Chapter 343: He Is Watching You

In his past life, Yu Dazhang had seen many victims of fraud.

Strangely, among these people there were basically none with particularly low IQs.

In fact, many of them were the sort of people with clear logic and well-organized thinking.

Then the question arises.

Since there were no fools, how did these people get taken in?

The answer is simple: it was precisely because they felt no one could deceive them that they fell for it.

Sounds a bit convoluted?

One idiom will make it clear.

"Smarting oneself."

Of every ten people scammed, nine and a half fell for it because of this reason.

Learn from your mistakes?

Doesn't exist.

In fact, the vast majority of people will be repeatedly scammed for a long time; even when the police show up at their door to tell them the truth, they still firmly believe they won't be deceived.

It's not that they're stupid—it's that they're too confident in themselves.

They treat everyone else as fools, yet never realize the biggest fool is themselves.

Yu Dazhang and Captain Hua were clearly not such arrogant people.

These two shared a common trait: sufficient respect for their opponents!

"The follow-up on where the funds went, I've handed over to colleagues from the economic-crimes unit."

Captain Hua looked at Yu Dazhang and continued:

"After all, they're the professionals in this area, but…"

He paused, his expression turning somewhat grim:

"I don't think they'll find much either. Since the other side had already set up the layout long ago, the final destination of the funds is bound to be overseas."

There was one more point neither of them mentioned.

The bank cards.

The other side certainly wouldn't use bank cards registered under their own names; they'd use various means to buy bank cards from ordinary members of the public.

Even if investigators traced the account holders, all they'd find were those ordinary citizens who didn't know what was going on.

As the two were talking, Yu Dazhang's phone suddenly rang. A glance at the caller ID showed: a call from his master.

Earlier that morning, Lu Zhongxin and Zhang Sen had gone to the police station and weren't with Yu Dazhang.

After all, that side also needed someone keeping an eye on things.

"The other side called." Lu Zhongxin's voice was somewhat urgent:

"They set the meeting at a hotel, in half an hour."

Quite cautious… Yu Dazhang had assumed that when the other party came to Yancheng, they'd head straight to the industrial park, or to the residences of those three "mules."

Both of those locations were already under police control with dedicated personnel staked out, ready to arrest the targets the moment they appeared.

Yet that person had deliberately chosen a hotel.

This was to covertly observe whether those three "mules" had already been caught.

Setting the time at half an hour was to prevent the police from having time to prepare.

Very clever, but also very naive.

Facing this kind of situation, the police didn't need to make too many arrangements at all.

Criminal investigators could also disguise themselves as all sorts of people at any moment, silently approaching the target.

"Just do as the other side says." Yu Dazhang instructed:

"Stay safe during the operation."

Now they could only release the "mules"—the other side clearly wouldn't show its hand without seeing the rabbit first.

Unless they confirmed those three "mules" were free, that person wouldn't show his face.

Yu Dazhang even suspected the other party wasn't even at that hotel.

If it were him, he'd choose to observe from a building across the street, or find a similar spot like a coffee shop near the hotel.

That way, even if the police surrounded the hotel, he could still get away clean.

"Aren't you coming over?" Lu Zhongxin asked again.

"Don't wait for me." Yu Dazhang replied:

"Time is too tight; I can't guarantee I'll make it to the hotel within half an hour. You take command over there for now. If you spot the target, arrest him on the spot."

Lu Zhongxin's arrest experience went without saying.

And with so many experienced officers from the provincial bureau backing him up, Yu Dazhang could rest easy.

After ending the call, he looked at Captain Hua:

"Please let the officers from the provincial bureau know—command over there is temporarily handed to a colleague from Songhai named Lu Zhongxin."

"Understood." Captain Hua nodded immediately in agreement.

He too realized that waiting for them to get there before acting would very likely delay things, so he immediately took out his phone and made a call.

Half an hour later, Yu Dazhang and Captain Hua drove to the designated hotel.

Though this hotel wasn't large in scale, its location was very conspicuous.

It sat right next to a wide road, facing a spacious public square.

The square was teeming with people—some hurrying along with purpose, others strolling leisurely.

Yu Dazhang's gaze swept over the surroundings.

On the left side of the plaza stood a tall office building, its glass curtain wall reflecting dazzling light in the sun.

On the right was an open-air parking lot, vehicles neatly lined up, with the occasional car entering or exiting, emitting a faint engine sound.

Pretty good at picking a spot… Yu Dazhang only needed one glance to guess what the other party was thinking.

The more complex the terrain, the better it was for hiding.

The plaza opposite the hotel, the office building, the open-air parking lot — all were undoubtedly good places to conceal oneself.

"Park the car in that open-air parking lot." Yu Dazhang said to Captain Hua.

"Got it." Captain Hua replied, then turned the steering wheel and drove the car to the parking lot.

He couldn't say why, but Captain Hua felt no resistance at all to taking orders from this junior detective.

And Yu Dazhang didn't think that much about it either; his attention was now entirely on the hotel entrance across the way.

Once the car was parked steadily, Yu Dazhang said quickly:

"One of us needs to stay in the car."

"If the other party is hiding in this parking lot, leaving someone here lets us keep an eye on the outside at all times, and we can react quickly if anything unexpected happens."

Originally he had wanted both of them to stay here, but on second thought, that wasn't quite safe.

If the other party was watching this spot right now and saw a car pull into the parking lot, then stop without anyone getting out, they'd definitely get suspicious.

"I'll stay." Captain Hua was also watching the hotel entrance:

"The view here is good, I can cover both sides, and your build is better suited for disguise — no one would ever guess you're a cop."

I suspect you're insulting me… Yu Dazhang gave him a long look, said nothing more, and opened the door to get out.

While crossing the street, he spotted several officers from the provincial bureau among the shops on either side of the hotel.

They were dressed in plainclothes, disguised as passersby wandering the street.

Yu Dazhang ignored them and walked straight into the hotel.

Reaching the front desk, he took out his ID and placed it on the counter:

"One single room, with a window, preferably facing the plaza."

"One moment, Mr." After a flurry of keystrokes, the young lady at the front desk handed over a key card:

"Fourth floor, room 426, five hundred deposit."

After paying the deposit, Yu Dazhang took the elevator up to the fourth floor; once inside the room, he immediately pulled out his phone and called Lu Zhongxin.

"Master, how's it going?"

"The other party told them to wait in the hotel lobby, said they'd be there soon." Lu Zhongxin's voice was low:

"It's been almost ten minutes, and the target still hasn't shown up."

Yesterday the provincial bureau brought in a sketch artist, who, based on that man's description, drew a portrait of his middle-school classmate.

Even the physical features were described in painstaking detail.

As long as the target appeared, he would definitely be recognized.

He's already here… Yu Dazhang held the phone without speaking, but his mind was racing.

The time had been set by the other party, so there was no possibility of being late.

After those three arrived, his failure to show was to observe further; if he sensed something off, he would flee immediately.

Thinking of this, Yu Dazhang walked to the window and looked out through the glass.

He's right across from me right now, so in that case…

"Master, pull the officers outside the hotel back immediately!" Yu Dazhang suddenly ordered in a loud voice:

"Tell them to act natural, leave in groups — the target is watching them!"

(End of chapter)