Quick Transmigration: What to Do When the Male Supporting Character You Saved Becomes Obsessed with

Chapter 373 Obedient and Clingy Younger Brother (84)

The gas company that hired him back then was found, confirming that he had indeed worked there, and the area he was initially responsible for was the neighborhood where the first two cases occurred.

“We originally thought he might be working on a construction site, because many of the people living in that area at the time were doing that kind of work.”

The technical staff explained it to them.

At that time, the area was about to be demolished, and we also checked the residents there.

Later, it was Captain Xie who reminded us that we couldn't just consider the floating population or permanent residents; we also needed to consider other work to understand the victims' living conditions.

"Back then, the internet wasn't as developed as it is now, where you can basically pay everything on your phone. Back then, electricity, water, and gas bills had to be collected door-to-door by staff. These are professions that we don't encounter much now, but back then, they were able to understand the residents' situation."

“By analyzing electricity and water usage, we can even determine the number of people in the household and whether they frequently reside there.”

What about the remaining cases?

Lü Chun inquired.

"After these two cases, he quit his job at the gas company, probably because he felt guilty..."

“After that, his work records disappeared. The gas company was a legitimate job, but he quit. He will probably be doing odd jobs next.”

Jin Shuhe already knew the information about the victims by heart. He frowned slightly: "Check the mall where the third victim worked at the time..."

"That's what we thought too, but the mall owner has contacted us several times already. He said he'd have to see if he could find the previous temporary worker's registration, so let's wait and see."

“I think it’s him! He was able to enter the homes of the first and second victims; no other suspect could have done that,” Qi Silang said confidently.

No one around him disagreed with him; that was what everyone thought.

The same thought came to everyone's mind: the killer in this serial murder case may have really been found.

"Have someone keep an eye on him. Have you found him yet?" Captain Xie said.

"Not yet. This person's whereabouts are currently unknown. The prison says they haven't been able to contact him for a long time, but since he has already served his sentence, and there was a deviation in his psychological test in prison, it's not enough to monitor him."

"try to find!"

The sixth case occurred only a few days ago. If his modus operandi is consistent with his past crimes, he is very likely to harm the second victim in a very short time.

It is highly likely that he had already identified two victims before he took action.

Except for the fifth case...

"There must never be another victim!" Captain Xie's voice was firm and resolute.

"Yes!"

Most of the city bureau's personnel were dispatched to search for Zhang Jianhe's whereabouts, with the local police stations providing full support.

Lü Chun and Qin Wen went to Jincheng again, while Zhang Jian went to the place where he used to work to find out the situation.

Jin Shuhe originally wanted to go too.

Qin Wen pressed him back into his seat, saying, "With your small frame, you should just stay in the office. If you get shaken up, we won't be able to explain it to Xiao Lu."

Jin Shuhe: ...

If you hadn't been winking at me, I would have actually believed what you said.

Jin Shuhe didn't insist. He still had other things to verify and wanted to stay in Pucheng to be closer to Sister Li Ruan, which would put his mind at ease.

Around 7 p.m., Aunt Chun received a call from Jin Shuhe. She was taken aback when she heard Jin Shuhe's voice.

Jin Shuhe would send her messages during holidays, but he rarely called.

"Hey."

Jin Shuhe also seemed a little flustered: "Aunt Chun, are you busy right now? Do you have time to answer the phone?"

"Of course I have! I have plenty of time every day!" Aunt Chun turned the TV volume down: "What's wrong?"

"I'd like to ask you something," Jin Shuhe said, carefully choosing his words.

"Go ahead and ask. What do you need to ask me? How's work lately?"

"It's great, I'm much more used to it than before," Jin Shuhe said softly.

"Aunt Chun... I want to ask you, when you were still at home before, did you ever see anything related to my mother?"

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

"Why are you suddenly asking about this..."

“I suddenly…” Jin Shuhe didn’t know how to explain.

"Let me think about it." Aunt Chun didn't press him on why he suddenly asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Anything is fine, my mom's things, my mom's... photos and stuff."

"No," Aunt Chun answered with certainty. "There are only two photos."

Before she could finish her sentence, Jin Shuhe understood what she meant: the portrait on her mother's tombstone was taken from a photo of her and her mother together.

The other one is the photo on the marriage certificate.

“Your mother left behind some gold, a ring, and two gold beads. The old lady bought them for your mother when she was alive. Every time your mother went back to her hometown, the old lady would give her one.”

Aunt Chun seemed to recall something from the past: "The old lady... your grandma, she especially liked your mother, and always said that your father was quite lucky, marrying the girl she liked the most in the village."

"Later, I went back with your dad. I don't know if the people in the village were deliberately trying to annoy me or what, but they were just being nice to me in front of me. I got off the bed in the middle of the night and they all woke me up with a bang. The next day, I left!"

“I told your dad that if you want to go back, you can go back by yourself. I promise I will never let you go back to that godforsaken, poor place again!”

Aunt Chun no longer gets angry when she talks about it now; instead, she feels a little melancholy. These past events seem like a distant memory now.

Society has changed so fast in recent years, it's completely transformed.

The living moved forward, while the dead seemed to remain in a very, very distant time.

“Your mother is a good person, a really good person. Although I’ve never met her, I’ve never heard anyone say a bad word about her.” Aunt Chun’s tone softened.

“Yes, I know.” Jin Shuhe gritted his teeth. He rarely talked about his mother with others, not because it was taboo, but because no one knew anything about her except him.

Even Jin Shuhe himself didn't fully understand his mother; she left too soon...

"Sometimes your dad sheds a couple of tears after drinking, saying sorry to your mom, and I get a good scolding for it. When you were alive, you were nothing, so why are you putting on such a show? What's more shameful than wailing?"

Jin Shuhe was unexpectedly amused.

He didn't hate his father, but he also didn't have much affection for him. His presence in his life was too brief, even... somewhat insignificant.

Jin Shuhe wasn't in a good mood to give it to him.

"If he had even a shred of conscience, he wouldn't have sold your mother's gold!"

"He took those two gold beads, but I hid the gold ring. I gave it to you back then, remember?"

"I remember." Jin Shuhe carefully put the ring away.

Today he came to ask Aunt Chun to confirm some things, some things that he had previously thought were unreasonable.

Is there something you're looking for?

"No... I just wanted to ask. I've been organizing some things lately."

"Are you still staying at Xiao Lu's house?" Aunt Chun asked.

"Ah."

“You’re already working, but you don’t even have your own place to live? Are you short of money? You can’t always be bothering people…” Aunt Chun found Jin Shuhe’s behavior a bit strange.

Before she could even finish speaking, she heard the child's voice over there... with a soft, smiling tone: "I'm with Sister Li Ruan."

"Huh?" Aunt Chun was stunned.

“Li Ruan and I are now boyfriend and girlfriend, and we might… get married soon. Aunt Chun, please come to our wedding.” Jin Shuhe said boldly.

Sometimes he really wanted everyone to know that he and Sister Li Ruan were together, to tell everyone how wonderful Sister Li Ruan was, how much time they had spent together, and how lucky he was to be Sister Li Ruan's boyfriend and always be by her side...

But he didn't know who to talk to, since he wasn't good with words.

He said it today, even using the word "marriage," and he felt secretly delighted.

It didn't matter how the person listening felt...

Aunt Chun was still somewhat puzzled even after the call ended.

This is... quite sudden.

The next day at noon, news came back from the mall.

Back then, they did have a temporary worker named Zhang Jianhe who was responsible for moving goods in the mall and transporting them to different floors.

Because I was a temporary worker, I was only briefly registered back then, and there wasn't even a photo.

The people conducting the interviews took Zhang Jianhe's photo and asked people who had worked with the third victim back then.

"I can't remember...it's been too long."

"But at that time, Kejing was indeed quite close to a man who was not very old. The man called her 'sister.' She said it was because when the man was moving goods, he dropped a piece of goods, and the manager wanted to fire him. She pleaded for him, and that's how he paid compensation and continued to work here."

"Ke Jing is a kind-hearted person, she's a good person..."

"It looks a bit like this person. Oh! Does he have some kind of leg problem?"

"Yes, yes, yes! That man has a problem with his legs. You can't really tell by how he walks, but one of his heels is higher than the other, and the leg he's limping on is wearing some kind of thick-soled shoe!"

Someone remembered.

After compiling all this information, Captain Xie finally made the decision: "As soon as we find this person, we'll bring him back to the police station immediately and search his home!"

"It appears that he must have had contact with at least three victims. If it's really just a coincidence, then it's highly improbable."

Since before the Lunar New Year, Zhang Jian and his current company have been unable to contact him.

Since he was just a water carrier, it wouldn't make much difference whether he was there or not, so the boss never contacted him.

"Well... I just took pity on him and gave him a job because he was disabled. I didn't expect him to amount to anything. He's a released convict; even if he suddenly ran away, I wouldn't be surprised. Why would I look for him?" The boss looked a little nervous when he saw the police.

"Whatever he does has nothing to do with me! I know nothing about his private life, so I shouldn't have done this good deed!" the boss said, trying to deflect the issue.

"He didn't say what your relationship with him was. Do you even know where he lives?" Jin Shuhe interrupted his rambling and pressed him for an answer.

"How would I know?" the boss said, shrugging.

Just then, an employee who had just gotten off a van passed by and stopped in his tracks when he heard the police questioning him.

Jin Shuhe keenly sensed his presence and blocked his path: "Do you know Zhang Jianhe?"

"We know each other, we often work together."

Are you very close to him?

"It's...it's alright. We're not that close. What, what's wrong?" Sensing the serious atmosphere and the fact that several police officers had surrounded him, the man stammered.

"How do you usually contact him? Are you able to reach him?" Jin Shuhe gestured for him not to be nervous.

More people started looking over. Jin Shuhe nodded to the police officers from the police station, signaling them to control the situation and prevent the news from spreading, so as not to alert the suspect.

“I went back to my hometown for the Chinese New Year. Before the New Year, I told him that I would go out for drinks with him when I came back, and that I would bring him some New Year's goods. My family makes really delicious sausages, so I said I would bring him some!”

"I'm not sure, should I contact him?"

“How do you usually contact him? When do you contact him? Continue with your usual routine, and don’t reveal any information about us. If you can get in touch with him, try to arrange to meet him, or find out his home address.” Jin Shuhe gestured for him to take out his phone.

"Oh, okay, okay!"

The man dared not disobey: "I usually... if we're not on the same shift, I usually contact him after get off work, and sometimes we go out together for a drink."

"Ah."

He went to the book box and called Lü Chun. He wouldn't be going back that afternoon; he would stay by this person's side in case anything unexpected happened.

"I'll come with you." Lu Chun didn't give Jin Shuhe a chance to refuse and stepped on the gas to come over.

They had already visited Zhang Jianhe a few days ago when they first heard about him, but at that time, none of the employees had returned to work.

The employee was surprised to find that, in addition to a young but very serious policeman, a sharp-looking policewoman suddenly appeared and sat down on either side of him.

It made him feel very uncomfortable.

Lu Chun glanced at him sideways: "It's alright, you're just cooperating with the police in this case. Don't be nervous."

"Ha... Anyone who didn't know better would think I'd committed a crime," he muttered to himself.

When it was their usual time to contact each other, the person nervously typed a message in the chat box, and after Jin Shuhe confirmed it, sent it out.

There was no reply for quite some time. Just when the two thought Zhang Jianhe wouldn't respond, their phone suddenly rang.

"How am I supposed to get back here?!"

Jin Shuhe took the phone, and Zhang Jianhe on the other end asked, "Have any people been looking for me since you went back to work these past two days?"

"The boss asked me, and I said I didn't know where you were. What were you doing? If you don't come back soon, the boss will have to hire a new temporary worker."

Then there was silence again.

Jin Shuhe urged, "What's wrong? Did something happen to you? You're acting all mysterious."

We shouldn't shy away from the topic; instead, we should ask questions based on the curiosity of ordinary people.

Otherwise, it will be easier for people to notice that something is wrong.