Chapter 1248

At Mingxuan, wearing height-increasing insoles, he was 1.8 meters tall, at his heaviest 135 jin, and at his most handsome with dyed yellow hair.

At this moment, he was at his richest.

Mingxuan stared at Jiang Yuan with a playful expression, waiting for him to say that classic reply.

He could see Jiang Yuan surrounded by a group of people, even more than his own side, but what use was that? The bar was full of men willing to work for his money.

Mingxuan could even imagine: when he pulled out a wad of cash, rallied a group to stand up, and made the tall guy across the way back down, the women beside him would be thrilled!

He might even get fed without spending money.

While thinking, Mingxuan squeezed hard with both hands, making the girl cry out in pain, and he revealed a harmonious smile.

Jiang Yuan completely didn't get Mingxuan's point. When he was in middle school, his family had already started demolition; by high school he was quite wealthy; he studied forensic medicine in university, graduated and got a position—his life path could be described as very unsocial. When Mingxuan posed the classic question, Jiang Yuan first suspected he'd mistaken the person, turned to look at Qiu Jianye: "He's not from Tianjin?"

Qiu Jianye was stumped by the question, hesitated, then said: "Probably yes……"

Qiu Jianye said that and lowered his head to look for his phone, wanting to confirm.

At this moment, Mingxuan across from them could no longer contain himself, stood up, pointed at Jiang Yuan: "Kid, it's you I'm talking to! What are you looking at?"

Mu Zhiyang slowly stood up, blocking in front of Jiang Yuan. He was worried a hotheaded fool might fly over with a beer bottle; if it hit Jiang Yuan, trouble would erupt on this side.

Under his influence, Wang Chuanxing, Wen Ming, and Lu Tongda also stood up.

Accordingly, Mingxuan's side also saw a row of people stand up with a swish.

Mingxuan laughed hahaha, "That's right! This is exactly the version I wanted!"

Mingxuan flicked his hand, turned around, and pulled a stack of money from beside someone, holding it high, shouting: "Brothers all know me, Mingxuan, right? Today some out-of-town jerk came…"

Mu Zhiyang suddenly stepped forward with a firm stride, grabbed a tuft of hair on Mingxuan's head, and with a yank, pulled him over.

The few people following Mingxuan only had time to let out a cry—perhaps they didn't even want to react in time—before watching Mingxuan fall into the crowd on Jiang Yuan's side.

Mu Zhiyang casually set him down, then glanced as Wen Ming kicked him to the ground with one foot.

Mu Zhiyang lightly clapped his hands, smiling at the opposite side: "What's up with you?"

"Damn idiot!"

"Let him go!"

"You guys don't want to live anymore?"

The opposite side seemed to explode, everyone shouting and gathering to rush forward, but after a few shoves, they merely maintained a state of loud yelling.

"Don't move, anyone! Careful I'll trample you to death." Wen Ming roared again, looking at Jiang Yuan.

"Do you know who I am?" The little golden beast panted heavily, fury overflowing.

"You're like this—who you are doesn't matter. Got your phone? You're allowed to call for backup." Jiang Yuan saw the surroundings packed with people, not hiding his thoughts.

What the task force currently lacks is clues, and the anti-smuggling bureau's work style and personnel structure don't favor large-scale arrests.

Their anti-smuggling duties at customs are already heavy, permissions limited, and most importantly, they're short-staffed—don't look at the roster size, only the investigation team handles arrests; the rest, aside from various office staff, are mainly field law enforcement like port patrols for the inspection and anti-smuggling action teams.

However, Jiang Yuan came from the criminal police team, more familiar and adapted to their style.

So, if the criminal police team were interested in a gang but lacked sufficient intelligence, what should they do? Not saying arrest people—at the very least, find relevant personnel to question.

These people in the bar may not have strong ties to smuggling gangs, but the ones the little golden beast called over likely have countless connections to the smuggling syndicate—Mingxuan only made money in these two years; besides relatives and friends, his only recourse was his "colleagues."

This would yield results more easily than taking the little golden beast back for interrogation.

Mingxuan had no idea what script he'd gotten into, pulled out his phone, and felt quite surprised.

He strained to lift his head toward Jiang Yuan, asking: "You think I can't call for help? You're from out of town, right—do you know who I am?"

"Go ahead, call. We'll talk after they arrive." Jiang Yuan couldn't be bothered to play word games with him, said his piece, and sat down.

Wen Ming then lifted his clothes, pulling out a thumb-wide iron ruler from inside.

Mingxuan instead relaxed, thinking: given the current environment, few street thugs dare carry iron rulers around. He pulled out his phone to dial, while resentfully saying: "You'll regret this later."

Soon, the number labeled only DSW connected.

"Hello."

"Shan Ge, I'm at Pang Gou's bar, got beaten up—bring more people to save me." Mingxuan shouted loudly.

As soon as he finished, Mu Zhiyang leaned over and took his phone away.

Mingxuan again yelled "Cili wala," Jiang Yuan ignored him completely.

Wang Chuanxing circled to Jiang Yuan's side, whispered: "What if this Shan Ge isn't from the smuggling syndicate?"

"Let him call for help again." Jiang Yuan answered naturally.

"What if he can't find anyone, or refuses?"

"Then we'll force him to find someone, trick them over." Jiang Yuan paused, then added: "If that still doesn't work, we'll see if anyone else has a breakthrough."

Wang Chuanxing thus understood Jiang Yuan's intent—this was a determined effort to squeeze out clues, so there was nothing more to say; he settled in to wait calmly.

The clamor from Mingxuan's group in the bar now sounded, to Jiang Yuan, like fledglings calling companions into a net.

After the commotion lasted a while, Mingxuan only felt his cheeks sting, angry and frustrated, yet a thought flashed unbidden in his mind: "Why hasn't the bar owner come yet?"

Pang Gou used to be an insider, just retired early, later opened the bar; seeing familiar faces come in, he often came out to greet them; occasional fights and brawls, he'd always handled well.

Mingxuan had originally expected Pang Gou to come out and help him, but today so much time had passed with no sign of him, he couldn't help but frown—ay, Mingxuan shouted loudly, he was still being stepped on by Wen Ming, his face rubbing against the bar's dirty floor, which really hurt.

"Have him sit on the sofa." Jiang Yuan didn't want anyone kept pressing on him.

Wen Ming thus bent over, lifted Mingxuan up, and skillfully turned his hand behind……

Wei Shikian hurriedly stopped him, barely managing to pull out handcuffs, saying: "I'll tie him, I'll tie him."

Saying that, Wei Shikian somehow produced a rope, and in two or three moves had Mingxuan trussed up behind his back, movements practiced as if he'd trained specifically for it.

Wen Ming then tapped Mingxuan's head with his steel ruler, drawing a clamor from the opposite side.

After waiting about ten minutes, the man nicknamed Shan Ge finally arrived, panting slightly.

"Where are you brothers from?" Shan Ge also wore a floral shirt, spoke with grandeur, followed by over a dozen underlings, appearing quite authoritative.

Seeing so many people, if fighting broke out it'd be hard to control, so Jiang Yuan simply stood up and said: "Close the door."

After saying that, Mu Zhiyang drew his gun, while Lu Tongda and the others in the front row pulled out their batons and displayed their police badges.

"Police, everyone squat down!"

Amid everyone's confusion, Mu Zhiyang stepped forward briskly, grabbed Shan Ge's floral shirt, and yanked him over.

"You're into smuggling?" Jiang Yuan asked outright, and personally took his fingerprints.

At the same time, Wang Chuansheng's portable printer, which he carried on him, began working with a clatter.

Shan Ge's vision swam; he knew he was in a bar, but in that moment he felt as if he had returned to the police station.

"Come on, tell me— which smuggling ring are you with now?" Jiang Yuan asked in a particularly unprofessional manner, which only made Shan Ge more nervous.

"I'm just an ordinary citizen." Shan Ge said cautiously: "I came out for a drink, that's all."

"Then you're bringing along a member of your smuggling ring?" Jiang Yuan asked.

Shan Ge quickly shook his head: "No, no, we just came out to hang out."

"So that means you're involved with triads?" Jiang Yuan looked up at Shan Ge and said: "You wouldn't happen to be carrying weapons, would you? Because if you are, that could get complicated."

Shan Ge's sweat poured out with a "swish".

(End of chapter)