Red Bean Lives in the Republic of China - Chapter 19.2

Chapter 19.2

The concierge of the apartment really knew He Yunqin,

“Hey, Mr. He hasn’t been here for a long time.”

He Yunqin nodded. Without saying a word, he led Yu Hongdou and Wang Peter into the elevator.

 Upon reaching Chen Baidie’s house, He Yunqin pushed the door.

“Miss Yu, you’d better follow us closely when Inspector Wang and I inspect the room later. No matter what you see, remember not to touch anything.” 

He bolted the door after the three entered.

Yu Hongdou said, “Don’t worry, I know everything.”

Wang Peter snorted. “Miss Yu is very curious; you must do what you say.”

Yu Hongdou curled her lips secretly, too lazy to argue with Wang Peter.

He Yunqin squatted down to look at the shiny white marble floor. First looked at where he was standing, and then walked along the corridor, slowly searching for traces on the surface with his eyes, not missing an inch.

Yu Hongdou kept He Yunqin’s instructions in mind and did not dare to wander around, so she quickly squatted down next to him, quietly and curiously observing He Yunqin’s every move.

He Yunqin eventually stood up and moved to the right, to the servant’s room.

Yu Hongdou trailed him all the way as soon as he opened the door. To put it another way, he could always smell a slight fragrance coming from the girl’s body, which seemed to be unique for her. And it really disturbed the man. 

“Miss Yu, I need to calm down and get things done here,” he said, abruptly turning his face. “It’s inconvenient that you follow me. Proceed and adhere to Inspector Wang’s instructions.” 

After getting his order, Yu Hongdou took two steps backward subconsciously and muttered, “Okay.”

Turning around, the girl studied Wang Peter’s back and thought to herself. ‘This person has been drinking for a long time, and his mind should not be as sharp as He Yunqin’s. It’s okay to interfere twice.’So she swaggered and walked behind Wang Peter.

Peter Wang was startled to hear the footsteps behind him. He looked across at Yu Hongdou and then sent He Yunqin a threatening glance.

As if she didn’t notice the repulsive glance directed at her, Yu Hongdou glanced up at the bell-shaped crystal lamp hanging from the ceiling.

Luckily, Wang Peter remained silent since he understood how important it was to look into the case as well. So he escorted Yu Hongdou into Chen Baidie’s bedroom after inspecting the rooms outside. He remarked, “Yu Chongyi mentioned that Chen Baidie is a single person. Chen Baidie arrived back at her flat at 8:30 p.m. on the day she vanished. I’m not sure. She seemed to be thinking of something, so she went back to her room and called a car, then put on her coat and went out. The servants waited until noon the next day and saw that Chen Baidie didn’t come back. They called her family.”

He looked up as he was speaking, noticing He Yunqin gazing into the dressing table mirror. So he examined more closely. It came out that the mirror had a sizable, glossy, light red stain that looked like it had been smeared randomly.

“Lipstick?” Wang Peter asked.

He Yinqin: “Bring it here.”

With a frown, Wang Peter asked, “What?”

“What do you think?” He Yunqin asked without turning his head back.

After a few seconds, Wang Peter took out a small box from his pocket and gave it to He Yunqin.

Taking a piece of paper out of the box, He Yunqin painted a little oil-red imprint on the mirror before placing it into the box.

Seeing that, Yu Hongdou secretly guessed that it was something made by foreigners specially used for analysis, so she couldn’t help but cast a sideways glance at Wang Peter. ‘This person kept saying that he was not interested in the case, but he did not forget to bring special props for trace analysis when he came out.’

“It should be that Chen Baidie wrote down something with her lipstick when talking on the phone. The phone number, or the name of a place, and then for some reason, she erased it casually.” He Yunqin motioned cautiously, staring into the mirror, asking, “Could it be a long string of phone numbers? It makes sense to write names and place names that aren’t too long over such a big area.”

After learning this, Wang Peter pondered for a while, feeling a little amazed. From the other pocket, he took out a little German-made palm-sized camera. Then he shot a few pictures and remarked, “Not always. There won’t be anything like that if you can tell what it is just by looking at it. Additionally, there are too many unsolved cases, and I have to go back and develop the film and analyse it.”

The three cautiously looked throughout the apartment, but they were unable to find anything else. Seeing that it was getting close to nine fifty, they stepped outside to the porch to hear any activity.After a time, they heard some conversation in the aisle, leading them to believe that the building’s porter had noticed the hour and had come to patrol.

The three left the apartment as soon as the footsteps stopped.

***

Yu Chongyi arrived sooner than expected.

Luo Dai led Yu Chongyi up as soon as the three of them got back to Wang Peter’s apartment, even before they could develop the film. 

He was carrying a bag in his hand, and the tip of his nose was dripping with sweat. “I asked every family, and a tailor recognised this cheongsam. He said that an old woman took the copied size to make clothes for others last month. Because the size was too different from the old lady herself, and the tailor found it strange, so he still remembered that the old lady often came to make clothes, and the tailor knew that she was now working for a family named Liu.” 

He Yunqin frowned and asked, “Surname Liu?”

With a nod, Yu Chongyi added, “I went to Liu’s house with my colleagues because it’s close to the station, but the owner informed me that the elderly woman left her work last week and is now back in her village. When I asked that man if she had any family here, the man replied that all he knew was that she had an older sister who was employed by a wealthy family. It just so happens that the wealthy household’s last name is Yuan.”

“Surname Yuan?” Yu Hongdou abruptly stood up.

“At least Wang Meiping’s disappearance is inseparably related to this family. However, judging from the clues of the tailor shop, this person has left many loopholes in her actions, and there are some discrepancies with the murderer’s method of attack. Mr. Yu, if the matter is indeed related to the Yuan family, you need to go back to the police station immediately to apply for a search warrant,” He Yunqin said hurriedly.

Yu Chongyi said, “That’s what I thought, because I happened to pass by Fuhua Lane, and I felt that this clue was too important, so I came up and said it.”

After giving it some thought, Wang Peter clicked his tongue and told He Yunqin, “This family has the ability to kidnap not only Wang Meiping but also Pan Yuqi and Chen Baidie. If the problem is not complicated, they will eventually find out where they are.”

Yu Hongdou was also filled with uncertainties, while He Yunqin pondered and remained silent.

However, Yu Chongyi became more optimistic and addressed Yu Hongdou, saying, “I can only bother Mr. He for a walk tonight because brother doesn’t have time to take you home.”

He Yunqin glanced up at the surprised girl.

After Yu Chongyi had finished speaking, he turned around, went downstairs, and turned back without bothering to drink the water that Luo Dai had provided. “Don’t worry, as long as we can find your cousin, no matter how late, brother will find a way to send news for you and mother.”

After reflecting on the recent events, Yu Hongdou asked He Yunqin, “Is it possible that the Yuan family was involved? Wang Meiping was placed under house arrest to give birth to Yuan Ruoli’s child after it was discovered that she had travelled to Shanghai by herself and was ignorant of the situation.” Since the child has not yet been raised, why was it killed? She even thought. “Yuan Ruoli doesn’t agree with this matter?” She turned around the room very slowly. “Or did they find out later that she was the niece of “A Pen in Shanghai” and saw Wang Meiping’s uncle scolding too much in the newspaper? Afraid of being ruined, that’s why they had the idea of killing someone to silence your story.”

She looked at He Yunqin as if to prove it, and he was also looking at her.

But he didn’t intend to answer; he just looked at the Western clock on the wall. “It’s almost eleven o’clock, Miss Yu; I’ll take you home right away.”

Have a nice day!