By car, Yan Qi and Zhao Liang quickly arrived at their destination: the headquarters building of Daheng Real Estate Company.
“So this is the Daheng Real Estate headquarters? It looks quite impressive, but unfortunately, it was built with the blood and sweat of the laboring people.”
Gazing at the not-so-towering yet still very tall building before her, Yan Qi couldn’t help but think this to herself.
“Xiao Qi, what are you looking at?”
Noticing Yan Qi had been staring at the building in the distance, Zhao Liang, who had just parked the car, instinctively asked her this.
Hearing this, Yan Qi quickly pulled her gaze back from the distant building, turned to look at him, and shook her head in response. “I wasn’t looking at anything.”
Though he knew Yan Qi was brushing him off, Zhao Liang didn’t press further. Then he said, “Since you weren’t looking at anything, let’s get moving then. Just like you said earlier, the sooner we deal with this, the sooner we can leave.”
“Hmm.”
After nodding at Zhao Liang, Yan Qi followed by his side as they walked together toward the Daheng Real Estate headquarters building.
When they reached the building entrance, they saw a middle-aged man in a suit and tie, looking radiant and full of vitality, standing there. He kept glancing at his watch, as if waiting for someone.
“Hello, are you Secretary Wang Shuquan, the one I contacted earlier?”
Taking Yan Qi along, Zhao Liang proactively walked up to the suited middle-aged man and asked him this.
Hearing this, Wang Shuquan looked at Zhao Liang’s attire and asked somewhat uncertainly, “Are you Officer Zhao, the one who contacted me before?”
“Yes, I’m Zhao Liang from the Fifth Action Team of the Fangfeng City Extraordinary Affairs Bureau. Here is my identification.”
As he spoke, Zhao Liang took out his ID and handed it to Wang Shuquan.
Seeing this, Wang Shuquan quickly took Zhao Liang’s ID, verified it was correct, and then handed it back. At the same time, he said in a very warm tone, “Welcome, Officer Zhao. With your help, I believe the mysterious paranormal phenomena that have been occurring at our Daheng Real Estate for several days now will surely no longer trouble us.”
Hearing this, even though the paranormal phenomena at Daheng Real Estate didn’t seem dangerous, as an experienced action team member who knew such phenomena weren’t so easily resolved, Zhao Liang dared not boast in front of others. So he said to Wang Shuquan, “As long as we can find the true cause of the paranormal phenomena inside your company, I can guarantee you won’t be troubled by them ever again.”
Having worked as a secretary for many years and dealt with people from all walks of life, Wang Shuquan was a shrewd man. He fully understood the deeper meaning behind Zhao Liang’s words. However, he didn’t show any extra emotion, just smiled and continued, “Then I hope Officer Zhao can help us find the real cause of the paranormal phenomena in our company.”
“In that case, Secretary Wang, could you please lead the way for us to enter your headquarters building and begin our investigation?”
“No problem. But why did you say ‘us,’ Officer Zhao?”
Only having noticed Zhao Liang standing before him and not Yan Qi, who was standing behind him and didn’t want to engage, Wang Shuquan couldn’t help but ask with a puzzled look on his face.
Hearing Wang Shuquan’s question, Zhao Liang looked around and quickly noticed Yan Qi hiding behind him.
Understanding why she was doing this, Zhao Liang didn’t say anything to her. He simply stepped aside, revealing Yan Qi standing behind him, and introduced her to Wang Shuquan. “This is my colleague, Yan Qi, who came with me today to investigate.”
“This is your colleague? Isn’t she a bit too young?”
Looking at Yan Qi, who appeared behind Zhao Liang and was clearly not very old, Wang Shuquan—though shrewd—was encountering this for the first time and couldn’t help but express surprise as he said this.
Hearing Wang Shuquan’s words and knowing what he was wondering, Zhao Liang quickly replied, “Although my colleague here seems very young, if you underestimate her because of that, you’ll be in for a rude awakening.”
“Is that so?”
Upon hearing this, Wang Shuquan gave Yan Qi a meaningful look and muttered this under his breath.
“Brother Zhao Liang, didn’t you say we were going in to investigate? Why are we still standing here?”
Not wanting to greet Wang Shuquan and solely focused on quickly investigating the paranormal phenomena here so they could leave, Yan Qi urged Zhao Liang.
Hearing this and knowing Yan Qi really didn’t want to stay here longer, Zhao Liang said to Wang Shuquan, “Secretary Wang, you heard my colleague. Please lead the way as soon as possible.”
“Mm, alright. Then, please follow me inside.”
After saying this, Wang Shuquan withdrew his gaze from Yan Qi and led both of them into the interior of the Daheng Real Estate headquarters building.
Once inside, at Zhao Liang’s request, Wang Shuquan quickly took them to several locations where the paranormal phenomena frequently occurred.
After conducting inspections, taking notes, and collecting some necessary samples at these spots,
Zhao Liang, knowing that these alone wouldn’t uncover the true cause of the paranormal phenomena here, next asked Wang Shuquan to summon the staff who often worked late in this headquarters building so he could question them.
After finishing the questioning and not obtaining any substantial clues from this group, Zhao Liang began checking the building’s internal surveillance footage.
But aside from seeing the inexplicably appearing ice blocks in the footage, he found nothing else.
“Strange, what is causing this mysterious icing phenomenon here?”
Just as Zhao Liang, having found no valuable clues, was momentarily at a loss,
Yan Qi, who had said nothing since the investigation began and had been quietly sitting on a chair next to the surveillance room with her eyes closed, suddenly opened her eyes.
She then hopped off the chair, walked over to Zhao Liang, reached out her small hand, and placed it on the mouse on the table.
“Xiao Qi, what are you doing?”
Not understanding the reason for Yan Qi’s rather sudden action, Zhao Liang couldn’t help but ask in confusion.