Chapter 23: Entering the Detention Center

The next morning.

Li Jiaci and the others slept until the sun was high before getting up.

Afterwards, they came one by one to Li Jiaci's room to gather.

"Brother!"

Zhao Chen asked: "The timber's sold out—what should we do next, or should we go look for another timber mill?"

When they heard this,

The several people around also showed excited looks.

These past few days selling timber, they truly experienced the taste of easy money.

No need to follow behind those petty gang leaders they looked down on, shouting and yelling, nor worry about getting punched if they provoked the other side.

They just needed to stand on the timber pile, direct the workers to load the timber onto the trucks, and they could easily make money—and a lot of it.

But Li Jiaci shook his head.

"We can't find it."

"This kind of money can at most be made once."

"After all, nobody's really a fool; once everyone catches on, there's no more money to be made."

Upon saying that,

Everyone's faces showed a hint of disappointment.

"But..."

Li Jiaci rubbed his chin and said: "We could consider shifting our focus elsewhere—maybe we could earn even more."

Several people simultaneously turned their gaze to Li Jiaci's face.

"What place?"

Li Yihu was the first to blurt out the question.

"We can collect raw timber, process it into squared lumber, and sell it."

Li Jiaci said: "This would earn far more than selling plain timber."

"Huh?"

Zhao Chen said: "Hey, brother, you know logging is strictly cracked down on domestically these days—get caught and you could easily be shot. Where would we even get raw timber?"

"Just because there's none domestically doesn't mean there's none abroad."

Li Jiaci narrowed his eyes and said: "Across the river from us, Bei Bang is currently under the economic blockade of Michigan, the international economy is terrible, and they're also suffering a famine."

"To ease fiscal pressure and let the people eat, they've been secretly organizing locals in the bordering governments to log timber, then ship it across the river to us to sell, and use the proceeds to buy grain to ship back."

"If we can secure this deal, we could get as much raw timber as we want."

When the several people present heard this, they all looked at Li Jiaci as if he were crazy.

"What the hell?"

Li Jiaci frowned and said: "What's with that look?"

"No, brother."

"You mean we should directly negotiate business with the Bei Bang government?"

Liu Jiang's mouth twitched as he said: "This, this, are you sure they'll even talk to us?"

"Didn't I say they're having a famine over there?"

Li Jiaci said: "Don't even mention the common folk not having enough to eat—even some officials are going hungry, forcing their government to secretly have the populace engage in smuggling; how could they refuse to talk business with us upstanding merchants?"

"Upstanding merchants..."

Several people exchanged glances.

"Could it be that this isn't considered smuggling?"

Perhaps seeing their doubt,

Li Jiaci then said: "We have a free trade zone on our border; as long as we pay taxes to the government at market rates, it's not smuggling but normal imports. The Bei Bang government chooses to take risks because they want to sell their timber here, where tariffs are higher, and they don't want to pay the money."

At that,

Everyone then understood.

Li Yihu asked: "So what should we do now?"

"First, find a factory."

"So we have somewhere to put the timber when we bring it back."

Li Jiaci turned to Zhang Chuqiang and said: "You handle this—try to find a state-run timber mill; there might still be wood-processing machinery left inside, which could save us a lot of cost."

"Good!"

Zhang Chuqiang nodded and said: "I'll go inquire right away."

"As for the rest of you, just rest up these few days."

Li Jiaci said: "Once Chuqiang finds a workshop, we'll start work right away."

They had just gotten to this point in their talk.

Suddenly, a "boom" sounded from outside as the door was kicked open.

Immediately after, a group of fully armed hat-wearing individuals rushed in from outside, holding guns.

"Nobody move!"

……

Interrogation room.

"Name!"

"Li Jiaci!"

Age!

Twenty-one!

Gender!

Look for yourself!

Smack!

The female Maozi slammed the table, glaring at Li Jiaci: "Be serious!"

……

Li Jiaci was a bit speechless, but still said: "Male!"

Only then did the female Maozi shift her gaze to Li Jiaci's face: "Do you know what you've done?"

You're asking me?

Li Jiaci really felt like hitting someone.

What the hell kind of questions is this woman asking?

We were just chatting there.

But you just busted down my door, stormed in, and dragged us here.

You're asking me again if I know what I did?

Li Jiaci laughed in anger: "You might as well stop asking and just hand me a confession to sign."

Be serious!

The female Maozi shouted again: "If you haven't done anything wrong, why would we arrest you? Is Zhao De's disappearance related to you? Did you do it?"

Zhao De?

Li Jiaci also thought for a while before realizing that this was Zhao Pangzi's real name.

He's missing?

Li Jiaci said blankly: "I don't know."

The female Maozi's face instantly darkened.

Li Jiaci!

I'm telling you, since you're here, don't even think about making excuses!

The female Maozi said: "You'd better honestly confess what you did and tell us Zhao De's whereabouts; only then can I seek leniency for you."

What kind of handling?

Li Jiaci said, bewildered: "This isn't my doing—why should I confess? He died in some wild woman's bed, and I don't know where."

Zhao De disappeared three days ago.

And these three days, you and your buddies haven't been home—what have you been up to?

The female Maozi stood up from behind the table, walked up to Li Jiaci, and said: "According to our investigation, Zhao De bears a grudge against you; if you can't explain where you've been these three days, we have every reason to believe you killed Zhao De and hid his corpse."

Moreover!

Li Jiaci, I need to remind you of something.

Since we've brought you in, it shows we already have solid evidence.

You'd better not bother with pointless resistance.

To be frank.

At the start.

Li Jiaci was still pretty angry.

But hearing the female Maozi say that, he actually became less angry and even laughed out loud.

I say, this… beautiful Chief Official Liu Yanxin!

You're messing with me like this—what's the point?

If you really have solid evidence, just throw me in jail.

Why bother interrogating me here? Isn't that just wasting time?

Li Jiaci said: "Besides, I don't know what your so-called solid evidence is; all I know is I haven't done anything this whole time—I haven't even been in Pingzhou City, let alone met Zhao Pangzi."