Chapter 267: Implication

Liu Long looked at the sky outside and took a big gulp of tea.

A coworker came to work.

Seeing him, they smiled and greeted, "Old Liu, your tea is strong enough."

"This isn't tea." Liu Long yawned and said, "It's my old life."

The coworker blinked, glanced toward the station, and said, "Another all-nighter? Any case?"

Liu Long nodded.

Although the case might not yield anything, we still have to investigate before drawing a conclusion, especially needing to see the work through and not miss anyone who should be notified.

Not to mention Chen Lao Da and the other Chen family members, even the ship's workers on board weren't left out.

Needless to say, the result was obvious.

Everyone's story matched: they claimed they hadn't noticed anyone falling overboard at first, thinking Old Fu Tou was just lazing around like a cat, and they even bad‑mouthed him here.

The Chen family said Old Fu Tou loved to slack off and play tricks.

Liu Long could tell with his toes that these people had colluded.

Bullshit, they didn't see anyone fall in the water.

He didn't dare say it was 100% that they were refusing to help, but it was certain they were refusing to help.

This is the intuition of a veteran officer.

Of course, there are also new officers.

At first, Yu Kai Lang was just doing routine work, but as he investigated he got worked up, his anger flaring, and he almost cursed outright during the inquiry.

Still, the Chen family was shameless, feigning innocence in every way, making people sick to look at them.

Too bad, there's no evidence.

And no witnesses.

Only one shipworker named Fu Yongning, probably because he was Old Fu Tou's nephew, still had a bit of conscience and didn't parrot the others' story, but he remained silent as well.

A flicker of envy crossed the coworker's eye, thinking, "How come he never gets lucky like this? Every few cases at the station have landed on Liu Long."

Moreover, those cases were all wrapped up satisfactorily; even if they didn't earn huge merit, at year‑end evaluation his work record would definitely look much better than theirs.

Yu Kai Lang stepped out and said, "Master, I plan to question them again."

Liu Long frowned: "Again?"

"Hasn't the Chen family already agreed to give the withheld money to Old Fu Tou?"

"That's not enough!" Yu Kai Lang said sternly, "What's that bit of money? I don't think we can just let it go—this is a human life, it almost became a corpse."

"Their conduct amounts to endangering another's life—attempted murder!"

"They aren't even willing to apologize!"

Hearing this, the coworker beside them jumped: "Such a big case?"

"Is there anything I can help with?"

Liu Long pulled Yu Kai Lang along, walking and saying, "No need, we can handle it."

The coworker couldn't help but spit.

Though they shouted about being tired, their reaction was quite genuine, fearing they'd lose even a sliver of credit.

Soon enough.

Liu Long again accompanied Yu Kai Lang in questioning, which provoked strong dissatisfaction from everyone; Chen Baosheng nearly flipped the table, shouting that he was hungry and thirsty, demanding soy milk, buns, and fried dough sticks.

Liu Long arranged breakfast, while Yu Kai Lang went to report to the station chief.

After reporting.

The station chief patted Yu Kai Lang on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Those who make a living at sea will eventually face karmic retribution."

"Just watch."

Yu Kai Lang opened his mouth slightly: "Chief, you…"

"You're an outsider, you don't understand…"

"Ugh…"

"Alright, you've been up all night—eat a good breakfast and get some sleep." The chief sent Yu Kai Lang off, then pulled out his phone and called Zhendayuan.

"Right, the situation is exactly like that."

"All we can do here is give a routine reminder—essentially a veiled criticism and education—hoping they'll take it to heart."

"Yes."

"I understand."

"If anything comes up, I'll notify you right away."

He hung up the phone.

The station chief rubbed his temples, thinking, "What the hell is this?" He couldn't help but wonder what Old Fu Tou was after—didn't he know that even if he kicked up a fuss, nothing would come of it?

This also managed to piss people off royally.

A five‑guarantee household with no one to rely on—his future in the village looks grim.

……

Xixi Village.

Although Elder Shen was still the village head, he was basically semi‑retired, too lazy to go to the village committee in the morning, since routine matters were handled by Wu Yingwei.

He just sipped tea and enjoyed his retirement in peace.

He had just steeped a pot of tea and leaned back in his recliner when the phone left inside the house rang.

An old‑style mobile phone.

The volume was especially loud.

The neighbors nearby all shouted, saying a phone call had come.

Old Man Shen got up to answer the phone; at first he was slow, but seeing it was a call from the town leader, he stepped forward briskly, picked up the phone and pressed the answer key.

His actions were swift, his movements smooth.

Done in one smooth flow.

The old man chuckled and said, "Town Secretary Xi, you called early this morning—what instructions do you have?"

"Deputy, deputy." Xi Lianghong coughed and got straight to the point: "Yesterday I went to the village; someone gave Chen Gui a banner and wrote a thank‑you letter, right?"

"Yes, that's right, it happened. At the time you even praised Chen Gui a few words."

"Do you know that the person who wrote the thank‑you letter yesterday was arrested, suspected of attempted murder…"

"After investigation, although it wasn't attempted murder, the impact is very bad."

"What? Actually there's such a thing?" Old Man Shen's smile faded, he narrowed his eyes and pondered: "Then what about Chen Gui…"

"I'm calling you precisely because of this matter," Xi Lianghong briefly explained the situation, his tone intensifying: "This matter can't be investigated any further; whether or not it's connected to Chen Gui no longer needs to be pursued."

"But we also need to avoid suspicion—you understand what I mean, right?"

"Yesterday there was already a disturbance at the town hall; if someone runs to the dock or goes to the village committee to cause trouble,"

"it will be very troublesome, and might even affect your village's election."

"I understand, I understand, I'll take care of it right away." Old Man Shen snapped to attention and said solemnly, "Town Secretary Xi, I can assure you this matter definitely has nothing to do with Chen Gui."

"As for privately… I'm not really clear about that."

"I'll look into it properly."

"Fine, fine, fine—grassroots work is full of details; you just need to remind Chen Gui well, don't let him slip up at this critical moment."

"Yes, yes, yes."

"Alright, then that's it."

He hung up the phone, Old Man Shen's brows knotted tight; he had puzzled over it all day but still couldn't figure it out.

What kind of mess is this…

A perfectly fine thank‑you letter and banner, handled like this, just turned sour.

Not only did it fail to end well, it even got the leader to call.

This isn't just adding trouble for the leader, is it?

Just now Xi Lianghong's attitude wasn't very good either.

Thinking of this, he didn't even bother with the freshly brewed tea, grabbed his cane and headed for the village committee.

Just as he reached the village committee, before he could enter, he heard Chen Gui's hearty laughter coming from inside.

It was very lively.

The atmosphere wasn't bad either.

Besides Chen Gui's laughter, there were also sounds of everyone flattering him.

Old Man Shen couldn't help but sigh; he knew he had come at the wrong time.

But there was nothing he could do.

He could only grit his teeth and go inside.