Wang Xiaoling put down her pen and looked at me with a complicated expression. I felt inexplicably flustered, and then a very bad premonition welled up inside me.
I continued, "I've already consulted a friend who knows a lot about commercial law... What he did doesn't actually constitute the crime of illegal business operations. The maximum penalty would be administrative punishment plus administrative detention; it's impossible for him to be held criminally liable... Officer Wang, we really realize our mistake. Can you please stop putting pressure on us? Our hearts can't take it!"
Wang Xiaoling interrupted me and replied, "Whether it constitutes the crime of illegal business operations is another matter... But now someone has reported that during the period when he was illegally operating the inn, he had allowed others to use drugs and engage in prostitution... Could this constitute a criminal offense?"
My head was buzzing, and after a long pause, I managed to say with difficulty, "How could such a thing be?... You're not kidding me, are you?!"
Wang Xiaoling pointed to the national emblem hanging on the wall and said to me with an extremely serious expression, "Do you think this is a joke?"
I was completely stunned and didn't know what to say.
Wang Xiaoling sighed and said, "The higher-ups have already come up with a solution for this incident. Those who have made significant contributions will be exempt from administrative detention. They will only need to hand over all their illegal gains from this period and will be exempt from fines... So, this afternoon, other inn owners reported that your friend's inn had been used for drug use and prostitution... Your friend has now been transferred to the higher-level public security bureau, and they will continue to follow up on the investigation."
In that instant, I felt completely exhausted and felt sorry for Tie Nan... Putting aside the right and wrong of this matter, these were the innkeepers he had trusted before, and the so-called defenses they had built were simply too fragile in the face of human nature... And I was the person he trusted the least.
Tie Nan is too foolish, too unable to distinguish right from wrong, and doesn't understand human nature... He deserves it!
...
After swallowing hard, I finally asked Wang Xiaoling, "If his act of harboring others to use drugs is verified, what kind of punishment will he face?"
"Article 354 of the Criminal Law (Crime of Harboring Others to Use Drugs): Whoever harbors others to smoke or inject drugs shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall also be fined."
I leaned against the wall without saying a word...
Outside the window, the night grew ever deeper...
I gradually forgot that today should have been the joyous first day of the Lunar New Year!
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