Shuangling: Braving the Rapids

"Boss, that's all there is in the car, and... these cigarettes aren't smuggled in, they're high-quality cigarettes I bought with my own money..."

Before Cheng Dong could finish speaking, the young officer retorted without hesitation, "You say you're not smuggling? Fine, I'll ask you, do you have a tobacco transshipment permit?"

Hearing this, Cheng Dong was speechless. Not to mention the tobacco transshipment permit, his tobacco monopoly license had already been revoked by the Industry and Commerce Bureau when the "fake liquor incident" broke out.

Seeing that Cheng Dong remained silent, the young officer continued, "According to Article 54 of the Implementing Regulations of the Tobacco Monopoly Law, if the value of illegally transported tobacco monopoly products exceeds 50,000 yuan or the quantity of cigarettes transported exceeds 100 cartons, the illegal gains will be confiscated. You've transported so much in this one trip; do you think you can still get away with it?"

The young police officer had a solid theoretical foundation and rich experience in handling cases. He was one of the leaders specially dispatched by his superiors to apprehend a fugitive drug trafficker. After repeated patrols by sniffer dogs and a body search, the young officer basically confirmed that Cheng Dong was a tobacco dealer. He did not intend to let such a "small fry" go. After a brief communication with the armed police officer next to him, he finally seized the van and Cheng Dong together on charges of illegally transporting tobacco.

"We don't have enough police cars for escorting him. Take him and that 'drug seedling' back to the station together. Remember, keep a close watch on them and interrogate them tonight!"

The young police officer gave the order, and the armed police officers next to him immediately began to carry it out. Soon, Cheng Dong was escorted to a police car.

Cheng Dongjing is known for his many affairs and abilities, but when faced with state authorities, his cleverness is utterly insignificant.

At this moment, Cheng Dong was in a state of utter confusion. He was sitting in the back of the police car, his right handcuffed tightly to the iron railing in the middle of the car. On the other side of the railing hung another pair of handcuffs, with an extremely thin hand covered in needle marks dangling there.

Looking down along his arm, Cheng Dong noticed a gaunt man next to him. Judging from his disheveled appearance and constant yawning, he must be the "drug addict" the young police officer had mentioned.

And so, Cheng Dong found himself locked up with a drug addict. The two of them kept their heads down and remained silent, their bodies swaying with the bumps of the car, looking like roast ducks hanging on a rotary oven rack.

After an unknown amount of time, the police car stopped in front of a remote detention center. As the two enormous iron gates opened and closed, Cheng Dong officially began his prison life.

Cheng Dong and the drug addict were taken to the temporary detention room and handcuffed to opposite ends of a radiator against the wall.

"Old Lu, I've put these two here for you. Our captain specifically instructed us to interrogate them as soon as possible," the escorting officer said to a guard with gray hair.

The old guard glanced at the two men and muttered under his breath, "This is another one sent from the highway exit? How many waves is this? Here, sign the handover form too. I'll take these two!"

The escorting officer didn't say anything more, handed the two suspects' identification and belongings to the old guard, and turned to leave...

Although it was the dead of winter, the temperature in the temporary detention cell was unusually high. Cheng Dong was squatting next to the radiator, feeling hot and sweating profusely. As for the drug addict opposite him, he just tilted his head and closed his eyes. Even when his skin was pressed against the scorching radiator, he didn't react at all.

Just then, Cheng Dong suddenly smelled a strong odor of urine. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the drug addict's crotch was already soaked.

"Sir! The guy next to me wet his pants!"

"Why are you shouting so loudly? I'm not deaf!" The old guard said impatiently, but still quickly stepped forward to check the situation.

"How much the hell have you been smoking? You can't even control your bladder and bowels anymore!" The old guard cursed, but the other man didn't react at all. He subconsciously pried open the man's eyelids, his face darkening.

Just as the old warden was preparing to take some action, Cheng Dong suddenly said, "Report! I have some old clothes in my car. Let this guy change first; the smell is too strong!"

As fellow sufferers in the same boat, Cheng Dong felt some sympathy for the drug addict. However, he seemed to have forgotten his own predicament, trying to save face for others when he was barely able to take care of himself.

Upon hearing Cheng Dong's words, the old guard was taken aback at first. He had intended to ridicule Cheng Dong, but then suddenly changed his tune, saying, "Oh! I didn't realize you were so loyal. Is that red van that drove into the yard yours?"

"Yes!"

"Is this the car key?" As he spoke, the old guard took out the car key and waved it in front of Cheng Dong.

Cheng Dong nodded first, then tentatively asked, "Boss! If it's convenient for you, could you please bring me the cigarettes from the passenger side? I'm a heavy smoker, and I get really anxious without them..."

The old guard didn't rush to reply. Instead, he quickly dragged the "skinny guy" to the door of the temporary detention cell before turning to Cheng Dong and saying, "Let me see if I can find him. I'll bring him over to you if I can."

"Thank you, boss!"

Cheng Dong had only said half of his thanks when Warden Lu dragged the drug addict away, leaving Cheng Dong waiting anxiously.

The two did not return for a long time.

About an hour later, the escorting police officer returned to the temporary detention room and, without saying a word, took Cheng Dong to the interrogation room not far away.

There were two police officers interrogating Cheng Dong, one of whom was the young officer who had stopped Cheng Dong at the highway exit. He was now sitting opposite Cheng Dong, scrutinizing the documents in his hand with a stern face. "Tell me your name, place of origin, ID number..."

As soon as the young police officer spoke, Cheng Dong's body trembled. He couldn't help it; the scene of the other party pointing a gun at his head was still vivid in his mind, and he felt nothing but fear.

Seeing that Cheng Dong was just shaking his leg and shrugging, refusing to respond, the young police officer's face darkened, and he shouted, "What kind of attitude is that? Don't you know how serious your crime is? Come on, take a look at what's written on this wall behind me!"

Following the direction the other person was pointing, Cheng Dong indeed saw a large slogan on the background wall, which boldly proclaimed: "We'll punish you until you're bankrupt, we'll sentence you to never repeat this offense!"

If Cheng Dong were compared to Sun Wukong, then this line of vermilion characters would be the talisman that Buddha pasted on the Five Finger Mountain. At this moment, Cheng Dong felt a tightness in his chest and could not even breathe properly.

Realizing that Cheng Dong's psychological defenses had been broken down, the young police officers pressed their advantage and began interrogation.

"Name?"

"Lao Chengdong..."

"Is Luo C9527, the red van, yours?"

"Yes……"

"Tell me your driving route, and especially mention where you collected the tobacco!"

"I...I was born on the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month. I came from Yanghe County, traveled to northern Shaanxi, then to southwestern Sichuan, and was arrested on my return trip..."

Cheng Dong confessed honestly, but the young officer suddenly interjected, "Wow! You drove thousands of kilometers, going back and forth across several provinces, all by yourself?"

"Yes, sir, I promise it's just me."

"Don't lie! I'll ask you one more time, are you sure there are no other accomplices this time?" The interrogating officer stared directly into Cheng Dong's eyes, his tone growing colder.

"Boss, it really is just me. You can check if you don't believe me!" Cheng Dong insisted, his emotions starting to get agitated.

Seeing this, the young officer whispered a few words to the officer next to him, then slammed his hand on the table and roared, "Lao Chengdong! You'd better confess honestly. If you do, the government might consider leniency. But if you resist interrogation, I guarantee you'll be in deep trouble in this crackdown, understand?"

"I understand! But... Boss... I really had no other choice but to sell tobacco. I didn't run a gang, I didn't traffic drugs or kill anyone, I just... needed money..."

As Cheng Dong said this, he kept wondering why the young police officer kept asking him if he had any accomplices. He was just a tobacco dealer and didn't need to form a gang to commit crimes!

Cheng Dong couldn't understand it, because he didn't know that just three hours earlier, a tragic incident had occurred at the highway exit where drug dealers attacked police with guns. It was reported that the vicious drug dealer leader opened fire on the police, killing two officers on the spot, and has not yet been brought to justice.

Following the incident, the armed police, public security, and road administration departments launched a crackdown, which led to the joint operation to strictly investigate those passing through customs.

This operation was mainly aimed at fugitive drug traffickers, but Cheng Dong, who was "unlucky," ended up running into it. However, he was not innocent; since he had committed illegal and disorderly acts, he had to bear the legal risks.

"We still need to verify what you said. Okay, now I'm officially informing you that you have been criminally detained, and we can summon you at any time within 24 hours!"

Realizing that Cheng Dong had no other useful information, the young police officer said coldly and hurriedly left the interrogation room.

And Cheng Dong? He stood there dumbfounded for a long time, and finally, trembling, he signed and pressed his fingerprint on the interrogation documents...