59: Chapter 62 The Black Hole in the Files, The Non-Existent Person

Fang Jiming carried his thermos back to the office, set it casually on the desk, pulled out the ergonomic chair worth eighty thousand, and sat down. He recalled the system prompt that had popped up in class, inwardly pondering the suspicious nature of the matter.

There was a reason No. 19 Middle School had fallen to become the worst school in the city, but an anomaly worthy of a special warning from the system was definitely not that simple.

He took out his phone and dialed Chen Jianhua directly.

"Old Chen, drop what you're doing and check someone out for me."

"Mr. Fang, please go ahead."

"There's a student in Class 18 named Su Xiaoxiao who lives in the shantytown area of Qiaonan Street. I want you to dig up everything on her household registration file and family background."

"Understood. I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

Fang Jiming hung up, tossed the phone onto the desk, closed his eyes, and leaned back in his chair to rest.

His mind was filled with the image of Su Xiaoxiao shivering in the corner of the classroom today; that was definitely not a reaction caused by simple school bullying.

He had noticed the red marks on the girl's wrists long ago. He had previously assumed they were from helping with farm work or odd jobs because her family was poor, but now it seemed the situation was far worse than he had imagined.

Half an hour later, the phone on the desk vibrated.

Fang Jiming pressed the answer button.

"Tell me the results."

Chen Jianhua's voice came through the receiver, carrying a rare sense of suppression.

"Mr. Fang, I've checked. Su Xiaoxiao has no household registration at all."

Fang Jiming gripped his phone a little tighter.

"What do you mean she has no household registration?"

"Literally. She is a person who does not exist in the public security system."

Chen Jianhua paused for a moment before continuing to report the details he had uncovered.

"Her mother was with a gambler named Boss Ma in her early years, then brought Su Xiaoxiao with her to Nanqiao. Later, she couldn't stand the domestic violence and ran away. Boss Ma maliciously cancelled Su Xiaoxiao's household registration, claiming to the outside world that the child had died of illness."

"That bastard is a total animal."

Fang Jiming cursed, his eyes sinking completely.

"There's worse, Mr. Fang."

"Go on."

"Boss Ma secretly opened an illegal underground workshop in the shantytown, specializing in taking on shady, odd-job garment processing orders."

"Su Xiaoxiao is his free labor. Those red marks on her wrists are all from being tied up for long periods."

"Either she was deliberately punished by Boss Ma when she didn't listen, or he was drunk and took out all his resentment towards her runaway mother on her."

"The only reason she's able to attend school steadily is that Boss Ma was afraid of the matter being exposed, so he specifically used connections to force her into school to cover his tracks."

Fang Jiming took a deep breath, tapping his fingers on the desk.

"Does that bastard need money right now?"

"Desperately. Boss Ma recently lost his mind gambling in an underground casino and is looking everywhere for investors, hoping to expand his workshop and win back his losses."

Fang Jiming smiled.

That smile carried a ruthless edge, as if he wanted to devour someone.

"If he needs money, that's easy to handle. The one thing I don't lack is money."

"Mr. Fang, what do you plan to do? Do you need me to arrange for someone to put a sack over his head and beat him up?"

"Beating him up would be letting him off too easily. I want him to lose everything and rot in prison."

Fang Jiming stood up and walked to the window, looking at the playground outside.

"Old Chen, use one of your clean shell companies to register an investment firm, packaged as big capital looking for processing sites."

"Understood. How much should I list for the registered capital?"

"Put down ten million for now, just to play around with."

"You personally take some people to approach Boss Ma. Tell him we have an export order worth several million and are looking for a small workshop to process it."

"Mr. Fang, this move is brilliant. A gambler like Boss Ma, who is crazy with poverty, will absolutely lose his mind when he sees an order worth millions."

"Make the bait convincing. Drive the best cars, wear the most expensive suits, and make him feel like gold bricks are falling from the sky."

Fang Jiming hung up the phone and turned to pack his things when the office door was pushed open. Director Su Nianwei walked in, holding a tablet with a stern expression.

"Teacher Fang, what on earth are you up to?"

Director Su Nianwei slammed the tablet onto Fang Jiming's desk, the screen displaying an incomplete student record file.

"Director Su, what advice do you have for me?"

"I was just auditing the school's student record system and found that Su Xiaoxiao's file is completely forged. Furthermore, I tracked that you just used connections to check her records in the civil affairs system."

Fang Jiming raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

"Director Su's professional capabilities are truly impressive; you can even track me when I'm looking up information."

"Stop bullshitting me. Do you know that Su Xiaoxiao is currently in a state of extremely dangerous illegal detention?"

Director Su Nianwei's tone was very stern, her eyes carrying a warning.

"I know."

"If you know, why haven't you called the police? You're just a substitute teacher with a monthly salary of three thousand; what are you playing the savior for?"

"What's the use of calling the police? She has no household registration, so legally, she doesn't exist. As long as Boss Ma closes the workshop and hides her, the police won't even find grounds to open a case."

Fang Jiming leaned against the edge of the desk, looking down at Director Su Nianwei.

"Director Su, you can't use the rules of good people to deal with a scoundrel; you have to use a scoundrel's methods."

Director Su Nianwei frowned.

"What are you planning to do? Fang Jiming, I'm warning you not to mess around. I haven't figured out the source of funds for that maybach of yours yet; don't get yourself into trouble."

"Can't I make legitimate business investments?"

Fang Jiming leaned in a little closer, looking into Director Su Nianwei's eyes.

"Director Su, I need you to do me a favor."

"Why should I help you?"

"Because when you saw Su Xiaoxiao crying at the back of the classroom earlier, you deleted that negative report."

Director Su Nianwei's expression changed as her thoughts were called out.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Get me a blank official letterhead from the Education Bureau, the kind with the stamp already on it."

"Fang Jiming, you're crazy. You're asking me to violate regulations."

"I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong. You just get me the letterhead, and tomorrow I'll take you to see a good show."

Fang Jiming picked up his thermos and took a sip of water, his tone as relaxed as if he were discussing what to eat tomorrow.

"I'm going to use the most legitimate business methods to send that animal Boss Ma to hell, and while I'm at it, save Su Xiaoxiao's life."

Director Su Nianwei looked at the man in front of her who spoke nonsense but radiated a ruthless energy. A certain line of defense in her heart wavered. She gritted her teeth, pulled a blank sheet of letterhead stamped with the Education Bureau's Supervision Office seal from her briefcase, and slapped it on the desk.

"Fang Jiming, if you dare to use this for anything illegal, I'll be the first one to arrest you."

"Thanks, Director Su. Happy to work with you."

Fang Jiming tucked the official letter into his pocket. The phone on the desk chimed with a message notification.

Chen Jianhua sent a message saying the fish had taken the bait. When Boss Ma saw the Rolls-Royce they drove over, he knelt on the ground and called them 'Daddy,' saying he wanted to invite them to inspect his workshop tomorrow.

Fang Jiming replied with a single word: "Good." He looked up at Director Su Nianwei.

"Director Su, wear some clothes you can run in tomorrow. I'll take you to see what a dimensional reduction strike is."

Early the next morning.

The shantytown in Qiaonan Street was shrouded in muggy air. The roads here were potholed, piled everywhere with stinking garbage bags and abandoned construction materials.

Boss Ma was wearing a floral shirt he thought was his most respectable, rubbing his hands together while standing at the entrance of the alley, looking around anxiously like a stray dog waiting for a bone.

A pitch-black maybach S680 drove silently into this dilapidated alley. The massive car body and its overwhelming aura made the surrounding neighbors poke their heads out to watch.

The maybach stopped in front of Boss Ma's black workshop.

Chen Jianhua, wearing a crisp, high-end black suit, stepped out from the passenger seat and, wearing white gloves, opened the back door.