A ray of early morning sunlight pierced into the car, waking Si Ren from his deep sleep.
"Ah, I'm exhausted. What a sleep. And this is an Alphard, too—if it had been that Iveco from last time, I probably would've gotten a stiff neck just sleeping in it."
He started the car, put on a lyrical song, then got out to stretch his aching body while casually lighting a cigarette and sticking it between his lips.
Looking at the rising sun and listening to the birds chirping in the woods, he felt exceptionally comfortable.
Once his limbs were fully stretched out, he drove back to his rented apartment.
"This Alphard is really nice. I'll just make do with driving it these few days; it's still way better than my beat-up old second-hand Kia."
Back in the room, he immediately turned on the computer, eager to check whether the customer had given him a positive review last night.
He logged into the official Lingtu website and viewed yesterday's delivery status.
Name: Si Ren. ID: 044. Position: Temporary worker.
Successfully delivered passenger to destination: +1 credit.
Li Jiacheng was extremely satisfied with the employee's service attitude: +5 credits.
"Hey, not bad at all. I've got 6 credits now, just 4 more away from a promotion."
Suddenly, he caught sight of a red exclamation mark in the upper left corner of the screen.
He moved the mouse and clicked to view it.
Customer Li Jiacheng has issued an E-rank task to temporary worker Si Ren.
Task reward: +10 credits.
Failure penalty: none.
Accept task?
Yes or No.
"What's there to hesitate about? Must accept, of course! This is 10 credits, worth 100,000 yuan."
Si Ren clicked the "Yes" option with his mouse.
Full of anticipation that Lingtu Company would give him some documents or something, he waited for a long time, but nothing appeared.
It only showed: Task in progress.
"Depending on anyone is worse than depending on yourself. Looks like I have to take action immediately and hurry up to find this Li Wenjing."
Si Ren opened his phone and searched for private detective agencies in the city.
"Hello, hi, is this the Sherlock Detective Agency?" The reason he chose this place was very simple: people might not know the name Sherlock very well, but what about Sherlock Holmes?
Si Ren figured that a detective agency daring to take such a name must have some real skills.
"Yes, we are the Sherlock Detective Agency. How can we help you?" The receptionist's voice was exceptionally sweet; just hearing her voice made Si Ren feel a tingling numbness all over.
"How about this, I'll drop by your office in a bit and we can talk in person, is that alright?"
"Sure. May I ask your surname, and about how long will it take you to get here?"
Si Ren checked the time and quickly replied.
"My surname is Si. We aren't far away, I should be there in half an hour."
After hanging up, Si Ren simply washed up. After all, sleeping in a car all night left him looking a bit disheveled.
Once tidied up, he drove straight to the detective agency.
"Hello, are you Mr. Si? The boss is waiting for you inside, please go in."
The person speaking was the woman who had just been on the phone with Si Ren. Not only did she have a lovely voice, but she was also very pretty with a sexy figure. Above all, the OL uniform she wore was simply soul-stirring.
Si Ren gave a light cough to mask his awkwardness.
"Ahem, okay." Then he gave a gentle knock on the office door and walked inside.
The two exchanged pleasantries in the room, introduced themselves, and then got down to business.
"I wonder what Mr. Si is hoping I can help investigate this time?"
"It's very simple. Help me investigate a girl named Li Wenjing; I want her current specific address." Si Ren stated the purpose of his visit.
The boss was very professional and didn't pry or ask for the reasons behind it.
"Could you tell me some specific details, like her age, appearance, or even better if you have a photo of her?"
Si Ren shook his head.
"I'm very sorry, I don't know her exact age, nor do I have a photo.
But I know her grandfather is Li Jiacheng, her father is Li Shengli, and her grandmother is Wang Wenjuan.
Moreover, all of them died within the past month, and her grandfather passed away 8 days ago."
The boss quickly jotted down these names on paper with a pen, his brow furrowed deeply. He sensed this matter was not simple.
Except for the girl's mother, who was unmentioned, everyone else named had passed away one after another within a single month.
"Mr. Si, if it's just a simple investigation into Li Wenjing's current residence, I can give you an answer in two hours.
If you want deeper background information, it will take about a week."
Si Ren thought for a moment and spoke up.
"How about this: just give me detailed information on Li Wenjing's family members and her current residential address. No need to trouble you with the rest."
"No problem. The fee for investigating family information is 10,000. Cash or card?"
"Put it on the card." Si Ren pulled out his bank card and paid, feeling a slight pang of financial pain.
"Let's add each other on WeChat, and I'll send you the info within two hours."
Si Ren found a wonton shop nearby, ordered a bowl of wontons, and wolfed them down.
"Private detectives make money way too easily. I risked my life and limb to earn credits just to trade them for 10,000.
These people just flap their upper and lower lips, and my 10,000 is gone.
I hope she's competent and doesn't take my money only to bungle the job."
After finishing his meal, Si Ren returned to the car and was just about to turn the ignition and leave when his WeChat notification sounded.
Li Wenjing, female, 21 years old, Scorpio, blood type AB, single.
An elite student at the Finance Academy, residing at Building A18, Shangdong Manor.
Mother went missing in early June and remains unaccounted for to this day.
Father Li Shengli died on July 11; cause of death: sudden heart attack.
Grandmother Wang Wenjuan died on July 20; cause of death: sudden cerebral hemorrhage.
Grandfather Li Jiacheng died on July 29; cause of death: myocardial infarction.
Si Ren stared at the sparse few words and fell into silence.
Did they call this detailed information? What the hell kind of garbage did he just spend 10,000 yuan on?!
Si Ren opened WeChat and typed three question marks.
"???"
The boss on the other end of the phone also felt a bit guilty and replied.
"Mr. Si, listen to me and let me explain.
This matter is probably a bit troublesome. I asked around through insiders, and they are tight-lipped about this family's affairs.
A good friend of mine is a police officer, and he told me this:
The moment his son died, Li Jiacheng insisted on calling the police, stubbornly maintaining that his son was murdered rather than dying from natural causes.
The police took it very seriously. After extensive investigation, evidence gathering, and a forensic diagnosis, it was indeed confirmed to be a sudden heart attack.
But Li Jiacheng was extremely dissatisfied with the result and caused a huge scene at the police station.
Fortunately, his granddaughter Li Wenjing managed to persuade the old man to go back home.
Not long after, however, his wife Wang Wenjuan also died.
Li Jiacheng came back to the police station to report it, using the exact same rhetoric as before.
Yet no matter how the police searched for clues, the cause of death kept pointing to a cerebral hemorrhage.
In the end, the parties parted ways on bad terms after a chaotic dispute.
Before long, the old man died as well.
The entire police department attached extraordinary importance to this case, yet no matter how thoroughly they investigated, they couldn't find a single trace of evidence.
The police simply didn't believe such a coincidence could exist in the world—an entire family dying one after another within a single month.
With zero clues to go on, they had no choice but to file the case as an unsolved mystery."