Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 452 Huge Amount

"Name."

"Kuroko".

"Are you kidding me? Are you surnamed Hei and given name Zi?"

"Wang, Wang Shiping. You misspoke."

……

"Tell me, what happened today?"

"I owed my third brother three thousand dollars and promised to pay him today, so I took him to the billiard hall to get the money. But when we got there, my fifth brother and Lao Hou didn't want to pay, and we argued for a bit. So I said I'd return their shares and do it myself, that's all."

"Did they rob us?"

"No, didn't I say I'd give them their shares back? I just took back the money I made from selling today."

"How much did you take?"

"Three thousand, three thousand six hundred yuan. The three thousand is with Third Brother. I still have six hundred and thirty on me. You can check if you don't believe me."

"Did all that money go to the billiard hall?"

"No, Lao Wu has the money from the karaoke bar. All the money from the billiard hall is with them. He can just take some more money from the karaoke bar tomorrow and pay it back. I'll just take the money from the billiard hall."

"How much does a karaoke bar cost?"

"More than a thousand, thirteen hundred and zero."

"What does the karaoke bar have to do with you?"

"no."

"Did the three of you run the billiard hall?"

"No, don't you already know? Why are you asking?"

"Then what gives you the right to take the money? How much of it did you take? What right do you have to take all the revenue without anyone knowing? And you say you want to expel them, do you have that authority? How many shares do you own? Don't you understand that when partners withdraw their shares, the minority must submit to the majority? Do you know that? Have you even studied the law?"

"I'm just in a hurry for money. Besides, you won't lose anything by kicking them out. Can we still be partners after things have come to this?"

"They said they've already kicked you out, the money's been returned to your mother, and you have absolutely nothing to do with the billiards hall anymore, understand? What you did today was robbery. Get it?"

"They just said they'd give up the money? I didn't agree to it."

"Then how can you just say you're kicking them out like that? Did they agree to that?"

"I said we wouldn't partner anymore, and the fifth brother said, 'Then we won't partner anymore,' so that means I agreed, didn't I?"

"Yes, they withdrew from the agreement for you. There are two of them, so withdrawing you is legal, understand?"

"Why should I? Why should I get paid? I make six or seven thousand yuan a month, who's going to compensate me?"

"Where did you spend your six or seven thousand a month? How come you're still drowning in debt?"

"Didn't do anything, just played around."

"What were you playing?"

"Just go ahead and play. It's my own money, can't I spend it however I want?"

"Where did you play?"

"Brother Liu, what do you mean?"

"This is the police station, I'm a police officer, and I'm questioning you. Don't call me 'brother.' I'm asking you, where were you playing?"

"..."

"Can't we just talk it out? Do we need someone else to interrogate you before you can speak? Are you only comfortable if you suffer a bit?"

"...Jingou. It's usually in Jingou, but sometimes it's in the city too."

"What games did you play?"

"poker."

"How big of a bet?"

"At first it was tens, thirty or fifty, then one hundred or two hundred, sometimes five hundred."

"How much money have you lost in total?"

Not many.

"How many?"

"Two, more than twenty thousand? I can't remember exactly."

Who are the people you hang out with?

"I usually hang out with just a few people: Third Brother and his three brothers, a few others I don't know well, and Lao Kua. When we go to Jingou, we stay at Lao Kua's house."

"Besides you, is there anyone else who lost money?"

"Everyone wins and loses; nobody wins and loses all the time. Brother Liu, have you never played cards before?"

"I've played too," Liu Huasheng nodded, "During holidays, family and friends play cards together for a while, winning or losing a few dozen yuan to have a meal together. I guess any Chinese person would do that. But I really can't gamble tens of thousands of yuan. Hei Zi, you're something else."

Liu Huasheng gave Hei Zi a thumbs up and said, "You finally made some money, but you don't pay off your debts or take it home to give to others. You're really something. Most people wouldn't do this. See if it's right? If it is, sign and put your fingerprint on it." He threw the record book in front of Hei Zi.

Hei Zi picked it up, looked at it once, nodded, picked up a pen, signed his name, Liu Huasheng handed him the inkpad and let him put his fingerprint on it, then put the inkpad away and said, "Zhang, Xiao Zhang."

The young policeman, who had been sitting to the side in a daze, suddenly stood up: "Brother."

Liu Huasheng glared at him and said, "Drive, have him give directions, go to Jingou to arrest people."

Xiao Zhang ran out, then ran back a moment later, handcuffed Hei Zi, and said, "Let's go. If you behave well, you'll be doing a good job today, understand? This amount is huge; if you don't behave well, you could be sentenced to several years. Let's go."

After Xiao Zhang took Hei Zi out, Huang Laowu walked over from the wall and sat down opposite Liu Huasheng, asking, "Do I need to ask?"

Liu Huasheng took the transcript and said, "I need to ask, otherwise we can't create a file."

Huang Laowu said, "You're making a file for something so trivial? Just scare them a little, is that not enough?"

Liu Huasheng asked, "Did he really return his share of the money?"

Huang Laowu said, "No. How do we get a refund? We've been together since we were kids. His ex-wife was so good to us. And her family was struggling. Lao Hou and I talked to his aunt and told Hei Zi we'd get a refund. After that, Lao Hou and I secretly gave the money to his aunt. Don't worry, we won't let it slip away."

Liu Huasheng nodded and asked, "Is his family struggling financially?"

Huang Laowu took out a cigarette and tossed one to Liu Huasheng, saying, "It's tough. To put it bluntly, we're almost starving. The whole family depends on my uncle's meager salary, and there are elderly people to support. Originally, we thought we could work together to earn some money, but this kid has gambled it all away. What good will come of this?"

Liu Huasheng said, "He's just not ambitious enough. I didn't know him before, but after meeting him today, he seems a bit dim-witted."

Huang Laowu said, "How could that be? This is because he's gone crazy, he's lost all his mind, all he can think about is how to make money, he doesn't care about his reputation anymore, he's ruined."

Liu Huasheng asked, "So what are you planning to do? Have you told Xiaowei about this?"

Huang Laowu said, "Xiao Wei and Lao Xia went out together and haven't come back yet, didn't you know?"

Liu Huasheng said, "He didn't tell me. Let's just forget about it then. If it's really a robbery of over three thousand yuan, he'll probably be in jail for eight or ten years, and that would be a real disaster. Let him be detained for fifteen days. I'll talk to him inside and give him a scare. I just feel like he's a bit dim-witted."

Huang Laowu laughed and asked, "Then why did you go and arrest people?"

Liu Huasheng said, "It's gambling, buddy. The amount wagered is tens of thousands, enough for a prison sentence. How can we not crack down on this? Besides, see if we can get his lost money back. If we do, you can take it to his mother. If not, forget it. There's no guarantee. The fines have to be turned over to the authorities; we can't touch that. We have quotas to meet too. In principle, all gambling funds should be confiscated."

Huang Laowu said, "Will that work? I don't want it to affect you."

(End of this chapter)