Chapter 222: Chapter 222

Shi Nian couldn’t help but glance at Tang Yanqing.

Tang Yanqing tilted her head and confidently met her gaze: "The Lynch family’s background lacks an accurate database, we can only do cross-referencing. And the premise of cross-referencing is that everyone can think of enough related clues. It’s a collaborative effort, Xiao Yi’s intuition is quite good."

Shi Nian knew that Tang Yan Yi was the daughter of Tang Mingxiang and Su Xi Liu, raised under their influence. Moreover, she excelled at police academy and once passed the FBI’s selection training... So she set aside her personal biases and decisively nodded.

Everyone sat down, each with at least one computer in front of them.

Tang Yanqing rolled up both sleeves above her elbows, leaned forward, showing taut and powerful muscle lines, and ordered in a deep voice: "Begin."

Five people simultaneously searched the keyword "Lynch" across all databases on the internet.

Guan Liang spoke first: "In this city alone, there are over 200 entries for ’Lynch’ in the household registry. Regardless of gender, they possess professional knowledge backgrounds, have good financial status, and their tax records each year are complete and impressive."

Jia Tianzi continued: "These 200 Lynchs, from household records and medical record comparisons, indicate that 175 of them have genetic information coming from the same European ancestor, meaning they could still belong to the same family upon arriving on the M Continent. However, distinguishing by blood relation proximity, 63 of them belong within five generations, which can be recognized as belonging to the same family for up to a hundred years."

Tang Yan Yi followed: "By checking all their communication methods and social network records, it’s possible to find that 31 of them have interacted within the last two years. From call content and uploaded photos on the internet, we can confirm they are members of the same family. Among these 31, 12 are middle-aged or elderly over 50, 9 are minors under 18, and there are 10 adults between 18 and 50, including 6 men and 4 women, all belonging to an elite group."

Shi Nian listened in shock. She had tried searching for this information on the internet before but couldn’t find it. Now she realized it’s likely they used the police’s internal network to access many department databases to retrieve such extensive information.

Tang Yanqing herself was also typing swiftly on the keyboard but said nothing. After a moment, she turned to Shi Nian: "What about you? What have you thought of?"

Shi Nian blushed with embarrassment: "I’m using the public network, I can’t find anything."

"Who said so? Even on the public network, there’s plenty to discover under ’Lynch’."

He winked at her, long eyelashes lowered and then raised in the screen’s dim glow, as if in slow motion, making it impossible for her to escape their tempting length, causing a slight flutter in her heart.

Tang Yan Yi turned to look as well, her eyes cold, showing a sliver of mockery under the screen’s fluorescence: "You’re also a journalist after all, even without our police’s internal network, you surely have a journalist’s unique intuition. Even using the public network, journalists can certainly filter out useful clues, otherwise how would one be a journalist?"

Tang Yan Yi’s tone clearly carried hostility.

Jia Tianzi winked at Guan Liang, and both paused their work, turning to look at the three of them.

Tang Yanqing did not interrupt, instead leaning back and letting Tang Yan Yi’s gaze clash directly with Shi Nian’s. He even raised his eyebrows slightly, with a hint of a smile: "Xiao Yi is right. Go ahead and say what you have."

Originally, she didn’t want to speak up... afraid to be ridiculed for showing off in front of experts. Yet Tang Yanqing’s demeanor made it unavoidable for her.

Shi Nian took a deep breath, quietly clenched her fist: "Alright then, I’ll speak. When it comes to the surname Lynch... I first thought of the famous director, known as the ’wizard director,’ David Lynch."

She turned to look at Jia Tianzi: "Mr. Jia, could you please expand the comparison scope and see if David Lynch also fits your comparison criteria?"

Jia Tianzi paused, but soon turned back to the keyboard: "Alright, I’ll compare now."

Tang Yan Yi chuckled: "David Lynch might be the most famous Lynch right now. It’s no surprise you thought of him. Anyone using a search engine could find him."

Shi Nian felt a little saddened inside. Tang Yan Yi didn’t completely say anything wrong; the fact is indeed true.

Tang Yanqing slightly raised his brows: "David Lynch... hmm, this discovery is not bad. Anything else? Keep going."

Indeed, compared to the precise figures laid out by the first three, Shi Nian veering suddenly into movie directors seemed somewhat off-topic; yet Tang Yanqing encouraged her to keep speaking... but the next discovery she had made her somewhat reluctant to express.

She frowned and refused: "I think, let’s forget it. I’ll listen to you guys."

"Speak." Tang Yanqing insisted, his gaze warmly landing on her: "We’re here today for cross-referencing, which requires brainstorming to dig out turbulent truths from seemingly peaceful databases deliberately covered up."

Shi Nian took a deep breath: "Fine, I’ll continue: Lynch, lynch, this term originally carries the meaning of ’executed by private punishment’."

Seems like... we’ve gone off-topic even more.

Tang Yanqing squinted his eyes immediately.

"Shi Nian, tell us your conclusion."

Shi Nian took a deep breath: "The hypothesis that the sirs are researching is: Lin Qi is their real surname, and they search for their behavioral history under this surname; whereas I differ from the sirs, my hypothesis is: maybe even Lin Qi is not their original surname, maybe they only started using it after coming to this country; or those mentioned under Lin Qi might actually have some with the real surname and some who changed it."

Shi Nian glanced at Tang Yanqing, hoping to find strength in his eyes. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel fire.net

As expected, Tang Yanqing’s eyes shone with splendor. He stared at her, unblinkingly. That light was gentle and bright, making her feel warmth and encouragement.

She lowered her head, feeling much calmer inside.

"Under my hypothesis, I’m trying to find out why they chose to use Lin Qi as a surname. Conventionally, if they opted for Lin Qi, it’s either because of the word itself or some qualities possessed by people with this surname that they admire or perhaps dream of having."

Tang Yanqing nodded, smiled, and continued: "David Lynch has a distinctive style; his films create bizarre, gloomy environments filled with Freudian psychological analysis; he conveys horror and suspense through the method of dark humor, making him stand out."

Shi Nian bit her lip, her eyes shining brightly as she stared at him: "It’s very much in line with the criminals we’re looking for, isn’t it?"

Guan Liang suddenly slapped the table: "And whether it’s Zhou Guanghan’s death, Sean’s death, or even tracing back to the blood-red lip mark on the threatening doll, they can all be regarded as a form of ’vigilante justice’!"

Jia Tianzi also slowly nodded and exchanged a silent look with Tang Yanqing, raising his brows.

All these little details, Tang Yan Yi noticed. She couldn’t help but let out a cold snort: "We’ve all been investigating the Lin Qi family’s background, but you’ve casually assumed Lin Qi is just a fake surname, effortlessly erasing all our efforts."

Tang Yan Yi wasn’t wrong; what they had been doing was reasoning and searching under the condition of ’yes’; whereas she was deducing under the premise of ’no.’ These were two entirely different paths, naturally leading to contradictions and conflicts.

Shi Nian also frankly nodded: "Yes, what I did was just a deduction, without actual evidence. Or perhaps just an intuition, without factual support. Sorry, you don’t have to be influenced by me."

The underlying tension between the two beauties left Jia Tianzi and Guan Liang at a loss for words. However, Tang Yanqing didn’t seem bothered at all; he lowered his eyes, resting his chin on his hand, contemplated for a moment, then professionally said: "Alright, let’s temporarily revert to the same direction. Shi Nian, set aside your ’no’ premise deduction and join us in the ’yes’ comparative search."

Was he supporting Tang Yan Yi, denying her?

She couldn’t help but turn her head to glance at his expression, but his solemn countenance simply stunned her. At this moment, Tang Yanqing was no longer the cheeky big boy biting ’tough cigarettes’ in the rain, nor was he the genteel and aloof professor in Kangchuan University’s behavioral analysis class... before her eyes, he was looking earnest, his eyes crystalline, possessing a unique beauty of contemplation.

Shi Nian quietly sighed, lightly bit her lip: "Alright."

Tang Yanqing summoned everyone back to the computer, "Continue."

Flat clues, parallel numbers, lined up one by one.

The next task is to find the connection conditions between these clues. See which one can be verified with Mark’s direct relative, to discern the background information that aligns with the Mark family.

Tang Yan Yi said: "From the existing information, it looks like the Mark family first invested in the textile industry. Investing in textiles requires substantial financial resources, and also relevant industry experience; no one completely unfamiliar with the field would venture into it recklessly. So let’s search for the prosperous textile cities in Europe at that time, search the families engaged in the textile industry, and compare entry records at customs to see if there are discoveries."

While Tang Yan Yi spoke, Guan Liang was already rapidly typing, beginning the search and comparison. As Tang Yan Yi finished speaking, Guan Liang let out a low exclamation: "Among the textile giants entering this country, there’s no one with the surname Lin Qi."

[Early morning second update~]