The place where Jin Pingan got off the bus was a large shopping mall.
However, he did not enter the mall, but took a detour to the snack street behind the mall.
According to the navigation route, Jin Ping'an went around in circles. Five minutes later, he found the small restaurant where they agreed to meet.
This is a hot pot restaurant.
Although it is not yet completely dark, there are not many people in the store, and they are gradually increasing.
Jin Pingan followed the numbers on the table, searched one by one, and came to table No. 4 in the corner.
Jin Pingan asked softly with temptation and expectation: "Excuse me, are you the messenger?"
Jin Ping'an's face was tense, looking at the thin back on the seat, his feet were unconsciously brought together and then his legs straightened, his left hand firmly grasped the strap of the satchel, and his fingers were rubbing unconsciously.
Hearing the sound, the man slowly turned around.
What came into view was a face that was both delicate and weathered.
The messenger was dressed very cleanly and neatly, with suit pants, a leather belt, and a POLO shirt. There were almost no wrinkles on his clothes. It was obvious that he was a person who paid great attention to modifying his image.
Although he doesn't have the kind of handsome face that will shock everyone at first sight, but coupled with his temperament, he exudes a unique charm.
The first impression I get is that this is a man with a story.
The messenger's face is a little childish, and he looks to be in his early twenties at most, but when others look at him at first glance, they will subconsciously think that he is already thirty years old.
Although he is indeed over thirty.
"Are you Jin Ping'an?"
Just from the appearance, people would think that the voice of the messenger must be that of a magnetic uncle who has experienced many vicissitudes of life.
In fact, this was not the case. His tone was slightly dull and thick, as if he was talking to someone through a mask.
"...Well, it's me."
Jin Pingan had a lot to say, but when he saw the messenger in person, he didn't know where to start.
After all, he is just a child who has just grown up and has no idea how adults socialize.
"I should have asked Ai Liang to inform the agreed place and time an hour and a half in advance, but you were still twenty minutes late."
The messenger picked up his chopsticks, picked up a piece of tender and juicy beef from the clear soup pot, and put it into his mouth. The soup overflowed after one bite, and the aroma of the beef bone soup spread from the tip of the tongue to the base of the tongue, leaving an endless aftertaste.
Compared with the calm and calm messenger enjoying the hot pot, Jin Ping'an looked very nervous: "I'm sorry! I was busy organizing information, and there was a traffic jam in the city, so..."
Xin Xin tapped the table with his index finger, interrupting Jin Pingan's explanation.
"Don't make excuses, being late is being late."
"……Feel sorry."
Jin Ping'an lowered his head, like a student being criticized, and stood motionless at the edge of the table.
"Why don't you sit down? Why don't you just stand by the table and let people laugh at you?"
A strange color flashed in the messenger's eyes.
There are too few students who are independent-minded and discerning nowadays. Most of them are like stupid geese. If they are not asked to do clearly what they are asked to do, they will just sit there and remain motionless.
"Oh, alright."
Jin Pingan woke up from a dream and quickly sat down opposite the messenger.
However, looking at the unopened bowls and chopsticks in front of him, he hesitated again, not knowing whether he should eat together or discuss the disappearance case directly.
"What are you doing standing there in a daze? I'm preparing tableware for you to watch? Let's talk about it after you finish eating if you have anything else to do."
After the messenger finished speaking, he started to eat hot pot.
Jin Ping'an smelled the aroma of hot pot, and his throat surged unconsciously.
Jin Pingan originally wanted to discuss the case first, but the messenger ignored his intention at all, so he had to follow suit.
The two of them ate and drank so much that all the ingredients on the table were quickly wiped out. Jin Pingan, who had been hungry for a day, even drank three bowls of hot pot soup in the end.
After eating and drinking, the messenger led Jin Pingan to a nearby small hotel.
After Jin Pingan entered the door, he closed the door with a bang, locked it, and hung up the anti-theft chain.
The messenger came to the mahjong table and sat down and said: "I am a registered bounty hunter, number M300328. You can check it on the website."
After the previous two experiences, Jin Ping'an didn't say any nonsense like "I believe you" this time.
Instead, he honestly took out his mobile phone and logged into the official Bounty Hunter website to check the number.
When the two met for the first time, there was no trust at all, and trust needs to be built up little by little. Eating together and looking up the bounty hunter's number are the first steps to building trust.
The query results came out quickly, and the person in the photo was indeed the messenger.
The Bounty Hunter official website is a public website operated by Asia United. As long as you enter the number, you can check the person's number of missions, social contributions, and whether there are any illegal and criminal records and other basic information.
Of course, this does not include the personal privacy of bounty hunters, such as citizen numbers, contact information, home addresses and other information, some of which are only work-related information.
To put it simply, it is equivalent to a bulletin board and does not even have the function of private messages.
"Let's get down to business. After all, you are settling the payment in one go. Since you are so forthcoming, I will not take this hundred thousand yuan in vain. I will help you to the end."
The messenger stretched out his hand to signal Jin Ping'an to bring over the case information.
At this time, Jin Ping'an's old habit relapsed.
When no one helps him, he always longs for someone to walk with him.
When someone is willing to help him, he is worried about the other person's safety and does not want to drag others down and make them face the suffering they have suffered.
In short, it is a common problem among young people, immaturity and pretentiousness.
But after much hesitation, Jin Ping'an still handed the document bag to the courier.
There is no way, let alone tell the truth with his own strength, he has not even found out who is the mastermind behind guiding public opinion.
The clues in the satchel were all traced back bit by bit using his special abilities.
The courier opened the document bag and looked at the contents on the A4 paper.
Although Jin Pingan is a waste, he is not completely a waste.
At least he has investigated many murder cases with the police, and he is pretty good at summarizing basic information.
Every piece of information recorded on the A4 paper is basically simplified key information.
In the room, the messenger pursed his lips and said nothing. Only the sound of Jin Pingan's breathing and the whirring of the air conditioner echoed.
After a long time, the messenger put down the document, pointed to a passage on it and asked, "How did you know that the prisoner had a butterfly tattoo?"
"According to the general case reasoning process, since you have discovered this key clue, the case cannot make any progress."
The messenger pressed his palm on the information and asked Jin Ping'an: "What is recorded on this paper is not so much case information as it is a puzzle of clues.
A lot of important and unimportant information are all mixed together, not even in chronological order.
You just mentioned the key clue about the butterfly tattoo and passed it off at once. There is no record on the paper when, where or from whom you got this information."
"Are you really investigating seriously? Or are you trying to fool me with a bunch of made-up stuff?"