Chapter 328: Old Ginger Is Still the Spiciest

The reason Hua Kaiquan did this was because the case was overly complicated.

At the same time, he also understood why Songhai hadn't transferred this case over directly back then.

Who would dare take on a case like this!

When he received the order, he had thought the higher-ups were making a mountain out of a molehill.

Right after that came a call with Yu Dazhang; hearing that the voice on the other end was very young, he became even more certain of his guess.

It wasn't until they met face-to-face that he discovered the other party was not only young, but also a fatty...

Hua Kaiquan was baffled—if it really was a major case like the higher-ups said, why would they send someone like this.

It wasn't that he judged people by their appearance.

No matter how you looked at it, this fatty just didn't seem like someone who could investigate a major case.

But in the conference room, hearing Yu Dazhang recount and analyze the entire case, his heart couldn't help but pound wildly.

The higher-ups hadn't exaggerated at all; they had even underestimated it.

This case was just too big!

And from this fatty's account, one could tell he had indeed been the one leading the case all along; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to describe it in such detail.

There was also a great deal of his personal analysis woven in.

Hua Kaiquan had originally been thinking that if it was an ordinary case, he'd just take it over as a favor.

But now he had changed his mind.

It was still more appropriate to cooperate with colleagues from out of town. A case like this, if taken on, could very well end up stuck in his hands.

"Captain Hua, don't stand on ceremony." Yu Dazhang felt a bit embarrassed and hurriedly waved his hands in refusal:

"You sit, you sit, I'll sit over here."

Although they were all colleagues, this was after all the other's home turf, and the other party was also a director-level official; by all rights, he should be the one sitting in the seat of honor.

At the same time, Yu Dazhang was also a little curious.

Why was it that after finishing the case briefing, this Captain Hua seemed like a completely different person?

The earlier stern, aloof demeanor was entirely gone.

Now he had become a very mild, very easygoing look, which instead made Yu Dazhang somewhat uncomfortable.

He still preferred the unruly, unyielding look Hua Kaiquan had at the very beginning.

"No, no, that seat must be yours." Hua Kaiquan was very insistent.

One of his hands had already grabbed Yu Dazhang's arm and forcibly hauled him up.

"Well, alright then."

Seeing the other's resolute attitude—and that he had even gotten physical—Yu Dazhang could only get up helplessly and move over.

After sitting down again, Hua Kaiquan visibly breathed a sigh of relief; his expression improved greatly, and the tension that had been on his face earlier vanished.

He didn't know why, but he even felt that sitting on the side made his head sharper than before.

"There's one point where I have a different opinion."

After Captain Hua spoke, he deliberately glanced at Yu Dazhang; seeing the other nod in acknowledgment, he then turned his head and continued:

"I don't think this case will be on that large a scale."

"Although on the surface it seems like a hugely profitable venture, in reality the entire process is extremely tedious and complicated."

"Add to that the perpetrators' cautious style of work, so I believe they wouldn't make the scale too large."

That made sense... hearing this, Yu Dazhang nodded in agreement.

When he had just been briefing the case, he had also shared his own inferences about the whole case, which included the scope of coverage.

The purpose of the meeting was to pool everyone's wisdom.

Sometimes something you believe to be right looks like a completely different thing in someone else's eyes.

Yu Dazhang had laid it all out so everyone could analyze the case together.

Looking at the problem from different angles also helped sort out one's thinking better and arrive at more appropriate judgments.

Seeing no one object, Captain Hua continued his analysis:

"If it were nationwide, they would have been exposed long ago."

"You have to understand, local customs differ everywhere across the country; in some places there's strong resistance to this sort of thing—before they even start committing crimes, someone has already reported them."

"So I believe their trafficking of slave laborers should be planned within a controllable scope."

After these words, everyone in the conference room fell into thought.

Even Yu Dazhang was drawn in by Hua Kaiquan's line of thinking.

As expected of the deputy captain of the Provincial Bureau's Criminal Investigation Brigade—his mind really worked fast.

Not only had he promptly corrected Yu Dazhang's earlier inference, he had also offered further explanations and suggestions.

Well-reasoned, clearly structured—it made one involuntarily follow his line of thinking onward.

"Captain Hua, please go on." Yu Dazhang couldn't help but urge him.

Having someone ready-made helping him think, and with sound reasoning to boot—of course he was willing to let the other continue analyzing.

Best if he could come up with the most suitable plan and crack the case on the spot.

"The very first victim in this case, Fang Peng, was abducted in Province D and sent to Province N a year later. I think this is a very important lead."

Hua Kaiquan was now in the most active state of his mind, his thinking growing clearer and clearer; after a moment of deliberation, he continued:

"Let's try switching perspectives and consider the problem from the criminals' point of view."

"Kidnapping people from other provinces and concentrating them in Province N to traffic as slave laborers—this achieves the goal while minimizing risk."

"And the demand of just one province is already enough for them to obtain unimaginable illegal income."

"This is the controllable scope I mentioned earlier."

Yu Dazhang was listening so attentively he was nearly spellbound.

This was indeed something he hadn't thought of before.

He had only been letting his mind wander, trying to think of this case on as large a scale as possible.

But Captain Hua had done the opposite, narrowing the scope back down to a single province.

The older the ginger, the spicier it is.

To think of abducting people in other provinces and then concentrating their transport through a single province — it seemed simple, but anyone who could think of this had to have rich experience and a meticulous mind.

Anyone who's done criminal police work knows that cross-province cases are the hardest to investigate.

The reason lies in the fragmentation of information systems.

When a person goes missing within a province, the police's investigation basically won't extend beyond it, unless there's evidence proving the missing person appeared in another province.

What a clever scheme~

Rabbits don't eat the grass near their own burrow — the other side only transports through Province n, they don't abduct there.

This really does minimize the risk.

"Captain Hua, you're amazing." Yu Dazhang said with heartfelt admiration:

"After hearing the case analysis just once, you could think of so much — it's truly admirable."

His expression was sincere, with not the slightest trace of flattery.

"Go on, go on, what else did you see?" Yu Dazhang raised his hand, gesturing for Captain Hua to continue.

You want me to keep analyzing? Captain Hua was a little unwilling.

Should he just go sit back down himself?

That whole analysis just now had already overloaded his brain — how could this fatty have the nerve to say it out loud.

He felt in his pocket, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and before he could take one out of the box, a fat hand reached over.

"Have one of mine." Yu Dazhang handed over a Hua cigarette.

Captain Hua took it, glanced at the cigarette brand, then asked with a meaningful look:

"You usually smoke this brand?"

"I don't smoke." Yu Dazhang answered honestly.

There weren't many Hua cigarettes left in his car, but he'd always handed them out, so it had become habit when reaching for cigarettes.

Besides, he'd now discovered that even though he didn't smoke, handing cigarettes out to others was its own kind of pleasure.

"You don't smoke?" Captain Hua frowned at him:

"You don't smoke but you carry this grade of cigarettes on you — you're not some rich second-generation kid here to slum it, are you?"

(End of chapter)