My autobiography is definitely not a tragedy!
Chapter 133 - 111: There’s a Problem with the Box

Chapter 133: Chapter 111: There’s a Problem with the Box

Hang City, Zhujia Corner.

In an antiquely decorated tea house, Wang Zhao Ping tossed a peanut into his mouth, but his eyes were fixed on the doorway on the opposite side of the street.

In front of the door stood two stone lions, and the red-painted wooden door showed the age of the residence through the color of its bricks.

"Captain Wang! I checked. Number 324 Zhujia Corner, currently registered to a Ma Liang, male, age 53, originally from Jinmen, and he has no criminal record."

Qin Xiaoru, sitting next to him, closed her notebook as she spoke.

"Ma Liang? Who else lives in the household?"

"No one else."

"No one else?"

"Yes, there’s only him on the household registration. However, he is divorced, and it seems like his ex-wife and two sons have moved abroad."

"Living alone? Suspicious!" Wang Zhao Ping stroked his chin.

In his fifties, living alone in an old house without any relatives, this could either be a result of life’s pressures or because living alone was more convenient...

"Captain, making assumptions just because someone lives alone is a bit hasty, isn’t it? There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of people living alone in the city."

"We assume there’s a problem here first, then work backwards from there. That just proves there’s a problem!"

"So, Captain, where exactly did you get your information? You never mentioned we had an intelligence network in Hang City?" Qin Xiaoru asked skeptically.

"Exclusive news, and that’s confidential! How could I tell you that?"

"Not telling me? I can guess – it must be those ’Chaoyang People’ again, right?

Darn it, you leave me to handle interviews while you go off to investigate the ’Chaoyang People’ solo. Captain, that’s really not very upright of you!"

"Don’t talk nonsense. What do you mean solo? I brought you along, didn’t I? If we crack this case, you’ll share in the credit."

"Just don’t let it be like last time. You said we were catching antiquities dealers, and it turned into a murder case, remember?"

"What are you talking about? Have you watched too many cartoons? How could we be so lucky to stumble upon murders everywhere we go?" Wang Zhao ping rolled his eyes.

"Creak~" Just then, the wooden door across the street opened, and a middle-aged man dressed in a Tang suit and wearing a Buddhist bead bracelet walked out.

The two of them immediately turned their attention towards him.

"Captain, just like in the photo, that’s him!" Qin Xiaoru whispered.

Seeing Ma Liang, with his Buddha beads swinging in his hand, walking out from the alley, Wang Zhao Ping put down his teacup.

"Let’s follow him!"

The two followed Ma Liang for about ten minutes, arriving at a bustling antique street.

"Master Ma! Out for a stroll again?"

"Yes! The weather is nice today."

"Master Ma, I just got these Ming Dynasty ancient coins yesterday, could you take a look for me?"

"Not bad, well imitated."

He looked around here and there, occasionally picking up some antiques from the stalls and chatting with the vendors, looking like a regular visitor.

"Brother, may I ask, is Master Ma well-known around here? It seems like a lot of people know him."

Wang Zhao Ping approached the vendor they had just spoken to, smiling and offering him a cigarette.

"Oh! Don’t misunderstand, I’ve just got a small item that I wanted to have appraised by a reliable expert to avoid getting duped."

"I see..." The vendor took the cigarette, without giving it much thought.

"Then you’ve asked the right person. Master Ma is a well-known expert on this street, especially for goods from the Ming and Qing periods. His judgement is excellent!" the man said, raising his thumb.

"Is that so? Thanks, brother."

Leaving the stall, Wang Zhao Ping and Qin Xiaoru exchanged glances.

Regardless of how accurate the information was this time, at least they had linked the man to antiques.

They followed Ma Liang for a short while, until he entered an unassuming antique shop.

Wang Zhao Ping looked at the sign, "Jingfu House," which was filled with various porcelains, calligraphies, and other antiques.

The two entered the shop, simulating the behavior of curious tourists, occasionally picking up an item and inquiring about its price with the staff.

After a while, Ma Liang and the shop owner came out from the back room, Ma Liang carrying a small box in his hands.

As Ma Liang walked past them, Wang Zhao Ping’s ears twitched slightly.

The owner, smiling warmly, enthusiastically saw Ma Liang to the door.

"Master Ma, take care, and please come again whenever you find good items."

"Sure thing!" Ma Liang smiled and bowed slightly as he left the store.

Ma Liang did not pay much attention to Wang Zhao Ping and the other individual, as the antique street was crowded with a considerable flow of people and naturally many tourists.

The two lingered for a while but eventually left the store and continued to follow Ma Liang.

Half an hour later...

"Captain, this guy looks like just a regular antique enthusiast. Are we just going to follow him around blindly?" Qin Xiaoru couldn’t help but ask.

The man had already visited seven or eight antique stores, varying the length of his stays and had also picked up two packaged boxes. He seemed no different from an ordinary cultural relic enthusiast shopping.

"That’s why I say you’re still green. As criminal police, we need to watch more, listen more, think more. You think he’s ordinary, but I think we may have found the right target!" A glint flashed through Wang Zhao Ping’s eyes.

"Hmm? Captain, what did you discover?"

"Hehe! Did you notice whether he paid for those two items on his hands or not?"

"Paid?" Qin Xiaoru paused for a moment and then began to recall carefully.

"Nowadays, most stores use QR code payments. Just now...it seems he didn’t use his phone to pay."

"But that doesn’t prove anything, right? Maybe he’s just familiar with those two store owners?"

"Even sworn brothers settle accounts clearly, and there’s no reason to buy cultural relics on credit. Moreover...when I brushed past him just now, I heard a faint metallic clinking sound. Guess what that was?"

"Metallic clinking sound? What?"

"I guess gold bars!"

"Gold bars?" Qin Xiaoru exclaimed.

"Large transactions. Tracing can be left through bank transfers, and cash transactions are not convenient.

At such times, if one doesn’t want to carry a large amount of cash and arouse suspicion, many black market dealers carry a few gold bars. It’s convenient to carry and very discreet," Wang Zhao Ping analyzed with the experience of an old driver.

"Are you saying they just completed a transaction using gold bars? Could the boxes contain illegal relics then?

Is it? They’re just carrying items around brazenly?"

"The deeper secret is hidden in plain sight. Compared to sneaking around, such a transaction done openly is less likely to attract attention. If it were you, would you have thought of that?"

"Hmm! Makes sense. So, you’re saying that the person might indeed be a relic trafficker?

What do we do now? Go up and confiscate the person and the goods?"

"I’m just speculating. There’s no concrete certainty, can’t act on him yet. Let’s observe a little longer."

No sooner had Wang Zhao Ping finished speaking than he noticed that the target had already left the antique street and flagged down a taxi on the road.

"Quick, follow!" The two hastily went to the roadside and hailed a taxi as well.

Ten minutes later, the taxi in front of them took a detour and surprisingly returned to Zhujia Corner.

"Is it? Just this short distance and they needed a taxi?"

After getting off, Qin Xiaoru, looking at Ma Liang leisurely walking back home, spoke speechlessly.

"Not right! There’s something wrong with the boxes!" Wang Zhao Ping’s expression suddenly changed.

"Boxes?" Qin Xiaoru looked towards Ma Liang, who still held the same two boxes, which seemed unproblematic.

"They’re too light. I’ve observed the swing amplitude carefully just now, they clearly had something heavy inside, but now...they’re too light!"

"Hmm?" Qin Xiaoru observed for a moment more, and indeed, the amplitude of the boxes’ swinging was a bit large, as if they weighed almost nothing.

"Could it be..."

"The taxi just now!" Both of them simultaneously thought of the answer.

"It seems that the car was his contact, responsible for moving the items! One responsible for appraisal, the other for sending the items away... It’s definitely a gang," Wang Zhao Ping analyzed.

"Damn! We didn’t note down the license plate number!" Qin Xiaoru said annoyed.

"No worries! I did. Zhe AXXXXXX!"

Qin Xiaoru was stunned.

Wang Zhao Ping smiled and winked at her. "This is why you still have a lot of basic skills to learn."

After that, he pulled out his phone and called the local Hang City police.

"Hello! Elder Lin, this is Wang Zhao Ping. I need some assistance with a case... Yes! The license plate number is... "

...

Three hours later...

"Dong dong!" The door of Zhujia Corner 324 was knocked on.

Just woken up and still a bit groggy, Ma Liang just opened the door.

"Mr. Ma Liang? Hello, I’m Wang Zhao Ping from the detective squad. You are now suspected of illegal antique trafficking; please cooperate with our investigation. Here is the search warrant."

Seeing the stern Wang Zhao Ping and several police officers behind him, Ma Liang suddenly felt utterly awake and his heart sank...