Zhang Yi’ang brought Wang Ruijun to the interrogation room. The interrogation team members told them that Yang Wei was very slippery, repeatedly saying Lin Kai’s death had nothing to do with him and that it must have been Boss Fang who hired someone to do it. As for other matters, he either talked around them or refused to mention them at all, even denying that he had forced Boss Fang to drink urine.

Now the surveillance had traced Lin Kai’s death—eighty percent certainty it was those two robbers who did it, indeed unrelated to Yang Wei and Boss Fang. Zhang Yi’ang waved his hand to dismiss the interrogation team members, telling them to turn off all surveillance and recording equipment in the interrogation room. He only brought Wang Ruijun in with him, shut the door firmly, and sat down in front of Yang Wei with a gloomy expression.

Yang Wei stared wide-eyed at them. These two were obviously leaders. Sending people away, turning off surveillance—an idea instantly popped into his mind: they were going to use torture to extract a confession! Before the two could start questioning, Yang Wei cried out first: “Leaders, I’m really wronged. Lin Kai’s death has nothing to do with me. He and I were brothers. I couldn’t possibly kill him. It must have been that guy surnamed Fang who hired someone to do Lin Kai in.”

“Is that so?” Zhang Yi’ang was expressionless. Of course he wouldn’t tell him the investigation results. He only said coldly, “According to what we know, there was still some conflict between you and Lin Kai.”

“I… I did sleep with Lin Kai’s wife. Apart from that, in our usual business dealings we kept things crystal clear—there was no conflict.”

“What? You slept with Lin Kai’s wife?” Zhang Yi’ang had only wanted to use interrogation tactics to trick him, but who knew he’d trick out the fact that he slept with his brother’s wife.

“Lin Kai himself went looking for prostitutes everywhere. He didn’t touch his wife more than a few times a year, so we naturally… you know. But this… Lin Kai didn’t know about this! I couldn’t possibly have killed him. I’m really wronged!”

“Whether you’re wronged or not, we’ll naturally investigate. I’m not asking you about Lin Kai today—I’m asking you about some other matters. However, I heard that when they interrogated you earlier, you weren’t very cooperative.”

“I… I was very cooperative!” Yang Wei opened his innocent big eyes wide, deliberately trying to make himself look more sincere.

Zhang Yi’ang leaned his body backward and smiled breezily: “I’ve seen plenty of people like you. Generally, when they’re just arrested and brought into the Public Security Bureau, they always want to rely on their little bit of cleverness to beat around the bush with the police, deny everything in various ways, and tell lie after lie. However, after just a few days, they all can’t wait to pledge loyalty. Ask them about one thing, and they’ll answer you one through seven. Why are they so cooperative? Because we police have a hundred methods to make you tell the truth. Like you—if you refuse to tell the truth, in a bit I’ll have someone send you to the detention center, then have a word with the detention center to put you together with a rapist, and tell the rapist that you slept with your brother’s wife. Guess what happens? Ha ha ha ha… The next day I guarantee you’ll be so happy you won’t be able to get out of bed.”

Zhang Yi’ang let out a horrifying laugh. Even Wang Ruijun couldn’t help but shudder when he heard it, instinctively clamping his legs tightly together.

Yang Wei’s eyes widened as he slowly swallowed his saliva and laughed obsequiously in a low voice: “This… this won’t work. Police teacher… you police can’t do this. Law enforcement is very standardized now.”

“Don’t pretend to be naive with me!” Zhang Yi’ang slammed the table and shouted coldly, “If I feel even half a sentence of what you say today isn’t honest, you’ll see whether I’ll do this or not!”

Wang Ruijun was also inspired by his leader. He rolled up his sleeves and crudely played the role of a chef: “If you don’t cooperate, before going to the detention center I’ll first kick your bird eggs to pieces and make egg fried rice for your dinner today!”

Yang Wei swallowed his saliva. His scalp instantly exploded. Thinking of that image, all the hair on his body stood up. He wished he could pull out his character and place it on the table, guaranteeing with the utmost sincerity: “Leaders, whatever you want to ask, I’ll confess everything. I won’t dare to lie even half a word!”

This wave of ideological education was very effective, much more effective than the big characters saying “leniency for confession, severity for resistance.” Zhang Yi’ang nodded at Wang Ruijun, who immediately got to the point: “I’m asking you, did you force urine into Fang Guoqing’s mouth or not?”

Yang Wei hesitated for a few seconds. He was just about to deny it, but seeing the gazes the two men across from him were casting, he could only bow his head and admit: “I did force him to drink urine, but at that time I was really panicked and lost my head. I couldn’t control my emotions. I’m very regretful now. If there’s a chance, I must apologize to him properly.”

“Who witnessed this?”

Yang Wei hesitated again. The police were asking about witnesses, but he didn’t dare hesitate too long. He could only vaguely say: “Everyone present saw it.”

“Who was present?”

“There was… Boss Fang’s family, and… and a few of my younger gang members. They’ve all been arrested by you.”

Wang Ruijun looked back at his leader. Zhang Yi’ang spoke: “You illegally detained Fang Guoqing’s family and forcibly made someone drink urine. This is definitely a criminal offense. However, fortunately you didn’t injure anyone—the injury assessment won’t show anything. Don’t worry, no matter how you’re sentenced, it won’t exceed ten years. However, you made high-interest loans, used violence to collect debts, and organized and led a criminal organization—”

Yang Wei hastily interrupted. He wasn’t stupid. The first few charges were manageable, but organizing and leading a criminal organization was a major crime in China that could carry the maximum penalty at most. He quickly said: “Leader, I just led a few younger gang members to make loans and collect debts. We… our scale isn’t enough to qualify as a criminal organization.”

Zhang Yi’ang sneered coldly: “Whether it is or not, I don’t have the final say. There’s a common saying, isn’t there: we in Public Security buy the vegetables, the Procuratorate cooks the vegetables, and the court eats the vegetables. We just submit your various circumstances to the Procuratorate. How the Procuratorate speaks and how the court judges is their business. However, as you know, how the dish ultimately turns out depends on what vegetables were bought. If there’s some ingredient mixed into the bought vegetables, well, in the end it’s hard to say. Speaking of which, whether this is a criminal organization or not, let’s set that aside for now. High-interest loans, violent debt collection—all of these will carry sentences, right? What’s more, you forced urine into Fang Guoqing’s mouth, causing his entire family to march through the streets. In this matter, the government leadership is extremely furious—the whole society is watching.”

“I… I’ll never dare again.” Yang Wei was intimidated into immobility. He also knew that originally this kind of matter might have just had the police station come forward to mediate. The reason it alarmed the Public Security Bureau and they directly arrested the whole group was entirely because the victims marched through the streets and completely blew things up.

Zhang Yi’ang continued: “Such a major matter—in the end when the court tries it, if they don’t severely sentence you to several more years, do you think all parties can account for it? However, everything has a turning point. If you’re willing to atone for your crimes through meritorious service, I think these matters can be handled internally within our Public Security system. There’s no need to proceed to the court stage.”

Yang Wei thought for a few seconds. His eyes rolled as he connected it to the series of actions the two leaders had just made—withdrawing the interrogation personnel and turning off surveillance. He suddenly understood. He rubbed his handcuffed fingers together, stretched his neck forward, and asked with a grin: “Leader, what’s the price?”

“Price your mother!” Wang Ruijun’s one sentence scared away his grin. “We want you to cooperate in handling a matter!”

“Uh… what matter?”

Wang Ruijun glanced at Zhang Yi’ang. Director Zhang nodded, so he said to Yang Wei: “First tell us about Fang Guoqing owing you money.”

“Boss Fang… because the factory was having operational difficulties, so… so half a year ago he borrowed a sum of money from us. This debt has his personal signature and seal—it’s real.”

“Operational difficulties? Bullshit! Tell the truth.”

“He… he lost money gambling and borrowed money from us to turn things around.”

“Did he borrow from you?”

“I…” He wanted to speak but stopped.

“Speak!” Wang Ruijun slammed the table hard.

Yang Wei immediately blurted out: “Fang Guoqing went to Macau to gamble. He lost all of one million, then borrowed five million from the casino in several installments to double up. Later he lost it all. The casino had us collect the debt from him.”

“Who runs the casino?”

“It’s… it’s a boss in Macau!”

“Your sworn eldest brother Mei Dong, right?”

Yang Wei was stunned. He frowned and could only nod.

“How do you and Mei Dong split the money?”

“After we collect the debt, we return the principal to him. The bulk of the interest goes to us. If it’s owed for a long time, we give him half of the interest portion.”

“After you collect the debt, how do you give the money to Mei Dong?”

“We find someone to take it to Macau.”

“Bullshit! Can millions in amounts just be carried like that?”

“This… other people have their own channels. I’m not too clear about it.”

“You’re still not telling the truth! How exactly is the money transferred out!”

“I… I really don’t know.”

Wang Ruijun was about to get angry when Zhang Yi’ang put out his hand to stop him and suddenly inexplicably asked: “Have you ever studied dance?”

“Dance?” Yang Wei shook his head blankly. “No.”

“That’s good. We’ll teach you to do the splits then.”

“Sounds good.” Wang Ruijun responded.

He had just stood up when Yang Wei cried out on the spot: “Leader, leader! I’ll talk, I’ll tell everything. I don’t want to do the splits. I really don’t want to do the splits.”

Zhang Yi’ang laughed and signaled Wang Ruijun to sit back down.

“In Hang City there’s a company that’s secretly an underground bank. It has many import-export enterprises set up underneath it. We give the money to that company, and they transfer the money abroad through foreign trade in name. Abroad there are specialized channels for collecting money. That’s how we give money to Mei Dong. As for how the underground bank specifically operates, I really don’t know.”

“Does that underground bank only do business for Mei Dong?”

“Of course not. The underground bank is very large. We can only be considered small business. The big business involves tens of millions to hundreds of millions being transferred out. I heard that the company’s subordinate foreign trade companies use state-owned enterprise names, and some people from state-owned enterprises participate in it to share the benefits.”

“Who goes to handle it each time you transfer money?”

“Generally I go. Lin Kai also handled it a few times.”

“Do you still have those remittance vouchers?”

“They’re all there. Lin Kai’s wife is the accountant. She specifically keeps these.”

Wang Ruijun glanced at Zhang Yi’ang. Zhang Yi’ang nodded very calmly, but the color of delight in his eyes was already bursting forth. This line of questioning had actually uncovered a major underground banking case. The country was cracking down on illegal asset transfers—borrowing state-owned enterprise names to do trade while actually helping gray funds transfer abroad. This lead was simply explosive!

Wang Ruijun quickly pressed on: “How does Mei Dong contact you?”

“He… he generally uses internet and phone.”

“Has he come back to the country?”

Yang Wei hesitated, then was shouted at violently by Wang Ruijun. He swallowed his saliva, thinking that having confessed to this point, if he didn’t make things clear he definitely couldn’t leave the Public Security Bureau. He could only be sorry to Mei Dong. He said: “He came back a few times, went to Hang City, and called us brothers over to get together.”

“Has he come back to San Jiang Kou?”

Yang Wei shook his head: “No. He knows he’s wanted and doesn’t dare come back to San Jiang Kou.”

“Then how does he enter the country?”

“He didn’t say this. Leader, he really didn’t tell us. I think he must have his own methods.”

Regarding this, Wang Ruijun and Zhang Yi’ang were indifferent. Entering the country with a fake identity wasn’t impossible—it was just a matter of spending some money to find the right channels.

Zhang Yi’ang coughed once and spoke again: “If Mei Dong knew Lin Kai was dead, given your friendship, would he come back to attend the funeral?”

“Uh…” With this question, Yang Wei completely understood what the police wanted to do. He hesitated for a long time, unwilling to answer.

“Speak!” Wang Ruijun shouted.

“I… I don’t know. He probably won’t come back.” He didn’t dare raise his head.

“Didn’t you several people have very strong friendship?” Zhang Yi’ang looked at him calmly and unhurriedly.

“That was before. These past few years with the distance so far, the friendship… the friendship has faded. If he knows Lin Kai is dead, I think… I think he’ll have someone send a white envelope. He himself won’t come back.”

“Back in the day, four sworn brothers—now one is dead. For the eldest brother to just watch and not come back—how can that make sense no matter what?”

“This… nowadays very few people talk about loyalty.”

“According to what we know, Mei Dong is someone who talks about loyalty very much. I heard he could rise to his current position also because of his loyalty.”

“I’m not him. I don’t know.” Yang Wei struggled weakly.

“All right then. This matter can’t be forced.” Zhang Yi’ang’s tone seemed not to want to make things difficult for him at all. “Whether you want to atone for crimes through meritorious service depends on your own statement. If you’re willing to cooperate and call Mei Dong back so we can arrest him, that’s called atoning for crimes through meritorious service. Even though today’s matter blew up so big, it won’t be a big deal anymore. I guarantee you’ll get out safely. Everything you’ve committed before today will all be crossed off in one stroke—at most I’ll arrange an administrative detention for half a month. If in the end we don’t catch Mei Dong, hmph, you forced someone to drink urine, causing the victim to march through the streets with his whole family and factory, putting up banners about the mafia. If we don’t severely sentence you to several years, how can we demonstrate the government’s determination to fight organized crime? Think about it yourself. Two paths—which one do you want to take?”

“I—” Yang Wei closed his mouth, weighing things in his heart. On one hand, he was afraid the police were tricking him. He’d been to the police station multiple times and had long become an old hand. This was his first time dealing with specialized criminal police. He’d heard that police use various techniques to scare people during interrogation, or carelessly issue empty promises. On the other hand, he was also afraid that if he really tricked Mei Dong back to the country, wouldn’t this harm his eldest brother? Although Mei Dong had been in Macau these years and only came back a few times, Mei Dong had always been righteous, especially toward him and Lin Kai, these two sworn brothers. He treated them just like real younger brothers, letting them take on the casino business and always giving them extra red envelopes. He was quite grateful in his heart. After Mei Dong made it big, he moved his whole family to Australia while he managed the business in Macau. If he didn’t come back, the police couldn’t do anything to him. But if he came back this time, he probably would never be able to leave again. To do this himself—wouldn’t that be repaying kindness with enmity, harming his eldest brother?

“If you agree to my conditions, you can leave today.” Zhang Yi’ang continued to offer him conditions.

“Really?” Yang Wei couldn’t help but be moved. After speaking, he regretfully lowered his head.

“Of course it’s real. We haven’t yet submitted a criminal detention order to the Procuratorate. Today I can decide whether or not to release you. If we get to tomorrow and the criminal detention order comes down, this will be a bit troublesome.” Zhang Yi’ang used real estate sales tactics—this is the only deal, it’ll be gone tomorrow, and the next opening will definitely have a price increase.

“I… I don’t think there’s a way to persuade Mei Dong to come back.” Yang Wei thought left and right, and still decided not to betray Mei Dong. If he couldn’t avoid prison, he thought that he hadn’t done anything like murder or arson. Based on the current charges, at most he’d be sentenced to three to five years and that would be that.

Zhang Yi’ang had after all been a criminal police officer for seven or eight years. With extensive interrogation experience, just by looking at his expression he had already guessed his psychology. He smiled and spoke breezily about what seemed like a completely unrelated story: “You probably think it’s just sitting in prison for a few years—no big deal. After all, he’s your eldest brother. You can’t betray him. I completely understand. Ordinary people in society mention the detention center and get scared, making it seem like going to hell. Actually it’s not. Now there’s scientific management—everything is very standardized. The detention center won’t use torture to extract confessions and all that. If they still used those old methods, once the media reports it, it’s very negative for our police image. However, losing freedom is never as comfortable as being outside. After a criminal is sentenced by the court and it’s decided how many years to sentence them, there are still many ways to operate things afterward. Some people are sentenced to life imprisonment. Every day inside they read books, read newspapers, and exercise. Compared to outside, there’s no pressure. They even gain weight. Some people are locked up for just half a year, and when they meet with family they cry and shout to get them out—inside really isn’t a place for people.”

“What’s the difference? It mainly depends on which detention center you’re locked in and what kind of people you’re locked up with. In this, we still have some say. Last year when I was at the provincial department, I heard a friend talk about such a case. They arrested a group of people. All the bad things were done by the younger gang members. The boss only moved his mouth and never moved his hands. But everyone in their hearts knew clearly that the boss was the worst one. But there was no evidence! One of his younger gang members took the fall, taking all responsibility onto himself. As a result, the boss couldn’t be sentenced and was released. The younger gang member was sentenced to ten years. In the first month after entering prison, the younger gang member was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. The doctor diagnosed that his sphincter muscle was torn. The prison investigated and found a dilator in his room. Where did the dilator come from? No one knew. This was done by his cellmate, but the cellmate was a lifer with a serious crime. His sentence was already maxed out. They couldn’t add to his sentence to death penalty for this matter, right? In the end it could only come to nothing. That younger gang member rested in the hospital for half a month. The first thing he did when he came back was report his boss. The police successfully arrested his boss.” Zhang Yi’ang clicked his tongue. “Tore his sphincter muscle!” When Yang Wei heard the words “tore the sphincter muscle,” his whole body involuntarily shuddered. He looked up and saw Zhang Yi’ang’s calm gaze and Wang Ruijun’s fierce expression. All his psychological defenses instantly collapsed. He immediately changed his words: “I’ll fully cooperate. I… I’ll call Mei Dong back.”