# 07

The next morning, Su Mo and Wang Fatty went out together to visit suspicious individuals, over a hundred people, and finally screened out a dozen or so who had extraordinary artistic skills.

The others were fine, as they looked at them pretty quickly, and had already visited everyone in the morning.

It was not until around two o'clock in the afternoon that the two walked towards Fang Shuhua's residence, the last suspicious individual.

Yunhu had a slum area, where almost all were migrant workers from other places, or some local destitute people.

It was shabby, messy and crowded here. Last year during the old city reconstruction, this place had changed a lot, but there was still a large area that maintained its original appearance.

As for the areas that had changed a lot, they were the parts close to the city. The parts far away from the city didn't change much, only some infrastructure was repaired, and a few landmarks were newly built.

Let me explain here, for a city, the first thing that should be dealt with is the sewer system. However, except for some first-tier cities, the sewer systems of almost all other cities are very poor.

It's fine if floods don't occur, but once they do, unimaginable disasters can be caused.

So the question is, why are the drainage systems so important, yet so poorly built?

The reason is simple. Every local leader, after taking office, wants to show political achievements, but underground drainage systems require long-term projects without immediate results.

So those leaders would rather spend their time and energy on some "face projects" than the extremely important drainage systems.

Although this is human nature, in the long run, the hidden danger is too great. This is the essence of the matter. Often everyone knows what should be done but no one wants to do it. It's very helpless.

Back to the main point, Fang Shuhua's home was on the river bank on the outskirts of the slum area, a place with beautiful mountains and rivers. A gentle river flowed by, and there was a three-story townhouse with a yard by the river bank.

When Su Mo walked here, his first feeling was tranquility and comfort, a sense of returning to nature.

Standing at the gate of the yard, the two knocked on it, then heard a gentle echo from inside: "Coming, please wait a moment."

In fact, Fang Shuhua had already been questioned by the police in the morning, but after understanding the situation, the police ruled out Fang Shuhua as a suspect.

A minute later, a middle-aged man dressed in loose robes, gentle and refined, opened the yard gate.

"Hello, may I ask what brings you here?" Fang Shuhua asked with a kind smile.

Wang Fatty had been taught by Su Mo beforehand with the identity of an adjudicator, so he knew what questions to ask. He said very naturally: "We are here to understand the case, representing the police."

"Didn't you come this morning?" Fang Shuhua was puzzled.

"Oh, we are two separate systems, each asking our own questions without conflict."

Fang Shuhua was very cultivated. He opened the door and made way for them: "Please come in."

Then Su Mo and Wang Fatty followed Fang Shuhua into the yard. The yard was not big, but very beautiful. There were some flowers and plants on the left, and on the right grapes grew on a rack next to some green plants. There was also a swing, which looked quite artistic.

Going through the small yard, they entered the living room. On the walls were oil paintings of various patterns - magnificent peng birds spreading their wings, small bridges over running water, tall buildings, and palace towers and pavilions that seemed celestial.

Upon entering the living room, just looking at the oil paintings on the surrounding walls was like entering a new world, vastly different from the outside. It was obvious that Fang Shuhua was an artist.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Wang Fatty asked, "Mr. Fang, your company undertook all the activity sites, what area are you responsible for?"

"I have always been responsible for the design. Of course, if necessary, I will also go to the site to direct the layout."

"So for the layout of the sites this time, did you participate?"

Fang Shuhua shook his head slightly. "No, not this time. The company took on a museum project at the last minute. I was the aesthetic adviser, so I was solely responsible for that project.

For the celebration of the old city reconstruction, I only did the design. I didn't go to the site at all. I feel a little ashamed."

Hearing this, Wang Fatty frowned. He thought: "This guy is obviously not the murderer. He didn't even go to the site. How could he have arranged the corpses? Damn, another wasted trip."

But he still had to ask the questions he should. He asked, "Mr. Fang, people are saying the motive for this case is related to the old city reconstruction. What do you think?"

Fang Shuhua was not shy at all. He smiled slightly. "Isn't it very obvious? The victims were all senior officials involved in the reconstruction of the old city. And there were indeed some accidents during the reconstruction.

This is no secret. Many people know about it. It's just the cycle of cause and effect."

Wang Fatty became interested. He hadn't heard about this before, so he hurriedly asked, "What accident?"

Fang Shuhua looked at Wang Fatty, "Are you really the police?"

Wang Fatty felt uneasy but still pretended to be angry. "Mr. Fang, please cooperate."

"Actually many people know about it. Yunhu's old city reconstruction was not exactly successful. The original plan was not realized, and there were many problems.

I won't go through them one by one. A month ago, during the shanty town renovation, two households disagreed with the relocation. Shortly after, one family disappeared, and the other was buried alive by accident, wiping out the entire family.

Although the news was suppressed, many people still know about it, including me. Basically everyone in this area knows." Fang Shuhua said.

...

Su Mo just listened and watched quietly. From the first sight of Fang Shuhua, he had already confirmed that this was No. 7. There was no reason for it, just intuition - a very strong intuition.

Although the evidence suggested he could be ruled out as a suspect since he hadn't even gone to the site, how could he have arranged the corpses? But Su Mo was certain that this man did it. Also, Fang Shuhua seemed to have sensed something. After all, he didn't look easy to deal with at first sight.

After chatting with Fang Shuhua for a few more sentences, Wang Fatty was ready to leave.

It wasn't until Fang Shuhua saw them out when the artist smiled and said, "Sir, you haven't spoken a word. May I ask your name?"

Su Mo maintained his sullen appearance, not saying anything, just smiling awkwardly. Wang Fatty replied, "He's my deputy. He's a bit introverted. Alright, let's not chat more. We'll be going."

Following Wang Fatty, the two gradually disappeared from the small courtyard. Su Mo didn't look back once.

As for Fang Shuhua, he kept watching them leave with a refined smile, except he was looking not at Wang Fatty, but at Su Mo.