On New Year's Eve, the normally bustling streets of Hechuan City were eerily deserted. After finally shaking off the girl named Manzi, Ping An returned home alone, safe and sound.
To be honest, no one in his family had supported his trip to Japan. His stubbornness had led him to cross national borders, and it was also his stubbornness that had yielded a lot of valuable intelligence. As for Mr. Ke, in the following days in Japan, San Tui Pie Yi Lang had mobilized his family's resources and searched frantically for two days before finally obtaining the news that Mr. Ke had voluntarily left the organization and gone abroad five years prior.
With the person nowhere to be found and a young girl, utterly infatuated with domestic historical romance dramas, pestering him daily, Ping An had no choice but to return home early.
Home was always the warmest place.
As he pushed open the door, he bumped into An Jing and Su Tang, who were preparing to go out.
"Hmph!"
"Hmph hmph!"
The mouths of the two young girls pouted higher than each other.
Ping An knew very well that their feigned displeasure would not last more than five minutes.
Indeed, upon seeing the main person had returned, the two young ladies no longer bothered to go out. They sat on the sofa, pretending to be very angry.
"Alas, the cosmetics bought in Ginza, I really don't know who to give them to!"
"Alas, Japanese sashimi just tastes so fragrant!"
"Alas, these little bags with 'p' and 'u', can't carry them, can't hold them. Hey! I might as well cut off the straps and use them as shoulder bags..."
Before he could even finish speaking, the two grand dames on the sofa could no longer contain themselves!
"My cosmetics!"
"My sashimi!"
Watching his granddames at home, so full of energy they were about to tear his backpack apart, Ping An wasn't in a hurry. He sat to the side, sipping hot water, his eyes squinting as he watched.
Tsk tsk, women, heh!
Ping An did not apologize for his "unilateral action." Nor did the girls scold him for their "worries." They had originally planned to dine, drink, and stay at a five-star hotel if Ping An hadn't returned, but now that the master of the house was back, the family was reunited. No matter how delicious the hotel food was, it couldn't compare to the dumplings boiled at home.
After dividing the good things, An Jing opened the refrigerator. Inside, there was only a piece of mutton and three or four carrots. Not enough for a proper meal, but enough to boil two catties of dumplings.
Su Tang, wearing a bright red woolen sweater, held a couplet in her hand and followed her master like a shadow. She watched her master climb up and down the stool to paste the couplets, chatting intermittently about her final exam scores and everyone's situation.
It turned out that after Ping An went to Japan, his mother stayed at home for three days before going to Xiang Wanfeng's hometown to celebrate the New Year with him. Lin Dang, after receiving the ten thousand yuan "bonus" forwarded by An Jing on behalf of Ping An, happily returned to her hometown for the New Year, saying she would be back to work on the eighth day. Mei Qian, who was supposed to spend the New Year in Hechuan with An Jing, unexpectedly learned of her father's hospitalization and, at An Jing's request, returned to her hometown in the south. Gao Xiaofei and Fei Keqing naturally had their own families to attend to, and it was imperative to be with their own families during the New Year.
At seven in the evening, two large plates of mutton-filled dumplings were served. Ping An, An Jing, and Su Tang ate heartily with bowls of vinegar, while the festive songs and dances from the Spring Festival Gala stage echoed around them.
"Brother, is the case over now?" An Jing asked, looking at her brother at the dinner table, noticing he had lost a whole circle in the past six months.
"I suppose so. It's just that I still don't know if the last person involved was a good person or a bad one," Ping An mused.
"Master, there are still many loose ends in these cases. A reader named Senior Brother Snail has a very sharp eye. Be careful, if the gaps aren't filled, he might flip the table and cause trouble!" Su Tang said with a smile, pursing her lips.
"Indeed, whether to fill them or not depends on my mood!" It was clear that Ping An didn't want to talk much about the cases tonight, but the cases were still there.
Ultimately, there had to be an end.
"Ding dong!" Just then, the doorbell suddenly rang.
"Brother! Are you going out?" An Jing, with her keen senses, asked worriedly.
"Yes, I'm going out, but you and Su Tang can come with me!" Ping An, knowing his sister's worries, made this decision.
Outside the door, Gao Xiaofei and Gao Liang, fully armed, were lowering their heads to blow warmth into their hands. They looked somewhat surprised to see Ping An coming out with An Jing and Su Tang.
"It's not a vacation, why are you bringing them along?" Gao Xiaofei grumbled.
"They've been worried for so long. Tonight, let them come along. It's just the wrap-up anyway, the other party probably won't cause any more trouble," Ping An said.
On New Year's Day, was this a mission? It truly was! That very morning, as soon as Ping An landed, he had called Gao Xiaofei. On the phone, he had provided Gao Xiaofei with an account at a private bank in Japan.
Gao Xiaofei had to search for a long time before discovering that this account belonged to Yan Qing's son, Yan Fei. And the money in the account was as much as fifty million.
"Actually, Yan Fei's matter isn't that big of a deal, there's no need for such a big operation!" Gao Xiaofei, who was driving in the RV, said to Ping An, An Jing, Su Tang, and Gao Liang in the back.
"Let me tell you a story!"
At this moment, Ping An, who hadn't spoken much, suddenly adopted the posture of someone about to tell a story.
Eight years ago, in the mountains of a neighboring province, there emerged a girl named Liu Qiao. She was only eighteen at the time, with a sweet appearance but from a poor family. To support her twin sister's education, she came to Hechuan City and worked in a bar. Later, the bar owner, Ren Liu, took a fancy to the girl. After a period of temptation and coercion, he made the girl his mistress. However, Ren Liu's wife was not to be trifled with. Upon discovering the affair, she threatened to kill Liu Qiao. With Ren Liu's tacit consent, Liu Qiao was driven out of the hotel.
After leaving the hotel, Liu Qiao was introduced by an intermediary to work as a nanny for an official. This official was Yan Qing. The moment Yan Qing saw Liu Qiao, he harbored wicked intentions and raped her that very night. What was detestable was that while Yan Qing was raping Liu Qiao, Wang Li knew everything but did nothing.
After being raped, Liu Qiao wanted to leave Yan Qing's house. Yan Qing, through soft persuasion and force, kept Liu Qiao under house arrest. But who knew that Liu Qiao had already become pregnant with Ren Liu's child when she left the bar? After being under house arrest by Yan Qing for several months, her belly grew larger. Yan Qing initially thought the child was his and relaxed his guard against Liu Qiao. But unexpectedly, Liu Qiao seized the opportunity when Yan Qing was not paying attention, quietly slipped out, and rode a bicycle that was not locked, madly heading out of the city.
That day was the Double Ninth Festival, September 9th. Due to excessive panic, Liu Qiao rode against traffic onto the motorized vehicle lane. In front of her, a ride-hailing car and a taxi were having a dispute. The ride-hailing car driver felt the taxi driver was stealing his passengers, so he deliberately blocked the taxi, preventing it from driving properly. As a result, a fender bender occurred on the road. The passenger in the taxi happened to be a drug dealer, rushing to a transaction. Seeing that the taxi could not move, he frantically opened the rear door to leave. But this suddenly opened door was precisely what Liu Qiao, riding her bicycle, crashed into.
The collision was not minor. Liu Qiao suffered severe bleeding and died in the ambulance before she could be sent to the hospital. Her unborn child also perished. Yes, the coincidence lies here: the taxi driver was Niu Jian, the ride-hailing car driver was Wu An, and the passenger in the taxi who accidentally caused Liu Qiao to be hit and killed was Gao Min. And the one who rushed to handle the traffic accident later was Chen Nairong. Finally, the intern reporter responsible for this social news was me, Ping An.
The RV drove slowly, and everyone inside was immersed in Ping An's story. Ping An lit a cigarette and took a deep drag before continuing.
After the accident, Chen Nairong immediately discovered Gao Min's identity as a drug dealer. However, at the time, Chen Nairong was in urgent need of money and decided to extort Gao Min. Gao Min, seizing the opportunity, implicated Chen Nairong.
Although Niu Jian and Wu An had a fender bender due to their dispute, which led to the accident, Liu Qiao was riding against traffic, bearing almost all the responsibility. Therefore, Niu Jian and Wu An were only educated and let off the hook.
Liu Qiao's accidental death made Yan Qing fearful. He worried that someone might trace back to him through Liu Qiao, so he preempted the situation. On one hand, he went to Ren Liu's bar and intimidated Ren Liu, ensuring he wouldn't reveal his relationship with Liu Qiao. On the other hand, he arranged for his confidant Chen Nairong to quickly close the case and find Liu Qiao's family to settle the matter privately. For this purpose, ten thousand yuan was prepared as compensation.
At that time, Liu Qiao's younger sister, Liu Juan, who was in her third year of high school, rushed to Hechuan to collect her sister's body. Only then did she discover that her sister's death was not simple. Enraged, this brave girl began her independent investigation, gathering information on Yan Qing, Chen Nairong, Ren Liu, Gao Min, Niu Jian, Wu An, and myself. At the time, she was too small. She wanted revenge, but her strength was insufficient. In the end, she gritted her teeth, took the ten thousand yuan, and went overseas to study in Japan.
While studying in Japan, her plight gained the attention of a compatriot. Later, the two often met, and this compatriot helped her devise a plan to make everyone involved in her sister's death pay the price.
Several years ago, Liu Juan returned after completing her studies. Under the guise of repaying a favor, she met Yan Qing. The moment Yan Qing saw her, his lust rekindled, and he took advantage of her that very night. Little did they know, this was the beginning of a terrible revenge.
At that time, Chen Nairong had just taken off his police uniform and was preparing to start a big business with Gao Min. After secretly helping Yan Qing dispose of a batch of drug evidence, these two successfully latched onto Yan Qing, using him as a protective umbrella. They constructed a clandestine drug trafficking network in Hechuan City by hiding drugs in urns and transporting them via passenger vehicles.
After entering Liu Juan's embrace, with her outstanding intellect, she won Yan Qing's favor. She proactively requested that to better control Chen Nairong and Gao Min, she could pretend to marry Gao Min and then serve as Chen Nairong's secretary. This way, with her in between, they would no longer be so close, and she could report information at any time for Yan Qing's analysis.
Yan Qing was very pleased to see his mistress so sensible and virtuous. Thus, Liu Juan married Gao Min, who had been ogling her, and ambiguously became Chen Nairong's secretary. However, Yan Qing never revealed Liu Juan's true identity. Neither Gao Min nor Chen Nairong knew about Liu Juan's relationship with Liu Qiao. In just one year, Liu Juan indirectly controlled the drug trade. Coincidentally, she discovered that the idle Wu An was also a "subordinate" in her drug circle. She deliberately elevated Wu An's status and, through threats and manipulation, instructed Wu An to find a way to bring Niu Jian into the fold. At the same time, Liu Juan also set a new plan for Yan Qing to use Khat instead of heroin and proposed a scheme to obtain a large sum of money from abroad by "swapping white wolves" with a fictitious drug.
Yan Qing, who had long wanted to escape the organization's investigation, was already contemplating retirement. Later, through Liu Juan's introduction, he specifically visited Mr. Ke, who had become quite influential in Japan at the time. At Mr. Ke's suggestion, they perfected the "Khat" plan and, by deceiving San Tui, obtained that long arrow to frame and divert the organization's attention.
"I always couldn't figure out why Mr. Ke, who always liked to shift the blame onto others, and Yan Qing's motive for doing all this. In fact, wouldn't it have been most convenient to kill me from the beginning?" Ping An said. It wasn't until he met his long-unseen mother that he realized his mother's current considerable wealth. When Yan Qing prepared to set a "scheme within a scheme" to defraud money, he might have already planned to use me as the "scapegoat." With me in prison, the heavily indebted Mafia family would undoubtedly come to "collect their debts," and even force my mother to pay. Two hundred million US dollars, his mother could more or less afford to pay. Yan Qing knew these Mafiosi too well. Once the money was in hand, they wouldn't bother him anymore, which was equivalent to buying peace for the rest of his life.
Each had their own plans, each their own agenda! At that time, Yan Qing actually had no drugs left. Even by using Gao Min's previous connections, he could only transport them back little by little. Such small quantities of drugs were far from satisfying Yan Qing's appetite, and he didn't have time to wait. So, after returning from Japan, he began to implement the "Khat" plan. Under this plan, through Kuoke's connections, he borrowed $15 million in high-interest loans, using the excuse of replenishing funds to acquire 700 kilograms of heroin. In reality, he immediately used $12 million to smuggle 700 kilograms of Khat from an agricultural company in Egypt.
Yan Qing, who had spent years on the front lines of criminal investigation, knew no less about various drugs, drug smuggling, and the drug market than any ordinary drug dealer. At that time, he gathered Chen Nairong, Gao Min, Ren Liu, and other key figures and frankly stated his desire to "transform and develop." He no longer intended to deal in heroin but planned to focus on stimulants, with Khat as the product. Speaking of this substance, it is essentially a stimulant, a soft drug, very popular in bars and other places. If caught by the police, the conviction would not be high. Moreover, Yan Qing claimed to have stable channels and a large stock of finished products, but he did not intend to sell them. Because he knew that many large entertainment venues across the country had a demand for this product, he could first hold an "auction" to raise a large sum of money and then retire, leaving the business to the younger generation...
Selling drugs could lead to beheading! Selling stimulants, however, carried less risk.
Chen Nairong, Ren Liu, Gao Min, and others had all entered this line of work mid-career. Deep down, they might not have been entirely willing to follow Yan Qing in selling drugs. Now, Yan Qing, relying on his seniority, had proactively pointed them to a good path. Why wouldn't they seize this opportunity to get out?
Thus, after Yan Qing successfully persuaded everyone, he began to quietly deploy further actions. On one hand, he notified Kuoke to "invest" with the loan. On the other hand, through Wang Li's connections, he found Japanese yakuza and designed the "virtual currency" plan. Once both plans proceeded smoothly, he began to spread rumors domestically that he had a large quantity of Khat for sale, attracting many customers...
While Yan Qing was diligently implementing his plan, his closest helper, Liu Juan, was also quietly carrying out her revenge plan. As the saying goes, every beginning is difficult. Liu Juan's plan was ingenious, but she had underestimated the heavenly principle of "human nature is inherently good." Although she manipulated people several times, they were all motivated by wealth, and no one was willing to cross the line.
Helpless, Liu Juan decided to make Niu Jian her first target! She knew about the conflict between Wu An and Niu Jian, and that Niu Jian was forced into joining. It was partly her instigation. However, Niu Jian was the type to "live a stable life" and passively went along with it. For this reason, Liu Juan seduced Niu Jian's son, Niu Daixing. Niu Jian, who had always hoped his son would follow a righteous path, found his son sinking deeper and deeper. Disheartened and disappointed, he decided to report Yan Qing. He successively made several deliveries and even risked his life to secretly take evidence. Unfortunately, just as he was making the call to report, Niu Daixing accidentally overheard him. Eager to "make a contribution," Niu Daixing betrayed his father and then coerced Niu Jian into filming a fake video. Halfway through the filming, Niu Jian suddenly received a message. It turned out that after discovering Liu Juan was seducing his son, Niu Jian had been asking people to inquire about Liu Juan's background. Finally, the person who helped him get information sent him a message, telling him that Liu Juan was the sister of Liu Qiao, who had indirectly died because of him. Niu Jian, who had always felt something was off about Liu Juan, naturally became even more unwilling to cooperate and even threatened the group with the evidence he had. He sensed danger, feeling that Liu Juan's return to Hechuan this time must have had ill intentions. Therefore, he was willing to sacrifice his life to save his son from the quagmire. Unfortunately, Niu Daixing, lost in his infatuation, drowned Niu Jian to death by pressing his head into ice water during the coercion to hand over the evidence. After Niu Jian's death, Gao Min was responsible for disposing of the body, and Wu An was responsible for retrieving the evidence. While Gao Min was disposing of the body, Liu Juan found an excuse to go along and then secretly filmed the entire process. The "second person" at the construction site was actually Liu Juan. As for Wu An, he was not in good spirits after witnessing Niu Jian's death. While helping to dispose of Niu Jian's body, he took Niu Jian's phone and accidentally saw the text message, instantly realizing why Liu Juan wanted to deal with Niu Jian – this was revenge for Liu Qiao! Now that Niu Jian was dead, would he be next? The more Wu An thought about it, the more frightened he became. While retrieving the evidence, he secretly made a copy using Niu Jian's phone. Unfortunately, he was discovered by the people monitoring Wu An.
Having secretly taken the evidence, Wu An became increasingly fearful. That's why he found me, wanting to tell me about Liu Juan. Unfortunately, he was still killed by Gao Min's plot! This way, no one would know Liu Juan's true identity.
After Wu An's death, Liu Juan persuaded Chen Nairong, saying that I, a prominent reporter, was probably suspicious of him, so it would be best to get rid of Ping An once and for all, which would be good for everyone. At this point, Chen Nairong was no longer the same as before. After careful consideration, he hired a killer.
But who knew that after the killer was dispatched, Liu Juan immediately called the police and also exposed the drug trafficking matter. In fact, this was pre-arranged by Yan Qing, Gao Min, and Liu Juan. Yan Qing didn't expect Niu Jian to die, nor did he expect Wu An to betray them. At that time, he was busy smuggling Khat from abroad and didn't have time to inquire about these matters. Niu Jian died, and Su Xia and I both aimed our suspicions at Chen Nairong. Yan Qing was also eager to find a scapegoat. Since he was no longer planning to traffic drugs, he might as well throw all these messy affairs onto Chen Nairong. Therefore, at Yan Qing's signal, Liu Juan found the plainclothes police car and reported the crime.
"I always couldn't believe how a young girl could find the plainclothes police car below the hospital so quickly! She said there was a police hat in the plainclothes car. Indeed, there was a police hat in the plainclothes car, but it was a training cap, and it was placed facing away from the window. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary black sun hat," Ping An said. From then on, he became particularly attentive to Liu Juan and did not believe that such a large drug trafficking syndicate could be so easily investigated. Based on this analysis, there must be a mole in the police force! This matter was not that simple.
"After I was discharged from the hospital, I found that Su Xia, the only one making progress on the case, was actually reported! Heh heh, this was a terrible move. Although Yan Qing and others tried their best to push these matters onto Chen Nairong, I wouldn't be easily fooled anymore. I knew that unless the mole was caught, this case couldn't be solved. Liu Juan, to make everyone believe that Chen Nairong was the mastermind, acted skillfully, deliberately letting me see the flaws. A casual question revealed a large sum of illicit funds. She intended to hand it over anyway, so no matter what I did, she would have done it. Later, Ren Liu was arrested in an unbelievable manner. I watched a good show, but I also noticed Ren Liu's helpless expression when he was arrested, which led me to investigate the bar and learn about Liu Qiao's story. Yan Qing didn't know how much information I had, and ordered Gao Min to kill Ren Liu and his wife overnight, continuing to smear Chen Nairong. The scene where Chen Nairong came to my house to find me made me realize where the real strangeness lay," Ping An said. "Niu Jian wanted to find me, Wu An wanted to find me, and Chen Nairong, who was preparing to kill me, also wanted to find me! Why did they want to find me! It was because they all wanted to convey one thing to me! Remember how they all mentioned the word 'uncle' to me separately? It wasn't meant as a life-saving term, but as a warning about the incident that happened on September 9th – Liu Qiao's car accident. Unfortunately, I didn't think of it at the time, but I already felt that this series of cases was targeting me. Sure enough, not long after, Yan Qing, finding my attitude passive, arranged for someone to 'get at me,' and reported me and Chen Nairong as accomplices. I was anxious, but outwardly appeared indifferent, while actually accelerating the process of eliminating the police mole. To this end, I first went to scare Liu Juan and Gao Min. This couple, to make me believe they were good people, secretly arranged for their subordinates to smash the supermarket. After I acted righteously, they thanked me profusely. But as a reporter, how could I not see the problem? After pretending to leave, I secretly returned and asked the neighbors, only to find out that this couple had never done business properly and their shop was often surrounded by a group of hoodlums. But for some reason, these hoodlums would smash the shop? Discovering the inside story, I felt increasingly terrified – what were they hiding? For this reason, I went to Su Xia, a police officer I had always suspected but still trusted. In fact, after I was hospitalized, I had been arranging for Gao Da to monitor Su Xia. I needed a truly clean person to help me watch the Municipal Bureau from the outside. At that time, although I absolutely trusted Xiaofei and Mei Qian, I dared not tell them too much, because I feared eavesdropping. From Gao Da, I learned about Su Xia's situation and the ten thousand yuan, and felt that Su Xia was still a good person and could be saved. So I gave him ten thousand yuan, and thus formed an alliance. Of course, during that period, I always gave people a sense of unpredictability. Lin Dang, that silly girl, to help me, was caught and almost harmed. I was extremely angry at the time and realized that even if I could repeatedly avoid the traps set by the enemy, I couldn't protect the people around me. So I had to run, preferably be wanted. Only by hiding in the shadows could I find clues. For this reason, I fell out with Xiaofei and stubbornly broke into Gao Min's lair, as I wished, and was framed by Liu Juan. Finally, I hid at Gao Da's house. As for Yan Qing, due to the supermarket explosion case, he was removed from the task force. The person who took over, Old Xiang, could not tell me about his relationship with my mother, so he used Mr. Ke's matter to prove to me that he could be trusted. It was also he who first conveyed to me that the organization was investigating Yan Qing. I had never suspected Yan Qing, because I truly regarded him as an elder. Later, I deliberately angered Xiaofei and got into a fight. But in reality, someone was always eavesdropping outside Xiaofei's room. I wrote my plan in a notebook, for the first time proposing the idea that Liu Juan and Yan Qing might be the masterminds, and that Liu Juan might be the ultimate boss controlling everything. Later, I formed a four-person team with Su Xia, Gao Da, and Fei Keqing. Based on the clues provided by Su Xia, we found the warehouse. It was my carelessness that led to Su Xia's death, and I was even more shocked by Liu Juan's murder by Gao Min. At that time, I spent seven days analyzing again, had I made a mistake? Was Liu Juan also a victim? The case still needed to be investigated, and I stubbornly stuck to Liu Juan's thread, determined to figure out what had happened. Ren Liu's confession and the messages on Liu Juan's phone gave me a familiar scent. A pattern? Or a clue? I couldn't confirm. After meeting with Director Xiang, I immediately rushed to Liu Juan's hometown for a visit. There, I discovered that a person resembling Yan Qing had accompanied Liu Juan to sweep the grave, and Liu Qiao's body had inexplicably disappeared. It was then that I suddenly realized that Liu Juan had faked her death using her sister's body. The hair on the partial remains later examined by the police actually belonged to Liu Qiao. Twin sisters, how high do you think the dnd match would be? At Gao Min's hometown, I discovered that both Gao Min and Gu Dashan had been subordinates of Yan Qing. It was then that I understood why Chen Nairong had partnered with Gao Min in drug dealing. It turned out that Gao Min had always been Yan Qing's man. While working as a drug enforcement officer, he was corrupted by profit and eventually left the police force.
"After Director Xiang was outmaneuvered by Yan Qing, I knew Yan Qing was desperate. So, Mai Mang, Hei Dou, and I devised a plan to pretend to be controlled by Yan Qing and secretly met with Director Xiang. It was through Director Xiang's introduction that I met Gao Liang, and finally got in touch with the organization," Ping An said. "I questioned Heshang in the bar, asking if the bar managed by Ren Liu was involved in drug trafficking. Heshang said that Ren Liu had once let slip that his future direction was to focus on a stimulant called Khat. Then, during Hei Dou's visit to Fengtian Building, I discovered that Wang Li's drug production process was not purification but baking, and only tea could be baked. Therefore, I concluded that the game Yan Qing was playing was not heroin. After the battle in the parking lot, Yan Qing took advantage of Gao Min to hold us off and quietly fled. This cunning old fox, while publicly joining the Mafia, was actually preparing to go to Japan through his wife's connections. Fortunately, our people discovered the account and saw through everything. Finally, Yan Qing was apprehended. As for Liu Juan! Well, she didn't die, of course. After she was dragged out that night, someone saved her. This person was not simple. I later tested Gao Min and found that he firmly believed Liu Juan was dead, so I judged that the person who saved Liu Juan must also be a member of their organization, and Gao Min must have known him, and was even more loyal to him. Who was this person? He was Yan Fei, Yan Qing's son, who disappeared from Beijing International Airport."