Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 280 Joke
"Did Mimi say that?"

Shao Yongkang looked at Nie Guoqiang in surprise, and at the cat in the distance that had escaped because of his own carelessness and was now running further and further away in a panic.

"These kinds of things are easy to verify."

Nie Guoqiang remained expressionless, wiping the messy cat hair stuck to his arm with a tissue: "Hotel records, attraction registrations, plus facial recognition from surveillance cameras—finding scenes of the two together shouldn't be difficult. And if we can confirm that Wang Chengxiang is connected to Li Hu, or even that Li Hu is the real suspect who stole the drug-making materials, then many things will become clear. Why did that group hide so deeply in Zhang City? Why did they have channels besides Zhou Guangjun's gang…"

"Hehe...maybe this factory is their raw material supply base! After all, some things are hard to get through formal channels, but if you go through a legitimate listed company, it's easy to buy some things."

Shao Yongkang sneered.

Now that the matter was no longer unrelated to the anti-drug squad, Shao Yongkang didn't intend to keep it to himself. After reporting the situation to Song Guoren, he quickly hung up the phone before the unfortunate captain could explode on the spot, and then informed Wen Xiaosong of the situation.

"A gang involved in illicit drugs?"

Wen Xiaosong was stunned. It seemed like they had just had a meeting about this matter that morning. How come the clues had come to him in less than a day?

This is really...

Wen Xiaosong grinned, took off his sunglasses, and revealed an incredible glass right eye.

The scar across his entire right eyelid looked gruesome, and the glass bead-like prosthetic eyeball was even more chilling. Even knowing this, Shao Yongkang shuddered, and Chen Liang and his two companions nearby were startled.

Only Nie Guoqiang remained expressionless, his little finger twitching slightly.

This injury was inflicted by a drug addict. No one expected him to suddenly attack and nearly kill a seasoned police officer who had worked in the anti-drug field for many years.

Seeing such a scene suddenly, whether one knew beforehand or not, it's inevitable to be startled. Wang Chengxiang, who had just resolved to fight to the end for her lover, was now trembling like a leaf.

"Give me an explanation?"

Wen Xiaosong lowered his head and approached Wang Chengxiang slowly, using an intimidating aura. His glass eyes flashed with a cold light, making Wang Chengxiang's legs go weak and she wanted to fall, but the policeman behind her grabbed her shoulders and pulled her straight again.

"Confess...confess what?"

She finally spoke, her voice trembling.

With that, Shao Yongkang immediately breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how stubborn the prisoner was, once he felt relieved, it was only a matter of time before he confessed honestly.

"Who is Li Hu to you?"

Instead of asking about the drug-related ingredients, Wen Xiaosong steered the conversation to a point that Wang Chengxiang couldn't believe. Her eyes widened suddenly, as if she hadn't expected her relationship with that man to be exposed so unexpectedly.

"Who is Li Hu to you?"

Wen Xiaosong moved even closer, which frightened Wang Chengxiang so much that she wiped away her tears. But at this moment, no one sympathized with her; not a single person did!
"Boy...boyfriend!"

Wang Chengxiang finally burst into tears, crying out in terror, "No...don't come any closer! I...I'll tell you! Li Hu is my boyfriend! He...he made me do this! The raw materials...he also arranged for someone to drive them out...Waaah...Dad..."

"She's calling you."

Shao Yongkang, standing at the entrance, turned to look at an elderly man with a pale face and gray hair standing at the warehouse door. The old man was fifty-nine and a half years old, a high-ranking executive in the company, and was just four months away from retirement. However, in the end… his reputation was ruined.

"I...I don't have such a stupid daughter!"

Wang Fei turned his head away with difficulty, unable to bear looking at his daughter's crying and screaming inside. He couldn't even imagine the serious consequences of what his daughter had done. As the company's safety supervisor, he emphasized the importance and dangers of the factory's raw materials to his subordinates and employees almost every month. He had even posted warnings about the dangers of methamphetamine and the legal prohibition against chemical companies engaging in activities suspected of drug manufacturing on the bulletin board just yesterday…

As it turned out, the first person to undergo surgery was his only biological daughter!
But still worried, Wang Fei said with difficulty, "Officer... my daughter... what she did, how long will she be sentenced to? She's only in her twenties, still a child, she doesn't understand!"

"Twenty-eight years old, right? Still a child? This safety supervisor, you should know the dangers of drugs better than anyone else in this factory. What's the point of asking how many years he'll be sentenced to?"

Shao Yongkang's reply was anything but polite.

Of course, he really didn't know what kind of punishment this woman named Wang Chengxiang would receive. After all... this woman was truly incredibly stupid!

"Wang Chengxiang, do you know that Li Hu is almost forty years old and has been married before?"

Nie Guoqiang suddenly spoke, and his words stunned everyone, causing them to turn and look at them. This stupid woman, she actually became someone's mistress? And the other party was a forty-year-old former criminal with a criminal record thicker than most men.

"He said he has already divorced his wife."

Faced with the question that concerned her, Wang Chengxiang spoke without hesitation, earnestly explaining, "His relationship with his wife is marriage, not love! And a marriage without love cannot bring happiness. Only I..."

"Only someone would be foolish enough to help a criminal smuggle drug precursors!"

Nie Guoqiang interrupted Wang Chengxiang's foolish words, angrily saying, "Do you even know what drug-related crimes are? Do you know how many people might be killed by the things you helped circulate? If what you did is considered a drug crime, it's enough to sentence you to death!"

‘Poof! ’

Wang Fei tilted her head and fell to the ground.

Wang Chengxiang glanced back at her father, then whispered hesitantly, "He said he wouldn't be found out. He just needed money for our wedding... He said he only planned to resell it to other factories to make a little money... He wouldn't lie to me... Drug involvement? How could it be drug involvement? It's just ordinary raw material for a pharmaceutical factory. Why is it drug involvement? Even if he sold it, he would sell it to other pharmaceutical factories. Why arrest me for drug offenses? Why!"

The woman continued to defend herself with unwavering conviction. It seemed that, in her view, what she did was no different from what the other corrupt officials in the company did. If the other corrupt officials were okay, then she should be okay too.

"You're ignorant of the law!"

All the police officers sighed, and when they looked at the stupid woman's father, who was the head of security, they suddenly felt a heavy sense of absurdity.

This man, who's supposed to be in charge of safety, hasn't even done a good job of educating his own daughter about safety!
But it doesn't matter; they will ultimately have to bear the consequences themselves. Whether it's Wang Chengxiang, Lai Qiang, Liu Juan, or even the safety supervisor Wang Fei, they will all pay the price.

The only good news right now is that Wang Chengxiang doesn't seem to have had time to warn Li Hu yet.

Through interrogation of Wang Chengxiang, the group learned his real contact information.

This dashing man, despite not having a broken leg, enjoyed workers' compensation benefits and even received a salary without having to work. He spent Wang Chengxiang's money, yet had the woman deal with the police for him. When the police found him, he was in a Western restaurant, chatting happily with another woman. This man, dressed in a refined and elegant manner, appeared mature and composed at forty years old, and with just a few words, he made the woman opposite him smile radiantly.

"You've got some fancy moves!"

Quan Chenghai unceremoniously grabbed Li Hu's shoulder, dragged him up while the young woman opposite him stared in disbelief, and handcuffed him immediately. Considering the seriousness of the situation, he didn't even spare the young woman, taking them both back to the city police station.

Faced with interrogation, Li Hu denied all allegations of selling drug precursors and vehemently denied any relationship with Wang Chengxiang. He used the mere fact that he had a former girlfriend to distance himself from Wang Chengxiang, admitting only to using her connections to get the security guard job and then claiming work injury leave. He feigned ignorance of all other questions. Even when Shao Yongkang questioned him about the source of his money, he shamelessly admitted to having affairs with multiple women, portraying himself as an innocent womanizer. Ironically, because of Wang Chengxiang, the Baike Pharmaceutical Factory lacked surveillance footage of him transporting precursors out of the factory, making it impossible to obtain evidence.

As a seasoned criminal with multiple prior convictions, Li Hu was intimately familiar with the interrogation techniques used by the police. It seemed unlikely that he could be apprehended through interrogation alone.

The search for Li Hu's residence and social connections has unsurprisingly hit a bottleneck. Despite the fact that several tons of isobutylbenzene and pseudoephedrine have vanished without a trace under his control, no one has been able to locate their hiding place.

The few transport vehicles that were spotted by surveillance cameras were identified as having counterfeit license plates after investigation, and eventually disappeared on the national highway, bringing the case to a standstill once again.

"Being followed? No, we weren't!"

Li Hu remained remarkably calm, but when questioned, he looked puzzled: "I'm not sick, why would I be stalking you? You're asking me where I went that night? How would I remember! I'm usually either chasing girls or drinking, I'm so dizzy I can't remember much!"

"But the existing evidence shows that you did come to the neighborhood that night and stayed there for a long time. What were you doing there?"

"Pursuing women!"

Li Hu gave the answer without hesitation.

Shao Yongkang is very patient.

He left the drug-related matters to the anti-drug squad; all he needed to do was keep a close eye on the smuggling of illegal drugs.

The key figure right now is this guy named Li Hu. It's only thanks to Nie Guoqiang's sudden inspiration to investigate Baike Pharmaceutical Factory that we were able to find him. Li Hu also goes by the name Li Wenbo, which is a legitimate form of identification. He obtained this dual household registration several years ago when second-generation ID cards were being issued, taking advantage of the lax household registration system at the time. Li Hu is a repeat offender, while Li Wenbo is a clean-cut, refined middle-aged man. Li Wenbo's file even contains detailed records of his schooling, from high school dropout to adult high school and adult university, along with his registered workplace.

"This guy is very well prepared; it won't be easy to get him to talk."

The interrogating officer sighed, rubbing his stiff face, and said, "I really don't know what this guy learned in prison to come out with such a complete identity. Generally speaking, is it necessary for an ordinary person to go to this extent?"

"This can only mean that what's behind him is definitely not ordinary."

Shao Yongkang was not discouraged at all. He turned to Chen Liang and said, "Has Wang Chengxiang given any instructions? Could it be that her understanding of Li Hu is so superficial that she is so devoted to this guy?"

"That's how it is."

Chen Liang nodded, saying helplessly, "Name, age, oh and physical characteristics, that's all. This woman who claims to do everything for love is blindly insane. She met Li Hu for the first time at a bar, and then completely became his mistress, willingly doing anything for him. She even knew very well that Li Hu had been married, yet she still willingly stayed by his side. Oh right, Li Hu has been divorced for a long time, and she doesn't know that."

Shao Yongkang shook his head speechlessly and continued to ask, "Then what about that new woman? Is she an idiot like Wang Chengxiang?"

"She should be innocent, right? According to her, Li Wenbo was pursuing her, but she didn't agree to be with him."

Chen Liang flipped through his notebook, then hesitated before saying, "Logically speaking, not every woman would be attracted to a man in his forties, right? This woman named Qin Suya is a white-collar middle manager at the largest garment factory in our city. In terms of status, age, and experience, she is far superior to Wang Chengxiang, a woman who is inexperienced in the ways of the world. She frankly admitted that her contact with Li Wenbo was only for a business deal he had, and there was no other personal relationship between them."

"business?"

"The number of employee uniforms produced by Baike Pharmaceutical Factory is quite substantial, covering all four seasons. This pharmaceutical factory is quite willing to spend on this aspect, and the quality of the uniforms is excellent; many workers even wear them as everyday clothes."

Shao Yongkang couldn't help but laugh, "Using one woman's connections to please another! Li Hu's playing the game pretty well!"

Just as I was about to continue, I suddenly saw Lingo with his head down and tail drooping as he shuffled out from the interrogation room.

Lin Ge had a feeling that the guy named Li Hu might not actually be the one spying on him.

For the past few days, he'd had a nagging question: could someone really evade a cat's sense of smell, hearing, and senses to track it from a relatively short distance? He hadn't noticed anything unusual that day, but Li Hu had indeed stood there for half an hour and been spotted by Luo Jue. So, was it possible that Li Hu's target wasn't him? Even if a cat is incredibly perceptive, it couldn't possibly detect someone else's stalking, could it?

There's another thing that Lin Ge doesn't know whether he should tell Nie Guoqiang or Shao Yongkang.

This wasn't the first time Lin Ge had seen this woman named Qin Suya.

Lin Ge didn't have a deep impression of her, but he was somewhat familiar with the scent of her teddy bear. His first impression of this woman was at the entrance of the Zhanghe Police Station, when he was out exploring with his three little ones. He saw her walking a teddy bear and overheard an exaggerated conversation. The second time he sensed her presence was at the logistics park. He didn't see her then, but by comparing the scent with the scene, the result was easy to identify. Adding this to the recent encounter, Lin Ge had actually had three meetings with Qin Suya in a short period without any interaction. To call this a coincidence seemed too much of a coincidence.

Without hesitation, he informed Nie Guoqiang of the news and then quietly followed the 'innocent' woman who had been released by the Municipal Bureau.

"Hehe, it's nothing, just a misunderstanding. Business is tough these days. I finally found a client, but they've ended up in jail and won't be out for a while."

Qin Suya stood by the roadside with a smile, waiting for a car while making a phone call.

The voice on the other end of the phone was a deep, steady male voice, but it was rather soft, so Lin Ge couldn't hear it clearly. He could only vaguely hear things like, "Don't take it to heart," and "I'll support you even if you don't care about that little bit of salary," which suggested he was another man who was very generous to Qin Suya.

"Hehe... I'm not a caged canary. Mr. Xu, don't look down on women."

Qin Suya let out a crisp laugh, took out a cigarette from her bag, and lit it. The slender women's cigarette, paired with her fair fingers and scarlet lips, was indeed quite alluring; no wonder she could move around with one, two, or three men.

"Okay, I'll leave that shipment to you, Mr. Xu. How about we set it for the day after tomorrow? I'd like to treat you to dinner?"

Qin Suya chatted with the other person easily, completely unaware that a cat was eavesdropping on their conversation. This woman showed none of the caution she had previously displayed; it seemed all of Lin Ge's suspicions were merely his imagination.

At that moment, a Cadillac slowly pulled up to the side of the road, and Qin Suya leisurely opened the passenger door.

A familiar teddy bear jumped up from the seat and landed right in Qin Suya's lap.

The moment the person and the dog made contact, Qin Suya's body suddenly froze. Her eyes sharpened as she turned around quickly, her appearance almost completely different from before.

Lin Ge was well hidden, and Qin Suya didn't notice him. So the young woman simply smiled, hugged Teddy, gently stroked its head and neck, and bent down to sit in the passenger seat, starting the car again.

"What's going on with this woman?"

Lin Ge emerged from behind the trash can, puzzled by Qin Suya's two completely different demeanors. She hadn't noticed him following her the whole way, so why did she suddenly become so wary the moment they encountered the dog?
Is there something wrong with that dog?

Or perhaps... is it like me...?

Lin Ge let his mind wander for a while, then quickly shook his head to clear the jumbled thoughts from his mind. He would rather believe that the teddy bear dog had been specially trained than believe that there could be other reborn individuals in this world.

Or perhaps I wasn't reborn at all! All my memories might just be a fleeting dream.

(End of this chapter)