As he spoke, he opened his laptop and got to work.
Within two minutes, he found the message from that particular number. The caller had used call forwarding services to hide their number, but it was far too easy for Lin Baichen’s skills to trace this mobile number.
Tang Xi hadn’t expected the person who sent her the text reminder to be Qu Xinrong.
Qu Xinrong was also a close friend of Gao Minjia and Qian Lin, often gathering together as a clique.
Shen Duan looked at Tang Xi, "Do you know this person?"
Tang Xi nodded, "She’s a colleague from the design department, and she’s also very close to Qian Lin and Gao Minjia."
Shen Duan got a general idea, "Mr. Fu said to let me know if there’s anything I can help with, as this matter also concerns the dignity of the Fu family."
Tang Xi planned to visit the detention center to see Fang Yuan, as she was worried.
After saying goodbye to Shen Duan, she left.
Shen Duan took Lin Baichen to the surveillance room, and Lin Baichen, upon taking a look, said, "It’s not that the surveillance was damaged, someone deliberately cut out an hour of the footage."
Lin Baichen glanced at the security guard, "Aren’t you going to tell the truth?"
The security guard shivered, "It was... someone called Qu Xinrong, who gave me a thousand yuan to do her a favor."
Lin Baichen and Shen Duan exchanged looks, both understanding what was at stake.
Shen Duan asked if it was possible to recover the lost hour of surveillance footage, and Lin Baichen said it would be difficult but he would try his best.
Lin Baichen took out his phone to order some takeout, then said,
"Give me the contact information for that lady just now, I promised to invite her for a meal."
Shen Duan, "Are you sure?"
"What? Unless she comes from a superior family background, I don’t really want to deal with those highborn ladies. If that’s the case... forget it..." Lin Baichen said as he stretched his neck and shoulders.
Shen Duan, "She is Mr. Fu’s ex-wife."
Lin Baichen was stunned.
He looked at Shen Duan in shock. Though he had been working with Mr. Fu for three or four years since graduating from university, and had become instant friends with Shen Duan, their relationship was different. Shen Duan was Fu Tingzhou’s assistant, while Lin Baichen was a senior hacker. It took him several seconds to process this before he repeated, "Mr. Fu’s ex-wife?"
He could hardly recognize these words.
In the years he worked at Fu’s, there were many rumors about Fu Tingzhou, but he never allowed even a ’mosquito’ - a female companion - near him. All the highborn girls who threw themselves at him, he rejected.
He’d rather work an extra two hours than spend time on romantic entanglements.
Even Ning Daisu stayed around as Fu Tingzhou’s assistant only because of a favor from her brother and the approval of Old Mr. Fu.
"His ex-wife, huh... She’s actually working in the design department as a regular employee? What kind of game are those two playing?" Lin Baichen prodded Shen Duan with his elbow gossipingly, "Bro Duan, you’ve got to tell me more."
"I don’t know much, but Mr. Fu indeed has unusual feelings for Miss Tang," Shen Duan patted Lin Baichen on the shoulder, "Find a way to retrieve the deleted surveillance footage."
"Understood." Lin Baichen was invigorated.
Tang Xi took a taxi to the detention center.
Upon seeing her, Fang Yuan immediately teared up, "Sister Tang Xi, it really wasn’t me, you have to believe me."
"I believe you, of course I know you wouldn’t do such a thing," Tang Xi told her the suspicions she had, shocking Fang Yuan. In her small world, she had never experienced something and couldn’t imagine people could be so malicious. After a few seconds, she sniffled, "I thought Gao Minjia was just arrogant, liked to bully others, and was a bit high-profile, but how can she be so malicious? If she really planted the ring in your bag and framed you successfully, that’s a ring worth 2 million yuan. Stealing of such amount is a serious offense, you could go to jail for that."
It wasn’t just Fang Yuan; even the street-smart Tang Xi hadn’t expected Gao Minjia to be capable of something so heinous.
She had thought that Gao Minjia was someone who just liked to boss people around, spoiled due to her good family background, beyond all reason. But to think she had actually gone so far as to frame someone and break the law.
Then she wouldn’t be soft-hearted either.
"I’ve already gathered some evidence. Don’t be afraid, Fang Yuan, you won’t be in trouble," she assured.
"Yeah, I’m not scared," Fang Yuan nodded her head.
"It’s just..." Fang Yuan’s voice choked a little, "I just want to get out early. I’m scared, I’m afraid my parents will find out and worry about me, think this job is bad, and I’m afraid the company will think I’ve caused trouble and will fire me."
"That won’t happen, I won’t let the company fire you," Tang Xi assured her.