Chapter 287 % Bonus
On the way to the hospital.
Xia Xubai suddenly took out a velvet gift box from his coat pocket.
"Merry Christmas." He gently placed the gift box in Xia Lili's palm.
Inside the box lies a mini record player made of pure gold, every detail of which is amazingly exquisite.
"Eh? Does this record player make sounds?"
Xia Lili carefully picked up the heavy gift.
Xia Xubai guided her fingers across the base of the record player: "There's a sensor here."
When her fingertips touched the slightly raised sensing area, a clear piano sound suddenly flowed out.
It was the classical melody that my brother was best at, but with a new score that had never been heard before.
"I wrote this New Year's single for you." Xia Xubai tilted his head slightly, the morning light falling on his smiling fox eyes. "Our Lili is the first listener."
The melodious melody echoed in the carriage, and Xia Lili suddenly discovered that the music cleverly incorporated the tune she often hummed as a child.
She held this unique gift tightly, her eyes slightly warm.
Xia Lili fondly played with the golden record player when she suddenly remembered something and turned serious. "Brother, that lighting assistant Anna I warned you and Brother Mingzhou about earlier... has she been acting unusually lately?"
Anna is the crew member who gave Xia Lili the eavesdropping figurine. She should also be a member of this criminal organization.
Xia Xubai's elegantly crossed long legs paused slightly, and his unfocused fox eyes narrowed slightly: "Indeed."
He said calmly, "The day before yesterday, she tried to lure me to the equipment storage room in Studio 2 under the pretext of adjusting the lights. She wanted to kidnap me."
Xia Lili sat up straight and asked, "And then?"
"Luckily, I always had the self-defense spray you gave me." Xia Xubai calmly touched the inside pocket of his coat. "When she reached out to help me, I sprayed directly in the direction of the sound."
"When Yu Shou heard the noise and rushed over, Anna had already fainted on the ground."
He added lightly, "He's currently being detained for intentional injury, and we haven't alerted the perpetrators yet."
The day before yesterday? Wouldn't that mean it happened the day after I reminded them?
Xia Lili was scared, but fortunately she noticed it in time, otherwise her brother would be in danger.
Xia Lili was so angry that she poked her brother's arm. "You didn't even tell me something so dangerous! If I hadn't asked, were you planning to keep it a secret?"
Xia Xubai grasped her restless hand accurately, a gentle arc curved at the corner of his lips: "Our Lili is busy enough..." He suddenly made a soft "hush" sound, "We're at the hospital."
*
When the ward door was gently pushed open, Li Qihan was leaning on the hospital bed and looking through case files.
The afternoon sun filtered through the blinds, casting tiny golden shadows on his drooping eyelashes. His uninjured left hand held a pen, neatly marking the edge of the page. The collar of his hospital gown was slightly open, revealing his bandaged right shoulder.
Hearing the noise, Li Qihan's eyes lit up slightly when he looked up, but then immediately returned to his usual coldness.
When his eyes passed over Xia Lili, his Adam's apple moved slightly, but he finally nodded to Xia Xubai first: "Mr. Xia."
"Captain Li sounds in good spirits." Xia Xubai smiled faintly and accurately placed his blind stick against the wall.
Xia Lili placed the fruit basket on the bedside, took out an apple and whispered, "Captain Li, let me peel an apple for you!"
She lowered her head and carefully operated the fruit knife, but she became more and more panicked in the second half of peeling, and in the end, there was almost only the core left of the apple flesh.
Li Qihan looked at the horrible-looking apple, his eyes slightly curved: "Boss Xia, your knife skills are amazing." There was an irrepressible smile in his voice.
Xia Lili's ears flushed as she stared at the apple core she had peeled so miserably that it looked terrible. She quickly changed the subject: "Has the mastermind of that case been apprehended?"
Li Qihan spread the document on his knees, revealing one of the photos.
The photo shows a middle-aged man wearing a tailored suit and a decent smile.
Li Qihan introduced Zhang Nuo, “On the surface, he’s the president of a multinational investment company, but in reality, he controls a criminal group that uses blockchain and art investments as a cover.”
"Blockchain?" Xia Lili tilted her head in confusion at the technical term. "What does this have to do with art investment?"
"They use blockchain technology to issue fake digital artworks," Li Qihan said, his fingertips tapping on the flowchart on the document. "They launder the illegal proceeds from smuggling cultural relics by buying and selling them themselves and then driving up the prices. For example, the painting 'Sunset Sails' sold at Sotheby's last year was a laundering of 500 million yuan using 30 million yuan."
Seeing that Xia Lili still seemed confused, Li Qihan patiently explained, "Simply put, it's like putting a high-tech vest on the stolen goods."
"Then how did the police find them?" Xia Lili couldn't help but wonder.
"It started with the murder of an antique appraiser in China." Li Qihan's expression darkened. "The investigation revealed that the murderer was a professional killer, and we followed the clues to Zhang Nuo's company."
"They killed the appraiser because he discovered they were replacing cultural relics donated to the country by collectors with forgeries."
Xia Lili was immediately shocked. These criminal gangs were really parasites.
Li Qihan adjusted his sitting position, the bandage on his shoulder shifting slightly as he moved. "Zhang Nuo was apprehended last night at the Black Lagoon Bar. However..." He frowned slightly, "He can't be escorted back to China directly for the time being."
"Why?" Xia Lili couldn't help but ask, "Can't we just take him back home after we catch him? What other procedures are required?"
"Transnational arrests require extradition procedures." Li Qihan skillfully twirled the pen in his left hand. "When a suspect is arrested abroad, the two countries' judicial authorities must negotiate and the suspect must be handed over to our police by the authorities in the place of arrest. Just like..."
Li Qihan paused, "Just like sending an international express package needs to go through customs clearance, it can't be thrown directly into the mailbox."
Xia Lili suddenly realized: "So Zhang Nuo is now imprisoned in Luocheng Prison?"
"Yeah." Li Qihan glanced out the window. "An extradition request has been submitted to the California Federal Court. What follows is a tug-of-war."
He tapped the tip of his pen lightly on the document. "Fortunately, the chain of evidence is complete this time. We can escort him back to China in as little as three months."
Li Qihan raised his eyes to look at Xia Lili, his gaze filled with rare gentleness. "Thanks to the core intelligence provided by a certain important informant."
Xia Lili was holding an apple core in her hand and was in a daze. When she heard this, she suddenly looked up and saw her own figure clearly reflected in the other person's eyes.
She blinked her almond-shaped eyes and said, "So I've done something great again?"
"According to Article 27 of the Regulations on Cooperation in Transnational Criminal Cases," Li Qihan pulled out a document from his files. "Important informants can receive a reward of up to 5% of the funds recovered in the case."
Xia Lili: “5%?!”
This is a money laundering case involving a huge amount of money!
Stay calm, Xia Lili calmed her breathing.
Remind yourself that it is uncertain how much funds can be recovered in the case.
At this moment, there was a gentle knock on the ward door.
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