Chapter 28 Chapter 28 Arrest

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Recently, a marathon was held in the city, and each town-level unit needed to send some people to help maintain order.

The Xiahe Town Police Station is no exception.

According to the anonymous letter, the smugglers were planning to take action this Sunday, which coincided with the marathon tip-off, leaving the station severely short-staffed.

Police station, meeting room.

After investigation, the institute has confirmed the authenticity of the anonymous letter's contents.

Chen Shengnan stood at the front of the stage to give a report. Through interviews with the public and a thorough search, she identified two suspects: one was a middleman known in the underworld as "Brother Kun," and the other was Chen Xingyu, a notorious hoodlum in the town.

Chen Xingyu is a suspect in the recent theft of bicycle bell covers in the town. Chen Shengnan had been keeping an eye on him for several days, and yesterday she finally caught him red-handed and arrested him on the spot. He is currently being held in the detention center.

According to his confession, he was the one who stole the bicycle bell cover; there was no one else who did it. Chen Xingyu clearly knew the law.

According to relevant legal provisions, theft involving small amounts that does not meet the standards for criminal offenses is usually subject to administrative penalties, such as warnings, fines, or administrative detention. In cases of particularly minor offenses, only criticism and education may be given without any punishment.

When questioned by the police, he pleaded guilty and voluntarily returned the stolen money. He clearly knew that the amount he stole was not large, and that as long as he pleaded guilty and returned the stolen money, he could be treated leniently.

If no new evidence is found to prove that he has committed other crimes, the detention center can only detain him for a maximum of 24 hours.

“This person…” Chen Shengnan circled the two words “Brother Kun” on the blackboard with her pen and said, “He is known as Brother Kun in the underworld. He is a well-known smuggler in Fujian Province. He was arrested and imprisoned for ten years for stealing precious cultural relics for export. He was released last year and came to our town last month.”

He usually lives a secluded life, but people often come to visit him.

Neighbors have complained that people frequently come and go late at night or early in the morning, carrying large bags in and coming out empty-handed.

Chen Shengnan also discovered that one of the people who visited him was from Xiahe Village, whom she had seen at the threshing ground when the human traffickers were arrested.

Director Li looked at the names circled on the blackboard, her pen pausing on her notebook. She had heard of this person before; he had smuggled a large amount of jewelry, jade, and gold and silver artifacts, many of which were national first- or second-class cultural relics.

He had been active in the north, and now he has suddenly appeared in Xiahe Town. He must have something to do with it. Moreover, he has no roots here and is unfamiliar with the place, so he must have someone to contact him.

"Shengnan, keep a close eye on him these next couple of days," Director Li said after a moment's thought.

"Due to staff shortages, we need more accurate information to precisely arrange personnel positions for Sunday's layout."

"Old He, take two people to Ludong Mountain. Xiao Lin, you go..." After assigning all the tasks, Director Li stood up, raised her hand in salute, and her eyes swept over each colleague on the table with unwavering determination and enthusiasm.

"Colleagues, this time we're in the shadows while they're in the open, giving us a huge advantage. We're determined to take them down in one fell swoop! Let them see how powerful our institute is!"

"Let them understand that national interests are inviolable, and any attempt to harm national interests will be punished by law."

"We are determined to complete this mission!"

Everyone present immediately stood up, raised their hands to return the salute, and responded loudly in unison.

After receiving their tasks, everyone dispersed.

Chen Shengnan thought about the person she had met in Xiahe Village among those who visited Brother Kun, and she pushed her old bicycle out of the police station.

Early Sunday morning, after She Hongmei left, She Ning told her family that she was going out as well.

There is a stop along the railway line to Ludong Mountain. If people want to transport things up there, there is no other option besides stopping at this station.

She Ning had already inquired about the train schedules at this station; one train departs at 8 PM.

Before heading to Deer Cave Mountain, she went to town wearing a magic cloak to solidify the illusion and extend it for another twenty-four hours.

Inside the house, Brother Kun was completely unaware that the contents of the wooden crate had been switched, and was arranging for people to move the items.

"Hurry up, get on the bus at 8 p.m. sharp." Brother Kun counted the number of wooden crates and told people to tie them up tightly.

The wooden crate was a bit heavy, and the person carrying it made a careless mistake, loosening their grip slightly, causing the crate to tilt instantly. Kun, who had been keeping a close eye on the situation, immediately went to stabilize it.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Brother Kun." The man's face turned pale, and his hands and feet trembled slightly.

"Be careful! Move out." Kun gave him a cold look and said in a low voice.

"Yes, yes, yes," the man replied repeatedly, bowing his head, and quickly carried the wooden box out.

Kun watched his retreating figure with a venomous look in his eyes. After a moment, he turned to the others and warned, "Pay attention, everyone."

Everyone immediately lowered their heads, and their movements as they carried things became much more cautious.

Seeing everyone evacuating in an orderly manner, Brother Kun instructed his men to continue supervising the work before turning back to his room.

She Ning followed them invisibly.

There was a tunnel dug in the room at some point. She Ning saw him lift the bed board, move a floor tile, and then carry a lamp down into the tunnel.

The tunnel was quite long, and She Ning followed him, turning left and right, for about an hour before he finally stopped.

Feeling along the wall, a door opened on the smooth surface, and She Ning followed him out.

Suddenly emerging from the darkness, a bright light exploded before her eyes, causing She Ning to be momentarily blinded. When she could see again, she realized that she was now halfway up the back of Ludong Mountain.

Just a few dozen meters uphill is Guan Lihua's chicken farm, and not far downhill is the fence she uses to isolate her chickens from going out. At the foot of the mountain is the railway.

There are many green plants at the entrance of the cave, and there is also a large stone at the entrance. It would be difficult for people who do not know this location to find that there is an entrance here.

No wonder She Yaozu would appear near the farm, and no wonder the fence was always damaged but nothing from the farm was lost.

What they sought was not the small amount of wealth from the chicken farm; they were after much more.

She Ning also knew why they were so emboldened to smuggle goods in Xiahe Town. With this passage, it would only take a maximum of an hour and a half to travel directly from the town to the railway, without anyone noticing.

In the original book, this tunnel was not discovered until 1985, when a large number of my country's precious cultural relics were smuggled to the port city and lost abroad.

Lin Yejun and Kun Ge had already made a fortune, immigrated abroad, and were enjoying a life of luxury.

She Ning discovered their smuggling operation entirely by accident. The police station had made prior arrangements, so their plan was essentially ruined.

After leaving the cave, Kun walked down the mountain and entered a relatively secluded house.

Lin Yejun had been waiting inside for a long time. Kun Ge sat down and took a sip of water before the two began to talk.

She Ning floated nearby, listening to them discuss how to arrange for the artifacts to be loaded onto the train, and which carriage they would be responsible for meeting. What was the token?

They were very cautious; the location of the carriages and the tokens were all determined on the day of the move.

Unfortunately, She Ning has a cheat code.

After writing down all the information, She Ning followed Brother Kun out of the house and returned to their house in town by the same route.

After confirming that he hadn't discovered the problem and continued according to their original plan, She Ning used the levitation function of her magic cloak to speed to the police station.

Not having time to cut out anonymous letters from newspapers, She Ning wrote down all the information she knew directly with her left hand.

Upon arriving at the police station, She Ning saw Chief Li heading back to her office from outside. She quickly slipped in through the half-open window and placed the anonymous letter in the most conspicuous spot on her desk, hoping that Chief Li would see it as soon as she entered the office.

After placing the envelope, She Ning floated in mid-air, hiding behind the window to observe the room.

After Director Li finished speaking with the people outside, she pushed open the door to her office. Just as she was about to sit down, her eyes were drawn to the beige color that didn't belong on the desk.

The envelope, the same color as the previous anonymous letter, caught her attention. After picking it up, opening it, and reading its contents, she immediately called a meeting with all the staff in the institute to plan the work.

Seeing how much she valued it, She Ning felt relieved and left.

Individual heroism is unacceptable; professional matters should be left to professionals. She Ning has successfully retired and should wait for official announcements.

She Ning was not disappointed; the police station acted swiftly, arresting all the people that very night.

The next day, the town's news was dominated by this major smuggling case; everywhere you went, people were talking about it.

She Ning secretly went to the police station and managed to get all the cultural relics back before the cultural relics bureau arrived.

When she returned to the village, she saw She Yaozu being taken away by the police station. Lin Xiufen cried out that she was innocent and grabbed the police to prevent them from taking him away.

In the end, it was She Lao Er who slapped her and pulled her away with a dark face.

The villagers pointed and whispered among themselves at She Yaozu.

Everyone knew he spent his days loafing around and engaging in petty theft, but no one expected him to be so bold as to smuggle cultural relics.

I heard that his uncle was the mastermind, no wonder he has money to buy him all kinds of trendy clothes.

The villagers looked at She Lao Er's family with strange eyes.

She Lao Er was arrogant and always looked down on the other villagers. Now, being looked at like this by them, he felt ashamed and angry. Ignoring Lin Xiufen's struggles, he dragged her home.

She Ning looked at the crowd ahead. She Yaozu's legs were weak, his face was ashen, and he needed to be supported to stand. A mocking look appeared in his eyes.

Compared to the life she lost in the original book, going to jail was a bargain for him.

"If only it were 1983 now," She Ning thought with a touch of regret.

Without looking at what was to come, She Ning turned and left the crowd, heading home.

At home, She Hongmei had not yet returned, and She Ni was talking to Grandma She in the west room.

Every now and then, a clear laugh came from the room. She Ning stood under the peach tree, and the wind blew, scattering pink petals onto her head and shoulders.