“Li Qian, I’m telling you clearly—you’re now suspended. Come back with me immediately.” Zhang Yi’ang chased after her up this residential building.
“Why should I go back if I’m suspended?” Li Qian shook off his pulling and continued quickly up the stairs.
“Do you know how urgent the situation is right now? You’re still causing trouble. If others knew how willful you are, you won’t even get to be a police officer!”
“You’ll know in a moment!” Li Qian stopped at a doorway. This was Du Cong’s registered address in the police station records.
“Can you act a bit like a police officer!” Zhang Yi’ang stood with hands on his hips, angry at this burden yet helpless. If it were anyone else, he would have kicked them flying long ago.
Li Qian rolled her eyes at him and knocked on the door directly. After a while, Du Cong opened the door, looking at them both puzzled: “Who are you looking for? Hey—aren’t you the one who crashed during the test drive last time?”
“Look, isn’t the suitcase right there!” Li Qian’s gaze swept directly past Du Cong, staring at a suitcase leaning against the wall behind him. She pushed Du Cong aside and walked straight over.
“Hey, hey, what are you doing?” Du Cong walked over to stop her.
Li Qian laid down the suitcase, unzipped it, grabbed the contents and threw them to the side, reached down to press the buttons on the bottom one by one, immediately found the button, and the case bottom automatically opened.
“See, isn’t this the suitcase?”
Zhang Yi’ang stared dumbfounded at her operation. The suitcase was actually here. The next second, Zhang Yi’ang jumped up directly, tackled Du Cong to the ground, twisted his arm back, using his own body weight to firmly pin him down. Du Cong screamed in pain, shouting while screaming: “I never touched what’s in the suitcase. Those two people owed me money, so I drove the car back.” He thought these two were the owners of the suitcase and SUV.
Zhang Yi’ang quickly instructed Li Qian: “Go check the room.”
Li Qian hurriedly ran into the room to check, then ran out reporting: “No one in the room.”
Zhang Yi’ang pressed down firmly on the still-struggling Du Cong. Du Cong was in severe pain from having his arm twisted back, shouting: “Who are you people?”
“Quickly say where your accomplices are!”
“What accomplices? There’s only me here!”
“Are you going to talk or not!” Zhang Yi’ang applied force with his hand, bending Du Cong’s arm until it was almost deformed.
Du Cong gasped in pain, wanting to get up but pressed down firmly by Zhang Yi’ang kneeling on his back. The more he resisted, the more his hand hurt. He could only shout: “Who are you people exactly?”
“Quickly say where your accomplices are!”
“What accomplices? There’s only me here.”
“Where are your accomplices?”
“Just me alone.”
“Where are your accomplices?”
“Just me alone.”
The two stubbornly repeated the same question and answer many times.
Finally, Li Qian changed to a somewhat novel question: “Where’s the money and USB drive from the suitcase?”
“What money? I took this suitcase from a car. When I took it, there was no money. Don’t falsely accuse me. Those two people owed me money, so I drove the car back.”
“What car?”
“What money are you talking about?”
All three froze for a moment. Zhang Yi’ang asked again: “Where are your accomplices?”
“What accomplices? Just me alone.”
Li Qian asked again: “Where’s the money and USB drive?”
“What money? Don’t falsely accuse me. Those two people owed me money, so I drove the car back.”
“What car?”
“What money are you talking about?”
The three repeated this exchange again. None of them found the answer they wanted.
Zhang Yi’ang changed the question: “Are the two people you’re talking about Fang Chao and Liu Zhi?”
“Aren’t those two called Xia Tinggang and something like Xiao Mao?”
The two froze again. Looking at his appearance, he didn’t seem to be lying. The police station’s report from the next day did indeed write the names Xia Tinggang and Xiao Mao. Was there some misunderstanding here?
Li Qian asked: “How did you get this suitcase?”
“Speak quickly!” Zhang Yi’ang applied more pressure with his hand.
Du Cong, dripping with cold sweat, quickly recounted how after the crash, he forcibly drove away their car. Hearing this made the two even more confused. This suitcase had an automatic hidden compartment at the bottom—of course the same one couldn’t be bought on the market. It must be the one from Zhou Rong’s home. But how did the suitcase end up in Xia Tinggang and Xiao Mao’s hands, and finally in his?
Suddenly at that moment, several figures appeared at the doorway. The leading Zhang Debing saw the situation inside and also froze for a moment. The next second, he brought four subordinates directly rushing into the room, pulled out daggers and even a handgun, with lightning speed subdued all three people, then closed the door and tied up all three.
“Zhang Debing!” Li Qian recognized him.
“You know me? Oh, I almost forgot—to take action against my boss this time, you also did your homework thoroughly. And you—” He kicked toward Du Cong. “Even the trick of crashing the car to lure the security guards out was thought up by you people?” He then viciously kicked Zhang Yi’ang several times. “This is to return the favor for Brother Rong. Alright, where’s the other one?”
Zhang Yi’ang and Li Qian both looked at him silently. They truly hadn’t anticipated this turn of events.
Du Cong had a tooth kicked out by him. With a mouth full of blood, he cried out: “Who are you?”
Zhang Debing sneered coldly and signaled the four subordinates to search all three people. They didn’t find the USB drive, only taking out their phones. He came to the suitcase and searched through the contents—still found nothing.
He gritted his teeth: “Where’s the money?”
“What money? Those two people owed me money, so I drove the car back.” Du Cong looked completely wronged.
“Where’s the USB drive?”
“I don’t know either.”
“Where are your accomplices?”
“What accomplices? Just me alone.”
Zhang Debing took a deep breath. Seeing Du Cong knew nothing when asked three times, he angrily kicked him again. Du Cong screamed in pain, then was covered by a subordinate’s hand so he couldn’t make a sound. Zhang Debing walked aside to first ask the boss for his opinion.
In the villa were only Zhou Rong and Hu Jianren.
Just now Zhang Debing had told them the two men and one woman in the room had all been controlled. The suitcase was there, but neither the money nor the USB drive was found. That man and woman had tough mouths and refused to say anything. Du Cong said this suitcase wasn’t his—he had taken it from two other people called Xia Tinggang and Xiao Mao.
Hearing this course of events left Zhou Rong also completely confused. He looked at Hu Jianren puzzled: “What do you think we should do?”
“The money and USB drive must be in the hands of those two called Xia Tinggang and Xiao Mao.”
Zhou Rong nodded: “From what Debing said, he feels Du Cong doesn’t know about the robbery.”
“Li Qian and that other man must be accomplices, which is why they refuse to talk. We can have Debing use some methods, use the two of them as hostages to force their accomplices to come back.”
Zhou Rong shook his head: “What if the accomplices know their companions were caught and don’t dare come back?”
“This…”
“The police have already gotten involved. This matter can’t wait. We must have a resolution today. Have Du Cong take us to find those two people. Use these two accomplices as threats to catch them all in one net. After getting the items back, leave none alive.”
“What about Du Cong?”
A cold gleam flashed in Zhou Rong’s eyes: “Silence him the same way.”
“Good, I’ll handle it immediately.”
“No, this matter is too important. I also need to go.”
“But this is too dangerous.”
Zhou Rong smiled calmly: “If Debing fails at this, even sitting at home I’d just be waiting for the police to come to my door.”
Hu Jianren thought about it and nodded: “Brother Rong, I’m afraid when you go out, the police will target you.” Zhou Rong sneered coldly: “Perfect—use Xiao Mi to lure the tiger away from the mountain.”