Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 955 - 517 Why Bother_2

Chapter 955: Chapter 517 Why Bother_2

The one who was swindled had a stroke patient at home who had always been drinking the Medicinal Wine sold by Yan Fei. Now, the patient could barely walk with a cane, but that was about it; there was no need to think about working, let alone taking care of oneself.

The scam was incredibly simple. This man didn’t raise cattle for a farm; his cattle were old cows he raised himself. Because they were too old, the farms wouldn’t take them, so he took the opportunity of the upcoming New Year to sell them off at the Cattle Market.

After selling them, he felt somewhat downhearted but, of course, rural folk wouldn’t use a word like ’downhearted’—it was just a bit of a heartache. To think that the old cattle he’d raised for so many years were now exchanged for a few thousand dollars, and to imagine them being taken away to the slaughterhouse soon, it was a tough pill to swallow.

Feeling low, he walked slowly with his head down, which is when he encountered two people chatting. They were talking about some miracle cure they bought somewhere that completely healed their family member’s stroke.

When the cattle seller couldn’t help but inquire, a conversation ensued, and he ended up buying a few doses of the "miracle cure"—basically, a bunch of pills of unknown composition that were potentially Chinese medicinal materials, hand-rolled and emitting a hint of the scent of Chinese herbs.

Many people, upon hearing of someone being cheated, tend to wonder how such a simple scam could still dupe people.

But with the advent of widespread internet access and the expansion of information, people have come to realize that the world is full of incredible things. There were even scammers claiming to be reincarnations of ancient emperors who managed to deceive people!

This is a classic example of ’the deceived are the last to know.’ No matter how simple the scam, the victim had no inkling during the "transaction" of the medicine. It wasn’t until the money was gone, holding a large packet of "miracle cure" and about to head home without anyone reminding him, that he started to feel something wasn’t right.

When the fellow villagers who had come to the market as well came to find him, it dawned on him that he had really been conned. When reporting to the police station, Lin Baoguo promptly called the cattle farm and gave a brief description of the two swindlers’ clothing and general appearance, asking for help in locating them.

By the time Yan Fei reached the cattle farm, Heizi and the others were already in action, having asked around the bus station and were now using the public phone to make a call. The police officers from the station and the people from the cattle farm were all waiting, with motorcycles and vans parked by.

Of course, the swindled guy was there too, clutching a bag of medicine and crying a river.

After a few brief words, Heizi hung up the phone and said, "They got off the bus at the junction on the way to the city, less than ten minutes ago."

Such promptness in gathering this amount of information was not at all surprising. The people hanging around the bus station often did odd jobs for the cattle farm, and the station staff was familiar with the farm employees. It was easy to get information about unfamiliar faces, including the shuttle van drivers and the fare collectors, who were all acquaintances as well.

Moreover, the small buses in the township could only seat about twenty people. With the fare collector taking money from each passenger, and the bus stopping frequently along the forty-li route that could take more than half an hour to an hour, it was easy to remember the passengers.

Yan Fei’s motorcycle was still running. Without waiting for Heizi to finish speaking, he mounted his motorcycle and sped off, vanishing around the corner at the junction.

The rest didn’t fall behind; motorcycles and vans headed in the direction of the city following the chase.

When Yan Fei approached the west end of the bridge not far away, he immediately turned onto the small road leading to the county town. This time of year, the fields were open and generally empty.

Once the change was made, Xiaohei flew into the sky, glanced at the people waiting at the crossroads, and when he didn’t spot the targets, he dashed towards the city.

Calculating the time, it took him less than five minutes to get here. Even if those two had boarded another vehicle right after getting off, a ten-minute drive wouldn’t take them far. Estimating the distance, he stopped near a village beside the road and waited at the junction on his motorcycle.

During the New Year, there were more people taking rides, and there was a crowd waiting at the junction.

The buses would stop for everyone, so when a bus halted, he would just ask how many people had boarded at the junction and then take a glance inside. All the drivers running the route were used to seeing him, and recognizing his motorcycle parked beside him, everyone would answer his questions without making a fuss, even if somewhat displeased.

Yet, after stopping a few buses, Yan Fei started to feel that something was amiss. Based on the time, those people should have arrived by now if they had boarded a vehicle.

Thinking it over, he sped on his motorcycle straight to the junction—he planned to ask around again to see if anyone noticed the two men.

Because this junction was busy with people heading to the city, and the buses belonged to the government, there was a ticketing point set up at this location—not exactly a ticketing booth, but the buses had to stop here. It was mandatory for the bus driver to report the number of passengers taken on board at this stop: how many bought tickets at the station, how many were picked up along the way, and how many just boarded at the junction, then tally the total number of passengers.

On the way to the junction, Yan Fei encountered the van and Heizi with several others on motorcycles. Not wasting any time, he simply waved to signal everyone to head back to the junction.

Before everyone could make it back to the junction and explain the situation, Yan Fei’s phone rang.

Answering it, he heard Lin Baoguo say, "Xiao Fei, did you catch up with Heizi and the others? Hurry back, we caught them."

"What?" Yan Fei was startled.