Chapter 545: Ordinary Family?

The mist was about to disperse, and a long, drawn-out whistle from a ship drifted over the Huangpu River.

The morning light pierced through the branches of the plane trees, gently caressing the tender green buds.

A taxi pulled up at the foot of the steps, and upon seeing Wang Qi Zhi, a lady in a suit waved her hand: "Qi Zhi, over here!"

"Sister Yun!"

After replying, Wang Qi Zhi introduced: "This is Judge Yun Hui, my sister's classmate. Sister Yun, this is General Manager Zhao, and this is my student, Lin Sicheng!" Yun Hui greeted them politely, her gaze sweeping over Zhao Xiuneng and Lin Sicheng.

If it were Wang Qi Zhi's own business, the one calling her would definitely be Wang Qiguang, not Wang Qi Zhi.

It must be that Wang Qi Zhi was helping someone else; thinking about it, it had to be one of these two.

With this thought in mind, Yun Hui led the way: "Come inside and talk!"

After going up to the seventh floor and reaching the office door, Zhao Xiuneng gave Lin Sicheng a wink.

Lin Sicheng took a look; a sign hung on the door: Presiding Judge Office.

He subconsciously recalled: last night, when Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng were joking around, they said if they ever had a lawsuit with Saishi, it might just be this friend of his presiding over it.

Looking at it now, that possibility really existed.

The group entered the office, the Assistant poured tea, and Wang Qi Zhi explained the purpose of their visit.

Yun Hui was startled: she had previously assumed that Wang Qi Zhi was looking for her regarding some ordinary economic dispute case. She had never expected the other party to be a foreign-funded company.

And an international giant at that, a World Top 500 company.

After briefly outlining the case, Wang Qi Zhi took out the materials and placed them on the desk.

Opening the cover, Yun Hui glanced at it. When she saw the column for the Person in Charge, she looked up, her face full of surprise: "Is Little Lin from Beijing?" "Judge Yun, I am from Xijing!"

Knowing what she was curious about, Lin Sicheng spoke frankly, "My grandfather was a professor at Xida before he retired, and my parents are just ordinary employees." Yun Hui was stunned: did that mean the family was very ordinary?

Wang Qi Zhi wouldn't hide things if he were coming to her for help, so did that mean the two only had a teacher-student relationship?

Then why was Wang Qi Zhi so proactive?

The key was: he was just a student, and his family background wasn't particularly good, so how could he afford to open a Research Center worth tens of millions?

Suspicious, Yun Hui flipped through the documents and found the answer: it turned out that Wang Qi Zhi and this General Manager Zhao were both partners in this center, the kind who held Dry Shares, though it only counted for half: as for why Lin Sicheng, just a student still studying at Xida, spent tens of millions to open a center in Beijing, Yun Hui did not ask further.

Because it was irrelevant to the case.

Continuing to flip through, Yun Hui was startled again: the case was reported only the day before yesterday; from the time of the incident until now, it had been less than seventy-two hours.

Looking at the materials again: the Beijing police had not only obtained sufficient evidence but had even approved the arrest of the relevant suspects. They had even summoned the main suspect.

And it was a foreign Executive?

At the High Court, Yun Hui was responsible for economic cases, many of which involved multinational corporations. She had presided over at least two or three hundred cases, if not five or six hundred. To be honest, it was rare to see the police act so quickly, strike so accurately, show such boldness, and handle things so easily. Just to mention one point: for a company like Saishi and a status like Liu Anhua's, one must notify the local public security department, and there must be sufficient grounds.

If there were none, or worse, if they hadn't notified them, then you would have to send them back exactly the way you brought them.

But looking at the data, based on the existing clues and evidence, the accusations against this foreign Executive were not just few—they were non-existent.

Therefore, Yun Hui was very puzzled: how was the person taken away, and how did the local public security department agree to it?

She looked up and stared at Wang Qi Zhi very seriously: "Was the person brought back?"

"Yes!"

The Criminal Investigation Division General Team sent people yesterday at noon, communicated with the local department yesterday afternoon, and before dawn today, Liu Anhua was fished out of bed and brought back to Beijing.

Yun Hui was even more surprised: "Did you pull strings?"

Wang Qi Zhi opened his mouth, not knowing how to explain.

If he said no, the entire Criminal Investigation Division General Team was full of Lin Sicheng's acquaintances; when Lin Sicheng got there, it was just like coming home.

And it was hard to say, but for this case, the leaders of the Municipal Bureau might have even given instructions.

If he said yes, all the procedures were legal and compliant, and followed the process; it was just done a bit faster.

He thought for a long while and shook his head: "No!"

Yun Hui shook her head decisively: "Impossible!"

You definitely pulled strings, and it wouldn't work if the rank was too low. At the very least, Wang Qi Zhi definitely couldn't have pulled it off.

Even Wang Qiguang would fall short, unless he had his father step in, or went through connections like Ye Xing'an.

The logic was simple: Saishi was a foreign enterprise and a major taxpayer, and Liu Anhua was a foreign Executive; this directly affected Saishi's corporate image and credibility. In the current foreign trade environment, it was like having all the buffs stacked. Let alone the Beijing police having no evidence. Even if they had evidence, they could only summon him while accompanied by local counterparts, and the questioning would have to take place in a venue provided by the local department, under the witness of local counterparts.

But it had been less than three days since the case was reported, and the person had already been brought to Beijing—what was the difference between that and an arrest?

If Yun Hui were to speak her mind: you can pull strings if you want, but isn't this approach a bit too arrogant?

Do you think the local government departments are pushovers?

Wang Qi Zhi wanted to explain, but he really didn't know the specific situation.

So when Lin Sicheng received the call this morning saying that Liu Anhua had already been put on a plane, he was also very surprised.

When he asked Lin Sicheng later, Lin Sicheng didn't say much, only saying one thing: it absolutely followed the process and complied with the regulations.

He found it hard to explain and looked at Lin Sicheng.

The person had already been brought back, and since they were about to file charges, there was nothing to hide. Lin Sicheng was direct: "Judge Yun, according to the Customs investigation, Liu Anhua is suspected of Smuggling, and the amount is huge..."

Yun Hui was stunned and hurriedly flipped through the materials.

Lin Sicheng explained further: "It is indeed related to this case, and it's not just this one instance, but many..."

Meaning, this wasn't an isolated case?

Furthermore, such Information could not possibly be written in the indictment materials.

Yun Hui also understood the deeper meaning: the Beijing police had no evidence, but Customs did.

That foreign Executive was actually taken away by people from Customs.

The key was: this was an international Smuggling Case, and the person had been brought to Beijing?

She thought for a moment: "General Administration of Customs, Anti-Smuggling Bureau?"

"Yes, Judge Yun!"

Yun Hui suddenly realized: If the police summon someone in the name of contract fraud, local departments can still play tai chi. But if Customs summons someone in the name of smuggling, you can only cooperate unconditionally.

These are two different concepts, and it has long since exceeded the scope of an economic dispute; if not handled well, it could become a special case, a major case.

Fearing they might get tainted, local departments will absolutely cooperate as quickly as they possibly can.

Secretly suspicious, Yun Hui flipped through the documents and grew even more astonished: "Who reported the case to Customs?"

Lin Sicheng was stunned for a long while: Was it really the Presiding Judge?

This question was asked with real skill and great experience.

If it were a Customs case, it wouldn't be the Criminal Investigation Division's turn to lead. It can only mean that someone reported it to the public security bureau first, and then reported it to Customs. Lin Sicheng said bluntly: "It was me!"

Yun Hui was even more astonished: "How did Customs investigate so quickly?"

This isn't the Beijing Criminal Investigation Division, where you can form a chain of evidence and make an on-the-spot arrest just by relying on video footage and decoding the software's login logs.

For Customs to want to determine that Saishi Company is smuggling... no, that's not precise. Let's put it another way:

For Customs to want to determine that Liu Anhua is smuggling, they must master the specific smuggling mode, route, origin of goods, and destination, and even the flow of funds. To be honest, three days is a stretch even for an investigation within the country. Let alone a free trade port like Hong Kong?

Just for coordination between departments, are three days enough?

Lin Sicheng closed his mouth.

He knew, but he couldn't say.

He couldn't exactly tell Yun Hui that he was the one who gave Li Shichen the idea, could he?

From the equipment arriving at the port to customs clearance and transshipment, this batch of equipment only stayed in Hong Kong for four days. So how did Saishi Company manage to swap the equipment right under the noses of Hong Kong Customs?

Colluding with a warehouse keeper to swap them openly?

Impossible; even at his most glorious, President Lai wouldn't have dared to do that.

At the time, Li Shichen analyzed that there was a high probability they swapped the ship and the outer packaging during transshipment.

Because that was how previously cracked smuggling cases were done.

But then, Li Shichen immediately refuted it himself: From Hong Kong to Shenzhen, the transshipment time is only twenty-four hours; you try swapping them? These aren't small commodities brought by backpackers; these are large instruments weighing several tons.

In the end, it was Lin Sicheng who reminded him: New-Old Mixed Loading, Civet Cat Swaps the Crown Prince.

It probably goes like this: Transport two batches of equipment, one brand new, one refurbished. The refurbished batch arrives in Hong Kong, and after customs clearance, it can be unloaded. The brand-new batch arrives in the country, and after the refurbished equipment is unloaded, the brand-new batch is then transshipped into the country.

In this way, there is even a reason for the transshipment.

And whether it is Hong Kong Customs or Shenzhen Customs, they will only verify if the quantity is correct, if the model matches, and if there is any extra cargo or smuggled goods hidden inside. They won't verify which batch is refurbished and which batch is brand new.

He reports the refurbished ones as brand new to be transshipped into the country, then reports the brand new ones as refurbished to be left in Hong Kong; with such a swap, wouldn't all problems be solved?

If Lin Sicheng's guess is verified, it means this gang has definitely not done this for the first time.

Because a novice couldn't be so proficient, capable of utilizing the loopholes in the systems of both Customs to create a nearly perfect swapping method.

Follow this line to investigate: are there many cases where two sets of the same type of equipment are transported together, with new and old mixed, one batch cleared and one batch transshipped? If there are many, and they are related to Saishi Company, or even this President Liu, then it is highly likely a brand-new and mature smuggling mode. Then check where the batch left in Hong Kong was transported to; there is a high probability of finding the black treasury of this smuggling gang.

If all of this can be found and the case is successfully cracked, just based on the words "brand-new mode," the Anti-Smuggling Bureau will definitely make international news. Ask Director Li Shichen and the leaders of Hong Kong Customs if this counts as performance delivered to their doorstep?

Ask the Customs on both sides again: is such a case worth being proactive about?

It is no exaggeration: yesterday morning, when the joint investigation team temporarily established by the Customs on both sides found that batch of instruments, the investigators on both sides high-fived each other in joy.

Three days—that's even considered slow.

From the coordination by the General Administration to Director Li Shichen arranging personnel to go to Hong Kong, to both sides establishing an investigation team, and then to finding this black treasury, it only took forty-eight hours.

It broke the domestic record, and even more so, the Hong Kong record.

At this time, if they don't arrest Liu Anhua, are they waiting for him to flee?

Li Shichen was both happy and curious, and specifically gave Lin Sicheng a call.

He even joked with him: asking if he had ever smuggled before, otherwise how could he know so clearly?

Of course not; in this life, Lin Sicheng has grown up without even leaving the country.

The reason he understands so well is because in his previous life, a major scandal broke out in the domestic academic circle: a well-known testing agency in Shanghai colluded with a smuggling group, specifically using refurbished equipment to pass as brand-new equipment to deceive domestic research institutions.

The smuggling group was responsible for transporting them in, and the testing agency was responsible for issuing forged performance reports for the refurbished machines as if they were brand new, and then responsible for selling the swapped brand-new machines.

It was only after a mistress reported the corruption that the case was cracked after the Person in Charge went inside and confessed. But by then, it was already 2023, and during that period, they had been at it for a full fifteen years.

There were over a hundred well-known and lesser-known research institutions in the country that had been deceived.

Lin Sicheng naturally couldn't say that; he just said he guessed it. Although Li Shichen didn't believe him, he didn't pursue it further and just kept saying thank you.

Other things aside, the performance is real, right?

Sighing secretly, Lin Sicheng shook his head: "Judge Yun, I don't know either!"

Yun Hui had a suspicious look on her face, her gaze sweeping back and forth across the three people's faces.

The more she looked, the more she felt it was interesting.

When she first met him, she really thought Lin Sicheng was just an ordinary student. Maybe his relationship with Wang Qi Zhi was good, and that's why Wang Qi Zhi brought him to see her.

Halfway through the chat, she discovered this kid's identity was a bit strange: just an ordinary family, where did the tens of millions come from?

Still a student, still studying at Xida, yet he ran to Beijing thousands of miles away to open such a large Research Center?

Chatting further, Yun Hui's feeling about Lin Sicheng was no longer "strange," but eerie.

What kind of ordinary family can have the police directly approve the arrest of a suspect less than twenty-four hours after reporting the case?

What kind of ordinary family can have the anti-smuggling department immediately summon a foreign Executive of a foreign enterprise just by reporting it to Customs?

What kind of ordinary family can have the anti-smuggling department, within three days, join forces with Hong Kong Customs to seize definitive evidence of smuggling by a foreign Executive of a foreign enterprise?

But Yun Hui was very certain that the other party wouldn't lie, because there was no need.

And even more so, because she could find out in a minute.

She thought for a moment, her face playful: "Little Lin, do you know An Ning's mother?"

Lin Sicheng was stunned for a moment, not knowing what was good to say.

Is this the difference between a High Court judge and an ordinary judge?

It is no exaggeration: Zhao Xiuneng can be considered a seasoned veteran, having spent nearly twenty years in prison, with plenty of experience in struggle, right?

But if he were to run into the hands of this Judge Yun, a case that was originally only three years could at least get Senior Brother Zhao a life sentence.

Never mind cold cases; even the matter of wetting the bed as a child could be coaxed out of you...