I was a rookie reporter in the 00s

As night deepened, the city's clamor gradually died down, leaving only the flickering neon lights in the distance. Zhang Wei's home seemed unusually quiet. A single dim desk lamp lit the living room, casting a soft glow. Zhang Wei sat on the sofa, his phone in hand, a hint of anxiety in his eyes.

The phone rang again, the piercing ringtone standing out in the quiet room. Zhang Wei glanced at the caller ID. It was an unfamiliar number. His fingers trembled slightly, and after a moment's hesitation, he finally answered the call.

"Hello?" Zhang Wei's voice was a little hoarse.

A low voice came from the other end of the phone, with a hint of coldness: "Zhang Wei, what have you been doing recently?"

Zhang Wei's heart skipped a beat, and his voice was filled with nervousness: "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter who I am." The voice on the other end of the phone sneered, "What matters is that I know what you are doing."

Zhang Wei's forehead was covered in sweat. He gripped the phone tightly, his voice trembling slightly. "What...what do you want to say?"

"Did you know that Zhao Minghui is dead?" The voice on the other end of the phone suddenly became serious.

Zhang Wei's body froze, and the phone in his hand almost slipped out of his hand. He was silent for a moment, then whispered, "I know. I saw it in the newspaper."

"I'm glad you know." The voice on the other end of the phone was threatening. "Zhao Minghui's death is related to you, right?"

Zhang Wei's heart began to beat wildly, and he felt an inexplicable fear. He shook his head, trying to calm himself down. "I... I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just Zhao Minghui's bodyguard. He fired me, that's all."

"Really?" The voice on the other end of the phone sneered. "Then why were you fired? Was it because you were incompetent, or because you knew something you shouldn't have known?"

Zhang Wei's breathing became rapid, and he felt his throat dry. He whispered, "I don't know what you're talking about. I just..."

"Stop pretending, Zhang Wei." The voice on the other end of the phone interrupted him, "I know what happened between you and Zhao Minghui. If you don't want to get into trouble, stay home and don't run around."

Zhang Wei's fingers gripped the phone tightly, his body trembling slightly. The voice on the other end of the line continued, "Remember, we're always watching you."

The call suddenly ended, and Zhang Wei sat dazed on the sofa, his phone falling to the floor. His heartbeat was pounding like a drum, and cold sweat covered his forehead. He felt an inexplicable fear, as if a pair of invisible eyes were staring at him in the darkness.

"They're watching me." Zhang Wei whispered to himself, his voice trembling. "What do they know?"

Zhang Wei stood up, walked to the window, opened the curtains, and looked out. In the night, the streets were deserted, with only a few streetlights flickering. He didn't see anyone suspicious, but the feeling of being watched grew stronger.

"What should I do?" Zhang Wei whispered to himself, with a hint of despair in his voice.

A few days later, Zhang Wanqing and Fu Siyuan arrived at Zhang Wei's home. Li Hong opened the door and let them in, a look of fatigue and worry on her face.

"Zhang Wei has been missing for several days," Li Hong said, a hint of helplessness in her voice. "I can't contact him, and I don't know where he went."

Zhang Wanqing and Fu Siyuan looked at each other and both understood that Zhang Wei’s disappearance was most likely related to those mysterious phone calls.

"Did Zhang Wei say anything to you before he disappeared?" Fu Siyuan asked.

Li Hong shook her head. "He didn't say anything, he just looked nervous. A few days before he disappeared, I saw him frequently receiving strange phone calls. He was always nervous when he answered the phone and would deliberately avoid me."

Zhang Wanqing nodded, a trace of doubt flashing through her mind: "What were the contents of those calls?"

Li Hong sighed. "I don't know. He was always very careful not to let me hear when he answered the phone. But I remember that after he finished a call, he would always sit on the sofa in a daze, looking very anxious."

Fu Siyuan pulled out a document from his bag. It was Zhang Wei's call records, which they had obtained from the telecommunications department. "These calls all came from one place, a company called 'Tianyu Group.'"

"'Tianyu Group'?" Li Hong frowned. "I've heard of this name. Zhang Wei once mentioned that Zhao Minghui had some business dealings with this company."

Zhang Wanqing nodded. "Zhao Minghui's funds also led to this company. We suspect this company is involved in Zhao Minghui's death."

Li Hong was silent for a moment, then raised her head, a hint of determination flashing in her eyes: "I think Zhang Wei knows something. Before he disappeared, I saw him looking through some documents and taking some photos with his mobile phone."

"Documents?" Zhang Wanqing and Fu Siyuan looked at each other and knew in their hearts that these documents might be the key clues.

"Do you still remember the contents of those documents?" Fu Siyuan asked.

Li Hong shook her head. "I only saw him looking through some account books and documents. I don't know the specific contents. But he looked very nervous, as if those documents were very important."

Zhang Wanqing nodded. "Thank you, Li Hong. We will continue our investigation."

After returning to the newspaper office, Zhang Wanqing and Fu Siyuan began to analyze the clues provided by Li Hong.

The lights of the city twinkled in the distance, and the police station's office was brightly lit. Officer Wang Qiang sat at his desk, case files piled in front of him. He rubbed his temples, trying to ease the day's fatigue. Just then, Fu Siyuan and Zhang Wanqing pushed open the door and walked in.

"Officer Wang, we just checked Chen Neng's background information," Fu Siyuan said, a hint of urgency in his voice. "We found that he and Zhao Minghui did have financial dealings, but the police said he wasn't a suspect."

Wang Qiang raised his head, a trace of fatigue flashing in his eyes. "Chen Neng did have financial dealings with Zhao Minghui, but that doesn't mean he had a motive for committing the crime. Furthermore, we've already confirmed his alibi for the night of the crime."

"An alibi?" Zhang Wanqing frowned. "How did he prove it?"

Wang Qiang flipped open a document and handed it to Zhang Wanqing and Fu Siyuan. "Chen Neng was attending a business dinner on the night of the incident. Hundreds of business people at the dinner can prove he was present. Furthermore, his company has complete surveillance footage showing he never left the party."

Zhang Wanqing took the document and carefully examined the records. She saw the time and location of the dinner, as well as Chen Neng's name on the sign-in sheet. She looked up, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes: "What kind of dinner is this?"

Wang Qiang explained, "This is a charity dinner organized by the city's Chamber of Commerce, and many business people have been invited. As a shareholder of Tianyu Group, Chen Neng is naturally among the invited guests."

Fu Siyuan nodded: "The time of this dinner coincides perfectly with the time when Zhao Minghui was murdered. Chen Neng does have an alibi."

Zhang Wanqing was silent for a moment, then raised her head, a hint of determination flashing in her eyes: "This alibi is too perfect. I think there must be something wrong here."