After waiting for over twenty minutes, the private room door was pushed open, and three people filed in.
The first person was in his early forties, with short hair about an inch long, faintly graying at the temples, and a few deep lines etched between his eyebrows.
As soon as he entered, he said to Wu Wenjun, "You really know how to pick a place. What's the big emergency that made you call me out in such a hurry?"
Clearly, this was Yu Zhen, the old comrade-in-arms Wu Wenjun had mentioned.
"Sit down first, we'll talk after eating." Wu Wenjun stood up to welcome his guests. "Everyone, please have a seat."
When Wei Hongsi saw the person behind Yu Zhen, he was slightly taken aback.
That person was around thirty-four or thirty-five years old, with a tall and sturdy build, broad shoulders, long legs, and quite handsome, symmetrical features that could be described as dignified and impressive. However, likely due to years of enduring wind and sun, his skin had become somewhat dark and rough.
That person was also startled upon seeing Wei Hongsi. He opened his mouth as if to speak but then swallowed his words.
This was none other than Wei Hongsi's own elder brother, Wei Hongbo.
Looking at the last person, Wei Hongsi also recognized him. It was his brother's colleague, Zhang Shengyong, around thirty years old, not very tall, lean and wiry like a leopard.
Zhang Shengyong was equally surprised to see Wei Hongsi, giving a slight nod as a greeting.
Wu Wenjun invited Yu Zhen and the other two to sit down. Liu Zhifeng went out to call the waiter to serve the dishes, closing the door behind him on his way out.
"You rascal, you told me it was a matter of extreme urgency, but now that we're here, you're in no hurry anymore." Yu Zhen complained as he sat down.
"Even if it's urgent, we need to eat first." Wu Wenjun declared with conviction. "Don't you need to fill your stomach before going into battle?"
"In that case, you might as well have come to our bureau. We could've managed a meal for you in the cafeteria, no problem." Yu Zhen teased him. "Our esteemed General Manager Wu wouldn't look down on that, would he?"
"Couldn't go." Wu Wenjun said with a serious expression. "This matter is too significant. I was afraid of exposure."
Seeing his overly earnest manner, Yu Zhen laughed and scolded, "You rascal, what kind of place do you think our bureau is? Don't tell me you've done something wrong?"
"Don't pin any false charges on me." Wu Wenjun lowered his voice, deliberately sounding mysterious. "I'm worried someone might be watching us. Going to the police station could startle the snake and cause the trail to go cold. That would be troublesome."
"Oh?" Yu Zhen raised an eyebrow. "What earth-shattering matter is this? So dramatic!"
Wu Wenjun snorted and said, "Organized crime, involving tens of billions, and there's already been a death. I ask you, is that dramatic enough or not?"
Seeing that Wu Wenjun didn't seem to be joking, Yu Zhen was about to ask for details when the private room door was knocked twice, so he stopped talking.
After a two-second pause, Liu Zhifeng pushed the door open and let the waiter at the entrance bring the dishes in.
The food was quickly served: eight dishes, one soup, and two ceramic bowls of rice. They must have started cooking right after the order was placed, otherwise it wouldn't have been this fast.
Seeing they were all simple home-style stir-fries, and it really was just a meal, Yu Zhen couldn't help but believe Wu Wenjun's words a bit more. He didn't ask further for now, filled a bowl with rice, and started eating.
The others also buried their heads in their meals. With six people at the table, almost no one spoke.
Before Wei Hongsi had even finished one bowl of rice, the other five had already eaten three or four bowls each and were picking up napkins to wipe their mouths.
"Engineer Wei, take your time eating. I'll first explain the situation to these officers." Wu Wenjun said to Wei Hongsi, then sat down at the small square table to the side. He opened his briefcase and took out two document folders and a tablet computer.
Yu Zhen, Wei Hongbo, and Zhang Shengyong also sat down at the table. Liu Zhifeng took a seat by the private room door.
Wu Wenjun recounted the entire incident, from discovering the issues with the Plan B , to the investigation process chaired by Ji Yongsheng during the afternoon meeting, all the way to Li Yunxiang's death. Apart from internal company friction unrelated to the case, he told everything truthfully.
Wei Hongsi ate while listening to their conversation. After finishing, he moved a chair and sat closer to the four of them.
After listening to Wu Wenjun's account, Yu Zhen pondered for a moment and said, "Old Wu, if the situation is really as you speculate, this case—let's assume it is a case for now—would truly be difficult to investigate."
"What do you mean?" Wu Wenjun said with a dissatisfied expression. "You think I'm exaggerating to cause alarm?"
"I wish you were exaggerating to cause alarm." Yu Zhen clicked his tongue. "If there really is a force manipulating things from behind, both leads you mentioned could potentially become dead ends."
"Oh?" Wu Wenjun's expression immediately turned serious. "How so?"
Yu Zhen analyzed, "First, regarding the deceased, her name was Li Yunxiang, right? If she could erase the traces from your company's system logs, then any other special, related traces outside of that probably wouldn't be an exception. Even if she didn't think of it herself, someone would have done it for her."
Wu Wenjun slowly nodded, admitting Yu Zhen had a point.
Yu Zhen continued, "Then there's the advertising company. Either the person involved was completely unaware, purely being used, or they are a pawn just like Li Yunxiang. If we don't investigate, it's fine, but once we trace it to that person, it'll just be another accidental death."
Wu Wenjun's brow furrowed. If that happened, it really would become impossible to investigate further.
"Of course, that's just the worst-case scenario." Yu Zhen shifted his tone. "Maybe the actual situation isn't that bad."
"Why do I remember that every time you finish analyzing a situation, things tend to develop towards that worst-case scenario?" Wu Wenjun said with a bitter smile.
Hearing this, Wei Hongbo and Zhang Shengyong couldn't help but glance at Yu Zhen.
"What kind of talk is that?" Yu Zhen scoffed. "I just made a deduction based on your speculations. Things like organized crime, tens of billions in amount—from an evidence perspective, they're baseless at the moment. So far, there's only been one abnormal death incident. Strictly speaking, it doesn't have a direct connection to your speculations. Whether it can even be officially filed as a case is debatable."
Wu Wenjun asked, "What do you mean?"
"If I'm not mistaken, Li Yunxiang's position at your company should be equivalent to a cleaner or something similar, right?"
"More or less."
"So, what connection does she have with that Plan B?"
"Let me show you this." Wu Wenjun said, opening the tablet computer and tapping on a video file.
The video was a segment of the afternoon meeting, starting from Li Yunxiang serving tea for the last time, up until Ji Yongsheng received the phone call informing him of Li Yunxiang's death.
All four corners of the meeting room were equipped with cameras that also recorded audio. This video clearly presented the entire process from different angles.
After the video finished playing, Wei Hongbo looked at Wei Hongsi. "You predicted that woman would commit a violent act?"
Others might not immediately recognize the young man who pulled Li Yunxiang's hair, but he had recognized him the moment he saw the footage.
Wei Hongsi explained, "I was curious about the sudden change in her and wanted to get closer to observe."