Chapter 2400: Investigation

It was already 9:40 when Zhou Andong and Gu Bing arrived at the Woolen Mill. At that very moment, a truck with its cargo bed tightly covered by a canvas was slowly driving out of the Jinshiguang Woolen Fashion Factory. The appearance of the truck did not attract much attention; after all, it was a fashion factory, and trucks coming and going were perfectly normal.

On the side of the road opposite the main gate, a yellow Tianjin Dafa van was parked. The van's window was half-open, and a pitch-black camera lens was quietly protruding. The moment the truck drove out of the gate, a series of "click-click" shutter sounds rang out.

"Damn it!" A curse came from inside the Dafa van: "We've been squatting here for nearly half a month, stuck in this van every single day. My flesh is damn near rotting from the heat, but we finally caught them!"

Immediately after, another voice spoke up: "Old Wu, follow them!"

Following this order, the body of the Dafa van shuddered violently, and the engine let out a roar, as if a long-suppressed beast had finally been released, before it quickly followed the truck.

"Old Wu!" that voice came again: "Keep your distance, don't get spotted."

"Don't worry!" Old Wu's voice came from the driver's seat: "They've been hauling goods like this for two or three years now; they lost their vigilance long ago and won't notice a thing."

More than an hour later, the truck slowly drove into Machangying Town, Pinggu County, then entered the railway station's freight yard, finally stopping in front of a warehouse. Several stevedores who had been waiting there immediately rushed up, skillfully tore off the canvas covering the cargo bed, and began unloading the bundles of unwrapped woolen coats.

Lei Ming stood beside the truck. Watching the busy stevedores, he turned his head and said to Liu Zhiguan: "Brother Liu, you can put your heart at ease. With Third Master here, there won't be a single problem with the goods stored here. Even if there are a few blind fools who dare to come and steal these goods, we will bear all the losses."

Liu Zhiguan stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on the bundles of woolen coats, and the smile on his face grew increasingly obvious: "With those words from Boss Lei, I am completely at ease and can sleep soundly tonight."

Lei Ming took a cigarette from his pocket, handed one to Liu Zhiguan, and then lit one for himself. He took a deep drag and exhaled a cloud of smoke: "These are five thousand pieces, all here. There are another ten thousand, and I will definitely deliver them to you before the end of the month; there won't be any delays."

Liu Zhiguan took the cigarette Lei Ming handed him and lit it with a lighter: "I have already confirmed the delivery time with the Russian side. If there's a delay, I won't be able to answer to them, so I have to keep reminding you not to delay."

"I understand!" Lei Ming nodded: "Since Third Master said they can all be delivered by the end of the month, then there definitely won't be a problem. You can rest assured about that."

Liu Zhiguan opened his mouth and slowly exhaled a cloud of white smoke: "As long as you can deliver the goods on time, there naturally won't be any problems with the payment."

They did not notice that a Tianjin Dafa van had slowly driven into the freight yard and parked not far away. Immediately after, the van's window slowly opened, and a black camera lens protruded, snapping photos of them frantically.

The shutter sound lasted for more than ten seconds before the van's window slowly closed again. It then quickly turned around and drove out of the freight yard as silently as it had arrived.

At the Donghuamen Police Station, Chief Fang Hongbin sat at his desk, holding a thick stack of photos and carefully examining each one. These photos were all about Wen Sancao and Lei Ming, recording everyone they had come into contact with during this period.

One photo drew Fang Hongbin's special attention; the person in the photo was none other than Liu Zhiguan. At the same time, Instructor Xie Xiaomin was also holding a stack of photos. His gaze fell on a photo in front of him, showing Liu Zhiguan and Lei Ming walking out of Tianfu Hao.

Xie Xiaomin frowned slightly, placed the photo on the table, tapped it lightly with his finger, and looked at Fang Hongbin: "Has this person's identity been investigated? He had contact with Wen Sancao at Tianfu Hao, and he has been meeting with Lei Ming frequently these past few days. They must be up to something unspeakable."

Fang Hongbin placed the photo in his hand on the table; it was also of Lei Ming and Liu Zhiguan: "The frequency of this person's appearance is too high. I have already had people investigate, and there should be results very soon."

"Pa pa pa..."

The office door was suddenly knocked, interrupting their conversation.

Fang Hongbin looked up and shouted: "Come in!"

The office door was pushed open, and a police officer walked in quickly, holding a document in his hand: "Chief, Instructor!"

Fang Hongbin looked at the officer and asked: "Are there results?"

"There are results!" The officer nodded, though his expression looked a bit strange, and he placed the document on the desk: "That guy is named Liu Zhiguan. You will definitely be surprised when you see his identity."

"Oh?" Fang Hongbin raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing this and reached out to pick up the document. Then, expressions of surprise, shock, and disbelief flickered across his face.

Xie Xiaomin, seeing Fang Hongbin's expression, had his curiosity completely piqued and asked impatiently: "What, does this guy have a big background?"

"Background? He doesn't really have much of a background, but where he came from is truly quite surprising!" Fang Hongbin laughed and lowered his head to continue reading: "Liu Zhiguan, former Deputy Section Chief of the Quality Inspection Section at Jiangzhou Winery."

Xie Xiaomin was stunned, and immediately after, an expression of surprise appeared on his face as well: "This guy is actually a colleague of Zhou Andong!"

Fang Hongbin nodded, reading as he spoke: "Because a fire suddenly broke out in the Finance Section of Jiangzhou Winery, the main person in charge, Deputy Factory Director Zhang Deyou, and several leading cadres resigned collectively, and Liu Zhiguan was among them."

Afterwards, the newly retired Factory Director Gao Qingkui and Deputy Factory Director Zhang Deyou jointly bought the Tiger King Town Winery in Jinli County. Unexpectedly, good times didn't last long. Zhang Deyou was accidentally killed. At the same time, Gao Qingkui and other cadres who had resigned from Jiangzhou Winery were also taken away for investigation on suspicion of corruption.

Immediately after, Jiangzhou Winery took over Tiger King Town Winery, and Liu Zhiguan was fired. He then went to the capital with a colleague named Qian Wei and started setting up a stall in Zhejiang Village to sell clothes.

During this period, Liu Zhiguan met a woman named Guo Mei. Through Guo Mei, he met a scalper named Huang Zhenghai. Then, Liu Zhiguan also became a scalper!"

Reading to this point, Fang Hongbin suddenly stopped and looked up at the officer: "Only found two exit records for him?"

"Yes!" The officer nodded: "Information fed back from Heihe shows that Liu Zhiguan only has two exit records. But after our in-depth investigation, we found that he has actually been staying in Heihe and has never left."

"But strangely, at the end of September last year, he suddenly evaporated like a human, disappearing without a trace. No one knew where he went. It wasn't until last month that he returned to Heihe through the Blagoveshchensk port in Russia."

After hearing the officer's words, Fang Hongbin frowned tightly. He was silent for a moment, then gently placed the document in his hand in front of Xie Xiaomin: "See for yourself!"

Xie Xiaomin picked up the document and flipped through it quickly. After about ten minutes, he slowly put it down, then looked up at Fang Hongbin thoughtfully.

"This guy disappeared in August last year and only reappeared in July this year. Where did he go and what was he doing during that whole year in between?"

"Ta—ta—ta—"

Fang Hongbin's fingers tapped rhythmically on the table, making a crisp "ta-ta-ta" sound. His gaze was fixed on the document on the table, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Only two exit records, stayed in Heihe the whole time, suddenly disappeared at the end of September last year, suddenly reappeared last month, and returned from Russia at that... as soon as he came back, he had intensive contact with Wen Sancao and Lei Ming..."

Fang Hongbin whispered, his voice sounding exceptionally clear in the quiet room. But he didn't finish, stopping very suddenly, then he jerked his head up to look at Xie Xiaomin sitting opposite him. At the same time, Xie Xiaomin happened to look up, and their gazes collided in the air.

"Old Fang!"

"Old Xie!"

The two spoke almost simultaneously, then stopped abruptly. After a brief silence, Fang Hongbin broke it first: "Old Xie, we may have encountered a big fish this time!"

Xie Xiaomin nodded: "Wen Sancao has been using his connections to move cheap woolen coats out of Jinshiguang, and Liu Zhiguan started contacting him as soon as he appeared. The problem here is already very obvious." ===== CHAPTER 2401 =====