Corpse
“Police, call your boss out.” This was already the thirteenth food factory they had visited. Song Yuhang got out of the police car and slammed the door shut.
It is said to be a food factory without a sign or a storefront, hidden deep within the urban village. The rusty iron gate, peeling wall paint, and faintly visible red paint with a few large characters: “Selling Raw Materials.”
If it weren’t for the stack of metal containers and cans at the workshop’s entrance, Song Yuhang wouldn’t have been attracted to it.
Regular businesses registered with government departments have transparent and controllable supply channels, but this kind of underground workshop doesn’t necessarily follow the same rules.
So, it is the main target of the search.
The elderly woman guarding the entrance heard the commotion and quickly lifted the curtain, only to see the armed police with live ammunition and the watchful police dogs, which made her legs go weak. She hurriedly retreated and knocked on the iron door of the inner room.
“Boss, boss, someone’s here…”
Song Yuhang and her team followed her inside. The courtyard was also in a state of disarray, with garbage and plastic bottles scattered everywhere, industrial waste, and even sewage, emitting a strong and unpleasant odor.
Can anything edible be produced in a place like this?
Song Yuhang gestured to the detective next to her, who immediately took out her phone to call the city’s regulatory authority.
“Who… who the hell in the middle of the night…” The bald man with a gold chain hanging around his neck, not wearing a shirt, lifted the curtain and walked out. “Holy crap!” He was frightened by the courtyard full of police officers and was about to rush back inside to secure his valuables.
Song Yuhang swiftly subdued the man with a single move, holding onto his arm and securely handcuffing him before helping him back up.
“Officer, officer, I really haven’t broken any laws or caused any trouble. I’m just running a small business, an honest trade…”
One of the investigators led him as they followed Song Yuhang into the storage room. As soon as the lights were turned on, several mice scurried across the ceiling beams, with one of them dropping in front of her and quickly escaping.
The wooden structure’s beams were covered in cobwebs, and chemical raw materials were haphazardly piled on the floor, with black mouse droppings scattered around the edges of the barrels.
A member of the detective team rushed over and handed her a thin booklet. “Captain Song, we’ve found it, this guy’s account book.”
Song Yuhang quickly flipped through a couple of pages. Despite the place being small, the records were surprisingly clear. “Oh, quite a few buyers, do you remember who they sold to?”
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The bald man with a gap-toothed smile nodded and bowed to her. “I remember, I remember. They were all small workshops like ours, or roadside stalls, and there were those who made online products like influencer foods and drinks…”
At this point, several members of the detective team couldn’t help but feel disgusted, whispering to each other: “Damn, I’m never eating that stuff again.”
Song Yuhang continued flipping through the ledger and noticed that he had several large incoming transactions every month, likely from those businesses he mentioned. Strangely, it was a few smaller amounts that caught her attention.
She continued flipping through the book and found that these transactions had the same buyer. She brought the ledger in front of him to show him. “Recognize this? Who’s this buyer?”
The book was filled with information, all contact details, and no names. The bald man looked at it for a while and then said, “I don’t recognize them, never met them.”
“So how do you deliver the goods?”
“We always make contact by phone, have the goods placed at a designated location, and once the buyer picks up the goods, they transfer the money to my account.”
Song Yuhang handed the ledger to another member of the detective team. “Let Zheng Chengrui check this phone number.”
Buying industrial materials, it’s like a drug deal.
Song Yuhang’s expression darkened slightly. “Where is the exchange location?”
“At the guard booth at the entrance of the Beidou Industrial Park.”
* * *
Inside the iron bars, the man had an innocent look on his face. “Officer, officer, I’ve said everything I should. Besides selling subpar goods for profit, I’d never do anything to harm people!”
With a loud clang, the iron door was opened again, and Song Yuhang sat down, throwing the ledger in front of him.
“Now, you have a chance to make amends. It depends on whether you can seize it.”
The man swallowed nervously, glancing at the ledger on the table and then at her expression. He nodded, “I’ll do it, officer. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.”
* * *
After waiting for Lin Yan to leave, the woman didn’t make her move until late at night when everything was quiet. She glanced down the corridor to ensure no one was around, then slipped out of the family quarters, went to a convenience store, bought some snacks, and carried a plastic bag discreetly to a public phone booth.
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Seeing no one in the vicinity, she dialed the number.
Before long, the call was answered.
“Hello?” she cautiously inquired.
A hoarse voice from the man came through, with a hint of impatience. “Didn’t I say not to contact me unless it’s necessary?”
The woman tightly held the phone receiver to her ear. “Today… today, the police came to see me.”
There was a pause on the other end.
“How did you handle it?”
The woman collected her thoughts. “I said what you taught me to say, so… they shouldn’t be able to trace anything back to me.”
“Did they do anything besides asking you questions?”
“They didn’t… do anything else, just sat on the couch, chatted for a while, and then left.”
“It was just routine questioning,” the man said as he prepared to hang up. However, the woman became nervous again, stuttering, “Um, when can we…”
The man coldly interrupted her, “Just wait. Get me another batch of raw materials; we’re running out of seawater.”
The woman could only nod, “Okay.”
Before she could finish her sentence, the phone emitted a dial tone.
The woman hung up the phone, and with a heavy heart, she made her way back home.
* * *
Returning to her office, Song Yuhang removed her sidearm and placed it on the desk, finally relaxing a bit. She stretched her muscles and went to the water cooler to pour a cup of hot water for tea.
Lin Yan was lounging in the criminal investigation office, her legs propped up on the table, and she had a bag of potato chips, likely a contribution from someone, in her hand. “How did you know that person would continue to buy γ-butyrolactone?”
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“I guessed,” Song Yuhang replied. She held her cup and started to make her way back. “You mentioned that this type of material can’t be stored for too long, right? Plus, looking at his ledger, he clearly bought it every couple of months. If you calculate the time, it should be running out.”
Lin Yan clicked her tongue. “Cunning and crafty.”
“What about you? Any progress today?” Song Yuhang asked, leaning against the desk, looking at her.
Lin Yan tossed a notebook over, but before she could say anything, Fang Xin already chimed in, “Same old, not much progress. If this continues, we’re going to turn the entire medical community in Jiangcheng upside down.”
Song Yuhang chuckled, “You’ve been working hard.”
Fang Xin turned to chat with other colleagues, “However, today, we visited a household, the one in the family quarters. There’s an elderly lady living there, and it’s quite a tough life for her. Her husband passed away a few years ago, and she never remarried. She’s been raising her sick son on her own. We even chipped in some change on the spot to help her…”
As they conversed, Lin Yan’s phone rang, and Song Yuhang perked up her ears.