Beginning with the Ubume Bird
Chapter 624 - Chapter 624 Chapter 10 Hanlin Cold Chain

Chapter 624: Chapter 10 Hanlin Cold Chain Chapter 624: Chapter 10 Hanlin Cold Chain Tuen Mun, Lo Mai Kee Restaurant.

“Wutouzi, you’ve got everyone on edge now, with the police coming around day and night for raids, our brothers can’t even do business. There are crazy rumors outside saying that you, Wutouzi, have been secretly colluding with Koreans in organ smuggling. You want my help, how can I help you?”

Zhan Guzai wore silver earrings, with a beard around his thick lips. He reeked of Gu Long cologne, his hair was gelled, and he looked out of place in a suit, his eyes unconsciously revealing a fierce aura as he spoke.

Liu Shiqing, who was wanted by the police, or Wutouzi, as he was known, adjusted his cap brim and spoke in a low voice while being vigilant of his surroundings.

“Brother Zhan Guzai, we’re sworn brothers, you can’t be so heartless and ruthless.”

“Sworn brothers or not, I’ll cover your meals and give you a place to stay. At most, I’ll give you an extra twenty thousand for you to flee. What more do you want from me?”

The two were only separated by a table; sitting opposite Wutouzi, Wenle was dressed in blue and white striped hospital attire, amusing himself with the checkers on the table, bursting into loud laughter from time to time.

Zhan Guzai glared coldly at Wenle, and with a nudge of his chin towards Wutouzi asked, “Where did you find such an idiot?”

“Eh, Brother Zhan Guzai, don’t speak nonsense, he hates it the most when people call him an idiot.”

“It’s fine.”

Wenle picked up some checkers with both hands, smiling, “Your friend, huh? I’ll let him say it three times.”

“Stop messing around with me.”

Zhan Guzai knocked on the table forcefully.

“All in all, I can’t help you. Don’t come looking for me anymore.”

“Yes, I understand. Brother Zhan Guzai, you’re a businessman now. Who’s that big boss you know? What’s his name?”

Wutouzi thought for a moment, then slapped his thigh, “Yang Baojin of Huamao Group, right!”

At the mention of the name, Zhan Guzai’s face tightened, and the gangsters in suits at several nearby tables stood up abruptly, looking threatening.

Zhan Guzai leaned back in his chair, took a cigar from his chest pocket, snipped off the cap, and while putting on a forced smile, said to Wutouzi, “Sheng Ji nowadays relies on Miss Yang for food; anyone who messes with Huamao is tampering with our livelihood. What were you about to say? Make it clear.”

“Brother Zhan Guzai, I’m at the end of my rope. Show me a way out.”

Wutouzi took out a leather case from under the table and placed it in front of Zhan Guzai, “I just need the brothers to help me out a bit, this is a bit of a tip. Huamao has such a huge business, how could we dare touch it? But you know, Brother Zhan Guzai, those rich people are most afraid of trouble. If you bring trouble to Huamao, will Huamao still support you? Just think about it.”

Zhan Guzai pursed his lips and opened the suitcase, which was filled with stacks of Hong Kong dollars.

“…”

Zhan Guzai closed the zipper, “First, tell me what kind of help you need?”

“There’s a batch of goods coming from Cambodia. I’ve gotten into trouble and am being closely watched by the police. I want your men to help me look after this batch. I’ll come for it later. There’ll be a handsome reward.”

Zhan Guzai idly tapped the suitcase, “What kind of goods?”

Wenle, engrossed in playing with his glass marbles and checkers, said, “Corpses.”

——————————–

“The discovery of such a horrific crime in the cold storage facilities of Hanlin Cold Chain has left me profoundly shocked and angry. At the same time, I want to offer my sincerest apologies to all business partners of Hanlin, as well as to the general public of Hong Kong.”

Camera flashes were like bullets being fired.

Xue Wenhai, the Chairman of Hanlin Cold Chain, bowed deeply in front of the cameras, his face pale.

“Mr. Xue, it’s said that you refused police inspection of Hanlin’s other cold storages. There are claims that these facilities might also be suspected of hiding corpses. Is that true?”

Without hesitation, Xue Wenhai responded, “That’s a rumor. In fact, Hanlin had already opened all cold storage facilities to the police. Right after the incident, we immediately checked all the goods in our cold storage. This must be an isolated case.”

He bowed again, “The police have uncovered leads showing this case may be connected to an organ smuggling ring in South Korea. One of the suspects, Li Anchao, committed suicide out of fear of his crimes at his home this morning. Another suspect, Liu Shiqing, is on the run. I deeply regret my poor choice of personnel, which has hurt the feelings of the general public. Hanlin is willing to offer a reward of five million Hong Kong dollars for any information on the whereabouts of Liu Shiqing.”

The reporters had prepared a barrage of tricky questions, but the mention of a five million dollar reward immediately caught their attention. After all, that title was catchy enough.

“Mr. Xue, you said the five million reward is completely open to the public?”

“It’s open, no matter who finds Liu Shiqing, Hanlin will transfer the money immediately.”

In just half a day’s time, Mr. Xue’s statement had been reprinted by various newspapers, and topics such as “International crime syndicate smuggling organs” and “Hanlin’s Chairman offers a five million reward” became popular topics of conversation over tea and dinner.

Bang!

Li Yaoguang stormed in, pushing the door open angrily.

“What’s with the newspapers? What is this about organ smuggling? Have we closed the case? On what grounds does Xue Wenhai spout nonsense to the media?!”

Police Commissioner Chen, whose shoulders bore the insignia of two stars and a flower, set down his coffee cup and said calmly, “It was you and I who suspected that it involved organ smuggling.”

“I merely suspected, there were no conclusions, let alone I never mentioned those details in the newspapers!”

Li Yaoguang said, slapping the newspaper on the table.

“Right, the details were provided by me.”

Police Commissioner Chen walked away from the desk, closed the door, and locked the floating window, preventing other officers from spectating.

“Uncle, I’m your superior now. Could you leave me some face, please?”

Li Yaoguang glared at Police Commissioner Chen, and after a long silence, he let out a sigh, turned his face away, and muttered, “Boss, I don’t understand.”

“Uncle, first let me ask you, do you have any progress?”

“Yes!”

Li Yaoguang pulled out a photo of a tall, skinny youth in a blood-stained shirt.

“This guy was suspected to be associated with a Mafia robbery case three years ago, but since all the parties involved died, and someone paid for his protection, it eventually fizzled out. The Qian Wu we arrested insisted that the young man who killed Huamao’s General Manager Chen Zhengcong is this very person! And I checked, the one who bailed him out three years ago was Huamao’s Chairman Yang Baojin–this guy must be trouble.”

“So where is he now?”

asked Police Commissioner Chen.

“Find Yang Baojin, and naturally you can find out this man’s whereabouts.”

Police Commissioner Chen let out a wry smile, “Think about it, will Yang Baojin play dumb? What will you do then, detain her for forty-eight hours?”

“Then we investigate, seal off all the ports, until we find this person.”

“How much time have you given yourself to investigate, Uncle? Do you realize how much media impact this case has right now? The higher-ups demand that we solve the case this month. Huamao Group and Hanlin Cold Chain are both pressuring us to close the case early. If I don’t provide some reliable leads to the higher-ups, how am I supposed to report back?”

“Forget Hanlin for now; Huamao lost a general manager. Instead of demanding a thorough investigation, they’re asking for the case to be closed–that raises even more questions!”

“That Chen Zhengcong was hated by everyone at Huamao, do you know how he became the general manager? It’s only natural for Huamao to want to downplay the incident now. At most, by the end of this month, if you can’t resolve this conclusively, I’ll only be able to apologize to you, Uncle.”

“…”

Li Yaoguang remained silent for a moment, then let out a sigh and walked out. He’d already behaved excessively, and if it weren’t for his seniority and prestige, Police Commissioner Chen could have easily suspended him. If the case really couldn’t be solved, he would have to listen to Police Commissioner Chen and find some passable reason to close the case early.

“Also, that Qian Wu you arrested, Xue Wenhai from Hanlin Cold Chain wants to pay for his bail, and I’ve agreed to it. You go back and release him early; he’s a man in his fifties. If he were to suddenly suffer a stroke or heart attack and die in the police station, that would be troublesome.”

“Understood.”

Li Yaoguang replied without turning back.

A group of officers saw Li Yaoguang coming out and gathered around.

“Li sir, what’s the situation?”

Li Yaoguang took out Li Yan’s photo and waved it in front of everyone: “Find this person!”