Chapter 231 - The Murderous Teddy Bear Is Missing
Chapter 231: The Murderous Teddy Bear Is Missing
“She also loved to dance. She told me she’s loved dancing since she was a little girl, and felt that girls who dance were especially well-built. She said she envied me, studying dance and being able to dance as much as I wanted.”
“When I asked her why she didn’t study dance, she said her family conditions didn’t allow her to send her to dance classes. Also, dance majors weren’t very employable, and people around her in a small town would look at the profession with colored eyes, so she couldn’t help it…”
“She said the best thing that happened to her was coming to Shanghai for university. Being away from her hometown, she could do what she likes for the four years she’s in college. That was why she usually did nothing but study and dance, and as soon as the class was over, she’d put on her dancing shoes and ask me to go to the dance class to practice.”
“Her dancing skills aren’t really good in terms of our profession. It’s a bit awkward, not light enough, and her posture isn’t straight enough. Put bluntly, her basic skills are weak.”
“However, she danced beautifully and seemed like she was born to dance. There was a kind of spirit in her dancing that burns everything for the sake of dancing. Every time I see her bloom, I always feel like I’m seeing a swan struggling in a difficult situation. It’s so graceful, so crazy, so full of burning passion!”
At this point, Xu Lu wiped her tears and began to sob again.
Su Yang looked at the dim streetlight and imagined a youthful and beautiful girl dancing under the streetlight, every movement full of tension and bloom, like a moth… dancing in the fire.
Xu Lu cried for a short while, then sobbed a few times and continued, “Then… There was an accident at her home, her father was hit by a car without a license and was seriously injured and lay injured in a hospital room. However, the driver didn’t pay any money, and her mother spent her days in tears.”
Su Yang asked, “Was the one who hit her someone with a strong background?”
Xu Lu shook her head. “No. That driver is a rogue driver with a poor family. Regardless if he went to the police station or the court, he would hold his head high and say he had no money so he’d rather be locked up for a few years instead.”
Su Yang was silent.
This was indeed a more frightening situation than meeting someone with a powerful background.
Those with a powerful background at least had money, and if it got too much, they might just spend it. However, meeting this kind of person who wanted money, had no money, and only a rotten life, there was no way… The consequences would only be borne by Wang Shan’s family.
Xu Lu then continued, “Shan Shan never smiled again…”
“To treat her father, she worked hard every day part-time, went out to events, and didn’t even go to class much anymore. She used your company app too, and your company app increased her income significantly, she would take on four tasks a day more often than not, running back and forth, and eating only one meal a day.”
Su Yang was speechless.
Xu Lu continued, “Since then, she contacted me less and less, I heard she went to borrow from loan sharks to raise money for her father’s treatment.
“I’ve always wanted to help her, but my strength is also limited, so I couldn’t help much.
“The other day, Shan Shan suddenly came to me a little panicked and said she was a little scared that she might have to do something she didn’t like…
“But she couldn’t help it. She had borrowed the money, couldn’t pay it back, and was being photographed.
“I kept asking her, but she just wouldn’t say.”
Xu Lu’s gaze was a little hollow. “I tried to persuade her a lot at the time, but her eyes kept dodging my gaze, and I could feel her helplessness. In the end, she managed to smile and said that she would probably be fine and that she’d be able to pay it off by surviving these two days.”
“That was the last time I saw her smile, and the last time I saw her…”
Xu Lu continued, covering her face and crying. “If I had questioned her more that day, or contacted her more in the past few days, she might not have gotten into trouble.”
Su Yang looked at Xu Lu and slowly understood how she felt. She wasn’t just sad because she had lost a friend, but also because she blamed herself.
After all, we all encounter difficulties and are depressed at times, but no one could have imagined that a friend would just complain about a few grievances and then have an accident the next day.
So when the accident happened, Xu Lu thought back to the day Wang Shan looked for her, and her conscience would inevitably be affected. If she had asked more questions or if she had helped her more, and if she had accompanied her more, would the result have been different?
No one knew if the results of their actions would change the course of the events that unfolded but this kind of self-reproach was the most beautiful thing about human nature. This was the essence of being human. Tang Dafa and those bastards on the other hand… they were not human.
Su Yang took a few deep breaths and felt that no matter what, he would have to investigate this matter and make the dishonorable people in this matter pay their due price. To get Wang Shan her revenge and make them pay the price for their actions would solve her family’s problems as well.
‘Isn’t Tang Dafa planning to drain me of my cash flow from the bottom of the pot! Then let’s see if he gets the punishment he deserves first, or if he collapses first!
‘As for Young Master Chen and Young Master Ying, who play different roles in this… If they’re indeed involved, I’m going all out to fight them no matter how powerful they are or how much money they have!
‘There’s no law in this country anymore!’
After thinking clearly, Su Yang patted Xu Lu’s shoulder and softly comforted her.
After a night of venting, Xu Lu’s mood gradually calmed down. When she had collected her tears, she pulled a far-fetched smile on her face and looked toward Su Yang. “Thank you, Junior Brother.”
Su Yang replied, “It’s fine. Leave this matter alone. I’ll look into it.”
Xu Lu looked at Su Yang and said seriously, “Thank you.”
Su Yang asked, “Apart from what happened before Wang Shan’s accident, do you know anything about what happened later? How did you know something happened to her?”
Xu Lu lowered her head and replied, “I received a call from her roommate that something had happened to Wang Shan, and the police department contacted Wang Shan’s school, saying that two female bodies had been fished out of the artificial lake in Longteng Jiayuan. After confirming their identities, one of them was found to be Wang Shan. The time of death was two days ago, and the cause of death was drowning.”
“After the investigation, the possibility of homicide was ruled out…”
At this point, Xu Lu was a bit agitated. “However! Longteng Jiayuan is an upscale villa district! How could no one patrol the area and not find someone drowning for two days! And it was two girls drowning at the same time!
“There’s a problem!”
Xu Lu said excitedly, “Before the accident, Wang Shan had been panicking and afraid, so she must’ve been in some kind of danger!”
Su Yang patted her shoulder and said, “You’re just simply suspicious, everything is still about evidence. I’ll look into it for you, but until the results come out, you shouldn’t tell anyone about it.” When Xu Lu heard Su Yang say this, she understood the severity of the matter so she nodded her head seriously.
After sending Xu Lu back to the dormitory, Su Yang walked on his way home.
On the way, Su Yang asked Little Deeny, “Little Deeny, what do you think about this matter?”
Deeny replied seriously, “Without evidence, we should believe the police results.”
She paused and added, “But this matter is very strange.”
“I’ve checked Longteng Jiayuan, it’s an upscale villa area. Although it’s a bit off the beaten path, it’s worth a lot, and those who can live in it are very rich. However, that district has always had a bad reputation, it’s rumored to be a ‘mistress’ district in Shanghai, and many rich and powerful people provide for their mistresses to live there.”
“Moreover, this is not the first time Longteng Jiayuan has reported cases like this. Last year in April, there was a female university student who lost her footing and fell into the water in Longteng Jiayuan. The test results given by the police were also accidental drowning, ruling out the possibility of homicide.”
Su Yang asked, “Do you think these two incidents are connected?”
Deeny replied hesitantly, “It’s hard to say. After all, neither of these cases explain why those university girls appeared in a high-class villa area.”
Su Yang was silent. He felt that he had to start by investigating Young Master Chen. After all, Tang Dafa’s memories had already been read and he was just a ‘matchmaker.’ The real suspect was Young Master Chen.
If he could meet with him, maybe everything would be clarified.
Arriving at the neighborhood, the lights were already on. However, some of the grandmothers were walking around the neighborhood since it was approaching summer. Where there’s walking, there’s bound to be gossip.
“Did you guys hear? It seems that Sixth Liu has returned.”
“I heard that he swaggered back into the neighborhood.”
“Isn’t he afraid that his wife will chop him to pieces?”
“I heard the divorce was final and his wife didn’t get anything. She just left Shanghai.”
“No way. Sixth Liu cheated on his wife, why didn’t his wife get anything?”
“Because the house, furniture, and appliances were all Liu Laoliu’s pre-marital property. Pan Zhaodi didn’t even have any dowry back then. She didn’t bring anything.”
“Not only that, I’ve heard that their family seems to have asked for 588,000 from Liu’s family as the bridal dowry, and not a single penny was returned. It’s just like selling your daughter.”
“Tsk tsk, yeah.”
Listening to this gossip, Su Yang looked up at Sixth Liu’s house… ‘Hm, I can’t see anything. Has Pan Zhaodi left? Is Sixth Liu is back again?
‘Hey, every family has its own set of problems.’
Back home, Su Yang went into the virtual space. As soon as he entered, Su Yang felt a bit tired for some reason but it was probably because he had just arrived home.
Although he was tired, he was still strong enough to record the memories he saw of Tang Dafa with [A videotape to make up for regrets].
After recording all those memories, Su Yang handed over the videotape to Little Deeny, who transcoded the video and archived it. She also researched information on Young Master Ying, Young Master Li, and Mr. Jia to see if she could find out anything relevant.
After settling it, Su Yang washed up and returned to bed.
Lying on the bed, Su Yang opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling, unable to sleep.
Whenever he was about to fall asleep, his mind reverberated with the image of Wang Shan smiling and dancing. He thought about her tragic death at the bottom of the lake. On top of that, there was Tang Dafa’s flattering smile. “I’ve prepared two nice toys for you.” “Clean them up and send them over.”
Su Yang put a pillow over his head, feeling sick. ‘Shouldn’t the biggest concern right now be about my funding?! Don’t think about it all day!’ somehow, he just couldn’t…
The next morning, a lawyer’s letter was delivered to Qidian E-Commerce, and the receptionist handed it over to the legal department. After reading the letter, the legal department looked at each other and then reported it to Wang Dong, the assistant general manager.
After reading the contents of the letter, Wang Dong was also a bit confused and could only call Su Yang.
Su Yang was still in the virtual space when he received the call. Today was Tuesday, and the class schedule was quite relaxed, with no class in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Pick up the phone, Wang Dong’s voice came from the other side of the phone, “Director Su, there’s a letter to you and our company’s lawyer, saying that you borrowed 2 million from a person named Tang Dafa and you used it privately for the company’s operating funds without the consent of the creditors.”
“The lawyer’s letter also said that our company’s revenue is insufficient, with large personnel expenses, is of a high risk level and that you’ve got no other fixed assets, so your solvency has changed significantly. They’ve ordered us to stop using this loan as the company’s operating fund and return the two million loan within two days.”
Su Yang had expected that his reaction yesterday might irritate Tang Dafa, but he didn’t expect that Tang Dafa’s blow would come so quickly.
Was this the legendary “villain’s revenge”, the kind that attacked all day long?
Su Yang was brushing his teeth so he replied with a mouthful of toothpaste, “It’s fine, ignore it.”
Wang Dong cautiously asked, “Mr. Su, is it really fine? If the other party sues, we’ll be at a losing standpoint.”
Su Yang drank his water, gargled, spat out the foam in his mouth, and commented rudely, “What does the legal department of that company do? Are we feeding them for nothing? Let them prepare the information to respond to the lawsuit. My only request is that the company’s funds and accounts not be frozen! As for the rest, stall as long as you can!”
The more the company grew, the more domineering Su Yang became, and Wang Dong quickly nodded. “Yes. I’ll arrange for this!”
Wang Dong was about to hang up when Su Yang chided. “Right.”
Su Yang put down the tooth jar and said, “Tell the legal department to keep their mouths shut, I don’t want anyone else in the company to know about this.”
Wang Dong replied, “Okay.”
After the arrangement went down, Su Yang put his cup and toothbrush on the sink, then picked up a towel and wiped the foam from the corner of his mouth. Looking at the slightly haggard youth in the mirror, and sighed.
After returning to the virtual space last night, Su Yang felt uncomfortable. Because of Wang Shan’s incident, he hadn’t even slept all night from his mind going over those images again and again.
Su Yang knew that this issue would haunt him for a very long time, and it was time he resolved it.
‘Looks like I need to find a way to get in touch with Young Master Chen.’ Thinking of this, Su Yang turned around and left the bathroom…
What he didn’t notice was that the moment he turned his back against the mirror, his image in the mirror suddenly turned around again with an eerie smile and scarlet eyes…
He walked to Little Deeny’s room, but she was not there. So, Su Yang went downstairs to look for her. ‘Huh? Where’s the kid?’
Just as Su Yang was locked in confusion, Su Yang heard Little Deeny’s reprimand from the yard, “You’re always so lazy! How are you going to lose weight! Look at you, you’re so fat! You’re almost out of shape! Get to work!”
Along with her voice, Fatty’s whine also reached Su Yang’s ears, sounding very aggrieved.
Su Yang followed the sound out of the villa and saw that in the courtyard, Fatty was holding a rake in its hand, plowing the ground.
The right side of the villa was the swimming pool, and the rest of it was paved with marble. However, the left side had an area set aside for planting and Fatty was farming in that area.
This rabbit looked huge but wasn’t very strong. That rake could only make a few shallow marks on the ground. It couldn’t resist Little Deeny overseeing the work on the side, so Fatty could only plow the ground over and over again.
When she saw Su Yang come out, Little Deeny welcomed him with a smile. She naturally took Su Yang’s arm and said, “Master, look!, Fatty is also able to work. She’s a little lazy, but she also doesn’t laze around so we can have extra help at home.”
Su Yang took a glance at Little Dee beside him and felt that this little one’s mind was becoming more and more mature.
She sensed his dislike for Fatty being delicious and lazy but not useful yet so she began training Fatty to work.
However, Su Yang is still willing to keep Fatty even if it didn’t do any work for the sake of Deeny’s happiness since she is one of the first few little monsters to follow him. It’s just as if it was her pet.
Su Yang saw through but didn’t say anything, his finger lightly tapped the tip of Little Deeny’s nose. “Smart!.”
Little Deeny shrank her neck and shyly threw out her tongue.
Su Yang laughed and spoke about the important matter in his mind, “About last night’s matter, how’s the investigation coming along?”
Dee nodded. “Yes, I investigated the matter. Through facial recognition and the surname search, we couldn’t find any information on Young Master Ying and Young Master Chen. Maybe there’s too little information.
“However, I did find something about Mr. Jia. He runs a consultant’s company in Shanghai. Looking at the scope of the business, and the only few relevant information available on the internet, he should be in the business of business mergers and acquisitions, legal advice, and planning.”
Su Yang stroked his chin. He looked at Fatty who was busy plowing and contemplated. “Mr. Jia is useless. Looking at the memory, Tang Dafa paid him to plan things out so it is unlikely that he knows any inside information.
However, Young Master Chen and Young Master Ying’s information couldn’t be found, which was troublesome. After all, if they didn’t even have a name, they wouldn’t even be able to use the [Fruit-loving Pen].
‘Why don’t I just go to Longteng Jiayuan and try my luck?’
Su Yang called out an interface and looked up the location of Longteng Jiayuan, but Longteng Jiayuan was a huge area and had four entrances.
It would be tough to sneak in and try to find someone in such a big place! Especially after listening to Deeny’s introduction last night, this was a high-class villa area with tight security, and the chances of getting in were hopeless, to say the least.
So… The most convenient way was still to know Young Master Chen’s name and use the [Fruit-loving Pen] to find him. As long as he found the place, he could use the hourglass. However, how was he going to find out his name?
While Su Yang was lost in thoughts, Deeny spoke, “Master, someone’s ringing the doorbell outside.”
‘Hmm? Is someone ringing the doorbell?’
Su Yang went out of the virtual space and found that it was from SF Express. His safe had arrived…
Only Jingdong and SF Express provided delivery services now and since Su Yang urgently needed the safe, he paid extra to have the shop deliver it via SF Express.
After signing for it and taking the box to his room, Su Yang swept it into the virtual space, then instructed the little monster beans to carry it to the bedroom.
That [Teddy Bear that loves to play hide-and-seek] was too dangerous, so it was better to seal it up.
Thinking so, Su Yang directed the little monster beans to put the parcel in the bedroom and then unpack it while he went to the bottom of the bed to find the murderous teddy bear.
When he got down under the bed, he was confused. The teddy bear… It was gone.