Chapter 97: Persuading Old Chengtou
Old Wu waved his fist, very rudely. Although Rong Xiangu was pretty, women were not as important as money! Besides, he was already a bitch, so he no longer cared about women. Everything depended on money!
Fairy Rong turned her head and glared at Old Wu fiercely, then ignored him and continued walking forward.
This old lecher, no one had dared to treat her like this in years. In the past, Old Wu would have met his end long ago. But it was a shame, in this new society, things were more restricted, and the spontaneity of the past was gone. Fairy Rong missed the good old days a thousand times.
She's the 'leader' of the tomb-robbing gang! Everyone has to listen to her! Without her, those idiots wouldn't even know where the great tomb is. Rong Xiangu held her head high, thinking of her past glory, feeling incredibly proud.
Here, with Old Wu interfering, Jiang Nan and Zhou Zhixing couldn't follow them any further, so they went straight to the alley, went back to keep an eye on the alley, and exchanged places with Shao Yong and his group.
Passing by a state-owned restaurant, the two bought twelve steamed buns, munching on them as they walked. It was nearly seven o'clock, but still light outside, and the alley was remarkably quiet. By the time they arrived, the three people left behind were already ravenous, and Shao Yong even snatched up the buns and devoured them. Hearing Zhou Zhixing's instructions, he waved his hand, not wanting to say anything, and headed east with his partner to the public restroom.
The other two people who stayed behind finished their buns, and everyone discussed the progress of the surveillance in a low voice.
"Three men came out one after another. They went to the restroom and left quickly. They were all quite tall and strong, probably working underground."
Zhou Zhixing: "Three people came out in four or five hours, so this group probably consists of five people, four men and one woman."
Everyone nodded. This was good news. There weren't too many people there. If a conflict occurred, the three teams' field staff would be enough to handle it.
Jiang Nan: "Or come over to check for a letter of introduction or something? It's not a good idea to keep watching."
Zhou Zhixing: "Let's keep an eye on them for a few days. They're not locals, so their letters of introduction will expire sooner or later. If they don't leave, we'll investigate."
Everyone agreed, and the tracking continued for three days. With the exception of Fatty He and Fairy Rong, the rest of the group stayed indoors during the day, only coming out at night when there were fewer people. They were also very persistent about public restrooms, meticulously checking every one of them in the work area.
Six teams of people, dressed in police uniforms, patrolled Yangjiawa, verifying tenant information with the subdistrict office and checking letters of introduction. The tomb robbers were far more prepared than the two clumsy thieves, one black and one white. All five of them had three-month letters of introduction, which would keep them there until mid-July.
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In the police station interrogation room, Jiang Nan and Shao Yong sat opposite Rong Xiangu. Jiang Nan, with a stern face, asked, "Tell me, why did you fight?"
Because the letter of introduction for this group of people took too long, in order to avoid any further complications, Shen Mingguang and Lan Qingshan decided to "stir up trouble" and speed up the group's actions so that they could arrest them as soon as possible. Otherwise, there would be no reason to deport them.
No, Rong Xiangu and Old Wu were fighting again. This time, Shao Yong didn't hold back and went straight in to arrest them. Because Jiang Nan was a woman, he deliberately asked Jiang Nan to participate in the interrogation of Rong Xiangu, hoping to see if he could pry Rong Xiangu's mouth open as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, Rong Xiangu was a dog-skin plaster, and this trick was completely useless. She looked at Jiang Nan with a look of venom and extreme dislike. She said, "You don't have eyes, can't you see? I'm talking to a police officer."
She looked at Shao Yong, very impatient: "Can you please stop asking questions with this woman? There's no such thing as a girl being a police officer here. It's unlucky. Change someone else, or I won't say anything."
Jiang Nan's face darkened. She stood up and said loudly, "Honestly, you are a woman yourself. Why do you look down on women?"
Rong Xiangu was extremely contemptuous. "How can I be the same as you? Back then, when I was young, I was the most beautiful girl in our village. Who didn't like me? You are nothing. You are just relying on your youth to act so arrogant."
She would never say that she was just jealous, jealous of any girl who was younger and prettier than her.
Why? Why was the world so chaotic when she was young? She was with a bunch of rough men all day long. Although she was knowledgeable, she really didn't eat that well.
But what about this girl? Look at the men around her, each one is more handsome and graceful than the other. Just thinking about it makes Rong Xiangu feel so upset.
Rong Xiangu stiffened her neck, with an attitude of "As long as Jiang Nan is here, I refuse to cooperate."
Lan Qingshan had no choice but to pull Jiang Nan out of the interrogation room and signaled Zhou Zhixing to go in and interrogate Shao Yong together.
Lan Qingshan comforted Jiang Nan: "Don't take it to heart. There are all kinds of people like this. It's cheap to argue with her. Okay, stay outside for a while. Once we have found out the truth, we can discuss the next step."
Jiang Nan took a deep breath and said, "I understand, Chief Lan. You go in and watch. I know what to do."
Seeing that she was fine, Lan Qingshan nodded and turned back into the interrogation room.
Jiang Nan took a deep breath and exhaled again outside before he calmed down.
But not long after, the door of another interrogation room opened, and Old Wu came out with his head drooping. Seeing Jiang Nan, his eyes lit up, and he hurried over and said, "Xiao Nan, please talk to Team Leader Sun and don't fine me. I won't fight anymore, really. Look, it's not easy for Grandpa Wu to make money, how can he fine me?"
Jiang Nan was speechless. She spread her hands and said, "Grandpa Wu, you fought in public, and since nothing serious happened, you were not detained but only fined. If you don't want a fine and want detention..."
Old Wu was startled and waved his hands repeatedly: "No, I can't detain you. I, I, I..."
He gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, his heart aching so much that blood could drip out: "It's a fine, I can pay it back."
After saying this, he ignored Jiang Nan, covered his chest with his hands, and followed Masayoshi Son with a pale face, staggering forward.
Don’t ask, because asking makes me feel sad.
Asking again, I still feel heartache. Pure heartache.
That was all his hard-earned money.
Old Wu followed the police with a look of despair on his face.
Although the police station arrested someone, it was just a fight after all. Both parties paid the fine and expressed their intention not to pursue the matter further. The case was handled quickly, and Rong Xiangu and Old Wu were released one after another.
After going out, Rong Xiangu thought more and more that something was wrong. She had been fighting with Old Wu for less than two minutes when the police came. Had they been following her?
Could it be that something happened in the past?
She hurried back to her rented house in Yangjiawa. Gathering everyone, she said, "I'm afraid we're being targeted by the police."
As soon as these words were spoken, except for Fatty He, the other three people all showed cruel expressions on their faces.
A man with a scar on the right side of his jaw running through his eyebrow said viciously, "You're just too restrained! You won't let us out during the day, and the search is so slow, it's hard to believe something bad will happen. Let's do something big tonight and tear down the entire toilet wall. I heard those thieves used gold bricks to build a wall and hide it last time. Let's go all out and search tonight. If we can't find it, we can go to other operations. Mr. Bai Sanye may not be in the tenth operation. Maybe his son has been transferred to another job, and we can't just rely on one tree to hang ourselves."
The other two strong men agreed.
"That's right. The Ninth Operation Office isn't far from here. Maybe it's there. Fatty, don't you think so?"
Fatty He didn't say anything, but the other big guy spoke up: "I listen to the fairy lady. Listening to the fairy lady can save my life."
Rong Xiangu glanced at the three men's ferocious looks and felt disdain in her heart. Just the looks of these three men could stop a child from crying, and they still wanted to go out in broad daylight. They would definitely be arrested. However...
She thought for a moment and said, "We really can't stay here for long. So, let's take action tonight and search the public toilet first. If there's nothing, we can go to the ninth operation area. Who knows what's there."
Everyone nodded, looking at each other, their expressions a mixture of excitement and caution. If they found a treasure, they had to be careful not to let others take it all.
Fortunately, the five of them were evenly matched, and no single group could succeed alone.
That night, the moon was dark and the wind was strong. The five people put on their night clothes, quietly went out, and headed straight for the public toilet in the tube building. It wasn't that they had their eyes on the tube building, they had also thought about it.
Think about it, there's a toilet in the tube building, right? So, not many people use this public restroom. The fewer people there are, the lower the chances of it being discovered. Putting your treasure there makes it safer, right?
Think about it carefully, isn’t this the truth?!
The five people were full of confidence, and on the other side, Old Wu also opened the door and walked out quietly.
He lost five dollars today! Five dollars!
He only earned ten dollars as a substitute for a month, but these policemen were so bold that they fined him five dollars at once!
Old Wu was so uncomfortable that he couldn't sleep. It was really uncomfortable. The thought of having to sit up in the middle of the night and sighing was so uncomfortable that it made him feel anxious.
In the middle of the night, Old Wu sighed again, and suddenly he thought of the treasure in the toilet.
The woman was staring at the toilet, and he saw it clearly.
Is there really a treasure in the toilet?
Thinking of this, Old Wu sat up quickly, jumped off the bed nimbly, put on his clothes, and hurried out, his shoes slipping off as he walked.
No matter what treasure it is, it must be his!
He's the toilet cleaner, which means he's in charge of the toilets now! Want to covet the public toilets? No way! He won't allow it!
Old Wu went out, and the four, five, and six groups were all out, keeping a close eye on the tomb robbers who had gone to the public toilet. They were waiting for them to dig up the toilet so they could catch them in the act.
Who would have thought that Old Wu would come again.
Just go in, but it's been less than a minute since I went in, and I hear that sound, "Ah, ah, are they fighting again?" With Old Wu's physique, any one of the three strong men could knock him down with one punch.
“Ahhh.”
Old Wu's wails resounded through the sky, and everyone had no choice but to go in and catch him early.
In the public toilet, Old Wu suffered a second injury. He curled up like a cooked shrimp, covering his vital parts, howling non-stop, and had no fighting power at all.
The scarred man's face was so gloomy that it looked like water could drip out of it. He kicked Old Wu again and again, "You are so mean and greedy that you want to steal our things without even considering whether you are worthy or not!"
"Stop fighting and put your hands up!"
Shao Yong spoke first, and the others filed in. Fourteen people against five, almost three to one, was enough. Moreover, before the operation, everyone had already discussed who would be responsible for whom, and the mission was clear and straightforward.
They rushed in cleanly and quickly, heading straight for their target. The battle immediately became one-sided, with guns raised, shouts, scuffling, and handcuffs. It ended extremely quickly, and the tomb robbers were arrested one after another.
Regarding Old Wu's accident, Zhou Zhixing stepped forward to help him up and asked helplessly: "Uncle Wu, are you going to the hospital or..."
Old Wu couldn't stand up due to the headache. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead. He stammered, "Go... go to the hospital, go to the hospital. Damn it, I can't take it anymore. Why is it still so painful?"
Zhou Zhixing's mouth twitched. You can't be so proud.
He winked at the others in the group, and Wen Qiang stepped forward and said, "Team Leader, I'll go with you."
"Okay." Zhou Zhixing didn't waste any time and went with Wen Qiang to take Old Wu to the hospital first. Even if they were taking someone to the hospital, they had to go together. Who knew what would happen in between?
Jiang Nan and the other six groups, along with four other groups, went back to interrogate the suspects. Shao Yong, with the fifth group, searched the house rented by the tomb robbers.
The three groups moved quickly in three directions.
On Zhou Zhixing's side, Old Wu had such a severe headache that he couldn't walk, so Wen Qiang simply carried him on his back and rushed to the staff hospital.
The doctor at the staff hospital was quite knowledgeable. He knew Old Wu was seriously injured when he saw his condition. He pushed him in and saw that everything was broken into pieces.
The doctor looked helpless and bitterly let Zhou Zhixing and Wen Qiang in. He explained in front of Old Wu, "It's broken and can't be used. We don't have the technology to mend it. We can't mend it. But there are two options. Either send it to a large hospital in the provincial capital or Beijing, or remove it directly at the staff hospital. We can do this."
He adjusted his glasses and looked at Old Wu with great sympathy: "Comrade, you see... we really have no other choice. If you want to transfer to another hospital..."
Old Wu howled, "What do you mean by 'if it can't be repaired, it has to be removed'? I... I..."
He suddenly realized something and asked, "How much does it cost to transfer to another hospital for surgery?"
Anyway, his one is no longer useful, so if it is too expensive, he would rather pick it!
Money is the most important thing nowadays. You must not lose both your money and your life! Money, he cannot be without money. When you get old, you can lose everything, but you cannot be without money.
After figuring it out, Old Wu instantly became open-minded and elevated. The look in his eyes when he looked at the doctor was divine, and he asked again in a low voice.
The doctor thought for a moment and gave a conservative figure: "For the round-trip fare, surgery, hospitalization, and nutrition costs, you should prepare at least 500 yuan."
"belch."
Old Wu burped uncontrollably and pleaded distressedly, "I don't want to be hospitalized. I'm already old, I have grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren are about to be born. Just pick it, I won't bother."
Zhou Zhixing and Wen Qiang looked at each other and squeezed their legs together.
This old man Wu is extraordinary. Although many people would rather sacrifice their lives than their wealth, this old man is willing to sacrifice even that. Amazing! I admire you. I admire you in bold letters!
On the other side, all the tomb robbers were caught and interrogated overnight at the police station. The three strong men who went into the tomb to rob tombs were not very smart. They were tricked by Lan Qingshan and said something nonsense in excitement. Lan Qingshan asked them sternly.
Fortunately, the man no longer hid his secrets and kept shouting in the interrogation room.
"When I was robbing tombs in the New Province desert, you weren't even born yet. What are you so proud of? I'm just unlucky that you caught me today. But I was robbing tombs before liberation. It's been so many years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and you still want to interfere in this?"
Lan Qingshan: "You haven't robbed tombs since liberation? Then how do you make a living?"
The man curled his lips and said, "The fairy lady can tell fortunes, and she supports us. Bah, don't think she is a good person. She feeds us for other purposes. She cheated us out of all the good things we dug out from the gravel pit, and now I have nothing. That's why I followed her to the oil field to look for treasures, otherwise I wouldn't come. It's been years since I did this, and the environment is not good now. I'm not stupid, and if the fairy lady hadn't said she would give me gold, I wouldn't have come."
Lan Qingshan: "Where are Fairy Rong's things hidden? What did you sell to her?"
The man said: "How should I know where she hid it? She is the most cunning one. No one can find her hidden things. I just gave her the few beads I poured out. Those beads are the legendary night-shining pearls, which were poured out in the Western Regions. If it weren't for a few bites of food, I wouldn't give them to her!"
The man was so angry that his teeth itched: "What a thief! She dared to ask me for a night pearl for a bag of flour. If I wasn't starving to death, I wouldn't do it!"
Lan Qingshan: "Did Fairy Rong tell me why she came to the oil field?"
The man said: "She said she was looking for the treasure hidden by the righteous thief Bai Sanye. She and Fatty He are a couple. I heard that Bai Sanye stole from a traitor. The traitor has a treasure map with many treasures. We just came to the oil field. But we don't know what Bai Sanye looks like, so we might as well look for the treasure first."
Lan Qingshan: "Tell me about Mr. Bai Sanye, how do you know him?"
......
There was a breakthrough in the interrogation, and the rest of the process went much faster. When Rong Xiangu heard that the three men had confessed, her face immediately changed and she started cursing in the interrogation room.
"Brainless idiots! I shouldn't have brought them here! It's such bad luck! If those old buddies hadn't been killed or injured, I wouldn't have come looking for them even if I died! Damn it!"
Shen Mingguang: "Stop cursing. What's the point of saying this now? Your companions have already spoken. Why are you still trying to hold on? You should know our policy: leniency for those who confess and severity for those who resist. If you don't confess, your companions will probably put all the blame on you. Think it over before you speak. We're not in a hurry."
Rong Xiangu glanced at Shen Mingguang and chuckled, "Don't provoke me. Not only do I know that those who confess will be treated leniently, but those who resist will be punished severely. I also know that the laws of the new dynasty cannot be used to judge things that happened in the old dynasty! Why, we've been robbing tombs for so many years? The Japanese hadn't left back then. It's been so many years now, almost forty years, and you're all interfering? I tell you, we're doing good things by robbing tombs!"
She snorted and laughed. "When I went to the desert, I saw so many foreigners with blond hair and green eyes. They all came to our country to dig for treasures! Why, only they are allowed to dig and we are not allowed to? I killed several foreign devils before I got those things! Bah, you dare to steal our ancestors' things from us? You wish! A bunch of damn things, I will destroy them before they take them away!"
Shen Mingguang remained calm and continued to ask, "Where are those treasures? Where did you hide them?"
Rong Xiangu snorted, "No more. We sold them all before liberation. After liberation, we returned to our hometown to farm. We never encountered such a thing again."
Jiang Nan smiled and spoke first, "Zhuang San'er confessed everything. You exchanged a bag of flour for a night-shining pearl. Let me guess. You definitely wouldn't carry such a valuable item with you. After all, if you lose it, you can't find it again. So the place where you hid it must be not far from your hometown, right? Since you're so concerned about public toilets, you wouldn't hide it in a toilet, right? The public toilet at home? The public toilet in the village?"
Jiang Nan pressed on step by step, and Rong Xiangu's eyes became more and more panicked. At the end, she even flew into a rage: "Nonsense, you are talking nonsense. Good, the police are really not good people. I was wondering why you kept harassing us. It turns out you also want good things. Those are all mine, mine. I snatched them back from foreigners. Don't even think about taking them for yourselves!"
From her behavior, anyone could tell Jiang Nan was right. Shen Mingguang gave Rong Xiangu a deep look, then stood up and went to find Lan Qingshan. These things belonged to the country, and we couldn't let anyone else find them first.
Lan Qingshan knew the importance of this matter. Rong Xiangu's hometown was in the next province, so it seemed he had to go on a business trip to find the item. Without further ado, he briefly explained a few words to Shen Mingguang and headed straight for the train station with his partner Xiao Xu.
In the interrogation room, Sun Zhengyi and Jiang Nan were still interrogating. Jiang Nan was still smiling and looked very relaxed. However, Rong Xiangu, standing opposite, had a face as black as ink. Knowing that her treasure had been exposed, she simply closed her eyes, her refusal very clear.
Jiang Nan smiled and said, "Why are you doing this? You also said that the laws of the new dynasty cannot be applied to the old dynasty, so what are you worried about? Those things were not yours in the first place. You can't bring them with you when you are born and you can't take them with you when you die. If we find them and hand them over to the country, it will also be a way to atone for your sins. Think about it, isn't this the truth?"
She continued, "You haven't told me what you're doing here at the Operations Office. Even if you don't, we can find out from your accomplices. But I'm asking you anyway because I'm giving you a chance, so you better seize it. Tell me, after all, you haven't accomplished anything, so we can't convict you based on your thoughts. Don't worry about that."
Rong Xiangu snorted coldly: "Forget it, I've been fooled once, I won't be fooled a second time. Go ask Scar and the others, didn't they say they knew too? Humph, I won't say another word!"
He still wanted to lie to her. She had never told those three idiots where the treasure map was. It was strange that they knew it.
As for Fatty He, he was even more greedy than her and would definitely not tell the truth. Once she got out, she was still counting on these things to make a comeback. The little girl still wanted to fight her, go to hell!
Rong Xiangu was filled with hatred and refused to speak no matter how much Jiang Nan asked.
Fatty He next door was also very cunning. He only told what the three people told him to do and didn't say anything extra.
They thought they could escape this way, but unfortunately, they never expected that Jiang Nan had a fortuitous encounter and could see through their thoughts clearly.
Jiang Nan knew that the key to the treasure map lay with Old Cheng. As long as he wasn't greedy and handed it over, everything would be fine. He'd stolen nearly forty years ago, and he hadn't committed any crimes since the founding of the People's Republic of China, so nothing would happen to him. But if he held onto the treasure map, that would be a different matter.
She was mentally plotting how to convince Old Cheng, but she didn't show it on her face. None of the five had revealed the location of the treasure map, nor did they know who Third Master Bai was. If she knew too much, it would be unreasonable.
Rong Xiangu's interrogation had reached a stalemate. Fortunately, Shen Mingguang had replaced the judges. He said to Jiang Nan, Shao Yong, Sun Zhengyi and others, "Go back and get some sleep first. We'll continue the interrogation when you wake up. Don't worry. We've caught the person, so nothing will happen. You must take good care of your health. Go back. I'll lead Teams 2 and 3 to continue the interrogation. Don't worry."
Everyone hadn't slept all night and had just completed a high-intensity surveillance operation, so they were indeed physically and mentally exhausted. When they heard this, they didn't argue. They went to the locker room to change into their police uniforms and prepared to go home to rest.
As soon as I walked out of the locker room, I saw Wan Hu and his younger brothers coming in.
Although Wan Hu looked a little listless, he still had his spirit. Perhaps he felt that the police had found a treasure in the public toilet, so he looked very excited. He looked at Shen Mingguang with a forced smile.
"Chief Chen, the police station can't keep this treasure to itself. All power is now transferred to the Revolutionary Committee, but the police station has to ensure the safety of our oil fields, and we don't want things to get too awkward. How about this? I'll let a few of my brothers participate in the interrogation, and we'll work together. How about that? That way, you don't have to worry about the Revolutionary Committee playing tricks, and the Revolutionary Committee doesn't have to worry about you deliberately concealing things. Isn't that fair?"
He spread his hands, smiling, obviously thinking that this proposal was very reasonable.
Shen Mingguang on the opposite side felt very aggrieved. Since the Revolutionary Committee had come to him, he couldn't just refuse.
That's how it is these days. If the Revolutionary Committee wants to interfere in something, it's difficult for others to resist.
Shen Mingguang forced a smile and said, "Okay, Director Wan, don't worry. Since the Revolutionary Committee wants to cooperate with the investigation, the police station will definitely not refuse. I believe that with your cooperation, the work will go more smoothly."
That smile was as stiff as a statue, but the words were very harsh. The Revolutionary Committee had agreed to cooperate with the work, and that was it. The police station was the lead agency.
On the other hand, this meant that he hadn't rejected Wan Hu's proposal. Previously, the police station could still challenge the Revolutionary Committee, but under this year's circumstances, Shen Mingguang couldn't afford to be so arrogant. He had to protect the livelihoods of so many people in the station.
Besides, Wan Hu's temper is much better now. He asked everyone to go to the Revolutionary Committee right away, which was already giving face to the police station. Shen Mingguang couldn't be too strong.
Shen Mingguang had no idea that Wan Hu was not good-tempered, but was really scared.
In the past, Wan Hu was reckless in his actions, even disregarding human life for the sake of gold, silver, and jewelry. But after encountering ghosts a few times, he became more restrained and knew to leave a way out when doing things, fearing that he would be involved in another human death. If more wronged souls lingered, he would really be unable to bear it.
After knowing that there were five suspects, Wan Hu left ten of his men behind. He carefully gave them a few instructions and then said goodbye with a smile.
Before leaving, Wan Hu glanced at Jiang Nan as she emerged, feeling a pang of regret. This girl wasn't any less pretty than Dong Tingting, perhaps even better. It was a shame, she was a police officer, too much trouble, and he didn't want to make a mistake with a woman.
Wan Hu looked at him twice more, turned around and left without looking back, which made Jiang Nan confused.
But soon, Jiang Nan remembered Wan Hu in her heart. It seemed that she had to tell her parents about it. This guy was like an indestructible cockroach, with strong vitality. He had to be scared from time to time.
Jiang Nan said goodbye to Chief Shen, quickly left the police station, and flew back to the gate of Courtyard No. 1. When he jumped out of the car, he happened to run into Zhou Zhixing who had just returned from the hospital. Zhou Zhixing smiled and said, "How was the interrogation?"
Jiang Nan glanced at his side and asked, "Is Old Wu in the hospital?"
Zhou Zhixing twitched his lips and said incoherently, "He had that thing, ahem, removed. The operation is complete, but he has to stay in the hospital for two days. I'll come back to inform Wang Jiannu. I don't know if Wu Jianguo and Wu Dachui are back yet. Wang Jiannu, a pregnant woman, can't take care of Old Wu."
Jiang Nan also started to worry. The two of them walked towards the family compound. After a while, Jiang Nan said, "He should be back soon. If not, tell Grandma Cao. She's the building manager and she should be able to take care of it."
Zhou Zhixing nodded helplessly. Jiang Nan continued, "Those three big guys were tricked out by Deputy Inspector Lan and confessed to the tomb robbery. However, Fairy Rong and Fatty He didn't mention the map. I guess they're still thinking about going out and looking for it."
She lowered her voice and said, "You said that both groups are coming for Old Cheng. Could there be others? After all, the incident with Third Master Bai caused quite a stir back then. Shouldn't we try to persuade Old Cheng to hand over the silver bracelet, or at least the map? With such an important thing in his hands, who knows what might happen in the future."
Zhou Zhixing squinted his eyes and said, "What do you have in mind? Tell me."
Jiang Nan said this and that, and Zhou Zhixing nodded: "Okay, I'll go back and discuss it with Uncle Jiang and Aunt Chen. They'll help you improve it, and I'll definitely make Old Cheng hand it over obediently."
As they chatted, they quickly arrived at the open space in front of the building. The elderly men and women who were chatting around them immediately gathered in groups of three or five.
"Xiao Nan, I heard there's a thief who stole flour in our homework department, is that true?"
"Why did it sound like he stole meat? Xiaonan, tell me, is that true? How could he steal food? He's really heartless."
"That's right. These days we don't even have enough to eat at home, and this bastard comes to steal. He's not giving us a way to survive."
Jiang Nan smiled. "Grandpa and Mama, this happened several days ago. The two thieves have been locked up. They've returned the flour they stole and paid compensation. But stealing is stealing, and as punishment, they've been sentenced to a month in detention. They'll be deported when they're released next month. We won't let them disrupt our daily production and life in the oil fields."
"That's great, Xiaonan. I heard you caught a thief in the public restroom again? Did someone hide gold in the restroom again? How much did you find? You're using it as funds for your police station, right?"
I didn't expect everyone to be so well-informed and find out about the thief being caught in the public toilet so quickly.
Jiang Nan thought about it and realized that this was a major event involving gold, so word would definitely spread quickly. They'd made quite a commotion last night when they arrested someone, so it wasn't surprising that someone nearby had seen them. It wouldn't be surprising if the news spread to the office this morning after a night out.
After figuring it out, Jiang Nan smiled and said, "Auntie, look at what you said. Let alone we didn't find the gold, even if we did, we would have to turn it in. How could it be used as funding? If such a good thing happened, I wouldn't catch thieves or deal with other miscellaneous matters. I would just focus on the treasure. Just think about it and you will know that this is impossible."
The old lady curled her lips, clearly unconvinced. While the police are supposed to serve the people, they're also human beings, and it's impossible for them to be completely devoid of selfish motives. Those police officers in the old society were completely incompetent. Once you entered the police station, you couldn't get out without being skinned alive. Who knew how Jiang Nan and the others would behave now?
The auntie didn't believe it, but some people did. A scorched-faced old man said, "Xiao Nan is right. The gold bars, treasures, and antiques we find must all be turned over to the state. They can't be left at the police station. I have a nephew who works at the Public Security Bureau in our office. I know all about this."
The others heard this and started asking questions. Jiang Nan smiled and wanted to go back to rest, but was stopped by another uncle. He asked, "Xiao Nan, have you found out who hid the things in the public toilet? This is really, why do you always have trouble with public toilets? The weather is getting hotter and hotter, don't let anyone stay up late at night and come out to mess with the pit, right? I live in a bungalow and have to go to the toilet at night. I really can't stand this."
"I live in a small building, but we can't stand this either. Xiaonan, have you found anything? The man who hid the treasure needs to be arrested and taught a lesson. He didn't keep it at home, but in a public toilet. Who knows what kind of stolen goods it is. You should investigate carefully."
"That's right, we need to interrogate them carefully. This scoundrel has no place else to hide, but in a public toilet. How shameless!"
Jiang Nan rolled her eyes. She glanced at Zhou Zhixing, and when he nodded gently, she knew the time was right. She asked with a smile, "We haven't found out yet. But when we interrogated those two thieves, they said they were the grandchildren of the former righteous thief Bai Sanye from the provincial capital. They heard the oil fields were doing well, so they wanted to come to our operations department to make a name for themselves. Uncles and aunts, do you know the righteous thief Bai Sanye? How come I didn't know there was such a person?"
She pretended to glance at Old Cheng unintentionally. The old man's back stiffened. Obviously, he didn't expect Jiang Nan to suddenly mention this.
Old Cheng, who was being watched by Jiang Nan, was also secretly glancing at people with his small eyes. Seeing that Jiang Nan had no ulterior motives, he blinked his big eyes innocently, obviously not knowing that he was Mr. Bai Sanye.
Old Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and pricked up his ears to continue listening to everyone's discussion. He rarely spoke, so no one paid any attention to him. This was the skill of a top-notch thief, blending in with the crowd, making it easy for ordinary people to detect him, which made it easier to strike.
The uncles and aunts were whispering to each other, and soon an old man spoke first: "Xiao Nan, you're still young, so it's normal that you haven't heard of the name of the righteous thief Bai Sanye. It's been almost forty years now, and if we hadn't lived long enough, we wouldn't have known about him. I guess in a few years, no one will remember anything about Bai Sanye."
"That's right, Mr. Bai San is this." Another old man with a dark face gave a thumbs up, very proud. "The capital has Swallow Li San'er, and we in the provincial capital have the righteous thief Mr. Bai San. He is no less than that, no less than that."
"I think it's still a little bit off! Swallow Li San'er gave away all the stolen goods to the poor people. Mr. Bai San has never heard of such a thing! He only stole things for himself, which is far from being a righteous thief."
"So what? He can steal because he's good at it. Don't you see who he stole from? They're all traitors! If I give you the things of a traitor, would you dare to take them? You'll get them back in no time!"
"Exactly. If I had the ability, I would have stolen it too. That's all the people's money, why should those traitors get it? Before the Japanese surrendered, they looted so many good things and took them back! Mr. Bai's theft also prevented the good things from falling into the hands of the Japanese, which is a great thing."
Everyone started arguing. Obviously, the older people had heard of Mr. Bai Sanye's name. Old Cheng raised his mouth and listened with great pleasure.
Jiang Nan took a quick glance and, taking advantage of the opportunity, said, "Uncle Niu, are all those Mr. Bai Sanye stole from traitors? Are there no good families?"
Uncle Niu shook his head. "No, they were all traitors and running dogs. My cousin's eldest brother made a living in the provincial capital a few years ago, and he told us all about Master Bai San. People in the provincial capital really admired Master Bai San. You don't know how despicable those traitors and running dogs were back then! Every one of them was an accomplice! Their hands were stained with blood, and even if they died eight or ten times, it wouldn't be enough! I heard that someone died of anger after all his wealth was stolen. At that time, everyone was almost buying firecrackers to celebrate. They were so happy, even happier than if they had found a treasure themselves."
Jiang Nan was curious and followed up on his question, "Really? Is this enough to make him so angry? Those things weren't his to begin with, so why would he be so angry?"
Uncle Niu snorted, "You think traitors like you are good people. Not to mention the things that were robbed by those dog traitors, even those that weren't robbed, you might think they would have taken them sooner or later and become theirs. I heard that several traitors teamed up and offered ten gold bars for Mr. Bai Sanye's life. Unfortunately, no one in the underworld took the order. No one wanted to make that kind of money. It was a shame."
"What? Someone took the order, but their skills were inferior to his, so Mr. Bai Sanye ran away."
"No, I heard that after Mr. Bai San heard this, he gradually stopped. Otherwise, he wouldn't have retired so early."
"I heard that he stopped because he stole a huge treasure, enough to last him two or three lifetimes."
Jiang Nan was very interested, his eyes sparkling: "Big treasure? I know it's a lot of stuff."
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