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墨書 Inktalez
As the New Year approached, the shops lining the streets began to adorn themselves with colorful decorations.
We walked along, occasionally stopping to browse the inexpensive festive goods displayed by street vendors.
Yang Fan stood behind me, lost in thought. I picked out a few lucky character decorations, paid for them, and turned around to find Yang Fan somewhat dazed. I asked, "Still thinking about that case?"
Yang Fan snapped back to reality, realizing I had finished my shopping. He tightened his scarf and smiled, saying, "Yeah, I've looked into it, but everything about Xinlan Company seems normal. I'm at a bit of a loss."
I sighed in exasperation; Yang Fan always had a tendency to blur the lines between cases and everyday life.
I patted my lovely tenant on the shoulder and said, "Let's go find Chen Yin first; we can talk about the case later." Yang Fan shrugged in agreement.
The story actually began a week ago when Yang Fan and I were discussing some doubts regarding the previous Love Song Case.
Our conversation was interrupted by a rhythmic knocking at the door.
I opened it to find a young man dressed in a suit.
"Excuse me, is this Mr. Yang Fan's home?" The young man looked somewhat cautious as he waited for my affirmative response before slowly stepping inside.
Upon seeing the young man, Yang Fan paused momentarily before breaking into a smile. "What brings you here?"
I was surprised that these two knew each other. Although they were of similar age, they didn’t seem like they had any connections.
The young man took a seat across from Yang Fan and glanced around the room. Noticing it was just the two of us, he asked, "Is my uncle not here?"
“Old Luo,” Yang Fan said as he took a sip of his coffee, “he went out of town with Lu Tong to handle a case. Is there something you need from him?”
“Oh.” The young man seemed slightly disappointed. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly turned to Yang Fan and said, “We at the Lo Group have encountered some trouble, and I’d like to ask for your help.”
Yang Fan set down his coffee cup without any surprise and smiled at the young man.
It was only during the young man's self-introduction that I learned this unassuming man was actually Lo Xinyu, the newly appointed business manager of the real estate giant Lo Group, responsible for investments and other commercial operations.
He was twenty years old and had just taken over the family business. Recently, he had been busy with a bid for a strategically important piece of land. As Lo Xinyu recounted this, he involuntarily paused for a moment.
“Did something go wrong with the bid?” Yang Fan guessed.
Lo Xinyu nodded. “We had negotiated privately with the company selling the land, and the proposal was already drafted. We were just waiting to proceed according to plan during the public bidding. However…”
“However what?” Yang Fan pressed.
“The proposal went missing before the bidding,” Lo Xinyu said, his tone still steady.
“How did it get lost?” Yang Fan asked.
“In the office,” Lo Xinyu replied. “I left the proposal on my desk the first night, but when I came in the next morning, it was gone. You know our security at Lo Group is always top-notch, and my office is on the highest floor.”
“So we can rule out the possibility of an outsider being involved?” I interjected instinctively. Lo Xinyu looked at me in slight surprise before nodding in agreement.
Lo Xinyu recounted some trivial details.
It seemed that there wasn't much useful information to be gleaned from verbal accounts. Yang Fan pondered for a moment before asking, "When did the bidding start?"
Lo Xinyu replied helplessly, "It has already ended."
"Really?" Yang Fan was somewhat surprised.
"The company lost at least eighty million because of this. My father is very angry and has ordered me to investigate the matter," Lo Xinyu said. "I have been looking into it privately for two days, but I have no leads."
"Do you want me to find out who stole the proposal?" Yang Fan stood up and put on his coat, seemingly ready to take on the task.
"Yes," Lo Xinyu added, "and one more thing."
"What is it?" Yang Fan asked.
"The bid from the real estate company that won the land was only two million higher than ours," Lo Xinyu said. "I suspect that company used some underhanded tactics."
That afternoon, we drove to the Hua Mao Building in the center of Xi Cheng. Due to it being a branch office, the Lo family only purchased the top three floors—twenty-one, twenty-two, and twenty-three. The moment I laid eyes on Hua Mao, I dismissed the possibility of someone infiltrating from the outside; the building was designed with glass curtain walls, leaving no footholds for climbing.
Lo Xinyu noticed my thoughts and said to me, "The rooftop has also been sealed off; no one can access my office from above using ropes."
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