Li Long invited Officer Guo into the Big Courtyard and said with a smile:
"I just got back from the mountains. It's a bit of a mess here, so don't mind it."
"What's there to mind? You've got a nice place here. I'm rather envious." Officer Guo smiled as he looked around, then said:
"Here's the situation. We're well over halfway through investigating that case. We should be able to hand it over in another ten days or two weeks. I wanted to give you a brief update, since you played an important part in it."
"Go ahead." Li Long offered Officer Guo a seat and went into the kitchen to pour him a cup of water-with Gu Xiaoxia around, there was hot water every day.
Officer Guo took the water, sat on a stool, and began after taking a sip:
"This case is actually a little more complicated than we imagined. They weren't just trafficking in counterfeit, substandard digital watches. They were selling prohibited items too. That stun gun Gu Ermao threatened you with was one of them. We also seized a batch of Anesthetic Guns, which makes this quite serious.
"We also found a Service Pistol at that woman's residence. Our investigation showed that it had been smuggled out of an arms factory outside the region in the form of parts. That's a very important lead. This is a huge case. Those people may face heavier sentences. For instance, that Gu Ermao you know will most likely get more than five years. And there's another piece of news..."
Officer Guo glanced at Li Long and said slowly:
"Gu Ermao's right leg is permanently disabled. Your stick severed the tendon behind his heel. We didn't get it reattached in time, and we didn't pay enough attention to it then.