As I mentioned before, Chongqing's roads are all mountains and staircases. Without developed roads, vehicles can't reach most places.
This led to the profession of sedan chair carriers in Chongqing.
"No, thank you!" Lü Qingqing politely refused.
"Miss, please try it. We are very steady walkers." The man tried to persuade her further.
"That's not what I mean." Lü Qingqing was about to explain that she wasn't afraid of falling, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she froze. "We?"
He said "we"?
The word echoed in Lü Qingqing's mind like a spell.
That's it!
Zhu Xinkai had said, "The water quality at the cinema is bad, so we keep running to the restroom."
When Lü Qingqing first heard this, she didn't think much of it. People always find reasons for their discomfort. When you're feeling unwell, you blame the poor water quality of the cinema.
But thinking back now, why would Zhu Xinkai mention the cinema's water quality? It must be because everyone who drank the water at the time had an upset stomach. And the "we" he referred to wasn't "him and his subordinates," but "him, Yue Hongling, and Zhang Hao."
Lü Qingqing's previously worried expression immediately relaxed.
"Thank you!" Lü Qingqing took out a banknote and pressed it into the sedan chair carrier's hand. She needed to find Zhu Xinkai to get a clear answer.
...
"So you mean they stole the silver dollars while Zhu Xinkai was in the restroom?"
"Yes!" Lü Qingqing replied with certainty.
Zhu Xinkai had always had a healthy stomach and rarely suffered from diarrhea. But after drinking the tea served at the cinema on Friday, he had to go to the restroom four or five times that afternoon.
Not only him, but Yue Hongling also went, and Zhang Hao went too.
However, this information was never mentioned by Zhang and Yue. This made Lü Qingqing suspect that while Zhu Xinkai's diarrhea was real, Zhang and Yue's was faked.
They used this time gap to carry out their theft plan.
To verify if Zhang and Yue had diarrhea, it was simple. After some questioning, almost no one remembered seeing them in the restroom.
Conversely, many people remembered Zhu Xinkai.
Clearly, Zhu Xinkai had genuinely gone to the restroom multiple times.
Furthermore, Zhu Xinkai was still taking medication and looked unwell, speaking weakly. But Zhang and Yue showed no signs of illness.
After all, Zhu Xinkai had said that their condition was even worse than his and that they went to the restroom more frequently.
Soon, Yue Hongling and Zhang Hao were brought to the Special Operations Team. They were also presented with the testimony of a pharmacy owner, which clearly stated that Zhang and Yue had purchased croton beans on Thursday.
"I admit it, we took the silver dollars. But we didn't take them all," Zhang Hao finally broke down. There was witness testimony, physical evidence, and most importantly, the suspicion of faking illness to go to the restroom had been exposed. No matter how they tried to deny it, they couldn't explain it away.
"You didn't take them all?" Li Yang was furious. "I advise you to be honest. Since you've confessed, if we find anything else, you'll be guilty of more!"
"It's true, officer, you have to believe me." Zhang Hao said, though he and Yue Hongling appeared to be at odds, they had known each other for many years. Due to their positions, they were aware that a renovation payment would arrive at the cinema on Friday.
Thinking of the more than ten thousand silver dollars right before them, both of them had hatched a scheme. They agreed to use the pretense of discussing business as an alibi to stage a silver dollar theft.
First, Yue Hongling drugged Xiang Xia's water, causing her to fall asleep in the office. Second, they gave Zhu Xinkai croton beans to induce diarrhea.
As Hu Jia had predicted, Zhu Xinkai was constantly in the restroom. He and Yue Hongling took turns feigning stomach aches, while their actual goal was to move the silver dollars. However, the items were heavy and bulky. To avoid suspicion, they put the silver dollars in briefcases and handed them over to accomplices as soon as they left the building.
In this way, by entering and exiting five or six times, they easily transferred the money, ultimately stealing over 3,000 silver dollars.
"What about Xiang Xia? Where did you put her?" Lü Qingqing was still concerned about the girl.
"We don't know. We only found out she never went home after the report was filed." Zhang Hao, fearing a murder charge, quickly explained.
It turned out that Zhang Hao and Yue Hongling had already planned their escape route. They intended to make Xiang Xia the scapegoat, as she was the only one in the office when the silver dollars went missing.
But who would have thought Xiang Xia would disappear, taking the remaining over 6,000 silver dollars with her? "That girl is ruthless, she took all the remaining money," Zhang Hao lamented.
...
"What do you think about this?" After hearing Zhang Hao's confession, the Special Operations Team interrogated Yue Hongling, and their stories were similar.
Ultimately, based on their statements, the Special Operations Team found their accomplices and recovered 3,186 silver dollars.
But looking at the recovered stolen money, which was only half of the original amount, no one felt motivated.
Because no matter how they were questioned, Zhang Hao and the other two claimed they hadn't harmed Yue Hongling and insisted that they carried the silver dollars out of the cinema in their bags.
This made the situation peculiar.
If what Zhang Hao and the others said was true, then where had Xiang Xia gone?
And who was the mysteriously appearing porter?
Was the disappearance of the remaining silver dollars related to him?
After all, a wheelbarrow had indeed been abandoned in the alley.
It seemed there was someone else involved in this case, someone Zhang Hao and Yue Hongling didn't know.
...
On Monday, Lü Qingqing felt a bit complicated.
This was the first Monday since she had known Hu Jia that he hadn't lost his memory.
She felt a bit apprehensive, and her eyes followed him as he entered the office.
"What are you looking at?" Hu Jia asked, bewildered.
"Um... you, do you still recognize me?" Lü Qingqing pointed to her nose with her finger.
This action made Hu Jia laugh. "Lü Qingqing, my fiancée."
Hey!
He really hadn't lost his memory.
Hearing Hu Jia call out her name, Lü Qingqing felt a small surge of excitement.
Indeed, the days without needing self-introductions were wonderful.
...
For the next two days, the entire office was in a state of frenzy.
Everyone was looking for the hidden third person.
Who was he?
And how did he steal the remaining silver dollars?
"Do you think it might have been Xiang Xia?"
"Wasn't she drugged?"
"As if she wouldn't wake up."
Lü Qingqing and Li Yang were discussing. Meanwhile, Hu Jia had been tirelessly going to every intersection and business near the cinema, asking if anyone had seen any strangers.
Thus, working on the case during the day and poring over files at night, Hu Jia's dark circles became very noticeable.
"Don't you think the boss is acting a bit strange?" Yu Yue quietly approached Lü Qingqing and the others.
"Isn't he always like this?" Li Yang didn't see anything unusual about Hu Jia.
"I saw him sway a bit when he was going upstairs just now."
"Isn't it normal to slip?"
Li Yang really didn't understand what was so strange about what Yu Yue said.
However, these words had a different effect on Lü Qingqing.
She remembered that last time in Xiàjiēzi Village, Hu Jia had also experienced tremors and fainted without warning. Could it be that Hu Jia hadn't just slipped, but had almost fallen due to dizziness?
"Li Yang, keep an eye on him lately." Lü Qingqing shared her worries with the two of them. What he feared most was suddenly losing consciousness. If he fell from a high place or accidentally into water, it would be too late.