Lu Tingchen's order was like the most efficient machine startup command. The vast resource network started up again, with the target directly pointing to the accident that was characterized as an "accident" over twenty years ago and its related people, etc.
Time has passed and people have changed, making the investigation extremely difficult. Many of the handlers from back then have retired, left their jobs, or even passed away. Most of the relevant archives were also sealed up or destroyed.
But the energy and determination of the Lu family should not be underestimated. High rewards, covert channels, technological restoration, and even some unconventional means have all been employed. The team led by Qin Hao worked almost non-stop, struggling to piece together clues from the vast sea of old paper piles and vague fragments of memory.
A few days later, a preliminary investigation report was placed on Lu Tingchen's desk.
"Mr. Lu," Qin Hao's eyes were bloodshot but his spirit was high, "There's a breakthrough." We found an old police officer who was in charge of the on-site investigation of the Jiangyue accident back then. He has been retired for many years, but he still has a good memory. He said that the accident report at that time did have some "strange" aspects, such as the traces of the laboratory leakage point and Jiang Yue's posture when he fell to the ground, which were somewhat inconsistent with the conclusion of "operational error". However, as the higher authorities demanded that the case be closed as soon as possible, they did not delve further into it.
"More importantly," Qin Hao retrieved a blurry scanned copy of an old file, "we managed to obtain a fragment of the temporary entry and exit register of the personnel who entered the accident site back then." Apart from the police and laboratory personnel, on the second day after the incident, there was another reason for the visit, which was to register and sign for the "equipment maintenance" personnel. It's Yang Zhenhua."
Yang Zhenhua! The chief scientist of that "newborn creature", Zhao Jing's biological father, later became a key figure in the core layer of the P.P. Foundation!
Did he go to the scene the day after the accident? The so-called "equipment maintenance"?
He is destroying the evidence. Lu Tingchen's voice was cold and resolute. This almost confirmed that Jiang Yue's death was by no means an accident.
"Also," Qin Hao continued, "based on Aunt Zhou's previous description and the existing clues, we have reorganized Jiang Yue's social network." A week before her death, she was found to have stored a package at a small stationery store outside the university town, saying it was for a friend's temporary storage. The shopkeeper was an old lady with a fluctuating memory. Our people asked her many times before she vaguely remembered that the person who came to pick up the package was a young woman who was "very beautiful and elegant, but her eyes were red as if she had cried." It was on the third day after Jiang Yue's death.
Very beautiful, elegant, and her eyes have cried... This description...
Lu Tingchen and Su Wanwan exchanged a glance, and at the same time, a name emerged in their minds - Li Qingya (Su Wanwan's mother)!
It was the mother who took away the things Jiangyue had stored! What could be inside that? Could it be that "another piece of evidence"?
What happened to that stationery store later? Su Wanwan asked eagerly.
It was demolished several years ago and the old lady who was the shop owner also moved to a nursing home. We are still verifying it further. Qin Hao replied.
It seems that the clue has broken off here again.
There was a brief silence in the study. Although the direction is becoming increasingly clear, the most crucial substantive evidence - the identity of the "gentleman" and the content of another piece of evidence - remains shrouded in mystery.
Su Wanwan listened quietly all the time, her fingers unconsciously rubbing against the faint scar on her wristwatch. She suddenly raised her head and looked at Lu Tingchen, her eyes somewhat uncertain
Tingchen, I... I don't know if I should say it. Maybe it's just my wild imagination...
"Speak." " Lu Tingchen looked at her encouragingly. He increasingly valued any of her ideas, and her intuition sometimes offered unexpected perspectives.
Do you remember, Mom said that day... Has "Sir" always known "what she did back then"? Su Wanwan pondered over her words. "Could the 'back then' she referred to be more than just the incident of the laboratory spy?" Could it... Earlier?"
She paused for a moment and continued, "And that 'evidence' that could threaten Mom..." Mom is so afraid of losing her reputation that she is even more afraid of death... What would that be like? Will it be with... "Related to Grandpa?" "
Lu Tingchen's pupils contracted slightly. From this perspective, he indeed hasn't thought deeply about it yet. Grandfather Lu Hanhai played a disgraceful role in Lin Wanru's tragedy, but only for the sake of profit. Could there be deeper, unknown secrets?
Su Wanwan took out her mobile phone, pulled up a page from her mother's diary that she had taken a photo of before, and pointed at a paragraph in it:
"Qingya, I can finally make it up to you.
This is what my father often said later on. Su Wanwan said softly, "I used to think that he meant providing financial compensation to the Su family, who have been wronged because of their mother's death." But now that I think about it... Could there be any other meaning? The word "compensation" sounds like... What has he ever owed his mother?
"Debt?" Does Lu Hanhai owe Li Qingya?
Lu Tingchen's brows were tightly knitted. It seems that between Grandfather and Li Qingya, apart from their in-laws, there is not much direct connection. Where does the debt come from?
Unless...
An extremely bold and even somewhat absurd idea flashed through Lu Tingchen's mind like lightning!
He suddenly stood up, walked to the huge intelligence whiteboard, picked up a pen and quickly wrote down several key names and time points:
[Lu Hanhai], [Lin Wanru], [Li Qingya], [Jiang Yue], [Yang Zhenhua], [" New Life "Project], [More than Twenty Years Ago]...
His gaze swept back and forth among these names and timelines, his mind racing, trying to find the most deeply hidden connection line.
Su Wanwan and Qin Hao both held their breath and watched intently, not daring to disturb his thoughts.
Suddenly, Lu Tingchen's pen pointed heavily between the names of "Lin Wanru" and "Li Qingya", drawing a line, and then tapped between "Lu Hanhai" and "Li Qingya", pausing for a moment.
His expression became extremely solemn, and even... There was a hint of incredulous shock.
"Qin Hao!" " He turned around sharply, his voice tightening slightly because of some terrifying conjecture. "Check it right away!" Check my grandfather's travel records during the period when my mother was pregnant with me! Especially whether he has been away from the country for a long time! Also, focus on checking the detailed experiences of Mrs. Li Qingya before marriage and in the first few years after marriage, especially... Did she have any form of personal contact or intersection with my grandfather! "Use the highest authority to dig out even the most insignificant clues for me!" "
This command was extremely abrupt and private, leaving Qin Hao stunned for a moment. But he didn't ask any more questions and immediately replied, "Yes!"
Su Wanwan also looked at Lu Tingchen in shock, not understanding why he had suddenly steered the investigation to this place. This is closely related to her mother's clean reputation!
"Tingchen, do you suspect..." Her voice trembled a little.
Lu Tingchen walked up to her, held her cold hand, and his eyes were extremely complicated, with shock, anger, and a hint of indescribable heaviness: "Wanwan, I hope my guess is wrong." But this might be the only logical chain that can explain all the anomalies - why "Sir" could threaten both my mom and your dad with one piece of evidence at the same time; Why did your father say "compensation"? Why did my mom react so strongly to that tape, even fearing her downfall...
He paused for a moment, almost gritting his teeth, and blurted out that earth-shattering guess that was enough to overturn everyone's perception:
I suspect that there might be an extremely secret and unspoken relationship between your mother, Li Qingya, and my grandfather, Lu Hanhai. Even perhaps... It involves my background."
Su Wanwan was as if struck by lightning. She took a sudden step back and her face turned as pale as paper in an instant!
"No..." This is impossible!" She retorted subconsciously, her voice sharp, "This is too absurd!"
How could this be possible? ! Her mother and Tingchen's grandfather? ! This is simply...
But deep down in her heart, a cold voice was telling her that this seemingly absurd guess had strangely strung together all the unreasonable doubts! It explained why that "evidence" could simultaneously strangled Lin Wanru and Su's father by the throat! It explained my father's strange "compensation"! It also explains Lin Wanru's deep-seated fear - it's not merely about infidelity or scandal, but rather a subversion of the legitimacy of the entire Lu family bloodline!
If this guess is true... Then she and Tingchen...
Su Wanwan dared not think any further. She felt as if the world was spinning and her stomach was churning.
Lu Tingchen promptly supported her swaying body and held her tightly in his arms, his voice deep and resolute: "Don't be afraid." No matter how unbearable the truth is, it is the mistake of the previous generation. You are Su Wanwan and I am Lu Tingchen. This will never change. The feelings between us have nothing to do with those dirty pasts.
His embrace was warm and powerful, temporarily dispelling the bone-chilling cold.
But the seeds of doubt have already been sown, and the Pandora's box of truth is making a heart-stopping knock.
The direction of the investigation has already pointed to that most taboo and darkest forbidden zone.
Under the dusty case files, buried might be a fatal secret that could destroy everyone.
(To be continued...)"