"Ouch—" Xu Chongde put down the enamel mug and hurried over. "Slow down, this is a police station, not a market. What kind of behavior is it to kick the door like that?"
"If I let these two go halfway, it won't matter whether you open this door tonight or not."
Du Jianshan's words were laced with anger. He turned and pointed at Lao Qi: "That old bastard sneaked into our cooperative's medicinal herb warehouse last night and, together with Shui Pi, stole three and a half packs of dried deer tendons. He also brought a bone-shrinking knife and tallow wax paper. It's obvious that he had planned this all along."
"Wow!" Xu Chongde's eyebrows twitched, and he lifted up a section of Lao Qi's sleeve. "You old geezer, you're something else. It's no wonder the kraft paper factory kicked you out."
"What injustice?" Old Qi exclaimed anxiously. "Inspector Xu, check me. I didn't bring a single tael of silver, not even a blade of grass. I was just waiting for him at the back gate!"
"Shut up," Du Jianshan sneered. "Whose big cloth bag is that in the shack behind you? There are cigarette coupons you wrote yourself on it."
Shui Pi didn't dare to utter a sound, only lowering his head and shrinking his neck, beads of sweat dripping down his face.
Xu Chongde shook his head. "Come on, let's go through the procedures. Where are the documents?"
"They're all sealed up." Du Jianshan handed over a paper package from behind his back, saying as he did so, "Deer tendons, deer tail, dried deer heart mixed in, and a bottle of alcohol solution. I think they intend to make dried goods to sell at a high price outside of town."
“You’ve done a good job here.” Xu Chongde took it and nodded. “The case is clear, the suspect is identified, I’ll put it in the register right away.”
“That’s not all.” Du Jianshan said coldly, “I heard that someone surnamed Ge also made the connection. It’s said that these people are planning to leave the town this afternoon and go through the back mountain. It’s unclear who they will meet with.”
Which Ge?
“Ge Jingtang”.
Xu Chongde frowned: "Ge Jingtang... is that the one who did odd jobs at the back gate of the town's supply and marketing cooperative?"
"Yes. Has your police station investigated him?" Du Jianshan asked coldly.
Xu Chongde stroked his chin and thought for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, I understand. I'll arrange for someone to go to Gejiawei."
"Hurry up," Du Jianshan said calmly. "If he runs away and takes these people's superiors with him, this matter will be impossible to cover up."
Just then, a young patrolman from the police station pushed open the door, his hat askew, panting, "Uncle Xu, something bad has happened! Ge Jingtang just took a small boat from the back mountain dock. I saw him carrying a cloth bag, acting suspiciously!"
"Damn it!"
Xu Chongde immediately threw down his teacup, turned around and roared, "Old Kong! Little Tao! Come with me to chase the boat! Tell the militia at Hougoukou to block the waterway too!"
“I’m going too.” Du Jianshan picked up the wooden-handled steel fork leaning against the wall and flicked his wrist.
Xu Chongde glanced at him and said, "Fine! Don't get all involved. Remember, this is law enforcement, not hunting in the mountains!"
"Don't worry, no one will die."
As Du Jianshan spoke, he stepped across the threshold.
At the back mountain dock, a layer of mist floated on the water. Ge Jingtang, wearing a dark gray jacket, rowed his small boat extremely fast. He kept looking back, cursing under his breath: "That son of a bitch Shui Pi, he's always so fast, but this time he really messed up."
There was a bulging bundle of linen under the boat, with a section of dark wooden box peeking out from the seam. The box was tied with yellow hemp rope, and the words "Qiuyangzhai" could be vaguely seen.
"If this job goes through, Old Chai might actually send it to Harbin for me..." He was talking to himself when he suddenly heard a dog barking from the shore.
"Quick! There's a figure in the birch forest over there!"
"Don't run—stop the boat!"
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