Chapter 498: Turning the Tables

Song Jingqiu pondered for a moment: "Since we can't get an answer out of them, then don't ask!"

"Old Wei, what do you think?"

First affirming, then questioning—Wei Ziyu understood that the leader was not seeking his opinion, but rather asking him to state his position.

He replied without hesitation: "Group Leader, my opinion is to follow the procedure!"

Song Jingqiu was of the same mind.

In Guangdong province alone, counting both Level One and Level Two, there are over one hundred and forty ports. Cases like this happen eight thousand times a day if not ten thousand; they don't even count as trivial matters.

The only reason these documents were able to reach their hands is that this case was selected for a spot check by the Supervision Division, and all appraisal reports and handling opinions were issued and signed by the Supervision Division.

If one wants to appeal or request a review, they must go through them.

What is abnormal is this "Forbidden City"—it is quite suspicious: professional, precise, and with sufficient justification.

Anyone capable of utilizing such channels is certainly not an ordinary person. The key is the speed: from start to finish, only three days?

If nothing unexpected happened, it should have been top-down; the Palace Museum received instructions from the competent authority, or perhaps even from major leaders.

But regardless of the level, it is not a case of you saying "release it," and I release it.

This time you detained Cultural Relics, the Palace Museum came, and you released them. Next time you detain other contraband, and some other unit comes, will you release it or not? The Supervision Division is here to implement policy, not to talk about personal favors.

The Director also understood: "Then if someone makes a call later on?"

Song Jingqiu smiled: what he wanted was for someone to make a call.

If it was instructed by a superior leader, then who entrusted that superior leader?

Seeing the leader smile without answering, the Director understood in a second: he usually spent his time on social niceties, his thinking had become rigid, and he hadn't been able to turn the corner for a moment. Isn't the Supervision Division here precisely to supervise this kind of thing?

It's not that you don't have connections that is scary, it's that you don't make the call...

He immediately stood up: "Group Leader, I understand!"

After the Director left the office, Wei Ziyu looked suspicious: "We've been here for over a month, always worrying about not finding a typical case, and in the end, a typical case ran into us on its own?"

Song Jingqiu was noncommittal: "Let's observe first, it might just be a coincidence."

Wei Ziyu didn't speak, only shook his head: how could there be such a coincidence.

To put it bluntly: the General Administration sending a group for supervision is no secret. The Supervision Division had been here for over a month, inspecting all seven Customs offices in the province without exception, before entering the branch office.

Even a fool knows what this concept means.

Even if there were any shady dealings, they would be hiding in a panic; there is no reason to throw oneself into the line of fire. That is why it has been calm for over a month. But suddenly, for a trivial, inconspicuous little case, someone jumps out?

No matter how you look at it, it seems like testing the waters.

If they want to test, let them; it's better than a stagnant pool...

In the hotel suite, the coffee table was covered with paper.

Lin Sicheng held a pen, writing incessantly. Sometimes it was a diagram, sometimes a few lines of text.

There was no pattern to it, slanted or horizontal, long or short.

Institute Director Lv stood quietly to the side, chin in hand, watching, his brow furrowing and smoothing by turns.

Two Researchers from the Ceramics Research Institute stood behind Lin Sicheng, notebook in one hand and pen in the other, recording constantly.

They were essentially organizing and categorizing what Lin Sicheng wrote, summarizing it.

Like this, after more than an hour, Lin Sicheng finally put down his pen: "The time is too short, this is roughly all there is."

Institute Director Lv raised an eyebrow: just this much?

Come on, the two people he brought are absolute, renowned research Experts in the field of ancient ceramics.

Let them stand in front of a few pieces of porcelain and just look with their eyes. Never mind ten minutes; give them unlimited time to look, and what could they see? Then look at these structural diagrams Lin Sicheng drew; it's like a camera with X-ray vision: from the inside out, recorded clearly and analyzed plainly.

What structure, what material, what craftsmanship, what technique...

To be honest, even though he had long since witnessed Lin Sicheng's ability, Institute Director Lv was still deeply shocked.

This memory capacity, this analytical ability, and the speed—it's on par with a supercomputer.

"It's not that exaggerated!" Lin Sicheng was very modest, "Practice makes perfect, that's all. Besides, I don't know if it's usable yet."

Lv Chenglong couldn't be bothered to argue with him: "At your pace, why do I feel that if we get these few pieces of porcelain back, the materials will be enough?" Lin Sicheng's eyes widened: "Director Lv, don't joke, this is just my visual deduction!"

If research were this easy to conduct, the Thesis he published could be measured by the basketful.

More importantly, a single piece of evidence is not enough: the porcelain you brought back from Malaysia, what does it have to do with Japan?

This time it's about smashing someone's rice bowl; if it's not one hundred percent ironclad evidence, do you think they'll pay you any mind?

Lin Sicheng shook his head again: "Taking a step back, even if it is useful, whether we can get these few pieces of porcelain back is still an unknown."

"Why wouldn't we be able to get them back?" Institute Director Lv didn't understand, "True is true, false is false; can Customs really tell lies with their eyes open?"

Lin Sicheng didn't speak, and Wang Qi Zhi, who had been playing invisible on the side, let out a "Ha": "Old Lv, did you make your brain stupid from doing research?" "Wang, if you don't speak, no one will think you're a mute!"

Institute Director Lv rolled up his sleeves and was about to go at him, but Lin Sicheng quickly stopped him.

"Old Lv, don't be unconvinced." Wang Qi Zhi wouldn't let it go, "Let me give you an example: the law stipulates that a suspect can be detained for no more than seven months; if they are guilty, they are sentenced, and if they are innocent, they are released."

"But take a guess, in reality, from detention to sentencing, what is the longest record for a suspect who was ultimately found innocent and released?" Wang Qi Zhi gestured: "Twenty-eight years."

Institute Director Lv was stunned for a moment.

This time, he understood: the false cannot become the true—that is correct.

There is another saying that is even better: justice may be late, but it will never be absent. But the problem is, by that time, the opportunity has already passed. This is for a person, but what if it's an inanimate object?

Can Lv Chenglong afford to wait, and can the project he and Lin Sicheng are collaborating on afford to wait?

Forget twenty-eight years; if they detain you for twenty-eight months, you'll be crying for your parents...

Institute Director Lv grimaced as if he had a toothache: "Then what do we do? Should we find someone to pull some strings?"

See? This is what we were afraid of, right?

Wang Qi Zhi sighed: "If it could be pulled, I would have found someone already!"

Institute Director Lv was stunned: That's right, with Wang Qi Zhi, what connection couldn't be found?

"Does that mean these few items likely cannot be retrieved?" Director Lv was a bit dazed. "Then what should we do? Find them again from abroad?" Lin Sicheng shook his head: Without Hu Pangzi, they wouldn't even know where to look.

Therefore, the items are very important, but what is even more important is this person...

He rested his chin on his hand: "We still have to ask for them, the key lies in how to speed up this process?"

"How to speed it up?"

"I haven't thought of that yet!"

Director Lv stared wide-eyed: Then aren't you saying nothing at all?

Just as he was grumbling to himself, the phone rang "ding-a-ling." Lv Chenglong took a look and hurriedly answered.

The person calling was his Assistant, whom he had specifically arranged to wait for news at Luohu Port. Thinking about it, there should be a result.

He couldn't wait: "Sun, how is it?"

"Director, the materials were rejected!"

"Why? Are the materials incomplete?"

"No, they said if we have objections, we can only appeal according to the procedure and simultaneously apply for a review with the statutory review agency, so this doesn't fall under their jurisdiction. They also said that although the case happened at their port, it wasn't investigated and handled by them, saying we found the wrong subject for the appeal."

"Found the wrong subject? Then where should we appeal to?"

"They didn't say, just told us to apply for a review!"

The Assistant spoke in a way that made no sense, and Lv Chenglong was also left completely confused.

But one couldn't blame them: how many years had it been, when had they ever done this?

According to the standard process: Customs confiscation—Public Security investigation—Procuratorate prosecution—Court sentencing—first instance, second instance, final judgment—directional donation. Therefore, the Forbidden City had always just received notice and gone directly to collect items; when had they ever proactively asked Customs for items?

Before coming, Lv Chenglong had done his homework: if one has objections to the Customs detention result, one can appeal level by level and have it re-evaluated through a statutory review agency. The problem is, one must first know the subject unit responsible for this case: if it is the port, then appeal to the Shenzhen Customs. If it is the Shenzhen Customs, then appeal to the Provincial Branch.

Including the so-called "statutory review agency," to put it plainly, it is prosecution and appraisal, also level by level.

But the other party didn't explain clearly, and Director Lv had no idea which level to appeal to or which level to ask for a review.

Just as he was burning with anxiety, Lin Sicheng stopped him: "Director Lv, let Assistant Sun come back first, and remember to ask for a receipt to bring back together!" What else could they do?

Nothing could be figured out over the phone.

After giving the instruction, Lv Chenglong hung up the phone.

Waiting and waiting, it wasn't until around evening that Assistant Sun returned to the hotel.

Opening the document bag, it was just a thin sheet of paper. Lv Chenglong snatched it over: "Why did it take so long?"

"They said they had to wait for approval from above, so it took a while!"

Lin Sicheng's eyes lit up: "Does that mean this is a temporarily issued receipt?"

Assistant Sun was stunned: "Teacher Lin, I don't know!"

He truly didn't know, and even if he wanted to ask, he couldn't.

But Lin Sicheng was certain: it was issued temporarily.

At the same time, it meant that this decision for review was made temporarily. Roughly, after the decision was made, they first notified the port verbally. The port then notified Assistant Sun. Only when Assistant Sun asked them for a receipt did they apply upwards and have it reissued.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have taken so long.

While pondering, Lin Sicheng took a glance. He didn't look at the content, but at the signature: Provincial Branch Port Supervision Division, Provincial Branch Anti-Smuggling Bureau.

He took another look at the official seal, and Lin Sicheng breathed a sigh of relief: Just as expected!

Wang Qi Zhi took a look, his face full of joy: "It's settled!"

Assistant Sun didn't understand: "Professor Wang, what is settled?"

Wang Qi Zhi pointed to the final signature and seal: "The process, the procedure!"

To put it simply: if this seal were from Luohu Port, then you would have to appeal to the port level first. If the port rejected it, then you could only appeal to the city level.

And so on: City—Province—General Administration.

If following the normal process, from appeal to review, then to prosecution, and finally to rejection, calculating the time of this procedure conservatively, with each level's review process taking half a year, how much would four levels be?

And this is assuming that the materials are prepared extremely completely every time, every link goes smoothly, and the case scheduling at Customs and the Court is extremely prioritized; if it drags anywhere, this time would have to double.

It is also because of this that Wang Qi Zhi used "suspect detention" as an example.

This is also what Wang Qi Zhi and Lin Sicheng are most worried about: what if it requires starting from the district level? That would be at least three years, so what is the point of appealing? That is why Lin Sicheng said: must find a way to speed up the process.

If there is no way to speed it up, then it would be better to do nothing and wait quietly for the result.

Not to mention anything else, just those two bowl-shaped hats, if Customs identifies them as First-Class Cultural Relics, there is only one destination in the end: a First-Class Museum. If the Forbidden City wants them, no museum can outcompete them.

Once the items are in hand, it won't be too late to overturn the case and get the person out.

But this receipt directly bypassed the "district" and "city" levels, which shows that this receipt was signed by the Supervision Division.

The key is, it was so fast, only three days in total?

To translate: strictly by the book.

What Lin Sicheng likes most is doing things strictly by the book.

He let out a breath: "Appeal, and apply for a review simultaneously!"

Wang Qi Zhi clapped his hands: "Then go straight to the point and submit the application directly to the National Cultural Heritage Administration?"

"Teacher, that might not be good, what if there is a misunderstanding?"

Lin Sicheng paused, "How about we apply for a review at the provincial level first?"

Wang Qi Zhi was noncommittal: he thought Lin Sicheng was inexperienced and didn't see the trick in this.

The approval was so fast, yet the receipt was issued temporarily, which shows that Customs has already misunderstood: they took them for people with connections.

Otherwise, the Forbidden City wouldn't have suddenly popped up.

Otherwise, the document wouldn't have been submitted so quickly.

This is what is called hitting the mark by accident; it is precisely because Customs misunderstood that the approval was so fast.

To put it simply: the ones handling this case are not ordinary Customs organs, but the Supervision Division.

If you want to say I'm here to nitpick and find bones in an egg, that wouldn't be wrong.

People like this love those with connections the most: thinking they've hooked a big fish, they just keep casting bait and pushing forward rapidly.

Believe it or not, even if it reaches the Provincial Level, the final result will still be a rejection?

In reality, the goal is to force the people behind the scenes out, preferably to round them all up at once and set an example.

Therefore, for Wang Qi Zhi and Lin Sicheng, the deeper this misunderstanding goes, the better.

Sorting through his thoughts in his mind, Wang Qi Zhi began to plan the subsequent arrangements.

For instance, how to submit materials, which review agency to choose, as well as finding a suitable law firm to file a lawsuit when necessary.

These were originally the tasks of Director Lu, but those who do Artifact Research have rather straightforward minds, so Wang Qi Zhi decided to handle it personally.

Just consider one point: up until now, old Lu still doesn't know why Lin Sicheng pulled him over, instead of using the name of Xida or even the Intangible Cultural Heritage Center.

This is called playing the enemy at their own game: aren't you looking to make an example of someone? Well, here it is.

Just as he was thinking this, Wang Qi Zhi suddenly paused, his eyes widening bit by bit: who said Lin Sicheng had no experience?