Chapter 25: Requesting Funds

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Exiting the restroom, Xiao Ziguang found the truck already loaded, the flatbed stuffed with sack after sack of "rock sugar." He knew there was something fishy going on, but he didn't ask questions. He climbed silently into the driver’s seat and floored the accelerator, driving out of the Xiling Sugar Factory.

Qian Hao, having sussed out Xiao Ziguang’s temperament, took on an air of condescension: "Being a driver for us is easy. One trip a week, and the rest of the time is your own. If you want to make some extra cash, you can join the young punks riding motorcycles."

The drug market in Tianhai City was already saturated; the addicts were set in their ways, each with their own established channels. The Kong brothers, being outsiders, had to find a new path to break into the market quickly, so they had set up mobile motorcycle units to peddle the "rock sugar" everywhere.

The local big shots in Tianhai City had been making easy money, but now that Xiling Trading had muscled in, they were naturally displeased and had tipped off the authorities about the Kong brothers.

Yang Jin was hoping to solve the problem once and for all this time. He wasn't interested in catching the street-level peddlers or taking down the Kong brothers; he wanted to destroy the source—the factory itself.

That was why Xiao Ziguang had signed on with Xiling Trading. Luck was on his side; he’d followed the truck to the Xiling Sugar Factory, effectively reaching the source. All that remained was to secure the evidence.

After all, to catch a thief, you need the stolen goods; to take down a source factory, you need ironclad proof. If they launched a surprise raid only to find nothing but actual sugar, the waste of police resources and the resulting embarrassment would effectively end Yang Jin’s career.

The return trip went smoothly, with Qian Hao napping for most of the way. Back in Tianhai City, Qian Hao kicked Xiao Ziguang out of the cab and drove off, vanishing into the night.

Xiao Ziguang looked around to ensure he wasn't being watched, then ducked into a small alley, eventually appearing at Zhou Huajian’s shack.

In front of Zhou Huajian, Xiao Ziguang dialed Yang Jin’s number. "Captain Yang, I followed the truck to the Xiling Sugar Factory today. During the transaction, they used torn playing cards as tokens, and they wouldn't let me stay near the truck while they were loading."

"Also, I heard that the owner of the Xiling Sugar Factory, Qiu Changtian, burns real cash when he pays his respects to his ancestors—starting at two million..."

Yang Jin’s voice crackled through the phone’s speaker: "These are just leads at best; their veracity remains to be verified. I want you to secure definitive evidence while ensuring your own safety."

Xiao Ziguang whispered, "If that truck was indeed carrying crystal meth, the Kong brothers will definitely be moving a large shipment soon. You could keep an eye on the little motorcycles..."

"Xiao Ziguang, are you telling me how to do my job? I know how to proceed. You are just an undercover operative. If you can get evidence, good; if not, pull out. Do your job, and stop worrying about things that aren't your concern."

Yang Jin’s voice was full of irritation. A sneer of disdain curled Xiao Ziguang’s lips: "Captain Yang, you’re right. But there is one thing I need to request."

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"As the saying goes, 'Before the troops move, the supplies must go first.' To be an undercover, I have to make friends, which means wining and dining. Are you going to approve some operational funding for me?"

"A son-in-law of the Xue family, and you’re broke? Xiao Ziguang, you aren't joking with me, are you?"

Xiao Ziguang’s voice turned cold. "Even an emperor doesn't expect hungry soldiers to fight. Whether I have money or not is my business. If you don't approve the funding, I can't continue to follow this case. Captain Yang, you’d better find someone else."

Xiao Ziguang had accurately gauged Yang Jin’s mindset, so he acted as if he were ready to walk away.

"Two thousand. Two thousand at most. I’ll wire it to your card. Spend it sparingly; the Anti-Narcotics Division doesn't have a surplus."

Xiao Ziguang hung up the phone. "It’s confirmed: the Xiling Sugar Factory is manufacturing crystal meth. They are not the murderers who killed your father! This line of inquiry is no longer in doubt, so we will continue to dig into other leads."

Drug traffickers came from different factions. Zhou Huajian’s child had been injected with heroin, which was a different trade from the crystal meth here. Therefore, the Xiling Sugar Factory was not the enemy Zhou Huajian was looking for.

Zhou Huajian had already believed Xiao Ziguang’s assessment, and seeing that he wasn't hiding anything and was genuinely helping him hunt for his true enemy, he began to trust him. He pushed aside a floor tile under his bed and gestured for Xiao Ziguang to follow.

Beneath the bed was an eighty-by-eighty-centimeter opening. As Zhou Huajian climbed down, Xiao Ziguang saw a small cellar.

Under the dim light stood a workbench, with several wooden crates scattered on the floor.

Zhou Huajian smiled at Xiao Ziguang. "I’ve been preparing for this for five years. Some of these things, I’ve been buying for five years."

The crates were opened, revealing gleaming brass casings and packets of nitrocellulose.

Only a former police officer would think about how to engage in counter-surveillance. After all, there is no such thing as a perfect crime; to make an investigation more difficult, one must draw out the preparation time.

Zhou Huajian was a man with high counter-surveillance awareness. When he decided to take revenge, he had started preparing well in advance. Even if the police suspected a certain direction, the long passage of time would cause the leads to go cold.

Take these casings, for example. Originally, they were just knick-knacks sold in a craft shop. Zhou Huajian had bought them years ago; the shop had likely gone out of business by now, and that lead was effectively dead.

As long as he wasn't caught in the act, it would be as difficult as climbing to heaven for investigators to trace the murder weapon back to the suspect.

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"Don't worry about the funding. The materials I have stored here are enough to pass judgment on Qiu Changtian!" Zhou Huajian said, grabbing a handful of casings. "Give me two days, and I can reload three hundred rounds."

Hatred clouds the eyes, making a person's heart grow narrower and more prone to extremes.

Even though they had only inferred that Qiu Changtian was suspected of drug production without having concrete evidence, Zhou Huajian was already impatient, eager to vent his rage and dispense his own brand of justice.

"Brother Huajian, don't get excited yet. I understand your desire to judge the wicked, but we are currently outnumbered. With just these few things, it’s not enough to track down the killers who destroyed your family."

"So, I’ve thought of a way to make some money. See if this works!" Xiao Ziguang said, pulling a newspaper from his pocket and pointing at a photo, a grin spreading across his face.

"Xiaolingtong? Mobile phones?" Zhou Huajian yawned, not quite understanding what Xiao Ziguang was getting at.

Zhou Huajian had recently started detoxing. Relying on an iron will, he was seeing initial results. Although his spirit was a bit lethargic, his physical condition was slowly improving.

"We don't have money, but we have guns. If we want to get some operational funds, we need to find another way."

"Xiaolingtong phones are incredibly hot right now. I hear some smugglers bring them in from Hong Kong. If we find out where they’re being delivered, we can just rob them—a thief stealing from a thief..."

"Right now, the market can't get enough of them. One unit sells for a thousand. If we hijack a shipment and sell them for five hundred each, that’s a lot of money..."

Zhou Huajian narrowed his eyes. "Ziguang, the banditry in you doesn't look like that of a cop!"

"Good people don't live long, but the wicked live for a thousand years! Since we want to defeat the bad guys, we have to be worse than them." Xiao Ziguang slapped the newspaper onto the workbench. "I’ve given you the idea. Tell me, are we going to do this job and make it big?"

Zhou Huajian bit his lip for a long moment before nodding. "Then let's do this job. Let's make it big!"