National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 616 - 560

Chapter 616: 560

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The Jiang family father and son had identified the problem, but didn’t rush to point it out.

They stuck to the plan, slaughtering a cow and two sheep at the ranch, and after loading them onto the truck, they were eager to get back to Ningtai County.

The ranch manager worked hard to help, and now he brought over the contract, saying, "Boss, the feed the ranch needs to buy and the milk that needs to be delivered can only get sorted out after the contracts are signed."

Jiang Fuzhen smacked his forehead as if he had just remembered something, saying, "I was just saying I should ask someone. I was thinking of calling a lawyer over to have a look at the contract. Let’s head back, and I’ll bring someone over later to get everything signed."

The ranch manager didn’t care about hiring a lawyer since there was essentially nothing wrong with the contract itself. Some details were even quite favorable to the ranch’s interests. He was only in it for the money and didn’t want the ranch to go out of business.

But if the new boss’s new contracts weren’t signed promptly, the money he used to get easily would now be difficult to obtain.

With a sense of helplessness, the ranch manager said, "Some contracts aren’t urgent, but some really are, like the warehouse repair—the roof has already started leaking. It’ll be troublesome if it rains. Also, the alfalfa is cheap right now, we need to buy a batch to mix in..."

"Xiao Wang," Jiang Fuzhen didn’t let him continue, speaking earnestly, "don’t rush. Whatever needs to be done around the ranch, just arrange to do it. For things like repairs and buying supplies, pay cash and get an invoice. Report it to finance for reimbursement, just the way it was done before. There’s no rush to sign contracts. If I let this beef sit much longer, it won’t be fresh anymore. I was hoping to treat everyone to hotpot beef tonight, and there isn’t much time left..."

Posing as a wasteful magnate unconcerned with wealth, Jiang Fuzhen left the ranch manager utterly unable to resist.

His previous boss was business-oriented, relying on ranch profits to sustain the company and afford his mistress. Money matters always made the boss anxious, and since he lacked industry knowledge and didn’t visit the ranch often, he was easily fooled by Manager Wang Fang.

Now, with Jiang Fuzhen adopting an attitude of "I’m not short on money, I’m just eager to taste this delicacy," Wang Fang was at a loss, unclear on how to proceed and unsure of how to deal with the situation.

Jiang Fuzhen, with Jiang Yuan in tow, got into the car. Before leaving, he instructed, "Make sure you take good care of the cattle and sheep in the ranch. That’s the most important thing. Don’t be too tight with expenses. Oh, and when you have time, buy some chickens, ducks, and geese to keep here. Choose good breeds and don’t feed them commercial feed—we’ll eat them ourselves."

"Okay," the ranch manager could only comply, asking, "So should I buy twenty or thirty of each?"

"Get a hundred of each. Get more chickens if you like, even two or three hundred is fine," Jiang Fuzhen said as he started the car.

Once the car was on the national highway, Jiang Yuan chuckled and said, "Dad, you’re really patient."

"What’s there to be impatient about? He ruined the ranch, and I don’t care. Between office staff and workers, the ranch has twenty or thirty people, and it’s hard to tell who got the money and who didn’t. When we get back, we’ll have ways to deal with them."

"What are you planning?"

"I was thinking..." Jiang Fuzhen grinned, driving and speaking, "I thought I’d give Boss Liu a call. His ranch has been running at a loss for three years, but if nobody was stealing, it might actually be profitable..."

Jiang Yuan nodded along.

"A profitable ranch and a losing one, that’s two different prices right there. Add a bit of new and old grudges, and we provide evidence to him..." Jiang Fuzhen mused, "If he is willing to pay an extra thirty or fifty percent to buy it back, I’ll sell the ranch to him. We can just buy another one later on. The new purchase of a hundred or so cattle could be considered a bonus. After that, whatever Boss Liu wants to do with that guy is his business. We can make a profit of thirty or fifty percent with peace of mind..."

Jiang Yuan nodded, thinking it sounded pretty good. Money gained effortlessly is nothing to complain about.

Of course, it was a bit excessive for the manager to lie to their face, but Jiang Yuan supposed the previous ranch owner, Comrade Liu, would be even more furious—after all, selling anger could be profitable too.

When Jiang Fuzhen got home, he first wrote down a few key points on paper, then picked up the landline to call Boss Liu.

Jiang Yuan sat by his side and listened. At first, he couldn’t hear what was said over the phone. After a quick exchange, the voice in the receiver grew louder.

Jiang Fuzhen held the phone slightly away from his ear and, covering one side of the receiver with his hand, smiled at Jiang Yuan, "Boss Liu is worried about money."

Jiang Yuan couldn’t help but smile. Indeed, not everyone had the income from property demolition like Liu, who, realizing his three years of losses were fabricated, must have been devastated. Yet what probably infuriated him more was the fluctuation in the ranch’s value.

The voice on the phone gradually softened, and Jiang Fuzhen said, "I’ll ask my son about it," before hanging up.

After the call, Jiang Fuzhen shook his head with a smile, saying, "Boss Liu wants to think about it. I bet he wants to investigate how much that kid siphoned off first before he makes a decision."

"That’s normal," Jiang Yuan said. The profitability of the ranch determined its value, which in turn, to some extent, depended on how much Manager Wang Fang embezzled.

Furthermore, the methods of embezzlement are actually also quite significant. For instance, deliberately reporting losses could indirectly increase the ranch’s expenses.

As for Jiang Fuzhen, it doesn’t matter to him when he deals with Wang Fang or even whether he deals with him at all.

Even if Wang Fang embezzled a lot of money, the one entitled to claim it back is the original owner, Boss Liu. As the new buyer, Jiang Fuzhen can’t claim the previous profits.

On the other hand, it’s highly likely that Wang Fang won’t run away, even if he senses trouble. He is too attached to his position to give it up.

So, Jiang Fuzhen really did take Jiang Yuan downstairs to deal with the cattle and the sheep first.

The newly purchased cattle hadn’t been raised for very long, but they were of an excellent breed, high-purity Angus Cattle, with entirely black bodies and calm-looking faces.

However, compared to cattle that have been fattened over a long period, these younger frame cattle aren’t as plump, especially the meat from their legs and rumps. Ordinary boiling or grilling won’t taste that great, but it is more suitable for hotpot dishes in the Teochew beef style.

The chef, who had been called in advance, quickly got busy under the direction of Jiang Fuzhen.

The next day.

Jiang Yuan made another call to Huang Qiangmin.

After listening, Huang Qiangmin pondered for a moment, then said, "That’s fine, let Wu Junhao help you keep an eye on things, and by the way, let them get some air."

"Did something happen?" Jiang Yuan was somewhat surprised, but also anticipated this possibility.

"These past few days, there’ve been meetings at the county and within the bureau, and with foreign guests visiting, Director Chai has assigned a whole squad to stand guard, a bit of overkill," Huang Qiangmin paused, then added, "Even without your situation, I was planning to assign them work to get them out of the way for a bit."

Standing guard isn’t a big deal; when manpower is short, those who are needed must go. Some big cities even require police assistance for concerts. But the criminal police are the busiest and their work is critical. Normally, they wouldn’t be used for such tasks unless there was a real shortage of personnel.

The actions of Chai Tong carried a punitive nature, to some extent.

Wu Junhao often worked with Jiang Yuan and had a somewhat fiery temperament—perhaps these were the reasons he was chosen for this task.

"Alright then. Have Captain Wu come over for some fun; I’ll treat them to a roasted whole lamb." Jiang Yuan didn’t ask too many questions. He had the system’s help and had acquired many techniques, but among the ones he learned, he didn’t possess the skill to navigate the political landscape. All things considered, the most useful might be something akin to "toddler communication skills."

Wu Junhao arrived quickly, bringing two vehicles and a total of six people.

Jiang Yuan didn’t say much and, taking his father along, they sped off toward the ranch.

Wang Fang had no idea what the group was there for and assumed Jiang Yuan’s police friends just wanted to visit the ranch.

Jiang Yuan didn’t explain either, and briskly led Wu Junhao and the others into the office area. Then Wu Junhao shouted, "Everyone stop what you’re doing, police! Stay away from the keyboards, don’t touch the mouse, do you hear me?"

Being a cop for a long time gives one’s voice an authoritative edge. The white-collar workers at the ranch were caught unprepared and didn’t even understand what was happening—they were led out in a matter of seconds.

A group was temporarily confined to the conference room, while Wu Junhao and his team packed up computers and various files and loaded them onto the vehicles.

Wang Fang was so frantic he was hopping mad, approaching Jiang Yuan and asking, "Boss, what... what’s going on here?"

"Just cooperate," was all Jiang Yuan said.

Although most minor officials involved in embezzlement lack real counter-surveillance abilities, who knows, what if Wang Fang was a criminal genius?

Wu Junhao and his team felt the same way. These past few days, they had been overworked and assigned tedious and annoying tasks, which left them feeling frustrated. This time they showed up shining bald heads, one hand carrying a computer tower, striding boldly, appearing even more formidable than when they closed down Jianyuan Group.

Only Wang Fang didn’t believe in himself. He took two steps back, leaned against the wall, his eyes wide open, his lips so dry they were peeling.