It was already 7:30 p.m. Through the window, I saw several official vehicles driving out of the police station. Wang Xiaoling, who hadn't spoken until now, received a phone call the next moment.
After she finished speaking, she said to me, "There's a fight going on in the old town, I need to go and deal with it... You should go back first, fines are handled by the industry and commerce department, you can go there to deal with it tomorrow."
I instinctively picked up the ledger.
Wang Xiaoling pressed my hand down and said, "Leave the ledger; it's important evidence. I need to hand it over to my superiors... Also, people who have connections with your friend may be asked to assist in the investigation soon. I hope you can cooperate then."
I looked at Wang Xiaoling and replied, "Without the ledger, I can't just go to the industry and commerce department to pay money based on my words, can I?"
"Come to the police station tomorrow, and I'll give you a photocopy."
"Let's make the copies now. I remember the Industry and Commerce Bureau is in Xiaguan. If we go all the way to the ancient city to get the copies, I'm afraid half a day won't be enough time."
"Okay, I'll ask a colleague to make a copy for you."
I thought for a moment, then added, "After making the copies, could you put the official seal of your police station on the copies? I'm worried the business registration office won't accept them."
“We can’t stamp the ledgers until their authenticity is verified…and the Industry and Commerce Bureau also needs to verify them, so whether we can process it immediately depends on their attitude. But I will convey our police station’s opinion to them before then…” After a slight pause, Wang Xiaoling continued, “Let me put it this way, the main reason we’re sending you to the Industry and Commerce Bureau is to show them your positive attitude and actions so they can make a more informed decision later. It’s not that we can actually give you any immediate results.”
"How can it be so complicated?"
“It wasn’t this complicated before, but the nature of the case has changed, so we have to handle it according to the standards for criminal cases… If your friend is found guilty of a criminal offense, the final outcome will be decided by the court, so even if you are able to pay the money for your friend now, you may not be able to do so.”
"What if he's been framed?"
Wang Xiaoling glanced at me but didn't answer, and then left the office.
...
The first thing I did after leaving the police station was to look through the photocopied ledger again. If Tie Nan really intentionally allowed others to use drugs, it should have been reflected in the ledger. He should have charged much higher room rates than usual. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense logically, because during the Spring Festival, the inn's rooms were in high demand. If he charged the same fee, why would he take such a big risk to harbor these drug users and prostitutes?
Moreover, his act of hiding the account book proves that the law has a deterrent effect on him; even if he were stupid, he wouldn't do such a losing business.
From another perspective, if there were indeed drug users among these tenants, they would have no reason to tell Tie Nan that they were using drugs or soliciting prostitutes, since these are things that are done behind closed doors.
I feel there are too many suspicious points here, and the ledger can provide answers to some extent, which is why Wang Xiaoling attaches so much importance to the ledger.
I looked at the accounts several times over, but I couldn't find anything particularly unusual, which further proved that my judgment was correct... Even if someone was doing illegal activities in Tie Nan's inn, he should have been passively or unknowingly involved.
Or, the dirty deeds were not recorded in the ledger.
As I lit a cigarette, another possibility came to mind... It's not impossible that Tie Nan knew too many shady characters in Dali, and that there might be some kind of vested interests involved behind the scenes.
This is the worst-case scenario because it is a deliberate act committed with the aim of profiting, which is of an especially egregious nature.
...
After speculating for a long time, I called Taozi again to ask about the second-hand house that Tienan had previously been interested in. Although Taozi didn't know why I suddenly asked about it, she still gave me the address of the house.
I immediately rode my motorcycle to the residential complex where the house was located. When I saw the facilities of the complex, I had a very bad feeling because it was a very high-end complex in Dali.
I asked the security guard, and the type of apartment with a yard that Tie Nan was interested in averaged 20,000 yuan per square meter. A 70-square-meter apartment would cost 1.4 million yuan. Even if he only paid the down payment, he would need to prepare about 400,000 yuan in cash; however, Tie Nan's profit on paper was less than 190,000 yuan.
Where will he get another 200,000 yuan in cash?
It seems that the report was not entirely unfounded.
...
Before I knew it, night had completely fallen over the city, and the sound of firecrackers echoed outside the ancient city. I seemed to see countless smiling faces blooming with joy because of family reunions amidst these firecracker sounds...
I felt extremely exhausted as a result, not only because of Tie Nan, but also because of my own situation... All day long, I had been running around, and not to mention I was tired, my guesthouse also had a lot of things to deal with; just ten minutes ago, I received a call from the cleaning lady saying that a guest wanted to check out because there was no hot water in the room.
I couldn't rush back to handle it at that time, so I could only ask the cleaning lady to process the guest's check-out for me. The guest had originally booked a room for three days, and if no other guests checked in afterward, it would be a loss of nearly five thousand yuan.
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