A madman in France? How come he's always at crime scenes!

Feishui City Public Security Bureau, 915 Special Task Force Temporary Command Room.

The whiteboard was covered with photos, and several names were connected by red lines, but upon closer inspection, all directions pointed to the same name.

Tan Yongren.

Li Mu, with bandages still wrapped around his arm, stood in front of the whiteboard, holding a newly released report on fund flows.

"We have already conducted a preliminary screening of all the fund accounts that Zhang Haitian provided." Li Mu turned to the second page of the report. "On the surface, he only provided Cao Yang with a vehicle and cash once, and the amount involved is not large."

Deputy Captain Zhang Ze leaned back in his chair for a short rest. He had been working overtime late into the night these past few days, and his mind was starting to feel a bit foggy.

"On the surface?"

Li Mu looked up at him.

"If you think that a used car seller can somehow get a car with fake license plates and a temporary place to stay, then you're being rather superficial."

Zhang Ze: "..."

Speak politely, why resort to personal attacks?

Meng Jiang leaned back in his chair and smiled; the atmosphere was fairly pleasant.

"continue."

"Zhang Haitian is just a minor figure." Li Mu posted one of the fund flow charts on the whiteboard. "He has three accounts under his name, and the total amount of money coming in and out in the past six months is less than 400,000. The real anomaly is the building materials trading company that his brother-in-law runs."

Another name has appeared on the whiteboard.

Haitong Building Materials.

"Haitong Building Materials has undertaken a total of seventeen material procurement transactions in the past two years. On paper, everything looks clean, with complete invoices and contracts for cement, steel bars, and sand."

Li Mu paused for a moment.

"But ten of them ended up with the same general contractor."

Meng Jiang narrowed his eyes.

Which one?

Li Mu pasted the last piece of paper on.

The four characters were circled with a marker.

Hongyuan Construction.

"This name sounds familiar."

"Of course it sounds familiar."

Meng Jiang picked up the cigarette pack on the table and took out a cigarette.

"Hongyuan is one of the core partners of Tianyue Group's engineering sector. In recent years, Hongyuan has won bids for urban renewal and municipal infrastructure projects in Feishui and several surrounding cities."

Zhang Ze raised an eyebrow.

"Tam Wing-yan's plate?"

"At least it's on the edge of his plate." Li Mu nodded. "According to the business registration, Hongyuan Construction and Tianyue Group have no direct equity relationship. The actual controller is Gao Jiancheng, who started in engineering and has a clean resume."

"It's just a little too clean," Meng Jiang sneered.

Zhang Ze approached the whiteboard, looking thoughtfully at the string of cash flows.

Li Mu took out another file folder.

"In addition, Hongyuan Construction has had several irregularities in the payment of migrant workers' wages to their special accounts in the past six months. The accounts show that the general contractor has paid the funds to the subcontractors, but the labor side has reported multiple delays in payment."

Zhang Ze was stunned for a moment.

"Unpaid wages? What does that have to do with our case?"

"It doesn't seem like much on its own," Li Mu said. "But it becomes interesting when you put it into Tan Yongren's financial network. Construction fees, material fees, and labor fees are the easiest places to create a loop in the books. Especially after multiple layers of subcontracting, a sum of money goes out from the general contractor, goes through several companies, and then comes back. Every step looks legal on the books."

Zhang Ze suddenly realized.

"The washing machine, of course."

Meng Jiang stood up and walked to the whiteboard.

Tan Yongren, Tianyue Group, Cao Yang, Zhang Haitian, Haitong Building Materials, and Hongyuan Construction.

The photos were finally pieced together into a decent line.

People may lie, but money doesn't just disappear into thin air.

"What about Hongyuan Construction's data?" Meng Jiang asked.

"Here."

Li Mu opened another folder.

"Hongyuan Construction Co., Ltd., established in 2009 with a registered capital of 50 million yuan, has Gao Jiancheng as its legal representative. Its predecessor was Feishui County Hongyuan Construction Team, which was later restructured into a company. In 2012, it began to take on real estate projects under Tianyue Group, and its scale expanded rapidly after 2014."

She turned a page.

"The one person who is truly noteworthy."

Zhang Ze's spirits lifted.

"Is Gao Jiancheng?"

"No." Li Mu pasted a photo on the edge of the whiteboard.

The woman in the photo looked to be in her late twenties. Zhang Ze glanced at it and muttered to himself:

"He seems like a highly educated person."

Li Mu nodded.

"Lin Zhiyi, female, 27 years old. Her public identity is the project coordination manager of Hongyuan Construction, responsible for liaising with Tianyue Group on some urban renewal projects and municipal infrastructure projects."

After saying that, he also pasted up several other documents.

Contract review comments, project meeting minutes, risk control rectification notices, and labor payment reminders.

Li Mu pointed to one of the portions with his pen.

"In the past few years, Hongyuan Construction has cooperated with Tianyue Group on urban renewal projects. Almost all the documents involving land acquisition and compensation, labor subcontracting, material procurement and project changes have passed through her hands."

Zhang Ze was taken aback.

"Does the person in charge of coordination have to worry about so much?"

"That's why we're paying attention to her."

Li Mu nodded.

"Hongyuan Construction's accounts are very clean, its contracts are complete, and its payment channels are all self-consistent. But the more this is the case, the more it shows that someone has been helping them cover up their legal risks for a long time."

Looking at Lin Zhiyi in the photo, Meng Jiang slowly said:

"Check her career path."

Li Mu has already made preparations.

"Lin Zhiyi lived with her biological father, Lin Huaishan, until she was seven years old. Lin Huaishan was originally a foreman in the early construction team of Tianyue Group, and later died in a construction site accident."

Zhang Ze flipped through the documents.

"Work injury?"

"It was treated as an accident back then," Li Mu said. "The compensation process was very quick; signing, closing the case, and cremation were all completed in three days."

Meng Jiang paused for a moment, his hand holding the cigarette still.

"Three days?"

"Yes." Li Mu nodded. "What's even more coincidental is that less than half a year after Lin Huaishan's death, Tan Yongren sponsored Lin Zhiyi's studies under the name of 'the daughter of an old friend.' Tuition, living expenses, overseas exchange programs, and postgraduate tuition were all paid for by the Tianyue Charity Foundation."

Zhang Ze hissed.

"Their relationship is unusual."

"I don't know if it's compensation or something else," Li Mu posted a few photos, "but many people inside Tianyue know that Tan Yongren treats her even better than his own daughter."

In the photo, young Lin Zhiyi stands beside Tan Yongren, holding an award certificate in her hands. Tan Yongren looks down at her, smiling gently and kindly.

If you ignore the red lines on the whiteboard, it really does look like a kind and benevolent elder.

"She studied engineering management in college and legal compliance in graduate school," Li Mu continued. "After graduation, she didn't go to Tianyue headquarters, but went to Hongyuan Construction. Her position wasn't high, but she had a lot of power."

Meng Jiang stared at the photo for a long time before saying:

"A clean person in the open."

Zhang Ze understood.

"She was responsible for cleaning up after Tan Yongren."

Li Mu rolled her eyes at the vice-captain. Why did he always seem to talk in such a strange way?

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

The person in charge of monitoring the Hongyuan Copper City project quickly came in and handed Meng Jiang his phone, which contained a video.

"Team Leader Meng, there's some activity in Tongcheng. Workers are gathering at the government service center, and it's related to Hongyuan."

Zhang Ze immediately sat up straight.

"make trouble?"

The man's expression was somewhat strange.

"It wasn't a disturbance. The leader was a lawyer, and he made the workers line up in the government service center..."

Meng Jiang's brow twitched, and a face appeared in his mind.

"lawyer?"

The video on my phone was filled with a lot of noise, including a lazy, familiar voice.

"Please don't push, everyone. We're just expressing our demands legally. Hey! You by the door, move aside a little, don't bother the leaders!"