Rescuing the Victims and the Barbecue Joint's Secret

After receiving Lian Chi's order, the Wanmin County Police Department directly mobilized over one hundred and thirty personnel, including the fire department and the traffic police, launching a large-scale search in Shengli Village.

In the end, they discovered traces of human activity in an abandoned house next to the village reservoir. Afterward, they found an operating table stained black with blood and a pile of scalpels in the basement of that house. At the same time, they also discovered four emaciated, naked women chained by their necks and legs inside cages.

All of them had fainted from hunger.

Although they all woke up after a night of emergency treatment, two of them had developed psychological issues.

Fortunately, the remaining two victims successfully identified Chen Kaihuan. Additionally, Chen Kaihuan's fingerprints were found all over the abandoned house, making his conviction only a matter of time.

To reassure the public, the television stations and major newspapers of Wanmin County quickly announced this news.

Immediately, the entire Wanmin County was abuzz with discussion.

"The culprit of the serial murder and dismemberment case is Chen Kaihuan? That Chen Kaihuan of the Kaihuan Textile Factory?"

"How is that possible?"

"Chen Kaihuan has money and a house, and so many people are envious of him. Why would he do such a horrific thing?"

"I also don't believe Chen Kaihuan did it. I live near the Kaihuan Textile Factory. Every holiday, Director Chen distributes rice, oil, and blankets to the elderly living alone and orphans on that street. Chen Kaihuan is famous for being a good person in our area."

"My friend's son has a physical disability, so he couldn't find a job after graduating from university. After Director Chen found out, he directly hired him into the Kaihuan Textile Factory. Under his guidance, my friend's son is now the Deputy Workshop Director of the third branch of the Kaihuan Textile Factory."

"That's right, anyone who knows Chen Kaihuan probably knows he likes fishing."

"But Chen Kaihuan didn't actually like fishing. Who starts fishing without learning how to adjust the float or mix bait, but instead drives around all day looking for premium fishing spots?"

"So he wasn't looking for fishing spots at all; he drove through the villages around the county entirely to find a place to imprison his victims."

"So that means all these years, every time we met him and smiled, asking if he was going fishing again, and he smiled back saying yes, he was actually preparing to hunt victims or dispose of bodies."

"My god, it sends shivers down my spine just hearing it."

"But isn't Chen Kaihuan very thin? Nowadays, women who dare to go out to work alone must have significant strength. How did he manage to subdue so many women by himself?"

"The victims also felt Chen Kaihuan didn't look like someone who could do bad things, so they let their guard down and got into his car. When Chen Kaihuan drove onto a deserted path, telling them he was taking a shortcut to save time, they didn't suspect anything, and were easily knocked out by Chen Kaihuan using chloroform."

"Truly, you can know a person's face but not their heart!"

"After saying so much, I just want to say, Chen Kaihuan disguised himself too well. Under normal circumstances, no one would suspect him."

"Yet Lian Chi caught him."

"That Lian Chi is truly formidable!"

For Lian Chi and the others, this case was now completely concluded.

The two of them then packed their bags, preparing to return.

But before that, he had a hearty meal waiting for him.

After all, Director Yu and Captain Song had made a bet with him earlier: whoever guessed the culprit correctly would be treated to barbecue by the losers.

The only thing was, he hadn't showered for several days, and his body was about to smell.

Therefore, Lian Chi decided to take a shower first.

But the scent of the free soap provided by the hotel wasn't very pleasant.

Lian Chi thought for a moment and decided to visit the supermarket.

After searching for a while in the cosmetics section, he found that sea salt-scented soap.

Then, he returned to the hotel with satisfaction and took a comfortable hot bath.

At nine o'clock, Captain Song knocked on the door of his and Director Yu's room on time.

Captain Song said, "The barbecue in our Wanmin County is famous throughout the city. Today I chose this Liuji Barbecue, which is definitely the best among all the barbecue joints in Wanmin County."

Therefore, one could imagine how good the business of this barbecue joint was.

So Lian Chi's group had to grab small stools and line up in front of the door.

Director Yu said, "...Hey."

He turned to look at Captain Song: "Couldn't you book a table in advance?"

Captain Song replied, "You can't blame me for this."

"There's no way around it. They say even if the Jade Emperor comes to eat barbecue here, he has to line up."

"...This joint has such a big attitude?"

The one who replied wasn't Captain Song, but a customer sitting next to them, also waiting for a table.

Captain Song immediately turned his head to look.

"Is this your first time eating barbecue here?"

"What can we do? The food here is just too delicious."

"Anyway, ever since my family ate barbecue here once, we can't eat at other barbecue joints anymore."

The other person also turned his head. But after seeing Lian Chi clearly, he froze for a moment.

Then he blurted out: "Officer Lian?"

Lian Chi remained silent.

This wasn't a friendly form of address.

Clearly, the other party was a staunch supporter of Liu Shengli, who often cursed Lian Chi with his friends.

Otherwise, after seeing Lian Chi, he wouldn't have blurted out this title.

The young man then reacted. He gestured with his hands and stammered, "Well, well..."

It was clear he felt like he was about to die.

"It's fine."

Lian Chi said, "After all, this isn't an offensive word, like 'Lian dog' for instance."

Young man: "..."

This time, he really wanted to die.

Fortunately, just then, the waiter of the barbecue joint came over to inform the young man and his friend that they could go inside.

The young man hurriedly bowed to apologize to Lian Chi, then ran inside in a panic.

Seeing this scene, Lian Chi's group couldn't help but laugh.

They naturally didn't care about such a small matter.

Captain Song continued, "It's fine, we arrived early. Basically, waiting for twenty or thirty minutes will get us a table."

Sure enough, half an hour later, it was their turn.

While waiting for the food, Captain Song said, "Lian Chi, Director Yu, the roasted lamb leg here, you two must taste it carefully later."

"I dare say the roasted lamb leg here is definitely the best roasted lamb leg in the world."

Before his words finished, a commotion suddenly erupted from afar.

"...Our pork is all fresh meat bought on the day, sliced and skewered immediately. How could it be spoiled..."

"...Are you guys here to cause trouble?"

When the waiter brought the food up, Director Yu casually asked, "What's going on over there?"

The waiter replied, "Ah, there's a table of customers saying our skewers have a strange smell."

"The skewers in our shop aren't cheap, and our business is so good. Why would we use poor quality ingredients to ruin our reputation?"

"The key is they ate almost all of them before saying the skewers smelled strange."

The waiter said mockingly, "So other barbecue joints probably sent people to smear us, or they saw our business is good and wanted to blackmail us."

"We've encountered this kind of thing countless times over the past few years."

"Don't worry, as long as they see they can't get anything, they'll leave quickly."

After speaking, he also rushed over, surrounding that table with other waiters: "As long as you prove our skewers have a problem, I'll give you this whole shop."

"The remaining pork skewers were all eaten by us. How can we prove it?"

"Then I'll grill another batch for you."

"Is that the same? What if you changed to good meat to grill?"

"This won't do, that won't do, and you still say you're not here to ruin our shop."

Sure enough, seeing they couldn't argue with the owner and the waiters, those customers kicked the chairs in front of them and prepared to leave.

The owner held them back, insisting they pay before leaving.

The customers had no choice but to pay and leave.

Only then did the owner look at the other customers with satisfaction: "It's fine, it's fine, everyone please continue eating."

Lian Chi's group couldn't help but frown.

Because when that table paid, they saw their faces clearly.

Those customers were the young man who had spoken to them and his friend.

They weren't the type to cause trouble, were they?

But they had already left, and it seemed inappropriate for them to interfere in other people's business.

Captain Song immediately cut a large piece of lamb leg for Lian Chi and Director Yu: "Eat, eat, if you don't eat quickly, the lamb leg will get cold."

Director Yu lifted the piece of lamb leg to his nose and sniffed: "So fragrant."

After speaking, he took a bite: "Delicious, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and not gamey."

Lian Chi also took a bite.

How should he put it? The taste was decent, not as exaggerated as Captain Song said, but indeed better than the roasted lamb leg at ordinary barbecue joints.

But the more he chewed, the slower Lian Chi's movements became.

Then he lifted the remaining half piece of lamb leg in his bowl to his nose and sniffed.

After sniffing, he spat out all the meat in his mouth: "Don't eat anymore."

Director Yu asked: "What's wrong?"

Lian Chi lowered his voice: "This meat isn't clean."

Captain Song was a bit dazed: "Not clean?"

Lian Chi said, "Pack everything to go."

Regarding the request of Lian Chi's group, the waiter of the barbecue joint was more than happy, so how could he refuse?

After all, once Lian Chi's group left, they could make another deal.

With their cooperation, Lian Chi's group quickly packed the barbecue.

Very quickly, Captain Song and Director Yu knew why Lian Chi said the meat at that barbecue joint wasn't clean.

The technical staff of the Wanmin County Police Department had discovered poppy shells in the skewers of that barbecue joint.