The Yu Brothers’ Case Book

The first one to discover something was off the next morning was Yu Tong, who was the first to wake as usual.

Noticing was fairly simple. A single glance across the living room was enough for him to spot a jacket that didn’t belong to their family hanging on the clothing rack…

“Morning, Dad.” Yu Yin, who seldom woke up this early, walked out from his own room. He also made sure to close the door completely before going down the stairs. When he noticed his father’s line of sight, he scratched his head and said, “That’s my friend’s. He ran into some trouble, so I brought him back to stay here for a few days.”

Yu Tong stared at him. “Is the trouble major?”

“Eh…I think it’s probably not that bad. He just happened to pass by some gangsters looking for trouble. Since it seemed like those hoodlums might keep going after him the next few days looking for a fight, I told him to just stay here for a few days.” Yu Yin shot a glance back at his own room and said, “Since it was already too late when I brought him back last night, I didn’t get the chance to clean up the guest room, so I just let him sleep in mine first.”

“I see. If the issue gets too troublesome, it would be better if you brought him with you to have your uncle put it on file.” Yu Tong didn’t continue his questioning. He knew his son wouldn’t do anything reckless in this kind of scenario, and let his son handle it himself. “Then, you should go prepare the guest room upstairs first. I’ll go and make breakfast.”

With this, the two split off to do their own tasks.

Soon after, Yu wandered into the bathroom while rubbing his eyes.

Not much time passed before Yu Xia, who had already been running around on a bunch of cases for several days now, also unexpectedly appeared in the living room unnaturally early. “I want coffee.” As he said this, he immediately bee-lined straight to the kitchen.

“Don’t drink coffee on an empty stomach.” Yu Tong passed a pitcher of fruit juice to him and pushed him out. “Give me another five minutes, I’m almost done.”

Finally, the person that Yu Yin had brought home appeared outside the bedroom with a puzzled expression.

Yu Xia was the first to notice him. “Oh, Ah Yin’s classmate?” He asked as he drank his juice and pointed at the one who had also just woken up.

“Ah, sorry for any inconvenience caused by my stay here for a few days…you are Yu Yin’s bro–” Before the barely awake Chu Jin He finished speaking, he was interrupted by Yu Yin hastily covering his mouth.

“He’s my ‘second dad’”. Luckily, the word “brother” hadn’t been said, otherwise that morning would have become interesting. Yu Yin wiped away his cold sweat as he said, “This is Chu Jin He, he’ll be staying here for a few days.”

“Oh.” Yu Xia briefly surveyed the temporary resident before simply shrugging and walking into the dining room. He clearly wouldn’t have really cared even if the other was a cat or a dog.

Chu Jin He looked at Yu Yin with an expression of bewilderment.

“That was my ‘second dad’, my uncle. The one wearing glasses is my dad, and that little devil is my younger brother. You can call anyone whatever you would like, but you can’t call my second dad my brother, or else he’ll slaughter you,” Yu Yin whispered to him. “I will go prepare the guest room upstairs for you. You can stay there for the next few days, and I’ll see if I can help figure out what is up with those guys.”

Chu Jin He nodded and peeked into the kitchen without saying anything.

At nearly the same time, Yu walked out after washing up. He nodded in what was the equivalent of a greeting, then walked into the kitchen to help move the food out.

It was a very peaceful morning.

The family of four plus the one extra person all sat at the dining table filled with Western style breakfast foods, such as bread, soup, and much more. It made Chu Jin He, who lived outside in the dorms, suddenly feel that having a family was pretty nice.

“That’s right, Xia, how has your progress been on the case in your hands?” Although there was an extra person present, the Yu family continued to use their breakfast time to communicate with each other.

“Oh, it’s still the same. We don’t know where the criminal ran off to, and the weapon is nowhere to be found either. Perhaps they’ve already fled to another county…that would make finding them a lot more interesting.” Yu Xia stuffed the bread into his mouth hastily and continued, “But we’ve already heard some news from a few other people. It seems that he should be mixed in with the people in the western district. If we’re lucky, we might be able to actually draw that guy out.”

Upon hearing these words, Chu Jin He immediately raised his head to look at Yu Yin. “Your second dad is a cop?” There’s no way they are actors practicing their lines.

“Did Ah Yin not tell you?” Yu Tong put down his bowl and shot Yu Yin a suspicious glance. “We are both policemen.” Oh, no wonder I thought he looked a bit familiar, I think I saw him briefly at Chen Yong Hao’s funeral hall.

Chu Jin He looked at Yu Yin was an expression that clearly accused: “You tricked me”.

“Ahaha…don’t take any offense or anything, I just forgot to mention it…” Knowing that the other person had a dislike towards the police, Yu Yin dryly chuckled. “That’s right, speaking of hoodlums, Uncle, he’s also being chased by some.” He quickly changed the topic to one that everyone would be interested in.

“Hoodlums?” As expected, Yu Xia shifted his gaze towards the new guest. “Where did you bump into them? If you give me a description, I can help you settle the issue as long as it isn’t anything major. There are a lot of old faces in this area.”

“It’s nothing in particular, I think they’ll go away by themselves after a few days,” Chu Jin He answered in a low voice, not wanting to discuss such a thing with the police much.

“Alright, I won’t force you. If you have any issues, just give Ah Yin a call, and I’ll help you resolve it.” Yu Xia shrugged, downed the remaining bit of his soup, and stood up. “I’m going to the station, so I’ll be leaving first. Bye.” As soon as he finished speaking, he rushed out the door as usual.

Not long after, Yu Tong also stood up. “I have to go to work a bit earlier today too. I’ll see you in the afternoon, Ah Yin. Also, here’s a spare key for you to lend to your friend.” He tidied up the table and then naturally left.

Only three people remained in the house.

After finishing breakfast, Yu Yin led Chu Jin He to the guest room while Yu remained downstairs alone to watch the television.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier that your family members were cops?” Chu Jin He gripped Yu Yin’s shoulders and questioned him the moment they went upstairs. He couldn’t help but feel duped, since he never trusted the police to begin with, and yet somehow ended up getting involved with a cop’s son for several days.

“I didn’t approach you because my dad is part of the police. But if you knew from the beginning, wouldn’t you have assumed I did?” Yu Yin chuckled and gave him a look before pushing the bedroom door open.

“I still believe that, even after knowing now. You clearly knew about my opinion of the police regarding Yong Hao’s case, and purposely tricked me,” he said with a frown, his tone carrying slight resentment.

“I didn’t trick you. It’s not like you asked me what my dad does, like how I didn’t ask you.” Although he really had tricked Chu Jin He just a bit, Yu Yin wouldn’t ever admit that. “Don’t worry, my dad and uncle won’t ask any questions. As long as you don’t bring anything up, they won’t really ask you anything. It’s just a temporary stay. Everyone eats breakfast together, lunch you have to take care of yourself, and dinner is random.”

With that, Yu Yin tossed the spare key at the other person.

“Are you not afraid of me looting your home?” Chu Jin He looked down at the key with furrowed brows.

Isn’t it super weird for the whole family to be this trusting?

“Since my dad said it’s fine, then it’s fine. Anyways, if you really did loot the entire house, you would end up with a bunch of police on your tail. If you still dare to try it, go ahead and be my guest.” At the very least, Uncle would chase you down to the ends of the earth.

Chu Jin He cracked a smile at that before snorting, “Your family is really weird. But I won’t renounce my prejudice against the police.”

“Whatever. There are tons of people that are prejudiced against the police anyways, you’re not the only one.” Yu Yin shrugged, already used to this. “If there’s anything you need missing from the room, let my dad know. Oh right, don’t you need to go to classes too?”

“…I mostly have free periods, so I’ve been working more,” Chu Jin He somewhat reluctantly replied with pursed lips.

“You’re a senior, right?”

“Yeah.”

After some more short conversation, Yu Yin left Chu Jin He to look around the bedroom upstairs alone as he headed downstairs first.

It was a bit past 8 AM. Yu had already left.

But what exactly has that little devil been up to recently?

***

After finishing his two morning classes, Yu Yin quickly went to meet Yu Tong outside his workplace.

During breakfast, his dad had suddenly said: “I’ll see you in the afternoon”. He figured there must be something that couldn’t really be said in front of Chu Jin He, so as soon as it was noontime, he rushed over by himself to check in.

At exactly 12 PM, just as Yu Yin was about to call his dad, Yu Tong automatically appeared outside the door. When Yu Tong saw his son, he froze in surprised. “I thought you would drag it out until after lunch to come over.”

“Pfft, I came so that you can treat me to lunch. I’ve been spending my money stupidly.” Yu Yin smirked, clearly conveying that he had come to eat without paying.

“No problem, I can treat you. Just wait a moment.”

Yu Tong rapped a knuckle on his son’s head before glancing back at the station entrance. Soon after, another person hurried out. “Ah Si, over here.”

Yan Si, who had just finished up his own things, quickly walked over when he saw Yu Tong wave. The first thing Yan Si noticed was the person who, despite not belonging to the place, was often here. “Good afternoon, student that was ganged up on. Have you made any new records recently?”

Yu Yin rolled his eyes and huffed in response, “Good afternoon, Yan-dàgē!” He greeted through clenched teeth.

“Let’s go eat over there.” Yu Tong pointed at an italian restaurant across the street before pushing the other two forwards with a smile on his face.

When they entered the restaurant, the three of them sat down somewhere in a more isolated corner and ordered their own gratin and pasta. Then, they began discussing the real topic.

Yan Si whipped out a pile of documents he had brought. He swirled his large, condensation-covered drinking glass and took a deep breath before saying, “This is the autopsy report from my re-examination. It’s pretty much the same as Wu Tong’s results. He died after falling off the building. There was nothing abnormal found under his fingernails, and no wounds that could be suspected as coming from a fight.”

Yu Tong picked up the documents and flipped through them with furrowed brows.

The restaurant was playing elegant music. Because it was lunchtime, several people from various departments also walked in, and after exchanging greetings with one another, went to take their seats in their own places.

The waiters were very swift in their movements, and soon brought out their drinks and appetizers to the tables.

“However, I do think there is something strange.”

Yan Si held a small bread roll in his hand as he told the other two, “Wu Tong wrote that the injury was caused by the fall, but it doesn’t really look that way to me.”

“It doesn’t look that way?” Yu Tong raised his head.

“Which injury?” Yu Yin hurriedly also questioned.

Yan Si stuffed the bread into his mouth. He then raised both his hands in a surrendering pose, his palms facing outwards. “There is a trace of something like marks caused by high-speed friction force on his fingers.”

“Fingers?”

Yu Tong went through the documents. As expected, he saw the related photo at the matching words.

On top of all ten fingers were marks that seemed to be left from furious friction. It practically looked as if they all had a layer of the skin rubbed off from there.

“I heard there weren’t any traces of struggle on the crime site, and that there weren’t any suspicious objects found. Wu Tong believes that he probably fell down and accidentally injured himself when colliding onto the ground or against the walls. But I don’t think it’s likely for this kind of injury to be obtained no matter how he bumped into such things. The other possibility is that this friend already had these injuries before falling.”

At around this point of their conversation, the waiters came over to bring them their food in a timely manner.

The piping hot dishes let out white steam that filled the clear air.

“If he had these injuries before falling off, he probably would have bandaged them somehow. However, I watched the tapes from the convenience store surveillance cameras. His hands were very clean, with absolutely no traces of having been injured.” Yu Tong put down the clipped documents with a frown, before removing his fogged-up glasses.

“When you’re not wearing glasses, you look exactly identical to Boss.” Yan Si randomly blurted out an unrelated comment as he wrapped the pasta around his white chopsticks.

“Nothing can be done about them. My vision isn’t very good. But when I first entered the police force, I was not wearing glasses, and people would often mix up the two of us.”

Yu Tong grinned as he reached over to grab a napkin for wiping his chopsticks. He then placed them into the dish of baked gratin.

“Was your vision originally very good?” Yan Si asked in interest with a raised brow.

“My dad and uncle both had 20/20 vision before.” Yu Yin tossed out a reply from where he sat off to the side as he jabbed at the gratin.

“Holy crap, no wonder Boss is so terrifying at capturing criminals. So having good vision is actually essential.” Yan Si had distinct memories of Yu Xia being able to spot criminals from a great distance away, before murderously charging over at full power to capture them. Yan Si chuckled, “Then how did your vision get so bad, Ah Tong? Was it sucked away by a great demon king?”

Yu Tong smiled. “As if that were possible. I got into a major car accident a few years ago and hit my eyes then. The wound healed later, but my vision fell. It is what it is, and it’s a mere trifle in exchange for being alive.”

Yan Si raised his head at this. The father and son pair were exchanging glances with each other, and he didn’t continue asking any further.

He subconsciously felt that this wasn’t a good topic to discuss during a happy chat at lunch.

The steam from earlier had dissipated, and the surroundings were filled with the sounds of elegant music and the growing noise from other customers’ chats.

“That’s right, Dad, did you say just now that you watched the tapes from the convenience store’s surveillance camera?” Yu Yin bit down on his chopsticks as he asked a question that he had wanted to ask earlier.

“Yes, I investigated some of the tapes related to this matter to see if I could find any leads.”

“Then what about the ones from the loans company?”

“I plan on watching them this afternoon.” Yu Tong stopped his movements and turned to look at his son. “Do you want to watch them as well?”

“Mhm, yeah. I don’t have class this afternoon anyways…” Yu Yin had already asked someone to help take his shift at work, so it wouldn’t be a problem, based on his internal assessment.

“In that case, I want to watch them too,” Yan Si cut in from the side.

“Aren’t you a forensic investigator?” Yu Yin shot him a glance.

“If a student can watch it, why can’t a forensic investigator?” Yan Si confidently retorted with a snort. “Moreover, from today onwards, I’m on vacation. I have plenty of time to play.” He had managed to get four consecutive days of compensation time.

After everything over at the office had been finished, the higher-ups had given him the time off.

It wasn’t something he had needed to ask for. In fact, if he was forced to continue working for four days and nights in succession and then rest for two days and nights, he would just resign first before he dropped dead; it was better to protect one’s own life.

“It isn’t a problem, as long as the higher-ups don’t find out.” Yu Tong smiled. This kind of situation was pretty common. Most of his colleagues would just turn a blind eye to these things, and everything was fine as long as they weren’t caught by their superiors.

“Then it’s decided.” Yan Si reached out towards the check.

“Wait, it was already agreed upon that it would be my treat.” Yu Tong moved first to cover the check and smiled. “Just take your time eating. We haven’t even gotten our dessert yet.”

Yan Si shrugged and withdrew his hand.

“Ah Yin, does that friend of yours dislike the police?”

The subject circled back to the matter from earlier in the morning.

Yu Yin nodded and swallowed the last bit from his plate. “He seems to be a close friend of Chen Yong Hao’s, so he’s been discontent by the suicide investigation from the beginning. But I think that even if that is the case, something else must have happened before too. His attitude doesn’t seem to just be due to dissatisfaction from the investigation.”

He had noticed that even when being chased by gangsters, Chu Jin He refused to seek the police for help, which was indeed strange.

“Mm…but it’s best for us not to intervene if he himself is unwilling to ask for help.” Yu Tong very much honored other people’s willingness, and he voiced this opinion after thinking it over.

“I know. But that guy is a pretty good person. Finding that kind of loyal friend is pretty hard nowadays.” Yu Yin smiled. After all, Chu Jin He was doing his utmost with regards to Chen Yong Hao’s situation.

Yu Tong nodded, and didn’t continue talking.

In the end, the matter currently before them was most important.

***

At 1 PM, three people crammed together in front of the monitor screen.

It was the footage from that day that had been acquired from the loans company.

“Based on this, it seems that nobody else went to the rooftop aside from Student Chen that day.” Yu Tong had also borrowed the tapes from the cameras at the elevator and the staircase. He paused the screen right before Chen Yong Hao went up. “You can tell from the elevator meter. It only ever stopped at the level below the rooftop. Moreover, the doors to the staircase on the top level were always shut. The only ones that opened were the ones on that level, as well as those on the first and second floors. Apparently, because they are sometimes rushed on time at their workplace, the staff take the stairs instead. The doors on the other floors were all shut, with no signs of anyone going up.”

Yu Yin’s eyes were locked onto the screen as he reached out to rewind it by a few minutes. “That Ding Wei Han was waiting for the elevator after Chen Yong Hao went up.” The film was paused at the moment right after Chen Yong Hao entered the elevator, and another staff member had walked over to check the elevator meter before leaving again.

“Oh, we’ve already asked about that. He had been about to go out to deliver some documents, but after waiting a bit, decided he didn’t want to wait any longer and took the stairs.” Yu Tong pointed at the other screen. Not long afterwards, Ding Wei Han’s figure appeared in front of the stairwell doorway and he walked in. “Then, the jumping incident occurred.”

“I see.” Yu Yin nodded after watching.

“That means there isn’t any evidence of anyone else going up to the roof…I’m wondering if it’s possible that an external person was involved?” Yu Tong rewinded the tape even further. “Quite a few people entered and exited from the first floor that day. Perhaps a person mixed in through it all and got onto the rooftop.”

Yan Si was sitting off to one side while chewing a straw. He raised his hand like a model student and asked, “Yu Tong, didn’t you say that he probably had a lottery ticket on him? After falling, did anyone approach the body?”

Yu Tong switched to another tape, and all three of them watched the monitor closely.

“Oh no, there were quite a few.” Yu Tong rubbed his forehead as he watched the screen. After the person had fallen, many passerbys had run off in fright. Others circled the body and boldly neared it before shaking their heads and walking away again. Following that, the nearby patrols had appeared and split up the crowds.

“There were also the police, the paramedics, and the site investigators.” Yan Si reached out to pat Yu Tong on the shoulder. “If he really did have a lottery ticket on him that disappeared, I think you’ll get a massive headache from searching. Moreover, it could have flown off while he was jumping off. Perhaps the person that picked it up was even hundreds and thousands of kilometers away.”

Yu Tong shot him a glare, but he also knew that Yan Si’s words weren’t wrong.

For example, losing it midway through the fall…wasn’t impossible.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t have grabbed twenty million and jumped off a building just to let it fly away,” Yu Yin snorted in interjection.

“If you say it that way, that’s true too. After all, twenty million is no small sum. Jumping off a building and letting it fly away would be too hilarious.” Who would be history’s first passerby to be hit in the face by twenty million?

Yu Tong chuckled as he watched his son and Yan Si discuss this. He took off his glasses to rest for a moment before replaying the surveillance tapes. Then he noticed a strange scene.

This…?

Just as Yu Tong was about to replay it, someone charged in with a series of bangs and crashes. It was so loud that all his other colleagues currently focused on their work rolled their eyes at the person that had just entered.

“Yu Tong, I finished inspecting it.” The person apologised to those around him as he walked over with some materials in hand.

“The communications?” Yu Tong stood up to receive the documents.

“Yep. I originally wanted to bring it over to you this morning, but I was unexpectedly called out to go somewhere else. My apologies.” Jiu Shen scratched his head with an embarrassed smile on his face before returning to the main topic, “According to the communications records, the last person he contacted was Teng Qi. The call was made when he was up on the rooftop, and he fell about five minutes after hanging up.”

Teng Qi?

Yu Tong frowned. “He didn’t mention that in his testimony. Then what happened before that?”

“Chen Yong Hao also called him before that, so his testimony wasn’t wrong.” Jiu Shen looked at the other two and nodded in greeting before continuing, “Teng Qi didn’t pick up that last call. It went to the answering machine after ringing a few times.”

“Answering machine…” That meant if Chen Yong Hao had said anything, Teng Qi would have it.

But he didn’t understand, why hadn’t Teng Qi told him of this matter?

“I also checked the voice recording. The message was about 30 seconds long. You will probably have to go interrogate the person himself, or else you’ll have to get your hands on the proper documents to inspect it.”

“I understand, thank you.” Yu Tong nodded to indicate that he understood the implication.

“In that case, I’ll go back to my own work. If you have anything else, just give me another call.” Jiu Shen waved at the other two before hurriedly taking his leave.

Yu Tong flipped through the information and let out a sigh.

“Do you need to make another trip to the loans company?” Yan Si moved over to take the documents and scan them.

“Yes. If there was a voice message, I think it’s necessary to get it from Mr. Teng to see if it has anything worth taking note of.” The more he thought about it, the stranger he thought that person was. Yu Tong felt like that person must know something and had managed to avoid mentioning during the interrogation. On the outside, he appeared cooperative, but he actually had many suspicious points.

Just as Yu Yin was about to say he also wanted to go, the cell phone he had tossed in his bag suddenly rang. “I’ll go out to pick up this call.” When he flipped it open, he saw that it was from Chu Jin He, and he hurriedly walked out of the room with his phone.

I wonder why he’s looking for me now.

After leaving the hallway and arriving near the emergency escape door, he picked up the call. “This is Yu Yin.”

“Are you free tonight?”

“Why? Do you want to play the coin summoning game again?” Yu Yin casually asked as he leaned against the wall along the emergency stairwell.

“That’s not it. I just received a text saying that we have to go back to the funeral hall tonight at seven.” After Chu Jin He said this, another sound that seemed almost like a hotel’s greeting could be heard from his end.

“What text?” Yu Yin furrowed his brows together.

“I’ll forward it to you now.”

With this, the call ended. A few seconds later, Yu Yin received the text.

When he opened it, he saw the short message: “Go to my place tonight at seven. You must come.” The sender was Chen Yong Hao.

Yu Yin could feel a headache coming. He then called back, and the other end immediately picked up. “I don’t think you need to play the coin summoning game anymore. Your phone is way more effective at communicating with spirits. Maybe you should try asking him what next week’s lucky lottery numbers are.”

“Stop joking around. Are you coming or not?”

“You just got into trouble with gangsters yesterday. Aren’t you afraid you’ll bump into those guys again?” Yu Yin frowned as he thought of the possible danger.

“If Yong Hao is summoning me, then I have to go.” The other person was extremely persistent.

It seemed as if not going wasn’t an option. “Alright, let’s meet at his place at seven. Don’t do anything reckless alone.”

“Ok, then I’ll hang up first. See you tonight.”

With this, the call was cut.

As Yu Yin put his phone away, he suddenly felt like he had been super busy these past two days.

Just as he was about to leave the stairwell area to go back and continue examining the surveillance tapes, he suddenly saw two pale hands reach out on either side from behind him, wrapping around him firmly and yanking him back.

Yu Yin, who had not any time to react, could only feel his back slam against the wall very painfully, causing his vision to blur.

He recalled that behind him was a wall, so it wasn’t possible for a person to be pranking him…

The loud bang drew the attention of a cop passing by. He walked over in concern to check on him. “Ah Yin, are you alright?”

Yu Yin waved a hand as he forced a smile. “I’m fine, I just slipped…it gave me a scare.” He stood back up while massaging his back, certain that it would form a bruise.

“You have to be more careful. If you bumped your head, it would be hard for us to face your family head,” the cop said as he patted his shoulder with a smile.

“No need to face him, my uncle would die of laughter first.”

“True. Then, I’ll be taking my leave.” Seeing that he seemed to be fine, the cop carrying a bunch of documents turned to face the emergency stairwell and entered it to go down.

As Yu Yin watched the policeman leave, he suddenly noticed something.

Wait, could the tape from before have this issue…?

“Ah Yin, do you want to go to the loans company?”

Just as Yu Yin had noticed something, this question rang out from behind him. When he turned around, he noticed Yu Tong and Yan Si were standing behind him, already prepared to set out. “If you want to go, then hurry up. We already contacted Mr. Teng just now.”

“Wait a minute.” Yu Yin hurriedly ran in to grab his backpack before quickly catching up to the other two.

“Student that was ganged up on, you’re walking strangely. Are you hurting somewhere?” Yan Si blurted out as they were waiting for the elevator, his eyes as sharp as usual.

“It’s not a big deal. I accidentally slipped just now and bumped into the wall.”

“You really get injured easily. Do you want to buy some safety insurance? I have a friend that specialises in that. I can introduce you.” Yan Si patted his shoulder in a brotherly manner.

Yu Yin pushed his hand away in exasperation. “No need, I appreciate your kindness.” You’re just cursing me to get into more trouble, aren’t you!

“Ah Si, let’s just take my car.” Yu Tong interrupted their senseless exchange with a smile as he took out his car keys.

“Sure, I can’t be bothered to drive anyways. These past two days have made my hands grow weak,” Yan Si chuckled as he entered the elevator.

“Hah, do you need some occupational accident insurance? I know quite a few in that field. I can introduce you.” Yu Yin took the opportunity to directly reciprocate.

“Oi, don’t copy me!”

They continued to bicker, and with much difficulty, Yu Tong managed to drive them to the loans company amidst the constant argument.

It was now afternoon. This time, there were a few empty spaces in the parking lot, and they did not need to park across the street.

“So it’s over here.” After getting off the car, Yan Si raised his head to look up at the advertising banner hung high up.

Before they had even entered, a young lady walked out. It was the same one that had greeted them last time they were on the first level. “Greetings to all three of you. Mr. Teng has already notified us of your visit. He is currently waiting for you upstairs.”

“Please pardon us for troubling you. We can just go up by ourselves.” Yu Tong politely nodded and, under the many gazes from the people present on the first floor, pressed the elevator button.

“Why do I feel like the staff here today is weird?” Yu Yin quietly asked his father from his side. He hadn’t failed to notice all the gazes from the staff focused on them.

“Probably because we came here to investigate the scene, they find it odd.” Yu Tong was very accustomed to this atmosphere, and he directly walked out of the elevator as it stopped.

Upon exiting the elevator, they saw Teng Qi, who had been standing outside waiting for them for an indeterminate amount of time already.

“Mr. Teng.” Yu Tong politely bowed his head as he gave a slight smile. “Please pardon us for troubling you again.”

Teng Qi led the group of people to his own office and offered them tea as he had previously. “What is the matter this time?”

Seeing that the other person’s faint smile remained unchanged, Yu Tong raised a brow. “From our investigations, we discovered that prior to descending from the building, Student Chen Yong Hao had left a message for you. Why did you not inform us of this matter?”

His question was straight to the point, as he had no desire to waste any time.

Teng Qi turned to look at him with the same expression as before. “I forgot about this. You must know that in our line of work, we receive many calls, as well as messages. I just overlooked it.” With this, he passed his phone over. “You may listen to it. If you need anything else, I will be happy to cooperate.”

Yu Tong accepted the phone and quickly found the voice message in the time-based list.

It was very short, just as Jiu Shen had said.

“There is a speaker function on the side,” Teng Qi politely informed him as he passed the tea over.

After opening the message, a clearly very happy voice rang out. “Mr. Teng, how much longer until you come back? I really can’t wait to clear the debt. I’m sure you never imagined that I would be so lucky too…”

The line then cut off, ending at an extremely strange p