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

Chapter 339 Even More Sensitive Than a Dog's Nose
Ren Danhua's greatest strength is her obedience: she does whatever her older sister tells her to do.

Even though she still didn't quite agree.

"I've already arranged for Qi Song to handle the goods. He'll still be in charge. Just leave anything that needs to be done to him. After that, help Sister Jin sort out the accounts..."

"Okay sister!"

"Oh, by the way, what about that kid? Have you contacted him yet?"

“I’ve contacted him!” Ren Danhua sighed. “But every time I call, he says things are too tense and he needs to wait a while…”

“That’s what a seasoned veteran is like.” Wang Chun smiled. “Don’t worry, they can’t run away.”

The phone vibrated with a buzz, and Wang Chun glanced at it.

It was a text message: "Big sister, the warehouse in Majuqiao has been sealed off. There are four rooms in total: C196, E25, K88, and A07."
"Shu," Wang Chun's eyes narrowed into slits, a sharp glint in his pupils.

Since this is a trial balloon, we need something to throw at it. These four storehouses are the four stones we'll use to test the waters.

The plan was decided by the two bosses, and the materials were put together by three core members. Most of them were cheap imitations. The remaining less than 10% were the kind that "have some problems, but not major ones."

Looking at it this way, it seems that it is safe for the time being.

While pondering silently, the phone rang, and Wang Chun answered it immediately.

"Big sister, Jinluzhai and Ruyiyuan have been shut down."

The woman didn't speak: This is the fifth stone.

These two stores had very high-quality goods, so they were the first to sell. Those that were deliberately left behind didn't even warrant being shut down.

So, you can investigate, but why is it blocked?

Just as I was pondering this, the person on the other end lowered their voice and said, "Sister, it's not just us: those who were notified to rectify the issues during the first inspection, but failed to do so, have basically all been shut down."

Wang Chun paused for a moment: "What about Ruiyuxuan?"

"It's sealed off!"

"What about Yun Chan Ju?"

"It's been sealed off too!"

Wang Chun's mind raced.

The two businesses behind them, the first one is run by two owners, and the second one is run by Zhang Yan Lao Qiang and Tui Zi San Xi. Together with their own Jin Lu Zhai and Ru Yi Yuan, they are all like stones thrown out to ask for directions. Not one was missing, and all of them responded.

At first glance, all her previous worries seemed to have disappeared. But Wang Chun still felt something was off: it was too sudden, too concentrated.

Previously, none of them had problems, but suddenly, all of them have problems?
Wang Chun thought for a moment: "What's the situation in the market right now?"

"It's chaotic, everyone's complaining. I roughly counted: about one out of every four or five shops has closed down..."

An old saying goes: "It is not scarcity that is to be feared, but inequality." With so many people being investigated, if there are problems, then everyone has problems, and it is not just a targeted issue.

But Wang Chun always felt that things weren't that simple.

It was just a gut feeling, but she couldn't explain why.

"Okay, I get it!"

After hanging up the phone, the woman remained silent for a long time, tapping her forehead repeatedly with her finger bones.

After a long pause, she suddenly said, "Danhua, arrange for people to keep an eye on these places: Huilongguan, Shibalidian, Liangma Street..."

Ren Danhua was puzzled: These places shouldn't have any business for my elder sister.
"There's no business, but we have high-end goods!" Wang Chun sighed. "Keep an eye on it. If something goes wrong here too, it's coming for us!"

Ren Danhua stared blankly: Even she didn't know about these places her older sister was talking about?

But she didn't think much of it: "Big sister, I'll arrange it right now!"

"I'll give you a few warehouse numbers. Don't get too close; just keep an eye on them from a distance!"

"I understand, eldest sister!"

Ren Danhua memorized the number, which started with a few letters.

Watching her retreating figure as she left the house and went downstairs, the woman let out a deep sigh.

I hope I'm just overthinking it?

After a long silence, she picked up another phone:
"Ziqian, are you settling in well in Hong Kong?"

"You'll get used to it. Just take good care of your younger brother and sister..."

……

Inside the SUV, Yan Wenjing held his phone in one hand while quickly taking notes with the other. He nodded occasionally, saying, "Okay, I understand... Don't worry, boss!"

He remembered five or six things, then hung up the phone and frowned: "How come this woman reacted so quickly?"

Lin Sicheng didn't speak: Let's not talk about the past. Starting from her father-in-law, who was also her adoptive father: one uncle, two uncles, one maternal uncle, one paternal uncle, plus her husband, a total of seven people across two generations were shot for tomb raiding.

She herself has been dealt with three times, sentenced to a total of thirteen years, and served seven and a half years in prison. Just how extensive must her experience in committing crimes, counter-investigation, and counter-interrogation be?
Moreover, the police were playing their cards openly: tightening their grip and then loosening it again, clearly telling you that they were using a strategy of feigned indifference to lure you in.

If this woman still can't realize it, then she's wasted all those years navigating the world of gangsters.

After a moment's thought, Lin Sicheng leaned back and asked, "What did she do?"

"She sent all her subordinates out to keep an eye on the hiding places of the goods." Yan Wenjing rested his chin on his hand. "What is she trying to do? Test the waters?"

"Captain Yan, you're not right: we forced her to test the waters!"

"Yes, we forced her to do it." Yan Wenjing looked puzzled. "But these subordinates have followed her for so many years, and she just throws them away like that?"

Lin Sicheng was used to this and remained calm: "He's just a subordinate, not my husband or son."

"Teacher Lin, her husband was executed eighteen years ago!"

"I know! I know, I was just using an analogy."

If you're not ruthless, you can't stand firm. No matter how gentle and kind they appear on the surface, or how approachable they are to their subordinates, they can't escape the fact that they've broken the law and committed crimes.

Grave robbing, smuggling, even murder—with so much blood on his hands, how can you expect such a person to have feelings for someone with no blood relation?

That's an absolute joke.

What's more, at this critical juncture?
Then, Lin Sicheng thought for a moment: "Which places did she arrange for them to go?"

"Huilongguan, Shibalidian, Liangmajie!"

"No Zhao Quanying or Shilihe?"

Yan Wenjing shook his head: "No!"

"Then let's go to Zhao Quanying first, and then to Shilihe!"

Yan Wenjing was completely bewildered: "Shouldn't we follow these three siblings first?"

"No need to follow, it's definitely a smokescreen: someone like Wang Chun wouldn't even fully trust her own husband, let alone her cousin who's several generations removed? Besides, knowing she might be being watched, she wouldn't send her likely already exposed subordinates to the hiding place..."

And it's the most valuable batch of goods. Lin Sicheng pondered for a moment: "If you're still worried, then let's do it both ways!"

Yan Wenjing paused for a moment, then sighed.

Forget double tubes, he'd love to have seven or eight, but where would he get the manpower?
For this case, the special police were stretched thin, but that wasn't enough, so they drew people from the major crimes unit, bomb disposal unit, special police unit, and even the technical investigation and pretrial division.

They could barely keep a few key figures under control. Fourth-level leaders like Yu Jichuan and Yu Jiyao weren't even considered important and had to be handed over to the branch office.

He shook his head again: "Never mind then, we don't have enough manpower!"

Moreover, the squad leader made it very clear when they left: if you don't understand something, don't send out advice blindly; everything should be based on Lin Sicheng's opinion.

Lin Sicheng remained silent: "It's just one last push, Captain Yan, don't you dare let us down?"
With a sudden thought, Lin Sicheng closed his eyes, and the Iveco sped along the ring road.

After about an hour, the car paused slightly, and Lin Sicheng opened his eyes.

Through the car window, several large characters came into view: Shunyi Zhaoquanying Logistics Center.

Built in 2006, it underwent trial operation in 2007 and was officially put into use this spring.

During the Olympics, everything that needs to be transported at a constant temperature—food, drinks, clothing, sports equipment, medicine, nutritional supplements, and so on—is transported here. From there, it is delivered to various venues, competition halls, and even hotels and guesthouses.

After the Olympics, the task of attracting investment was handed over to Shunyi District. Because the equipment was too advanced and the investment too large, currently most projects are being leased rather than purchased.

The SUV stopped at the entrance of the center, and Yan Wenjing got out of the car.

A man and a woman were standing at the entrance; they were the center's leaders. The headquarters had given prior notice, and the two leaders were very polite, saying they would cooperate unconditionally with the police.

Several more people got out of the car behind and followed Yan Wenjing into the center. Seeing that there were few people at the entrance, Lin Sicheng got out of the back seat.

A Santana was parked nearby. When Yan got out of the car, the door slammed shut.

A man and a woman, one on the left and one on the right: a jacket and a mistress, one surnamed Liu and the other surnamed Su.

"Thank you both for your help!"

The two quickly bowed and said, "Teacher Lin, you're too kind!"

Lin Sicheng pulled down his hat brim: "Let's go!"

The two followed behind, walking quite a distance, before Liu Guojun suddenly remembered and glanced back: "Teacher Lin, isn't Captain Yan going?"

Lin Sicheng nodded: "It's just a matter of luck. We're not sure if we can find it, and Captain Yan has more important things to do!"

What can you do inside the house? Look up information? Watch the security footage?
It feels like the roles have been reversed: experts who should only be providing technical support from the back are being sent to the front lines for reconnaissance, while the deputy commander is left behind to provide support.
Not to mention the captain, he and Su Ye could both do this job.

Liu Guojun suspected that the case had reached its most critical stage, and the brigade leaders were afraid that Captain Yan was overconfident and incompetent and would cause trouble, so they assigned him a trivial and insignificant task.

"And his teammates?"

"They'll go get the data sheets from the cold storage, and once they have them, they'll come out and cooperate with us in the initial screening!"

Liu Guojun nodded repeatedly: That's good!

Anyway, the leader instructed: no matter what happens, protect Lin Sicheng, and don't worry about anything else.

If by sheer luck, and Teacher Lin happens to find something, he and Su Ye promise they won't even blink.

Whether it's goods or people...

……

In the monitoring room, two technical investigators were watching the monitors, while Yan Wenjing handed out a stack of forms to several plainclothes officers.

"There aren't many controlled atmosphere storage facilities, only about a hundred. Speed ​​things up and try to go through them all before dark..."

The eight policemen stared at the paper in front of them and sighed in unison: "Over a hundred rooms isn't a lot, but that's relative to the entire logistics center. Even if it takes three minutes to move one room, it would still take five or six hours."

The key point is that yesterday they were driving command vehicles, tracking and investigating key suspects, but today they were reassigned to inspect cold storage facilities. The contrast is quite stark.

They were all friends who had saved each other's lives, and the team members joked, "Captain, we're all in this because of you!"

"What? Implicated?" Yan Wenjing squinted. "Why didn't you say anything when you were helping me make contributions?"

"Yeah, you were the one who uncovered so many clues, Captain. Why are you being sent to the frontier in the end? The leadership is so unfair..."

"Exile my ass?" Yan Wenjing sneered. "Did I find out that?"

The shameless guys weren't intimidated at all: "Teacher Lin has always been in our group, and you're the team leader, so of course you deserve the most credit!"

Haha... You've got no shame at all?
"You all know nothing! Get the hell out of here!" Yan Wenjing was too lazy to argue with them. "Split into two groups, one in the open and one in the shadows. Check all the equipment and report any issues immediately... Stay alert, there might be someone in the armory, and they might even have guns..."

The possibility of hiding someone in a cold storage room at sub-zero temperatures is unlikely. However, given the safety concerns, the team members dared not be careless, their expressions turning serious: "Yes, sir!"

Several team members turned and went out the door. On the surveillance footage, several uniformed center managers were waiting at the door.

Looking to the side, Lin Sicheng and two special agents had already entered the reservoir area.

It felt strange: I first stood at the door and looked around, then at the warehouse door, then at the floor, and then peered through the crack in the door.

Since the lights were off inside, nothing could be seen. The technical investigators knew that Lin Sicheng was actually smelling it.

Having collaborated many times before, they were all old acquaintances. After observing for a while, the technical investigator looked doubtful: "Captain Yan, will this method work?"

How could Yan Wenjing know this?

But he knew at least that Qi Song, Wang Chun's top confidant, had indeed been here.

He also knew that Lin Sicheng had never made a mistake from the beginning of the case until now.

He said that the woman's most valuable asset is probably here, more than 90% of it is here...

"Lin Sicheng relied on smell?" The technical investigator stared at the surveillance footage, increasingly puzzled. "What kind of smell could there be in a cold storage room?"

Lin Sicheng had specifically told him, in a concise and to-the-point way, "Nitrogen!"

"Do you remember the time Teacher Lin encountered Ren Danhua: Li Jiansheng dared not repair that pocket watch and could only break his own hand. Ren Danhua was pressing him urgently, so Feng Shizong could only offer a reward and ask a master for help..."

"It was during that discovery that he found the group's methods for protecting unearthed artifacts were extremely advanced: wrapping them in acid-free cotton paper and aluminum foil, then sealing them with nitrogen. The key was the nitrogen..."

With such a large quantity and such frequent use, we have no choice but to manufacture it ourselves. Secondly, the subsequent protective environment must maintain a constant temperature. Combining these two aspects, the most suitable place is a cold storage facility…”

Lin Sicheng had actually reminded them a long time ago, but firstly, there weren't enough people, and secondly, the leaders felt that the focus should still be on investigating people.

If you can't pinpoint the key figures, even if you find the goods, you can only catch a few small fry.

It wasn't until Yang Jisheng (the old man) was arrested and key figures gradually came to light that they were able to free up their resources.

The technical investigator was stunned: "Smell nitrogen? Nitrogen doesn't have a smell."

"Don't worry, Teacher Lin's nose is even more sensitive than a dog's..."

The technical investigator was both amused and exasperated: This isn't blatant lying.

Even the most sensitive nose needs a scent first. And don't even mention dogs; even a celestial hound wouldn't do.

Yan Wenjing was not flustered at all: if dogs were useful, he would have brought police dogs himself, why bother Lin Sicheng?

(End of this chapter)