Chapter 128 The Strange Office

While the director was in a bad mood, the group walked toward the interior of the orphanage.

“Officers, you can ask me anything. I will answer everything I know.”

The director, named Shang Yuan, followed closely behind them with a fawning smile.

The question the group wanted to understand most right now was why this Cui Shengli would come here late at night.

“Come here. Aren't you the director? You answer me.”

Long Hao stopped in his tracks, turned around, and fixed his gaze on the man's eyes.

To Shang Yuan, the pressure was immense.

“Every time the Chairman came at night, it was actually to chat with me about the children's situation in the orphanage.”

“As you know, Chairman Cui is a compassionate entrepreneur. Whenever there is a disaster or hardship anywhere, he is the first to rush in with donations to save people.”

“He even ordered that if a natural disaster occurred, the nearest Shengli Supermarket warehouse should be opened immediately and supplies sent to the disaster area.”

Shang Yuan said a lot, and his ultimate goal was to point out that Cui Shengli was a compassionate person, which was why he cared so much about the children.

“He's a major entrepreneur; I believe he's compassionate. But isn't visiting once a week a bit too frequent?”

“Furthermore, he learns about the children through you. What do you usually talk about?”

Long Hao pressed him closely. Although Shang Yuan, as the director, had given him a plausible reason, it wasn't enough to make him fully believe it.

Because there were still many potential points of suspicion!

“We just talked about the general expenses of the orphanage, the children's psychological state, and helping those who got into university apply for student grants and such.”

Shang Yuan explained casually.

“You still haven't answered me. Isn't it too frequent for Cui Shengli to come once a week?”

“Did he need to ask you about these things every single week?”

“Do you think you can convince me?”

Long Hao's words grew heavier with each sentence, his aura directly enveloping Shang Yuan and making the man's breathing turn ragged.

“Chairman Cui liked to come; what does that have to do with me?”

“Besides, could I have even driven him away?”

A trace of impatience appropriately appeared on Shang Yuan's face.

“I heard that every orphanage has an office for Cui Shengli.”

Chen Mo, standing at the very front, suddenly spoke up, interrupting the exchange between the two.

“There... there is.”

...

The group arrived outside a room immediately adjacent to the right side of the director's office.

“This is the Chairman's office. Every time he came, I would report on the work here.”

“Since he died, this office is only occasionally cleaned by someone.”

As Shang Yuan spoke, he took out a key and opened the door.

He muttered, “Your colleagues have actually been in here before.”

The colleagues he mentioned were likely Xu Qingqing and the others.

The door opened, and the layout inside came into everyone's view.

It was about a hundred square meters. Facing the door was a table and a sofa, and on the right, near the window, was an executive desk and a leather executive chair.

On the wall behind it hung four large characters: 'For Country and People'.

Chen Mo withdrew his gaze and stepped inside.

The timing of Cui Shengli's visits was indeed a major issue.

In fact, a very unpleasant suspicion had already formed in his mind.

But without concrete evidence, it wasn't convenient to say it.

After all, in everyone's eyes, Cui Shengli was a very good person.

“How long did he stay here each time?”

“Roughly how long? Half an hour, or an hour?”

Chen Mo turned his head to look at the director.

“About an hour. I feel that every time Chairman Cui came, it was to relax.”

“You see, there's nothing in this room, yet he could stay in here quietly for an hour.”

“Perhaps he felt that being with the children made him feel very comfortable inside.”

Shang Yuan gave a precise answer to Chen Mo's question.

“Did he always come by himself?”

“Would his wife or children come with him?”

Chen Mo asked casually as he began to wander around the room.

At the same time, he deliberately used a bit of force as his feet stepped on the floor.

The director's words sounded like they had a decent explanation for everything.

But Chen Mo remained skeptical.

Especially because...

His senses gave him a somewhat damp feeling.

It was like the feeling of water vapor filling the air right after a light rain.

Since Cui Shengli's office faced south, it was frequently exposed to sunlight, so this feeling was very subtle and not obvious.

He activated his nose trait.

A damp, musty smell instantly flooded Chen Mo's nostrils.

And the source of this musty smell...

Was underground!

To be precise, it was beneath where they were currently standing.

Was there a basement beneath Cui Shengli's office?

He turned around to look at the director.

“Why aren't you answering my question?”

“Is what we see all there is to this room?”

Faced with the question Chen Mo posed.

Shang Yuan's expression froze for a moment, then he nodded.

“Yes, isn't it all right here?”

As he spoke, a look of not understanding why such a thing was asked appeared on his face.

Seeing this, Chen Mo knew he was lying.

He walked over to the executive chair on the right and stomped down hard with his foot.

Several hollow thuds rang out.

If it were solid ground below, it should have been a solid sound.

This meant that beneath his feet was a passage leading to a basement.

“You're lying!”

Long Hao instantly understood Chen Mo's meaning.

He fixed his gaze on the director, his expression angry.

To think there was a basement and you actually hid it.

It was truly infuriating.

“I... I didn't know either.”

Shang Yuan held his head in his hands, showing he wasn't aggressive.

He spoke with a look of grievance on his face.

But this demeanor of his would no longer make anyone feel he was innocent.

Instead, it made people feel he was lying again.

“Wu Tian, Sun Yi, you two restrain him. The rest of us will go down and take a look.”

After giving the instructions.

The three of them followed the stairs down.

The facilities below were quite complete.

There was a table, a bed, and some household appliances like a freezer.

A dehumidifier was also placed against one wall.

But Cui Shengli had been dead for three years.

This machine had clearly not worked for many years.

It was precisely because of this that he could feel the dampness of the basement.

His gaze fell on the floor tiles; they were a bit slippery, and looking closely, they were covered in a layer of moisture.

“Why did this Cui Shengli set up a basement like this?”

Liu Fengxia looked around. Fortunately, the lights below still worked; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to see anything.

“That's what puzzles me too.”

Chen Mo looked carefully at every part of the room.

Now that this basement existed.

Then the place the director mentioned where Cui Shengli stayed for an hour each time should be here, not upstairs.

There was no TV here.

No books.

And no other items for entertainment.

Could it be that being here really made him feel very comfortable?

But that didn't make sense.

Or rather, it was groundless and entirely the director's own speculation.

Chen Mo then walked over to the bed.

He activated his Trace Technician ability.

At this moment, the bedding, the floor, and the quilt were scanned inch by inch by him.

Finally, his gaze landed on a strand of hair between the quilt and the edge of the bed.

The hair was very thin and short.

The length was only as long as a typical buzz cut.

He bent down and pinched the hair.

He murmured, “I remember Cui Shengli's hair reached his eyebrows.”