A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1149 Suspicious Zhou Hong

Gui'er nodded, her heart filled with shock and fear. Detective Feng's death was like a mirror, reflecting the most grotesque aspect of this chaotic world—those who block the way die, those who know the truth also die, leaving no room for luck.

She suddenly remembered that Zhu Zhiming was still thinking about tracking down the murderer, and felt a chill run down her spine. Even a seasoned veteran like Detective Feng had met such an end; Zhu Zhiming was now suffering from memory loss and poor health. If he were to run into those people, the consequences would be unimaginable.

“Little Wu,” Gui’er composed herself and told Zhu Zhiming everything, “...so I was thinking, could we send his younger brother and sister-in-law and children to Macau first? As for Brother Zhu, he still wants to stay in Hong Kong to investigate the murderer, and I really can’t persuade him otherwise.”

Upon hearing this, Wu Mingqiang frowned even more deeply: "Investigate the murderer? In his current state, it's practically suicide." He pondered for a moment, "I can arrange for them to go to Macau, and sending his family there won't be a problem. As for Zhu Zhiming... I think we should keep him calm for now and deal with it later. If all else fails, we'll have no choice but to send him there by force; we can't just watch him die."

Gui'er sighed; this was all she could do for now.

She returned to her room, pondering the matter. Something felt off. Although Detective Feng wasn't her comrade, his death was too suspicious. Moreover, he had recently investigated the Liu family. Could it really be that the Liu family killed him? Did the Liu family know about her contact with him? If they did, it was only a matter of time before they wanted to kill her to silence her. What should she do?

Gui'er thought and thought but still had no clue. When she returned to school the next day, she found that Liu Lanfang's bodyguard lineup was even more exaggerated. There was an auditor in their class. However, this auditor sat within three steps of Liu Lanfang. This auditor did not look like a student at all. Although he was wearing a Zhongshan suit, his whole demeanor was very capable. He even had calluses on his hands, which made him look like a thug.

The other students also sensed something was wrong and kept their distance from Liu Lanfang. Gui'er wanted to avoid Liu Lanfang, but after hearing her talking to the other students, she couldn't help but go over.

"Lanfang, what's wrong with you? It's scary to have someone like this around," Gui'er asked, feigning concern.

Liu Lanfang glanced in the direction of the students listening in, lowered her voice, and said with a hint of deliberate panic, "Don't even mention it. My dad said that someone has been secretly investigating our family recently. They know exactly where I've been and who I've met. It's so scary that I can't sleep at night. That's why my dad specially sent the most capable person in the family to follow me, saying that it can protect me."

"Is that so?" the classmate next to me exclaimed in astonishment. "Who's so bold as to dare to search your house?"

"Who knows?" Liu Lanfang pursed her lips. "My dad said it's probably just some jealous people trying to cause trouble in the chaos. But don't worry, my dad has already sent people to investigate, and they'll find the guy hiding in the shadows sooner or later."

Gui'er's heart skipped a beat—Liu Lanfang clearly didn't know that it was Detective Feng investigating her, let alone that Detective Feng was dead. She said that "someone told her father," but who was this "someone"? She had asked Detective Feng to investigate the Liu family, and only the two of them knew about it; even Wu Mingqiang and Acheng hadn't explained it in detail. How could the news have leaked out?

All day long, Gui'er was restless. That "other person" was like a thorn in her heart, making her uneasy. As soon as the school bell rang, she went straight to the newspaper office.

Her interactions with Detective Feng, aside from the Xin Xin Bookstore, were limited to that chance encounter at the newspaper office. How did Detective Feng come to keep an eye on the Liu family? Could it be that he overheard something at the newspaper? Or perhaps... the Liu family had informants within the newspaper?

Upon entering the newspaper office, the smell of ink hit me. The editors were all buried in their work, rushing to finish their manuscripts, and the atmosphere was more oppressive than usual. Editor-in-Chief Zhao was frowning over a proofreading when he saw Gui'er enter. He paused for a moment, then asked, "Xiao Sha? What brings you here today?"

"Editor-in-Chief Zhao, I've read some of the reports in our newspaper. Some of them are attributed to private investigators. I happen to have something I'd like to investigate myself. I think this person seems quite capable. Could you introduce me?" Gui'er gestured to Inspector Feng's appearance.

Editor-in-Chief Zhao thought for a moment and nodded: "It seems there is such a person. He said Zhou Hong found him, but he hasn't come for some time. Why don't you ask Zhou Hong?"

"Zhou Hong?" Gui'er's heart skipped a beat. "Is she very familiar with that private investigator?"

"They seem to be old acquaintances, they should be quite familiar with each other." Editor-in-Chief Zhao sighed. "Zhou Hong hasn't been focused on her work lately, she's been acting all mysterious. She just said she was going out to cover some news, but she hasn't come back yet."

Gui'er didn't ask any more questions, but her heart was in turmoil. Had Detective Feng contacted Zhou Hong? Zhou Hong was the most outgoing person in the newspaper, and she was also quick to speak. Could it be that she had inadvertently leaked Detective Feng's investigation into the Liu family? But Zhou Hong didn't seem like the kind of person who would collude with traitors.

She walked to Zhou Hong's desk, which was messy and covered with several unfinished manuscripts. Gui'er casually flipped through them and suddenly saw a crumpled note with an address written on it—it was Liu Lanfang's villa.

Gui'er's fingertips grew cold; it seemed things were more complicated than she had imagined.

She put the desk back on its original state and was about to leave.

"Gui'er, you're here?" Zhou Hong came out of the proofreading room. Liu Shaolin was following behind her.

Needless to say, Gui'er, you know they've definitely been secretly flirting again.

“We don’t have any ads or stories to write lately. Things are tight everywhere, and our newspaper’s finances aren’t good either. Why don’t you look for other newspapers?” Zhou Hong thought she was still asking for part-time work, so she politely declined.

"Oh, no, I saw some gossip in our newspaper, right? It said someone hired a private investigator to help with an investigation. Recently, one of my employees seems to be dishonest; a few things have gone missing. I don't want to call the police and make a big deal out of it, so I was thinking of hiring a private investigator to help me investigate. I wonder if you could introduce me to one?"

Zhou Hong paused for a moment upon hearing this, and said somewhat awkwardly, "He hasn't come for a long time. Maybe he's made a fortune and left this business. Why don't you look for someone else?"

Gui'er hesitated for a moment, then, unwilling to give up, asked further, "But I don't know anyone else. Does he have an address? Or contact information? Could you give it to me? Or when is he coming to the newspaper office next?"

"No, no, didn't I already say so? Why are you so annoying?" Zhou Hong suddenly changed her expression and said very rudely.

"Um, Miss Sha, we haven't been in contact with that private investigator lately. Why don't you try looking for someone else? I'm sorry, I have other things to do here," Liu Shaolin suddenly came over to smooth things over with a smile.