When it came time for work, Jiang Zhengkai still showed up at his office as punctual as ever. His first action was to give the external affairs department a call as he needed more information from the Guangxi police on Xiu's family. Jiang Zhengkai wanted to find out whether Xiu had any sisters in a similar age range with similar appearances. Although they were no longer able to verify Tie’s words, Ying had also claimed that Xiu had been murdered two and a half years ago by her other sisters. Therefore, it was extremely likely that Xiu was really dead, and that they just hadn't found her corpse yet.

In the afternoon, Liu Na brought a stack of doc.u.ments into Jiang Zhengkai’s office. “Inspector Jiang, this is the information that you asked for. According to the information we received from the Guangxi police, Xiu didn’t have any sisters that looked like her. Her children were too young and couldn’t have taken her place either. Not only that, but since we requested it, they also investigated her relatives. There are no female relatives close to Xiu’s age working in or around our province. They are all in the south.”

Jiang Zhengkai took the doc.u.ments from Liu Na’s hands. He nodded and affirmed, “Very good! Call Xiaoqiang in for me.” Liu Na left the office and Lu Xiaoqiang quickly entered and walked in front of Jiang Zhengkai. “Inspector Jiang, you were looking for me?”

“Yes. Sit.” Jiang Zhengkai had been flipping through Xiu’s profile, but after gesturing for Lu Xiaoqiang to take a seat, he lifted his head and inquired, “How is Hui doing?”

“Oh, she’s back to normal,” Lu Xiaoqiang answered. “Just now, I made a call over to Sergeant Zhang’s side. They said that everything is under heavy surveillance. In addition… In addition, Ping has joined Hui’s group.” Lu Xiaoqiang lowered his head and paused before continuing, “According to her intel, Hui will most likely appear in the alley tonight.”

“Tonight? Why?” Jiang Zhengkai didn’t really care where the intel had come from. In any case, uncovering the criminal plot underfoot will ultimately require contributions from the underworld. 

“Oh, it’s because according to their s.h.i.+ft schedule, Hui is responsible for receiving guests in the alley tonight,” Lu Xiaoqiang replied.

“Alright then! Make sure that we have the area under strict surveillance tonight. We have to keep a close eye on Hui.” Jiang Zhengkai placed Xiu’s profile down and stood up. “Let’s go. We need to head to the alley right now.”

During the peak of summer and winter, both schools and kindergartens would be on break. Of course, the break for the kindergartens was far shorter than the schools’. But they still had one, and today happened to be the last working day for the teachers at Jiao’s kindergarten. 

Although the headmaster of the kindergarten, Old Lady Li, was old, she wasn’t ignorant. She knew that all of the young women working under her had been hoping for a long vacation. Therefore, she had already planned and arranged for all the work that needed to be done before the break to be finished by today so that everyone could relax and have a fun and easygoing day. With everything already prepared, by 11am everyone was naturally finished with their work. Since there were no kids left in the school, the cafeteria naturally wasn’t open, and the teachers with no scheduled cla.s.ses were ready to leave. 

Cui Jing had just finished up her work when she stood up and glanced at the building across from the kindergarten before turning around to ask Jiao, “Jiao, do you want to go to the mall and shop for some clothes?” 

“Oh, sure.” Jiao agreed without hesitation. Earlier, Jiang Zhengkai had texted her so she knew that he had already left for the alley and definitely wouldn’t have time to mess around with her in the afternoon. Although Jiang Zhengkai was still worried about Jiao’s safety, as she was a young woman, she wouldn’t let fear control her actions forever. 

Cui Jing s.h.i.+fted her gaze towards Zhang Yali who was by the other table. “Yali, do you want to join us?” Their office usually had four people in it, but only three of them were present today. Since they all got along quite pleasantly, they naturally wouldn’t leave someone behind if they were planning to go out and have fun. 

“Aiii, I’m old,” Zhang Yali mocked herself. “It’s better for you young people to go without me. I’m going home to take care of my children.”

“Haha, what a model mom!” Cui Jing and Jiao simultaneously pointed at her and teased. Zhang Yali waved her fists in resignation. “Fine, I’m a model mom. Sooner or later, you two will also be like this.” Then she waved her hands at the two young women. “Leave! Leave! Don’t stay here and disturb my peace.”

Cui Jing tugged at Jiao’s hand. “Okay, let’s go!” The two of them smiled wickedly at Zhang Yali as they walked out of the office. Right as they left, they yelled out, “Miss Zhang! Your son is calling you back home asking for some food!” The two then ran off, giggling as they left.

In the alley, Jiang Zhengkai and Lu Xiaoqiang had walked back and forth several times. They checked the surveillance equipment hidden on either side of the alley multiple times until they were confident that everything was working perfectly. The two of them then returned to the monitoring room. 

“Inspector Jiang, based on what Ping said, Hui should be waiting by the entrance of the building for clients tonight.” Lu Xiaoqiang pointed at the image on the screen, earnestly explaining the situation to Jiang Zhengkai. “Look, behind the entrance, there is a lane between these two buildings that leads out of the alley.”

“It looks like the escape route that the Bald Wolf took in the past.” Jiang Zhengkai pointed at the surveillance monitor and asked, “Are there people a.s.signed to monitor both sides of this lane?”

Lu Xiaoqiang replied affirmatively, “I have already done so!” Then he pointed at a few spots on the screen, “Here and here, and Sergeant Zhang already has guards there. Other than that, we also positioned our men in the rooms that Hui and her girls have rented. We also have men stationed both at the front and back of their building. Not only that, but we have a security camera feed from the back that Sergeant Zhang specifically requested.”

“Really? How about the front?” Jiang Zhengkai continued to inquire while looking at the surveillance footage. Lu Xiaoqiang shook his head. “We don’t have enough resources! But, I did ask Ping to install a listening device beneath the bed of the outer room.”

“Really?” Jiang Zhengkai turned his face to the side to stare at Lu Xiaoqiang. “Boy, you’re pretty good! Ping listened to you?”

“Not really.” Lu Xiaoqiang was a little embarra.s.sed and said, “I just learned this from you, Inspector Jiang…” Jiang Zhengkai raised his fist, but deep down he was neither happy nor angry. He held his fist up in the air for a while before lowering it helplessly. 

“Haha… I… What I mean is that Ping already promised me that once the case is finished, she’ll quit.” Lu Xiaoqiang stared at Jiang Zhengkai’s expression and smiled awkwardly and continued to explain, “Actually, Ping isn’t a bad person. She said that she was planning on returning to her hometown when the case is finished. After all, she has saved enough money after toiling for all these years. It’s enough for her to go back and start a small business.”

Jiang Zhengkai answered, “Mhm! These women are actually not any different from ordinary women. They just have a different profession.” Then he lowered his voice, “However… you… you’re different from me. Never mind! When the time comes for Ping to leave, make sure you send her off! After all, she has helped us quite a bit.”

“Okay, Inspector Jiang,” Lu Xiaoqiang agreed hurriedly. He understood that Jiang Zhengkai was trying to imply that ‘he was still young,’ that ‘there’s a sea of women out there for you,’ and that ’there is no need to invest emotions into a woman who sells her body.’ In reality, Lu Xiaoqiang held only sympathy towards Ping and at most perhaps had a favorable impression of her. There was nothing else aside from that. Of course, he was only speaking for himself. He had no idea about how Ping felt. 

Jiang Zhengkai switched channels to the place that had been rented by Hui and her group. Staring at the screen, he asked, “Who is in the inner room tonight?”

“It’s Ping!” Lu Xiaoqiang responded, “They rented a two-bedroom apartment. According to Ping, there’ll be four of them and two rooms, with one person in each room. As for the other two, one will be responsible for soliciting guests while the other one will be responsible for protecting them by keeping an eye out from the kitchen.”

“Looks like they really care about their own protection too!” Jiang Zhengkai smiled humorously. Then he pointed at the surveillance image, “Tell Sergeant Zhang to dispatch more people outside each window and to secretly protect the room. Also, we need to make sure to keep a close watch on every man that follows Hui into the room. After they’re done, have someone follow them. It’s best if we have an idea about the ident.i.ty of each man.”

Lu Xiaoqiang hastily responded, “Yes, Inspector Jiang! I understand. I will arrange this immediately.” Lu Xiaoqiang then promptly left the monitoring room to find Zhang Nan.