Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 722 Three Points About Eating Mushrooms

Yunnan Province is located in the southwestern border region of China. To the west lies the so-called Silver Triangle, a lawless area rife with warlords, and to the south, a newly emerging network of telecommunications fraud. Naturally, it is at the forefront of the fight against crime and, apart from New Jersey, is one of the most dangerous areas in China.

At the same time, because it had the most convenient road from South Asian countries to China, it flourished and had commercial characteristics different from those of coastal provinces. Its prosperity was a distorted one, supported by smuggling, drugs, and telecom fraud.

For decades since its founding, China has maintained an absolute policy of combating border crimes in Yunnan Province: if it can be done, it will be done; if not, it will be killed. This is the only way to control the flow of drugs at their source and ensure the smooth progress of anti-drug efforts in other provinces.

But there are always exceptions.

For example, the Henghe Group in Myanmar can, to a certain extent, be fearless of the Chinese government, provided that they are located outside of China.

These seemingly legitimate companies or groups, besides their ostensible hotel and real estate development businesses, are actually involved in a wide range of shady operations, including but not limited to prostitution, gambling, and drug trafficking, as well as the rapidly emerging telecommunications fraud.

Human nature is inherently greedy; once we've gained a lot, we start thinking about whether we can gain even more in the future.

Looking beyond the surface, in this lawless zone, a haven for criminals, only those with powerful armed forces can maintain control and plunder wealth and absolute power for an extended period.

They used to accumulate wealth mainly through drugs, but now they've turned to telecom fraud.

"Times are progressing, and these guys are progressing too."

On the high-speed train, Chen Chuan closed the "Recent Situation in Yunnan Province and Surrounding Areas" that Jiang Hai had compiled and printed overnight, and felt that there was a loophole that could not be ignored.

"Even telecom fraud requires a communication network to operate. In places where even the Myanmar government doesn't care, how can they expect a telecom company to build a base station? Forget about the network, they'd at least cut off the water and electricity. Especially Myawaddy, which is said to be the most dangerous place in the region!"

"Oh dear, Mr. Chen, do you not even know how to look at a map? You can't even tell east from west, north from south, and you're talking about cutting off water and electricity? We need to be able to supply water and electricity to Myawaddy too," Zhu Yiba mocked without any politeness.

Chen Shu nodded with a smile and joked, "If you ask Kunming, or where the nightclubs in Man Valley are fun, Young Master Chen is definitely a walking encyclopedia. As for other things, being able to name places is already quite impressive."

Chen Chuan smacked his lips and took out his phone to browse Douyin.

Zhu Yiba took the documents, smiled, and flipped through a few pages before saying, "But speaking of which, Mr. Chen, I don't know about other places. Near Mengbo County, there's a fraud industrial park next to a river. There's a rumor that its main purpose in its initial construction was to facilitate receiving signals from our side."

Jiang Hai, sitting in the front row, turned and leaned back in his chair, saying seriously, "Brother Ba, this situation is probably just a coincidence. Communication numbers are now subject to border restrictions; they can't be found once you're a little far from the border. However, there are many ways to bypass the communication network and contact people in China directly."

Chen Shu said, "A few years ago, I cooperated with the internet police in Dongzhou to make several arrests. I remember these people seemed to drive a van with a server inside and hundreds of cards inserted. They would drive around the city, and people from overseas would use this machine as a transit point to make unlimited calls to people near the van."

Zhu Yiba frowned and asked, "Brother Chen, from what you're saying, does that mean our internet surveillance can catch people just by setting a location? These people are pretty stupid; why not do this instead? They could catch them every time!"

Chen Shu laughed and said, "There's money to be made. You can earn five thousand a day just by driving around in a van, and it's paid daily. Some of the bolder ones don't even have a driver's license and dare to start driving."

Zhu Yiba clicked his tongue in amazement: "We work night shifts every day, and our monthly salary is only a little over ten thousand yuan, while they can earn five thousand a day?"

Chen Shu said, "These prices were from seven or eight years ago, so some people took a chance and started doing it. To be honest, the first few batches of people who did this really made a lot of money. Then, money laundering, money running, and so on, the whole service was set up. Now the regulations are stricter, and the detection equipment has caught up, so naturally there's no point in them doing it anymore."

"Don't be fooled by the high commissions those people outside are offering now, ten or twenty thousand a day. They're practically guaranteed to catch them in China. But the ones we manage to catch are all fools, thinking they're the chosen ones, the fish that slip through the net. I don't know how they hypnotize themselves, thinking that something as good as a free lunch is impossible for lazy people like them."

Jiang Hai nodded worriedly: "Brother Shu, Brother Ba, actually, I think, to put it bluntly, the Chinese are the masterminds behind this telecom fraud. The Burmese warlords are just accomplices who were greedy for money."

Chen Shu exclaimed "Eh," somewhat surprised by Jiang Hai's insight: "Your point is quite interesting, rather novel. What we've been discussing before, including the current online outcry against telecom fraud, has been focused on Myanmar and the North, while the masterminds behind these Chinese telecom fraud schemes are rarely mentioned."

Jiang Hai seemed quite happy to receive Chen Shu's affirmation and began to talk at length.

Chen Chuan muttered, "So they're just Chinese people using Chinese internet and Chinese phone cards to scam money from other Chinese people."

As we spoke, the bullet train arrived in Kunming, a city known for its year-round spring-like climate.

Stepping out of the train station, the first thing that catches the eye is the blue sky, white clouds, and warm sunshine. The maple leaves on both sides of the road are red and particularly beautiful.

"Haha, let's eat mushrooms first. Ah, no, let's eat dinner first!"

Chen Chuan stood with his hands on his hips at the station entrance, looking triumphant. (A restaurant.)

The waiter handed over a menu, but Chen Chuan waved it off, indicating he didn't need it. He then ordered the dishes fluently and skillfully, suggesting he had done his research in Dongzhou.

"Stir-fried Bok choy, mushroom hot pot, chicken stew with matsutake mushrooms."

After the waiter made a note of everything, he took the bowls and chopsticks from the table and left.

Jiang Hai, who had just returned from getting a tissue box from the front desk, noticed that the bowls and chopsticks on the table were gone and began asking around.

He felt a little aggrieved after learning that the waiter had taken it, since he had gone out of his way to get the sterilizing cabinet next to the service counter to set out the food for everyone.

As the only junior member, Jiang Hai was perceptive and knew to lend a helping hand when out in public. Although setting out chopsticks and bowls was a small task, his initiative in serving everyone showed he knew how to behave.

However, the waiter's actions left Jiang Hai feeling disappointed that his efforts had been in vain.

Chen Chuan rubbed his hands together, laughing at Jiang Hai's ignorance, saying that the restaurant owner was worried that customers would get poisoned if they ate the mushrooms before they were fully cooked.

Hearing this, everyone became interested in the mushroom meal.

Chen Chuan held up three fingers and said, "Actually, there's no need to be afraid of this poison or that poison. Just remember three 'cooked' things. First, the mushrooms must be cooked thoroughly; second, you must know the type of mushrooms; and third, you must know the way to the hospital."

Amidst much anticipation, the hot pot filled with mushrooms was served.

The waiter placed an hourglass on the side to keep track of time and earnestly warned the guests that they must wait until the hourglass ran out before eating the mushrooms cooking in the hot pot, and that other cooked mushrooms should not be added to the hot pot to be cooked again.

"The chopsticks are all with you, so there's nothing we can do even if we want to eat," Chen Chuan said, his eyes fixed on the pot, while still trying to change the subject.

Time flew by, and the hourglass ran out in the blink of an eye. Chen Chuan couldn't wait to call the waiter to set out the bowls and chopsticks.

While others were distributing bowls and chopsticks to the other people, Chen Chuan, who was the first to get chopsticks, immediately picked up a piece of mushroom and ate it in big bites, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

His tongue tasted the deliciousness of the mushrooms, and this flavor made him unconsciously close his eyes, as if time had stopped for that moment.

While Chen Chuan kept adding mushrooms to the hot pot, he excitedly urged the other three to eat them while they were hot, jokingly saying that if they didn't start eating soon, they would all be gone.

As a result, Chen Shu, Zhu Yiba, and Jiang Hai didn't touch any of the mushrooms in the hot pot. Apart from occasionally picking up some freshly served stir-fried dishes, they just stared blankly at him.

Chen Chuan finally realized something was wrong, slowly stopped what he was doing, and asked, "Why aren't you eating? This tastes pretty good."

Zhu Yiba pursed his lips and smiled: "The waiter just told us that locals must follow three rules when eating mushrooms. The first rule is that they must be cooked thoroughly, which matches what you said earlier."

Chen Chuan replied simply, "Isn't that obvious? As I said before, I did a lot of research online before coming here."

Zhu Yiba extended his second finger, interrupting Chen Chuan, and continued, "The second rule is to see if the idiot shakes after eating it. If it doesn't shake after five minutes, we can eat it."

Here, when Zhu Yiba said the word "idiot," he deliberately imitated the waiter's local dialect.

Chen Chuan was taken aback, not yet reacting: "Which one should we eat?"

Zhu Yiba held up his third finger and said with a smile, "The third rule is that while everyone is waiting to see if the idiot will shake, we can eat other dishes first. It's a good method, but it's a bit of a waste for the idiot."

Now Chen Chuan understood. So this idiot was him. He stood up and pretended to hit someone.

Everyone at the table was smiling and seemed quite happy.

(End of this chapter)