"Are you going to ask him about the ring?" I said, turning to Xiaotao.

Xiaotao unzipped her leather jacket and removed the bobby pins in her hair, draping those beautiful locks over her shoulders. Reining in her usual edginess, she winked, "We don’t want to startle the man. Watch how it’s done!"

She instructed Dali to wait in the car first since his presence would only complicate the situation. Then, she extended her arm towards me, not saying a word of her plan, though I already understood what she meant.

I hooked my arm around hers and together, we walked up to Mr. Xu. “Hello Uncle Xu!" she greeted, her voice cloying.

"You are..." Mr. Xu narrowed his eyes.

"Uncle Xu have you forgotten me?” pouted Xiaotao. “During my father, Huang Yunhong's, 60th birthday, you visited our home."

Her words seemed to jog his memory. "Ah, you’re Mr. Huang's daughter!” he exclaimed. “Are you here with your boyfriend?"

"Yes,” she replied. “We’re out shopping but I didn't expect to bump into you."

“Haha, what a coincidence!” Mr. Xu waved his hand in the air. “Miss Huang has grown so beautiful I couldn't even recognize you. You can choose whatever you like from the store. I'll let the manager know, it's on me."

"Uncle Xu, when did you switch industries and open a jewelry store?” Xiaotao feigned curiosity. “Aren’t you still in your original business?"

“Oh, I tried this on a whim. It’s all just for fun. It's nothing compared to your father,” he laughed. “I'm still producing communication equipment. This jewelry store is just part of a diversified investment."

Xiaotao pretended to be surprised, "Communication equipment. How’s that industry doing?"

"It’s competitive,” he sighed. “In the past two years, we’ve had competition from Xiaomi, Samsung, and I won’t even bother talking about Apple. The domestic smartphone industry is becoming more and more saturated."

"But you’re the only producer in Nanjiang City," she said. “Doesn’t that give you a bigger slice of the pie?”

"Market competition is fierce in Nanjiang City."

"Oh, do you have competitors here?" asked Xiaotao.

"Actually, I have some personal matters to attend to,” he digressed. “I'll visit your father another day and we can have tea together then. How does that sound?"

Xiaotao smiled and nodded, "Okay, goodbye Uncle Xu!"

When the man finally left, I asked curiously, "Do you know him?"

"I have never met him," she snorted.

"Damn! But you spoke as if you’ve known him forever!”

"The most successful entrepreneurs in Nanjiang City have at least heard the name, even if they aren’t actually acquainted with my dad,” she explained. “But then again, this guy is really tight-lipped."

"Since they’re all part of the same circle, we should be able to find out!" I added.

"I'm going to catch up with my dad tonight,” sighed Xiaotao. “Would you like to join me?"

"But I’ve never even spoken to your father. Wouldn’t sitting at the same table be really awkward?!"

"To be honest, my dad asked about you a while ago!" Xiaotao smiled enigmatically.

"What did he ask?" I blushed.

"Well, my dad asked me who I was dating, so I mentioned you. Ever since Young Master Wang ‘raped’ the woman and lost his reputation, he’s not mentioned anything about marrying him nor has he been looking for a boy to introduce to me. He asked me to take you home for dinner if we have the chance."

How was this dinner? It was clearly a test from Mr Huang. I couldn't help scratching my head, "We’ve not yet reached the point of meeting the parents!"

"Then you’ll have to speed up!" Xiaotao looked up at me.

We exchanged a smile, sharing a sweet moment when Dali came running, "Aren't we supposed to be looking into the case? Why are you two being all mushy again? I could feel the waves of your sickening romance all the way from the street."

"We were just discussing the case,” I argued. “What do you mean by romance?!"

"Yes, a discussion filled with love and affection!"

Xiaotao made a gesture to turn off the switch. When I asked her what she meant, she said, "I’m turning off this eyesore of a light bulb!"

Dali covered his chest, looking depressed. "I get it, you’re beginning to think I’m being redundant. Don't stop me. I don’t want to live. Let me disappear from this world..."

"Alright then, seeing how sad you are, I'll treat you to hotpot," laughed Xiaotao.

After lunch, Dali and I returned to school. Early the next morning, we dropped by the station for the case discussion. Xiaotao managed to obtain information about Xu Zhipeng through her father.

Xu Zhipeng was turning fifty-seven this year and had been working for another company up until he was fifty-five. It was only two years ago that he officially started his own listed company. Although its Aigo smartphone wasn’t well known, it made its name imitating Apple's iPhone. And the quality for the low price brought him enough success to put him on Nanjiang's rich list.

The man was a notorious crafty old scoundrel, having acquired a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises before and after his rise. He was a master of underhanded means, specially training commercial spies to enter rival companies, then stealing client lists and trade secrets, and waiting till his rivals were hit hard to buy out their shares.

At present, Xu Zhipeng's businesses included communication, electronics, personal grooming products and other fields.

When I heard this, I cried, "Commercial spy! This all sounds completely consistent with the man Ding Xu spoke of. Who was his competitor two years ago?"

"This isn’t very clear to me. After all, he’s not the murderer, so we cannot openly investigate him."

Wang Yuanchao took out a file and threw it onto the table. "This is the operation consent form I obtained from the hospital where Qiu Wanxia died. The name of the person’s signature is Lang Jun. According to the doctor, this person was Qiu Wanxia's boyfriend at the time, and he seemed to have left a deep impression on the doctor."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

At the time, Qiu Wanxia was initially diagnosed with a tumor but after the operation, it was found to be cancerous. The cancer eventually spread to the liver. By then, Lang Jun had already defaulted on a number of medical bills so the hospital didn’t agree to continue with another operation. Lang Jun knelt down and kowtowed to the director of the hospital, begging him to save Qiu Wanxia. However, he was told, "Our hospital is not a charity organization. We have to make profits to survive. If you can show that you can pay, I will operate on her. Otherwise, it is out of the question!"

But Lang Jun didn’t even have 10,000 yuan. In the end, he had to take Qiu Wanxia away and the girl passed away soon after.

Xiaotao quickly checked online. “This is a really important lead! Lang Jun was also a telecommunication equipment manufacturer. Two years ago, he suddenly disappeared from Nanjiang City, and his telecommunication company..."

Xiaotao looked around the room, paused and explained, "It’s Xu Zhipeng's current company!"

I didn’t expect to have a breakthrough so early in the case. Judging from what we currently knew, Xu Zhipeng sent a girl to Lang Jun as a commercial spy in order to topple his company two years ago. And after the matter was revealed, Lang Jun killed her in anger.

But there was still a cause for doubt. "Why was the dead girl holding the gold ring in her hand?" I pointed out.

"We’ve already identified the suspect and we have evidence in our hands," acknowledged Xiaotao. “I think it’s time we bring him in.”

"No, we don’t actually have evidence!" I interjected.