Chapter 100 is in the newspaper! Mingxi isn't at the police station...
Mingxi didn't stay at the police station long. After giving her statement, she went home first. However, she later heard about the follow-up from Bai Ling and Officer Li.
Li Xiangdong couldn't hold back any longer and was the first to confess to the police. With Li Xiangdong's confession, there was no point in the others holding out any longer, and they all honestly confessed.
The one who kept her mouth shut the tightest was Sister Hua, the leader. Apart from cursing a few times when she heard that Li Xiangdong had sold her out, she refused to confess anything no matter how the police officers questioned her.
Sister Hua held on for a day and a night until she heard the police officer say that as the main culprit, if she refused to confess, she would be severely punished and might even be sentenced to death. Only then did she break down and ask the police officer if what he said was true.
Police Officer Li explained to Mingxi that what they told Sister Hua was not a lie. This case involved a large amount of money and many people. Under normal circumstances, as the main culprit, she would at least serve twenty years in prison.
Moreover, with the current crackdown, a death sentence is truly not out of the question.
Mingxi was also aware of the crackdown, and she guessed that Sister Hua, knowing she was going to be sentenced to death, would definitely not be able to hold out and would have to confess.
Sure enough, no matter how tough Sister Hua was, she was afraid of dying. When she heard the police say that, she panicked and her spirits dropped. She said, "I'll confess, I'll confess everything. Ask me anything."
It's funny when you think about it.
Sister Hua, the mastermind behind the fraud ring, entered this line of work because of a fraud she herself had experienced.
Sister Hua's real name is Zhang Dahua. She is from the south and was born in a small city in Zhejiang Province. Her family was of average means, and her parents favored sons over daughters, so they didn't care much about her. However, she was beautiful, and when she was young, she used her looks to find a man with good prospects, and Sister Hua married him.
Although Sister Hua's husband's family was well-off, her in-laws did not separate their household, and her husband still had to hand over his salary. Sister Hua spent money extravagantly and soon found that she did not have enough money.
At this time, she unexpectedly met a man who said that his family members were all high-ranking officials. His father was a brigade commander in the army, and his mother was the director of a factory in Beicheng. He said his family was very wealthy.
This sounded outrageous, but Sister Hua had no doubts and immediately believed it.
Because the other person had a strong northern accent.
The accent in Beicheng is similar to that in Mandarin, except that people in Beicheng like to add an "er" sound when they speak, and they also tend to swallow words when they speak fast.
People from Hua Jie's hometown all speak their own dialect; few speak fluent Mandarin, let alone those with a northern accent.
Therefore, the other party must be from Beicheng.
A person from the north of the city who can afford to travel to that godforsaken place must come from a well-off family.
Then look at the other person's clothes and supplies, the military boots on their feet, the military water bottle they use for drinking water, these are all things used in the army, you can't buy them without connections.
And so, Sister Hua believed what the other party said and offered to be the man's free tour guide. The other party did not take advantage of Sister Hua, but gave her two hundred yuan, saying it was for the fee of hiring her as a tour guide.
Sister Hua already believed what the other party said, and now seeing how generous he was, she was even more convinced that he really was true, as he claimed, that his family members were all high-ranking officials.
The other person had been hanging out with Sister Hua for about ten days and said that he and Sister Hua got along well and he was willing to tell her about a national economic project that was still a secret. It was called the Huimin National Bond, which was specially created by the government to subsidize people's lives. If you invested 100 yuan, you could receive a dividend of 10 yuan the next day, 20 yuan the third day, 30 yuan the third day, and so on. The project had not been launched yet, but as an insider, he could help you buy it. If Sister Hua was interested, she could give it a try.
Sister Hua trusted the other party and immediately handed over the two hundred yuan reward that the other party had given her, saying that she wanted to invest in a share.
As a result, she received her share of the profits the next day, then forty yuan on the third day, and sixty yuan on the fourth day. In just three days, she received one hundred and twenty yuan.
Sister Hua's heart was burning with excitement, and she even began to regret not investing more money in the first place.
The other party saw through Sister Hua's thoughts and, when delivering her dividends on the fourth day, offered to let her invest more money if she wanted to.
Sister Hua was immediately tempted and secretly gave the other party all the money her mother-in-law had hidden at home. The reason she did it secretly was because she wanted to put the dividends from this money into her own secret stash.
She thought she wouldn't be greedy; she'd just earn a two-day dividend and then return the principal on the third day. After all, her mother-in-law was visiting relatives and wasn't home.
But to her utter surprise, the day after she gave the money to the other party, the other party disappeared.
There was no one at the guesthouse. She asked the receptionist and learned that the person had checked out and left the night before.
Even the naive Hua Jie now realized that she had encountered a swindler.
Her world collapsed. She had given all her savings to the swindler, and now she had no money left. If her husband and in-laws found out about this, they would definitely not let her off the hook, and her husband might even divorce her.
Sister Hua didn't dare go home, so she sat outside all afternoon. In a moment of impulsiveness, she ran to the train station, bought a train ticket, and ran away while the situation was still going strong.
She had no particular purpose. She moved to a new city, but because she had no letter of introduction or proper documentation, she couldn't do any legitimate work. She also had no money. After thinking it over, she finally decided to follow the same trick the man had used to deceive her and started committing fraud herself.
"The dragon slayer becomes the dragon himself."
Mingxi sighed, but she didn't feel sorry for Sister Hua at all. Who told her to be so greedy?
The scammer's tricks weren't sophisticated; they preyed on people looking for a bargain. Any normal person would suspect something was wrong upon hearing about a profit margin as high as 10%, but Sister Hua didn't even think about it or tell her family before stealing money and investing it. It's no wonder she was scammed.
According to Officer Li, Sister Hua was lucky and did succeed once at first, swindling several hundred yuan. However, she was a novice and not as well-prepared as the person who tricked her, so she was exposed the second time and almost ended up in the police station.
Sister Hua was also a woman who could bend and stretch. She immediately knelt down and admitted her mistake. In order to avoid being sent to the police station, she even tried to seduce the other party.
The person on the other end wasn't a good person either. He ended up hanging out with Sister Hua and later even joined her in committing fraud, becoming a member of a criminal gang.
Mingxi: "Huh???"
No, is that right?
Police Officer Li: "Yes, the man I'm talking about is the one they call 'Big Brother' in the gang."
Mingxi swallowed hard in shock, unsure of what to say.
To be fair, Sister Hua is quite professional. Even though she was doing something criminal, she still reflected on her actions. After careful consideration, she understood.
She didn't have a Beicheng accent and couldn't get her hands on military supplies. Her claim of being a second-generation official from Beicheng wasn't very credible, so naturally, no one would believe her.
She decisively changed her approach, abandoning the old tricks about children of officials. She happened to see a news article about capitalists who had fled overseas having their assets frozen by banks. She quickly came up with a new scheme involving fees for unfreezing assets.
She also used her advantages to target single men in their thirties who were not married, and seduced them.
After deceiving too many men, she set her sights on women, spending a lot of money to recruit good-looking men to join her in the scam.
She built her criminal gang up on its heels step by step.
Mingxi: ...
You know what, Sister Hua is really quite ambitious.
However, he didn't use his ambition in the right way.
After sharing Sister Hua's story, Officer Li said, "By the way, I have something important to tell you today."
Just as Mingxi was about to ask what it was about, he saw Officer Li turn around and take out a banner, saying, "Comrade Ming, thanks to you this time, our arrest mission was able to proceed so smoothly. To thank you for your contributions in this mission, the Municipal Bureau has asked me to represent the Municipal Bureau to present you with this banner and a bonus."
Mingxi was stunned. Looking at the bright red banner in front of her, she didn't know where to put her hands.
She never expected that the Municipal Bureau would send someone to deliver a banner to her.
She thought it would be nothing more than a thank-you letter, but she never expected to receive a banner and a bonus.
It took her a while to react before she quickly reached out to take the banner. Holding the banner and the envelope containing the prize money, a dazed smile appeared on her face.
After Li Gong's two men left, Mingxi turned around with the banner in her hand and saw a row of colleagues peeking over from the office door.
When Mingxi turned around, no one felt guilty about being caught eavesdropping; instead, they were filled with excitement.
Sister Wang: "Xiaoming, you're something else! The Municipal Public Security Bureau came to present you with a banner. This is the first time our Women's Federation has ever done this before. You have to tell us what happened!"
Yu Xiaomin: "Yes, Xiaoming, you have to tell me, what have you been doing?"
The office staff surrounded Mingxi, asking her questions with curiosity. Catching a swindler wasn't something that needed to be hidden anymore, so Mingxi didn't hold back and immediately told everyone the whole story.
After listening, Sister Wang patted Mingxi on the shoulder and kept exclaiming, "Xiaoming, you're amazing! You're really great, no wonder you're a good comrade of our Women's Federation!"
Sister Wang looked at Mingxi with admiration. She was bold and meticulous, able to keenly detect that something was wrong with Li Xiangdong, report it to the police, and cooperate with the police's plan to outmaneuver Li Xiangdong without missing a single detail.
Mingxi is truly an extraordinary young comrade!
When Director Shen learned that the people from the Municipal Public Security Bureau had come to present Mingxi with a banner, he was very honored and praised Mingxi to his heart's content in his office.
During lunch, Yu Xiaomin said with deep emotion, "I reckon you'll definitely be nominated for the year-end awards!"
She had previously thought she could compete for a spot in the year-end awards, but now it seems she can't compare to Mingxi.
Mingxi excels at work, and outside of work, she helps the police solve cases and catch bad guys. The Municipal Public Security Bureau even sent her a banner of appreciation.
How can she compare?
Yu Xiaomin chewed her food, glancing at Mingxi with a complicated expression.
It would be impossible for her not to envy Mingxi.
Who doesn't want to make a contribution and be praised?
However, she could only be envious. After all, everyone had seen Mingxi's performance. Whether it was helping the Public Security Bureau this time or making meritorious contributions before, Mingxi had indeed done impeccably.
Upon hearing Yu Xiaomin's words, Sister Wang looked up, worried that Yu Xiaomin would be upset because of this.
Whether or not she gets an award, and who gets it, doesn't really matter to veteran colleagues like her who have worked for many years. After all, they'll be retiring in a few years and don't expect to climb the ranks at this point. But it's definitely different for younger colleagues. Year-end awards are related to promotions and advancements, and if they want to get promoted, they have to work hard for awards.
Sister Wang gets along quite well with Yu Xiaomin and Mingxi, and doesn't want the two younger ones to quarrel over this matter.
Fortunately, Yu Xiaomin quickly adjusted her mindset and grabbed Mingxi's arm, saying, "Xiaoming, when your year-end performance bonus comes in, you have to treat us to a meal!"
Mingxi, as always, humbly waved her hand and said, "No, no, it's hard to say. I might not even be able to get the award."
Yu Xiaomin pretended to be angry: "Hey, you're being modest, huh? Are you just unwilling to pay for our meal?"
Mingxi: "No way! I can't be reluctant to treat anyone else to a meal, but I can't be reluctant to treat the two of you to a meal!"
Yu Xiaomin: "Then it's settled! When the year-end performance bonus comes in, treat us to dinner!"
Having said all that, it wouldn't be right for Mingxi to be modest any longer, so she nodded in agreement: "Okay!"
Sister Wang laughed: "Then we'll be waiting for a big meal!"
Mingxi readily agreed.
If she really gets an award, she wouldn't mind treating everyone to a meal.
After all, the performance evaluation bonus is thirty yuan!
Speaking of the bonus, after lunch, Mingxi quietly went to the restroom and opened the envelope that Officer Li and the banner had handed her. There were too many people in the office, so she couldn't easily look at it, but judging from the thickness of the envelope, she felt the amount of money was considerable.
When Mingxi opened it, her eyes widened in surprise.
The envelope contained twenty ten-yuan bills.
Two hundred yuan!
This is no small amount; it's almost as much as her annual salary.
The Municipal Public Security Bureau is really generous!
What Mingxi didn't know was that this time it wasn't that the Municipal Public Security Bureau was being generous, but rather that the amount of money involved in this fraud case was simply too large; the amount of money they could trace was in the hundreds of thousands.
Mingxi helped them dismantle such a large fraud gang and recover hundreds of thousands of yuan in stolen money, so a reward of two hundred yuan is really not much.
Mingxi counted the money one bill at a time, carefully put it back into the envelope, and then put the envelope back into her pocket.
Within a lunch break, news spread that the Municipal Public Security Bureau had come to present Mingxi with a banner. After work that afternoon, many people from other offices used work as an excuse to come and see Mingxi's banner.
Later, Director Shen spoke up, telling Mingxi to hang the banner on the wall and show it to people in other offices.
Although she was a little disappointed that she couldn't take the banner home to show Zhao Sulan, Mingxi was still very excited when she got off work that evening. She walked home with light steps, and the first thing she did when she got home was to show it off to Zhao Sulan.
"Mom, guess what good news I have to announce today?"
She smiled, her eyes bright, and held up an envelope to show off to Zhao Sulan.
Zhao Sulan glanced at it: "Did the Municipal Public Security Bureau send you a reward?"
"Hehe, Mom, you guessed right! No wonder you've been a sparrow for so many years!"
Zhao Sulan raised her hand and lightly tapped Mingxi: "How can you talk to your mother like that?"
Mingxi grinned and dodged away, continuing to show off: "Mom, guess how much money is in here?"
Zhao Sulan: "How much? I can't guess, maybe fifty?"
Mingxi shook her head: "Hmm, no, Mom, guess higher."
"Guess a little higher? How about a hundred?" Zhao Sulan replied.
Mingxi waved her hand again: "No, no, it's still too little."
"Still not enough?" Zhao Sulan looked surprised. "Could it be that there's a bonus of two hundred yuan?"
Mingxi: "Yes, it's two hundred yuan!"
Zhao Sulan was truly shocked; she never expected the prize money to be so much.
After the initial shock, Zhao Sulan said, "Then you'd better keep your money safe and don't go out showing off, or you might lose it."
Mingxi waved her hand: "Hey, Mom, don't worry, I definitely won't go out and show off."
This time, Mingxi really didn't go out and show off, and she didn't even tell anyone that she helped the police catch a fraudster.
It's not that she doesn't want to, it's just that she's too busy.
There are too many people getting married in September. Ge Heping and Qin Qiaorou, Lin Hai and Meng Dongchun, Guan Lixin and He Li, and several couples that Mingxi introduced to each other in the first half of the year all rushed to get married in September. Mingxi was attending one wedding banquet after another.
It's like rushing from one event to another.
Until the end of September, the last event was the wedding of Guan Lixin and He Li.
Mingxi was not only the matchmaker for Guan Lixin and He Li, but also Guan Lixin's childhood friend. On the wedding day, Mingxi went out early in the morning to help out at the Guan family.
Guan Lixin was quite smug. For this wedding, he somehow managed to get three cars, which he drove to the village to pick up the bride. The villagers had never seen anything like it. Usually, when it came to weddings in the village, the groom would ride a bicycle to pick up the bride, which was already considered good, let alone cars.
Everyone in the village who didn't get along with the He family was green with envy.
The car stopped outside He Li's house, and Mingxi got out with Guan Lixin to pick up the bride.
At this time, the custom of blocking the door and teasing the bridesmaids was not very common. Hearing that Guan Lixin had arrived at the door, He Li quickly came out of the house.
For her wedding today, He Li dressed differently from her usual simple attire, and instead wore a festive makeup look. She wore a deep-necked, straight-shouldered, fitted red suit jacket and a matching red, slightly tight-fitting A-line long skirt.
Her makeup and clothes made He Li look beautiful and graceful. Guan Lixin was stunned at first glance. He stared blankly like a silly goose and didn't say a word for a long time.
The originally lively wedding procession was interrupted when Guan Lixin suddenly froze, causing everyone to look at him and then at He Li, wondering what was going on. Wasn't the groom supposed to be there to fetch the bride? Why did he stop moving after seeing her?
Could it be that he's not satisfied with the bride?
Just as everyone was lost in thought, Mingxi came to the rescue, slapping Guan Lixin on the back of the head: "No matter how beautiful the bride is, don't be distracted! Don't delay the auspicious time. Once she's in the house, you'll have plenty of time to admire her!"
Mingxi's words caused a burst of laughter from the audience.
Amid laughter, Guan Lixin walked over to He Li, scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and said awkwardly, "You, you look so beautiful today."
He Li couldn't help but smile, her lips curving into a smile: "Am I not beautiful normally?"
Guan Lixin: "No, you're beautiful all the time, I mean you're especially beautiful today, no, you're always very beautiful, but today you're even more, even more..."
He stammered, and the more he explained, the more confused he became.
Perhaps he was too happy, because at this moment he felt his mind was a complete mess, and he was not at all as eloquent, clever and capable as usual.
He Li laughed and said, "Fool."
She was more generous than Guan Lixin, directly putting her hand into Guan Lixin's hand: "Let's go, don't delay the auspicious time."
Guan Lixin led He Li out the door, the best man greeted them, and He Li's father set off firecrackers. Amidst the crackling of firecrackers, He Li and Guan Lixin got into the car together.
The car drove around the city, and the newlyweds got out, took their seats, and exchanged vows. They then went from table to table toasting the guests...
Mingxi ran around doing chores for most of the day before finally taking her seat.
The people sitting at the table were all neighbors who had a good relationship with her in the alley. They were all acquaintances. As soon as they saw Mingxi sit down, someone at the table immediately said, "Our heroine who acted bravely for justice is back!"
Mingxi was completely confused, not understanding what everyone meant.
What kind of female hero is she who acts bravely and righteously?
Aunt He, sitting at the table, glanced at Mingxi and said with a hint of reproach, "Xiaoming, you don't know yet, do you? The news about you helping the police catch a fraudster was in the newspaper. It clearly stated, 'Comrade Mingxi, who works for the Municipal Women's Federation, was the first to discover and report the fraudster's suspicious behavior, and provided great assistance to the police in the subsequent arrest operation.' Xiaoming, Xiaoming, how can you be so low-key? You did something so remarkable, and you didn't tell anyone. If we hadn't seen it in the newspaper today, we wouldn't have known!"
Mingxi never expected that helping the Public Security Bureau would make the newspaper.
But upon closer reflection, it doesn't seem strange at all.
After all, the newspapers were bound to report on the busting of such a large fraud ring. However, I didn't expect the people from the Municipal Public Security Bureau to be so honest and even include her name in the newspaper.
Aunt He: "Hey, Xiaoming, tell everyone how you discovered that the fraudster was acting strangely, and how you helped the police. The newspaper article wasn't clear, and we were all confused."
"Yes, Xiaoming, you tell everyone..."
The people at the table started to cheer, but Mingxi wasn't shy at all. She said frankly, "Okay, then I'll tell everyone. Actually, it was just a coincidence. I overheard that guy saying..."
Mingxi recounted the whole story in detail. Most of those present were middle-aged or elderly people in their fifties or sixties—the kind of people who would be prime targets for scammers in later generations. Thinking of this, she took the opportunity to give everyone an anti-fraud message: "Since everyone's here, let me say a few more words. Now that we're living better lives and have more money, some bad people are eyeing our money. But no matter how malicious they are, or how many tricks and schemes they use, just remember this: there's no such thing as a free lunch. Anyone who keeps talking about high profits and giving you money back to invest is definitely a scammer."
Aunt He chimed in, "Xiao Ming is right! We can't be greedy, or we'll let scammers steal our money!"
No one wanted their hard-earned money to be scammed, so they all nodded and took it to heart.
Taking advantage of the moment when everyone stopped asking questions, Mingxi quickly grabbed a couple of bites of food. She had been running around all morning and hadn't even had a bite to eat yet.
She took a couple of bites of rice when she heard someone at the table.
"Hey, when you're reading the newspaper, have you noticed that one of the men in the photos of the criminals looks remarkably like Dong Chunling's boyfriend?"
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