The secretary quietly waited without daring to interrupt. After several long moments, Cai Lang closed the file halfway and placed one hand against it.And he ordered, "Continue tracing everything."The secretary nodded immediately. "Yes, Boss." After hesitating briefly, he carefully asked, "Boss... should I postpone tomorrow morning's meetings as well?" Cai Lang slowly shook his head. "No." He looked toward the window for a brief moment before continuing. "Business continues." He paused slightly. "But anything related to Suo Ran or Jun Wei..." His eyes gradually turned colder. "...comes first."
The secretary couldn't hide the surprise that crossed his face, but he quickly lowered his head again. "Understood." Cai Lang looked directly at him. "I don't want summaries." "I want every report." "Every surveillance record." "Every witness statement." "No matter how small." He slowly tapped the report with one finger. "If something looks meaningless..." "...bring it anyway." The secretary immediately straightened his posture. "Understood, Boss." "I'll personally review every document before bringing it to you." Cai Lang gave a small nod. "Good."
Before either of them could speak again, Cai Lang's phone suddenly vibrated across the desk. He picked it up and answered without looking at the caller ID. "What?" A familiar voice quickly came through the speaker. "Boss. The damaged phone has been recovered." Cai Lang's posture immediately straightened. "How much did you restore?" The man answered,"Approximately thirty percent of the internal memory." He paused briefly before continuing. "But..." "We managed to recover several photographs..." "...and one deleted audio recording."
Cai Lang's eyes immediately sharpened. His expression became completely focused. "Anything else?" The man replied, "There are still corrupted files we're working on, but the recovered data is already worth looking at." Another brief pause followed before he added, "I'm bringing everything to your office now." Cai Lang answered simply, "Come immediately." "Yes, Boss." The call ended.
Cai Lang slowly lowered the phone onto the desk.Then he turned toward the secretary, his voice calm but carrying unquestionable authority. "Prepare the projector." He took a step toward the conference table without taking his eyes off the secretary. "I want to see everything."
The secretary immediately straightened his posture. "Already prepared, Boss." He quickly walked toward the conference wall and pressed several buttons on the control panel. The curtains automatically closed over the floor-to-ceiling windows, shutting out the lights of the city. The office gradually dimmed until only the faint glow of the projector remained. Another technician entered carrying a rugged black equipment case. He carefully placed it onto the table before opening it.
Inside were several hard drives, a damaged mobile phone sealed inside an evidence bag, and a portable recovery device. The technician nodded respectfully. "Boss." Cai Lang's eyes fell onto the cracked phone. Even through the evidence bag, the broken screen was covered in deep fractures. One corner was badly dented, as though it had struck concrete with tremendous force. Several dried stains remained along its edges.
Cai Lang quietly asked, "That's the phone?" The technician nodded. "Yes, Boss." "It was heavily damaged." "The motherboard survived, but most of the storage sectors were corrupted." He connected the recovery device to the projector while continuing his explanation. "We spent several hours rebuilding the remaining memory blocks." "Only around thirty percent could be recovered." He looked apologetic. "The rest..." "...is permanently lost." Cai Lang gave a slight nod."Thirty percent is enough." The technician exchanged a quick glance with the secretary before pressing Enter. The projector flickered and large white wall slowly lit up with loading icon rotated for several seconds before folders began appearing one after another.
The technician connected the recovered files to the projector before taking a slow breath. His fingers moved across the keyboard as lines of code flashed briefly across the large screen."Recovered photographs... recovered audio... partial deleted files... temporary cache..." he reported in a professional tone while adjusting his glasses. He looked toward Cai Lang before adding seriously, "Nothing has been edited, Boss. Everything you're about to see is exactly as it was recovered from the damaged phone." Cai Lang slowly folded his arms across his chest, his expression calm but unreadable. His sharp eyes remained fixed on the blank projection screen. "Start."
The projector flickered once before the first photograph slowly filled the wall. It showed the entrance of Jun Wei's elementary school just after afternoon dismissal.Groups of children wearing school uniforms came out through the gates while laughing and chatting happily with one another. Some held ice cream in their hands. Others ran toward parents waiting outside. Teachers stood near the entrance smiling as they waved goodbye. A security guard chatted casually with a delivery driver beside the gate. At first glance, the photograph looked like nothing more than an ordinary school day.
Several seconds passed without anyone speaking.Then the secretary leaned slightly forward, narrowing his eyes. "Boss..." he said quietly while moving the mouse. "Look here." He enlarged the upper left corner of the photograph. The image became grainy before sharpening again. Across the street, partially hidden beneath the branches of tree,a black sedan parked beside the sidewalk.And It blended naturally with the surrounding traffic. Nothing about it attracted attention.It simply looked like another vehicle parked outside a school.
The technician enlarged the image again. "Enhance it another twenty percent." Cai Lang ordered calmly, his eyes never leaving the screen."Yes, Boss!" the technician replied as his fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard.Each adjustment made the image slightly clearer until, little by little, something hanging beneath the rearview mirror slowly came into focus.It was a pendant carved from polished black jade.Its smooth surface reflected a faint ray of afternoon sunlight, making it stand out against the dark interior of the sedan.
The carving depicted a crow with its wings folded tightly against its body, its head lowered slightly as though silently watching everything around it.Delicate silver lines had been engraved along the edges, making the small carving appear strangely lifelike.The room instantly fell silent.Nobody moved. Nobody even looked away from the screen. Cai Lang stared at the enlarged image for several long moments before speaking in a low, steady voice."He wasn't taking random photographs."His gaze remained fixed on the pendant."He wanted to remember that car."
The secretary folded his arms, studying the enlarged photograph with narrowed eyes. "Mr. Suo ran probably noticed something after looking through the photographs later."He paused briefly before correcting himself."Or..."He turned thoughtfully toward Cai Lang."... he didn't get time to saw Pic!"
first."The technician opened another folder before switching the projector into comparison mode."We checked every recovered image." he explained quietly. Three different photographs appeared side by side across the wall.In every single one... the same black sedan and same black jade pendant.Sometimes hidden behind branches and sometimes blurred by passing students but it was always present.
The technician pointed toward the timestamps beneath each image."Different angles...different times."He clicked on the first file."This photograph was taken at 3:41 p.m."Another click."This one at 3:46."A third click followed."And this one at 3:53."The secretary slowly frowned."That means..."Cai Lang calmly finished his sentence without taking his eyes off the screen."...the sedan wasn't passing by."The technician nodded. "It remained outside the school for at least twelve minutes."Another employee studying a nearby digital map quietly added,"Possibly longer.These are only the photographs that survived recovery."Cai Lang narrowed his eyes."...Someone was watching the school."
The technician pressed another key.The first group of photographs disappeared before a second image slowly appeared.Unlike the previous photograph...this one was blurrier. The camera had clearly been moving while it was taken.The edges were heavily distorted, leaving only the center relatively clear.A narrow sidewalk where man dressed completely in black walking away.His face couldn't be seen.Only his back and his hands remained inside his pockets.
The secretary immediately enlarged the image."Boss..."He pointed toward the man's right sleeve.Everyone instinctively leaned forward.There...embroidered into the black fabric...was another crow.Its wings stretched wider than the pendant carving.Its claws extended downward as though preparing to strike.The design appeared older...more ceremonial...but unmistakably connected. The technician quietly opened another enhancement window."We reconstructed part of the stitching pattern."He overlaid the embroidery beside the pendant carving. "The proportions match almost perfectly."He zoomed closer."Same wing structure." Another click."Same beak."Another."Same eye carving."He looked toward Cai Lang."It's extremely unlikely to be coincidence. "Another technician sitting farther back slowly raised his head from his laptop."We compared it against every public database we could access."He calmly continued,"No commercial logo,no registered organization. And no known criminal insignia."
Cai Lang remained completely silent.His gaze rested on the embroidered crow for a long time before he quietly spoke."Same symbol."His eyes shifted toward the sedan. "Same timing."They returned to the black-clothed figure."...Same area."His expression gradually became colder.He slowly turned toward the secretary."Find every clothing manufacturer capable of producing custom embroidery like that."The secretary wrote the order into his notebook."Yes, Boss.""And every jeweler capable of carving black jade." "Understood." "Pull every traffic camera within one kilometer of that school." "I'll have them transferred immediately."
The technician nodded before pressing another key.A third recovered photograph slowly appeared.This one contained no people at all.Only an abandoned alley. Cracked pavement and cattered broken bricks.An old concrete wall darkened by years of rain and neglect.Across the wall...someone had spray-painted several strange black symbols.Some resembled broken circles.Some looked like intersecting lines.Others appeared almost handwritten.
The technician quietly stepped closer. "Boss ..."He pointed toward one symbol near the center."This one."He overlaid a transparent image of the crow pendant beside it. Everyone watched silently.The shapes matched almost perfectly.Not identical...but clearly related.The secretary frowned. "The pendant..."He looked toward the wall."...and the graffiti."The technician slowly nodded. "They follow exactly the same design language."He enlarged both images again." The carving wasn't copied from the wall."He paused thoughtfully."The wall wasn't copied from the pendant either."Cai Lang looked at him."What are you saying?"The technician switched to another comparison window before answering."They both originated from the same original symbol."Silence spread throughout the office once again. One employee standing near the back asked,"Does anyone recognize it?"Nobody answered.The secretary slowly shook his head."I've never seen anything like it."
The technician sighed softly."We searched criminal databases.No matches.We searched gang symbols.No matches.We searched religious markings.Nothing."He looked directly toward Cai Lang."It's completely unknown."Cai Lang's eyes remained fixed on the strange black symbol projected across the wall.His fingers slowly tightened beneath his folded arms as countless possibilities raced through his mind."...Unknown..."he quietly repeated. After a long silence, his eyes gradually became colder."...Or deliberately erased." His gaze never left the symbol."Nothing stays hidden forever.If someone went to the trouble of erasing every record..."He slowly looked around the room."...then whatever this symbol represents is something they never wanted anyone to find."
The secretary lowered his head."Boss...do you think it's an organization?"Cai Lang remained silent for several seconds before answering."Maybe."His eyes narrowed."Or maybe it's only a mark left behind by one." The technician folded his arms."Either way... whoever used this symbol has done a very good job disappearing."Another employee quietly added,"No records...no witnesses... no database matches...it's like they never existed." Cai Lang slowly shook his head. "No."Everyone looked toward him."People exist.""Evidence exists.""Only..."He glanced back at the crow symbol."...someone erased the path leading to them."
The technician quietly cleared his throat." Boss...there's another recovered file."Cai Lang immediately looked toward him."Show me." The projector changed once again.This time it wasn't another photograph. Instead... an image of a notebook slowly appeared across the wall.The page looked slightly burned around the edges,as though part of it had been damaged before recovery.Only half the page remained visible and small, handwriting filled the paper.The letters were obviously written by a child.Some words had been crossed out and others had circles drawn around them.Near the top of the page someone had written,"Crow..."Below it...
"School..." Several lines farther down..." Following..."The last sentence stopped halfway through the page as though whoever had been writing had suddenly been interrupted.
The secretary stepped closer."This handwriting..."The technician nodded. "Matches Jun Wei's school notebooks."He quietly added,"We compared it with homework recovered from his classroom." Another employee leaned toward the screen."He was writing observations..."The forensic technician slowly nodded."Not homework."His finger pointed toward several small arrows Jun Wei had drawn between different words."He was keeping notes."
Flashback ___
Jun Wei sat quietly at his small desk with his school notebook open in front of him.His little brows were tightly knitted together as he rested the tip of his pencil against his lips,deep in thought.His eyes slowly drifted toward the window,and the image of the sedan parked across the street replayed clearly in his mind.He could still remember the man standing beside it,pretending to look at his phone while secretly watching the school gate.Jun Wei swallowed quietly before lowering his head."That uncle again... "he murmured under his breath,his small face filled with confusion."Why is he always standing there?"
He tapped the pencil lightly against the notebook before beginning to write in his neat,childish handwriting.*Crow.* He paused,staring at the word for several seconds before drawing a small circle around it."That pendant...it looked exactly like a crow..." he whispered to himself.He continued writing.*School.Following...*His pencil stopped moving again.His brows furrowed deeper."Was he following me?" He slowly shook his head."No...maybe..."He lowered his eyes back to the page and quietly corrected himself."...I think he was watching me."
He took a small breath and continued writing beneath it.*Black car again and Same uncle standing across the road.* He didn't leave. He kept watching.*Jun Wei leaned back in his chair and hugged the notebook slightly against his chest.His small face looked unusually serious for a child."Maybe I'm thinking too much..." he whispered softly." But...why does he keep looking at me?"After hesitating for several seconds,he lowered the notebook back onto the desk and carefully wrote another line.*Tomorrow...I'll watch again.If he's there again...I'll tell Gege.*
Just then,soft footsteps echoed outside his bedroom.*Tap...Tap...Tap...*Jun Wei's eyes widened instantly."Gege?"Without wasting another second,he hurriedly closed the notebook,slid it beneath his workbook,and grabbed his pencil, pretending to be solving homework.He had barely straightened his posture when the bedroom door slowly opened.Suo Ran stood outside holding two steaming cups of warm milk.His tired face softened into a gentle smile the moment he saw Jun Wei."Still awake?" he asked quietly as he walked inside.Jun Wei immediately sat up straighter and smiled awkwardly. "Gege...you're back."
Suo Ran placed one cup beside Jun Wei before gently rubbing his hair."You have school tomorrow.Why aren't you sleeping yet?"Jun Wei quickly picked up the cup with both hands."I...I couldn't sleep."Suo Ran looked at him for a moment before noticing how stiff the little boy was sitting.His gaze slowly shifted toward the slightly raised pillow."What were you hiding?"Jun Wei's fingers tightened around the warm cup."N-Nothing..."Suo Ran raised an eyebrow before smiling faintly."Nothing?"He sat beside the bed and lightly poked Jun Wei's forehead."You know you become a terrible liar whenever you're nervous."
Jun Wei immediately covered his forehead with one hand."I'm not lying..."His voice became noticeably smaller."Really..."Suo Ran chuckled softly."Then why are you protecting that pillow like it's hiding treasure?"Jun Wei instinctively glanced toward the pillow before quickly looking away again.That tiny reaction didn't escape Suo Ran's eyes.He smiled helplessly. "Homework?"Jun wei quickly shook his head."No."Suo ran guessed again. "Drawing?"Jun Wei shook his head even faster."No."Suo Ran laughed quietly."Then what is it?"
Jun Wei lowered his head and stared into the cup of milk.The warm steam drifted across his face.He remained silent for several seconds before quietly saying,"...It's a secret."Suo Ran blinked before letting out a small laugh."A secret?"Jun Wei nodded earnestly."Mm."Suo Ran looked at him for a long moment before patting his shoulder. "Alright."He smiled warmly. "Everyone deserves at least one secret."Jun Wei slowly looked up,clearly surprised."You're not going to ask?"Suo Ran shook his head."Not unless you want to tell me."His voice remained as gentle as ever."Whenever you're ready...I'll listen."
Jun Wei's eyes quietly lowered again.He bit his lower lip for a moment before forcing a small smile."Okay..."Suo Ran stood up and adjusted the blanket over Jun wei's shoulders. "Finish your milk and sleep early." He lightly tapped the little boy's head."Don't stay up thinking too much."Jun Wei nodded obediently."I won't,Gege."Suo Ran smiled one last time before turning toward the door."Good night."Jun Wei looked at his back and quietly answered,"Good night, Gege."
The bedroom door slowly closed. The room became quiet again.Jun Wei waited several seconds until he heard Suo Ran's footsteps disappear down the hallway. Only then did he slowly lift the pillow and take the notebook back out.He looked toward the closed door with guilty eyes. "Sorry,Gege," he whispered so softly that only he could hear."If I'm wrong...I don't want to make you worry."He lowered his head and wrote one final sentence beneath the unfinished notes with careful, childish handwriting. "Tomorrow...I'll follow him just once.If it's really nothing...I'll never think about it again." He quietly closed the notebook.
Flashback ended.Back inside the office,the projection slowly faded from Jun Wei's notebook to a blank screen.For several long seconds,nobody spoke.Cai Lang remained standing with his arms folded,his eyes fixed on the dark screen.His expression showed almost nothing,but the faint tightening of his jaw betrayed the storm hidden beneath his calm exterior.The secretary lowered his head slightly and said,"He knew. He realized someone had been watching him for days."
Another employee slowly exhaled."And he never told his brother."The technician looked at the frozen image of the notebook before quietly closing the file."He didn't want to worry him."Another subordinate rubbed the back of his neck uneasily."He was only a child..." he murmured."Most children would've run home and told their family immediately." The secretary nodded slowly. "Instead...he tried to figure it out himself."
Cai Lang answered, "No!"Everyone looked toward him.He slowly lifted his eyes from the screen."He wasn't investigating."A brief pause followed before he continued,"He was protecting the person he cared about." The secretary quietly clenched the report in his hand."He trusted himself too much..." he whispered."Or maybe..." another employee replied softly,"...he trusted Mr.Suo too much."Cai Lang remained silent.His eyes slowly lowered toward the notebook image before the technician suddenly looked up from his computer. "Boss..."
Everyone turned toward him. "While restoring the deleted files..."He hesitated briefly."...I recovered one audio recording." The atmosphere inside the office instantly changed.Cai Lang's eyes sharpened."Can it be played?"The technician nodded."Part of it is damaged,but most of the recording survived."Cai Lang answered without hesitation."Play it."The technician pressed a key.The office lights seemed even dimmer as the speakers crackled with static.For the first few seconds...only footsteps echoed through the room.
They sounded hurried,uneven,as though someone was walking across rough concrete.Then...a metallic scraping noise followed.The unmistakable sound of heavy chains dragging across the floor.Everyone unconsciously held their breath.A few seconds later,a child's quiet sobbing reached their ears.The crying was weak,as though the child had already cried for a very long time.Then a trembling little voice finally broke through the static."Gege..."The single word echoed across the silent office like a knife.Every person in the room stiffened.The secretary slowly lowered his eyes.The technician quietly removed his glasses and looked away.Cai Lang didn't move at all,but the fingers resting against his folded arm slowly tightened until his knuckles turned pale.
The recording continued.Another voice suddenly appeared.It was unfamiliar but calm.Almost comforting."Hey! Little Boy!"A brief pause followed."Don't cry."Another pause. "Someone will come." Everyone instinctively looked at one another,but nobody recognized the voice.The secretary frowned."That doesn't sound like one of the kidnappers."Another employee slowly nodded."Too calm."The technician replayed the sentence once more."The tone doesn't match the later voices."He looked toward Cai Lang."It almost sounds like..."He hesitated."...someone trying to comfort the child."
Cai Lang's eyes remained fixed on the speaker."Can you isolate the voice?"The technician immediately nodded."I'll try."The recording continued.Car doors suddenly slammed shut and one rough voice spoke impatiently."Change of plans."Another man immediately asked,"What about this place?" The answer came without hesitation."Burn everything."A brief silence followed before the same voice added coldly,"No evidence. "Several people inside the office exchanged uneasy looks.One employee muttered, "They planned to erase the entire scene from the beginning."The secretary slowly clenched his fists."Professional..."
The recording continued.A few seconds later,the sound of an engine starting echoed through the speakers.Another unfamiliar voice asked,"Straight there?"A different man answered immediately,"No."A short pause followed before he continued,"We stop at the river crossing first."Static suddenly filled the recording.Then audio ended.The office remained completely quiet.Even after the speakers stopped,everyone continued staring at the projector.
The secretary slowly lowered his head while one technician nervously removed his glasses and wiped them with his sleeve. "That's...all we managed to recover." he said quietly."The rest of the file was destroyed." Another employee clenched his fists."Damn it...if only there were ten more seconds..."A different technician shook his head with frustration."Whoever deleted it knew exactly what they were doing.They erased everything after the destination was mentioned."
The technician replayed the final sentence once more."We stop at the river crossing first."Cai Lang remained standing without saying a word.His eyes stayed fixed on the dark projector screen.His expression didn't change,but everyone in the room could feel the suffocating pressure radiating from him. His breathing gradually became heavier. Then without warning...his fist crashed violently onto the conference table and solid wooden table shook from the impact, causing several folders and laptops to jump into the air.One coffee cup tipped over, spilling across scattered reports.
Everyone in the office instinctively flinched. No one had ever seen Cai Lang lose control like that.The secretary lowered his head even further,not daring to make eye contact. Cai Lang slowly withdrew his hand.His knuckles had already turned red,but he didn't seem to notice.His voice was frighteningly calm."A child..."He stared at the dark screen."A frightened child..."His jaw tightened visibly."...was begging for his brother..."He slowly looked around the room,his eyes colder than ice."And all we have..."He picked up one of the scattered reports before crushing it tightly in his hand."...are fragments."No one answered. Another employee cautiously spoke. "Boss...we'll recover more."
Cai Lang looked at him."When?"The employee froze.His lips parted slightly,but no words came out."I..."Cai Lang suddenly took one slow step forward."Tomorrow?"His voice remained calm,but every word carried frightening pressure.He took another step, his eyes never leaving the employee's face."Next week?" The employee took half a step backward without realizing it.His palms had already become damp with sweat. "Boss...I..."Before he could finish,Cai Lang suddenly swept every file on the table onto the floor with one violent motion and papers scattered across the office.
The loud crash made everyone flinch.Cai Lang's breathing had become noticeably heavier,though his face remained terrifyingly expressionless.He pointed toward the blank projector screen."While you're giving me excuses...they're moving."His finger slowly curled into a fist."While you're telling me to wait..."His jaw tightened visibly."...they're covering their tracks."He suddenly grabbed the back of a nearby chair and slammed it hard against the floor.The metal legs scraped violently across the tiles before toppling over with a deafening bang.
The employee's entire body trembled. "Boss...I'm sorry..."Cai Lang interrupted him."Don't apologize to me."His eyes were filled with suppressed fury."Apologize to the child who's waiting for someone to find him." The employee lowered his head so deeply that he could no longer meet Cai Lang's gaze."It won't happen again,Boss."His voice shook."We'll find them."Another technician quickly stepped forward,trying to ease the tension."Boss,we'll divide into teams immediately.No one will leave until every clue has been followed."The secretary also spoke without hesitation."I'll personally coordinate every department.Traffic cameras,vehicle registrations,bridge surveillance...I'll have everything on your desk before sunrise."
Another employee nodded firmly."We'll contact neighboring cities too.If they crossed the river,we'll continue tracking them there."Only then did Cai Lang slowly unclench his fist.His chest rose and fell once before he bent down,picked up the crushed report from the floor,and stared at it silently for several seconds.His fingers loosened, allowing the wrinkled paper to slip from his hand.He closed his eyes briefly.When he opened them again and said,"Every hour we waste..."He slowly looked around the room, meeting every person's eyes one after another."...reduces Jun Wei's chances."