On October 11, 2006, I contacted Guo Tianhua, the agent of the real estate brokerage company.

"Hello, we are the reporters who contacted you on the phone before."

"Oh, you guys, please sit, please. You want to ask us something about a customer, right? Originally, we couldn't disclose this matter, we have a confidentiality agreement, and other people's information ......"

"We didn't mean to ask for Mr. Zhang's personal information. We just want to know who he rents out and if there are any special circumstances. ”

"This is also what we want to keep secret......"

"But in our previous interviews, we got some clues. Mr. Zhang's tenants are concentrated in the group of young women, and there is a lot of turnover of tenants. One resident reported to us that one of his tenants had behaved unusually. Does your company vet the landlord when selecting a property? ”

"Well, of course we have censorship. We review the landlord's identity, his property, these ......"

"Is that all? Like this landlord, who rents to a young woman, who is himself a middle-aged and elderly man, have you not been suspicious? ”

"It's not that they all rent to young women, his most recent tenant was a man, and he used to rent to a family......"

"How old is the wife in that family?"

"Huh? This ......"

"So, did you find out something was wrong after we asked for an interview?"

"No, no...... Alas, this thing...... To be honest, I didn't have any doubts. I've also contacted those who quit their leases. We sign a contract, it's a tripartite contract, but it's not all tripartite contracts. Some people have been introduced by us and met with the landlord, so they leave us behind and talk directly to the landlord. The landlord will also bypass us and cancel the original contract. For this, they will need to pay a little liquidated damages, but it will be much cheaper than if we signed a three-party contract. We're helpless too. We could have regulated something, and we would have helped defend it, but now it'......"

"What do you mean, Mr. Zhang's tenants didn't sign a tripartite contract before? You don't know the personal information of those female tenants? ”

"yes, so this situation ......"

"But we investigate through a number of channels, and you have that information in your company. Since Mr. Zhang first signed a contract with you in 01, he has signed a total of five tenants through you, and among these five tenants, there are several young women. ”

"Ah, yes, yes...... There are two of them...... I've got in touch with them. When the contract is terminated, it is negotiated between the two parties, but when the contract is signed, it must be through us. Mr. Zhang came and said that the tenant had left, and I had contacted Miss Luo. ”

"Is it Miss Luo Jia?"

"Yes, it's her. I contacted her and called, she said that the sound insulation of the house was not good, the quality was not good, and she was worried about living there, so she decided to change the house. ”

"Is there a problem with the quality of the house?"

"No, this shouldn't be the case. This house has been built for about 20 years now, almost 30 years, and the house is aging, but there is absolutely no quality problem. The whole community is fine. The most problems are the corridor lights and water pipes, and everything else is fine. ”

"What kind of quality problem is Miss Luo reacting to?"

"It's soundproofing. She goes to work early and goes to bed early at night, but the room is not well insulated, so she is a little unaccustomed to it. She said that she could hear the voices of the neighbors, upstairs and downstairs, and she was a little upset. But ah......"

"But what?"

"Well, my personal guess is, this, this might be an excuse."

"And what do you think is the real reason?"

"Oh, that's what you suspected...... I listened to the latter one, Miss Zhu, who rented a house in the back, and she took the initiative to report the problem to us. She wants to complete the follow-up rental agreement through us, that is, the rent and everything will be transferred through us, and the door locks will be changed. I thought...... Hmmm......"

"Did she tell you that there was a problem with the landlord?"

"Hmm...... It was a reflection of it, and after saying that, she moved away not long after. I also asked, that Mr. Zhang didn't do anything substantial, there was no such ...... He just calls more frequently, and often has nothing to say. Maybe that's the kind of ...... Hey, it's a different story with a different person, a younger, good-looking landlord, right? But we can't discriminate against ...... in this matter."

"Our investigation found that Zhang Dongliang terminated the contract with your company for a period of time in 03."

"Yes."

"What did he do with the house during that time?"

"What to do...... I don't know about that...... He said that he lived by himself, and his relatives came to his hometown. I guess that's right...... It's been a long time, and I don't remember it very well. ”

"During that period, before and after, did Zhang Dongliang have any special performances?"

"You ...... Did you find anything? What did you find? ”

What about your answer? Have you noticed any special performance of Zhang Dongliang before and after that? ”

"I ...... This one...... You ask this suddenly...... It was all in '03, three years ago...... I ......"

"Mr. Guo, please think about it carefully."

"Suddenly asked, I ...... What exactly did he do? Did he do something to the girl who rented the house? Don't scare me. Our agents are serious businessmen, no, really not...... We don't know. What their landlords and tenants do, we can't monitor. We just check the qualifications beforehand, and afterwards, if there is a problem afterwards, we can help mediate. The rental house here has always been in good condition, there are no disputes, and no one has said that they want to call the police or go to court. This thing ......"

"Mr. Guo, please don't be nervous. We know that you may not know about Zhang Dongliang......"

"I really don't know!"

"Okay. You really don't know. We hope you can provide some clues. Please recall carefully, in 03, it should be around the summer of 03, Zhang Dongliang and you talked about termination, when you talked about signing the contract, was there any difference between the two times? ”

"Nope! Not really! There's nothing strange about it—"

"What do you think of?"

"I ...... I remembered, at that time, when you said it, there was no, but later, after that, one rented a house, and the other surnamed Ai, when Miss Ai rented a house, Zhang Dongliang ...... Zhang Dongliang is very strange...... He came to me and asked me if I could give back the lease and if I could not rent it to Miss Ai. Later, I don't know how they talked about it, and the Miss Ai moved away. ”

"Did Miss Ai say anything?"

"No, she hasn't contacted us."

Addendum 15.

(End of chapter)