Chapter 207: Su Xuan’s Shock, It’s Really Him?

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

“We’re really sad about Mr. Chen Jianguo’s passing,” the vice factory director at Chen Jianguo’s workplace began. “You see, Mr. Chen had worked with us for many years, and he was a skilled and experienced worker. He had excellent technical skills, and many in our factory considered him their mentor. Currently, there’s no one else who can fill his shoes, and we even had plans to rehire him after he retired.”

“In fact, we were planning to promote him to a workshop director not long ago,” he continued. “He deserved this title a long time ago, but the responsibilities of a workshop director involve a lot of tasks that could interfere with his work, so we didn’t mention it earlier. With the recent increase in staff over the years, he had more free time, and we were just about to…”

The vice factory director sighed, truly regretting Chen Jianguo’s untimely death. He believed it was a great loss for the company. There was simply no one else in the factory who could match Chen Jianguo’s skills. Moreover, with his sudden departure, the workload he managed had been distributed among the other employees, leaving them overwhelmed.

Listening to the vice factory director’s words, Su Xuan became somewhat puzzled. “Was Chen Jianguo exceptionally skilled at his job?” he inquired. “And did anyone else besides him know about the possibility of him becoming a workshop director?”

Su Xuan recalled Lan Xiaofen’s testimony from before. Apart from the incident when he had been slapped in front of them, there had never been any reports of Chen Jianguo being physically violent with her throughout their years of marriage. While marital arguments were common, physical violence had never been part of their history.

“When did Chen Jianguo find out about the possibility of becoming a workshop director?” Su Xuan asked. They had a reasonable suspicion that the reason the other party had resorted to violence that day was to tarnish his reputation before becoming a workshop director. It was common knowledge that such a reputation depended not only on oneself but also on one’s family. Having a troublesome wife like Lan Xiaofen was undoubtedly a burden for Chen Jianguo. Could this be the motive behind the attack? Of course, considering the current situation, it wasn’t a favorable turn of events.

“A lot of people knew about this,” the vice factory director said after thinking for a moment. “But the first person to find out was Chen Canjun.”

Chen Canjun? Su Xuan, who had been deep in thought, suddenly looked up. The vice factory director continued, “Initially, we had planned to keep this a secret, especially since Chen Jianguo’s birthday was approaching. We thought it would be a pleasant surprise to tell him on his birthday. However, when we discussed it with Chen Canjun later, he suggested that we should inform Chen Jianguo in advance. After all, he’s getting older, and if he suddenly learned about this, it might be too much for his heart.”

“Later, we thought about it and found some merit in Chen Canjun’s suggestion, so we decided to inform Chen Jianguo beforehand,” the vice factory director explained. “Basically, most of the people in our workshop knew about it.”

He looked at Su Xuan with a puzzled expression. “Officer, is this matter related to Chen Jianguo’s death? Wasn’t it an accidental drowning?”

The vice factory director was genuinely perplexed, as the connection between Chen Jianguo’s death and these revelations was unclear to him.

After all, the fact that Chen Jianguo was pulled out of the water couldn’t be concealed, especially in their small village where many people worked at the factory.

“This matter hasn’t been determined yet,” Su Xuan stated with a serious expression. “The police are just investigating the possibility of foul play. Please refrain from spreading this information.”

The vice factory director immediately nodded vigorously. “Of course, Officer

Su, you can trust me. I won’t disclose our conversation today.”

That’s good. Su Xuan then inquired about Chen Canjun’s situation. Compared to his brother Chen Jianguo, Chen Canjun appeared to be more normal. He was an ordinary person, and even his employment at the factory was thanks to having a brother like Chen Jianguo. As a result, Chen Canjun had a good relationship with his brother, and his work was unremarkable, with no outstanding achievements.

“Has Chen Canjun shown any unusual behavior recently?” Su Xuan asked, “Such as daydreaming or appearing anxious?”

Upon hearing this, the vice factory director hesitated for a moment. As the vice factory director, he didn’t pay much attention to such matters. However, he assured Su Xuan, “Officer Su, please wait a moment. I’ll call some of our workshop staff to provide you with more information.”

“Chen Canjun has been acting a bit strange lately,” one of the senior employees remarked. “Maybe because he was so close to Jianguo, he’s been daydreaming frequently.”

“Yeah, and sometimes he even talks about seeing Jianguo’s ghost coming to visit him,” another added. “It’s eerie. Jianguo hasn’t even been cremated yet, and if there are ghosts, why would they bother with his brother’s wife?”

The senior employee, who had been called over to answer Su Xuan’s questions about Chen Canjun, shared this information without any suspicion about why the police were interested.

Su Xuan’s expression became somewhat peculiar upon hearing this. He was also pondering the same question: why would Chen Canjun say such things? It seemed to confirm his suspicions to some extent.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” Su Xuan concluded. With the investigation completed, he was ready to leave. The vice factory director accompanied him to the factory gate and let out a sigh of relief.

He had wondered why the police suddenly showed up at their factory. Chen Jianguo had indeed been valuable while he was alive, but now that he was dead, he shouldn’t be causing trouble for the living.

“Really…” The vice factory director muttered as he watched Su Xuan’s car drive away. “Don’t come back next time! What a hassle!”

With those words, he turned and walked back into the factory.

On the other hand, Su Xuan, who had found some clues within the factory, became even more convinced of his theory. Everything seemed to be in place, except for one crucial element: evidence.

Evidence that could definitively prove that Chen Canjun was the murderer.

Su Xuan headed straight back to the police station, where Zhou Qiang and the others were still searching for clues related to other suspects. When they saw Su Xuan return, they inquired about his findings.

“I need to review the surveillance footage,” Su Xuan replied succinctly and headed to the surveillance room.

Once again, he examined the surveillance footage around Chen’s residence, specifically looking for footage of Chen Canjun leaving his house to support his theory. To their surprise, he found it.

The surveillance cameras near Chen Jianguo’s house indeed had blind spots, making it impossible to see either of their entrances or the first-floor windows. However, that night, the moon was exceptionally large, and the newly installed streetlights in their rural area provided ample illumination. It was so bright that it cast shadows of the opposite house onto their windows.

It was this stroke of luck that allowed Su Xuan to clearly see Chen Canjun exiting his house, carrying an object, and then later sneaking back in, soaking wet.

Su Xuan watched the surveillance footage, took a deep breath, and said to himself, “It can’t be…. Is it really him?”