Chapter 66: Undercover

In the end, that error-riddled Commendatory Silk Banner was left at the Jiangnan Branch Bureau; after all, they were the lead unit in solving the case.

For this, Lin Feng grumbled at Qin Qing for a long time.

“You let me down, you actually failed to bring it back. That’s a Commendatory Silk Banner, you know.”

Qin Qing shot him a look. “It’s just a piece of cloth.”

“You call that cloth? Can a Commendatory Silk Banner be just any ordinary cloth?”

“I didn’t realize you cared so much about honor. I see your merit medals are just sitting there gathering dust.”

Lin Feng said, “How can you compare them? The criminal investigation team doesn’t often receive a Commendatory Silk Banner.”

“Huh?”

“The people who would award us a Commendatory Silk Banner all end up becoming our work subjects…”

Qin Qing said, “Oh, I get it.”

After all, the work subjects of the criminal investigation team were in no position to express their gratitude.

Scarcity makes things valuable.

Qin Qing didn’t even dare to mention that Ren Xinran had also offered to erect a Longevity Tablet for her.

Although she had already refused.

But long afterward, the intense emotion that had burst forth from Ren Xinran at that moment continued to shake Qin Qing.

It was like a dying person had suddenly been brought back to life.

Qin Qing asked Qin Fanghao for the studio’s order details.

She flipped through them. “Has no one come to us looking for a child?”

“They have.” Qin Fanghao pointed to one entry. “There was this one, asking us to communicate with their deceased child in the netherworld. You said you don’t take cases involving ghosts, so I politely declined.”

“I mean the kind looking for abducted children.”

“Qin Fanghao.”

Qin Fanghao had handled every order and remembered them very clearly.

“Boss, is there a problem?”

Qin Qing found it strange. Found Studio had a certain degree of fame online, and the ratings from clients they had served were very high. Many people would even promote them for free.

Finding people was a major part of their business.

But most of the cases involved missing elderly people or husbands who had run off and wouldn’t come home. For some reason, no one had placed an order with them to find women or children.

Qin Fanghao said, “Should we run some ads? Mention it in our videos?”

After some thought, Qin Qing vetoed the idea.

“You can’t advertise this kind of thing. It’s like a coffin shop soliciting business. We’d probably get cyberbullied until we had to close down for good.”

Closing the file, she said, “I’ll ask the police department later to see if there’s any possibility of cooperation.”

Before Qin Qing could go looking for them, the police department came looking for her.

The Jiangnan Branch Bureau formally submitted a secondment request to the Wuning Branch Bureau, asking for Qin Qing’s assistance in solving a case.

Going through the proper channels meant it could be officially expensed, and she would be paid according to a consultant contract. It wasn’t like watching the stall for Officer Meng, working all night for free.

Of course, the paying party was the Jiangnan Branch Bureau, which had submitted the request.

The matter was still about the human traffickers.

Based on the case investigation, the police knew they had privately sold several children.

The early transactions all took place in crowded areas like train stations and docks. The buyers and sellers didn’t know each other’s names and deleted each other’s contact information after the deal was done.

Only a little boy sold last month had been traded in a village, and the buyer was very likely a villager.

This was the only child they had a clear lead on and could potentially rescue.

Upon receiving the news, the police had already contacted the provincial Public Security Bureau in the jurisdiction of the transaction location for assistance, but on-site visits had yielded nothing.

Qin Qing: “So, you’re asking for my help?”

“Yes, see if you can determine the child’s location. Just like how you found where CEO Liu’s son was being held last time.”

Qin Qing had seen the name of the traded boy in the flowery-pants trafficker’s journal, but that was all.

“Have you found the child’s parents?”

“We matched the information provided by the traffickers with the situation in the abduction area, and one couple fits the description perfectly. We can basically confirm they are the child’s parents. Should we have them come over?”

Qin Qing confirmed, “What are their surnames?”

“The father’s surname is Luo, the mother’s is Yang.”

That should be correct.

Qin Qing arranged it, “Have them go directly to the child’s location. I’ll meet up with them there.”

“You’re going?”

“How can I provide you with information if I don’t go?”

Chen Deyu had to stay behind to oversee the general situation. Leading the team this time was a female officer named Yin Chang, a protégé personally trained by Chen Deyu who could already handle things on her own.

A total of five people were on this trip.

Besides Qin Qing and Yin Chang, there were three male police officers. Two of them were even from the area where the child had gone missing.

After they arrived, the local unit also dispatched three officers to assist, forming a large group of eight.

The officer from the provincial bureau was puzzled. “Didn’t you just leave? Did you find some new leads this time?”

Yin Chang said, “We don’t have new leads yet, but we do have a new person.” She introduced Qin Qing, “This is a finding-people expert our branch bureau has seconded from another unit, Consultant Qin.”

The provincial bureau officer said, “My respects, my respects. Consultant Qin, where should we start looking now?”

Qin Qing said, “Let’s meet the child’s parents first.”

The child had been traded in Lihua Village. The parents had arrived in the county seat where Lihua Village was located even earlier than them.

When the two parties met, the parents were quite emotional.

Their eyes were shining.

They looked at the police officers from their hometown, while those two officers and the ones from the provincial capital all looked at Yin Chang.

Yin Chang, in turn, looked at Qin Qing.

Qin Qing sighed.

She took out the compass she had brought with her.

She walked over to the child’s mother, Yang Wenxiu. “Close your eyes and focus on your child. The clearer the image, the better.”

Yang Wenxiu didn’t understand, but she did as she was told.

Good, that saved her an explanation.

Yin Chang had already taken the initiative to explain to her colleagues from the other units what was happening.

Qin Qing once again performed the “Taoist magic” of using a form of Legilimency to make the compass spin.

Although Yin Chang and her team had never seen it, they had at least heard of it. For the officers from the other two units and the child’s parents, however, it was a real eye-opener.

Among those present, some thought it was nonsense, while others found it miraculous. A small internal disagreement arose regarding Qin Qing’s level of “professionalism.”

However, the swift and decisive Yin Chang quickly resolved the minor disturbance within the team.

By the time they set off for Lihua Village, at least no one was openly questioning Qin Qing.

Indeed, one reason the skeptical officers were still willing to go along with this “nonsense” was that the compass needle was pointing directly toward Lihua Village’s location.

Lihua Village, with its beautiful name, was originally a mountain village nestled deep in the mountains.

Now, with the success of the country’s New Rural Construction, a road had been built to the village.

It was no longer completely isolated.

In the last two years, the county had also been preparing to develop its tourism industry.

Things that locals took for granted, like the karst caves, strange rocks, waterfalls, and river views in the mountains, were seen by outsiders as the superb craftsmanship of nature.

In the town, Qin Qing also saw many stalls selling dried goods from the mountains.

Authentic mountain goods.

She wanted to buy some.

Naturally, their group couldn’t move around in police uniforms.

Instead, they were dressed as a group of tourists.

They were worried that a group of strangers entering the village would alert the target.

After some discussion, they decided to first buy some mountain goods in the town. Then, if they ran into someone from Lihua Village, they would use the pretense of wanting to buy more goods to follow them back to the village.

To lower their target’s guard, Yin Chang and Qin Qing were chosen to play the roles of mountain goods enthusiasts.

On a street near the town’s farmers’ market, stalls were set up by villagers from the surrounding areas.

Yin Chang was focused on completing the mission, but Qin Qing was genuinely enjoying the shopping.

Dried bamboo shoots, buy!

Wild morel mushrooms, buy!

Wild kudzu root powder, buy!

Authentic hickory nuts, buy!

In no time, Qin Qing’s hands were full of bags.

But her enthusiasm was unwavering.

Yin Chang whispered in admiration, “Consultant Qin, I give your acting full marks. You’re so invested in your performance.”

She said with a straight face, “With acting skills like yours, you have the flair of an undercover agent.”

Qin Qing nearly choked on her own saliva.

Her? Undercover?

Undercover in a kitchen, or maybe a supermarket?

The person who assigned her that mission probably had never seen a mouse fall into a rice vat.

Every time Qin Qing picked out items at a stall, Yin Chang would also squat down, chatting with the vendor to get friendly and asking where they were from.

Qin Qing tossed out a worm-eaten walnut that Yin Chang had casually put into her bag, looking a bit disgusted.

This police officer was fine leading a police team, but when it came to picking produce, she was just making a mess.

After paying, she pulled the other woman up. “You can’t ask every single vendor. If you keep asking, you’ll make them suspicious.”

Yin Chang frowned. “If we don’t ask, how will we know who is from Lihua Village?”

“Didn’t you see me seriously shopping at the market?”

“Huh?”

Qin Qing bluffed, “I’m using shopping as a cover. I’m actually doing fortune-telling for them.”

Yin Chang indicated that this was entering her knowledge blind spot.

“Fortune-telling can tell you which village they’re from?”

Qin Qing continued her bluff, “Mmm… something like that. At least it can tell me which direction they’re from.”

Yin Chang wanted to say more.

Qin Qing cut her off, “Don’t ask. There’s still a lot you don’t understand about a Diviner’s business. Anyway, just don’t talk. Wait for my signal before you ask.”

Yin Chang had many questions, but she remembered her master Chen Deyu’s instructions.

Consultant Qin was someone they had paid for; they had to trust her “professionalism.”

So she stopped probing and only made small talk about local customs, while also helping Qin Qing carry her “spoils.”

Although the town wasn’t large, this free-trade street was quite long, nearly two hundred meters.

Many people from the county seat also drove over to shop during market days.

As Qin Qing walked along, she had already spotted several people from Lihua Village.

But she found their goods to be of poor quality and didn’t stop.

For example, some mixed sweet potato starch into their kudzu root powder, while others fire-dried their goods but claimed they were sun-dried.

Only if she didn’t find any other people from Lihua Village later would she consider going back to reluctantly buy something.

As they walked, nearing the end of the street, a small stall caught Qin Qing’s attention.

Not the goods, but the person.

That small stall wasn’t selling food ingredients, but medicinal herbs.

Gastrodia, Codonopsis, Dendrobium…

They were all processed very cleanly.

Although the stall was near the end of the street, its high-quality goods still attracted several customers who were picking through them at the same time.

Listening to their chatter, they were all from the county seat, buying the herbs to make soup.

Qin Qing pulled Yin Chang over as well.

She said with great interest, “Gastrodia of such good quality, let’s buy a lot.”

After asking for the price, she immediately told the vendor, “After they’re done picking, I’ll take all the rest.”

The vendor instantly became very enthusiastic.

The stall was run by two women, one old and one young.

The younger one had a numb expression; the enthusiastic one was the older woman.

She introduced, “My daughter-in-law picked all of these in the mountains. She’s studied medicine, so she knows a lot. Don’t worry, it’s all good stuff.” She even patted the young woman next to her. “You, tell the customer about them.”

The young woman only said, “They’re all very clean,” and said nothing more, earning a secret glare from her mother-in-law.

Qin Qing nodded frequently and even took out her phone to ask, “Is it okay if I take a picture? To show my family the good things I’ve bought.”

The older woman said she didn’t mind.

Qin Qing took her phone and circled around, finding angles to take pictures of the bags of goods.

One of the photos captured a full-face shot of the young woman.

She sent it to the group chat with a short message: Abducted.

Yin Chang glanced at her phone.

Qin Qing saw her subconsciously reach for her lower back.

The two exchanged a look. Yin Chang let out an “Aiya,” and complained to Qin Qing, “See, I told you you can’t keep a secret. You post everything in the family group chat. Now everyone wants some. There are dozens of people, how is this little bit enough to go around?”

The older woman quickly and happily said, “That’s no problem. When you find good stuff, you should buy more. We have more at home. How much more does the customer want?”

Yin Chang said, “Is your home far from here? We have a train ticket for early tomorrow morning.”

“Not far, not far. It’s in Lihua Village. It’s only an hour’s drive.”