Chapter 13 The boxes on the ship are empty

The waiting time is extremely long.

Liu Hongyang was extremely anxious at this time, with cold sweat sliding down his temples and soaking the collar of his shirt.

He kept wiping his forehead with his sleeves, but he couldn't wipe away the sweat that kept pouring out.

His fingers twisted together unconsciously, his knuckles turning white from excessive force, and veins bulged hideously on the back of his hands.

"It's over... It's all over now..." He muttered to himself, his voice hoarse like sandpaper.

All the members of the Cabinet Committee went to the dock. All the property that he had worked so hard to transfer, all his hopes for the future, were about to be confiscated!

But Xiong Lizhi was still standing here watching them, so Liu Hongyang couldn't run away.

"No... I have to think of a way..." He bit his nails nervously until he tasted blood and woke up.

Even if you lose your money, you can’t lose your life with it!

If his intention to escape with the money was discovered, he would be forced to go down to the countryside at the very least, or dragged out for criticism at the worst.

Only then will it be truly over!

If he could think of a way to escape now, with his current connections, he wouldn't have to worry about not being able to get up.

But his mind was blank, just like the empty house, nothing was left.

Xiong Lizhi and Shen Zhaoyue stood at the door, waiting for the results of the search.

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Chen finally ran back, breathless. His uniform was soaked and stuck to his back. "Report to the Deputy Director! There is indeed a box on the ship, but..."

"But, they're all empty!" He panted and wiped the sweat off his face. "We suspect that Liu Hongyang may have taken the valuables away!"

"What?!" Before Xiong Lizhi could react, Liu Hongyang suddenly jumped up from the ground. The movement was so large that it affected his stiff neck.

It should have been very painful, but when he heard the news, the shock was greater than the pain.

Liu Hongyang stared at Xiao Chen blankly, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Liu Hongyang's roar echoed in the empty villa, and there was even a hint of madness in his voice.

Just yesterday, he clearly saw with his own eyes that those camphorwood boxes were filled with gold bars, antiques, calligraphy and paintings. How could they be empty overnight?

It must be these people who are after his money and are doing this!

Yes, that must be it!

“…” Xiong Lizhi narrowed his eyes and looked at the man who suddenly lost his composure.

As the deputy director of the Cabinet Committee, he had seen many capitalists crying bitterly after being exposed, but it was rare to see someone with such disbelief on his face as Liu Hongyang.

Suddenly, Liu Hongyang stumbled over to Xiao Chen, his bloodshot eyes almost bulging out. "Did you make a mistake? I clearly checked yesterday..."

Realizing what he had said, Liu Hongyang opened his mouth and his throat rolled up and down several times, and he couldn't say a word.

"Oh?" Xiong Lizhi narrowed his eyes meaningfully, uttered a long "oh," and a sneer curled up at the corner of his mouth: "So Comrade Liu personally inspected it yesterday?"

As he spoke, he slowly took out the three boat tickets from his pocket and waved them in front of Liu Hongyang: "It seems that these tickets are indeed not for going on business."

Liu Hongyang's face turned pale, his legs softened and he knelt heavily on the ground, his knees hitting the floor with a dull "bang".

"No...no...I don't know, I really don't know..." He repeated mechanically, his cracked lips trembling, and his voice was hoarse like sandpaper rubbing against each other.

If you are caught smuggling property, you will be criticized at the very least, and shot at the worst.

He can't die, and he doesn't want to die!

Cold sweat rolled down his temples, leaving streaks on his pale face.

Xiong Lizhi looked down at him condescendingly, the sneer on his lips becoming more and more sarcastic.

Although Liu Hongyang's performance looked quite realistic, how could he possibly fool an old revolutionary like him?

No way!

"I don't know?" Xiong Lizhi kicked Liu Hongyang's calf with the tip of his leather shoe. "Then how do you explain those empty boxes? Huh?"

“…” Liu Hongyang trembled all over, his bloodshot eyes wide open.

He shook his head mechanically, his head buzzing.

Empty box...

He lost so much money and so many years of hard work, just like that?

He just felt dizzy and his whole world was collapsing.

"Boss Liu, the organization is giving you one last chance. Where is the money hidden? If you tell the truth, the organization may even give you a lighter sentence."

Cao Jing trembled all over and finally woke up from her trance.

She looked at her husband's pale face and the cold eyes of the cabinet members, and suddenly realized that this was not an ordinary interrogation, they might be dragged out for criticism at any time!

"Hongyang!" She rushed forward and hugged her husband's arm tightly, her nails almost digging into his flesh.

"Hongyang, just tell me, if the money is gone, we can still find another way, but if it's people..." He swallowed the words back.

In her opinion, Liu Hongyang had been to the dock yesterday, and now she couldn't find the money, so she just thought that he had moved it away again. She didn't think much about it for a while. The most important thing now was to save her life!

What is Liu Hongyang still thinking about?

This is already a done deal, what's the point in being stubborn about it?

Do I really have to watch my entire family being dragged out for criticism?

"Think about Qingqing and me..." She suddenly sobbed and buried her face in her husband's stiff arms.

"I, I don't know..." Liu Hongyang looked at him blankly, his eyes distracted: "I really don't know..."

This statement is true, but to others it sounds like a last-ditch resistance.

Xiong Lizhi turned around and waved to the two men in red armbands. His voice was as cold as ice: "It seems that Boss Liu won't cry until he sees the coffin. Take them back and treat them well!"

"yes!"

Two burly men with red armbands immediately stepped forward and lifted up the limp Liu Hongyang like a chicken.

"No!" Cao Jing screamed and rushed forward, but was grabbed by another Red Guard, "Don't touch me!"

"I was wronged, those things were really stolen..." Liu Hongyang struggled and shouted, his crooked neck made his expression even more ferocious.

Cao Jing, who was captured, suddenly noticed Chen Zhaoyue who was always standing next to Xiong Lizhi.

Her bloodshot eyes stared at Chen Zhaoyue, and she screamed with a desire to survive: "It's her, it's this bitch who wronged us!"

Seeing the red armbands for arresting people coming towards her, Liu Qingqing, who had been trembling with fear and trying to reduce her presence, finally couldn't help but break down.

She burst into tears: "I'm still a child, I, I don't know anything..."

Her swollen face was covered in tears and looked horrible, but Liu Qingqing didn't care about that. She kept begging for mercy: "Don't arrest me... Please... Uncle, I'm innocent... Those money were transferred by my parents, it has nothing to do with me..."

"Uncle Wuwuwu, don't catch me..."

Xiong Lizhi frowned in disgust: "Take them away, leave no one behind!"

"Don't catch me... I'm innocent!" Liu Qingqing's cries echoed in the empty living room.

She struggled desperately, but could only leave a series of messy drag marks on the ground.

Xiong Lizhi straightened his collar, as he was already accustomed to such scenes.

"Interrogate them thoroughly and make sure to find out the whereabouts of the stolen money!" he said to his men.

Chen Zhaoyue stood quietly beside Xiong Lizhi, her slender figure looking particularly thin in the sunlight.

People with red armbands came and went around her, but no one came forward to embarrass her, as if she was just an insignificant bystander in the storm.

As the cries of the three Liu family members being taken away gradually faded away, the huge Chen mansion finally returned to peace.

"Ms. Shen." Xiong Lizhi turned around and said in a rare gentle tone: "Thank you for your report."

As he spoke, he straightened his somewhat crooked collar and lowered his voice: "Don't worry, your report is meritorious, and your family will not be implicated."

This is a credit to Shen Zhaoyue for her report, and the organization will give her a break.