Insights Chapter 70: Female Workers

Chapter 70: Female Workers

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

At three o’clock in the afternoon, the Special Criminal Division and medical examiners arrived at the entrance of the Revival Electronics Factory. This was a local medium-sized electronics factory, which subcontracted a lot of work from larger factories. It was well-known for its active business and low prices, so it had been thriving continuously.

The majority of workers in the entire factory were female, numbering in the tens of thousands, while there were only a few hundred male workers. As they walked through the factory yard, they encountered some female workers hurrying about. These young girls looked at them with curious eyes, whispering among themselves.

Deputy factory manager, Shang Jun, came out to greet them. He was a chubby man nearing fifty, with a prominent beer belly and a balding head. This workshop happened to be under his jurisdiction. He warmly greeted them, “Everything inside is arranged. Officers, please come in.”

Seemingly to highlight the orderly nature of the electronics factory, the factory yard had clearly been cleaned.

Lu Ying muttered behind, “This feels like visiting the Fourth Division in the morning and then touring the electronics factory in the afternoon.”

Bai Meng also looked around, expressing some concern, “This case is already old. Now, with such thorough cleaning, I wonder how many traces are left.”

Qi Yi’an also whispered, “It feels like they’re trying to quickly fool us and get back to work as soon as possible.”

Lu Ying added, “Exactly, I bet they’re losing quite a bit of money by shutting down this afternoon.”

Shang Jun smiled brightly, not at all like someone waiting for the police to investigate a criminal case, “Officers, the female workers here are very honest and obedient. You’ll see for yourselves. This case should have nothing to do with our factory. The local police station had already investigated before. If there were any issues, could it have been left alone for so long?” As he spoke, Shang Jun took out a cigarette and offered it to Gu Yanchen. “The director of the local police station, Zhao, is very familiar with our factory manager. I’m lucky to have met the leaders of the City Bureau this time. If they’re interested in new phones, I can offer them at a factory discount. If the leaders really like them, I can even give them for free.”

Gu Yanchen waved his hand, declining the cigarette.

Shang Jun then offered cigarettes to Lu Ying and the others. “Let me tell you, it’s possible that Zhou Yingying encountered some bad people outside or had an accident. That’s why she ended up dead there.”

Lu Ying sarcastically remarked, “You’re so amazing, figuring out the case without even investigating.”

Shang Jun didn’t know how to respond, but he tried to maintain his smile.

Gu Yanchen said, “After all, it’s an employee from your factory who met with an accident. We definitely need to start the investigation from here.”

Shang Jun nodded repeatedly, agreeing, “Officer, you’re right. We’ll cooperate with the investigation in every way.”

Their first stop was the scene where the corpse was found. It was an area behind the factory, enclosed by large steel plates. Construction had stopped because a corpse was discovered there. 

Shang Jun pointed to one of the pits. “The corpse was found here initially.”

Gu Yanchen asked, “Does this area belong to the factory’s premises?”

Shang Jun replied, “Yes and no.” Seeing the confusion on everyone’s faces, he explained, “This is the land bought by the factory, adjacent to the factory. There used to be a circle of wire mesh outside, with a few small gates, so workers could come over without leaving the factory. People from outside could also come in. In short, this place has been prepared for construction, but it was fenced off separately. However, because it has been idle and unattended, with lax supervision, no one has been watching it closely.”

The forensic team looked at the place where the corpse was dug up. The depth was about half a meter. The local police station had previously inspected this scene. After a round of inspection, they found no useful footprints or fingerprints.

Gu Yanchen compared the inspection photos with the surroundings. Then he squatted down, pinched the soil with his hand, and estimated the time it would take to bury a body. Even during the rainy season with relatively loose soil, digging this deep would require a certain amount of strength and time. Then he stood up and looked at the route. If Zhou Yingying was killed in the dormitory building of the factory and her corpse was carried here, theoretically, they could have avoided the factory’s security guards and surveillance cameras.

Their second stop was the workshop where the female workers worked. Inside were modern assembly lines, with eight people per shift, and sixteen people working in two shifts. To facilitate the investigation, the afternoon shift of the No. 4 workshop was suspended, and the machines were not running.

As Shang Jun led them in, he introduced various assembly lines in the workshop. Finally, he said, “This place is under 24-hour surveillance… However, we can’t retain the footage for too long. Basically, it’s deleted after three months. When the missing person case occurred, the local police station should have accessed the surveillance here. From the footage, everything seemed normal with Zhou Yingying.”

Gu Yanchen and the medical examiners went around. Both the floor and windowsills were cleaned very thoroughly. There wasn’t even a strand of hair left behind.

Gu Yanchen stood at the door of the No. 3 workshop opposite and looked inside. The No. 3 workshop was in operation, with machines humming. It seemed that the female workers were assembling cell phones. On the assembly line, electronic transistors and motherboards passed by each worker. They assembled the components together.

Each female worker wore the same uniform with an apron on top. Their personal items were placed in the large pockets in front. The female workers were busy with their heads down, working silently. They didn’t speak, nor did they show any expression, as if they were individual artificial intelligences. These women produce the highest-quality products, but they themselves use cheap phones. During working hours, their time belongs to the factory, only after work does it belong to them.

The police searched inside and left a piece of evidence, then followed Shang Jun to the next location. Because they were notified in advance that police officers were coming, the female workers were all waiting in the dormitory. When work started during the day, the dormitory building was very quiet.

Zhou Yingying’s room was on the second floor of the dormitory building. It was quite spacious, with a total of eight beds, both upper and lower bunks. The female workers had tidied up their belongings, making the entire dormitory look very neat. When the police officers entered, the young girls all looked up at them with guarded expressions.

Someone came to take environmental photos as evidence.

“Here in our dormitory, everything is managed militarily. We have a laundry room for washing clothes, as well as dedicated bathrooms and showers. The safety and hygiene environment is good,” Shang Jun boasted about the factory’s working conditions.

Qi Yi’an stood behind the crowd, listening to him speak. However, in his mind, he kept repeating the fact that Zhou Yingying had lived here, and her corpse was found not far away. Then he began to feel a bit uncomfortable; it seemed like this factory had swallowed up that girl.

Shang Jun pointed to a female worker sitting on the lower bunk at the door and said, “Xiao Sun, Sun Yushi, she is the dormitory leader here and also the workshop supervisor. If you have any questions, you can ask her.”

The female worker named Sun Yushi immediately stood up and bowed, saying, “Hello, officer.”

She was very young, with a striking appearance and a good figure. She had her hair tied back in a ponytail, looking neat and tidy.

Then Shang Jun waved his hand and said, “Xiao Sun, please introduce the situation here to these police officers. Don’t be nervous, it’s similar to the procedure when the sub-bureau came to inspect last time.”

Gu Yanchen asked, “So, where did Zhou Yingying live?”

Sun Yushi pointed and said, “She lived on the upper bunk of bed number three. After she left, a new colleague came, and now Yin Moli lives there.”

Gu Yanchen asked again, “Do you have any controlled knives or scissors in your dormitory?”

Sun Yushi replied, “We only have a few fruit knives, and there might be some scissors.” She turned around and called out, “Everyone who has knives or scissors, take them out for the officers to inspect.”

Her call had a commanding tone to it. The female workers were quiet and obedient. After hearing her instructions, they all started to act, obediently placing some knives and scissors on the table. It seemed like this was their usual way of interacting.

As evidence arrived to take photos, measure, and prepare to store the images in the archives, Gu Yanchen asked, “After Zhou Yingying left, did she leave anything behind?”

Sun Yushi shook her head and said, “There was hardly anything left. She took her phone and clothes with her.”

Then Bai Meng and Lu Ying began to question the girls one by one, verifying some basic personal information. If necessary, they would take people aside for individual questioning in the corridor. The police officers worked systematically.

Gu Yanchen sat aside, matching the female workers in front of him with the photos on the forms. He then noticed a female worker with a bob haircut. She looked gentle and had fair skin, appearing very frail. She seemed more like a college student than a factory worker.

The girl sat quietly with her head down, looking at her shoes.

Gu Yanchen walked over and asked the worker, “Are you Tao Ya?”

He remembered this worker from the interrogation with Han Ziai. The girl nodded but didn’t meet his gaze. Gu Yanchen asked again, “Are you and Zhou Yingying from the same hometown?”

Tao Ya tucked her hair behind her ear in silence and nodded again.

Lu Ying was inspecting Tao Ya’s bed and asked, “What’s this?”

Tao Ya replied, “Just some handcrafts I made out of boredom.”

She took out a large glass jar from inside, filled with folded paper cranes, almost filling the jar. The medical examiners also prepared to start work. Shen Junci put on a mask and gloves.

Qi Yi’an took out the collection tools he had prepared long ago and explained to the female workers, “According to the procedure, we need to collect your fingerprints, blood, and DNA. Please cooperate with our medical examiners.”

Then he checked each female worker’s name and proceeded to collect samples from them one by one. The evidence team took photos of each person’s shoes, paying special attention to the soles, and recorded the shoe sizes.

Everyone was busy. The female workers remained quiet and obedient. They seemed to lack independent thoughts, like mannequins placed in a clothing store. Their answers seemed rehearsed, just repeating what they had said before. Their appearance made them seem harmless. If it weren’t for the information they had gathered from Han Ziai at noon, it would have been easy to be deceived by this facade. But now, with some groundwork laid, in Gu Yanchen’s eyes, the postures and subtle facial expressions of the female workers took on a different meaning.

Each girl’s back and mouth were tense; they were nervous. This might be a collective lie. Some of them might know the truth.

When the investigation here was almost finished, Gu Yanchen called the deputy factory manager over. “Manager Shang, is there any storage room or something similar nearby?”

“A storage room?” Shang Jun was puzzled for a moment. “There isn’t one.”

Seeing his feigned ignorance, Gu Yanchen asked directly, “I heard there’s a storage room right downstairs in this building.”

At noon, they had specifically asked Han Ziai about the location of the punishment room, which was on the first floor of this staff building.

Shang Jun immediately understood. “There is indeed a small old warehouse downstairs, where some cleaning supplies are stored. There’s nothing much…”

Shen Junci, who was nearby, packed up his things and said, “I’ll take the evidence team over to check.”

“Please lead the way, Manager Shang,” Gu Yanchen said to Shang Junci. “You go first; I’ll come down to find you after I’m done here.”

Shen Junci called Qi Yi’an and then two more evidence collectors. The four of them followed Shang Jun downstairs.

It was a relatively small storage room, about a dozen square meters. Inside, there were some cleaning tools stacked alongside some boxes containing tissues, disinfectants, and other household items. Against the wall, there was a large iron shelf, also filled with miscellaneous items.

There were no windows in this room, nor were there any exhaust fans. It was completely sealed off, making it a dark and stuffy space. The ceiling of the room was slightly lower than other rooms, adding to the feeling of oppression.

As they stood inside, even with just a few people, the room felt crowded. The lighting in the room was dim, casting a gloomy atmosphere. The lock was new and could be secured from the inside.

In a low voice, Qi Yi’an said to Shen Junci, “Master, I think this is a good place for murder.”

Shen Junci looked around and then asked the evidence collector, Chen Mian, “Luminol, did you bring it? Let’s check if there are any traces of blood or the like here.”

Luminol is a commonly used reagent for testing bloodstains. It can detect even trace amounts of blood or wiped-off bloodstains, revealing them regardless of how long ago they were left. Chen Mian took out a bottle of Luminol from the toolbox and carefully sprayed a large area on the floor of the room. He then sprayed some on the walls and ceiling. A faint acidic smell filled the room immediately.

Chen Mian turned off the lights, but there was no blue fluorescence in the room.

Shang Jun breathed a sigh of relief. At this point, he felt it necessary to interject, “Officers, as I mentioned earlier, there’s nothing here.”

Qi Yi’an whispered to Shen Junci, “Master, if this storage room is related to the case, how could it be so clean?”

Luminol has high sensitivity; it can reveal even the slightest traces of blood. Ordinary reagents cannot erase those bloodstains. If this room were the scene of the crime, regardless of how much blood there was, it would definitely leave traces.

Shen Junci pondered for a moment. “I suspect this room may have been rearranged.”

He noticed many miscellaneous items piled up in the corners, looking old and seemingly untouched for years. People would naturally assume that those things had been there for a long time. But the perpetrator might have taken advantage of that, trying to deceive the investigators. Coupled with the fact that the crime occurred a year ago, in such a long time, it would be easy to rearrange the room, fill it with clutter, and let it gather dust.

Hearing this, Qi Yi’an also understood and looked into those corners.

Shen Junci walked to the side of the iron shelf, looked up, and then asked Shang Jun, “Manager Shang, can this shelf be moved? I want to take a look…”

Shang Jun shrugged. “The shelf is quite heavy, and the room is so small; it’s not easy to move.”

Shen Junci wanted to say something more, but the deputy factory manager gestured for everyone to leave. “Gentlemen officers, you’ve checked here. This is our factory’s storage room and has nothing to do with the case. It wouldn’t be good if it got messed up, and it’s getting late. I’m going to grab something to eat; wouldn’t you like to take a break and have dinner?”

His words seemed like a polite way of asking them to leave. Having accompanied the police team for the afternoon and seeing that they hadn’t found anything, his tone revealed impatience. Seeing Shen Junci dressed as a medical examiner, he knew they weren’t detectives and felt a bit superior.

Just as Shang Jun refused, a clear voice came from outside, “Manager Shang, is there a problem here?”

Then Gu Yanchen walked over with several police officers. Seeing the stalemate, he immediately understood.

Gu Yanchen said, “From the current situation, the female workers upstairs are highly suspicious. Please cooperate. If we don’t find anything, we’ll help you restore everything.”

Shang Jun knew Gu Yanchen was leading the team and felt a bit afraid of him. He didn’t dare to openly contradict him, but his body didn’t move aside, blocking the exit. “Officers, I’m not saying this, but this case really has nothing to do with our factory. With this time, wouldn’t it be better for you to check outside…”

“Manager Shang, are you implying that this is a secret of your factory that can’t be thoroughly investigated? Or are you afraid we’ll find something?” Gu Yanchen’s gaze was sharp. “Interfering with law enforcement, we have the right to detain people. If it escalates to that point, it won’t look good.”

His words were straightforward, and Shang Jun finally stepped aside, laughing awkwardly. “Where would that be, Captain Gu? I was just thinking it’s dinner time, and everyone’s worked hard. I’ll treat you to a meal later?”

Gu Yanchen checked the time and indeed, it was dinner time. He waved his hand. “No need for treating. We’ll eat nearby after we finish here.”

Shang Jun’s flattery hit a snag.

Gu Yanchen had encountered many people like Shang Jun during his investigations. They pretended not to understand unless pressed. He didn’t have a good impression of Shang Jun and turned to ask Shen Junci, “Doctor Shen, what do you want for dinner tonight?”

Shen Junci was sure there was something wrong here and said, “Let’s finish checking here first.”

With Gu Yanchen’s support, Qi Yi’an moved aside the cardboard boxes in front.

Shen Junci stepped forward and tried to move the shelf himself. The base of the iron shelf was unstable, emitting a creaking sound and wobbling slightly.

“Be careful!” Gu Yanchen, who usually kept his composure, suddenly became nervous. He reached out to stop the wobbling, fearing that the shelf might fall and hit Shen Junci.

Gu Yanchen stabilized the shelf and said to the detectives behind him, “Lu Ying, move these things out.”

Lu Ying, with two assistants, stepped forward. After a while, they had moved all sorts of cardboard boxes and iron shelves, completely emptying the storage room.

Shen Junci took the Luminol and, wearing a mask, personally sprayed it on the floor. He sprayed quite a bit, and the smell of the small room was a bit choking.

After waiting for a reaction, Doctor Shen shouted, “Turn off the lights.”

Qi Yi’an took a few steps and pressed the switch, immediately plunging the entire room into darkness. With a serious expression, Shen Junci crouched down and focused on the floor. This time, there was a reaction. It was like magic; speckles of fluorescent blue appeared where the UV light shone, exactly where the boxes and shelves had been covering.

This indicated that there had been bloodstains on the floor!

Gu Yanchen also crouched down and said in a low voice, “It’s here.”

Shang Jun was taken aback, but then immediately reacted. “Perhaps someone had a nosebleed here? A small amount of blood is normal…” As he spoke, he wiped his sweat, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart. His words hadn’t even finished when those traces began to appear again.

Seeing the traces on the ground, everyone fell silent. The blue fluorescence on the ground increased, gradually revealing the outline of a slightly chubby figure. The crime scene had finally been found!