Chapter Thirty-Five: Methods

“Who are you looking for?” Zhang Dong’s face was filled with panic, though he still tried hard to feign calmness, the defensive stance barely concealed beneath his demeanor.

“Zhang Dong, right? Why are you living out here in a place like this?” Kang Ge smiled at him and took a step forward.

That small step startled Zhang Dong so much that he quickly stepped back, stammering, “Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? Just talk, alright? Step back! Why are you getting so close? Zhang Dong? I don’t even know anyone named Zhang Dong! You’ve got the wrong person!”

“Then tell me this—Lin Zhen is your girlfriend, isn’t she?” Kang Ge asked again.

Hearing that, Zhang Dong seemed even more flustered and hastily denied it: “No, no! I told you guys, you’ve got the wrong person. Lin Zhen is Zhang Dong’s girlfriend, not mine. You’re mixing things up; I have nothing to do with her.”

“But didn’t you just say you didn’t know any Zhang Dong?” Kang Ge raised an eyebrow, teasingly.

Zhang Dong’s expression shifted; he looked genuinely nervous. Fearing he might do something rash in his panic, Kang Ge quickly showed him his police identification, signaling him not to worry.

Zhang Dong glanced at the badge, slightly startled, then visibly relaxed.

“So you’re police? Why didn’t you say so earlier! You scared me!” Zhang Dong let out a secret sigh of relief, pretending to fix his hair while wiping the sweat trickling down his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Luckily we’re police; we managed to find you. Others probably could too. If it’d been someone else blocking you at the door, judging by how you reacted just now, do you think you’d have gotten away so easily?” Kang Ge didn’t hold back in pointing out his weakness.

Zhang Dong grinned awkwardly but quickly wiped the smile off his face. “Do you have business with me?”

“Yes, something related to Lin Zhen. Are you in a hurry to go out? If so, we can talk while walking,” Kang Ge said with a slight smile, his tone friendly and ready to follow through.

“Ah... no rush, no rush. It’s cold outside today; let’s talk inside. Come in, come in!” Zhang Dong immediately changed his mind, not planning to go outside, and turned to open the door for them.

Kang Ge and Yan Xue naturally didn’t refuse; they smoothly followed him inside his rented room.

The place was in terrible shape. Yan Xue had already sensed on the way here that the building was old, the corridor filled with the distinctive musty air of an aging residence. Inside, the conditions were even more cramped and dismal.

It was unclear when the apartment had last been renovated, if ever.

The small space was barely renovated at all, even by the downgraded standards of real estate agents. The walls were painted with old, yellowed, and grimy coatings, many parts showing signs of moisture damage—cracked, peeling off in chunks on the floor.

The floor wasn’t bare concrete, but not much better. It should have had linoleum, but either from age or careless use, the surface was so worn it looked like tattered brown paper scattered with black dust and muddy stains. It resembled a storage room more than a home.

Given the poor state of the apartment, there was no sign of decent furniture. In the living room, a battered folding table leaned against the wall, cluttered with messy takeout boxes. Two plastic stools nearby were dirty and worn. From the bedroom doorway, an old iron-framed bed was visible; its paint chipped and faded on the footboard.

Zhang Dong was also a second-generation wealthy heir. Though his family had restricted his spending due to some unacceptable behavior, overall his background was no worse off than Lin Zhen’s. He had led a smooth life until now.

Lin Zhen, frightened by troubles with a man named Fang Touzi, had chosen to hide away to “seek refuge.” However, accustomed to luxury, she couldn't tolerate cheap hostels or remote places with poor conditions. She quickly gave up on budget travel and insisted on staying in the most comfortable, high-end hotels she could find.

Zhang Dong, by contrast, seemed surprisingly down-to-earth. He had holed up in a dilapidated suburban residential building like this one, living in a place already in disrepair.

Whether he had been completely cut off financially by his family or simply believed hiding here was more discreet remained unclear.

“Why didn’t you admit that you’re Zhang Dong earlier?” Kang Ge knew it was unlikely they could sit down comfortably in such a place, so he stood in the living room and asked, “What made you decide to live here? Are you renting or borrowing?”

“Hey! Who would I borrow from? Renting, of course! It’s cheap and quiet. I’ve been a bit troubled lately and wanted to be alone. Plus, my funds aren’t exactly overflowing, so I rented something affordable. That’s it,” Zhang Dong said with a forced laugh. “I didn’t know who you were at first. What if you were scammers? Or kidnappers? It’s only natural to be cautious around strangers, right?”

“Right, makes perfect sense,” Kang Ge said without arguing the truthfulness of his answer. “We came today because of your previous harassment calls to your ex-girlfriend, Lin Zhen.”

“What ex-girlfriend?” Zhang Dong was momentarily taken aback, seeming genuinely surprised rather than pretending.

Yan Xue thought he was trying to deny his relationship with Lin Zhen to avoid being questioned about the threatening calls and the Fang Touzi incident.

“Didn’t you just break up with her recently?” she pressed.

“Of course not!” Zhang Dong replied confidently. “She’s my girlfriend! Absolutely my girlfriend. We’re fine, never broken up. How did she suddenly become my ex?”

Yan Xue was a little surprised by this response. She expected him to try to distance himself from Lin Zhen to evade police questioning about the threatening calls and the Fang Touzi matter.

Unless those anonymous calls weren’t made by him at all, and Lin Zhen’s suspicion had misled them or she had lied. In that case, Kang Ge’s prepared evidence would be useless, and their investigation would need to be reconsidered.

Zhang Dong’s expression and reaction looked authentic, as if he truly believed what he was saying.

“If you haven’t broken up, then why did you harass her with calls? Threaten her, say you wanted to kill her, and all that?” Yan Xue decided to test him. Since they were here to bluff, if she couldn’t provoke a reaction now, it would be a waste of time to continue.

At this, a flicker of panic and clear guilt appeared on Zhang Dong’s face.

“When have I ever harassed or threatened Lin Zhen? She’s my girlfriend. Why on earth would I scare my own girlfriend? I admit we’ve had some small fights recently, but don’t couples always argue? Don’t listen to her when she’s angry—she talks nonsense! She’s normally great, but when she’s mad, she ignores facts and just blabs whatever vents her anger,” Zhang Dong rebutted seriously.

“Weren’t those calls made from your phone?” Yan Xue pulled out the call log screenshots she had gotten from Lin Zhen, with several online numbers circled in bright red, clearly visible.

Zhang Dong leaned over to look, sneered with a hint of disdain.

If he had been dressed up as Lin Zhen had described and groomed properly, that expression might have had a roguish charm. But hiding here in his shabby apartment, with no hair gel or trendy accessories, just a weary face and patchy stubble, his smile lacked any real charisma or emotional impact.

“Are you kidding me? Which of those circled numbers is a real phone number? How could you possibly say those calls came from me? Did you hear or see that for yourselves?” he asked confidently.

“These online numbers are randomly generated, so obviously not your fixed number. But that doesn’t mean the calls weren’t made from your phone!” Kang Ge was ready for his denial. While replying, he walked over to the folding table.

The table was almost completely covered with takeout boxes. Kang Ge picked up a few cleaner ones and placed them in an empty paper bag under the table. “Even if you’re forced to live here temporarily, you should still maintain some hygiene. Letting garbage pile up can breed bacteria—not good for anyone.”

Zhang Dong followed him over, watching as Kang Ge took a laptop from his bag and set it on the now cleared table space. The screen displayed a program with a black and green interface, all in English, nothing readable at a glance but looking complex.

“What is that you’re doing?” he asked with some curiosity.

“Oh, just watch,” Kang Ge smiled and entered one of the virtual numbers from the screenshot, then typed a few cryptic commands and pressed enter.

A stream of English characters flashed rapidly across the screen, too fast to catch, until finally it stopped, revealing a phone number at the bottom.

“Damn! That’s my number...” Zhang Dong, half-squatting and leaning forward to watch the scrolling text, was so shocked when the number appeared that he momentarily forgot to deny it, exclaiming before quickly catching himself.

Kang Ge straightened up. Given his height, he had to bend over quite a bit at the table. “Don’t believe it? Want me to try another incoming number and verify again if the output is still your phone number?”

“How can that be? How do you do that?” Zhang Dong was visibly nervous, unwilling to outright admit it but also not daring to deny it further. Instead, he feigned confusion.

“It’s hard to explain simply. Basically, when you make calls using software, the number the other side sees is randomly generated and virtual, but the call is actually made from your phone, which is registered with your real number. So it’s always traceable. If you don’t want anyone to know, then don’t do it!” Kang Ge patted him on the shoulder.

Zhang Dong stood there awkwardly, flustered and at a loss.

“Enough! Lin Zhen already told us everything. What’s the point of hiding now?” Kang Ge smiled.

Zhang Dong was surprised. “She told you everything? All of it?”

“Yes. How you took her to the bar, how you bought coffee beans from Fang Touzi, all the details. She told us before we came. Do you have anything else to add?”

“Heh... No! Nothing to add...” Zhang Dong forced a laugh, looking increasingly defeated.

Yan Xue watched nearby, her brow furrowed in puzzlement.

Zhang Dong seemed frustrated that Lin Zhen had revealed his involvement in buying contraband to the police, and didn’t question the timing of her confession to Kang Ge.

From his previous reactions, it was clear he was not skilled at hiding his true feelings.

If he truly intended to harm Lin Zhen—perhaps even mistaking Bai Yueni for Lin Zhen and killing her—then when Kang Ge mentioned Lin Zhen’s confession, he would have immediately sensed the huge inconsistency and stopped being fooled.

Yet Zhang Dong appeared to believe Kang Ge’s words wholeheartedly, acting like a man caught red-handed for buying and using illegal substances, utterly dismayed. What was really going on?

Was it that Zhang Dong had no murderous intent, or was he just incredibly cunning and a master actor?

If he had no murderous intent, then why did he dress as Dracula and attend Bai Yueni’s masquerade party that day?