Chapter 589: It

After Cai Tianming regained consciousness, his heart sank immediately.

Because as soon as he lifted his eyes, he saw a Police Constable guarding the door of the ward.

This caused the last shred of hope in his heart to vanish into thin air.

Once the police found out about his drug manufacturing, he would definitely be dragged to the firing range to be executed.

At this moment, Cai Tianming's brain began to spin rapidly.

Suddenly, a noisy sound came from the hospital corridor, followed by a scream.

It turned out that one of the drug mules previously arrested by Zhang Lei had a drug pellet rupture inside his body.

This situation immediately caused chaos outside in the corridor.

And at this time, Cai Tianming saw the Police Constable who had been guarding him also walk out curiously.

Cai Tianming's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly pulled out his ventilator, then quickly got out of bed and slipped out from behind the Police Constable.

The moment he stepped out the door, Cai Tianming felt as if his breathing was about to stop.

Fortunately, his movements were light and did not attract the attention of that Police Constable.

When the Police Constable discovered that Cai Tianming had disappeared from the bed, he immediately panicked and chased out directly.

At this time, Cai Tianming used a cup to shield his face, hiding in the corridor behind the Police Constable, watching the other party leave in a hurry.

After Cai Tianming revealed a smile, he walked quickly down the stairs via the fire escape.

Just as he was about to exit, he bumped into a man and a woman head-on.

Cai Tianming had been in this line of work for a long time and was extremely sensitive to the identity of police officers.

Upon seeing this man and woman, he could immediately judge that the other party was definitely police.

So, using the crowd as cover, Cai Tianming immediately walked toward the depths of the hospital.

Zhang Lei also spotted Cai Tianming and immediately gave chase.

He happened to run into the Police Constable who had chased out to guard Cai Tianming, and the Police Constable immediately said to Zhang Lei: "Captain Zhang, that kid ran away!"

"Pursue! Seal off the hospital exits!"

Zhang Lei immediately called for backup and sealed off all the hospital's entrances and exits.

Afterward, he followed behind Cai Tianming in pursuit.

Both sides chased and fled, soon arriving at the second basement level of the hospital.

Zhang Lei had set up a dragnet and did not give Cai Tianming any chance to escape.

After entering the morgue, Zhang Lei glanced at the handle of a morgue cabinet and immediately barked: "Come out!"

At this time, Cai Tianming held a scalpel in his hand, looking ready to fight for his life at any moment.

But when Zhang Lei saw through the irregularity of the morgue cabinet at a glance, he knocked on the cabinet door and scolded coldly.

Cai Tianming could only put down the scalpel in his hand, push the corpse aside, and sit up.

After very skillfully kneeling on the ground, he raised his hands high.

……

"Colleagues in Tianhai told me that they accidentally caught Cai Tianming."

Daquan Bao said to Chen Jiajun with a somewhat strange expression.

He had originally thought this setup was going to fail, but he hadn't expected that through a twist of fate, the colleagues in Tianhai had actually caught Cai Tianming.

Although it deviated somewhat from their plan, this was not a bad thing.

Chen Jiajun nodded and said: "It doesn't matter. Anyway, this case is the credit of your Mainland police; I was just assisting by providing some intelligence."

"Then... what do we do next?" Daquan Bao frowned and said: "The plan has definitely been disrupted like this, and I can't let them release the person in Tianhai!"

Chen Jiajun said with a strange look: "Why would you release him? This Captain Zhang has actually saved us quite a bit of trouble!"

"Huh?" Daquan Bao was a bit dazed upon hearing Chen Jiajun's words.

Chen Jiajun smiled and said: "Since you said this Captain Zhang Lei is a frontline anti-drug officer, then his professional intuition is no lower than yours or mine. If Cai Tianming falls into his hands, do you think he will dig deeper?"

Daquan Bao's eyes lit up: "That's right! As long as he is willing to dig deeper, then things will be simple!"

Chen Jiajun smiled and said: "When the time comes, you go and have a talk with the person in charge in Tianhai. Our plan can still proceed smoothly; there's no difference! I don't think you mind sharing a portion of the credit with these anti-drug officers, right!"

Daquan Bao waved his hand and said: "I wouldn't go as far as to snatch credit from grassroots Police Constables!"

Daquan Bao already had enough credit; what he needed to do now was build up his seniority.

So he didn't value the credit aspect too much, as long as these malignant tumors could be resolved.

If Chen Jiajun hadn't reminded him this time, he wouldn't have known that such a huge oversight had occurred.

To think there were actually Hong Kong people daring to set up a Kitchen in the homeland; if this were exposed by someone else first, he, as a Deputy Director, would definitely be in deep trouble.

As for whether this matter had anything to do with Cai Yuanqi, that was not something Daquan Bao could handle.

"By the way, these triads—are you handling them, or am I?" Chen Jiajun suddenly spoke up.

This time, these triads had colluded to create a "Li Zhenbiao," which caused both Chen Jiajun and Daquan Bao to lose face.

Chen Jiajun and Daquan Bao would certainly not let them off easily.

Daquan Bao was silent for a moment and said: "I'll do it! I'll go slap them; if you take action, I suspect many people will die."

With the authority Daquan Bao represented, they wouldn't dare to resist being slapped.

If Chen Jiajun took action, Daquan Bao suspected it would be another bloodbath.

Doing that would not be very good for the reputation of the homeland.

Chen Jiajun shrugged and said casually: "Since that's the case, then you do it!"

Daquan Bao nodded and said: "As for the matter with Cai Yuanqi, I have already reported it upward for you; I estimate there will be a result in these few days!"

Chen Jiajun nodded: "After all, he is the Commissioner of Police in Hong Kong; it truly should be considered carefully."

Since this matter was linked to Cai Yuanqi, whether he was willing or not, he would no longer be able to serve as Commissioner of Police.

However, Chen Jiajun did not have the idea of letting him appear in the newspapers directly; after all, this was a candidate he had chosen himself.

If he were to take action directly, it would be very easy to offend people.

Although Chen Jiajun was no longer afraid of anyone, his businesses and family were still in Hong Kong after all.

There was no need to make enemies with people over this kind of matter.

The two chatted for a while, and news came from the police station in Tianhai.

Daquan Bao and Chen Jiajun headed directly to Tianhai.

……

At this moment, Zhang Lei was tracking Cai Tianming's mobile phone.

As for Cai Tianming himself, he had been taken back to the police station by Zhang Lei's subordinates to have his photo taken and be put on file.

A single number had called Cai Tianming's phone dozens of times, which made Zhang Lei unable to help but feel suspicious.

So he gave a heads-up to the communications department, and very quickly, the source of the signal was locked.

Deputy Captain Xiao Bei notified Zhang Lei: "Signal source locked, it's on Gaokai Road."

Zhang Lei nodded, immediately headed to Gaokai Road with a few subordinates, and after arriving at the location, Zhang Lei said: "We have arrived."

"Go straight, turn right onto Deming Road, and head to Nanshan Road," Xiao Bei said to Zhang Lei while watching the surveillance cameras.

Following Xiao Bei's guidance, Zhang Lei soon found a suspicious vehicle.

At the same time, a small red car was following closely behind the target vehicle.

Taking a closer look inside the small red car, there was unfinished instant noodles and water bottles used for urinating.

Zhang Lei knew that the two people inside this car had definitely not been following for just a little while.

Looking again at the other party's license plate and the attire of the two, Zhang Lei quickly determined the other party's identity.

The two in the red car were definitely also Police, and they were tracking the target vehicle.

Zhang Lei smiled, picked up the walkie-talkie, and said to his subordinates: "Turns out they are colleagues; let's greet our two colleagues!"

Upon hearing this, the subordinate smiled and drove the car over, blocking the front of the red car.

The two in the red car immediately honked their horns violently, and at this moment, Zhang Lei drove his car alongside them.

Seeing this, the people inside the car immediately became alert and reached out to touch the guns in the holsters beside them.

Seeing their vigilant appearance, Zhang Lei smiled, took out his own identification, and then signaled for the other party to roll down the window.

Subsequently, Zhang Lei threw a mobile phone over. After the call connected, he stated his identity directly: "Brother, I am Zhang Lei, Captain of the Tianhai Anti-Drug General Squad; in front is my colleague Xiao Xiang."

"Hello Captain Zhang, I am Guo Weijun of the Yuejiang Anti-Drug Squad, and this is Cheng Shixiong," Guo Weijun said after taking the phone, also stating his identity.

Zhang Lei chuckled and asked: "Hello to you both, what is the situation with the truck in front?"

"It is carrying drug manufacturing raw materials!" Guo Weijun said: "Captain Zhang, you must have heard of Li Zhenbiao, right?"

"Damn, who in the anti-drug business hasn't heard of him? I just haven't seen him, haha!" Zhang Lei said with a laugh.

Guo Weijun nodded and said: "We suspect this is his cargo. We spotted this truck yesterday; we didn't expect to follow it for a whole day and night, from Yuejiang all the way to Tianhai."

"Thank you for your hard work, brothers. You two take a rest; my colleagues will assist you," Zhang Lei gestured.

Guo Weijun and Cheng Shixiong nodded, then immediately stopped the car, sprinted to the side of the road, and unzipped their pants to urinate.

Clearly, they had not been able to use the restroom for a long time in order to follow this vehicle, and the mineral water bottles in the car were all full.

Zhang Lei drove his car in front of the truck and saw that the person inside the truck was making a phone call.

At this moment, the mobile phone Zhang Lei had intercepted from Cai Tianming's car also rang.

Now the relationship between the two parties could be confirmed.

Zhang Lei took out the walkie-talkie and said to his subordinate: "Xiao Xiang, you follow them!"

After saying this, Zhang Lei stepped on the gas and returned directly to the police station.

At this time, Xiao Bei and the others had already finished all the paperwork for Cai Tianming, and as soon as Zhang Lei returned, the two began the formal interrogation.

Cai Tianming was very nervous at this moment, trembling uncontrollably from head to toe.

After all, his crimes were likely enough to warrant being shot ten times over.

Xiao Bei picked up the documents and said directly: "Cai Tianming, 39 years old, from Hong Kong."

Cai Tianming did not deny it and nodded.

Zhang Lei asked: "There is a green truck with the license plate Yue XXXX; do you know it?"

Cai Tianming's heart sank, and his brain began to spin rapidly.

Zhang Lei did not give him much chance to think, took out the mobile phone, and continued to ask: "You don't know? This is your phone; the people in the truck called you thirty-three times. What is going on?"

"We found your drug manufacturing factory on Lishuang Road; two men and one woman died in the explosion. The woman was your wife, and the men were her two brothers!"

"Can we talk?" Zhang Lei stared at Cai Tianming and said coldly: "Do you know that according to Article 34 of our country's Criminal Law, manufacturing over fifty grams of drugs can be punishable by death? I estimate you aren't dealing in grams, right? You must be counting in tons!"

As he spoke, Cai Tianming's phone rang again.

Zhang Lei held up the phone and said: "Thirty-fourth time. Shall I answer it for you?"

Finally, under Zhang Lei's intense questioning, Cai Tianming spoke up: "The... the truck is helping me transport some raw materials; I need to rush a batch of goods for Haha Ge!"

"And your superior?"

"Li Zhenbiao!"

Seeing that this guy was willing to talk, Zhang Lei relaxed and continued to ask: "What do the numbers in the text messages on the phone mean?"

"They were codes for a pager from before," Cai Tianming confessed honestly.

"What does the last text message mean?" Zhang Lei asked again.

Cai Tianming spilled it all out like beans: "Tonight in Tianhai, Jinma Hotel, Brother Chang meets Haha."

Naturally, the Police could not just believe him like that; Xiao Bei asked: "What about the pager station number?"

"Jiaxun." Cai Tianming did not lie, because he knew that if he didn't want to be executed, he definitely needed to provide the Police with enough merit so that the Police could help him strive for a commuted sentence.

Although Cai Tianming had mentally prepared himself, a strong sense of unwillingness still surged in his heart when he sat in this regret chair.

He did not want to die! Xiao Bei checked the paging station for Jiaxun, and it matched what Cai Tianming had said, so he nodded at Zhang Lei.

Zhang Lei looked up and asked, "Who is Brother Chang?"

"Li Shuchang, Li Zhenbiao's nephew!"

"Does Li Shuchang know Haha?"

"No!" Cai Tianming shook his head and said, "I am acting as the middleman tonight to arrange for them to meet!"

As he spoke, Cai Tianming's mobile phone rang again.

Cai Tianming knew that with just this little bit of information, even if he got a sentence reduction, it wouldn't be much.

He hardened his heart and spoke to Zhang Lei again: "I have two apprentices who have a larger factory in Ezhou. I can call a truck to go get it. If I don't deliver the goods on time, Li Zhenbiao will be suspicious."

Cai Tianming was very clever, deliberately using this piece of news to pique Zhang Lei's interest.

Once the police were interested in this lead, he would have the opportunity to manipulate things from within.

Even if that didn't work, it could still help him get a sentence reduction.

So he continued: "I don't want to be sentenced to death. Give me a chance to perform meritorious service to atone for my crimes; I just want to trade it for a suspended death sentence. There's no time, Captain Zhang!"

Cai Tianming was very cunning; although his tone was pleading, he was actually putting pressure on Zhang Lei.

In the end, Zhang Lei could not resist the opportunity to pull this lead up by the roots and agreed to Cai Tianming's request, letting him answer the phone.

From the other end of the line came the confused voice of the truck driver: "I've been circling here for... for nine hours, and I've called... called you over nine thousand times!"

"The boiler exploded!" Cai Tianming roared into the phone: "You go to Ezhou now, I will come to find you."

After hanging up the phone, Cai Tianming looked at Zhang Lei.

Zhang Lei nodded and had someone remove his handcuffs, preparing to go meet with Haha Ge and Li Shuchang tonight to thoroughly understand their mode of operation.

Just as Zhang Lei was preparing, suddenly two men in uniforms and one man in a suit walked in.

Zhang Lei recognized one of them and said with some surprise: "Director Liu, why are you here? Did such a case alarm you?"

Director Liu of Tianhai smiled and said: "No, there are two friends looking for you. This is Director Shi from Guangdong Province, and this is Mr. Chen Jiajun from Hong Kong."

Zhang Lei was stunned for a moment, not knowing what these two wanted with him.

Daquan Bao said to Director Liu: "Old Liu, is there a quieter conference room here? We need to have a good chat with Captain Zhang."

Director Liu nodded and led the few of them into the conference room.

After both sides sat down, Daquan Bao handed a stack of documents to Zhang Lei.

After Zhang Lei opened it and took a look, his expression immediately changed: "Director Shi, what is this?"

"We have been watching these people for a long time. You probably don't know, right? The so-called big drug lord Li Zhenbiao is actually not one person!" Daquan Bao gave Zhang Lei a small shock right from the start.

"Not one person? What do you mean?" Zhang Lei's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Daquan Bao smiled and said: "That Cai Tianming just now said his superior is Li Zhenbiao, right? This guy is clouding your vision!"

As he spoke, Daquan Bao glanced at Chen Jiajun. Chen Jiajun lit a cigar and said indifferently: "The so-called Li Zhenbiao is a travel company established by the bosses of several Hong Kong triads! They specialize in sending raw materials from overseas to the mainland, then using the 'kitchens' here to produce the finished product, and people here in the mainland sell it out!"

"This process is very complex; an ordinary person would absolutely never be able to find out the background of this Li Zhenbiao. I have a file here, you might as well take a look."

Zhang Lei hurriedly opened the file Chen Jiajun gave him, and then he saw photos of several Hong Kong triad bosses.

Chen Jiajun introduced them to him: "This person is called Que Ye, an uncle-generation figure in the Wo Shing, and this person is called Koushui Su, the White Paper Fan and legal advisor, or lawyer, of the Wo Shing."

"Cai Tianming was a member of the Wo Shing when he was in his teens, placed under Que Ye's tutelage, specializing as a drug peddler helping Que Ye distribute goods. Later, he gained Que Ye's trust and was promoted to be a 'Chef'. Later, because of a mistake, he sold drugs to the daughter of an England Gweilo working in the Police Force and was wanted by the Hong Kong Police."

"With no other choice, this guy changed his name to Cai Guohua and returned to his hometown in Yuezhou, where he married and had children. A few years later, because he had no money, he simply went back to his old trade and reconnected with Que Ye's line."

Hearing Chen Jiajun's introduction, Zhang Lei instinctively wanted to question it.

But seeing that Chen Jiajun had come with two directors, he was clearly no small character.

So he suppressed the doubts in his heart, frowned, and said: "So, this Que Ye is Li Zhenbiao?"

"No?" Chen Jiajun shook his head and said: "To be precise, they are all Li Zhenbiao!"

"The crackdown on organized crime in Hong Kong has been going on for a long time, causing these gangsters to not dare to show their faces, let alone any triad daring to traffic drugs openly. So they set up a travel company to cover their tracks, and then do things secretly."

"Their true mastermind is the White Paper Fan of the Wo King, called Fei Cheng. He is responsible for formulating plans and is considered a rather clever guy."

Hearing Chen Jiajun's words, Zhang Lei had a basic understanding: "In that case, that Li Shuchang..."

"An actor!" Chen Jiajun said indifferently: "Including Li Zhenbiao, there is indeed such a person, but he is just a puppet controlled by them. The ones who are really in charge are them!"

As he spoke, Chen Jiajun took out a few photos, which were scenes of the actor Li Shuchang interacting with several triad bosses.

Zhang Lei saw the photos and could confirm that Cai Tianming had played the police for fools.

This guy wanted to save his life, but he hadn't told the police everything he knew.

Zhang Lei thought that if he really followed Cai Tianming's plan to set things up, once a mistake occurred... (End of chapter)