Chapter Seventeen: Suspicious Father X

  "Wei Fengdao said, 'Your Wuye Society just assisted the police in cracking Yang Hong's case. I think you're quite good, so I hope you'll accept Du Jie's commission and help him find the truth. As for the reward, you naturally know what to do.'"

  Talking about compensation, it reminds me of the operating funds of Wu Xie Society. Because the financial aspect has always been handled by Zou Guan Jia, I have no right to ask, and the salaries of Kui Ruo Lan and Chen Qiu Yang are frighteningly high. Where these funds come from, I have never known. When asked about Zou Guan Jia, he just said it was left behind by my father, not much, but currently can be maintained for a long time.

  So, apart from assisting the Dong Police in investigating bizarre cases, I can also accept private commissions for investigations. In short, Wuye Society is a company similar to a detective agency.

  "I said, 'Dr. Ruan, you've already explained it in your previous conversation. Du Jie saw an old lady's face on his stomach because the gastroscope equipment wasn't advanced enough and various factors such as lighting and angles caused it. Or there could be another explanation, just like when Yang Hong heard his own intestinal sounds but thought someone was talking to him, it was because he had done something wrong, felt guilty in his heart, and produced an illusion, mistaking the gastroscope video for a terrifying and eerie face. What else do we need to investigate?'"

  "What do you think a 14-year-old rural middle school student can do that's so bad? Du Jie later told me a secret, one that he had kept buried in his heart. Even though he became a billionaire at the young age of 38, he still had a question he didn't dare ask his father. Du Jie's father is now elderly and suffering from Alzheimer's disease."

  "Alzheimer's disease? What is it, Doctor Ruan, please put it in simple terms..."

  "Alzheimer's disease, also known as senile dementia, is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that develops insidiously. Clinically, it is characterized by comprehensive symptoms of dementia such as memory impairment, aphasia, agnosia, visuospatial skill damage, executive function disorder and personality and behavioral changes. The cause remains unclear to date. Du Jie's father suffered from Alzheimer's disease and had already forgotten what happened in 1990. Therefore, this question cannot be investigated."

  "Doctor Ruan, you are indeed very professional, what is this question after all?"

  "Du Jie never understood why his father suddenly flew into a rage that day, slapping him hard and knocking him to the ground when he said he saw an old woman's terrifying face on his stomach."

  I couldn't help but burst out laughing and said, "Dr. Ruan, is there something abnormal about such a normal behavior? There are many reasonable explanations for why Du Jie's father slapped him: Firstly, Du Jie's father thought his son was talking nonsense and he hated it when his son talked like that, so in a fit of anger, he slapped his son; Secondly, he thought his son was spouting rubbish, so he slapped him to wake him up; Thirdly, he thought his son was deceiving him by saying there was something wrong when the check-up results were fine..."

  "You mentioned these three explanations, and I also told Du Jie about them at the time. However, his answers were: Firstly, his father was a genuine peasant who was extremely feudalistic and superstitious, often worshiping this and that at home, and liked to associate with some charlatans from neighboring villages; Secondly, before this incident, his father had never hit him; Thirdly, after returning from the hospital, Du Jie tried to tell his father about the stomach pain, but every time he mentioned that there was an old lady's face in his stomach, his father would beat him brutally and told him not to mention it again - after being beaten three times for mentioning it three times, Du Jie buried this secret deep in his heart and never dared to mention it to his father again."

  Du Jie's case was indeed full of all sorts of questions, and I suddenly had a strong interest. Anyway, there was nothing to do on the east police officer's side now, so I took over this case and could also get a handsome reward. Why not? So, with confidence, I said: "Okay, I'll take over this investigation case."

  Ruan De Feng stood up and said, "Then I'll go back and fax you the things Du Jie told me to pay attention to and some materials. Thanks for the Longjing tea before the rain, it's very good."

  "If it's good, come here more often in the future."

  "Good, and also welcome you to come to my clinic for a visit when you have time."

  I cursed in my heart: "Hmph! I absolutely won't have time to go to your clinic, aren't you cursing me to have gastrointestinal disease?"

  After Ruan Defeng left, I called Qi Ruolan and Chen Qiuyang back. I sent them the materials that Ruan Defeng had faxed over to take a look, and also recounted Du Jie's situation to them again.

  Chen Qiuyang furrowed his brow and said, "Just now it was Yang Hong, and now Du Jie has come, both with digestive system problems in the abdomen. This Ruan Defeng is really quite sinister."

  Kui Ruo Lan said, "Du Jie's question is just like what you explained to Thirteen, it's just an illusion. Yang Hong's was a hallucination, his was an illusion, what else is there to investigate?"

  Chen Qiuyang slyly batted her eyelashes and said, "Although Yang Hong's incident has passed for almost a month now. But I still can't help but share a little secret with you guys."

  "I exclaimed in surprise: 'Isn't Yang Hong's case over yet?'"

  "No, no, it's over. But, President, haven't you been online lately? On a website called Amazing, an audio clip is circulating everywhere."

  "What audio?"

  "It's said to be Yang Hong's last post, of course you know the internet is chaotic now, full of rumors and fake news, don't know what's true or false. But indeed this audio clip went viral online, let me play it for you on my phone."

  Chen Qiuyang pressed her phone and turned up the volume to its maximum.

  "Cuckoo - cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo - cuckoo - cuckoo, ka - yang - hong, hong, I'm back, cuckoo -"

  This sound started from a rumbling noise in the intestines, and gradually turned into a woman's eerie and terrifying voice. The sound was so strange that it made all my hairs stand on end.

  "You're saying that this is Yang Honglu's own stomach growling sounds, which he recorded and uploaded to the internet? So, he actually did hear his own stomach making those rumbling noises, right, it was a human voice?"

  Chen Qiuyang smiled slyly and said, "I don't know either, I just think this voice can scare others. But I think it's very likely that some bored netizens created it to scare people based on the event of Yang Hong's suicide. Doesn't this kind of thing often happen online? In the past, I even heard a recording of a plane's cockpit conversation before a crash, which was scary, but later the news said that audio was also made by netizens to scare people."

  "No," said Yulan softly, "the black box recording of the plane crash was real..."

  I interrupted their conversation, saying: "Don't bother with Yang Hong's audio for now, his case is already closed. Now let's consider Du Jie's situation. I've promised Dr. Ruan De to take on this business next. First, according to Du Jie's request, he wants us to go to his hometown for a secret investigation."

  "Du Jie's hometown is in a very small village in Shandong Province. Do we all need to go there? The travel expenses will be quite high, can they be reimbursed?"

  I said to her: "Do you know how much pay Dou Jie gave?" I stretched out my fingers, one by one, and then drew them back.

  Chen Qiuyang's eyes lit up as he counted excitedly: "1, 2, 3... 5, 6, 7. A seven-digit number! It's actually a seven-digit number?"

  I nodded and said, "For a billionaire like Du Jie, this amount is nothing. He has already paid half of it in advance."

  Chen Qiuyang slapped his hand on the table and stood up, saying: "What are we waiting for? Let's act immediately!"

  "Hey, what's the rush? We need to make thorough preparations before we set off. Maps, investigation materials, directions... there are many things to consider. Thirteen, did that local tyrant Du Jie clearly state what he wants us to investigate? Is it just about explaining why he saw a scary old lady ghost face in his stomach 24 years ago? How can we even investigate something like that?"

  I pulled out a white paper from the folder and spread it flat on the tea table, saying: "What Du Jie wants to investigate is here -"

  There were only two words on the white paper:

  Father.