Chapter 167 Scar Eyes
The man was startled and instinctively took two steps back, his back hitting the wall.
The path is less than 1.5 meters wide and is lined with residential buildings on both sides, so the lighting is relatively poor.
The black shadow that suddenly appeared pushed the man against the wall, restricting his movements.
When the man saw the shadow's face clearly, he was stunned at first, then immediately became furious.
It turned out to be the repairman who watched the videotape but didn’t buy it.
“Fuck…”
Before the man finished cursing, Zhou Yi showed his ID.
The man was stunned for a moment, then immediately changed his tone, "So it's... the police... comrade police, I haven't done anything wrong."
Zhou Yi loosened his hand, took back the ID and said, "Put your hands on your head and squat down."
The man nodded in agreement and did as he was told immediately.
"Which prison are you serving your sentence in?" Zhou Yi saw that the way he squatted with his hands on his head was so standard, and he knew that he had indeed gone there for "further training".
"Report, it's Nanming No. 1 Prison." the man replied.
"What did you do to get in jail?"
"Steal...steal something."
"How many years was he sentenced to?"
The man held up his right hand, which was resting on his head, and raised two fingers. "Two years."
Zhou Yi nodded. Judging from the sentence, it was not very severe.
"How long have you been out?"
"It's been more than a month, police comrade. I have learned my lesson now and really haven't committed any crimes again." The man said, trying to stand up and explain.
Zhou Yi glared and said sternly, "Squat down."
"Okay, okay, I'll squat down."
"Do you know why I'm looking for you?"
The man asked fearfully, "Is it because I sell pirated videos?"
In the past, about 90% of videotapes and the CDs that replaced them were pirated in the country. They were everywhere in the streets and alleys, and even many stores sold pirated CDs.
This is definitely illegal, but because the amount and nature of the offense are so small, the police generally don't intervene. If they do, it's usually the Urban Management Bureau. If the police do intervene, it won't be a small-time street vendor like this; it's definitely a manufacturer or wholesaler, with a large sum of money involved.
Zhou Yi sneered, "Pirated videotapes? Haha, do you think I'm a fool?"
The man immediately shook his head: "Not at all."
"Stand up."
The man stood up in an instant.
"Unbutton your coat!" Zhou Yi said, pointing at the other person's loose coat.
The man hesitated for a moment, but seeing Zhou Yi's sharp eyes, he had no choice but to do as he was told.
When the clothes were unbuttoned, it was revealed that the inside of the man's loose coat had many large pockets sewn by hand, and a videotape was stuffed in each pocket.
Zhou Yi casually pulled out two plates and took a look at them, sneering, "Wow, that's pretty exciting."
The videotape was covered with obscene pornographic pictures and had a very eye-catching title.
The man smiled awkwardly and said, "It's... it's okay."
"You have at least ten plates, which is enough for fifteen days of detention." Zhou Yi said casually.
"Oh, no, comrade police officer, I was confused for a moment, this is my first offense. You see, I just set up my stall and you saw through me with your sharp eyes. I haven't even sold anything yet. This is at most an attempted crime... an attempted crime."
Zhou Yi knew that the other party was definitely not a first-time offender. Just because he noticed something was wrong with him and closed the stall, he must be a veteran and alert.
Of course, Zhou Yi deliberately let him notice it.
"Let me ask you a few questions." Zhou Yi said.
The man was stunned: "Huh? What...what's the problem?"
"How many days have you been setting up the stall here?"
"Today is my first day setting up a stall, really..."
Before he finished speaking, Zhou Yi said sternly: "Be honest, don't think I don't know!"
The man shrank his neck and said, "Four... four days, but this is really the first time I've sold pornographic videos. In the past few days, I only sold serious movies."
It's a joke! But Zhou Yi wasn't interested in this and asked, "Have you seen any suspicious people around here in the past few days?"
The man immediately understood that the policeman in front of him was not coming for him.
Zhou Yi had already figured out from his demeanor and temperament that he was a seasoned thief, the kind used to committing petty crimes, and probably had never committed a major crime.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to set up a stall to sell pornographic videos.
As for the possibility that he was an accomplice of the kidnappers who was being followed, it was also very low. If he was being followed, he could just sell normal videotapes. Hiding pornographic videotapes inside his coat would be completely superfluous and increase the risk, and it would also make it inconvenient for him to act.
But the reason why Zhou Yi looked for him was very simple. Birds of a feather flock together, and sometimes only people of this kind will notice those with the same ill intentions.
"Let me think about it, let me think about it." said the man.
"Comrade Police Officer, if I say something useful, will that count as meritorious service?"
"What? Still want to bargain?" Zhou Yi had seen this kind of people many times when he was a local police officer. He immediately pretended to pull the man away, "Let's go back to the police station and talk slowly."
The man immediately became furious and said, "No, no, we can talk it out. I've seen a motorcycle hanging around here lately, and I knew it was scouting the area because it's always parked in shady, hard-to-see places."
Sure enough, people who have been in prison can easily smell the scent of their own kind.
"Did you see the license plate number of this motorcycle clearly?" Zhou Yi asked.
The man shook his head. "No, but I recognize the model of that car. It's a Xingfu 250, the same car my next-door neighbor owns."
Zhou Yi was a little disappointed. This Xingfu 250 was a very common motorcycle in the 1980s and 1990s. It had no license plate number, only the model. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack to find out.
Unexpectedly, the man said, "But I saw the face of the man driving the motorcycle."
This sentence made Zhou Yi very happy, and he asked the man to speak quickly.
Seeing Zhou Yi's reaction, the man knew he had made the right bet. He said, "I was feeling really choked up, so I found a deserted corner to relieve myself. Then I saw this guy taking off his helmet and smoking. He was probably in his early forties, had a fierce look, a beard, a scar above his right eye, and his right eyelid was drooping."
"I knew right away that this guy wasn't a good person. Just by looking at his face and his eyes, he was definitely the boss in our cell. When he saw me, he put out his cigarette, put on his helmet, and drove away. He hasn't been around that corner since, but I saw him again at the other end last night. I was wearing a scarf at the time, so he probably didn't recognize me."
This clue was indeed an unexpected gain.
Zhou Yi was hating himself now because there was no criminal profiling technology in those days. Otherwise, if he took this guy back to make a criminal profile, he would have gained much more.
However, according to what he said, the motorcyclist has obvious facial features. If they can find someone who meets these features through Liu Jianshe's social connections, the direction of investigation can be further narrowed down.
Given that the vendor had clearly made meritorious contributions, and that selling pornographic discs was a violation of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law, a law that was only officially implemented in 2006 and is still in its incomplete legislative phase, Zhou Yi simply warned the vendor to stop selling pornographic discs and didn't actually send him to the police station, as he didn't have the time to do so.
Seeing that the police didn't arrest him, the hawker thanked them profusely.
"Comrade police officer, my name is Ma Dawei. If you need me in the future, please call me. My home is at No. 17 Xiliu Street." Ma Dawei said enthusiastically. For those of them who are involved in society, if they can get to know a policeman, there will be only benefits and no harm.
Zhou Yi, who had turned around to leave, turned back and saw that he was sincere. Moreover, after being released from prison, he was able to set up a stall on the street to sell pornographic discs, which meant that he no longer did those illegal and criminal things.
I said to him, "Ma Dawei, don't sell videotapes anymore. Don't sell any pornographic videos, either. They'll be obsolete soon. So, let me give you a suggestion."
"Really?" Ma Dawei was delighted.
"Take a train to Guangcheng in the south. There's a very famous clothing wholesale market called Shahe. Just ask any local and you'll know. Then bring some clothes back and set up a stall to sell them. Don't spread them out on the ground. Hang them on mobile hangers and push them around. Put a sign next to it that says 'Same styles as in Hong Kong, exported for domestic sales.'"
Ma Dawei was skeptical: "That would cost a lot of money...what if I lose money?"
"Trust me, you won't lose money. Set the price five times the wholesale price, and then hang a sign saying 'Special Half Price'."
Ma Dawei gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
"Oh, and don't take any men's clothes. Take all women's clothes. The more fashionable and beautiful the better. If you can't decide, just take clothes based on what the heroines in Hong Kong movies are wearing. You have Hong Kong movies here, don't you?"
"Why...why only take women's clothes?"
Zhou Yi said: "How many men like to buy clothes?"
Maybe Zhou Yi didn't understand the stock market or remember lottery numbers, but at least he knew that after Hong Kong's return to China in 1997, the fashion trend soon reached Hongcheng, and the dressing aesthetics of young women suffered a dimensionality reduction attack. If Ma Dawei had listened to himself, he would definitely make money.
Maybe one day he will become very successful.
Zhou Yi did not return to the vicinity of Hongcheng Baodi to avoid being exposed.
He decided to go to Qian Hongxing Company to pick up the car first.
…
On the other side, Jiang Biao and Chen Yan were investigating Liu Jianshe's situation in full swing.
Liu Jianshe is a local, so his household registration information is easy to check. He is from Miaoqiao Town, Yongding County, Hongcheng.
According to his household registration, his family is relatively simple: his father is deceased, his mother is still alive, and he has a younger brother and a younger sister. He is the eldest son, 32 years old, divorced, and has no children.
Originally, the two planned to drive directly to Miaoqiao Town, but Chen Yan thought that Liu Jianshe's home was far away from the city, and as Qian Hongxing's driver, such a job would require him to be on call at all times, and he would not have a fixed time like a normal commute.
It is obviously not very convenient for him to live in his own home in Miaoqiao Town, so it is believed that he may rent a house in the city.
But it was not written in the household registration file, so I finally called Zhou Yi and went directly to Qian Hongxing to find out the situation.
When Qian Hongxing heard Zhou Yi calling to ask about Liu Jianshe's information, he was very excited, thinking that there was some progress to be made.
He confirmed that Liu Jianshe rented an apartment in the city, but he didn't know the exact address. He called the secretary, who said the company only registered the address on the employee's ID card and didn't require employees to fill in their actual mailing address. Furious, Qian Hongxing cursed the HR department for being idle and demanded that all employees complete their information by the next day.
Finally, the secretary came up with a piece of information. Qian Hongxing was drunk once, and the secretary and Liu Jianshe were driving him home. Qian Hongxing vomited in the car. Liu Jianshe told the secretary that he lived not far from here and had some hangover medicine at home, so he could stop by to pick it up.
However, the secretary did not get out of the car at that time, but took care of Qian Hongxing in the car. She did not remember which specific community the car was parked in. She only knew that the car was parked on Guanglan Street, and the driver Xiao Liu came back about seven or eight minutes after getting off the car.
After Jiang Biao and Chen Yan received this information, they discussed it and decided to split their forces into two groups, because Zhou Yi told them on the phone that Captain Wu was being framed and they were currently short of manpower.
Chen Yan drove to Liu Jianshe's hometown in the suburbs to ask his family about his social connections.
Jiang Biao went to Guanglan Street to try to find Liu Jianshe's current residence. It would be best if he could find Liu Jianshe himself directly.
To prevent Jiang Biao from risking his life alone, Zhou Yi called Wu Yongcheng and asked him to send reinforcements to Jiang Biao. Of course, the only people he could send were those from the Nanhu Police Station.
But what Zhou Yi didn't know was that Wu Yongcheng actually had no one else to send.
After Zhou Yi found out the motorcyclist with a scar at the corner of his eye, he immediately informed Wu Yongcheng of the information.
Wu Yongcheng immediately found Jin Lei and asked him to arrange for police officers to disguise themselves and search for Scar-Eye in the area centered on Hongcheng Baodi, and to investigate any suspicious information.
In the 1990s, a police station in a prefecture-level city had only a dozen people in total. Excluding functional personnel such as household registration police, Jin Lei only left one police officer to guard the station to avoid emergencies, and all the others were dispatched.
When Jin Lei received another call from Wu Yongcheng and learned that reinforcement was needed, he agreed without hesitation.
But after hanging up the phone, he was in a dilemma. After thinking for a few seconds, Director Jin gritted his teeth, picked up his gun from the drawer of his desk and went out.
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