Chapter 353

"Why aren't your family members with you?" Yu Dazhang asked.

"Did you arrange it this way on purpose?"

Wang Hao smiled upon hearing this.

"You'll understand when you have children yourself—modern families revolve around the child."

"If you have the means, naturally you'll let your child receive better education; in N Province, the best educational resources are all concentrated in Xingcheng, a new first-tier city."

In Yu Dazhang's memory, Xingcheng seemed to be a second-tier city—at least in 2014.

When did it become a new first-tier city?

Did locals just declare it so?

Besides, he never paid much attention to educational resources; he only knew Xingcheng's stinky tofu was famous.

Seeing Yu Dazhang's confused expression, Wang Hao continued explaining:

"My goal in earning money was to let my family live better, so I bought a house for them in Xingcheng early on."

"And another reason—I didn't want my family to see me get arrested, especially my child."

Not getting to the point… Yu Dazhang didn't want to hear this.

"Why do you think your family is in danger?" Yu Dazhang asked.

"Have they made similar threats to you?"

Wang Hao nodded after hearing this, then shook his head.

"Although they never explicitly said what they'd do to my family, based on their past behavior and methods."

"If I don't make them completely at ease, my family will definitely suffer their retaliation."

"It's a kind of unspoken understanding between us."

Finally, Wang Hao urgently warned:

"So you must move fast—once they realize I'm missing, they'll immediately move to control my family."

Yu Dazhang said nothing, but picked up his notebook and waved it toward the camera.

Soon, an officer entered the interrogation room and took away the notebook recording Wang Hao's family information.

"Officers from the nearby police station will arrive at your home immediately."

Yu Dazhang's face showed a confident expression:

"Within half an hour, your family will be escorted by local criminal investigators to a safe location."

"I doubt the other side has that kind of efficiency."

"As for safety, you needn't worry at all—in China, I've never seen anyone dare challenge the police."

He wasn't exaggerating.

No matter how violent the bandits, in China they all turned weak at the knees upon seeing police, let alone try to snatch someone from them.

You could say that once the police make contact with Wang Hao's family, they can guarantee their safety for certain.

"Can I… wait a little longer?" Wang Hao pleaded.

"Sure, no problem," Yu Dazhang agreed readily:

"A few minutes won't make a difference."

He knew what Wang Hao was waiting for.

It was possible his family had already been kidnapped—though the likelihood was low, it couldn't be ruled out.

If that were true, Wang Hao truly wouldn't dare speak freely.

A few minutes passed quickly; suddenly, a phone alert sounded in the silent interrogation room.

Yu Dazhang pulled out his phone, glanced at it—it was a message from the provincial bureau officers in the observation room, containing a photo.

He didn't recognize any of the people in it.

Two police officers in uniform stood with an elderly couple, both around sixty, and beside them was a little boy.

Yu Dazhang walked over and held the phone screen before Wang Hao:

"Now are you reassured?"

At a single glance, the tension vanished from Wang Hao's face, replaced by a smile:

"Yes, yes, thank you, thank you all."

With Hong Liuwen as precedent, Wang Hao now had no doubt about Yu Dazhang's capabilities.

Besides, this was China—animal spirit transformation simply wasn't allowed.

"The local criminal investigators will now arrange for them to go to a safe location," Yu Dazhang explained:

"Since the other side doesn't know their address, they can't threaten them."

"When they can return to normal life depends entirely on when this case is solved."

His meaning was clear: only by wiping out that entire organization can your family truly be safe.

"I understand," Wang Hao was smart—he got it at once.

Yu Dazhang lit him another cigarette, then said:

"Start from when you first encountered this criminal organization—give as many details as possible."

Wang Hao nodded, but didn't speak immediately; instead, he took two deep puffs of smoke, thought for a moment, then said:

"Eleven years ago, at the end of 2003, my childhood friend from the village, Zhang Chao, suddenly came to me, saying he wanted to take me to make a fortune."

"At that time, he had already moved away for two years; when his family lived in the village, they were wealthy, so I believed him without question."

Hearing this, Yu Dazhang immediately interrupted:

"You mean, that Zhang Chao returned to the village after being gone two years, and came to find you?"

This point had to be clarified.

When it comes to the three elements of time, location, and people, there can be no carelessness at all.

"Yes." Wang Hao nodded and said:

"During the two years after he moved away, we lost contact. We didn't even have any way to reach each other."

His tone carried a hint of emotion, as though he were recalling the scene from back then.

"Back then I was actually quite moved. I thought it was because he remembered the friendship between us childhood friends that he came back specifically to find me."

"Thinking about it now, it's pretty laughable. If there really were any feelings between us, he wouldn't have cut off contact with me right after leaving the village."

At this point, Wang Hao couldn't help but shake his head and sigh:

"But back then I was only 21. My thinking was naive, very innocent. Going to the city felt like going abroad — mainly because I just hadn't seen the world."

How did he end up making excuses for himself… Yu Dazhang urged:

"Keep going."

Why not just go straight to Wang Hao's upstream contact?

That depends on what kind of case it is.

For a criminal organization that operates over the long term, you have to first clarify the structure of the organization, then work out effective countermeasures.

Even for an arrest, you have to plan the stakeout in advance — you can't just act on impulse whenever you feel like it.

A person only has one life. If a criminal investigator doesn't handle things thoroughly, one careless slip and he can lose it.

"At the very beginning I was only responsible for picking people up in Jianning. Zhang Chao arranged for people to deliver those mentally disabled individuals to the outskirts, I'd go to take over, and then deliver them to the designated factory."

Wang Hao continued:

"At that time I was the only one driving the pickup. The number of people each time wasn't fixed — sometimes it might be only two or three, and other times it could be more than ten."

Hearing this, Yu Dazhang immediately made a judgment in his mind.

So at the very beginning, that underground prison didn't exist yet.

The reason was simple: the mentally disabled individuals, after training, were divided into groups of eight.

Whether it was Fang Peng or those three "legs," all of them had mentioned this point in their statements.

Such a haphazard method of transport was clearly not the style of that underground prison.

But Yu Dazhang didn't interrupt Wang Hao — instead he noted down the earliest year in his mind.

"About a year or so later, I noticed the number of people being delivered started to become regular."

Wang Hao recalled as he continued:

"Each time it was based on eight — either eight, or sixteen, and at most twenty-four. In short, always a multiple of eight."

(End of chapter)