My childhood friend is in her mature, sophisticated form again today. - Chapter 55

“People from Beichen Court.” Lin Jiqiu looked at the blurry photo of Liu Wei on the screen—a screenshot from the community’s surveillance camera, the image quality was very poor, only the outline could be seen clearly, “but Echo is not at his level. He is just an executor. There are people above him.”

“Echo. Or it could be the fieldwork of the Giant Gate.”

Lin Jiqiu leaned back on the sofa. “We’ve checked Yuantong Freight’s warehouse, and we’ve also checked the receiving point in the south of the city. There’s a third address, in a neighboring city. Shall we go there?”

“Go. But it’ll probably be similar to here.”

“Then go. Investigate to the end.”

Cheng Ran nodded.

Ayou came out of the kitchen carrying a pot of tea and poured a cup for each of them. He looked at Lin Jiqiu, then at Cheng Ran. “Boss, are you going out again?”

“Yes. A neighboring city. I’ll go tomorrow and come back the same day.”

Ayou didn’t ask any more questions and turned back to the kitchen. Ahua jumped down from the windowsill and rubbed against Lin Jiqiu’s feet. Lin Jiqiu bent down, picked her up, and placed her on his lap. Ahua curled up into a ball and made gurgling noises.

“Chengran, why don’t you think the Northern Star Court stops us?” Lin Jiqiu suddenly asked.

Cheng Ran paused, his hand holding the teacup still. “What do you mean?”

“We investigated Yuantong Freight, the Chengnan receiving point, and Liu Wei. They should have known someone was investigating. But they didn’t take any action. They didn’t send anyone to warn us, they didn’t destroy the evidence, and even Liu Wei didn’t move.”

Cheng Ran was silent for a few seconds. “Maybe they don’t see us as a threat.”

“Aren’t we a threat?”

“In their eyes, no. We’ve only investigated the outer layer; we haven’t reached the core yet. The outer layer is something that can be discarded.”

Lin Jiqiu’s fingers paused on Ahua’s back for a moment. “So, to what extent do we need to investigate before they consider it a threat?”

Cheng Ran looked at her. “When they find out they have to eliminate us.”

Lin Jiqiu didn’t reply. She lowered her head and looked at Ahua’s narrowed eyes. Ahua’s tail swayed gently on her leg, as if to say, “Don’t think about it, I’m here.”

The next morning, the three set off for a neighboring city. A-Zuo drove, Cheng Ran sat in the passenger seat, and Lin Jiqiu was in the back. They got on the highway and drove for about two hours before exiting and turning onto a provincial road. Large fields stretched out on both sides of the road, and distant villages were faintly visible in the thin mist.

The neighboring city was located in a town. The town was small, with only one main street lined with various shops—grocery stores, noodle shops, agricultural supply stores, and an electric vehicle shop. A-Zuo parked the car at an intersection, Lin Jiqiu got out, and Cheng Ran followed behind.

“Yuantong Freight’s records show that the delivery address is a warehouse in the east of the town.” Cheng Ran looked at the tablet. “There is no specific address, only the words ‘East Town Warehouse’.”

Lin Jiqiu looked around. To the east of the town, there was a cluster of low buildings that looked like factories or warehouses. She walked east along the main street for about ten minutes and saw an iron gate. The gate was closed, and the word “Warehouse” was painted in red on the wall above the door frame. The lettering had faded but was still legible.

Next to the iron gate was a small door. Lin Jiqiu pushed it; it wasn’t locked. She slipped inside, Cheng Ran following behind. Inside was a small courtyard with a cement floor and a minivan parked there. At the far end of the courtyard was a row of bungalows, all with their windows closed and curtains drawn tightly shut.

Lin Jiqiu walked to the door of the bungalow and knocked twice. No one answered. He knocked twice more.

“Who is it?” a man’s voice came from inside, with a heavy accent.

“It was a deliveryman. Yuantong sent it.”

The door opened a crack. A middle-aged man peeked out and looked her up and down. “Yuantong? What kind of goods are you delivering?”

“Electronic components”.

The man glanced at her, then at Cheng Ran behind her. “Where’s the order?”

Lin Jiqiu took out a piece of paper from her pocket—it was a forgery Cheng Ran had made last night, bearing the seal of Yuantong Freight, and looked quite convincing. The man took it, glanced at it, and handed it back to her. “Come in.”

The two men went inside. The room wasn’t large, filled with several cardboard boxes and wooden frames. The man walked to a table, picked up a notebook, and opened it. “Sign here. Where’s the goods?”

“The goods are on the truck outside. The truck is too big to drive in. Could you please send someone to help move them?”

The man hesitated for a moment, then picked up the walkie-talkie on the table and said a few words. A few minutes later, two young men in overalls, looking like movers, came out of the next room. They followed Lin Jiqiu out of the yard and towards the car parked by the roadside. A-Zuo opened the trunk, which contained several cardboard boxes—empty boxes that Cheng Ran had bought from the flea market that morning, sealed tightly, and looking like they were filled with something.

Two young men carried the cardboard boxes into the warehouse. Lin Jiqiu followed them in and watched them pile the boxes in a corner. The man signed the form, tore off a copy, and handed it to her. “That’s all.”

Lin Jiqiu took the order and glanced at the signature—”Wang Jianguo.” Another fake name, the same as the institute director, but clearly not the same person. “Master Wang, this batch of goods is the same as last time. Please check the quantity.”

The man opened a cardboard box and glanced inside—Cheng Ran had put in some old circuit boards, bought from the electronics market. He picked one up, examined it, and put it down. “The quantity is correct. The quality is better than last time too.”

“So we’ll use this kind from now on?”

“We do what we are told.”

Lin Jiqiu nodded and didn’t ask any further questions. Who was “above”? She knew she wouldn’t get an answer anyway.

She walked out of the warehouse, and Cheng Ran was already in the car. She opened the car door and got in.

“Did you get a picture?” she asked.

Cheng Ran held up his tablet, on which were photos he had taken with a miniature camera—the interior of the warehouse, cardboard boxes, the man, and two movers. There was also a piece of paper on the wall with a few lines of writing on it.

“What’s written on that piece of paper?” Lin Jiqiu leaned closer to take a look.

Cheng Ran zoomed in on the photo. The paper read: “Next week’s shipment volume will double. Packaging standards will be implemented according to the new regulations. Contact us for updates if there are any issues.”

“Echo,” Lin Jiqiu repeated the word.

“An echo again.”

A-Zuo started the car, turned it around, and drove out of town. Lin Jiqiu leaned back in her seat, looking at the fields outside the window. All three shipping points had been checked: Yuantong Freight’s warehouse, the receiving point in the south of the city, and this warehouse in the neighboring city. The word “echo” appeared in every single place. Echo wasn’t a person, but a system. A central hub for transmitting instructions.

“Cheng Ran”.

“Um.”

“Echo isn’t a specific person. It’s a code name. It could be one person, or it could be several people sharing the same code name. Just like the Seven Stars.”

“That’s how the Northern Star Court operates. The middle-level staff only know the code names of their superiors, but they don’t know who’s behind those code names. Whether it’s Echo or Literary Star, they’re just masks.”

Lin Jiqiu was silent for a few seconds. “Then it’s useless for us to catch Echo. There are still people on Echo.”

“Yes. The Giant Gate.”

“There is also the North Star above the giant gate.”

“Um.”

Lin Jiqiu leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. This chain was longer than she had imagined. She thought that finding the logistics company would lead to the funding chain, finding the funding chain would lead to the Giant Gate, and finding the Giant Gate would lead to getting close to the core of the Northern Star Court. But each layer was just a mask. Behind each mask was another mask.

It was already evening when he returned to the office. Ayou was waiting at the door, broom in hand. Seeing the car stop, he put down the broom and came to greet him. “Boss, you’re back?”

“Hmm.” Lin Jiqiu got out of the car, changed her shoes, and walked into the office. Ahua jumped off the sofa and rubbed against her feet. She bent down and scratched Ahua’s chin, and Ahua made a gurgling sound.

“Boss, how was today?” Ayou followed her in.

“Successfully. The third location has been found.”

“Is it almost over?”

Lin Jiqiu looked at him. “What, it’s almost over?”

“That’s it… the checkup is done. I don’t need to go out anymore.”

Lin Jiqiu didn’t answer. She walked to the sofa and sat down, and Ahua jumped up and curled up next to her. Cheng Ran sat down opposite her and placed the tablet on the coffee table.

“Yuantong Freight, Chengnan Receiving Point, and Linshi Warehouse. These three points form Beichen Zhiting’s supply chain in this city. Goods come from Yuantong, are distributed to Chengnan and Linshi, and then further distributed.” Cheng Ran pointed to the map on the screen, “But the source of the goods is not Yuantong. Yuantong is just a transit station. We haven’t found out where the goods come from yet.”

“The source of the goods may be in other cities or other countries.”

“Possibly. We need to check Yuantong’s port entry records. If we find out where the goods were transported to Yuantong, we’ll know the origin.”

“Can you find it?”

“Yes, but it would require hacking into Yuantong’s headquarters server. Not the branch office in the east of the city, but the head office.”

Lin Jiqiu thought for a moment. “Where is Yuantong’s headquarters located?”

“Out of the province. About 800 kilometers away.”

“It’s too far.”

“Remote intrusion is possible. But the risk is greater than last time. The servers at Yuantong headquarters have a higher level of protection. Once an alarm is triggered, they will not only delete the records, but also trace them back.”

Lin Jiqiu leaned back on the sofa, staring at the ceiling. “Then let’s not investigate the source of the goods for now. Let’s investigate the funds. If we can’t find the source of the goods, we can always find the money. Jumen manages the money; all fund flows pass through Jumen. As long as we find Jumen’s funding channels, we can trace back to Jumen itself.”

Cheng Ran looked at her. “Then we need to start with Echo. Echo is the field agent of Giant Gate, and the funding channels he has are connected to Giant Gate.”

“We don’t even know who the echo is.”

“But we can wait. Echo sends and receives commands every Friday. There’s a sign on the wall of that warehouse in the neighboring city that says, ‘Contact Echo if there are any anomalies.’ If we create an ‘anomaly,’ will Echo appear?”

Lin Jiqiu’s fingers paused on his knee. “You mean, stage an ‘accident’ in a warehouse in a neighboring city to get people there to contact Echo?”

“Hmm. It’s not necessarily an accident. It could be a problem with the goods. For example, the goods might have quality defects. The recipient needs to contact their superior to confirm whether to continue receiving the goods.”

“Then we need to know their contact information. Not a regular phone call, it’s probably encrypted communication.”

“Liu Wei knows. Liu Wei is the person in charge of that receiving point in the south of the city. He has the means to contact Echo.”

Lin Jiqiu thought for a moment. “Then let’s start with Liu Wei. Without alerting him, just intercept his communication signals.”

“good.”

The two men exchanged a glance. Ayou came out carrying two cups of tea and placed them on the coffee table. He looked at Lin Jiqiu, then at Cheng Ran. “Boss, are you talking about that echo again?”

“Um.”

“Who exactly is that person?”

“We don’t know either.” Lin Jiqiu picked up his teacup and took a sip. “But we will find it.”

That night, Lin Jiqiu lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. The streetlights outside cast blurry patches of light through the curtains. She reached under her pillow and touched the photograph. Her father’s face. She looked at it for a long time, then put the photograph back.

“Cheng Ran”.

“exist.”

“Tell me, how far has my father gotten in his investigation? Did he also find the echo? Or did he find something even higher up?”

Cheng Ran was silent for a few seconds. “Perhaps we found something he couldn’t find.”

“Then it was wiped out.”

“Um.”

Lin Jiqiu turned over and pulled the blanket over herself. She closed her eyes, and the ball on her wrist vibrated slightly. “Tomorrow, start keeping an eye on Liu Wei.”

“good.”