Restarting life by going to the countryside to support medical work

Chapter 685: Hard Talk
For a moment, Yang Aimin was stunned by Li Yancheng's intimidating aura, but he quickly came to his senses and spoke respectfully. Just because of this aura, he no longer dared to treat Director Li on the other end of the phone as an equal.

"Director Li, there are some things that are not convenient to say over the phone. Would you like to take some time to have a simple meal with me so we can talk in person?"

"Let's skip the meal," Li Yancheng said without even thinking, rejecting the suggestion to eat together.

If he wanted to be invited to meals now, he could have someone treat him to three meals a day, 365 days a year. He wouldn't go to any invitation, or rather, he wouldn't go to any invitation except for a limited number of people with whom he had a really good relationship and who were of equal status.

It's not like he's never eaten before. In his previous life, he had eaten all kinds of delicacies, so he wasn't craving this kind of food anymore.

"Comrade Aimin, just say what you need to say over the phone. Luo Yang just told me that I will do my best to help if I can."

Li Yancheng's refusal was not unexpected by Yang Aimin; in his view, this was normal, so he said...

"Director Li, it's like this, I heard that the largest courtyard in Ya'er Hutong belongs to you?"

"Yes, it's mine."

"Director Li, I know a Hong Kong businessman who plans to invest in a unique hotel in Beijing. Your courtyard would be perfect for it, I wonder..."

"Wait a minute." Before Yang Aimin could finish speaking, Li Yancheng interrupted, "Comrade Aimin, since you were able to find out that the courtyard belongs to me, you must have also heard that it has been rented by Cheng Jianwen, the general manager in charge of the Cheng Group in China, right?"

"Uh... to be honest, I have heard about it."

"Since you've heard about it, why are you calling me? I've already signed a rental agreement with Mr. Cheng, and there's no way I'm going to break it now."

"Director Li, you've misunderstood me." Seeing Li Yancheng's decisive refusal, Yang Aimin quickly changed his tune and explained.

"I'm not saying I want you to break the contract and rent that courtyard to us, but I'd like to see if you could help introduce me to Mr. Fang, a Hong Kong businessman I know, who wants to talk to Mr. Cheng to see if there's any possibility of cooperation."

Mr. Cheng is so busy, he's practically invisible, and it's impossible to get an appointment with him, so..."

"That's it."

How could Li Yancheng not know that Yang Aimin had changed his story because he had rejected him too quickly? He thought that was normal, so he paused and thought about it for a moment.

He had also heard of this Hong Kong businessman, Mr. Fang, who had invested over HK$50 million in the economic zone to date, and was a very ambitious businessman.

Whatever this person's intentions are, considering how much he's invested, it wouldn't be unreasonable to introduce him to someone.

"You know where the Cheng family's temporary office is, right?"

"Know"

"Then have Mr. Fang go directly there and say that I introduced him. If President Cheng isn't busy, he'll meet with him."

"Thank you, Director Li."

"No need to be polite. Mr. Fang has invested so much in China, we should give him this much face."

Li Yancheng's words caused Yang Aimin's smile to freeze for a moment on the other end of the phone. He hadn't expected that this Director Li would give him no face at all, practically saying that Yang had no face to speak of in front of him.

Despite feeling extremely uncomfortable, he suppressed the unease, forced a few awkward laughs, and then hung up the phone.

Yang Aimin knew very well that the other party did not need to give him any face. If Luo Yang had not given him prior notice, he probably would not have been able to get through on the phone.

At this moment, Boss Fang was unaware that in Li Yancheng's eyes, he was far more important than this man surnamed Yang. If he had personally made an appointment to visit him, he might have been able to meet him, instead of ending up like this.

The only problem is that he viewed Director Li through the same lens he used to judge others, thinking that you need connections to get anything done. Little did he know that Director Li was completely different from everyone else.

After hanging up the phone, Li Yancheng called Cheng Jianwen's temporary office, but Cheng Jianwen wasn't there; his assistant answered the phone.

Although the assistant didn't know that Director Li was the eldest son of the Cheng family and his boss's older brother, he knew that his boss seemed to have a good relationship with him, and the director of the Public Security Bureau carried considerable weight. He respectfully said that he would report to his boss as soon as he returned.

After hanging up the phone, Li Yancheng put the matter out of his mind and began to seriously deal with official business, listening to reports from the heads of various tasks. Time flew by.

At 3 p.m., good news came from the Yangchao branch: Zheng Tian had confessed.

Almost simultaneously, news came from the Yishun County Public Security Bureau that, after investigating the missing persons in their county, two of them had some degree of conflict with one of the so-called "Four Great Kings".

According to Zheng Tian's confession, one of the two missing people in Yishun County did have a conflict with his brother. At the beginning of this year, he heard his brother mention that he was going to deal with that person. He didn't know the specifics of how he would deal with him, but he knew that all four of them went there and were carrying daggers and other sharp weapons.

One of the two people who went missing in Yishun County disappeared at the beginning of the year.

When the Yishun County Public Security Bureau received a report from the missing person's family, they investigated the matter. However, since the guy was a hoodlum who had been dealt with multiple times before, the police officer in charge of the investigation believed that he had probably committed some illegal or criminal act and then gone into hiding. This guy had done this kind of thing before.

So after searching for a while without success, I stopped paying attention to it, thinking that it would reappear on its own after a while.

It now seems that the guy who had a conflict with Zheng Yang and went missing was probably not hiding on his own, but rather murdered.

The other person disappeared a little later, after the New Year. This person had conflicts with Mao Hongwei, one of the "Four Great Generals," and another person.

Although Zheng Tian has now confessed what he knows, Zheng Yang and the other three are still clenching their teeth and refusing to say anything. Even when the interrogators reveal the names of the two missing people, it is to no avail.

This unusual situation caught the attention of the officers in charge of the interrogation. To put it bluntly, for these four people, killing one person or killing two people made little difference. They had already confessed to the robbery and murder, so they would definitely be taken out for shooting practice in the future. If that was the case, why were they so stubbornly resisting in other cases?

Could it be that there's some other trickery they haven't discovered yet?
Jin Zhihai and the leaders of Yangchao Branch were deep in thought, while Li Yancheng and Deputy Director Cai were also discussing the matter in their office.

"I think the most likely explanation is that they are protecting someone."

Deputy Director Cai expressed his conjecture.

After a moment of contemplation, Li Yancheng nodded. He agreed with Deputy Director Cai's conjecture. The question now was who those four guys were trying to protect.

While they were being interrogated, the other officers from the General Team and the Yangchao Branch Criminal Police Team were not idle. They were out investigating the backgrounds and relationships of these four men and searching for other petty thugs who had followed the "Four Great Kings" in committing crimes.

The police officers investigating outside, after preliminary investigations and interviews, have not yet discovered any special background or connections among the four individuals. In other words, they haven't found out if anyone is protecting them.

This situation is a bit strange.

The so-called "Four Great Vajras" already wielded considerable power in the border region between Yangchao and Yishun. Under such circumstances, it would be impossible for them to have survived for so long without any background connections.

Since we couldn't find anything outside, let's change direction and start from the inside.

By questioning everyone from the station chief to the security guards at the local police station, no clues were found, at least not on the surface.

"Old Cai, are you trying to say that the person they want to protect is that 'background connection' that hasn't been found yet?"

As Li Yancheng spoke, he picked up a cigarette from the table and tossed one to Deputy Director Cai.

"That's what I think, and I believe the reason those four people were so clenched up is because someone behind them was somehow sending them a message."

For example, he would make promises like, "As long as they don't reveal anything, I'll find a way to save their lives."

“What you said makes sense. So, can we assume that as long as we shatter the illusions in their hearts, they will inevitably confess?”

"This should be."

"Let's go then. I'll go and meet them, and see if I, the police chief, can keep those four guys in check on the person they're after."

Seeing that Li Yancheng had already gotten up, picked up the phone, and told the driver to start the car, Deputy Director Cai stood up in astonishment.

He didn't expect the bureau chief to be so decisive, leaving as soon as he said he would.

"Uh... Chief, I think you might need to prepare yourself mentally."

After Li Yancheng hung up the phone, Deputy Director Cai said somewhat hesitantly.

"Oh? What? You think my intervention won't make a difference?"

“That’s exactly what I think.” Deputy Director Cai nodded gravely. “Of course, I didn’t mean anything by it. In fact, I revealed my identity when I met with them and explained the policy to them, but those four people…”

What happened to the four of them?
The fact that they're not going to confess shows that their position as deputy director didn't hold any significance in the eyes of those four people.

If the position of deputy director isn't enough, then what about the director?

Criminals are naturally afraid of the police, that's just their status, but what if the criminal has the confidence to back them up?

If they're not afraid of even the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau, would they care about the director? That's not necessarily true.

Li Yancheng was also stunned when he heard this, but even so, he still planned to go and take a look. If it really didn't work, it didn't matter. If he angered him, he could still use his own methods to make those four people confess even how old they were when they wet the bed.

After speaking, Deputy Director Cai realized this as well. As he walked out of the office, he continued with a smile, "I almost forgot about your method, Director."

"Yes, if all else fails, I'll use my own methods to get them to talk. I've always tried to promote the principle of emphasizing evidence over confessions during the case investigation stage. Evidence must form a perfect closed loop, but that doesn't mean confessions are unimportant."

When I encounter these stubborn mutes, I don't mind showing them my methods.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you personally take action, Director. I happen to have some free time right now, so I'll go and check it out."

"Haha, it doesn't necessarily have to be my way." Li Yancheng waved his hand with a smile as he closed the office door behind him.

When he was working at the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the headquarters, Cai Boming, who was then Director Cai, had the opportunity to witness firsthand the unique interrogation methods of Li Yancheng, who was then the Deputy Secretary-General of the Social Affairs Bureau. He was amazed by them.

He never imagined there could be such a miraculous method that could completely render the person being interrogated unable to control their thoughts, leaving them only able to answer whatever the question asks.

The criminal who was tried that time was a child thief from another province who had committed multiple crimes. He was eventually arrested by the local police.

The next step is to get the whereabouts of the children he stole from him so that they can be rescued.

But to everyone's surprise, that guy was incredibly stubborn and refused to cooperate no matter what methods were used. Because they were eager to rescue the children and couldn't get him to talk, the provincial department had no choice but to request assistance from headquarters, and Li Yancheng was sent over.

Cai Boliang accompanied the delegation from the Public Security Headquarters, which allowed him to witness that miraculous scene for the first time.

This made him particularly interested in that magical method, but unfortunately, he never had the chance again. Today, however, that scene might be repeated, and he certainly didn't want to miss this opportunity.

"Director, to be honest, I'm particularly interested in the method you used. After I got back, I even consulted a few traditional Chinese medicine doctors. Uh... I'm sorry, Director, I didn't mean anything by it, it's just..."

"It's okay, it's okay, no need to explain anything," Li Yancheng said nonchalantly.

Cai Boming wasn't the first to consult other traditional Chinese medicine doctors, nor would he be the last; he was used to it.

"Director, what exactly is the principle behind your acupuncture method? Why is it that when I asked several traditional Chinese medicine doctors, they had never even heard of it?"

"I'm not trying to keep you in suspense, but I really can't explain it clearly. I've even taught others, but it seems like none of them can learn it."

I was thinking that if someone could learn it, I wouldn't need to travel so often for work, but...sigh, I'm helpless too.

Deputy Director Cai almost couldn't catch his breath; he felt like coughing.

What is this? Showing off? A unique skill? Something no one can replace?

Seeing his face, which was turning slightly red from holding back his laughter, Li Yancheng couldn't help but laugh.

Old Cai turned his head to look at him with some surprise. He had been working with him for a while, and this was the first time he had ever seen the bureau chief laugh so happily.

(End of this chapter)