The crackdown on organized crime began with the arrest of the mother-in-law.

Chapter 1324 Investigation into Chen Gang's Interpersonal Relationships

"We'd like to ask you about Chen Gang's interpersonal relationships outside of work, such as his classmates, friends, or whether he's had any conflicts with anyone, even minor ones." Xiao Zhou sat opposite Li Mei, trying to be as gentle as possible to avoid upsetting her.

Li Mei lowered her head and pondered for a moment before slowly speaking, "Chen Gang is introverted and doesn't have many friends. He's lost contact with most of his school classmates, except for one high school classmate named Zhang Qiang, who occasionally comes over for dinner. However, their relationship has always been good; they even had drinks together last month, and I haven't heard of any conflicts between them." She paused, as if suddenly remembering something, "Oh, right, about half a year ago, Chen Gang told me that a colleague at his station was always stealing orders from him and talking badly about him behind his back. He was upset about it for several days, but he didn't mention the colleague's name."

"Order snatching? Do you remember what Chen Gang said about the specifics? For example, which region's orders were snatched, or what characteristics that colleague had?" Xiao Zhou immediately pressed for details, his pen already prepared in his notebook.

“He didn’t go into too much detail, only saying that his colleague was always ‘cutting in line’ in the system to grab the best orders that were on his way, and that he told other colleagues that Chen Gang was ‘slow and inefficient at delivering orders,’ and that they shouldn’t partner with Chen Gang,” Li Mei recalled. “I advised him not to argue with his colleague and just do his job well. He didn’t say anything more, and he never mentioned it again.”

To verify this lead, Xiao Zhou immediately contacted Zhang Qiang, Chen Gang's high school classmate. Half an hour later, Zhang Qiang arrived at Chen Gang's house. When questioned by the police, he admitted that he and Chen Gang did have a good relationship, but their last meeting was a month ago. "That day we had dinner together, and Chen Gang mentioned that he was having some trouble at work. He said that a colleague was always targeting him, but he didn't say the name. I even advised him not to take it to heart, saying that friction is inevitable in the workplace." Zhang Qiang added, "Chen Gang isn't the kind of person who holds grudges. Even if he's wronged, he usually won't argue with anyone. I really didn't expect him to do something like this."

Afterwards, Xiao Zhou visited Chen Gang's parents and neighbors, who all said that Chen Gang was a kind person who had no enemies. The only "point of conflict" was a dispute with a colleague over an order at work. "This clue is crucial!" Xiao Zhou told his team. "The 'colleague who snatched the order' that Chen Gang mentioned is likely the breakthrough. Let's go to the food delivery station now, meet up with Xiao Wang, and share this clue with him."

Meanwhile, Xiao Wang and his group had arrived at the food delivery station where Chen Gang worked. The station manager gathered more than 10 deliverymen in the meeting room. Faced with the police's questioning, everyone was initially a little reserved, until Xiao Wang explained their purpose—"We are not here to pursue responsibility, but just want to understand Chen Gang's usual work situation, find the murderer who hurt him, and give him justice."

The delivery drivers gradually relaxed and started chatting about Chen Gang's daily life. "Brother Chen is a really good guy. He'll always help deliver orders if anyone's in a hurry." "He's very conscientious with his deliveries, rarely late, and customer reviews are always good." "However, he does have a bit of a falling out with Li Zhijie. Li Zhijie always steals his orders." A delivery driver named Liu Yong said quietly, and the other drivers nodded in agreement.

Xiao Wang immediately pressed further: "Who is Li Zhijie? What are the specifics of his conflict with Chen Gang?"

Liu Yong recalled: "Li Zhijie and Chen Gang joined the company around the same time, and both of them were responsible for orders in the northern part of the city. Li Zhijie was impatient and very competitive, and always felt that Chen Gang was 'stealing his business'. About three months ago, the station adjusted the order dispatch system, prioritizing the allocation of high-quality orders to people with high delivery efficiency. Chen Gang's delivery efficiency was higher than Li Zhijie's, so Li Zhijie started to deliberately 'cut in line' to grab orders - he would refresh the order in the system in advance, and as long as he saw an order that was on his way and close by, he would immediately grab it, even if Chen Gang was nearby."

Another deliveryman added, "Once, Chen Gang received an order for a shantytown in the north of the city. He was almost at his destination when Li Zhijie suddenly called and said, 'I'm on my way here, can you transfer this order to me?' Chen Gang disagreed, so Li Zhijie directly filed a complaint in the system, saying that Chen Gang had 'failed to pick up the food on time,' and forcibly took the order away. When Chen Gang came back, he was very angry and told us that Li Zhijie 'went too far,' but he didn't go to argue with Li Zhijie."

"Did Chen Gang have an argument with Li Zhijie about being late with food delivery a week before he disappeared?" Xiao Wang asked quickly, recalling the clue about "troublemaking customers" he had heard during his previous visits.

Liu Yong paused for a moment, then nodded: "Yes! About 10 days ago, Li Zhijie took an order for a shantytown in the north of the city. He was late because of traffic, and the customer complained about him. When he came back, instead of reflecting on his actions, he told us that 'Chen Gang deliberately switched the order with him and pushed the order that was easy to be late onto him.' Later, in the station's break room, he even argued with Chen Gang, saying that Chen Gang was 'two-faced.' Chen Gang tried to explain, but he wouldn't listen and finally slammed the door and left."

Xiao Wang's heart skipped a beat, and he continued to ask, "What clothes does Li Zhijie usually wear? Does he wear blue work clothes? How tall is he? What's his voice like?"

“He always wears a blue polyester overall, the kind that our station issues. He’s about 175 centimeters tall, rather stocky, and has a very hoarse voice because he’s a heavy smoker, smoking two packs a day.” Liu Yong’s answer caught Xiao Wang’s eye – these characteristics perfectly matched the “man in blue overall” described by the convenience store owner and the “troublemaker” mentioned by Chen Gang’s colleague!

"Where is Li Zhijie now? Did he come to work today?" Xiao Wang asked immediately.

The site manager shook his head: "He didn't come to work today, nor did he ask for leave. I called him this morning, but his phone was off, and he wasn't replying to WeChat messages. I thought he was sick."

Xiao Wang immediately decided: "Immediately retrieve Li Zhijie's personal information and delivery records! Focus on investigating the orders he received in the past month for the Chengbei shantytown area, especially those placed using virtual phone numbers or with vague address notes!"

At 4 p.m., Xiao Zhou arrived at the food delivery station and met up with Xiao Wang. After exchanging their investigation results, all the clues instantly connected.

From an interpersonal perspective, Li Zhijie and Chen Gang had a long-standing order dispute and had a heated argument a week before Chen Gang's disappearance, indicating a clear motive for conflict. From a physical perspective, Li Zhijie is 175 cm tall, of stocky build, wearing blue polyester overalls, and has a hoarse voice, which perfectly matches the "man in blue overalls" seen by the convenience store owner and the "troublemaking customer" described by Chen Gang's colleague. From a behavioral perspective, after Chen Gang's disappearance, Li Zhijie not only failed to come to work but also turned off his phone and became unreachable, suggesting a clear attempt to evade responsibility.