Chapter 1888

Shan Lei took the items and placed them on the desk.

Ji Chunlin picked up the account book and opened it. The first name was Wang Yuanke—this looked like a woman's name at first glance—and behind it was a record of the money and gifts sent.

RMB: 35,000 yuan, HKD: 8,000 yuan, a pair of gold bracelets...

Ji Chunlin flipped through it page by page, his face remaining expressionless, and one couldn't tell what he was thinking inside.

Flipping to the last page, there was only one name: Kong Xingzhong!

RMB, USD, HKD, and even Japanese Yen, followed by gold ornaments, porcelain, calligraphy and paintings, famous watches, famous bags, etc., recording a full page.

Ji Chunlin used his finger to click through the strings of numbers, silently calculating in his heart. Finally, he gave an approximate figure: around 1.7 million—and this didn't include gold ornaments, antiques, and luxury goods.

The total number of people recorded in the account book was over eighty. Not counting the items, just the cash alone absolutely exceeded ten million.

And this was just what was recorded; there must be things that weren't recorded. How much would that be?

Ji Chunlin closed the account book and picked up the bank card. "How much money did Zhang Jingkuan give you in total, and how much did you spend?"

"Four years ago, my mother got sick. I ran through every major hospital in the country that I knew of, spending over 20,000, but in the end, I couldn't save her."

Jin Chen slowly raised her head, tears shining in her eyes.

"Ever since my mother passed away, my father drank all day and later became addicted to gambling. One night, he died on the way home, less than forty meters from my front door. Afterward, I paid off over 3,000 in gambling debts for him.

My sister's schooling, plus food and clothing expenses—over the past few years, that has cost about 10,000. Then there were my own living expenses, totaling about 7,000 or 8,000. The rest is all in the card."

Ji Chunlin was silent for a moment. "Have you ever used Zhang Jingkuan's connections to accept money or valuable items from other people?"

"No!" Jin Chen shook her head. "Aside from some cigarettes and alcohol, Zhang Jingkuan never let me touch money or other things. Even if someone knew about our relationship and came to me, they had to notify him first, and I could only accept it after getting his consent."

Ji Chunlin asked, "Where are the money and valuable items he let you accept kept?"

"He rented an apartment in Chaoyang, and all the money and items are kept there."

After a short buffer of time, plus Ji Chunlin's gentle tone, Jin Chen's nervous emotions finally eased, and her tense body slowly relaxed.

"Everything recorded in the account book is kept there, but he only took me there once. These ornaments of mine and this bag were all things he just grabbed and gave to me when I went that time."

Speaking of this, Jin Chen realized something was wrong. She took out her ID card and a wallet from her bag and handed the bag to Shan Lei.

Ji Chunlin nodded and said to Shan Lei, "Have Wu Lianqing come to me for a moment."

"Okay!"

Shan Lei placed the bag on the table and turned to walk out.

It didn't take long before Wu Lianqing, the director of the First Office of Discipline Inspection, knocked on the door and entered.

"Secretary!"

Ji Chunlin nodded, let Shan Lei take Jin Chen out, and only then said,

"Shan Lei told you, right?"

Wu Lianqing nodded. "He gave me a brief introduction."

"Take a look." Ji Chunlin pushed the account book forward.

Wu Lianqing walked over, picked up the account book, and began flipping through it page by page, looking at it very seriously.

After a good while, Wu Lianqing raised his head and said solemnly, "Zhang Jingkuan's problems are very serious. I believe that what is recorded in the account book is not all of his corruption."

"That's what I think too." Ji Chunlin said with a heavy tone. "Moreover, it's not just Zhang Jingkuan; Kong Xingzhong's problems are also very serious. He is definitely not just bribing; regarding him, we must also apply high pressure, expand the lines, and dig deep."

Wu Lianqing said with a solemn face, "I will organize personnel now to focus on Kong Xingzhong."

"No!" Ji Chunlin said. "What you need to do now is personally lead a team to the place where Zhang Jingkuan hid the illicit money and goods, to avoid any complications."

"I'll go right now!"

Wu Lianqing turned to walk out and then organized personnel, including police officers borrowed from other departments. Led by Jin Chen, they came to an old residential area in Chaoyang.

"It's on the top floor of this building. I don't have the key; it's always been in Zhang Jingkuan's hands."

Wu Lianqing looked up. "Go up and take a look first."

"I'll take you up." Jin Chen was very proactive, stepping into the unit door.

This was a six-story residential building. A group of people walked up the dilapidated stairs. Arriving at the top floor, Jin Chen pointed to the east unit and said,

"It's this unit."

A police officer looked at the door. "This is an anti-theft door. Either find a professional locksmith or break it open."

Wu Lianqing said without hesitation, "Find a locksmith first; if it can't be opened, then break it."

"I'll go make a call."

Wu Lianqing said, "Use the mobile phone equipped for our special investigation team; it's in the car."

The police officer nodded and turned to go downstairs. After waiting for more than half an hour, the police officer returned with a young man of thirty-one or thirty-two.

"Take a look!" The police officer pointed at the anti-theft door. "Can you open it?"

The young man carefully observed the lock. "This is the most advanced anti-theft door currently; I'm not sure, but I can try."

"Then try it."

Wu Lianqing said, letting everyone step back to make room.

The young man opened his toolbox, took out tools, and began to fiddle with it.

Time passed bit by bit, and sweat began to emerge on the young man's forehead.

Ten minutes, twenty minutes—Wu Lianqing didn't urge him, but waited patiently.

"Click!"

After a few more minutes, they heard a light click from the door lock, and then they heard the young man shout excitedly.

"It's open!"

The young man grabbed the handle and pressed down, and the door opened.

Wu Lianqing stepped through the door first. The space wasn't large, only about fifty or sixty square meters.

Sofa, coffee table, bookcase, and household appliances—nothing was missing. Just looking at it on the surface, it was no different from a normal residential home.

But with Jin Chen there, the illicit money and goods hidden under the bed, in the wardrobe, kitchen, bathroom, ceiling, etc., were all found.

Not to mention gold and silver ornaments, antiques, calligraphy, paintings, and luxury goods—just the cash piled up in the living room like a small mountain absolutely exceeded ten million.

If you added the value of the gold and silver ornaments, antiques, calligraphy, paintings, and luxury goods, 20 million wouldn't cover it, and this was very likely just the tip of the iceberg.

Everyone gasped. In October 1992, internal staff at the Haikou Industrial and Commercial Bank used their positions to issue seventeen empty drafts, which were cashed in other places, totaling 26 million yuan.

This case shocked the whole country. Wu Lianqing felt incredible when he heard about it; this was definitely the biggest corruption case since the founding of the country, and the five main culprits were taken to the execution ground last September and executed by firing squad.

But no one expected that in just half a year, the Zhang Jingkuan case would break the record of the Haikou Industrial and Commercial Bank case.

Even Wu Lianqing, who had seen great storms and waves, felt his hands trembling slightly when facing the scene before him.

Zhang Jingkuan, oh Zhang Jingkuan, how much nerve do you have? You want so much money—can you ever finish spending it?

"Wu... Director Wu." A police officer's throat rolled, and he swallowed his saliva. "What do we do next?"

This police officer had lived for over thirty years and never dreamed that one day he would be able to touch so much money.

"Protect the scene well; I'll report to Secretary Ji first."

Wu Lianqing took a deep breath, turned and left the room, quickly went downstairs, came to the car, opened the door, picked up the mobile phone, and dialed a string of numbers.

Soon, Ji Chunlin's voice came through the receiver: "How is it on your side?"

At the end of last year, after the telecommunications department opened the caller ID function, major ministries and commissions were the first batch to open it, so as soon as Wu Lianqing's call came through, Ji Chunlin knew who it was.

"It exceeds imagination." Wu Lianqing reported the results with a heavy tone. "I need to contact the bank and borrow some people from them to help us count."

"Go ahead and get busy."

Ji Chunlin gently put down the phone and then picked up the cigarette on the desk and lit it.

Originally, he thought that arresting Kong Xingzhong would definitely mean facing pressure from several sides.

But things had reached this point, completely exceeding Ji Chunlin's expectations.

The pressure he imagined didn't appear, and the case was going smoothly beyond imagination.

…………………………

Jiangzhou!

Just as the bell for the end of the workday at the winery rang, Zhou Andong received a call from Tang Lin.

"Brother Dong, Kong Xingzhong has been arrested."

"So fast." Zhou Andong said with a smile. "It seems Zhang Jingkuan didn't struggle at all and directly sold Kong Xingzhong out."

"Zhang Jingkuan must have guessed our goal, so he sold Kong Xingzhong out very decisively."

Speaking of this, Tang Lin chuckled.

"It's just that Zhang Jingkuan probably never imagined even in death that he would also be sold out by someone."

"Oh?"

Zhou Andong asked curiously, "Did the million-dollar reward really work?"

"Yes!" Tang Lin said with schadenfreude. "Guess who stabbed Zhang Jingkuan in the carotid artery."

"The person who could obtain evidence of Zhang Jingkuan's crimes must be the person he trusted and was closest to. As for who it is—" Zhou Andong shook his head. "It's really hard to guess."

"It's Zhang Jingkuan's mistress." Tang Lin said. "This afternoon, that woman went to 'You Say It Counts' and found Zhang Zuo."

Zhou Andong perked up. If others didn't know, how could he not know?

Don't you see how many corrupt officials in later generations were brought down by their mistresses?

"Can this woman's stab drain all the blood from Zhang Jingkuan's body?"

"Zhang Jingkuan is dead for sure." Tang Lin lowered his voice. "I had someone ask around; the case needs to be kept confidential, and I don't know the specific amount of money, but I know the amount involved exceeds last year's Haikou Industrial and Commercial Bank corruption case."

"Haikou Industrial and Commercial Bank corruption case?"

Although this case was very big, when it was reported in October last year, he was in Shanghai and Xiangjiang and didn't pay attention to it.

"Yes!" Tang Lin said. "Internal staff at the Industrial and Commercial Bank used their positions to issue seventeen empty drafts, which were cashed in other places, totaling 26 million yuan. They were executed by firing squad at the end of September last year."

"Fuck!"

Zhou Andong cursed. This was only 1994; corruption and bribery of over 20 million—what kind of concept is this, damn it?

"This guy deserves to die."

"Zhang Jingkuan indeed deserves to die." Tang Lin said. "And Kong Xingzhong, who had a close relationship with him—I estimate that guy isn't clean either."