Chapter 2671 — They Moved Away Long Ago

Captain Zhang of course knew the ins and outs of the case, but there were details he could not share with Tang Yuqi—Wei Zhao and Zhao Qibing were involved, and it was not his place to say much. "As things stand, Tang Jucheng has moved. I'll have the household registration officer look up his new address for you, and you can go pay him a visit."

"All right, thank you!" Tang Yuqi said hurriedly.

Before long, Tang Jucheng's new address was found. When the family had come to transfer their household registration, they had moved to the new address—Changxiang Garden, the very residential compound that Fatty Lai had developed.

Tang Yuqi wasted no time. He got into the rented car and headed for Changxiang Garden. Following the house number Captain Zhang had given him, he knocked on Tang Jucheng's door.

But though he knocked for a long while, no one came to answer. Just as Tang Yuqi assumed the occupants were out and was about to go wait outside, it was a neighbor he wound up knocking out of his home instead!

"Who are you looking for?" An elderly man came out from the unit next door, eyeing Tang Yuqi warily.

"Hello, sir. Is this Tang Jucheng's home?" Tang Yuqi asked with a smile.

"It is. You're looking for him?" The old neighbor's guard did not drop in the least; at any moment he stood ready to press the doorbell and summon security. "And who might you be?"

"Hello, sir. My name is Tang Yuqi. I come from overseas—I'm Tang Jucheng's nephew. I've just come from the police station; it was the people there who gave me my uncle's address." Tang Yuqi introduced himself.

"Oh, so you're Jucheng's nephew!" Hearing that Tang Yuqi had gotten the address from the police station, the old neighbor relaxed. "Well, you've come too late. Tang Jucheng and his family have already moved away..."

"Moved away? Didn't they just move in not long ago?" Tang Yuqi was puzzled. The Tang family's household registration had been transferred here only recently, and judging by the compound, it had been built not long ago either—there was no reason to move out so soon after moving in!

"They did just move in. But I think they went somewhere out of town—I don't know the details. All I know is that earlier I saw Tang Jucheng and his wife packing up their things, big bundles and small bags, loading them into a car and driving off. They haven't come back since," the old neighbor said.

"Out of town? And never came back?" A feeling of having arrived too late came over Tang Yuqi at once, and he asked urgently.

"That's right. After they left, there was no word of them, and they never came back," the old neighbor said with a nod.

"Then do you know when they left, sir?" Tang Yuqi asked hurriedly.

"Around July or August, I'd say. If you want to find them, you'd better ask someone close to the family. I don't know anything more," the old neighbor said.

"All right, sir. Sorry to trouble you—I'll go back to the police station and ask around..." Tang Yuqi knew no one here; he was completely in the dark. He had no idea whom the Tang family had associated with in their daily life. His only option was to go back to the police station for more information.

Leaving the Changxiang Garden compound, Tang Yuqi returned to the police station, found Captain Zhang, and laid out the trouble he had run into in detail.

"The whole family moved away?" Captain Zhang was taken aback too. He called over the household registration officer to ask a few questions, then said to Tang Yuqi, "We've had no word of it here... They probably haven't relocated; more likely they've gone to stay with relatives or friends?"

"That sounds likely. Captain Zhang, do you know who was close to my uncle's family? They had only just moved into the compound, so they weren't familiar with the neighbors..." Tang Yuqi said.

"His family was on quite good terms with our former captain, Captain Song. Why don't you go ask Captain Song?" Captain Zhang thought for a moment and suggested, "The shantytown over there has all been demolished, but the new housing estate hasn't been built yet, so the relocated residents haven't moved back—they're all renting places outside. I'm not sure who was on better terms with the family, and tracking them down one by one would be difficult. How about this: ask Captain Song and see if he can tell you anything."

"All right. Then I'll trouble you to introduce me, Captain Zhang." Tang Yuqi nodded.

Captain Zhang telephoned Qiu Lingshan and explained Tang Yuqi's situation. He had meant to settle it over the phone, but Tang Yuqi had nothing else to do, and Donghai City was not far from Songshan City, so he went to Donghai City in person.

Over the phone, Qiu Lingshan revealed nothing; she merely said she would do her best to help Tang Yuqi. But after hanging up, she sank into thought. Tang Zhi's going to the Snow Valley to cultivate was a secret. Qiu Lingshan knew of it, but she could not easily tell Tang Yuqi—even though he was Tang Jucheng's nephew and Tang Zhi's cousin. The matter involved a great deal of trouble, Wei Zhao above all. If Tang Yuqi appeared on the scene, would it drag Wei Zhao in?

So Qiu Lingshan hesitated, unsure whether she ought to tell Tang Yuqi the truth.

Just as Qiu Lingshan was caught in her wavering, Tang Yuqi arrived at the Donghai City police station and met her.

Qiu Lingshan's beauty and brisk competence made Tang Yuqi's eyes light up. He had not expected this policewoman before him to be so dashing and valiant, and yet possessed of no lack of charm.

Tang Yuqi was a true son of Huaxia, and his sense of beauty was the Eastern kind. Living overseas, he had still not found a girlfriend—he had simply never met a suitable Eastern woman. Who would have thought that here in Donghai City he would meet a girl who set his heart stirring?

"Hello, Miss Song. I'm Tang Yuqi. Captain Zhang of the Songshan City police station referred me to you." Tang Yuqi spoke politely, though his manner of address was not so formal—he called her Miss Song.

"Hello, Mr. Tang." Qiu Lingshan did not mind how he addressed her; she assumed that, coming from overseas, he was simply used to calling young ladies that way. "You're looking for Tang Jucheng and his family, is that right?"

"Yes, Miss Song. I heard from Captain Zhang that you were on fairly good terms with my uncle's family, and that you handled my cousin's case before. Is that so?" Tang Yuqi asked.

"That's true enough, though I wouldn't say I was all that close to the Tang family. After that I was transferred to the Donghai police station, and we lost touch," Qiu Lingshan said.

"Miss Song, as far as I know, when my uncle's family moved, you hadn't yet come to Donghai City, had you? So please think it over again—they left around July or August. Do you have any impression of that?" Tang Yuqi was a detective himself and paid close attention to details. He was not deliberately trying to contradict Qiu Lingshan; the thought had simply occurred to him and he had voiced it.

But Qiu Lingshan's expression shifted almost imperceptibly. There were some things she could not bring herself to say!