Grocery Store No.514

At one o’clock in the morning on 5th November 3020, Zhang Liang, hiding in the green plants’ area. He stared straight in the direction of Building 4 and whispered, “Captain, today is already the 4th, if we still can not catch Yao Jiang, then tomorrow, we must release Li Qiuran.”

Jiang Chengyan smiled, “Wait more patiently, Li Qiuran didn’t pick up Jiang Xiaohan for two days, Yao Jiang will definitely guess that she has been under custody. And with his feelings toward Li Qiuran, he will definitely not let Jiang Cheng, a man who threatens them live.”

“It’s if he knows that Li Qiuran was arrested. In case he doesn’t know, then our two days guarding here will be in vain.”

The continuous overtime, plus two days of squatting has made everyone in the criminal investigation team extremely tired and can’t help complaining.

“Alright, you didn’t become a criminal police officer for a day or two, and you’ve been guarding for half a month before, but you’re impatient after only two days?” Seeing Zhang Liang, Jiang Chengyan stopped talking, “I know our work has been too intense recently, and you are very tired. It is reasonable to complain. But for the sake of the case, you still have to endure it. Aren’t we about to solve the case? When the case is over, I promise you will be honored.”

Li Tong said eagerly, “Captain, captain, look at the man in the hat.”

Jiang Chengyan followed Li Tong’s gaze and saw a man not only wearing a hat but also a mask. In the middle of the night, there was absolutely no need to wear a sun hat. He looked around, keeping an eye on the location of the surrounding cameras, which looked very suspicious.

“Looking at him… his figure is very similar to Yao Jiang. Li Tong reminded Guo Hai that the target had arrived.”

Li Tong quickly sent a message to Guo Hai, and after receiving the confirmation message, he put away his phone. Watching the man walk into Building 7, Li Tong said with a frown, “Why did he enter Building 7? Did we guess wrong that he is not Yao Jiang?”

Jiang Chengyan smiled and said, “Don’t forget how Li Qiuran avoided our sight. Li Tong stays behind. Zhang Liang followed me up to wait for the rabbit.”

Jiang Chengyan and Zhang Liang walked straight to Building 6, where Jiang Cheng’s house was located. They took the elevator to the 20th floor. Zhang Liang asked puzzled, “Captain, Jiang Cheng’s house is on the 18th floor, why are we on the 20th floor?”

When they arrived at the stairwell on the twentieth floor, Jiang Chengyan explained, “In order to avoid the camera, Yao Jiang will definitely choose to take the stairs. If he is careful enough, he will check the stairwell on the upper floor. So it is safest for us to wait here.”

Because it was late at night, the community was very quiet. If someone shouted from downstairs, the whole neighbors would hear it. Not to mention the relatively closed stairwell, where the footsteps soon sounded. Although it was light, it could still be heard if you listened carefully. The footsteps are getting closer and closer making Jiang Chengyan can’t help but hold his breath. He looked downstairs and a figure appeared in his eyes. When the person looked up, he quickly hid and then the sound of footsteps sounded again.

Zhang Liang gave a thumbs up and quietly praised,  “Captain, you guessed right.”

Jiang Chengyan smiled and made a walking gesture, the two slowly took off their shoes and moved down one step by one step. When they came to the 18th-floor stairwell, they looked out through the glass window on the door and saw the man was tinkering with the door lock of Jiang Cheng’s house.

After a while, the door was unlocked with a ‘click’ sound. The man slowly turned the handle to open the door. He looked around to make sure that no one was there, and then he quietly entered the unit. After the door was closed, Jiang Chengyan and Zhang Liang pushed open the door of the stairwell and walked out. They took out the □ □¹ pinned to their waists, opened the safety, and slowly approached the door.

The room was dark, only the fish tank was lit with a faint blue light, but it was enough for the man. He went straight to the kitchen, took a kitchen knife from the knife holder, and walked quietly to the master bedroom. 

Today Jiang Cheng’s wife returned to her mother’s house with their children, which is the best chance to kill him. Yao Jiang can’t miss it. He gently twisted the door handle and found that the door was left unlocked. Yao Jiang opened the door easily. He pushed it open little by little. 

With the faint light of the bedside, he looked at the bulging figure on the bed. He flashed into the room. But when he just raised the kitchen knife, there was a cold object against his head.

“Freeze!”

As the voice fell, the lights in the room were turned on, Yao Jiang squinted his eyes. But his body was caught off guard and pounced on the person lying on the bed. Jiang Cheng was startled and rolled off his body out of bed. Guo Hai and Chen Miao who are on the side of the bed also rushed toward Yao Jiang, locked their bodies tightly, dropped the kitchen knife in their hands, and handcuffed him.

After taking off his hat and mask, Guo Hai said, “Yao Jiang, you are suspected of attempted murder, and you are now under arrest in accordance with the law.”

Yao Jiang looked at Guo Hai with a fierce gaze and said, “How did you know I would come?”

“You don’t need to know. Let’s take him away.”

Chen Miao escorted Yao Jiang outside and happened to bump into Jiang Chengyan and Zhang Liang who entered the door and said, “Captain, mission accomplished.”

Jiang Chengyan nodded with a smile, “You’ve worked hard. Zhang Liang, you and Chen Miao escorted him to the car.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Jiang Chengyan went to the bedroom, looked at the embarrassed Jiang Cheng, and said blankly, “Jiang Cheng, Jiang Changping’s case needs your assistance in the investigation, let’s go.”

Jiang Cheng looked at the mattress that had been pierced on the bed with lingering fears. He was so frightened that he was speechless for a while, and just nodded his head while panting heavily.

At three o’clock in the morning, in the interrogation room of the Criminal Investigation Team, Jiang Chengyan pushed open the door and walked in, followed by Yao Min. He glanced at Jiang Cheng, who had returned to normal, and sat down across from him.

Jiang Chengyan asked, “Name, age, date of birth.”

Jiang Chen smiled and answered, “Captain Jiang, we are already familiar…”

Jiang Chengyan looked at Jiang Cheng indifferently and repeated,  “Name, age, date of birth.”

Jiang Cheng replied, “Jiang Cheng, 33 years old, born on August 19, 2987.”

Jiang Chengyan said bluntly, “Jiang Cheng, you should know why we came to you. Tell me, why did Yao Jiang want to kill you?

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes and said with a bitter face, “Captain Jiang, I don’t even know who he is, how can I know why he wants to kill me.”

“I don’t really know too… but I can give you some head-ups.” Jiang Chengyan paused for a while then continued, “Yao Jiang, male, 29 years old, graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Huacheng University. He is Li Qiuran’s ex-boyfriend. Now, you know. Tell me, why did Yao Jiang want to kill you?”

“Li Qiuran’s ex-boyfriend? No, I have nothing to do with Li Qiuran, why would he want to kill me?” Jiang Cheng looked at Jiang Chengyan pretending to be crazy and foolish.

“Jiang Cheng, you better tell me the truth, otherwise… you can choose between covering the crime or blackmailing.” Jiang Chengyan looked sharply at Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng’s face stiffed, before he opened his mouth with a smile, “I don’t understand what Captain Jiang means.”

“Why do you think we happen to know that Yao Jiang is going to kill you?” Jiang Chengyan paused for a moment and then said, “Jiang Cheng, I will give you five minutes to consider whether to continue to play fool with us or cooperate with us. You choose.”

Jiang Chengyan threw the pen in his hand to the table.  He set the timer on his phone before showing it to Jiang Cheng. Then he leaned back and closed his eyes to recuperate. 

Yao Min looked at Jiang Chengyan, yawned and said, “Captain, why not ten minutes? I was in daze for a moment, I was too sleepy. ”

As soon as Jiang Chengyan heard it, he said, “Okay, okay, then ten minutes. You can doze off for a while.”

Jiang Chengyan re-set the timer. His interaction with Yao Min was very relaxed. It looks like Jiang Cheng’s words do not matter to them and makes Jiang Cheng mutter inside his heart.

As the minutes and seconds passed, the tangles under Jiang Cheng’s eyes became more and more obvious. Until the alarm rang, and he still hadn’t made up his mind.

After the alarm rang for a while, Jiang Chengyan and Yao Min were still sleeping, without any sign of being awake. Yao Min even snored a little. This time Yao Min not pretending again. They originally pretended to be asleep, but who knew she was really asleep when she lay her body down.”

The alarm kept ringing, but the two men showed no sign of waking up. Jiang Cheng finally lost his patience and shouted, “Captain Jiang, wake up. Captain Jiang, wake up, it’s time.”

Jiang Chengyan pretended to be half asleep and half awake and stared blankly at Jiang Cheng. He recovered after a minute, pushed Yao Min next to him, yawned, and said “Aha, girl, wake up. Go to the office to sleep.”

Yao Min opened her eyes blankly, even wiped the saliva from her mouth, and asked, “Captain, Is the time up?”

“Forget it. I’m too sleepy. Let him stay here. We will know what we need to know anyway.” Jiang Chengyan waves carelessly and got up to leave.

Jiang Cheng completely panicked now. If he was really convicted for covering up or blackmailing. He most likely will end up in jail. The future of his good life is gone. He didn’t want to go to jail, he couldn’t bear that hardship.

“Captain Jiang, wait, Captain Jiang, you can’t leave me alone. I’ll tell, I’ll tell everything.”

Yao Min’s eyes flashed a smile and glanced at Jiang Cheng, “Captain, how about giving him a few minutes. It would be pitiful if he were sentenced to prison.”

Jiang Chengyan yawned, and said reluctantly, “Okay, then I will give you a few minutes to talk about it. How about it? Don’t say that I didn’t give you a chance.”

“Thank you, Captain Jiang, thank you.” Jiang Cheng was busy thanking him. After thinking for a while, he started to open his mouth, “Captain Jiang, it was the bitch Li Qiuran who killed Jiang Changping. Why Yao Jiang came to try to kill me must be ordered by her.”

Jiang Chengyan feels overjoyed, but said calmly, “Oh? Do you have any evidence for that?”

“Yes, I have evidence. Captain Jiang, I will cooperate in solving the case as you say.  Is that possible that you don’t investigate the wrong things I did before?”

Jiang Chengyan raised his eyebrows and said, “It depends on your performance.”

“Captain Jiang, don’t worry, I will definitely cooperate.” Jiang Cheng touched his pocket and said, “Captain Jiang, please give me back my phone, the evidence is in my phone.”

Jiang Chengyan glanced at Yao Min. She understood the meaning and walked out from the investigation room. Two minutes later, she came back and handed the phone to Jiang Cheng. He found the photo and murmured, “That’s it, that bitch Li Qiuran only wanted to kill me after seeing this photo. This photo must be very important to her.”

Yao Min glanced at the photo and handed the phone to Jiang Chengyan. Jiang Chengyan looked at the photo carefully, put the phone aside, and asked, “Where was this photo taken and when was it taken?”

Jiang Cheng looked at the calm Jiang Chengyan, and couldn’t help but feels glad that he had confessed, otherwise he would have been in prison.

“The photo is…”

~~~

1. The word gets censored again 😦 ↺