Special District 9 Chapter 172: One Case, Two Directions

That very night.

After Squad 4 retreated from the crime scene, the first thing Qin Yu did was to whip out his phone and dial Superintendent Li’s phone number.

“Hello?

“Are you sleeping soon, Uncle Li?”

“Nah. Go ahead and speak.”

“The Police Bureau received a report that the culprit of Wu Yao’s murder case is at Mapleforest Road’s Charity Apartments earlier on,” Qin Yu quickly summarized the situation. “Liu Baochen brought us there. We failed to stop those fellows, but we found a phone and an accounting record in the room.”

“Oh? Go on, I’m listening,” Superintendent Li replied.

“We have yet to take a look at the handphone yet, but we found something interesting on the accounting record. It states clearly in there that Dajun owes the gun dealers money, and Wu Yao’s name is mentioned too,” Qin Yu said with a smile. “This implies that Wu Yao could very well be involved in the gun smuggling business too.”

“What do you mean?” Superintendent Li asked.

Qin Yu took a while to ponder over the matter before replying, “Uncle Li, Yuan Ke is clearly trying to get on the same bed as Wu Wensheng, or else he wouldn’t get Liu Baochen to investigate this matter. Shouldn’t we bite onto this lead?”

“It’s just an accounting record mentioning Wu Yao. What kind of lead is this?” Superintendent Li replied with a frown. “It isn’t persuasive enough. You won’t be able to get Wu Wensheng.”

“For now, yeah, but what if we were to investigate the matter seriously?” Qin Yu said. “If we push the case in other directions, even if we can’t push anyone down in the end, we’ll at least be able to send a warning out to Wu Wensheng. He’ll have his hands full trying to do damage control.”

“His son just died. Don’t you think it’s a little cruel to do this?” Superintendent Li asked with a teasing voice.

“Wu Yao deserved it. It’s karma for everything that he did,” Qin Yu replied coldly. “Besides, if Wu Wensheng gets too close with Yuan Ke, the ones to suffer are us. Rather than waiting for them to consolidate their strengths, we might as well make the preemptive strike.”

Superintendent Li pondered over those words for a moment before instructing concisely, “If you think that there’s a chance, do it then. However, as soon as you sense that something is amiss, back out of it right away. Stay sharp and don’t let yourself get done in, alright?”

“I understand,” Qin Yu replied with a nod.

“Un, that’s all.”

With that, the two of them ended the call.

Sitting in the car, Zhu Wei turned to look at Qin Yu and asked, “What did the boss say?”

“Old Li is slyer than the cunning old foxes. Even I can tell that it’s a good opportunity to strike, so how could he possibly not see it?” Qin Yu replied with a smile. “He acknowledged it implicitly. He allowed us to continue investigating the matter.”

Zhu Wei blinked his eyes in contemplation before he asked, “Where should we start from then?”

“Let’s find the person named Miao in the accounting book first,” Qin Yu replied. “Isn’t he the one who worked with Dajun in dealing with those gun smugglers?”

“Wouldn’t he have escaped by now?”

“… Hm. Let’s just try looking into him for the time being,” Qin Yu instructed. “Ah, right. The phone that we found in the bedroom is currently in the evidence bag. I need you to return to the Police Bureau right now and look at the content within together with the others. Otherwise, Liu Baochen is probably going to wipe the ass of the Wu Family.”

“Let’s see if he dares to do so!” Zhu Wei replied with a chuckle. “Wun Sen has already taken photos of the evidence. If he tampers with the evidence, I’ll report him to the Police Headquarters right away!”

…

The following morning.

Yuan Ke took out his phone and dialed Wu Wensheng’s number.

“Hello, Yuan Ke?”

“Uncle, there’s a matter that I need to give you a heads up about,” Yuan Ke said with a frown. “Yesterday night, Liu Baochen received a tipoff about the culprits and led a team over to apprehend them. However, those bunch of people are too cautious. They managed to slip away.”

“Yes, I’ve heard about it,” Wu Wensheng replied with a nod.

“On the whole, we managed to progress the case by a fair bit, but there’s one detail that proves to be troublesome,” Yuan Ke said hesitantly. “The team managed to uncover an accounting book in the room. The fixers appeared to have overlooked it because they left in a hurry. On it, it clearly states the amount Dajun owes them, and Little Wu’s name is recorded on there too.”

Wu Wensheng froze up upon hearing those words.

“Qin Yu was part of the team yesterday night,” Yuan Ke reminded softly. “He saw the accounting book too.”

Wu Wensheng’s face was slowly getting graver by the moment.

“The accounting book isn’t any conclusive evidence, but it does provide Qin Yu with a direction to investigate,” Yuan Ke continued. “You are also aware that he’s antagonistic toward us. So, it’ll be best to halt any transactions that Little Wu was handling previously. Otherwise, if Qin Yu were to catch onto anything, Superintendent Li is bound to start stirring the pot.”

“Is Liu Baochen so inept that he can’t even curb Qin Yu despite being his superior?” Wu Wensheng asked with a chilly voice.

“Uncle, the situation in the Black Street Sector Police Bureau is much more complicated than anywhere else,” Yuan Ke explained helplessly. “Superintendent Li is backing Qin Yu. Putting aside Liu Baochne, even Wen Yonggang won’t be able to do much about him.”

“Fine. I’ll relay the word to Little Wu’s company,” Wu Wensheng nodded.

“Alright. You don’t have to worry too much about the case. Liu Baochen has been making significant progress in the case so far, so it’s only a matter of time before he corners those bastards.”

“Yuan Ke, I’m counting on you for this.” Wu Wensheng nodded silently for a moment before he continued, “It’s only in times of hardship that true friendship surfaces. I’m blessed to have you and a few other friends who have been actively supporting me through my son’s demise. Don’t worry, I have taken all of your help to heart. Once this matter is settled, we can sit down together over dinner and talk anything out.”

Uncle, you’re being too courteous with me,” Despite saying those words, Yuan Ke’s eyes were already glowing with excitement after hearing what Wu Wensheng said.

“I understand your intentions,” Wu Wensheng said with a sigh. “Sigh. Give me some time to get over this first. We’ll talk about it next time.”

“Yes, don’t worry about it. Alright, I shan’t impose on you any longer.”

“See you.”

The two of them hung up their call here.

Inside the living room of the residence of the Wu Family, Wu Wensheng lay on his sofa quietly for a long while before he finally instructed, “Tell Old Yan that I’ll be looking for him after the funeral procession tomorrow.”

“Alright, I’ll inform him,” Wu Wensheng’s nephew replied.

…

Jiangzhou.

Coco stood with her hands behind her back as she led Qi Lin and Old Cat into a brightly lit storage room. Gesturing row after row of shelves before her, she said with a smile, “All of the goods here are specially prepared for Songjiang!”

“Woah, you sure prepared a lot!” Qi Lin exclaimed as he looked at the boxes of goods placed neatly on shelves. “Old Cat, how much do you think we’ll be able to earn if we manage to distribute these goods out?”

“Well, we should be able to get at least 300,000,” Old Cat gave a rather conservative estimate.

Qi Lin took a look of awe at the goods around. His eyes glittered with ecstasy as he said, “Once the money comes in, I’ll send my mum over to Jiangzhou’s hospital and hire a special teacher for my sis.”

“That’s why money is important,” Coco replied with a satisfied nod. “With money, you can do anything.”

“Heh, I detest gold diggers like you,” Old Cat glanced at Coco and teased. “You speak as if money is omnipotent!”

“Why don’t you tell me something that you can’t do with money these days then?” Coco replied indignantly.

“… I want to marry you. Can I do that with money?” Amazingly, Old Cat was able to come up with a perfect retort for that.

Coco was stunned for a long while before she shrugged in resignation, “Fine fine, you’ve won.”

Qi Lin walked up to one of the boxes and opened it up. He took a look at the medicine inside as he said, “Make sure to quickly build up the connections on the streets once you and Lao-er return to Songjiang. I’ll deliver this bunch of goods into your hands as quickly as possible.”

“I know,” Old Cat replied with a nod. “I’ll be calling Qin Yu later on to inform him about it. I’ll return with Lao-er either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”

“Un.” Qi Lin nodded.

…

In Songjiang’s Black Street Sector.

Wen Yonggang picked up his office phone and informed Liu Baochen, “The result of your bribery case is out. Come by my office to take a look.”

Fifteen minutes later, Liu Baochen stood within the Vice Superintendent Office as he browsed through the official document of his case. His eyes slowly opened wide as he howled indignantly, “Bloody hell, why?! It’s just 10,000 dollars! Is there a need to send an official reprimand to everyone in the Police Headquarters? Furthermore, I can’t be promoted within two years? Son of a bitch! You might as well just strip me of my uniform! Fuck, it must be Qin Yu pulling strings behind my back!”