sjar Chapter 1335 A Double Life
Chapter 1335 A Double Life
Old Zhou called over Wang Qiang, the workshop foreman. When Wang Qiang saw the photo of "Li Jianguo", he immediately slapped his thigh and said, "Isn't this Old Ma? He's not called Li Jianguo, we all call him Old Ma. He's very efficient at his work, especially when it comes to repairing large bearings. No one in the factory can compare to him."
"Old Ma?" Xiao Zhou perked up. "When he was at the factory, did he have any particular habits? Who was he close to?"
Wang Qiang squatted on the ground, picked up a bearing part and gestured: "Old Ma doesn't talk much. Every day, besides working, he hides in the break room smoking. But he has a strange habit. Every month on the afternoon of the 15th, he would ask for leave to go out, saying he was going to visit relatives. Also, there's a woman who often comes to the factory to see him. She's dressed quite fashionably, unlike the people in our factory. Every time she comes, she waits for him at the small shop at the gate. The two of them chat and then leave. They seem quite intimate."
"A woman?" Xiao Zhou immediately pressed, "How old? What does she look like? Has she told you her name?"
“She was probably in her thirties, of medium height, with long hair, big eyes, and spoke with a local accent,” Wang Qiang recalled. “She never mentioned her name. When Lao Ma introduced her, he only said she was a ‘relative,’ but we all sensed something was off. Why would a relative always be so secretive when they meet? Once, I joked with Lao Ma that she was his girlfriend, and he blushed, neither confirming nor denying it.”
This discovery excited Xiao Zhou, and he immediately arranged for his team to conduct door-to-door inquiries around the factory area, focusing on the small shop near the entrance and nearby residents. The shop owner, a woman in her forties surnamed Zhao, had a deep impression of the woman who often came to see "Old Ma": "That woman always bought two bottles of mineral water and sat on the bench at the entrance to wait. Sometimes she would chat with me for a few minutes, saying that she was in the clothing business. Once she left a notebook behind, which I later gave to Old Ma. I don't know if you guys have used it."
"Where's the notebook?" Xiao Zhou asked hurriedly.
"When Lao Ma resigned, he took it with him. However, he had previously left a package with me, saying he was afraid of losing it and asked me to keep it safe. He never came back to pick it up, and it's been sitting on the shelf in my shop ever since." As Mr. Zhao spoke, he took a black canvas bag down from the top shelf. The bag had the words "Hengtong Electromechanical" printed on it—the manufacturer of the industrial lubricating oil that Ma Jianguo used to drink.
Xiao Zhou opened the canvas bag, inside were a few changes of clothes, an old wallet, and a thick diary. The wallet contained no ID card, only a few hundred-yuan bills and a photograph of a woman with long brown hair and a bright smile—the very "relative" described by Wang Qiang and Boss Zhao. The diary's cover was worn, but the first page bore neat, strong handwriting: "March 15, 2022, finally settled down at the parts factory. Huili said she'd wait for me, that once I've resolved things, we'd live a good life together."
"Huili? Liu Huili?" Xiao Zhou immediately recalled the DNA matching results mentioned in the forensic lab. He took out his phone, pulled up Chen Xiulian's photo, and showed it to Boss Zhao. "Is this the woman?"
Boss Zhao looked closely and shook his head: "No, this woman is younger than in the photo, and her hair is longer. But when she came last time, I think I heard her answer the phone and say something like, 'Sister Xiulian, I know,' I wonder if it's related to this Chen Xiulian."
The diary entries gradually clarified the case's outline. Three years prior, Ma Jianguo hadn't left the city; instead, he used the false identity "Li Jianguo" to hide in a railway parts factory. He did this to evade the people behind Liu Mei—the diary repeatedly mentions "they won't let me go," "that money must be returned," and "Huili helped me hide the evidence." The diary entries suggest a deep relationship between Ma Jianguo and this woman named "Huili"; they were not only lovers, but Huili was also involved in Ma Jianguo's "plan."
“This Liu Huili is very likely the woman Wu Xiaolong overheard arguing with Ma Jianguo.” Xiao Zhou immediately sent the diary and photos back to the branch, asking the technical department to conduct facial recognition. “Team Leader Li, we now have two directions: one is to find out Liu Huili’s true identity and whereabouts, and the other is to investigate the ‘Sister Xiulian’ she mentioned, namely Chen Xiulian, to see what their relationship is.”
Li Ming replied quickly: "The technical department has found Liu Huili's information through facial recognition. She is a local resident, 36 years old, and used to work in the logistics department of Hengtong Electromechanical. She was a colleague of Chen Xiulian, and the two are also distant cousins. Liu Huili divorced five years ago and now lives alone in Lijing Community in the south of the city. We have already sent people to stake out her home."
Xiao Zhou immediately led his team to Lijing Residential Area. It was an old-style, open-style complex with no access control; Liu Huili's apartment, Building 3, was right at the entrance. The team members on stakeout reported that Liu Huili hadn't returned since leaving home at 8:00 AM, and no one had been home. Xiao Zhou decided to split the team into two groups: one to continue the stakeout, and the other to go to Liu Huili's workplace—a clothing store called "Fashion Frontier."
The clothing store was located on a commercial street in the city center. Liu Huili was arranging clothes on the racks when she saw the police suddenly appear. Her face turned pale instantly, and the clothes in her hands fell to the ground. "I...I didn't do anything wrong, why are you looking for me?" Her voice trembled, and her eyes darted away, avoiding Xiao Zhou's gaze.
"Do you know Ma Jianguo?" Xiao Zhou took out a photo of Ma Jianguo and handed it to her.
Liu Huili's body stiffened abruptly, and tears welled up instantly: "He...has something happened to him? I haven't been able to contact him for almost a month."
“He’s dead. He was found three days ago in the basement of the Northern Building.” Xiao Zhou’s voice was low. “We found your hair in his collar, and we also found this diary. Can you explain that?”
Upon seeing the diary, Liu Huili could no longer hold back and squatted down, crying. "I'm sorry to him, it's all my fault..." she choked out. "Three years ago, he came to me, saying he had been framed and had nowhere to go, so I helped him find a fake identity and let him hide in a railway parts factory. We agreed that once he got back the money Liu Mei owed him, we would leave the city together and start over."
In the clothing store's break room, Liu Huili finally revealed the whole story. She and Ma Jianguo met while working at Hengtong Electromechanical. At the time, Ma Jianguo was a temporary maintenance worker, and she was a clerk in the logistics department. They developed feelings for each other and quickly became lovers. In October 2021, after Ma Jianguo discovered that Liu Mei had embezzled project funds, he went to confront her, only to be threatened by Liu Mei and her backers.