Chapter 350: Volunteering

The first to be caught was the Zhang Jing family, a quartet out on a trip.

As a low-level clerk, he had heard from some source that he could buy counterfeit 20-yuan bills at a 20% discount—so convincing they were indistinguishable from real ones—that he couldn't stop thinking about it. When his boss went bankrupt, he decided to take his wife, mother, and mother-in-law on a trip together.

Zhang Jing owned a small personal car; it wouldn't fetch much if sold, but it was perfectly usable for a road trip. In fact, over the years, he and his wife had always planned trips and tried to replicate the activities seen in short videos—but never managed to go.

The main obstacle was, of course, money. Zhang Jing earned only three or four thousand yuan a month; his wife would work for a while, then quit—firing her boss was routine, but bringing money home was rare.

The clash between their tight finances and their dreams was instantly resolved once they obtained the counterfeit bills.

Zhang Jing saw no problem with using counterfeit money. He had received fake bills before and never actually turned them in to the bank—he always found some obscure corner to spend them.

This time, with a large sum of counterfeit bills, Zhang Jing figured he could use the same approach. Since the denomination was low and they'd be driving long distances, he simply enlisted his mother and mother-in-law.

Both elderly women were seasoned bargain hunters at the market, never got cheated, and had some experience using counterfeit bills themselves. They felt no psychological resistance to it—on the contrary, they thought free travel and discounted meals and drinks were excellent.

Similarly, Zhang Jing's wife voiced no opposition. Overall, this was a family with very little legal awareness.

To many, this might sound unbelievable, but across China's vast population, such families were countless—including those who bought children and wives from traffickers. They might respect the law in theory, but certainly not in practice.

Within just two days, Liu Jinghui identified twelve more families like Zhang Jing's and arrested them all.

The Ningtai County Bureau deployed its entire force to bring them all back, with Liu Jinghui coordinating throughout.

Altogether, thirty-three suspects were apprehended—none were professional criminals, and not a single one had a prior criminal record.

Of course, if even one of them had undergone prison re-education, they would never have committed such a foolish crime.

Yet arresting these peripheral minor players was not the goal of Jiang Yuan's cold case task force.

After actively participating in interrogations for a day, Liu Jinghui began listing more targets on the whiteboard:

"All counterfeit bills were received via courier packages, with the delivery origin listed as Chi Yong City… We could trace these couriers, but Chi Yong is huge…"

"These people were primarily connected through social media, especially stranger-matching apps—on this front… I'll contact the Cybersecurity Unit…"

"The money… Although the payments they made were likely laundered, we still need to track them down…"

Once Liu Jinghui finished summarizing these key points, his frown deepened.

Aside from the first lead—tracing the courier and then checking surveillance footage, which might yield results—the other two internet-based crimes offered little room for his investigative skills.

This is precisely why telecom fraud cases have surged so rapidly, now exceeding half of all cases.

When police use high-tech tools, real-world criminals suffer—but when criminals use high-tech tools, the police suffer too.

Both sides are like adversaries separated by a network built by programmers, killing each other remotely—fangs useless, claws useless.

"I'll go to Chi Yong City," Wang Chuan said. He felt this lead was still within his control.

All it required was following the courier tracking number, asking the delivery personnel, then finding suitable surveillance footage to locate suspects—basic detective work, simple enough for officers of any age or IQ, even for officials and leaders.

And this ugly, brute-force method was precisely what Liu

Jinghui had long abandoned. Yet this case, unexpectedly, was entirely built on such blunt, direct methods.

"Chi Yong is far away. I'm glad you're willing to go on a business trip," Liu Jinghui said. He wanted the case solved, but at his age, after solving so many cases, simply cracking another one brought no thrill at all.

Work needed some beauty, some rhythm. Unfortunately, this case offered none. Liu Jinghui sat, rubbing his forehead.

Wang Chuan was still young—he couldn't understand Liu Jinghui's longing, yet still endured using such an ugly method to solve the case…

"Take several more people to Chi Yong," Jiang Yuan said. He'd been immersed in this case for two days. Though he had no definitive conclusion, the information he provided now sharply narrowed the scope. "When you arrive, check local print shops and companies that do advertising signage. In short, this counterfeiter likely started with software and must have some operational experience."

Liu Jinghui asked: "What have you figured out?"

Jiang Yuan said: "Analyzing the counterfeit bills, the forger is using a printer method—specifically an Epson R330 printer, with a heat press, a paper cutter, requiring a dedicated space, professional skills, and specialized paper and ink…"

He possessed Level 3 Document Examination skills, which he'd never had a chance to use—now, examining the production method was effortless.

Liu Jinghui scratched his head: "Aren't printers blocked from printing banknotes?"

"There are software thresholds, but several Epson series have been cracked."

"Cracked?"

"Yes. Including the digital version of the 20-yuan RMB—available everywhere on the dark web. Buy a counterfeit template, and you get the full production process. It takes only a few bills to test—but few dare to actually do it."

Liu Jinghui was astonished: "You're describing a counterfeit template—the very thing that, in old crime films, always got the protagonist hunted across the world…"

"Something like that."

"The black market really has everything," Liu Jinghui said without much emotion. Domestic controls were already extremely tight; abroad, not only did the dark web trade people, weapons, and drugs, but counterfeit currency was sold outright—half-finished products and raw materials definitely available.

Liu Jinghui quickly accepted Jiang Yuan's premise and deduced: "The forger has some technical ability, but not much—he's probably relatively young and impulsive. He also needs a separate room or workshop to store machines, raw materials, especially finished counterfeit bills…"

After a brief analysis, Liu Jinghui added: "Jiang Yuan's suggestion about print shops deserves serious attention. Also, tracing Epson R330 printers—there shouldn't be many individuals or institutions possessing them…"

Wang Chuan listened carefully, taking notes—these were precisely the leads he'd need to pursue when he arrived in Chi Yong.

Liu Jinghui, like a father giving advice, turned to Jiang Yuan: "If we're not in a hurry, we could use an undercover agent. Someone like Wang Chuan, young and tech-savvy, could contact the suspect, go undercover for a year or two, and possibly uncover their entire network."

Wang Chuan shuddered at the suggestion and hurriedly said: "Director Liu, I'll thoroughly investigate in Chi Yong—no need for an undercover operation…"

"If the suspect truly bought a digital template, then there's someone behind him—someone we might not be able to catch," Liu Jinghui said with deep regret.

"No, no—I'll squeeze him dry, no matter what," Wang Chuan's back was already sweating.

Volunteering was clearly risky. Looking around the meeting room, Jiang Yuan's cold case task force had twenty-one members—enough to spare one or two for undercover work.