Red Bean Lives in the Republic of China - Chapter 24.1

Chapter 24.1

Yuyuan brushed off Yu Honghou and scanned the room until her gaze settled on the distinguished man beside his father. “What’s going on here?” she asked indifferently.

He Yunqin looked at her in surprise but didn’t say anything. 

Pan Maosheng felt embarrassed by his younger daughter’s lack of manners. He quickly pulled Yuyuan aside and gave her a stern look. Then, turning to He Yunqin and Inspector Wang, he apologized profusely, “I’m really sorry for not keeping my daughter in check. Her behaviour has been quite rude, and I hope you both won’t hold it against her. Please, follow me; I’ll show you to my eldest daughter’s room.”

As he spoke, he led everyone down the hallway. Yuyuan turned back, keeping an eye on everyone’s actions. 

When they reached the door to Yuqi’s room, He Yunqin addressed Pan Maosheng, saying, “Mr. Pan, Mrs. Pan, Inspector Wang and I will need to search your daughter’s room shortly. To do a thorough job, it’s best if we can limit the number of people going in.”

Pan Maosheng was taken aback for a moment, then recalled the earlier visit from the French Concession police and quickly agreed, “That makes sense.” 

He opened the door to Yuqi’s room.

He Yunqin stepped inside and began to look around. He noticed Hongdou peeking in curiously and waved her over, saying, “Miss Yu, come in and lend me a hand.” 

Yuyuan frowned and protested, “Why does Hongdou get to go in?”

Mrs. Pan twisted the young girl’s ear in frustration and muttered, “What’s going on with you today, kid? The more you read the books, the worse you seem to get. People have their reasons for saying that.”  

Yuyuan wasn’t buying it and replied, “I want to help find my sister too.”  

He Yunqin looked down, picking up something from the dressing table, and casually remarked, “Miss Yu has had some basic training and won’t disturb the situation.”  

Yuyuan turned to Yu Hongdou and asked, “When did you get trained? I had no idea.”  

Yu Hongdou didn’t feel like arguing with Yuyuan, so she walked inside, lost in thought. ‘He Yunqin rarely acted aggressively, yet he always managed to dominate no matter who he was up against.’

This was true in front of her and her brother, as well as with King Peter.  

Even during this visit to her uncle and aunt’s place, he still called the shots.  

But she hated being bossed around. If it weren’t for the search for her cousin, she wouldn’t have followed his lead so easily.  

She walked behind him and asked, “What do you need me to do, Mr. He?”  

He Yunqin opened a bottle of French perfume and handed it to Yu Hongdou, asking, “Is this your cousin’s?”  

Yu Hongdou took it, inhaling the rich and sweet scent. After a moment, she recognised it as a blend of red roses with a hint of grass. She nodded and said, “Yeah, she wears this fragrance a lot.”  

“Every day?”

Yu Hongdou picked up the bottle and noticed there was only a small amount of liquid left. Since it had been a while since her last visit to her uncle’s place, she said, “I think so.”  

Yuyuan crossed her arms and replied coldly, “This perfume was a gift from my sister’s friend. There are only a few bottles like this available, and she really loves it—she uses it every day.”  

He Yunqin looked up at her and asked, “Which friend?”  

“I have no idea,” Yuyuan admitted. Her cheeks were flushing a bit as her tone softened. “There are so many people interested in my sister; I can’t keep track of them all.”  

“It’s probably Yuan Ruoli,” Mrs. Pan chimed in. “Yuqi never accepts gifts, but she took this perfume and uses it daily, which means she must really like this person. It’s a shame she’s worried we wouldn’t approve of her seeing Mr. Yuan, so she’s kept it a secret from us. Otherwise, we might have figured out who he was sooner.”  

He Yunqin then asked Wang Peter for a clean handkerchief, sprayed some perfume on it, let the alcohol evaporate, and handed it to Yu Hongdou. “Keep this safe.”  

Yu Hongdou was taken aback for a few seconds and quickly wrapped the handkerchief, trying to mimic how they preserved evidence that night.  

He Yunqin couldn’t help but chuckle at her carefulness. Not wanting to give away any hints and upset her, he crouched down to check the space between the dressing table and the wall.

Yu Hongdou tucked away the handkerchief before she realised that He Yunqin was treating her like an assistant. 

When she saw He Yunqin crouched down, examining something, she had no choice but to squat down beside him. 

After a bit of searching, He Yunqin spotted something wedged in a gap. Unsure of what it was, he casually told Yu Hongdou, “Can you grab a Western flashlight from Mr. Pan?” 

He didn’t even look up, probably because he was getting more at ease with directing her. 

Yu Hongdou mumbled a response and stepped outside to fetch the Western flashlight that the servant brought. 

He Yunqin switched on the flashlight, glanced back, and frowned, saying, “Didn’t the police from the French Concession come to search the place? Why didn’t they check here?” 

Wang Peter, who had been checking under the bed, heard this and sneered before standing up. “The local police are always like this. They can’t be bothered to do a thorough job. You really think they’ll search for evidence properly?” 

Yu Chongyi’s face turned red, and with no excuses left, he silently moved to help He Yunqin shift the dressing table. 

As soon as they moved the heavy piece, a bunch of items that were stuck in the gap tumbled out with a “swoosh.” 

He Yunqin carefully sifted through the mess with tweezers. Most of it was just paper, but there were also old candy wrappers and some unused celluloid hair accessories. Finally, he pulled out a crumpled piece of yellow paper.

He Yunqin unfolded a piece of apricot-yellow paper covered in strange symbols that resembled spring worms and autumn snakes. 

“What’s this?” Yu Chongyi asked, confused. “It looks like a Taoist talisman.”

Mrs. Pan leaned in to get a better look and exclaimed, “Hey, isn’t this the amulet from Liuyun Temple?”

“Liuyun Temple?” 

Mrs. Pan explained, “It’s a small, rundown Taoist temple out in the suburbs that doesn’t get much attention. The last time I was playing cards with the boss’s wife, she mentioned that the deity there is quite powerful. I was feeling under the weather at the time, so I took Yuqi to light some incense there. This amulet is what I got from the temple.”

Yu Hongdou noticed that the talisman paper had been crumpled and tossed behind the dressing table, clearly showing that her cousin didn’t think much of it.

He Yunqin let Yu Hongdou play with the talisman paper for a moment, then turned to Mrs. Pan and asked, “Is the temple big? How many Taoists are there? Are there any rickshaws outside to take you there?”

Mrs. Pan shook her head. “Including the cleaners, there are fewer than ten people total. They were all quite old and shaky. When they wrote the talismans, they could barely hold the paper steady. The place was completely quiet. There weren’t even any rickshaws or bicycles around.”

At that moment, Yu Hongdou recalled what He Yunqin had mentioned earlier that afternoon. “The day before Chen Baidie went missing, she visited a Taoist temple too. Do you think it could be the same one as Liuyun Temple?” 

He Yunqin lowered his gaze while pondering, and didn’t respond. 

Wang Peter shook his head, saying, “To move a living person in a busy city, you’d definitely need a rickshaw. If the temple is really as rundown as Mrs. Pan described, they probably lack the means to pull off such a crime.” 

He Yunqin turned to Mrs. Pan again and asked, “Where exactly is this Taoist temple? Are there any other homes nearby?” 

Mrs. Pan replied, “It’s located on Mingquan Mountain. It’s warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and many wealthy people have homes there.” 

Yu Hongdou remembered visiting Mingquan Mountain with her classmates last year. The area was filled with lush trees and had a serene atmosphere, making it a perfect spot for relaxation. 

Mr. Pan chimed in, “Our boss even built a Western-style villa at the base of the mountain. But he owns so many properties in the city that he and his family hardly ever go to Mingquan Mountain. That villa often sits empty for half the year.” 

Upon hearing that, Yu Hongdou was taken aback. She had been so focused on the Yuan family’s properties that she had completely forgotten the fact that Nanbao Foreign Company also owned assets near the train station.

At that time, He Yunqin told Wang Peter, “Quick, take a look. If we don’t uncover anything, we’ll head out. Mr. Yu, could you please reach out to the phone company and get the external line numbers for the properties listed under Nanbao Foreign Trade Co? If any of them start with 7, let me know right away.”

Have a nice day!