiao Fuping and Zhang Chongguang frowned instantly.

Zhang Chongguang asked, "Could it be that the people below didn't conduct thorough interviews?"

Cheng Mingli sighed, "I hope so too. I've already arranged for a reinvestigation, and I reckon we'll have results soon."

Jiang Zhenghua said in a deep voice, "Section Chief Cheng, the deceased was thin, with calluses on his shoulders and palms, but his clothes had no patches."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Mingli frowned and muttered, "Why is this person so contradictory? The calluses indicate he does hard labor. But the fact that his clothes have no patches suggests he lives a comfortable life. Deputy Director Jiang, could you explain your judgment?"

Jiang Zhenghua glanced at everyone: "Based on what those two people said, we deduced that the deceased was related to the factory. We thought that the person might be from the moving team, but he had connections, which is why he was able to get in."

Cheng Mingli nodded.

Jiang Zhenghua continued, "But just as we came in, I saw the porters, and I thought of another job that might be more suitable for him."

Qiao Fuping's eyes sharpened: "You mean temporary workers?"

Qin Weijun disagreed: "He's so thin, he probably won't get in. Besides, the conditions for those temporary workers must be terrible."

"Is Deputy Director Jiang referring to the temporary management staff?"

"Yes, those people are clerks, they don't do hard labor. But some people might take on easier jobs if they want to earn more money. That's why some of them are thin but have calluses on their hands."

Everyone immediately nodded in agreement.

Cheng Mingli picked up a cigarette and lit it, his face full of heaviness.

Jiang Zhenghua and the others remained silent, each lighting their own cigarettes.

In an instant, the conference room fell silent again, with only the sound of smoking.

Just as the smoke was about to burn out.

"Knock knock knock".

The sound of three knocks on the wooden door was like a large stone thrown into a lake, stirring up a thousand waves.

Everyone's heartbeat quickened.

Xiao Zhao was the first to enter, followed by a burly security guard with a dark complexion.

The security guard stepped forward and whispered a few words in Cheng Mingli's ear.

Cheng Mingli nodded calmly: "I understand. You may leave now. Keep this a secret and do not disclose it to anyone for the time being."

"clear."

The security guard immediately stood at attention, and then quickly left with Xiao Zhao.

Cheng Mingli picked up the cigarette pack again, turned it upside down, but still couldn't see any cigarettes.

He threw the cigarette pack violently to the ground.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhenghua took out a box of "Da Qianmen" cigarettes from his pocket and handed one to him.

Cheng Mingli accepted it: "Thank you."

He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "I guessed right, a thief has emerged from our machinery factory."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then their faces darkened.