The night was deep, yet the lights in the house opposite were still on. Faintly, you could hear Wang Xiaoyan arguing with Liu Jie inside. Having tracked them from Dujiang, Director Huang and Officer Xiao Li were eavesdropping from the opposite side, while Zhao Hongxing and Liu Guixiang sat in the car awaiting a call.

The local police station colleagues also showed up and were dozing off in the back of the van.

The local police investigation revealed that Liu Jie was not just a wandering troublemaker but had been repeatedly penalized by the police for gambling. He even suspected his opponent of cheating during a gambling session, leading to a fight where he injured his opponent and was sentenced to six months by the Wujiang Court.

For someone with multiple detentions and even a half-year sentence in a detention center, one has to be extremely cautious without solid evidence, or it’s hard to bring them to justice.

Keeping an eye like this, who knows how long it would last.

To solve the series of ship thefts on the river, the Water Police Station and Changhang Bureau had invested a lot of police force. Director Wang and Director Qi didn’t want to drag it out any longer and decided to adopt Han Yu’s suggestion to urgently stage a big drama, aiming to scare Liu Jie.

The first step was to make Liu Jie realize the gravity of the situation!

In other words, to make Liu Jie feel how much the police headquarters valued the series of ship thefts over the past six months.

Zhao Hongxing took out his cellphone to check the time, pondering when the Border Guards led by Li Jun would arrive. Director Huang stealthily walked over, crouching, opened the car door gently, and squeezed in.

"Director Huang, were they just arguing?"

"Just finished."

"Why were they arguing?" Zhao Hongxing asked curiously.

Director Huang laughed, "Because of money, why else."

Liu Guixiang instinctively asked, "Uneven distribution of the spoils?"

"That’s not it."

Director Huang glanced at the house opposite and explained, "Liu Jie seemed to have borrowed ten thousand from Wang Xiaoyan, under the pretext of needing funds for coal business. With the new year approaching, Wang Xiaoyan wanted to return home and asked Liu Jie for the money. Liu Jie said he didn’t have it now, planning to repay after the new year. Wang Xiaoyan didn’t agree, hence the argument ensued."

"How could Liu Jie not have money?"

"I found it odd too. Could it really be a coincidence that every time thefts occurred in your jurisdiction, he happened to be in Binjiang?"

"There’s no such thing as coincidence like that, especially when he also appeared near the crime scene waters!"

Zhao Hongxing pondered for a moment, then asked again: "What else did they say just now?"

"Wang Xiaoyan might not just want to go home for the new year; her husband’s three-year work contract abroad is about to end and he will return after the Spring Festival. The ten thousand lent to Liu Jie should be money her husband earned working hard abroad, she must be worried about explaining it when he returns."

Director Huang paused, then added, "Wang Xiaoyan asked Liu Jie to sell the van, but Liu Jie said the travel permit for the van wasn’t under his name, couldn’t be transferred, and thus was hard to sell. He also said the van was old, so even if someone wanted to buy it, it wouldn’t fetch a good price."

"Then what?" Zhao Hongxing asked.

"Then Wang Xiaoyan started calculating the old accounts, saying she closed her hair salon back home, and spent so much money after coming to Wujiang with him, scolding Liu Jie as a big liar."

"What did Liu Jie say?"

"Liu Jie said he spent a lot of money too, taking her to places, eating and having fun..."

A pair of adulterers, lavishly spending when they had money, starting to argue after it’s gone—truly a sign of declining morals.

Zhao Hongxing wasn’t sure what to say, when suddenly his phone vibrated.

He glanced at the caller ID, pressed the answer key, and raised the phone to his ear.

"Li Jun, where are you guys? Okay, we’re at the intersection, we’ll act once you arrive."

"Director Zhao, really going to arrest?" Director Huang couldn’t help but ask.

"No time to waste on him anymore, let’s catch him and talk later." Zhao Hongxing put down the phone and said, "Xiao Chen, go inform the people at the police station."

"Okay."

As Officer Xiao Chen got out of the car, headlights appeared in front.

After waiting for about two minutes, three armed police vehicles slowly approached and stopped to the left of the Santana borrowed by the Water Police Station and Smuggling Crime Investigation Branch Intelligence Department.

Zhao Hongxing opened the car door, shook hands with the Chief of Staff of the border inspection station, Li Jun, turned around and saw the colleagues from the police station approaching, then led everyone with big strides across the road, heading straight for the house rented by the target.

To capture a suspect involved in theft, the Changhang police and local police at Binjiang not only deployed numerous forces but also called in eight armed police with live ammunition!

The experienced local police officers couldn’t believe what they were seeing, thinking the suspect inside might be involved in more than just theft, when suddenly there was a "bang" sound as Zhao Hongxing kicked open the door.

"Who is it!"

"What are you doing..."

"Don’t move, we are the police!"

Liu Guixiang rushed into the house, instantly spotting Liu Jie lying in bed under the bright flashlight wielded by Xiao Chen. With an unloaded gun pressed against Liu Jie’s head, he sternly asked: "What’s your name?"

Liu Jie, unable to open his eyes under the glaring flashlight, nervously replied, "Liu Jie."

"Do you know why we’re arresting you?"

"I don’t know, are you the police, are you officers? You must have the wrong person."

"Wrong person? You’re exactly who we’re looking for!"

Liu Guixiang yanked Liu Jie from the bed to the floor; meanwhile, Wang Xiaoyan let out a scream and tightly clutched the blanket over her head, clearly scared out of her wits.