Preparing to Move

Chapter 31 - Preparing to Move

The next day.

After breakfast, Li Bai was preparing to continue his cultivation when a knock came at the door.

"Anyone home? It's Officer Xiao Wang from the Public Security Bureau."

Li Bai opened the door, surprised.

It had only been a day, and one of the two police officers who had taken him to the district Public Security Bureau for a statement, the young officer Xiao Wang, was back.

"What's up?"

"Nothing major, just need you to come in for a case closure statement!"

Xiao Wang was alone outside the door; the older officer, Old Zhang, was not with him.

"Alright, just a moment."

Li Bai understood and immediately turned back to get ready to leave.

The Yao Family was involved in a major smuggling case, and they had been caught red-handed. The police's main focus was now on that case. As for the controversy surrounding Li Bai's psychological diagnostic assessment for Yao Bing, such insignificant matters were swiftly dealt with, cut short to avoid wasting time and energy.

Just as he locked the door, his landlord, Yang Fa, who lived across the hall, poked his head out and said with a grin, "Well, well, Dr. Li, off to wipe out another family?"

He said such things in front of the police without any shame, not feeling like a scoundrel at all.

The last time this guy was scared, he had held a grudge, and now he finally found an opportunity to annoy Li Bai.

"Yeah, that's right! Brother Yang, you better lock your door tight. Who knows, maybe it'll be your turn someday."

Li Bai couldn't be bothered to argue and just went along with it, making a joke.

Police Officer Xiao Wang could tell this landlord wasn't a good person and completely ignored him.

"You..." Brother Yang, getting nowhere, said with a cold laugh, "You owe rent next. We agreed on a thirty percent increase. Pay now, or should I come find you tonight? I need the money urgently!"

In Li Bai's eyes, the other man's expression was clearly a fake smile, and he had no good intentions. Li Bai pretended to be in a difficult situation and said, "Brother Yang, could you give me a few more days? I'm still a bit short on cash and need to scrape some together."

Believing he had Li Bai cornered because he was the landlord, Yang Fa raised his chin arrogantly and said, "Three days. I'll give you three days at most. If you don't have the money, move out quickly. I have plenty of people who want to rent."

"Okay, okay! Three days it is!"

Calculating that three days would be enough time to find a new place, and since he had some free time recently, Li Bai pretended to agree.

Let this guy have his fun in the sky for a while!

As they walked out of the apartment building, Police Officer Xiao Wang finally spoke, "Dealing with such a greedy landlord must be a headache, living here?"

"Can't be helped. This guy's only got eyes for money, doesn't care about people, just wants cash."

Li Bai shrugged helplessly. He had bad luck with landlords. He had only lived here for a little over a year, and his rent had increased five times. It had almost doubled from the original rent. The rental contract was long invalid, and the landlord could charge whatever he pleased.

Because of the constant price hikes, Yang Fa had argued with other tenants many times. He never bothered with things like leaks or power outages or lost items, only becoming most active when it was time to collect rent.

Due to his bad reputation, only three of the four rental apartments were currently rented out, with one unit having been vacant for over half a year and still unrented.

To cover the shortfall from the vacant unit, this stingy miser naturally preyed on the current three tenants.

Xiao Wang casually said, "Don't worry, I'll ask around if I have time. See if there are any suitable rental properties. I know this area well."

As the local police officer in charge of this area, he was used to maintaining order and conducting investigations. He had visited every household, so he was very familiar with the area and even had better information on available housing than real estate agents.

"Thank you. If you find a place, I'll treat you to a meal."

The young officer's enthusiastic help was an unexpected bonus for Li Bai.

"Alright, I don't have a car today, so I'll have to call a taxi first."

Since he was on duty alone, he couldn't use the police car, so Officer Xiao Wang planned to hail a taxi to take Li Bai to the district Public Security Bureau.

"Call a taxi? No need, ride with me!"

Li Bai then led Xiao Wang to his Santana 2000 parked by the main road of the residential community.

"Whoa, a Santana? Where did you get this car?"

Xiao Wang looked at the old car, finding it novel.

Li Bai opened the car door and said vaguely, "Just got it recently."

Though it looked dusty on the outside, the interior was still about eighty percent new. He had taken it to a car wash and had it cleaned inside and out, making it look fresh and tidy.

Compared to his last visit to the Nanhu District Public Security Bureau, where he had only seen a few people, this time the parking lot was nearly full, many police officers were coming and going in and out of the building, and fully armed special police were on standby.

Even during the day, many rooms were brightly lit, indicating that something major had happened, keeping the entire Public Security Bureau on high alert.

Li Bai's case closure statement took less than five minutes. He was asked a few questions, signed his name twice, and pressed his fingerprint. In reality, the minor trouble caused by the psychological diagnostic assessment didn't even qualify for filing a case.

"Alright, I've noted down your phone number. If I find a suitable place, I'll give you a call!"

Finally, Officer Xiao Wang also did a good deed for the public. Since he had promised earlier, he would definitely take it seriously.

"Okay, thank you, Officer Wang!"

Li Bai used a paper towel to vigorously wipe his index finger, which had been pressed into the red ink pad.

As the two of them walked out of the office where the statement was taken, Officer Old Zhang, whom Li Bai had met before, was coming towards them. He was with three other police officers, and they were talking as they walked.

"Old Zhang!"

Officer Xiao Wang greeted him proactively.

"Hello, Officer Zhang!"

Li Bai followed up with a greeting.

"Hello, Doctor Li, Xiao Wang. Are you taking a statement from Doctor Li?"

The older Officer Zhang's gaze fell on Li Bai.

The three police officers beside him nodded in greeting to Xiao Wang and Li Bai simultaneously.

"Yes! How did the interrogation of Yao Donghu go today?"

Xiao Wang recognized three of the officers accompanying Old Zhang: Sun Mu from their own bureau, Chen Chu from the Hua'an District Bureau, and the interrogation expert Jia Zixuan from the Provincial Department. All were renowned interrogation elites in Huxi City.

Old Zhang didn't mind Li Bai's presence as an unrelated person and said directly, "This guy's got a tough mouth. If we didn't have ironclad evidence, it would be really difficult to deal with him." The implication was that they had encountered a tough nut to crack.

To truly convict someone, at least one of the following was needed: a confession, witness testimony, or physical evidence. Based on the current progress, the police already had physical evidence implicating Yao Donghu in a major smuggling case and testimony from his smuggling subordinates. While this was enough to close the case, to dig deeper, follow the clues, and catch the big fish, completely severing this smuggling channel worth an annual value of one billion yuan, a detailed confession from Yao Donghu himself would be necessary.

However, the case had reached a stalemate because Yao Donghu refused to speak.

"This is going to be a protracted war! Thank you all for your hard work!"

Xiao Wang, not being part of the special task force, could only offer sympathy to the senior officers.

Prying open the mouths of such suspects was no easy task. Overtime and intense battles were inevitable, like training a hawk – whoever outlasted the other would win. As for things like Heaven and Earth Hanging, Golden Bell Shield Iron Shirt, Electric Baton Disco, and truth serum, those only existed in novels.

If they refused to speak, even a lie detector would be useless. The bigger the city, the less likely they were to resort to torture. In a provincial capital like Huxi City, it was even more impossible.

If you were unlucky enough to encounter a ruthless character, holding out for a year or a half wasn't uncommon. The Public Security system simply didn't have the time or energy to focus on a single case for extended periods; otherwise, the limited manpower of police stations would be overwhelmed.

For just the Yao Family's smuggling case, the Nanhu District Public Security Bureau had to request personnel from other district bureaus and the Provincial Department, assembling an elite temporary task force just to cope. The people within the bureau alone, cooperating with the police forces from the lower-level police stations, were already struggling to handle the endless petty crimes.

The interrogation expert from the Provincial Department, Jia Zixuan, sighed and said, "We've received a strict order from above: there must be progress within ten days, or the case will be closed."

Old Zhang and the other two looked displeased. This was a tough bone to chew.

Furthermore, the order was not only sudden but also suspicious.

It was clear that there was a big fish behind Yao Donghu, someone who could influence things at the Provincial Department level.

Sometimes, it was like this: you clearly knew where the problem lay, but you could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything to solve it.

Xiao Wang was equally helpless and could only force a smile. "You guys carry on. I'll see Doctor Li out."

As Li Bai and Xiao Wang walked out of the district Public Security Bureau building, a Costar commercial van stopped below the steps. Several police officers escorted a man and a woman out of the vehicle. The man was in a wheelchair, and his upper body was clad in a strange shirt with no visible sleeves.

Li Bai's gaze happened to meet that of the middle-aged woman.

"It's you!"

The middle-aged woman stared intently at Li Bai. Unexpectedly, she suddenly charged forward without any warning.

"Give me back my son! It's all your fault, you ruined our whole family! Die, die..."