The legal tender is still strong. Two thousand yuan was worth two thousand silver dollars a year ago, before the currency reform was implemented. Now, even on the black market, it can be exchanged for about 1,200 silver dollars, which is about the entire savings of a middle-class family. So why didn't the homeowner report the theft of so much money?

This is definitely not normal. Ning Zhiheng asked, "Didn't you go and check? Who is the homeowner?"

"That's the problem! I checked, but the house is empty! What's even stranger is that this person checked out and left the day after the loss. Nobody knows where he went? This makes me even more confused. He lost so much stuff, and instead of reporting it to the police, he left in such a hurry as if he had committed a thief. He must have a guilty conscience!"

I checked, and this house is rented. It has been rented for six months, which means that this person is not registered in our police station. They are only registered during population checks.

The tenant's name is Dong Chengjie. The records say he is a teacher at a school in the south of the city. I went to the school to verify, but they said there was no such person there.

Then they contacted the landlord of the rental property, who also said that the tenant was a teacher at the school and he didn't know anything else! He also said he wouldn't actually go to the school to inquire.

"Commander Ning, this man's money is definitely not clean; there's something fishy going on! The more I think about it, the more suspicious it seems. You said I must report everything to you, no matter how small. That's why I've brought my men to report to you right away."

Ning Zhiheng carefully considered the situation Liu Datong described and his interest was immediately piqued! He felt that this case was indeed very different and the situation was indeed very strange. A person who had two thousand yuan stolen did not choose to report it to the police, but instead chose to flee the next day. Moreover, the information he gave to the landlord was fake from the beginning.

Ning Zhiheng sensed a familiar scent emanating from this. Could this be another Huang Xiansheng, another puppet? His eyes narrowed, a slight smile creeping onto his lips. This was a lead worth pursuing; perhaps he could catch a big fish here!

He turned to look at the rickshaw driver and asked kindly, "What's your name?"

The rickshaw puller replied tremblingly, "Sir, my name is Cheng Guang!"

Ning Zhiheng said, "You did a great job on this. Didn't Manager Liu give you a bonus?"

Cheng Guang quickly replied, "It's been given out. Manager Liu didn't treat me unfairly; he gave me a full twenty yuan!"

After saying that, he looked excited; this was definitely a windfall for him!

"Are there elderly people or children in your family?" Ning Zhiheng then asked.

“The old man passed away early, leaving behind two young children!” Cheng Guang answered cautiously.

Ning Zhiheng smiled, took out another stack of banknotes from his pocket, and casually pulled out ten large denomination bills, placing them on the table.

"It's fate that you came to see me. This money is not a reward! Since your Manager Liu has already given the reward, I won't break his rules, otherwise it will be difficult to reward others in the future!"

This is pocket money from your elder to buy your child candy; don't refuse! In the future, please report any leads you have; I won't treat you unfairly!

If his estimate was correct, a big fish should be caught this time. Ning Zhiheng wanted to give Cheng Guang a bigger reward, but he didn't want to make things difficult for Liu Yong later, so he casually made up an excuse and gave him an extra hundred yuan.

For a moment, Cheng Guang was stunned by the amount of money. He never expected that this big shot, who even the imposing Chief Liu had to bow down to, would be so approachable and gentle. In particular, the hint of respect in his tone made this poor man living at the bottom of society feel his eyes well up with tears. He choked up and couldn't speak for a long time.

Liu Datong grabbed the money and stuffed it into Cheng Guang's arms, laughing as he said, "You're lucky, kid. Commander Ning gave your kid pocket money, and you dare to refuse it? Take it, you go first, we have something to discuss!"

Ning Zhiheng smiled and said, "You won't feel comfortable staying here! Let's go!"

Cheng Guang held the money, bowed deeply to Ning Zhiheng, and then left.