Captain Lu was aloof again today.

Chapter 53 Acheng
Before he could react instinctively, the elevator arrived.

Wei Qingsong walked into the office humming a little tune, seemingly unconcerned.

Watching her disappear around the corner, Lu Jingming's cold gaze softened slightly, and after a long while, a subtle, gentle smile appeared on his lips.

Chen Jin stretched and came out of the restroom, only to see the mysterious smile on Captain Lu's face.

He exclaimed in shock, "A comet hit Earth? Why is Marine so happy today?"

His smile vanished instantly, and Lu Jingming gave him a cold glare: "Enough talk, why aren't you getting to work?"

Chen Jin said, feeling wronged, "Oh... okay."

It seems the sun will rise from the east today.

Their Marines remain as ruthless as ever.

Chen Jin followed closely behind Lu Jingming into the office. His gaze inadvertently fell on the paper bag next to Wei Qingsong, and he paused slightly in surprise.

He rubbed his eyes and looked at the paper bag in Lu Jingming's hand.

Wow! Look what he found!
No wonder Captain Lu was smiling so radiantly! Case solved, everyone!

Chen Jin was secretly delighted to have stumbled upon this secret, and his gaze kept drifting uncontrollably toward Lu Jingming and Wei Qingsong.

At his desk, Lu Jingming slowly turned on his computer, his icy gaze sweeping over him mercilessly: "Very free? Have you investigated Wen Cheng's background? Have you found Situ Hui's whereabouts?"

Chen Jin quickly averted his gaze, obediently raised his hands in surrender, but couldn't help but say cheekily, "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong."

Lu Jingming didn't take the jab; he wasn't interested in dealing with married people who flaunted their sparkling rings the moment they raised their hands.

Despite being treated so ruthlessly, Chen Jin still had a smile on his face.

As long as Captain Lu and Sister Wei are in a good mood, what does it matter if he feels a little wronged?

As the saying goes, if he doesn't go to hell, who will?
He may not have a brilliant mind, but his awareness is quite high.

Although the rain had stopped, the weather remained gloomy, and the whole city seemed much colder than usual.

The fallen leaves were swept up by the cold wind and swirled in the air.

Around ten o'clock, Xiao Song ran in from outside, carrying his laptop. The chill emanating from him was still fresh.

"Captain Lu, Advisor Wei, I've found it!"

Wei Qingsong immediately left his seat, took a few steps forward, and moved closer to Lu Jingming, looking at the computer screen with him.

“We reviewed a large amount of road traffic surveillance footage and found that on the night Situ Hui disappeared, an SUV with license plate number Tang A33075 lingered near her residential area. After comparison, we found that this car was also seen on the road near the rental house in Beicheng on the day Wen Yu was murdered.”

Wei Qingsong immediately asked, "Does this car belong to Wencheng?"

"No, but the surveillance camera captured his face." Xiao Song clicked the mouse twice excitedly, bringing up a picture.

This was taken from the surveillance footage. Although the photo is blurry, Wencheng's face can still be vaguely seen.

Wei Qingsong glanced at the time on the surveillance footage and said thoughtfully, "In other words, Wen Cheng went to Beicheng on the afternoon of the day Wen Yu died."

Lu Jingming made a decisive decision: "Immediately track this car and find Situ Hui's whereabouts."

"Our technical investigation colleagues are already handling it," Xiao Song replied.

"Mm," Lu Jingming replied.

Just then, Chen Jin strode over with his phone in hand.

"Sister Wei, we've made contact with the former director of the Changping Welfare Home." He handed the phone forward, and Lu Jingming slightly raised his hand, gesturing for Wei Qingsong to answer.

The person on the other end of the phone was a middle-aged man who shouted into the receiver, "Hello, hello, can you hear me? Hello, this is Zhang Hua."

This reminded Wei Qingsong of the middle-aged man answering the phone on the train. She gave a slightly embarrassed smile and asked, "Hello, Dean Zhang, I would like to ask you if you have any impression of the names Situ Hui and Wen Cheng?"

Fortunately, Dean Zhang's memory had not deteriorated. After thinking for a while, he said loudly, "Wen Cheng? You mean the child who was adopted by Mr. Wen of Jihai Group? Of course I remember him. That child is quite pitiful."

With the phone on speakerphone, Wei Qingsong gave Chen Jin a look, and Chen Jin immediately opened his laptop to wait.

“Yes, it’s him.” Wei Qingsong’s voice was gentle, like a flowing stream. “You say he’s pitiful? What makes you say that?”

“Acheng wasn’t originally an orphan, but his biological father is unknown. His mother was a nightclub worker who conceived him by accident. Later, his mother had a serious accident at work and was stabbed to death. That’s when Acheng was sent to our welfare home. He was probably only two years old at that time.”

Wei Qingsong raised a question: "A two-year-old child shouldn't remember anything, right? Does he know anything about his mother?"

“What can a two-year-old know? He couldn’t even speak clearly when he was sent here.” Director Zhang paused for a moment, sighed, and said with a guilty tone, “I’m not a qualified director. I’ve managed the orphanage terribly. Acheng is often bullied by the older children. Those rascals humiliate him all the time because of his background.”

“I admit it was my fault for not being able to help him grow up healthily, both physically and mentally. Fortunately, there’s a girl named Situ Hui, whom you just asked about. She’s two years older than Acheng and often takes care of him, so Acheng isn’t too pitiful.”

Wei Qingsong let out a deep breath, his gaze somewhat gloomy.

No wonder Changping Welfare Home eventually went bankrupt.

At least the dean knows shame, and besides, so many years have passed, it's pointless to hold him accountable now.

She paused for a moment, then asked, "Do you know why Wencheng, also known as Acheng, was later adopted by the Wen family?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

After an unknown amount of time, Director Zhang said with heavy breathing, "I don't know the specific reasons why Mr. Wen adopted Acheng, but when Mr. Wen came to our welfare home, his only requirement for adopting a child was that the child could not be too smart, and that the child be resilient and healthy."

“I figured that Acheng was bullied by those bad kids every day, so he must be very resilient. Besides, he was always quiet and didn’t seem very smart, so I recommended Acheng to Mr. Wen.”

“I didn’t think too much about it at the time. After all, Jihai is a big company. It’s better for Acheng to live with Mr. Wen than in the welfare home.”

"But later, the child secretly ran back once, saying he didn't want to go back anymore. But how could that be? Mr. Wen and our welfare home have signed a contract, so I definitely have to send the child back."

"When I got to the door, I realized that the child was covered in injuries. By then, it was too late to regret it. After that, I never saw Acheng again. Later, the orphanage went out of business, and I never had the chance to see him again."

"Now that I think about it, when Acheng was in the orphanage, he was bullied by those children every day, but he never complained. Yet he couldn't take it anymore and secretly ran away from the Wen family. I don't know what he went through."

-

After the call ended, the room remained silent.

Chen Jin asked with some difficulty, "Sister Wei, was Wen Cheng abused by Wen Chenghua?"

"I'm not sure, but the probability is high." Wei Qingsong's voice was calm. From Dean Zhang's few words, he could only make a guess and could not be sure.

"If that's the case, Wen Cheng should hate Wen Chenghua to death, so why would he be willing to work for him?" Chen Jin was still very confused.

Wei Qingsong remained silent for a moment, then slowly uttered a few words: "Mind control."

I've been trying to improve my writing lately, so I've been reading a lot of short stories. Then, I was shocked to discover that my writing has entered an awkward phase—neither here nor there, unlike anything I've done before. The more I read, the more uncomfortable I feel; it feels a bit incongruous, and my writing style is becoming increasingly bland, like an old lady telling a story. I'm so frustrated! I still need to stockpile drafts, this is killing me. So I really need to go into seclusion and hone my skills. If I don't reply to comments, it's not because I'm aloof, it's because I haven't checked the author's backend. *Sad*

Oh right, the posting times these past two days have been different from before. I'm testing which time period gets the most traffic. I'll let you know when the new posting times are set, qwq. This is my last words, that's all.

Thank you for the monthly pass, Suiyuan.



(End of this chapter)