Chapter 369: Chapter 369: Then Tell Me How He Struggled, How He Worked Hard

Chen Xiao instructed Liu Dayou to drive to the welfare institute first.

Although the welfare institute has been rebuilt once and will undergo a second renovation thanks to Qiu Huasheng’s donations,

the address hasn’t changed.

Moreover, from Pan Huiping, Chen Xiao learned that Zheng Xiang seemed to be a very important former dean to the welfare institute.

Chen Xiao mentioned he needed to investigate Qiu Tingfang primarily, but everything about Qiu Tingfang started at the welfare institute.

Driving the car, both Chen Xiao and Liu Dayou arrived at the welfare institute.

However, upon arriving, Chen Xiao did not notify the Celestial Valley District Branch.

The branch is very busy at the moment.

Because since Chen Xiao came over last night, the progress made was almost the sum of several previous days.

They initially had to investigate several people with the surname Qiu, and then another Qiu Tingfang appeared.

The identity of the later discovered Qiu Tingfang had already become of utmost importance to the district branch.

However, considering the time, the identity of that Qiu Tingfang should reveal itself soon.

Taking advantage of the time before the identity was found, Chen Xiao decided to look into the past of both these women and Zheng Xiang at the welfare institute.

Arriving at the welfare institute, after stating the purpose of his visit, the current dean of the welfare institute immediately led Chen Xiao to a photo wall.

The current Dean Hu pointed to a photo at the topmost position and said:

"That’s Dean Zheng Xiang. Although he passed away many years ago, there were two other deans between him and me."

"But to our welfare institute, no matter how many years pass, we can never forget the contributions he made to the institute."

Dean Hu’s words made both Chen Xiao and Liu Dayou feel the influence Zheng Xiang had on the welfare institute.

"The welfare institute was struggling a lot previously, right?" Chen Xiao found a topic, and Dean Hu nodded continuously:

"Yes, before Dean Zheng took charge, the welfare institute almost couldn’t hold on several times. It was Dean Zheng who gathered donations from all over society, and it was only year after year that it could continue."

"Most importantly, the children who lived here in the past have all grown up. It was precisely because Dean Zheng never gave up on them, that now the welfare institute receives many donations annually."

"I see, then was Dean Hu also working at the welfare institute when Dean Zheng was in charge?"

"Yes, I was there when President Qiu and his wife visited the welfare institute." Dean Hu knew what Chen Xiao wanted to ask, so he mentioned it first. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Chen Xiao nodded: "If I remember correctly, Qiu Tingfang only lived at the welfare institute for a few months, right?"

"That’s right, but President Qiu and his wife are the most special couple to have ever adopted a child from our welfare institute. Or to put it bluntly, they were the wealthiest, so all the elderly people at the institute knew them. Back then, if it weren’t for them, our welfare institute wouldn’t have survived that year either."

Chen Xiao looked again at the photo of Zheng Xiang and asked:

"So, that year, did the Qiu Huasheng couple donate quite a substantial amount as well?"

"Yes, if I recall correctly, it wasn’t much less than this time."

"Hmm? Not much less than this time?" Chen Xiao’s expression immediately changed.

Among the people Chen Xiao knew, Guo Zhengchang ranked first in terms of financial power.

And Qiu Huasheng was second!

The latter’s wealth, even if not in the hundreds of billions, would surely be in the tens of billions.

But that was now!

Over a decade ago, due to his elder brother’s accidental death, Qiu Huasheng successfully took charge.

However, the concept of a few million in 1990 and a few million in 2006 is entirely different.

"Why did he donate so much?" Chen Xiao asked deeply.

This question left Dean Hu momentarily speechless.

"Kindness is priceless, and besides, President Qiu is a wealthy businessman, so a few million wouldn’t be a huge sum to him, right?" Dean Hu was quite awkward.

Chen Xiao, however, spoke even more seriously: "The real rise of the Qiu Family occurred in the past decade or so under Qiu Huasheng’s leadership. Over a decade ago, the Qiu Family was indeed a major enterprise in their locality, but only about a third of the size they are now."

"That’s something I’m not clear about. The recorded amount at the time was an even number, five million! It was also with that five million that the welfare institute managed to continue, ensuring those poor children had food when hungry and a place to sleep when tired."

Dean Hu’s tone was noticeably displeased as he said this, to which Chen Xiao replied:

"I’m not questioning the welfare institute but suspecting Qiu Huasheng. He’s not of our nationality, and it was his first time here. Of course, I know many overseas Chinese are very charitable, often donating during major disasters."

"But Qiu Huasheng’s ancestral home isn’t in Hai City, so why would he donate to a welfare institute in Hai City and adopt a daughter there?"

As Chen Xiao asked, he didn’t wait for Dean Hu to reply, instead continuing:

"That’s right, this matter is problematic, but because it happened over a decade ago, one tends to overlook it. How could Qiu Huasheng be so generous back then? Forget five million, even fifty thousand or half a million would have been greatly appreciated."

"That was 1990!"

Saying this, Chen Xiao grabbed Dean Hu’s wrist and seriously asked:

"Dean Hu, you were one of the staff back then, can you tell me if it was Dean Zheng who brought Qiu Huasheng here?"

"Yes, it was Dean Zheng who brought President Qiu to the welfare institute. After President Qiu and his wife met the sensible Miss Qiu in the welfare institute, everything followed!"

Upon hearing this,

Chen Xiao suddenly felt that the matter behind the case might truly not be simple.

He didn’t want to suspect an elderly man who devoted his life to the welfare institute.

But the donations brought in by this elderly man before his passing was indeed too unreasonable.

Combined with Qiu Huasheng’s identity and experience, everything became even more inexplicable.

Even Liu Dayou, after thinking about it for a while, replied: "At first, I thought it was poverty that made me feel it was nothing, but with what you just said, Brother Chen, I also find it increasingly strange."

Dean Hu’s face had already fallen: "You two, do you know how hard and tirelessly Dean Zheng worked to bring in this donation?"

Still, Chen Xiao remained earnest:

"Then Dean Hu needs to tell us in detail exactly how hard and tirelessly Dean Zheng worked for that donation!"

Chen Xiao wasn’t confronting him but was genuinely asking about it.

But upon this inquiry, Dean Hu stammered for quite a while, yet couldn’t say a word about how Zheng Xiang worked hard and tirelessly.

Chen Xiao didn’t press further.

After thinking seriously for a moment, he called Xiaoji:

"Hey, Xiaoji, are you awake?"

"Just woke up, was going to call you and Dayou."

"We’re at the Celestial Valley Welfare Institute now. When you come over, go pick up Qiu Huasheng. I need to ask him some questions in person."

"Okay!"

Xiaoji was straightforward, but Chen Xiao felt a bit uneasy and advised:

"Wait, go to the criminal police team and bring a few detectives along. I’ll call Captain Pan immediately to notify her first!"