Chapter 56: A Crucial Clue, Separate Action

"Driver, this is my non-commissioned officer ID. For the fare, please go to the SWAT detachment and look for someone named Leng; he will pay you double."

Twenty minutes later, Qi Tian hailed a taxi and arrived at the Jiangnan Municipal Public Administration Exit-Entry Bureau.

However, being somewhat strapped for cash at the moment, he could only issue an IOU, telling the driver to ask Leng Qiangguo for the money.

"So you're a young soldier. Coming out so late and to a place like this—you must be on some kind of mission, right? In that case, I won't take your money. My son is enlisting next year anyway; consider this me doing a good turn for his sake."

The driver waved his hand and responded to Qi Tian with a smile.

Hearing this, Qi Tian got out of the car, saluted the driver, expressed his gratitude, and ran straight toward the brightly lit public administration building.

It was already the middle of the night, yet this place remained brilliantly illuminated.

Aside from Ouyang Nanyun arriving ahead of time and getting the relevant person-in-charge to work overtime temporarily, Qi Tian could not think of a second possibility.

This indirectly confirmed another hypothesis in Qi Tian's mind: Ouyang Nanyun was, in all likelihood, a local from Jiangnan City.

Otherwise, how could someone riding a shared bicycle have arrived ahead of him?

The only reasonable explanation was that she knew many shortcuts and had taken a faster route!

And the facts were precisely as Qi Tian had anticipated.

As soon as he stepped into the agency, he saw Ouyang Nanyun and a staff member checking something at a desk.

Hearing the commotion of Qi Tian entering, the staff member instinctively stepped forward, preparing to stop him.

"Sir, we are currently off-duty..."

"This is my identification, I'm with her." Qi Tian quickly flashed his non-commissioned officer ID to the other person, then took three steps in two to stride up beside Ouyang Nanyun.

"How is it? Have you found any clues?"

"Many." Ouyang Nanyun did not stop what she was doing and continued flipping through the booklet in her hand.

Her reply remained as consistent as ever; aside from stating her own name, she never used more than three words.

"Many clues? That's great! It seems we are getting very close to the spy leader!"

"It's not that there are many clues. It's that there are many people who fit your screening requirements."

As soon as Qi Tian finished speaking, the staff member stepped forward and pointed to several sheets of paper covered in writing in front of Qi Tian: "These are all the ones you wanted—height between 1.60 and 1.65 meters. Locals who have applied for a passport in recent years, live modest lives, and might be able to afford a Patek Philippe luxury watch. As of now, a total of seventy-nine people have been screened out."

The passion that had just ignited in Qi Tian was completely extinguished by a bucket of water from the staff member.

The screening wasn't even finished yet, and already seventy-nine people had been found.

This number was simply too large!

Once a large-scale screening was launched tomorrow, it would very likely alert the spy leader!

As for a small-scale, secret investigation, one day would probably not be enough at all.

"Wait!"

Calming down to think for a brief moment, Qi Tian took out his phone and reviewed the spy leader's profile photo once more.

This time, Qi Tian focused primarily on the other person's attire, especially the shoes on their feet.

A spy who wore luxury watches and pursued a high quality of life would certainly pay immense attention to their clothing.

Clothes and trousers were difficult to identify by brand, but shoes were different.

In recent years, high-end brands, in order to promote their uniqueness, would design styles vastly different from other brands.

If they could determine the brand of shoes the other person was wearing, perhaps this would be yet another new clue!

"Ouyang Nanyun, do you recognize the brand of these shoes? The picture is far too blurry, it's a bit hard to identify."

After working on it for a while and finding himself getting nowhere, Qi Tian handed his phone to the female soldier and asked in a deep voice.

Ouyang Nanyun now understood Qi Tian's intention. After staring at the photo for several seconds, she shook her head: "I don't know."

Just then, the staff member standing beside them suddenly spoke up, tentatively saying, "Um... I-I seem to recognize these shoes!"

He quickly took out his own phone, searched through his photo album for a long time, magnified a picture, and handed the phone over to the two of them: "You two officers, take a look and see if this is the pair of shoes you're looking for?"

"Identical!" Qi Tian raised an eyebrow and looked at the staff member beside him: "Whose photo is this?"

"This is a photo of my daughter from when she was in college," the staff member said, recalling as he spoke:

"Just now, I accidentally saw the screenshot on your phone, and it reminded me that my daughter also had a pair that looked almost identical. These shoes were produced by a domestic brand right here in our region, called Qingfeng Domestic Goods. If I remember correctly, my daughter bought these shoes three years ago. Yes, she bought them three years ago. At the time, I thought they looked nice and even complimented her on them a couple of times! But a few months later, that domestic brand went out of business, and when I wanted to buy another pair for my wife, I never got the chance!"

After listening to the staff member's account, Qi Tian furrowed his brows and made a calm deduction:

"This looks nothing like the behavior of someone living a comfortable life. I wouldn't even be wearing shoes from three years ago, yet the other person is still wearing them to move around. This indicates either that she really likes these shoes, or her financial situation isn't very good. But can someone whose financial situation isn't very good afford a luxury brand like a Patek Philippe? Unless..."

"Fake watch!"

Ouyang Nanyun spoke up first, voicing the deduction Qi Tian hadn't yet had time to say.

At this moment, the expression on her face also noticeably grew somewhat excited.

She quickly picked up the few sheets of paper that had just been written on not long ago and began marking things on them continuously.

As for Qi Tian, he pulled the staff member aside and asked carefully, "Do you know any places nearby that make high-end counterfeit goods? Especially watches!"

"I'm not too sure about that."

The staff member instinctively shook his head and replied to Qi Tian, but within two seconds, he followed up by adding:

"However, officers, you could go to the antique market and look for someone named Four-Eyes. This guy is a notoriously well-informed fixer in our Jiangnan City. As long as you have money, he can dig up any piece of news for you, let alone someone selling fake watches. They're trying to make a living selling counterfeits anyway, so I reckon if you go find him, you'll definitely be able to dig something up!"

"Many thanks, brother! But you need to be a bit more careful in the future—we aren't called officers, we're called comrades!"

Qi Tian reached out and gave the staff member a heavy pat on the shoulder, then hurried back to Ouyang Nanyun's side:

"Combining the clues we currently hold for a comprehensive judgment, the target individual should be someone who has applied for a passport, has a mediocre family background—or even a rather poor one—yet is vain, stands between 1.60 and 1.65 meters tall, and has a slightly plump build. If we further follow up on the list in your hand and the two clues regarding the fake watch, I estimate the scope won't be too large. There are plenty of wealthy people, but it's very easy to investigate someone whose financial situation isn't all that great yet who still puts up a false front. Let's split into two paths: you go investigate those target individuals we just circled on the list, and I'll make a trip to the antique market to screen the people dealing in fake watches. In the end, we'll integrate and exchange all our clues; catching the target person is just a matter of time!"

"Okay."

This time, Ouyang Nanyun's reply still did not exceed three words, but her attitude had already undergone a clear change compared to before.

At the very least, at this moment, she fully agreed with Qi Tian's deduction.

Using the phone of the staff member at the exit-entry bureau, the two of them noted down each other's cell phone numbers and immediately split up to act.

Ouyang Nanyun went to investigate the people on the list who had ordinary family backgrounds yet had applied for passports.

As for Qi Tian, he mounted his bicycle and charged toward the antique market at full speed!