Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 113 The Big Fish

Li Xing pointed at him with his chopsticks and said, "Someone like you would get killed inside. You're good at causing trouble but not at letting it go. If you weren't so arrogant and cocky, would things have turned out like this today? You think this has nothing to do with you? Damn it. Tell me first, where did you get the money to treat us to dinner today?"

Old Jue licked his lips but didn't say anything.

Li Xing ate a dumpling and said to An Laowu, "Fifth Brother, it's a bit cold, can you heat it up?" An Laowu said, "Sure, I've been so confused lately that I forgot about this. Is the food cold too? I'll heat it up for you." In the cold winters of Northeast China, the food often needs to be heated up several times during a meal at a restaurant.

Li Xing put down his chopsticks and said to Lao Jue, "Come on, tell me the truth. There's no benefit in lying to me."

Old Jue looked up at Li Xing, then lowered his head and said, "I won in billiards."

Li Xing asked, "Where did you play billiards? How long did you play? How much did you win?" In Northeast China, gambling is arguably the most lucrative business for police stations. Even a game of mahjong that costs 50 cents can result in a fine of 3,000 or 2,000 yuan. If you win over a thousand this time, you definitely won't be out of the police station without at least 5,000 or 7,000 yuan.

Xia Maosheng said to the blind man Qu, who was still sitting there, "Hey, blind man, hurry up and go. Cover your head with your cotton hat and go to the hospital. You guys go with him."

The three men in cotton-padded jackets looked at each other, helped the blind man Qu away, and the blind man Qu didn't insist on staying. No one was stupid.

After Li Xing and the others left, he said to Lao Jue, "Come on, everyone's gone. Now tell me, where did the money come from? Don't tell me you won it playing billiards. Are you Davis? I don't know how big the stakes are in this area. Tell me, who's betting thousands with you? Who has that kind of money? I usually have to borrow money to play a few dollars, damn it."

Old Jue kept his head down and didn't say a word. Li Xing said, "You're not going to talk? Fine, you're tough. We'll talk at the police station later. Let's see how tough you really are."

Old Jue looked up at Li Xing, licked his lips, and stammered, "If I say it here, does that count as turning myself in?"

Li Xing's eyes lit up, and he nodded, saying, "Okay, go ahead."

Old Jue said, "A couple of days ago, I got a motorcycle with some other people and sold it for about two thousand yuan. We split it in half, but we haven't spent much of it yet, so I'm a little reluctant to part with it."

Li Xing asked, "What kind of car? Where did you get it from?"

Old Jue said, "It's a Wuyang Honda, 125cc, brought back from Jinzhou."

Li Xing asked, "Where did it go?"

Old Jue shook his head and said, "I don't know him. I just mentioned it to him that day, and he said he wanted to take a look at the car, and then he bought it."

Li Xing nodded. It seemed finding a buyer was going to be tough. These days there were no security cameras; if you weren't familiar with someone, you might turn around and never see them again.

"Where's the person you were with? Where are they from?"

"He's in Jinzhou, maybe over there. His family is from Beizhen."

"From Beizhen? Why would someone from Beizhen come all this way? How do you two know each other?"

"We met in Jinzhou, got along well, and that's how it ended."

Have you been to his house?

Old Jue shook his head and said, "No, what am I going there for? It's so far. He only brought this one vehicle for this one trip. It's too cold, so two people have to take turns riding it. One person can't handle it, and besides, we have to split the money."

"What's his name? Which part of Beizhen is he from?"

"Zhou Maoxing, I think he's from Erdaohao, but I'm not sure, I just overheard him say that."

After finishing his call, Liu Huasheng came over and asked, "What happened? What motorcycle did I hear? What kind of vehicle?" He was on the phone and didn't hear what was being said.

Li Xing pointed at Lao Jue and said, "You got a steal, damn it! This guy got his money by stealing and selling motorcycles, a Wuyang Honda 125. This is a big case, those motorcycles cost over 20,000 yuan each."

Liu Huasheng was taken aback, then clapped his hands and laughed, "Damn, a meal can lead to a big case! My luck's on! It's on me today, haha."

Li Xing pointed to the counter and said, "Go get paper and pen, let's interrogate them."

Liu Huasheng turned and walked towards the counter, saying, "Right, right, make a note of it, haha."

Li Xing waved his hand and said, "Use this to write."

Liu Huasheng took his pen and notebook, walked to the table, sat down, and asked, "How do I write this?"

Li Xing thought for a moment and then recounted the questioning process, but this made it seem like Liu Huasheng was asking the questions, which was perfectly reasonable.

After Liu Huasheng finished writing quickly, he turned to ask An Laowu, "Fifth Brother, do you have an inkpad? Let him put his handprint on it."

An Laowu said, "Yes, I'll find it for you." He rummaged through the counter for a while and found a small box of inkstones. Liu Huasheng had the old man sign and put his fingerprint on it. This kid does have a good name, An Peng.

If this were today, such an interrogation record would be invalid and unrecognizable. But back then, let alone an interrogation in a restaurant, you could just book a room in a hotel and it would be fine. As for the record, a fingerprint was enough.

An Laowu went to the back and called his wife and the versatile young man to come out and tidy up. They heated up the dishes and dumplings for Xiaowei and the others and brought them up. Li Xing then started urging Liu Huasheng to drink. Xia Maosheng said, "Tiezi, don't let Shengzi drink today. Fifth Brother, get some tea leaves for Shengzi to chew on. He has to go back to the station to take care of some business later. It's not good for him to drink too much."

Liu Huasheng sat down, picked up his chopsticks, and mumbled, "I won't stay with you. I need to eat my fill so I can go back and take care of my business." He lowered his head and began to eat, though the others had been so focused on drinking that they hadn't actually eaten much.

He finished eating, put down his chopsticks, rinsed his mouth with tea, scooped up a handful of tea leaves and chewed them, and then the police station's car arrived.

Liu Huasheng folded the interrogation record, stuffed it into his pocket, said goodbye, and took Lao Jue and the half-dead Wei Hong into the car to go back to the police station. This was quite an achievement.

An Laowu's wife and the young man tidied up the house and left without a word, changing their clothes and grabbing their bags. An Laowu called out to them a few times, but they didn't respond. An Laowu smiled sullenly. These days, the better off you are in society, the more afraid you are of your wife. It's really strange.

After eating and drinking their fill, An Laowu refused to accept any money. The three of them said goodbye to An Laowu, took their toothpicks, and left the restaurant for the guesthouse.

On the way, Li Xing asked, "Are you two really going to open a restaurant?"

Xia Maosheng said, "Really? You can't joke about this, can you?"

Li Xing nodded and said, "Okay, when it opens, I'll invite the police station over for a drink, just in case something happens later. You should have your aunt invite a few big eaters, so the police station knows what's going on. These days, things are complicated."

There were several video rental shops around them. A middle-aged woman, wrapped in a military overcoat and carrying a bag, sat by the door, a coal stove burning beside her. Above the door was a speaker playing the audio of a video rental shop, spoken in a Hong Kong or Taiwan accent. In those days of limited information access, this accent sounded quite impressive.