Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 674 Greedy
Xu Xiangjie spoke with great force.

However, the reality is that, as the incident of the building collapse unfolds, Qiaoqiao has once again disappeared from her daily life.

The case has alerted the suspect, making it much harder to find him now. The reason the Municipal Public Security Bureau has called in so many people to work on the case is to find a way to bring this guy out before he leaves Zhang City.

"Can we confirm that Qiaoqiao has not fled Zhangzhou City?"

A criminal investigation police officer looked up, curious about where the economic crime investigation captain had obtained the intelligence.

"Yes! He is still clinging to a sliver of hope and is currently hiding somewhere in Zhangzhou. Because he's in the real estate business, he can't move all his fixed assets with him. Even if he wanted to liquidate them, it wouldn't be something that could be done in a day or two. So Qiao Qiao will most likely stay in Zhangzhou for a while longer until he senses danger or has disposed of his assets. Besides, being in real estate, preparing two or three secret hideouts wouldn't be difficult for him."

Xu Xiangjie glanced at the man and calmly stated that the Economic Investigation Department had its own methods and had already done enough for Qiaoqiao. Now, all that was left was to find the person completely.

After thinking about it, everyone roughly guessed how the Economic Investigation Department had located Qiao Qiao.

Unfortunately, this method of locking down an individual can only determine their general area; it cannot directly pinpoint their hiding place. Otherwise, if it could truly lock them down, there would be no need for criminal investigation and the local police station; the economic crime investigation team could arrest Qiao Qiao on their own.

"Hehe... He's only good at talking."

A burly criminal investigator inwardly scoffed, thinking that finding and arresting people was something only experienced detectives like themselves could handle.

Xu Xiangjie then began to issue orders to everyone, assigning tasks to each person according to their respective functions, to block all routes for Qiao Qiao to leave Zhang City as much as possible, and hoping to arrest him as soon as possible.

'boom! '

The meeting room door was suddenly pushed open forcefully.

Everyone turned around and saw Zhuang Tao'er barging in with a grim expression. Seeing the people in the conference room, she took a deep breath and bowed to Xu Xiangjie and the others.

"Captain, we just received an emergency call from the 110 emergency call center! There's a person standing on top of the collapsed building in the Baimiao area who seems to be planning to jump to their death! Captain Shao led a team to the scene, and he said this matter should be related to the case you're handling, and asked me to come and inform him."

Upon hearing this, everyone was immediately taken aback.

What's going on? Weren't the community and the police station trying to calm people down? How did someone suddenly start threatening to jump off a building to commit suicide?
In addition...

What's wrong with people these days?

People keep threatening to jump off buildings or commit suicide. Do they think that doing this or making such threats will solve the problem?

Who will sympathize with someone who commits suicide?

Since it was a meeting, most people's phones were on silent. When Zhuang Tao notified them, everyone quickly took out their phones and checked the group chat. Sure enough, as she said, on the roof of the nine-story illegal building, a man who looked to be around thirty years old was standing precariously on the edge of the eaves.

“Now that Lao Shao has gone over there, let’s leave this matter to him! If there are any new developments, Tao’er, come and tell me. Okay, let’s continue the meeting now and try to catch Qiao Qiao as soon as possible. This will naturally calm these people’s anger.”

Xu Xiangjie waved to Zhuang Tao'er, dismissing all external influences, and continued to assign tasks.

"This guy is so calm!"

Lin Ge glanced at Xu Xiangjie in surprise.

But even he had to admit that this was indeed the best course of action. If the police's work could be so easily influenced or even hindered by an outsider, then the police might as well not bother with cases at all.

Of course, Lin Ge wasn't concerned about the task assignments right now; he just really wanted to know what was going on with the person on the roof.

Jump off a building?

why?
Does he not care about his own life? Or is he just threatening suicide?

Unfortunately, I'm in the meeting room and can't leave at all!
He had even planned to sneak out with Zhuang Tao'er, but Zhang Yong caught him by the tail like lightning, and he was also glared at by Xu Xiangjie, who was assigning tasks at the front.

This guy has been staring at me the whole time!
Got it!
After realizing this, Lingo obediently sat back down in his original seat.

Even if they were very curious, they could only wait patiently for Xu Xiangjie to finish assigning tasks before they could see if they had a chance to go to the Hundred Temples to join in the fun.

"Actually, it's nothing to be curious about. Baimiao figured out the real reason why this person threatened to jump off the building shortly after the incident."

Having accepted the mission to search for Qiao Qiao's whereabouts in the jurisdiction, Zhang Yong returned from the Municipal Bureau with Lin Ge and Zhang Ke.

On the way, he couldn't resist the urge to jump off the building. He explained softly, "The man who was shouting that he was going to jump off the building and is still confronting the police is named Tian Di. He owns a two-story duplex apartment on the eighth and ninth floors of that building, which is over 200 to 300 square meters. He's also one of the homeowners who suffered the most losses right now. After all, everyone knows that you can't get a mortgage for a house without a certificate, right? If you want to get a bargain on this house, you can only negotiate privately with the developer or pay the full amount upfront. Tian Di chose to pay in full and bought this huge two-story apartment, planning to become a homeowner and get married."

"Isn't it a bit too simplistic to think that owning a house guarantees marriage? Especially since it's a house without a certificate so your name can't be added to the deed, it's not very appealing to some people! But... being able to buy a house outright, this person seems to be financially well-off? But... why buy one without a certificate?"

Zhang Ke asked questions while driving.

"He doesn't have a damn amount of money; he's just a freeloader!"

Zhang Yong shook his head, looking at the messages on his phone, and continued, "The money this guy spent to buy the house outright and renovate it was actually a commercial loan secured by mortgaging his parents' house. He also got some online loans himself, which is how he scraped together several hundred thousand yuan! And these commercial loans generally have interest rates of six or seven percent or even higher, so the monthly repayments are no small amount. And now that this has happened, he's lost the house, but he still has to keep making loan payments..."

"That's really unlucky! If he doesn't pay back the money, the bank will even take back his parents' house. But didn't this guy consider this risk before?"

Zhang Ke still couldn't understand the thinking of this kind of person.

Ringo glanced at the Roman.

Of course, this Tian Di doesn't deserve any sympathy either.

"In short, this house cost Tian Di over 500,000 yuan, and the renovation cost another 200,000 yuan. All together, it's enough to buy a decent 100-square-meter property with a certificate in the city. Damn... could this guy not just be threatening people, but actually planning to commit suicide? A loan of 700,000 to 800,000 yuan with exorbitant interest, and the money borrowed has completely vanished with the house's collapse. Plus, he has to keep throwing money into the water every month; anyone would go crazy..."

Thinking of Tian Di's tragic situation—that he had lost his house but still had debts to repay and had to continue paying them off—Zhang Yong suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for him.

If it were just a loan on his own house, he could simply risk damaging his credit score and default on the repayment; the overall loss would be tolerable. But because the house lacks a certificate, Tian Di had to use his parents' house as collateral, and it was a commercial loan—that's a disaster!
In other words, overnight, Tian Di not only lost his home but also dragged his parents down with him. He either had to continue his miserable mortgage payments, or his parents' house would be taken away, forcing him to live under a bridge with them?

No wonder this guy wanted to commit suicide.

Lin Ge felt a little sympathy for this unfortunate fellow, but only a little. Buying an unlicensed and unsecured house and using his parents' house as collateral for a loan—buying a house despite not having the money—were all decisions he made himself.

"It wasn't my idea to do it this way!"

Tian Di stood under the sun, her whole body sunburned red and tears streaming down her face.

He stood on the edge of the rooftop, roaring at the crowd below, "It was those salespeople who tricked me when I bought the house! They talked about how great and cost-effective the houses were, saying it didn't matter which house I used for the loan! They said that since I had to mortgage one anyway, it would be easier for women to take a liking to a house if I paid in full and there were no outstanding debts in my name! That's why I believed those filthy bitches! I only wanted to buy a house, get married, and pay off my parents' loan. I never intended for my whole family to be homeless! Now look what's happened! The real estate agents lied to me, you officials bullied me, and the banks bullied me! How are people supposed to live in this world?!"

The guy was shouting himself hoarse on the rooftop, tears streaming down his face, so emotional that the police and firefighters downstairs were very worried.

Everyone pulled hard on the safety net and ran in circles around him, fearing that he might jump in a fit of anger. Given the multiple blows he had suffered and his emotional state, it wasn't a matter of whether he was afraid of death or not.

"Calm down!"

Shao Yongkang stood downstairs, his face grim, loudly pleading with the guy, wishing he could fly to the roof and tie him up right then and there. Things were already troublesome enough, and now this guy had to add fuel to the fire!

It's important to understand that Tian Di wasn't the only one directly affected by this housing issue. There were over twenty households in the entire building, and their properties were all worthless. With this guy setting such a precedent, if things aren't resolved properly, others will follow suit…

Under the scorching sun, Shao Yongkang couldn't help but shiver.

"I can't calm down!"

Tian Di squatted on the rooftop and argued with Shao Yongkang. A gust of wind on the rooftop made his clothes and hair fly wildly.

"There's nothing in this world that can't be resolved. Come down first, and we'll talk it over calmly and slowly! We'll help you find the relevant person in charge and arrange for you to sit down and discuss it together. That's the way to solve the problem!"

Shao Yongkang tried his best to persuade them, but even the loudspeaker was filled with static.

"Unless you bring the bank representatives over right now and tell them the loan was for this house! Now that the house is gone, I don't have to pay back the money; otherwise, as long as they keep pressuring me to pay back the money, I'll jump off this cliff and die here!"

Tian Di went further and further.

"Get the hell out of here!"

Shao Yongkang deftly switched off the horn, then couldn't help but curse aloud. Buying risky, unlicensed properties and using his parents' house as collateral for loans were essentially the little bastard's own actions, and now he's trying to portray himself as innocent?
Don't be fooled by his aggrieved and innocent tone, claiming the fault lies entirely with the real estate developer and unscrupulous salesperson. The fact that Tian Di would mortgage his parents' only home for a commercial loan shows he's no good!

Tian Di bought a two-story duplex in this dilapidated building, but he never let his parents stay there even for a single day! This scoundrel talks a big game, but it's all just talk! If he really wanted to buy a house, seven or eight hundred thousand yuan could buy a legal and safe residence in the city. But he insisted on investing his money in this larger, seemingly cheaper, gambling-style unlicensed house. Now that he's lost money, who can he blame?

While the unscrupulous real estate developer certainly deserves to die, he also brought this upon himself!

"What do we do now?"

Liu Shengyou stood behind Shao Yongkang with a headache.

This is going to be difficult to resolve!
Because the building was a dangerous structure, large holes and pits remained at the entrance to the stairwell, and the surrounding temporary reinforcement structures such as piles and steel pipes made it extremely difficult for firefighters to set up cushioning mats at the bottom of the building. Tian Di's shouting and threats also agitated the onlookers, especially other residents in the same building who had also been forced to abandon their properties, making them highly emotional as they reflected on their own situations and losses.

If a fire were to break out at that moment, it wouldn't be as simple as one person jumping off a building and dying.

"How to do?"

Shao Yongkang glared fiercely at Liu Shengyou, then asked in a low voice, "Have the fire and rescue teams and our people gone up there? Talking about it now is meaningless. It's a matter of hundreds of thousands of yuan; who would be willing to accept that? We still need to control him first!"

"They went up, but didn't find a good opportunity; they're still lying in ambush!"

Liu Shengyou grabbed his hat and rubbed the sweat from his head.

"Then we'll continue to draw his attention, giving the higher-ups an opportunity to quickly take care of this guy."

Shao Yongkang's phone rang twice. He took it out to check the message, then grabbed a megaphone and yelled at Tian Di, "Tian Di, don't get agitated or impulsive! We've received word that the developer will be held accountable immediately! In other words, the developer will be responsible for your house! The specifics are still unclear, but at least there's still hope to recover the losses! But if you jump, you're essentially giving up this opportunity; you're out of luck!"

"..."

Tian Di, who had been wandering around on the rooftop, was stunned when he heard this.

Even the onlookers began to whisper among themselves, seemingly surprised that things had cleared up so quickly. The pressure and grievances they had felt because of Tian Di's actions were immediately relieved.

Although the house is destined to be scrapped, if the developer can compensate us... even if it's just a portion, it seems like we can barely accept this outcome.

After all, this is the reality, and it's already good that the government has taken any stance.

The crowd stopped pointing fingers at Tian Di, and stopped huddling together to complain about the government and curse society. They became excited and hopeful, chatting amongst themselves that even a little extra compensation would be something to be happy about at this point.

Seeing that Tian Di was still hesitating, Shao Yongkang continued to tempt him.

"Have you thought this through? If you jump down, you won't actually threaten anyone! And if you're gone, the other neighbors will get a lot more. The developer of this building definitely has limited funds, and it's hard to say how much they can compensate you..."

"Who dares to steal my money!"

Tian Di, sweltering under the sun on the rooftop, glared at the words and gripped the wall tightly with both hands, shouting, "Give me back every penny of my money, or I'll jump off this building!"

"Do you want me to compensate you for the renovation costs? You're dreaming!"

Shao Yongkang was no longer worried about what this guy might do. With the compensation money tempting him, would he be willing to commit suicide?
So he gave a cold laugh and turned off the horn again.

This matter is finally settled.

Furthermore, with this news, once that guy named Qiao Qiao is caught, they can easily squeeze some money out of him to appease the victims. As for those who want more compensation, that's just wishful thinking.

From the moment these people bought these unlicensed houses because they were looking for cheap deals, they should have been prepared to take on the risks.

If we let them take advantage of everything they want, wouldn't all the other people who legally purchase property according to the law look like complete idiots?
Therefore, there are some loopholes that are absolutely impossible to open.

From both a moral and legal standpoint, it is absolutely unacceptable to allow these petty people to have their way completely.

"That's my money!"

Tian Di paced anxiously in circles on the rooftop.

He no longer wants to die.

Jumping off the building was no longer the goal, but a means of coercion. The thought of the police getting money from the developer made him only concerned with how to get the lion's share of the compensation.

Not only should the money spent on the house purchase be returned, but also the renovation costs and interest accrued over the years. Furthermore, compensation for emotional distress should be paid! Otherwise, no one will have a good outcome.

"I'll take this opportunity to clear my name and get the money! As for the bank, let them do whatever they want! Let them sleep on the streets, and then I'll show them how I cyberbully them online!"

Tian Di stopped to catch her breath, feeling a surge of warmth within her.

If they can manage to get eight or nine million, it seems this whole affair has turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Hmm! Maybe they can continue doing this, create another scandal involving an unlicensed house, and then…

Tian Di was thinking about a great opportunity, feeling that this 'business' had great potential.

But he didn't know that right beneath his feet, just inches away, outside the window of his bedroom on the ninth floor—his former residence—a firefighter was squinting and standing by nervously on the rain shelter.

He crouched atop the window awning, pressed against the wall, only a wall separating him from Tian Di. He could even hear Tian Di's footsteps overhead. Given the chance, he could easily take down this troublemaker.

Several police officers and firefighters were also waiting in the stairwell on the roof.

(End of this chapter)