"......"
Shen Nian silently pursed her lips, then remained silent.
Seeing her demeanor, Lu Lingchen felt helpless, but he didn't give her a hard time. Instead, he said directly, "My brother rushed to the airport about an hour ago and, if nothing goes wrong, has already boarded the earliest flight out of Hai City."
Upon hearing this, Shen Nian abruptly looked up, staring at Lu Lingchen with a hint of bewilderment.
She was surprised.
Today was supposed to be about meeting the victim from back then, for Lu Lingrui's case. How could Lu Lingchuan possibly leave?
Could it be because of yesterday...
"Don't overthink it. My brother just flew to another city," Lu Lingchen quickly said, seeing that Shen Nian was clearly overthinking. "This morning, Xu Lawyer called my brother. Apart from Hai City, they also found other victims. To save time, we'll handle the victim in Hai City, while my brother goes to meet the other victims. Xu Lawyer said the more victims they can find, the better, and the more evidence, the better."
They just need to nail those two beasts to the wall, unbudgeable, so they can get the death penalty!
..............................
Lu Lingchen drove, taking Shen Nian on a long journey, watching the scenery change from prosperous to decrepit.
Finally, Lu Lingchen drove into an old, dilapidated neighborhood. The surrounding areas had become ruins, the ground littered with bricks, steel bars, and debris left over from demolished buildings. Only a few buildings still stood, their surfaces looking rundown and giving off a sense of imminent collapse.
Some even had clothes hanging outside to dry, indicating that people still lived there.
They parked their car not too far away. Shen Nian gazed at those few buildings, quite surprised, "They live here?"
This... was clearly a building slated for demolition, unfit for human habitation.
Lu Lingchen took a file bag from beside him, pulling out the documents inside. "According to our investigation, after leaving the capital, they moved to Hai City and currently reside here. The woman we need to visit is Chen Bei, 26 years old, currently working as a server at a shop, earning 3,600 yuan per month."
Shen Nian saw the two photos on top. One, taken about six or seven years ago, showed a youthful and innocent Chen Bei, her eyes curved into crescents when she smiled, the epitome of a pure campus goddess.
Next to it was a second photo, taken recently. Chen Bei, now 26 years old, donned a server's uniform, her hair tied into a regulation bun, exposing her shiny forehead.
Compared to the first photo, she had changed drastically, no longer exuding the aura of an innocent goddess, but rather a sense of world-weariness, with a dull gaze.
Although people change with time, her transformation was too drastic.
"Chen Bei was still a university student when she experienced that incident back then. Afterward, she suddenly dropped out of school and left the capital. With only a high school education, she faced significant limitations when looking for work."
So, in addition to Lingrui, those two beasts had ruined how many other lives.
A figure entered their line of sight - a woman wearing a faded white T-shirt and jeans, about to enter the dilapidated building.
"That's her." Lu Lingchen recognized her as the Chen Bei they were looking for.
Chen Bei currently worked as a server at a shop. Since Hai City was a famous tourist spot, many visitors came to enjoy the nightlife, so most shops there operated 24 hours a day.
Chen Bei's current shift was the night shift, starting around 8 PM the previous day and ending around 8 AM the next morning.
She was just getting off work now.
In such a rundown neighborhood, the presence of a luxury car would seem out of place, so to prevent any unnecessary trouble, Lu Lingchen didn't park next to the dilapidated buildings.
Once he confirmed it was Chen Bei, Lu Lingchen opened the car door, preparing to get out.
"Lingchen," Shen Nian called out to him, and Lu Lingchen turned his head.
"You wait in the car first. I'll go talk to her," Shen Nian said. "Since we're both women, she might be more at ease with me than with you."
Lu Lingchen considered it for a moment and nodded, "Alright, I'll wait in the car. If anything happens, give me a call, and I'll come over right away."
"Okay."
Shen Nian grabbed her bag and got out of the car.
Meanwhile, Chen Bei had just gotten off work and was about to go home and sleep.
"Chen Bei," suddenly, someone called out her name.
"Hmm?"
She turned around and saw a figure appearing behind her.
Shen Nian was dressed simply today, a gray short-sleeved top paired with light brown, flowy wide-leg pants, and a pair of sandals below. No designer logos, just a simple outfit, and she wasn't even wearing makeup. Yet, one could still sense her refined aura.
In contrast, Chen Bei appeared rather ordinary.
"Who are you?" Chen Bei asked, puzzled. She didn't recognize the woman before her and didn't understand how she knew her name.
Shen Nian approached and gave her a slight nod. As she lowered her head, a cool demeanor befitting an assistant emerged.
"Hello, I'm Shen Nian. I came to find you today in hopes that you could help with something."
"Help with what?" Chen Bei eyed her warily.
"To be a witness and identify the wrongdoings Wang Yong committed against you in court. I've learned that Wang Yong and his friend back then..."
Initially, Chen Bei thought Shen Nian was a scammer, cautiously guarding herself against being brainwashed or cheated out of money. However, upon hearing the name "Wang Yong," her face instantly turned deathly pale!
Without even listening to what Shen Nian had to say, she turned and ran!
Her reaction was too intense, leaving Shen Nian no chance to respond. By the time Shen Nian snapped out of it a second later, Chen Bei had already fled twenty meters away.
"Chen Bei!" Shen Nian immediately gave chase, but the sandals on her feet greatly hindered her running.
Adding to that, the area was slated for demolition, with debris and rubble scattered everywhere, not a single decent path in sight.
Shen Nian hurried to catch up but failed to watch her footing. She stumbled on the uneven ground, spraining her ankle.
She fell ungracefully onto the ground, a searing pain shooting through her sprained ankle.
Cradling her injured foot with one hand, she looked up, but Chen Bei was nowhere to be seen.
Shen Nian slowly stood up, carefully testing the weight on her injured foot, which sent a sharp stab of pain through her ankle.
It seemed to be a rather serious sprain.
At the moment, Shen Nian had no time to tend to her injury. She brushed off the dirt from her clothes and, step by step, slowly made her way into the dilapidated neighborhood.
She knew where Chen Bei lived.
The buildings in the dilapidated neighborhood were walk-ups, with a total of seven floors. Chen Bei lived on the seventh floor.
With her sprained ankle, it took Shen Nian a long time to climb up to the seventh floor.
There were four doors on the seventh floor. Shen Nian checked the dusty door numbers and finally found 704.
As she approached, she noticed the door was open.
Shen Nian frowned, carefully examining it. It wasn't left open; the lock had been broken.
Chen Bei must have panicked upon returning and forcefully barged in, damaging the door in the process.
Originally, Shen Nian was contemplating how to get Chen Bei to open the door, but this fortunately saved her the trouble.
