Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 361 The Kidneys Are Very Good
"Xu Xiangjie, how long has it been since we last met?"

Cheng Rui, the chubby director of Longquan Police Station, personally led his team to provide support. His subordinates quickly got into work mode, while he greeted Xu Xiangjie with a smile, saying, "It's been such a long time! It feels like it was five years ago when we worked on cases together."

"Heh! You, the head of a police station, are you interested in personally going to the scene for everything now?" Xu Xiangjie retorted to Cheng Rui, then sighed and said, "Old Cheng, business is important. I don't want to talk to you about the past right now. Let's put aside our ideological differences for now. Just this case happened in your Longquan Police Station's jurisdiction, so I'll ask you to pay more attention. The known amount of fraud alone has already exceeded 22 million, you need to understand that."

"Why is it so high?"

Cheng Rui's eyes widened suddenly, and he no longer cared about joking with his old partner.

While cases involving tens or even hundreds of millions of yuan are not uncommon in Zhangzhou, this fraud case differs from real estate scams or corporate fundraising schemes. Its targets are elderly people who have lost their earning capacity. How much money can an elderly person have? What will they do after being swindled out of everything? To put it bluntly, young people who are scammed can continue to work and earn money, but for elderly people of this age… being driven to suicide is simply a matter of despair.

"Aside from the one that was stopped, Zhang Yanxia and Xu Yinghui had conducted three other activities before. Although the first two were rather awkward, the third one successfully fooled quite a few people. The elderly, whether for profit or for longevity, are ultimately greedy. Two old men and one old woman took out all their savings without hesitation. The highest amount taken was 4.2 million yuan, which was the money they had worked hard all their lives to save for their grandson's wedding and house purchase."

Xu Xiangjie sighed and said, "His plan is quite good. With rising prices, the money for buying a house might not be enough. If he can earn another 50%, that will be about right. Then he can live a few more years and is even counting on helping to take care of his great-grandchildren."

"..."

Cheng Rui was speechless. After listening for a while, he said, "How old is this old man? He's already thinking about holding his great-grandson?"

Xu Xiangjie glanced at him: "Seventy-one, and his grandson is only fourteen. In other words, this old man plans to live at least another ten or twenty years. Otherwise, why do you think he's so willing to give up? He wants to live to at least seventy."

"How many people throughout history have been able to see through the allure of longevity?"

Cheng Rui sighed and turned to see that the police officers had already taken Fei Yuling, the three employees of the courier station, and the property management staff into custody. The others, led by Cao Chen, were also cooperating with the cat to go to the sixteenth floor.

Anyway, as long as all the exits on the first floor are guarded, the suspects hiding upstairs will most likely have nowhere to escape. Cheng Rui couldn't actually go out on a field mission and run with them, so he stayed here to direct operations and chat with Xu Xiangjie.

"Judging from your expression, this old man shouldn't be the most troublesome one, right?"

"Ok!"

Xu Xiangjie nodded expressionlessly: "Even if it's over four million, it's still his own money. But there are still several elderly people who were misled into stealing their children's or even their entire family's ID cards to take out online loans! The highest amount owed was over six hundred thousand from various institutions. Hah... He's just an ordinary person without even a pension, and his son and daughter-in-law are just hardworking wage earners. How are they going to pay off over six hundred thousand plus interest?"

"To be this selfish in the pursuit of longevity!"

Cheng Rui sighed, not wanting to continue the conversation. The more he talked about this troublesome matter, the more uncomfortable he felt. Besides, he was just a local police station; he'd let Xu Xiangjie deal with the headache himself.

"Judging from your tone, this is the fourth time Zhang Yanxia has engaged in this pyramid scheme-like fraud? And with each repetition, her proficiency and salesmanship have improved? Hmm... It's fortunate that we discovered it early, otherwise, if she had continued like this, it would have been only a matter of time before it became a national scandal. Tsk tsk! Looks like Jiang Zhong and Zhu Xiubo from my office should have received commendations this time, right? Second-class merit is hard to say, but they should be able to get a few third-class merits or commendations this year."

"Did you ask the cat?"

Xu Xiangjie pointed to the cat that had somehow come out of the elevator again, and sneered, "With it around, the Zhanghe Police Station can get even more credit. It's the beginning of the year now, who knows if this case will even make the cut by the end of the year."

"whispering sound!"

Cheng Rui grunted unhappily.

Last year, the Longquan Police Station's performance was overshadowed by the Zhanghe Police Station. The number of second-class merit awards, third-class merit awards, and commendations were all fewer than in previous years. How could Cheng Rui, who considered himself the number one police station in Zhangzhou, accept being surpassed by the mere Zhanghe Police Station?
Xu Xiangjie ignored him, only frowning as he watched the cat walk into the fire escape and then sneak out again, squatting at the elevator entrance to sniff it, before walking back into the fire escape.

"Old Xu, there's no one on the sixteenth floor!"

Cao Chen's voice came through the walkie-talkie, "The door won't open, but the key point is that the outside electricity meter isn't turning. In other words, the refrigerator and broadband inside are all out of service. I suspect Xu Yinghui and his mistress might have escaped before we even got there."

"Let's call a locksmith first, go in and check it out. Have two people stand guard over there, then come down with me and take a look. Mimi seems to have discovered something; Xu Yinghui might have a fourth hideout."

Xu Xiangjie hung up the walkie-talkie and walked towards Lin Ge expressionlessly.

Lin Ge didn't follow Xu Yinghui up to the sixteenth floor because he smelled Xu Yinghui's scent in the fire escape. Even a criminal suspect wouldn't go up to the sixteenth floor via the fire escape every day; if he had that kind of patience, why would he commit fraud?
But to his surprise, the breath stopped on the second floor, and he still went into the elevator.

Lin Ge first considered whether Xu Yinghui also had a house on the second floor, but after walking around a few times, he determined that there was no trace of Xu Yinghui's scent in the three doorways on the second floor, so he could only rule out this possibility.

So the only possibility is that he did the opposite: Xu Yinghui always avoided the elevator on the first floor and took it from the second floor whenever he went up or down. He might have done this to avoid a "king meeting king" situation. But this doesn't help in the current situation.

This elevator doesn't lead directly to the underground parking garage; it seems it was blocked by the city construction authorities due to substandard construction. Therefore, residents of both buildings must walk to a separate entrance to the parking garage and then down to their cars. There are security cameras at both the parking garage entrance and exit, and there's no sign of Xu Yinghui recently entering or leaving the area. Therefore, Lin Ge is very curious about where Xu Yinghui went after returning this morning.

"Mimi, there's no one on the sixteenth floor. Where do you think Xu Yinghui is hiding?"

Xu Xiangjie approached Lin Ge and squatted down to pet the cat, but Lin Ge nimbly dodged him. Seeing Lin Ge's fierce gaze, he could only awkwardly change the subject.

"If I knew, would I still be worrying here?"

Lin Ge glared at him with disdain.

While scent is useful, it ultimately has limitations. Even the intensity of a scent can vary drastically depending on the clothes worn. Someone who constantly spits and blows their nose leaves a lingering smell on the street. The smell of cigarettes on a man, makeup on a woman's face, and a child's various fidgety actions can all allow Lin Ge to quickly make a judgment. But if there are none of these, or if the other person is completely covered up, Lin Ge is left in a bind.

Smell isn't an X-ray; it doesn't penetrate. Summer and autumn are fine, but in the bulky winter clothes, Lin Ge often has to be extremely careful to make judgments to avoid making mistakes.

Just like this time, no one knows what methods Xu Yinghui used, but he clearly returned to this building, yet Lin Ge just couldn't find him.

After thinking it over, Lin Ge returned to the elevator and decided to use the most primitive methods to investigate carefully, bit by bit.

After entering the elevator, he jumped up and pressed the buttons for the second and third floors. Turning around, he saw that Xu Xiangjie, who had followed him in, remained unmoved, so he jumped up again and pressed the button for the fourth floor. Only then did Xu Xiangjie realize what was happening and quickly turned on all the floor lights.

Seeing the cat patiently squatting at the elevator entrance, Xu Xiangjie couldn't help but remind him, "Jiang Zhong checked, and the elevator cameras didn't capture Xu Yinghui's image today. That's why we concluded he wasn't hiding on the sixteenth floor."

"Do you need to tell me that?"

Lin Ge glared at Xu Xiangjie, then patiently waited for the elevator doors to open. He quickly stepped out to sniff around, but finding no trace of Xu Yinghui's scent, he returned and went up to the next floor.

Second floor, third floor; fifteenth floor, sixteenth floor; twenty-seventh floor, twenty-eighth floor...

Lin Ge felt a bit stuffy in his nose, probably from overuse. It wasn't until he reached the top floor that Lin Ge finally smelled Xu Yinghui's fresh scent again. He couldn't help but look up at the stairwell leading to the rooftop, where an iron gate was tightly closed.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a simple pull-out latch that could be opened from both the inside and outside.

Xu Xiangjie understood Lin Ge's purpose without needing further reminders. He quickly opened the door and went up to the rooftop, where he immediately saw that the rooftop was seamlessly connected to the adjacent building. Apart from a few solar water heaters belonging to someone else, there were only a few clotheslines on the rooftop, and the entrance to the adjacent building. Upon closer inspection, he found that it could indeed be easily opened, providing direct access to the second unit.

“Cao Chen, Unit 1 and Unit 2 are connected by the rooftop. Go check the elevator camera footage in Unit 2 right away. I suspect Xu Yinghui might be using that route.”

Xu Xiangjie quickly notified Cao Chen and the police officers responsible for the lockdown downstairs. Police officers are human too; they also have their moments of fatigue and slackness. Unless absolutely necessary, who would meticulously check every building in an entire complex for a single case? While the lockdown of Unit 1 was indeed strict, there were very few people responsible for Unit 2.

“Generally speaking, there should be a wall separating this area to prevent conflicts between the residents on both sides.”

Xu Xiangjie kicked the low brick wall, less than twenty centimeters high, that separated the two units. It was the first time he'd ever seen a rooftop so unobstructed it could almost be used as a basketball court. Could this be why Xu Yinghui chose this building to keep his mistress hidden away?

Lin Ge didn't say anything, but walked straight into the second unit's stairwell.

Sure enough, Xu Yinghui's breathing became much clearer. After taking the elevator from the second floor of Unit 1, he went straight to the rooftop, transferred to Unit 2, and then entered the elevator again.

Lin Ge didn't know which floor Xu Yinghui had gone to, so he could only light up all the buttons on each floor, just like before. Then he went out to each floor from top to bottom to sniff around until he found a clue to Xu Yinghui.

So... Lin Ge stopped at the entrance of the sixteenth floor of Unit 2.

Each unit on the sixteenth floor has two apartments, but both sides have Xu Yinghui's scent! Lin Ge couldn't help but imagine a scene in his mind: Xu Yinghui bought all three apartments on the sixteenth floor, and might even connect the two adjacent apartments to form a private connecting passage just for him...

"It shouldn't be... that exaggerated, right?"

Lin Ge was somewhat speechless, but thinking about it, in terms of cost, it didn't seem like a very troublesome problem for someone who could make tens of millions in a single fraud.

The property management of this building seems to be all show and no substance. Therefore, the probability of Xu Yinghui being discovered if he secretly started construction is extremely low. Having such a secret passage, however, greatly increases his chances of escaping police pursuit.

"So, it's also on the sixteenth floor? Heh..."

Xu Xiangjie and Lin Ge thought of the same place, so they couldn't help but laugh in exasperation.

The police searched inside and out for ages, only to find this guy hiding right next door. This provocation...it's just too arrogant!
However, it must be admitted that with even the slightest carelessness, Xu Yinghui could have easily escaped. Faced with a scene like this, who would even consider the neighbors next door? And who would go through the thankless task of knocking on the doors of every single resident in the entire building?

"The electricity meter is spinning."

Xu Xiangjie found the electricity meter on the wall and immediately noticed the problem. The meter reading at Gate 1 was almost double that at Gate 2. In other words, the non-functional meter Cao Chen found over there was likely receiving power from here.

'Bang.'

A faint sound came from behind, and Lin Ge's ears twitched. He turned his head to look at the door on the side and listened carefully, hearing the sound of footsteps slowly fading away.

There is someone on the other side!

And he has already seen what's happening outside!
Lingo's ears and tail stood up, and he stared wide-eyed at Xu Xiangjie.

"Heh! Being a trapped beast is very dangerous. But... it's still better to just come out and turn yourself in, since there's really no way you can escape."

Xu Xiangjie spoke casually, it was unclear whether he was speaking to himself or to the person opposite him. He slowly took out his phone, "Hey! Cao Chen, on the sixteenth floor across the street, I've most likely cornered the suspect. Hurry up and come back for backup, but don't let the entrances and exits close. This guy is more cunning than we thought, who knows how many apartments he's bought in this complex. Heh... It's fortunate it was Mimi, otherwise it would have taken a lot more effort."

After saying that, Xu Xiangjie crossed his arms and blocked the entrance to the sixteenth floor, neither taking any risks nor allowing the people inside to escape.

'Squeak! '

Two minutes later, the door of the household that had made the noise earlier was suddenly opened.

A woman wearing black-rimmed glasses and with a neat short haircut walked out. She paused for a moment when she saw Xu Xiangjie, but didn't say anything. She just expressionlessly gestured for Xu Xiangjie to move aside so she could press the elevator button.

"police!"

Xu Xiangjie briefly revealed his identity, then stopped her and asked, "Is this your home? May I ask your name, and if there are any other people living here?"

"Of course it's my home!"

The woman glared at Xu Xiangjie, then said impatiently, "My name is Du Wei, and I'm the principal of the bilingual kindergarten next door! I live alone; there's no one else in my family. So could you please move aside and not block my way to work?"

"Such a young principal!"

Xu Xiangjie couldn't help but laugh. This woman looked to be only in her early thirties, yet she had the ability to own a bilingual kindergarten? To put it bluntly, these days, the qualifications to open a school probably cost a lot of money, right?

Oh! By the way, this woman looks younger and prettier than Zhang Yanxia and Pei Yuling. I wonder if she is the 'other woman' that Pei Yuling mentioned living on the sixteenth floor.

It's highly unlikely, so...

Lin Ge turned to look at Du Wei's neighbor's house and was shocked to find that Xu Yinghui was indeed quite promiscuous. Two lovers living in the same building, door to door? This guy's audacity was astonishing.

"What's it to you! So what if I'm a cop? Don't stop me! Fine! Come on! Come down with me! Let's see what I'm going to do, and whether I'm a criminal or not!"

Du Wei seemed somewhat agitated. After being stopped from going downstairs, she immediately started causing trouble for Xu Xiangjie. She even suggested taking Xu Xiangjie out of the building, the purpose of which was perfectly clear to Lin Ge, who was standing nearby.

"Haha, no need."

Seeing that the elevator was already ascending from the first floor, Xu Xiangjie avoided Du Wei and didn't have any contact with her. Du Wei pressed the elevator button, but he stood by with his arms crossed, ignoring her, which made Du Wei, who had been stealing glances at him, even more anxious.

Lin Ge watched this scene with great interest, and in doing so, he caught a whiff of Xu Yinghui's scent on Du Wei. The scent was quite fresh, and her lips were rather moist; perhaps she had shared a passionate kiss before leaving?
Tsk!
How could this woman bring herself to kiss such an old man?

'Ding! '

As Du Wei waited anxiously, the elevator finally arrived at the sixteenth floor. However, as soon as the elevator doors opened, a short, dashing figure shoved Du Wei aside as she tried to run inside, and stepped out himself.

Behind Zhuang Tao were Cao Chen, Jiang Zhong, Zhu Xiubo, and a young policeman holding a video camera.

He was excitedly filming from both sides of the corridor, also including Xu Xiangjie and Lin Ge in the frame. However, his main focus remained on the woman named Du Wei, with the camera almost shoved into her face.

"What's happening here?"

Xu Xiangjie frowned.

"Longquan Police Station has an online program called 'Welcome to Longquan Police Station.' It is said that the online viewership is quite high. It specifically talks about some cases in the jurisdiction and the process of solving them, so that the general public can know how hard the police station works every day."

Jiang Zhong shrugged, nonchalantly saying, "I told Cheng that this case wasn't really suitable for a TV show. But he said to film it first and we'd see what happens, so it came on."

(End of this chapter)