Chapter 235: Within Half an Hour, I Want to See This Suspicious Person!

“Hello…”

The sudden call being answered made everyone present momentarily stunned.

Even Su Ming, who was holding the phone, raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn’t expected the call to actually be picked up, and so quickly at that.

At first, he hadn’t hoped the call would connect, thinking it was probably a dead number.

But the result was truly unexpected—not only did the call connect, it was answered almost immediately.

Yet Su Ming remained calm, quickly gathering his thoughts, and spoke in a steady, composed tone.

“Hello, may I ask if you are the plumber who fixes leaks?”

“Fix leaks?” The man on the other end repeated, then immediately raised his voice.

“Who gave you this number? I stopped doing this job six months ago. You should look for someone else…”

“Oh, wait, I have the contact of another plumber. I can recommend him to you. His skills are good, and he guarantees his work for at least ten years. I actually learned from him.”

Stopped doing this job?

This sentence made Chen Sheng and Xu Changsheng, who were standing nearby, both frown simultaneously, feeling a bit disappointed inside.

Although they hadn’t expected much initially, at the moment the call was answered, both had secretly hoped… and then Ghost answered the phone.

But after the man on the other end spoke so much and even planned to recommend someone else to Su Ming,

Both of them clearly realized that this was definitely not the Ghost they were looking for.

However, given that the call connected instantly, and this person had once worked as a leak repairman,

Maybe they could still find some other information about Ghost through him.

While the two were deep in thought,

Su Ming had already quickly gathered his thoughts and, with hardly any change in tone, continued speaking.

“Someone else? Are they reliable or not?”

“By the way, master, why did you stop? I heard from the neighbor next door that you’re very skilled at fixing leaks. The places you repaired a couple of years ago haven’t had any problems since.”

Clearly,

After confirming that the man answering was not the Ghost they sought,

Su Ming didn’t give up hope, but began to try various lines of questioning, hoping to extract more details.

If he no longer does leak repairs, then why did the van end up in Ghost’s hands?

The middle-aged man on the other end seemed completely unaware of Su Ming’s intentions, then sighed helplessly.

“Ah.”

“Since the fake report by CCTV calling us the ‘Luzhou Leak Repair Gang’ who just patch one spot only to have another leak, and that every time the alarm rings, it’s like hitting the jackpot…”

“This business has gotten worse day by day. Sometimes a week goes by without a single job. How can one keep doing this?”

“Brother, you tell me… your neighbor’s place hasn’t had problems for years, do you think we’re liars? You can’t solve problems without paying — there’s no such good deal.”

“We’ve basically been driven out of business. Just as I was about to quit, my van got stolen six months ago. So I stopped doing this and just do some random odd jobs now.”

“Enough said.”

“Add me on WeChat. This number is my WeChat. I’ll send you my cousin’s contact later. His skills are good; no issues there.”

“Price is higher, but it’s worth it — you gotta do the job right, isn’t that so?”

After he finished speaking,

Su Ming’s eyes narrowed slightly, then he immediately responded without hesitation.

“Your van got stolen?”

“Master, your van got stolen? Who stole it? Didn’t you report it to the police? And your leak repair skills are so good, are you really quitting?”

“Who stole it? Is that person still doing leak repairs? Are his skills anywhere near yours…?”

“Hey, why so many questions?” The man on the other end finally grew impatient, then seemed to realize something.

“Who steals a van? How would I know?”

“And… are you really here to get a leak fixed, or are you like those media, just spreading false rumors…”

Before the man finished,

Su Ming interrupted quickly without hesitation.

“No, not at all, master.”

“I was just asking casually, worried that if the leak isn’t fixed properly, the second repair will be even more troublesome.”

“Alright, I’ll add you on WeChat now.”

“The water leak at home is getting worse. I really need to find someone to fix it soon.”

After speaking,

Su Ming hung up without hesitation, lightly rubbing his chin to think for two seconds, then looked at Chen Sheng, who was standing by the projector.

“Chen Ju.”

“This phone number isn’t a burner. Have the Criminal Investigation Technology Section trace it.”

“Bring this person to the police station and get a detailed understanding of the situation. From the brief call just now, it’s clear there’s more to uncover.”

“First of all, he’s definitely lying.”

“A van being stolen might happen to other owners, but not to someone in this leak repair gang.”

“They patch one spot only to have another leak, usually don’t even rent houses. Most of the time, they eat and sleep in their vans.”

“In that case, I don’t know… how Ghost’s van could be stolen in broad daylight, right under his nose?”

“Also, from what he said, it’s very likely he didn’t report the theft. Would a normal person just let their van get stolen and do nothing?”

“It’s obvious he’s lying. That van was probably sold off as secondhand.”

At this point,

Su Ming squinted slightly and continued.

“If that van was sold as secondhand, why didn’t he remove the phone number and information stuck on it?”

“If selling through normal secondhand channels, he’d definitely remove all personal information to avoid exposure.”

“That means this sale was probably urgent, and he didn’t have time to remove the red advertisements stuck on it.”

“Or… the buyer specifically told him not to remove them?”

“Then, even if the van was sold without transfer of ownership, shouldn’t he at least know who the buyer is? Could this person have met Ghost?”

“Finally… although what he said sounded righteous, the Luzhou Leak Repair Gang has long been infamous, mostly spread across provinces through family ties.”

“Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t recklessly sell the van they live off, and definitely not to unrelated strangers, letting them compete for their livelihood.”

“So maybe we can really dig out some information about Ghost from this man.”

“Of course, given how cautious Ghost always is, the chances might not be high, but at least… there is a chance.”

At that moment,

Chen Sheng didn’t hesitate or overthink. Seeing Su Ming’s determined eyes, he immediately took out his phone and called the Criminal Investigation Technology Section’s internal line.

“Help me identify someone and send someone to locate him as quickly as possible.”

“In half an hour,”

“I want to see him in the team’s mediation room…”