What Zeng Teacher cared about was a small matter.
About half a month ago, she took Cong Cong to the Science and Technology Museum, when suddenly a young woman with children came over to chat with them. Because there was a seven or eight-year-old girl with her who was very cute, she didn't pay much attention and let the two children play together.
But soon after, a middle-aged man rushed over to take the girl away, thanking the young woman for taking care of the child. She only knew then that they were not mother and daughter.
This was nothing in itself, but now Zeng Teacher thinks about it and feels very suspicious.
Jian Jing agreed: "What you said is very valuable. If it was for no reason, the child would definitely not leave with a stranger immediately. Do you still remember what she looked like?"
Zeng Teacher described: "Wavy brown hair, heavy eye shadow and blush, heavy makeup, wearing leopard print glasses, a Dior bag..." As she spoke, she became embarrassed first, "It seems useless."
"At least there's a rough impression."
Jian Jing comforted, without revealing her thoughts.
Then she began to ask the nanny who was directly involved in the matter.
Regarding the narrative of what happened, Si Yingjie had already conveyed it once, and there was nothing new. What Jian Jing mainly wanted to know was her opinion.
Yuan Nanny said the driver was diligent and responsible, but he liked to be lazy, laughed at Zeng Teacher as a college student, and couldn't understand why she would take care of children like her. There was contempt mixed with incomprehension. She said Second Sister Si was too overbearing and the strictest employer she had ever worked for, while Sister's husband had a good temper and loved children, he just spoiled them.
Then she talked about Cong Cong - "Very naughty, hard to take care of." The nanny told the truth.
"Have any strangers talked to you recently? Or have there been any weird things that caught your attention?"
Yuan Nanny's answer was unexpected: "The day before yesterday, the boss and his wife had a fight that was overheard by the child."
Jian Jing asked, "What was it about?"
"How to discipline the child." Yuan Nanny said, "The boss's wife wanted to be stricter, not to continue spoiling him, making him fearless. The boss couldn't bear to, since the child was hard to conceive, thinking it would be fine when he grew up."
"How did Cong Cong react?"
"The child didn't really understand, he was just scared and well behaved for two days. But seeing his mother didn't change towards him, he became fearless again. This time when he wanted to go skateboarding, he asked his dad instead of his mom."
"The mother doesn't like the child skateboarding?"
"She thinks it's too dangerous, she never allows him to go."
Jian Jing's mind stirred: "So Cong Cong doesn't go to the skate park often?"
"Yeah, at most three or five times. Without orders from the boss and his wife, I don't dare take him there either."
Jian Jing nodded, ending this inquiry.
Si Yingjie immediately came over, full of anticipation: "How was it?"
"What about you? Did you find out everything clearly?" She asked back.
Si Yingjie said, "I asked, nothing special."
Under Jian Jing's request, he had probed the background of the three employees from Second Sister Si.
The driver was a distant relative of Sister's husband's family, from poor circumstances, so he gave him an easy job with good pay and no bad habits other than being lazy and loving to play games.
Yuan Nanny was found through a domestic service company and had taken care of children from wealthy families before, with a decent reputation, no stealing or petty tricks, just a little gossipy.
Zeng Teacher had just graduated not long ago, introduced by a professor's student, smart and capable, from a moderately well-off family.
"My sister is very meticulous in her work, Cong Cong was hard for her to conceive, there must be no problem."
Jian Jing agreed.
In the conversation just now, she did not find anyone acting suspiciously or problematic, they did not seem to be accomplices in the kidnapping. But in that case, did the kidnapper rely on his own skills to figure out Cong Cong's whereabouts?
The nanny did say Cong Cong didn't go to the skate park often, yet the other party chose such a place.
If no one informed, then the kidnapper followed him all the way there, took advantage of the loose management of the skate park, and decisively decided to carry out the kidnapping.
"It seems now," Jian Jing said slowly, "the kidnapper is a professional."
Si Yingjie gasped: "What do we do now? Report to the police?"
Jian Jing thought for a long time and laughed, "Let's ask them for technical support, but don't come in person, and see how far the kidnapper has monitored this place."
After she said this, Si Yingjie helped persuade Second Sister Si.
Second Sister Si was still worried about her child, and reluctantly accepted this compromise.
At noon, the kidnapper called again.
Second Sister Si picked up: "Hello."
"Is the money ready?" Still an electronic voice.
"There is not so much cash in the bank, it needs to be booked in advance." Second Sister Si, as a strong woman, seized the initiative and said, "If you give me an account number, I'll transfer it to you immediately. How is my child?"
The kidnapper said, "If there is no cash, it will be more than 50 million, one billion."
Second Sister Si frowned: "You asked for cash, it takes time for us to raise funds too, one billion is too much."
"One billion, not a penny less." The kidnapper said, "I'll call again tonight."
He hung up the phone, and soon after, received a new photo.
Cong Cong had woken up, curled up in the corner of the sofa wiping away tears, his little face flushed, and some abrasions on his legs.
Second Sister Si gritted her teeth.
Sister's husband looked at the technician from the public security information security department, full of expectation: "How about it?"
"The IP is overseas, hard to trace in a short time." The technician regretfully replied.
Jian Jing: "What about the voice?"
"Electronically synthesized, basically no background noise."
She couldn't help frowning. She had hoped to determine the kidnapper's location by distinguishing background sounds, but unexpectedly it was so watertight.
The air stagnated for a moment.
Sister's husband was anxious and asked his wife, "What do we do now? One billion? What if it becomes three billion after we raise it?"
"What can we do? Our son is in their hands!" When her son was in danger, how could a mother feel good? Second Sister Si also couldn't control her emotions, "You yelling at me here doesn't help, go raise money instead."
"Money is a small matter." Sister's husband took a deep breath, trying to calm down, "If he releases Cong Cong after getting the money, would I begrudge this little money?"
He turned his head to look at Jian Jing: "Yingjie praised you as amazing, now I'm asking you, will the kidnapper really let him go?"
Jian Jing spoke matter-of-factly: "No one knows. But no matter what he plans, you can only raise money now."
"Then there is no way." Sister's husband's face was gloomy, "I'll go to the bank to see if I can raise it today, it shouldn't be a big problem."
Second Sister Si nodded, no longer wanting to argue.
While Si Yingjie paced back and forth anxiously in the living room, hoping he could do something but finding he could do nothing, extremely frustrated: "Jingjing, can we only sit and wait?"
Jian Jing was calm and unhurried. After thinking for a moment, she said, "You're right, just waiting is not a solution. I'll ask a friend for help."
She went outside to make a call, asking Ji Feng to check the surveillance footage of the Science and Technology Museum to see if any clues could be found from that woman.
Ji Feng disapproved a little: "Teacher Jian, kidnapping should still be reported to the police."
"It's been reported."
He said solemnly: "Bargaining with kidnappers should be handled by professionals."
"No." She denied it outright, "The kidnapper is very professional, he can recognize if the other party is the police. He may have dealt with the police long ago. If he sees through it, can you guarantee the child can definitely be found?"
Ji Feng sighed and compromised: "Fine, wait for my message."
Jian Jing hung up the phone and turned around, only to be startled to see Si Yingjie behind her: "What are you doing?"
"Who was it?" Si Yingjie asked gossipingly.
"A friend."
"The police that Murong..." he swallowed the second half, and Si Yingjie belatedly mumbled vaguely, "Is it that person?"
Jian Jing ignored him and instead asked, "Is your sister and brother-in-law's relationship good?"
"It's ok, not great but not bad either, it was an arranged marriage after all, this is already good." Si Yingjie said, "Why do you ask?"
"Don't worry about why, just answer." Jian Jing asked, "Does your sister or brother-in-law have someone on the side?"
Si Yingjie was tongue-tied, and after a long pause said: "Probably not."
"Are you sure?"
He smiled dryly.
"I see."
Two hours later, Ji Feng called. He found the surveillance footage from the Science and Technology Museum. Fortunately the retention period was one month, and he could still find some blurry images.
Jian Jing asked Second Sister Si to identify: "Do you recognize this person?"
Second Sister Si stared at the blurry photo carefully, frowning: "Who is this? Is Cong Cong next to her? Do you suspect she did it?"
The rapid triple questioning made Jian Jing quite helpless. Because of Si Yingjie's sake, her position was bound to be more inclined towards Second Sister Si, but the families of the victims were too aggressive, which more or less hindered the investigation.
"You don't recognize her? Haven't seen anyone similar before?" Jian Jing answered with a question.
Second Sister Si was about to ask again, but was interrupted by Si Yingjie: "Sister, do you recognize her?"
Only then did she say: "I don't know her, I don't remember seeing this woman in my impression."
Then asked the driver, nanny and Teacher Zeng separately.
Teacher Zeng confirmed that this woman was the woman they met at the Science Museum. The driver and nanny both said they did not know her and had never seen her before.
In the evening, Sister's husband came back and said he had already raised the funds and could transfer at any time, and the bank also agreed to cooperate with the police to investigate the flow of funds.
Jian Jing took the opportunity to ask him to identify the mysterious woman.
He also said he did not recognize her.
In other words, after a day of investigation, there was not a single clue.
When it got completely dark, the kidnapper called again.
He started with accusations: "I told you not to call the police."
Second Sister Si said, "We didn't call the police."
"Whether you did or not, you know it in your heart." He said coldly, "Your son had nothing to eat today."
Second Sister Si immediately softened and pleaded, "The child is still young and doesn't know anything. If you have anything, come at us adults, don't torture him."
The kidnapper ignored her completely and went on to say, "One billion is not enough anymore."
Sister's husband couldn't help but defend, "Although we have some assets, they are scattered everywhere, and our cash flow is really tight."
"I don't need cash. I know you own a jewelry store. I want diamonds worth 2 billion yuan." The kidnapper was well prepared, calm and unhurried. "I'll give you one night."
Seeing a chance, Second Sister Si quickly said, "Let me hear the child's voice."
"You'll see his photo."
As before, after stating his demands, the phone was abruptly disconnected.
The photo arrived immediately.
Their precious son, who had to be coaxed for half a day at every meal, was licking crumbs from a bag of chips like a hungry puppy.
Seeing this, Second Sister Si was heartbroken and asked, "Can you take out that much?"
Sister's husband shook his head and said, "We don't have that much. At market price, we have a little over 100 million at most here. Anything more would just be making up the numbers with cheap diamonds."
"My father once gave me a blue diamond, worth about 80 million." Second Sister Si took a deep breath and said decisively, "Let's each contribute half."
Sister's husband sighed helplessly, "This is all we can do."
However, Jian Jing said, "Don't immediately satisfy all his demands. Negotiate with him, can diamonds and 100 million in cash work?"
Second Sister Si looked at her younger brother, she really couldn't feel assured, and asked, "What if he raises the price again after seeing us make demands?"
"That would prove he was going to raise the price anyway." Jian Jing said, "Isn't this about your bottom line?"
Sister's husband hesitated, "About that, we really don't have much spare cash."
She smiled, "That's right then. The other party is very professional, they must have investigated you in advance and know roughly how much you can take out. They won't push too hard."
"Of course," she added calmly, "if you feel it's too risky, just stick to your own plan and don't provoke the kidnapper. I'm only making a suggestion."
