Chapter 157: Is running away at this point even meaningful?

The police officer walked over as well. Although he wasn't very experienced with computers, he had received basic training. Watching the chubby man's deft operations, he could immediately tell this fellow was an expert, perhaps someone who simply despised the restaurant's shady practices and decided to step in and help.

His gaze toward the chubby man softened considerably. He patted the chubby man's shoulder, stood right beside him, and said, "Let's look at the footage of Zhao Xiang and that woman, Mei Yinyin, first, and then yours. One by one!"

"You got it!"

The chubby man clicked on the video on his left-hand side, having already located the correct timestamp. The video began to play, showing Zhao Xiang entering the restaurant together with a stylishly dressed young woman.

The woman was wearing a white down jacket and slender, high-heeled long boots. She was noticeably taller than Zhao Xiang by a good half-head, with long hair cascading over her shoulders and a very sweet facial appearance.

After sitting down and taking off her down jacket, the two seemed to exchange pleasantries, and the woman's coy, shy demeanor looked remarkably professional.

Then came a quick handshake—Zhao Xiang's nervousness was painfully obvious—followed by the two of them gathering ingredients and sitting down to eat.

At this point, the chubby man switched to quadruple speed. Just as the food was nearly finished, Zhao Xiang stood up to get some drinks. The freshly squeezed juice seemed to take a moment to prepare, so the chubby man quickly returned the playback to normal speed.

Sure enough, the moment Zhao Xiang stood up, the woman crooked her finger at a waitress. The gesture looked entirely too familiar, certainly not the sort of casual way one would normally summon staff.

Barely twenty seconds later, the waitress came over holding a bottle of alcohol, opening the packaging as she walked. She placed it directly in front of the woman before hurrying away with the empty packaging box.

Zhao Xiang returned just then. Seeing the bottle, he froze visibly. The woman began to pour the drink, while Zhao Xiang repeatedly waved his hands in refusal, making it clear he didn't know how to drink. Yet, under the woman's persistent urging, he took a sip; his facial expression clearly showed him swallowing it with bitter reluctance.

After eating a bit more, the woman pulled out a mobile phone to take a call, then hurriedly stood up, said goodbye to Zhao Xiang, and strode away.

Zhao Xiang remained in his seat, dumping all the remaining meat into the hot pot to finish it off, and even carefully checked around afterward, thoroughly inspecting the adjacent shelving rack as well.

The police officer looked somewhat puzzled. "What is he doing?"

The chubby man quickly explained, "This kid's family background is pretty ordinary. He was probably afraid of being fined for leaving leftover food, so he checked things over thoroughly."

The police officer had a sudden flash of understanding, feeling that the chubby man's explanation made complete sense. "Looks like that's the case!"

On the screen, Zhao Xiang stood up to leave when two waitresses rushed over, thrusting a bill, a box, and an invoice right in front of his face. Zhao Xiang was left in a state of utter bewilderment.

Clearly, the sheer magnitude of the numbers shocked him. After a prolonged argument, he began to lose his temper. The restaurant manager then walked over, followed by a chair crashing to the ground and security guards rushing forward to pin him down.

The chubby man clicked pause, captured a still frame, and copied it onto a floppy disk. By this time, the manager standing behind them was drenched in sweat.

Forget the police; even a fool could see the deception at play here. Ordering wine behind someone's back and having it delivered straight from the third-floor bar—it wouldn't even take twenty seconds just to ride the elevator down. It was sheer, unadulterated nonsense.

Yet the manager didn't dare offer any explanations. Saying too much would only lead to more mistakes. He either had to play dumb and throw the waitresses under the bus as scapegoats, or let the police investigate the bar itself.

The police officer turned around, seemingly sensing the manager's gaze, and shot him an icy look. Over on the chubby man's side, the second surveillance video was already playing.

The camera angle was so favorable that the chubby man felt like giving the cameramen a thumbs-up. Cheng Zhi and the chubby man's evasion, the manager's aggressive snatching, and his lunging movements all unmistakably pointed to his frantic desperation, culminating in him tripping and tumbling straight into the hot pot all by himself, without anyone even touching him.

After exporting the video, the chubby man handed the floppy disk to the police officer, who patted him on the shoulder.

"You're Engineer He, right? Thank you so much. If we run into technical problems like this in the future, can we count on your company's help?"

The chubby man grinned broadly, pointing outside as he replied, "That's not a problem at all, always at your service. However, our President Cheng is hosting an expert for a meal today, and honestly, we wouldn't dare eat here anymore. What if they swap the soup base and spit in it? Being nauseous for half a month isn't worth it, and we can forget about discussing business. Why don't you, officer, help us mediate a refund? We honestly don't dare stay here; what if we get scammed out of a few thousand bucks for drinks as well? That would be too humiliating!"

The police officer nodded. What the chubby man said was entirely reasonable.

"I'll handle the mediation. But I'll need you all to come along and give a formal statement. By the way, can those video frames be converted into still photos? It'll make it easier for us to check the household registration records and see if we can trace her."

The chubby man nodded. "No problem. I've already screenshotted the clearest front-facing shot of the woman—it's just like a photograph. But give me a moment; let me check the other surveillance footage. While skimming through earlier, I thought I saw something interesting."

With a flurry of keystrokes from the chubby man, two more videos popped up on the adjacent monitor. After a rapid blur of frames, the video stopped at a specific timestamp, and the chubby man slapped his thigh.

"If you ask me, officer, you don't even need to bother pulling household registration records. Just have a nice chat with this manager right here, and you'll find out everything you need to know. Look at this—this footage is from the afternoon of New Year's Day, January 1st, and the other is from noon on December 30th. Take a look and see if this woman isn't the exact same person!"

The police officer glanced over. Indeed, it was the same woman, having not even changed her white down jacket. In one of the clips, she was chatting animatedly with the manager standing right behind her, after which the manager handed a thick stack of cash to the woman from behind his back.

The chubby man couldn't help laughing out loud. How utterly naive, not even bothering to avoid the surveillance cameras. Of all places to conduct a transaction, why choose right beneath a camera? Well, now all the evidence was preserved.

"Judging by the thickness, that's at least two thousand. At that rate, was this wine... also fake?"

Upon seeing this, the manager instinctively backed away, but a police officer had already blocked the door and grabbed him tightly by the collar. At this point, even without a formal interrogation, they already had a general idea of what was going on.

"What are you running for? Is there any point in running now? Leniency for confession, severity for resistance—start talking right now! What's the woman's name? How do you contact her?"

The manager lost his voice entirely. The police officer standing next to the chubby man darkened his expression and gestured for another officer outside to come in.

"Suspend operations here for now. Take Engineer He and Zhao Xiang's statements right here on the spot. Afterward, bring everyone back for questioning, and take all the waitresses in as well."

Hearing this, the manager completely deflated. He hurriedly pulled out his phone and searched for a contact number.

"I don't know her full name; I only have her mobile number. She was the one who contacted us, and the wine was placed here by her.

She'd come in every few days, bringing people in for normal meals. The drink money from the previous visit would be settled on her second trip back, and we split the profits fifty-fifty. That particular time, she was settling payments for two visits combined, which is why the amount looked so large."

"Think carefully, and don't try to fool me with 'I don't know.' Would you dare pull this stunt if you didn't know?"

The chubby man gave a light cough, and the police officer looked over, clearly sensing that this Engineer He might have a trick up his sleeve.

"Actually, it's not that difficult. People don't usually buy many phone cards, and they all require real-name ID registration. Let me help you look it up—as long as there's a telephone line, it'll work."

The police officer smiled, called over a junior officer, and led the chubby man to the bar counter where the reservation phone was located. The chubby man plugged in his own equipment, connected it to the computer, and began a flurry of operations.

Moments later, the relevant information was pulled up. Not only was the registration detailed, but the woman was named Gao Yinyin, twenty-eight years old, and a graduate of Guangdong Normal University. The chubby man wore an expression of sudden enlightenment—no wonder she looked so fashionable; it turned out she had spent time mingling in Guangdong.

The junior officer hurriedly jotted down the details and ran off to report to his superior. President Cheng looked at the chubby man.

"How much longer?"

"Give statements, sign papers, get the refund—we'll be done immediately!"

The chubby man knew Zhou Yi must be the one asking. They didn't want to make a big spectacle of it, but they couldn't just leave things half-done either.

Shortly after, the chubby man finished giving his statement, walked over holding the refund, and handed it to Cheng Zhi.

"Alright, let's go!"

Only then did Zhou Yi raise his eyes. "Does Zhao Xiang need to pay?"

The chubby man shook his head. "He needs to go to the police station to give a statement, but he doesn't need to pay—just explain the situation. That woman is a lot older than him anyway. Shall we find somewhere else to eat?"

Zhou Yi stood up, and the group prepared to head out. A few police officers were dragging the manager out behind them. Seeing the group getting ready to leave, Zhao Xiang hurried over a few steps and bowed deeply toward them. Looking at Zhou Yi, he realized that although this man hadn't spoken much, the others clearly took their cues from him.

"Thank you, big brothers. If it weren't for you today, I truly wouldn't have known what to do. I think I'd be feeling more like jumping off a building than worrying about a broken chair."

Zhou Yi glanced at him indifferently. "Learn to read people better in the future. You won't be this lucky every time."

With that, the group walked out, leaving Cheng Zhi with a look of profound guilt.

"It's all my fault for picking such a terrible place. Should we find somewhere else to eat?"

The chubby man waved his hand, laughing helplessly. "Forget it. If we run into someone else about to jump off a building, we still won't get to eat. Why don't we just head straight back? Since we already have all the ingredients, we can just do a barbecue. It's just a shame about those seafood items—how about we pick up some seafood on the way and whip up some cheese-baked lobsters instead?"