Chapter 145: The Temptation of a Two-Thousand-Yuan Bounty

"Hey!"

A sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked fellow was lost in thought when the voice suddenly rang out by his ear, making him jump. Then, the voice sounded again.

"How about you shout, let me catch you, and after I get the reward, we split it fifty-fifty?"

The sharp-mouthed fellow's face turned green. He turned to leave, only to have his neck grabbed by a hand: "Don't go, let's discuss this. I'll do the work, you take one—"

"Let go of me!" the sharp-mouthed fellow growled in a low voice.

Meanwhile, in another part of the crowd, a small man had his head fiercely slapped by a large hand. This blow nearly scared the soul out of him; his ears were buzzing, and stars were dancing before his eyes. If not for the crowd around him, he likely would have collapsed onto his backside.

Then, amidst the buzzing in his ears, he vaguely heard a very rough voice: "Why the hell aren't you talking anymore? You were shouting pretty enthusiastically just a moment ago, weren't you? I've been waiting for ages, ready to earn this two thousand yuan to go home and marry a wife, so why the hell are you silent now?"

Next, the small man received a kick to his backside: "Speak up!" Then, with a *slap*, his head was struck again.

Several other fellows felt a cold wind whistling down their spines. They finally realized that the temptation of two thousand yuan was too great, and that hiding in the crowd was the most dangerous thing they could do. Without hesitation, they squeezed out of the crowd and took to their heels.

The few fellows holding micro-camcorders also ran, because staying was too dangerous. Besides, there was no need to keep recording; if they didn't run now and were discovered, the outcome would certainly not be very pleasant.

Zhou Andong looked at Zhang Kuili and said, "You can give the liquor to me now."

Zhang Kuili hesitated for a moment, looked at Kang Li, and handed the liquor to Zhou Andong.

Zhou Andong took it, saw at a glance that the packaging box was fake, and said to Wu Cheng, "Go to the warehouse and bring a bottle of liquor over."

Wu Cheng turned and ran toward the warehouse, returning quickly with the liquor.

Zhou Andong squatted down, placed the two bottles on the ground, and waved a hand at Zhao Yunhua: "I will explain the difference between real and fake liquor to you all."

Zhao Yunhua hurriedly aimed the camera at Zhou Andong and the bottles on the ground.

"Take a look, this is the fake liquor on the left, and this is the real one on the right. Look closely at the color of the packaging box. Isn't the fake liquor's color deeper and darker? Also, the font for 'Jiangzhou Jiangzhou Yugong Liquor' is wrong; it's very easy to distinguish."

Zhou Andong opened the box, took out the bottle, and held it up: "Look at the bottle cap, isn't it even easier to tell? The real liquor cap is metal, with inkjet coding on it, and the words 'Jiangzhou Jiangzhou Yugong'. The fake liquor has a common plastic cap with nothing on it."

"Let's talk about the bottle. The fake liquor uses the old 'Big Sorghum' bottle, and the first batch of Jiangzhou Jiangzhou Yugong Liquor did indeed use this type. However, that batch was completely sold out before the first lunar month of this year. The production date on this fake liquor is only three days ago."

Zhang Kuili glared angrily at Zhao Shuili: "Zhao Shuili, has your conscience been eaten by dogs? Are you still not admitting that the liquor you sold me was fake?"

Zhao Shuili's eyes flickered, and he argued sophistically: "He is the factory director; whatever he says goes, I have nothing to say. But this liquor was indeed sourced from the factory. Besides, who knows if you all wanted to make dirty money and produced this problematic liquor to sell to us country folk."

Zhou Andong asked Zhang Kuili: "Was the fake liquor bought at his place?"

Zhang Kuili nodded: "I was hosting a banquet, bought the Jiangzhou Jiangzhou Yugong Liquor at his place, and then problems arose after drinking it. There were nine people in total; three with milder symptoms are out of danger. The other six were very serious, and one has already passed away."

Zhou Andong looked at Zhao Shuili: "I'm telling you, this is no longer just a simple matter of you selling fake liquor. Lives have been lost. If you don't honestly confess where you sourced the fake liquor, you are essentially taking all the blame upon yourself."

Zhou Andong made a gun gesture, pointing at his own temple: "The only result will be execution by firing squad."

Zhao Shuili's body trembled, and obvious fear appeared in his eyes.

Kang Li said: "Cuff him and take him back for interrogation."

Zhao Shuili was handcuffed, and he truly panicked now: "This liquor was sold to me by a factory employee; he said he stole it from the factory."

Zhou Andong asked coldly: "What is his name?"

Zhao Shuili said: "His surname is Chen, I don't know his full name, but his head is covered in patches of ringworm."

Before Zhou Andong could speak, Kang Li blurted out: "Chen Laolai."

Zhou Andong said: "Chen Laolai, Meng Xiaoping, and Ding Liuhe have already been fired by the factory."

Kang Li understood: "Director Zhou, it is very clear that this is already a criminal case, and we don't know how much fake liquor has flowed into the market. The situation is very serious; I must return immediately to report to the bureau."

Zhou Andong nodded: "I'm sorry to trouble you, Officer Kang."

Kang Li waved his hand and said to Zhang Kuili: "You all come back to the police station with me, explain the sequence of events, and give a statement. Only then can we catch the criminals as soon as possible and get you justice."

Zhang Kuili hesitated, and the villagers behind him were also timid. For them, entering a police station was still something they felt very resistant to.

Zhou Andong said: "You are the victims. If you don't go to the police station to give a statement and report the case, it cannot be filed. All the losses you have suffered can only be borne by yourselves."

"I'll go!" The woman who had been sitting on the ground crying stood up: "My old man died from drinking this liquor; I must seek justice for him."

Zhang Kuili gritted his teeth: "Let's go, to the police station."

The crowd gradually dispersed. Zhou Andong returned to his office, grabbed a cigarette from the desk, lit it, and sat in his chair, smoking one puff at a time.

Gu Bing sat on the sofa, crossed his legs, and asked: "What do we do next?"

Zhou Andong said softly: "This matter doesn't have much impact on us. I feel this isn't over yet. Let's wait a bit longer; they will definitely have follow-up moves."

At this moment, Seeing Tong Huaiyu, Guo Zidan, Zhao Jianlong, and Huo Xing were in a hotel room watching the recording.

"Not bad, not bad!" Seeing Tong Huaiyu said with a smile: "Zidan, you return to the capital to handle things. Remember to find someone to edit the footage."

"I'm just a drudge." Guo Zidan sighed helplessly, stood up, and ejected the tape: "I'll leave now. I can arrive by evening, and I'll strive to get it into the papers by tomorrow."

Seeing Tong Huaiyu also stood up: "I'm going to Fengjing, and while I'm at it, I'll handle the rare earth mine matter."

Zhao Jianlong asked: "Mr. Tong, when do we make our move here?"

Seeing Tong Huaiyu said: "In a week. We have to let things ferment for a few days so we can hurt him as much as possible."