68: Chapter 68 "Found" Duan Pingheng

Night.

Wang Qiao, who had been posing tsundere-style with his arms crossed since entering the door, didn't say a word, his gaze following Lin Ning's every move.

Between laughter and tears, Lin Ning took a pack of beer from the fridge, sat on the carpet opposite him, cracked one open, and pushed it across the coffee table to him.

Whether from the perspective of being brothers or future colleagues, he had intended to tell Wang Qiao anyway. He stopped teasing him and slowly began to tell the story from the beginning.

Although he couldn't reveal everything and used "Physiognomy" as the basis for the whole thing, Lin Ning told Wang Qiao the gist of his recent experiences, only skipping over some of the more confidential and bloody details.

"Holy crap, your life is so damn eventful. Can you teach me that Physiognomy stuff?"

Wang Qiao went from being dumbfounded to drooling with envy, jealousy, and hate.

After all, what man hasn't dreamed of being a chivalrous hero since childhood?

Compared to the numb life of a corporate slave working like a beast of burden every day, Lin Ning's experiences this past month were as thrilling as a roller coaster.

Lin Ning hadn't expected Wang Qiao to accept the "Physiognomy" explanation so naturally, saving him from having to make up a lot of lies. But then again, considering he was from Jianfu, it was understandable.

"So you're saying you can tell who's a criminal and who's going to hit it big? Is that why you're so obsessed with being an angel investor? Big shot, boss, take me with you! Let's make it big and create glory together!"

"In the future, you can stake out the National Creative Incubation Base in the Science Park. We'll invest in whoever looks the most impressive!"

Lin Ning felt that great minds think alike; that was exactly what he had planned!

"Cheers! When brothers are of one mind, they can cut through metal!"

"Cheers! Let's join forces and brave the business world!"

Finally, the overexcited Wang Qiao got drunk and hugged Lin Ning, wailing, "Aaaah, waaaaah, Guoguo, I'm going to be rich too! Will you regret dumping me?! Goodbye, my innocent love..."

Veins throbbed on Lin Ning's forehead as he looked at the socks on his feet. His remaining conscience stopped him from taking them off and stuffing them into Wang Qiao's mouth—he was just too damn kind!!

The next morning, Lin Ning woke up shaking his head, relieved himself, washed up, took his keys, and headed out.

He first ran a few laps around the residential complex, then did squats, pull-ups, and other exercises to warm up his body.

Recently, he had grown to love the feeling of exercising, but the public equipment in the complex was unprofessional and too sparse, barely enough for a warm-up.

Once he made some money, he would definitely get a villa and set up a professional gym.

He bought breakfast and went home. Ignoring Wang Qiao, who was sprawled on the sofa sleeping like a mess, he lit a cigarette and sat down at the computer.

At the top of the priority list was definitely that foreign woman, Soviani, but he was a bit afraid to look her up. What if she had some kind of network information alert?

One touch might startle the snake.

When in doubt, put it aside for now.

Duan Pingheng.

His interest in him had already waned last night.

Since he could attend a banquet so openly, the possibility of him being on a wanted list was very low.

If he really was a scammer as he suspected, he was likely in the middle of a crime that hadn't succeeded yet.

This kind of economic crime only had a bounty cap of 150,000, and financial fraud was extremely difficult to investigate, certainly requiring a lot of energy.

But Lin Ning still intended to look into it. After all, it involved Tao Shuyu's side. Not just to help recover losses, but more importantly, to demonstrate his own value.

Interpersonal relationships shouldn't rely solely on emotional ties. If someone helps you get rich, what can you give them in return? If you only take and never give, the relationship won't last.

He stubbed out the cigarette, rubbed his face, and began.

Given a person where you only know their name and face, how do you find out who they really are?

Lin Ning opened the China Enforcement Information Disclosure website, entered "Duan Pingheng," and pressed Enter. A moment later, only six pieces of information refreshed on the page.

Lin Ning breathed a sigh of relief. He had been afraid that a search would yield hundreds or thousands of pages, which would drive him crazy.

He had originally planned to focus on enforcement case numbers from Jianfu based on Duan's accent, but now he could afford to look through them all.

Although the ID numbers of the persons subject to enforcement on each detail page were partially hidden, the birth year was still visible. Anyone too young or too old was ruled out. Based on his appearance, he was likely between 45 and 60, though one couldn't rule out the possibility of him looking older or younger than his age.

Only one entry from Yangcheng Province met the criteria. Case status—Closed.

Then he checked the origin of the first few digits of the ID card—Yuyang.

He recorded the information in a notebook and saved a screenshot of the case page.

Next step, open Qiqicha.

He entered the name again; there weren't many, only four people showed up.

He let out a long breath. Ha, he really had to thank Duan Pingheng for having an uncommon surname and a unique given name.

So, if you're distinct from others in any obvious way, try not to commit crimes; you're just too damn conspicuous.

He clicked on each name to check the automatic associations.

After ruling out one with a state-owned enterprise background, the other three needed careful verification.

Duan Pingheng A was associated with three companies: the legal representative of a small gift company, a shareholder in a consulting firm, and a supervisor at an import-export trade company. All three companies were registered in Dongguang.

Duan Pingheng B was associated with two companies: the legal representative of a small hardware factory and a shareholder in a wedding supplies company. Registered in Chang'an.

Duan Pingheng C was associated with two companies: the legal representative of a foreign trade company and the financial head of a human resources outsourcing company. Registered in Jianfu.

Then, he searched for these company names on open-source online data platforms to see if they were linked to any activities or private photo shares, checking if Duan Pingheng's image appeared in any of them.

This was a massive undertaking.

Two hours passed in a flash, and Lin Ning's eyes were starting to blur.

"Damn!" Lin Ning couldn't help but curse under his breath. He hadn't brought a miniature recorder to the party. If he had a photo of Duan Pingheng now, along with his name and age range, he could just pay a bit of money to throw it onto an OSINT site, and he might have found him without all this trouble.

Wang Qiao let out a groan of pain and sat up, rubbing his head.

Just as Lin Ning was about to look up and vent by scolding him, his eyes narrowed.

He scrolled back to a photo he had just passed—found him!

It looked like a photo from an outdoor team-building event. The main subjects were several girls, but in the upper left corner, two middle-aged men captured in the background were quite clear.

The hairstyle, temperament, and even the body type and facial features were somewhat different, but Lin Ning was certain: it was Duan Pingheng, using the alias Zheng Siyu!

Lin Ning's spirits lifted. He clicked save and began checking the personal page of the photo's owner.

Yuanxin Human Resources Co., Ltd., Jianfu.

Ha, he really is from Jianfu.

With a concrete identity, there was much more information to be found: local news, posts on local forums... Lin Ning even found out which middle school Duan Pingheng attended and some tabloid gossip.

Thus, modern people have no privacy.

He saved screenshots of everything he could find in the public online records and put them in a separate folder.

He wasn't responsible for solving crimes or making arrests, so this was barely enough. At least it proved there was a major problem with "Zheng Siyu's" identity.

They were all smart people. If you weren't after something, why would you change your identity? To play a game?