Jiang Cong took the register and flipped it open. Inside, it detailed all the transaction records of the club in the past five years.
Soon, Jiang Cong spotted a familiar name.
"This should be the most complete record of guests' consumption so far. If you have any questions, you can ask Manager Liu." Qi Long watched Jiang Cong leafing through the register expressionlessly and took the initiative to say.
Manager Liu was a shrewd man. He quickly followed up, "Yes, Mr. Jiang. I've been working in this club for seven years. If there are guests who come here frequently, I usually have some impression of them."
Jiang Cong just skimmed through the register roughly and found that Wei Fuping's name appeared almost every other page. Strangely enough, although it was him who booked the private room, the person who paid the bill was always someone else.
Wei Fuping had no money and no background. How could he have the connections to cover the club's consumption, which could easily amount to tens of thousands?
Unless there was some kind of deal between them.
Jiang Cong pondered for a moment. "Who were the people who came with Wei Fuping each time?"
Hearing this, Manager Liu fell into deep thought. Finally, he managed to dig out this person from his memory. He supposed the reason why he remembered Wei Fuping was mostly related to those elderly bosses who rarely repeated and were generally quite old.
"That Wei Fuping..." Manager Liu opened up and rambled on to Jiang Cong about what he knew. "At first, he came alone. When we went into the private room to ask if they needed drinks, all kinds of strange faces would appear, and they were different each time."
"What were their common characteristics?" Jiang Cong didn't beat around the bush and asked straightforwardly, but he clearly had an idea in mind.
Manager Liu blurted out, "Rich and old."
Jiang Cong raised his eyebrows with interest. He didn't believe that those rich bosses would be interested in Wei Fuping, a penniless teacher.
Then, there was only one possibility...
"Were there any other people present? Like young women?" Jiang Cong asked, voicing his suspicion.
The word "He" carved on the wall wasn't an accident but a deliberate act. Otherwise, Chen Er wouldn't have specifically explained it.
And this club named "He" was a place where Wei Fuping often hung out.
The only connection between the two identical "He"s was Chen Huan.
So, was there really some shady secret between Chen Huan and Wei Fuping?
At first, Jiang Cong didn't suspect that Chen Huan's death was related to Wei Fuping. But after repeated investigations, his initial thought changed, and those unclear clues gradually became clearer.
From this perspective, if they could find out whether Chen Huan had ever accompanied Wei Fuping to this club, they could indirectly prove whether the two were involved.
Manager Liu scratched his head, thought for a long time, and then bowed his head dejectedly. "Sorry, Mr. Jiang. I really don't have any impression. Since our club only enters the private rooms when the guests need us, we're not allowed to enter casually and disturb the guests at other times."
The implication was that Manager Liu didn't know whether there had been any young women in the private rooms.
Jiang Cong's eyes met Qi Long's. Qi Long understood what Jiang Cong meant. He knew that only as the boss could he get truly useful information. So he tentatively asked, "Are there any waiters who have worked here for more than two years? They deliver drinks every day, so they must have seen something."
Manager Liu bowed slightly. "Boss, wait a moment. I'll go and ask the HR department to see if there are any people who meet the requirements."
"Okay." Qi Long nodded in agreement.
In the private room, only Jiang Cong and Qi Long were left. Qi Long didn't ask Jiang Cong why he was so persistent about Wei Fuping. He knew very well that there were things he shouldn't ask.
"Do you want to drink?" Qi Long opened a bottle of strong vodka. He was getting a bit of a craving for alcohol, so he said to Jiang Cong, trying to persuade him to drink with him.
Jiang Cong shook his head. "No, drinking will delay business. I usually don't drink."
Qi Long didn't force him. He poured himself a glass of wine and squinted his eyes, enjoying the stimulation brought by the alcohol.
The two quietly waited for Manager Liu to come back.
Half an hour later, Manager Liu pushed open the door of the private room, sweating profusely. Under the gazes of Jiang Cong and Qi Long, he braced himself and said, "There are no waiters who have worked in the club for more than two years. There are too many uncertain factors in this industry, and young people are not stable - minded. So they always quit after working for a year or just a few months."
Manager Liu was telling the truth. The club had a typical upside - down schedule. Only at night was the peak profit period, while there were few people during the day.
Although the job wasn't tiring and the club paid well, no one would want to be a waiter for a lifetime. They would save up some money and then return to their hometowns, either get married and have children or open a small grocery store to make a living.
This was the helpless life of the people at the bottom. Without a way out, they could only struggle to survive. This was the reality.
Jiang Cong had already expected such a result. He didn't have high hopes of finding clues all at once, so he had already prepared himself mentally. He just felt a bit regretful.
"I see. Thank you. I won't bother you anymore today. I still have some things to deal with." Jiang Cong got up, said goodbye to Qi Long, and then walked out of the club.
The night in Beicheng was filled with bright lights and bustling nightlife, which was just beginning.
An endless stream of guests walked into the club in twos and threes, starting their extravagant consumption.
Jiang Cong only stood at the door for a moment, then he lifted his feet and walked in the opposite direction. His mind started to work at full speed again.
If Chen Huan's death was really related to Wei Fuping, then it was possible that Chen Er lied to cover it up in order to protect his sister and prevent others from knowing that embarrassing past.
But was it really that simple?
Jiang Cong didn't believe it.
Given Chen Er's personality, he would never let himself be wronged. Even if it were Jiang Cong himself, facing the fact that his loved one was harmed by a villain, he wouldn't choose to keep silent.
Forgiving the person who had hurt you generously and putting aside the past grudges was based on the premise that that person was worthy of forgiveness. In this world, where did so many people come from who returned good for evil?
It was just a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils.
"So, was Wei Fuping's death related to Chen Er? If it was, what would you do then?" Jiang Cong asked himself, but like a lost traveler, he couldn't find an exit in the boundless darkness.
For the first time, Jiang Cong had a selfish thought. He silently prayed that things wouldn't turn out as he feared.