Reborn Treasure Appraiser: I Really Didn’t Want to Be an Expert

Chapter 338: Casting stones to ask for directions
The conference room was packed, and the tables were covered with documents: personal profiles, social connections, shop and company registration information, bank accounts, financial transactions...

Yu, the team leader, stood in front of the big screen and acted as the commentator: "These are the clues that each team has recently found. The focus is on these companies that are just pretending to be something they're not."

Part of the information came from Ma Shan's subordinates, while the other part was based on the activity patterns of Qi Song, Ren Danhua, and Yu Jichuan, who selected companies and businesses with a high degree of relevance and correlation for in-depth investigation.

Then, based on transaction records and fund flows, they identified several bank accounts with relatively frequent transactions. Following further investigation based on recent unusual fund movements, they ultimately traced the source…

"The industries involved are extremely wide: there are cultural companies that specialize in antiques, art companies that deal in jewelry, logistics companies that specialize in transportation, engineering companies that ostensibly engage in demolition and civil engineering, and even auction companies that specialize in money laundering and international auctions..."

"Preliminary investigations suggest this is a large criminal syndicate centered in Beijing, radiating across the four provinces and municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and Inner Mongolia. Its main methods of accumulating wealth include theft, smuggling of cultural relics, and money laundering. It comprises several tightly organized gangs with clearly defined roles. Ma Shan and Wang Chun are merely one link in the chain, the tip of the iceberg..."

"Therefore, the operation was very successful, far exceeding expectations..."

As the detachment went from case to case, explaining each one to the others and analyzing each one, several high-ranking officers who had been specially invited and were dealing with the case for the first time were astonished.

You were stunned by that?

Only a very small number of people know this; what the police have obtained is far more than what was discussed at the meeting.

Although Lin Sicheng was an unofficial staff member, his contributions were too great, so the brigade leaders told him some things they could: the top umbrella was one level higher than Deputy Brigade Commander Sun.

But these are just clues, not evidence, and there is still a lot of work to be done.

Afterwards, there was a small discussion, mostly among the branch captains, excluding those at the level of Yan Wenjing.

But Lin Sicheng was conspicuously on the list.

At the end of the meeting, Director Chen of the Municipal Bureau, who was presiding over the meeting, called on Teacher Lin to say a few words. Lin Sicheng stood up and said: "My abilities are limited and my experience is insufficient. I can only offer some advice."

A group of leaders laughed in unison: "Xiao Lin, knock harder, the harder the better..."

After the meeting, Lin Sicheng hurriedly went downstairs.

Behind him, a man and a woman followed closely. It was the same person as before: the jacket-wearing man and his mistress.

It was already mid-October, and the weather was getting cooler. Wang Qizhi was wearing a leather jacket with a fur collar and sitting in the driver's seat.

He held an unlit cigarette between his fingers, twirling it back and forth.

Ye Anning and Ji Wangshu stood under the car, glancing at their watches from time to time.

"Look, they're here!"

Ji Wangshu pointed, and Ye Anning's eyes lit up, and she pursed her lips.

Wang Qizhi got out of the car and stared at the two people behind Lin Sicheng. Subconsciously, he recalled his time in Xi'an around this time last year.

That's how it is: wherever Lin Sicheng goes, there are always these two people following behind him...

As he pondered this, Lin Sicheng walked up to them and greeted them one by one: "Teacher, Teacher's wife, Sister Anning..."

Wang Qizhi sighed: "What's the situation with you now? I called Yan Wenjing to say I wanted to talk to you, and he actually said he couldn't make the decision?"

There is some truth to that, but most people wouldn't say it so directly.

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "I've been a bit busy lately. Captain Yan is leading a team, so we're not together and don't see each other much."

This has nothing to do with whether they are together or not: given Yan Wenjing's personality, he would never lie.

If he says he can't make the decision, then he truly can't make the decision.

This reassured Wang Qizhi: the more attention it received, the better it was being protected…

He nodded: "It's good that you're alive!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he was struck on the back with a hammer. Ji Wangshu glared at him fiercely.

Then he turned his head and smiled again: "It's getting cold, so I asked Anning to bring you some clothes. I also asked your teacher to ask the police leaders when you'll finish here. But when I got here, I found out they were all in a meeting."

Even if there is no meeting, the teacher can't ask right away; at the very least, you have to ask the team leader.

Lin Sicheng thought for a moment: "At the latest, by the end of the month; at the latest, it won't be delayed until the beginning of winter!"

If you calculate the time, it's only about half a month.

Wang Qizhi was skeptical: "Can it be done so quickly?"

"I can definitely get it done!" Lin Sicheng said without hesitation. "Even if I can't finish it, I'll go back to Xijing on time!"

At this stage of the investigation, with the existing clues, if the case cannot be solved before Wang Chun goes to Sichuan for medical treatment, then it is no longer a matter of Lin Sicheng being able to influence the course and outcome of the case on his own.

No matter how capable he is, how much he knows, or how professional he is, he is still just a human being, not a god.

Of course, this is only the worst-case scenario: no matter how strong their connections or how high their rank, can these people be higher than the leaders in the ministry?
Lin Sicheng didn't dare to say much, and Wang Qizhi didn't ask any further questions. Looking at the two people behind him, Wang Qizhi didn't mention anything about letting Lin Sicheng go back to stay.

Ye Anning opened the trunk, took out her suitcase, and then looked behind Lin Sicheng.

What are you looking at, Tang Nanyan?
Ji Wangshu squinted: Ye Anning, you did this on purpose, didn't you?

Where is this? The courtyard of the Public Security Bureau.

He came out to see a relative, and everyone was following him. With that kind of entourage, what can he possibly do here?
As she was cursing under her breath, she suddenly froze: a figure in a police uniform flashed past behind the glass of the automatic door.

She is slender and tall, yet exudes a heroic spirit.

Ye Anning pouted and propped her chin on her hand: "Auntie, you were just about to scold me, weren't you? Here, see for yourself..."

Ji Wangshu stared at Ye Anning in disbelief: How could you see that from so far away? What kind of eyesight is that?
Lin Sicheng, oblivious to the situation, inquired about the Institute of Literature and Art's project research launch event.

Wang Qizhi beamed: Lin Sicheng couldn't get away, so he, as the teacher, had to do it in his place. Therefore, this time, Wang Qizhi truly gained face.

I also inquired about the center's operations, and everything was fine.

Seeing that Lin Sicheng was perfectly fine and had someone following him around at all times, the family had nothing to worry about and didn't stay long.

After getting into the car and leaving the yard, Ji Wangshu glared at Ye Anning as she looked at Lin Sicheng waving incessantly in the rearview mirror: "We finally saw him, and you, instead of saying a word, just stay put?"

Ye Anning wrinkled her nose.

As long as I can see him and know that he's alright, that's enough...

……

Sunlight streamed through the glass, falling on the display shelves. The humidifier hummed, emitting puffs of white mist. After drinking herbal medicine and applying ointment, Wang Chun, wrapped in a thin blanket, basked in the sun by the window.

Ren Danhua sat beside him, seemingly wanting to say something but hesitating.

The woman smiled and said, "What's wrong? Are you in a hurry?"

Ren Danhua nodded: "Big sister, another week has passed!"

This operation was not only sudden, but also large-scale and rigorous. However, because it was known early and the response was timely, there were virtually no losses.

In contrast, their competitors have suffered greatly: some have been fined, some have had their shops shut down, some have had their accounts frozen, and some have even been arrested.

The eldest sister's business was only slightly affected, which was negligible.

The problematic accounts were cleaned up completely, and although not all the goods had been transferred, they were delivered to a safe place. But the older woman still said: "Let's wait a little longer, let's take another look..."

After thinking for a long time, Ren Danhua couldn't help but ask, "Sister, if there's a problem with the business, we can stop. Why do we have to stop the business that doesn't have a problem?"

"We have items from legitimate sources, right? These can be sold, right? The tighter the rules are, the easier business is, and the more money we make..."

Take that pocket watch, for example. This one definitely has a problem and can't be produced again for the time being. But there are so many things that are fine, why can't they be repaired?

Not all items are broken. There were so many intact items that we collected before to cover up our wrongdoing. Why not take advantage of the market shortage and sell them at a high price?

It wasn't that Ren Danhua was greedy for money and didn't value her life; it was just that she had fought too fiercely with Ma Shan before, and in recent years, the eldest sister had basically stopped going into tombs, leaving her subordinates to make a living entirely from it. Suddenly, all the business stopped. It was easy for the leaders to handle this, but what about the people below them?
Over time, the group will fall apart...

Ren Danhua spoke quickly and somewhat hastily, but Wang Chun didn't mind: "People who are afraid of poverty and suffer for a long time naturally become bolder. Besides, Ren Danhua hasn't experienced much, doesn't know the risks, and is bound to make assumptions."

She smiled and said, "Your cousin, your uncle, and your grandfather all thought the same thing back then: people's hearts are easy to scatter but hard to come together, but what was the result? They got shot down!"

Ren Danhua choked for a moment, unable to speak.

When her cousin had his accident, she was only in her early twenties, still in college, a time when she was young and naive. When her uncle had his accident, she was still in junior high school, knowing nothing.

But at that time, my cousin was in her prime and beginning to show her talent.

Seeing her remain silent, Wang Chun frowned: "Besides, we're already attracting enough attention. If you can avoid making any moves, then try not to..."

Ren Danhua asked, puzzled, "Big sister, it seems like we have the fewest problems and are the safest, right?"

"It's precisely because it has the fewest problems that it attracts attention."

Wang Chun counted on her fingers: "The police operation has been underway for a week now. Do you know how many shops have been shut down and how many have been ordered to rectify their operations? More than 200 shops have been shut down and more than 1,100 have been ordered to rectify their operations. And the three major markets in Beijing have a total of less than 5,000 shops!"

"That means a quarter of our competitors have problems to some extent. But out of our 26 stores and 8 companies, apart from the few in Mashan, not a single one of the rest has been investigated?"

It's impossible to be completely free of problems in the antique business. Both Wang Chun and the two bosses mentioned above understand the principle that "if the water is too clear, there will be no fish."

Therefore, even though they received the news very early, they still left many loopholes. The problems weren't major, just enough to warrant rectification, but not enough to warrant a store closure and investigation.

But strangely enough, neither the police nor the police officer in charge of investigations came and went through the motions, only issuing a few verbal warnings.
"Could it be that the boss spoke to the higher-ups?"

Wang Chun sighed: It's only because of a lack of experience that he thinks that way.

Relationships are only used in critical moments. If you have to rely on relationships for even small problems, how unreliable are those relationships?

She shook her head: "Even the boss felt something was wrong, and told us to calm down and take a break for a couple of days!"

Ren Danhua was startled: "Are you going to run away?"

"Running away is unlikely, but we need to wait and see. At the same time, we need to sort things out: hide the goods that need to be hidden, transfer the money that needs to be transferred, and sort out any problematic accounts..."

Aren't they just planning to run away?
We can't just confess right now, can we?
Impossible. If Ma Shan had spoken, the older sister wouldn't still be sitting here. So, I always felt that the boss and the older sister were a bit overly nervous and easily frightened.

It can't be that the higher-ups organized such a large-scale operation just to deal with this one family, can it?
If that's the case, then from top to bottom, absolutely no one will escape...

"Big sister, how much longer do we have to wait?"

"Not necessarily. The two bosses have already used their internal connections, but it will take time to inquire gradually!"

After a slight pause, the woman frowned: "Do the two bosses mean that if we wait a few more days and things remain stagnant like before, with no changes, then we should let Lao Qiang, Sanxi, and I go out and lay low for a while?"

See? They were planning to run away after all.

Old Gun is the eye-catcher, Sanxi is the leader of the gang, there's also the middleman Ma Shan who went in, and the eldest sister is the head of the gang. These are the four second-level backbone members.

Once these four people leave, it's like a gap in the chain; no matter how thoroughly the case is investigated, it won't trace back to the two bosses.

Wait, something's not right?

Ren Danhua suddenly realized: "The boss wants to use you guys to test things out?"

The woman didn't speak, but nodded gently.

That's normal. If it were her, she would have done the same.

"Big sister, what should we do?"

"Don't panic, we're not leaving right now. The boss wants us to process the goods first, ideally getting them all out of Beijing. Secondly, we need to settle the people below. Of course, the most important thing is money..."

Ren Danhua wasn't panicked, but she was a little worried: "Nothing was wrong initially, but this commotion, and in such a rush, is bound to cause a disturbance. What if the police are called?"

The two bosses were clearly testing the waters by sending a few key employees along.
But she was of low status and her words carried little weight. In fact, even her elder sister's words didn't count.

She frowned: "Sister, everything else is fine, but the key is the goods. It's getting stricter and stricter now. They're checking almost every major route out of Beijing. If things go wrong, they might just hand them over to the police. It's better to leave them alone."

The woman didn't speak.

This is her fault, and also the boss's fault: thinking that the distribution channels were all in Beijing, and that temporary transportation would be troublesome, they put most of the goods in Beijing.

But who could have imagined that after so many years of peace and quiet, with all the talk and no action, this time they would suddenly get serious?
"It's not like we necessarily have to switch out the problematic ones?" The woman narrowed her eyes. "Put out more of the safe ones, and fewer of the problematic or minor ones, and try again..."

Hmm, a feint attack?
Ren Danhua's eyes lit up, but before she could be happy, the woman sighed again: "It wasn't my idea, it was what the boss originally instructed."

Even when testing the waters, one must be strategic and methodical.

Not everyone is like Ma Shan, where speaking out or remaining silent both lead to death. If one of them goes in and doesn't hold up, how can the two bosses escape unscathed?

We all prosper together, and we all suffer together...

(End of this chapter)