A Seasoned Operator's Tai Chi
The atmosphere in the private room became somewhat awkward as Li Jun casually sat down and crossed his legs.
The lead officer (Captain Li) looked at the nonchalant, seasoned veteran in front of him, who seemed completely unfazed by police questioning, and knew this would be no easy conversation. He took a deep breath, suppressed his displeasure, and began the questioning according to procedure.
"Li Jun, we are now questioning you according to the law. We hope you will answer truthfully. Do you understand?" Captain Li's tone was serious, with a cold, official air.
"Yes, I know perfectly well, officer." Li Jun swung his leg, his tone relaxed, even a little teasing. "Feel free to ask me anything. I, Li Jun, have always been a law-abiding citizen, always cooperating with the police."
Ignoring the slickness in his tone, Captain Li cut straight to the point. "What's your relationship with Hou Jun? When did you meet?"
Li Jun picked at his ear, pretending to try hard to remember, then shrugged. "When did we meet? Oh, sir, I really don't remember. I meet dozens, if not more, people all day long, all sorts of people, how can I remember them all clearly? Maybe some friend introduced us, we had a meal and drinks together, and that's how we met."
"Don't you remember?" Captain Li frowned, his voice rising several decibels. "Hou Jun said you borrowed 800,000 from him! 800,000 is no small sum. How could you not even know when you met the person who lent you the money?"
"Eight hundred thousand?" Upon hearing this, Li Jun laughed instead. He spread his hands and made an exaggerated expression. "Officer, is eight hundred thousand a lot? For me, it's just a normal cash flow transaction. I have millions in turnover every minute. If I had to remember who I lent money to and when I lent it, my brain would explode!"
He abruptly changed the subject, as if remembering something, picked up his phone from the table, and said while swiping the screen, "However, I do have the specific loan dates and supporting documents here."
He fiddled with the phone for a bit, pulled up a photo, and turned the screen towards Captain Li. "Look, this is the IOU he wrote back then. I took a picture and saved it. In our line of work, efficiency is sometimes important, and it's common to not have a formal IOU, but having a written record and a photo is always proof."
Captain Li took the phone and carefully examined the photo on the screen. It was indeed an IOU, written in Monkey's handwriting, for 800,000 yuan, with a date vaguely pointing to around September. But the crucial point was that the "borrower" section of the IOU bore Hou Jun's name, while the name of the actual lender was missing.
"You lent out 800,000 yuan with just an IOU that doesn't even have the lender's name on it?" Captain Li pointed at his phone screen, his tone full of suspicion.
Li Jun put away his phone and chuckled, "Officer, you don't understand, do you? What's the most important thing between people? Trust! I saw that kid was almost crying, saying it was money to save his sister's life, so I softened and lent it to him. Besides, it's only 800,000, it's really nothing to me, just consider it making a good connection. If I can't even take this kind of risk, how am I supposed to survive in this world?"
"Li Jun! Straighten your attitude!" The young policeman in charge of taking notes couldn't help but slam his hand on the table and scold him as he became increasingly outrageous.
Li Jun seemed startled, shrinking back slightly before putting on a wronged expression. "Officer, how am I being uncooperative? I answered whatever you asked, isn't that cooperating? What more do you want from me? Do you want me to make up a story?"
Captain Li knew there was no point in arguing about such details, so he cut straight to the chase and asked the most crucial question, "Why did you go to Ankang Hospital with Hou Jun this morning? And why did you bring so many people with you?"
Mentioning this, Li Jun seemed to perk up, sitting up a bit straighter, but his tone still carried his usual logic:
"Why go? Isn't it obvious? That kid borrowed 800,000 from me, and it's been so long! I haven't seen a penny of interest, and there's not even a trace of the principal!"
Every time I ask him for something, he cries about being poor, saying how seriously ill his sister is and how difficult things are for his family. I figure, seeing is believing! I have to go and see for myself if what he's saying is true.
What if he takes my money and doesn't use it to save his sister, but instead gambles or goes to prostitutes? Wouldn't that mean all my money has gone down the drain?
"How many people do we need to take?" Captain Li asked coldly.
"Hey, sir, you've really wronged me!" Li Jun protested. "How was I supposed to know so many people would go? I just casually mentioned to a few of my buddies who happened to be at my place before I left that I was going to the hospital to visit a friend's sister. Who knew the rest of us would take it so seriously and spread it around until it became 'The boss's sister is in the hospital, and the guys have to go and support her and flatter her.' So the employees spontaneously organized themselves to visit the boss's friend's sister and express their concern. That... that's reasonable, isn't it? I couldn't just stop them from going, could I?"
Seeing him spouting nonsense with such earnestness, Captain Li knew he was evading the important issues. Suppressing his anger, he presented the most crucial evidence:
"Reasonable? Then your employees, in the hospital lobby, in broad daylight, brandishing controlled knives and threatening medical staff and security guards, is that considered expressing concern?"
Upon hearing the words "controlled knives," Li Jun's smile faded slightly. He sat up straight, his expression becoming serious, and retorted, "Officer, you can't just say whatever you want! If you say that, I'll sue you for defamation! When did my employee cause trouble with a controlled knife? Which eye of yours saw that?"
"Li Jun! Don't try to cause trouble here!" The young policeman next to him slammed his fist on the table again, his voice stern. "Do you think we came to you without evidence? The surveillance footage from Ankang Hospital clearly shows the whole thing! Those two men with machetes got out of your convoy! Who else could they be but yours?"
Faced with this almost irrefutable accusation, Li Jun remained calm. Instead, he revealed a slightly amused smile, as if he had been waiting for this question.
"Sir, the CCTV footage? Even CCTV can be wrong sometimes," he said slowly. "Today, quite a few employees did spontaneously follow me to the hospital; it was crowded and chaotic. But those two you pointed out, I can guarantee you, they are absolutely not my employees, and I don't know them at all!"
He analyzed with an air of seriousness. "Maybe it's some employee who brought their teenage son out to broaden his horizons. The kid doesn't know any better, he just thought it was fun, and he got hold of the prop knife from somewhere and started making a fuss. Young people are impulsive and like to show off, that's normal, isn't it, officer?"
Li Jun's statement was clearly carefully prepared. The reason he dared to be so fearless was because the two henchmen who brandished knives were "firewalls" he had specifically chosen.
Both men were relatively old and had no prior criminal records; their backgrounds were "clean."
Holding a controlled knife and causing a disturbance in a public place, but without causing actual injury or property damage, the circumstances are neither too serious nor too minor. At most, it would result in criticism and education, a fine, or, considering the age, notification to the guardian to strictly supervise the child. It would be extremely difficult to implicate Li Jun, the "behind-the-scenes boss," and convict him based on this alone.
Seeing the suppressed anger on the faces of the two policemen, who were struggling to find a better way to break through, Li Jun's amused smile deepened.