Anti-gang campaign: Female bureau chief

Zhao Rui went up to ask them which company they were from. The leader, named Guo Xiaokai, pulled out his work ID and a copy of the contract, and kept saying "Serve in accordance with the law."

Zhao Rui glanced at the contract. The client listed on it was the "Wanghu Commercial Street Management Committee." This organization was neither registered nor filed, and its official seal was a radish seal.

He asked Lu Zheng to report the situation to Jiang Ruolan.

Jiang Ruolan said:

"These aren't security guards, they're collecting money at the gate. Don't rush to arrest people. Go and interview all the shops on the street to see how many people have already been forced to pay."

Lu Zheng and Zhao Rui then went to ask separately, while Chen Mo stayed with Kang Guangfa at the entrance of the hot pot restaurant for the entire morning.

The sun was blazing that day. Kang Guangfa sat on the steps with a towel draped over his knees, and remained silent for a long time.

Around noon, he sighed and said:

"I've been doing business on this street for half my life, and now even my door is blocked. It's not that I don't want to pay the money, it's that I'm afraid if I pay the security fee today, the fire safety fee tomorrow, and the sanitation fee the day after. It'll never end."

In the following days, Zhao Rui led his team to visit all the merchants in Wanghu Road, Emerald Lane, and the Hardware City area. They discovered that since the end of April, this "Anping Security Guard" had been charging several merchants a monthly "security service fee" ranging from 500 to 1,000 yuan under the guise of "maintaining order in the commercial street."

If you don't pay, they'll send someone to stand at the door and block it without doing anything; or they'll drive around the door in circles, honking their horn, until no one dares to enter the store.

Some merchants were forced to pay for a month's service, only to be told they had to sign a one-year contract and that they would not get a refund if they did not sign.

When someone called the police, the police station could only issue a warning and education, because these people didn't beat anyone or smash up shops; they were just "standing guard."

They don't swear, they don't overturn stalls, they don't steal things; all their actions are testing the limits of legality.

Jiang Ruolan said:

"This is soft violence. It's not about not using force, but about making threats into a gesture that instills fear in you. This tactic is more insidious than directly hitting someone."

Lu Zheng investigated the background of "Anping Security Company".

The company's legal representative is Luo Da'an, a native of the western part of the city, who has been dealt with for forced transactions.

The actual controller is Nie Haishan, 42 years old, a local of Yi'an, who has a criminal record for provoking trouble and gang fighting.

Nie Haishan had more than twenty men under his command, most of whom were unemployed young men recruited from the labor market. They were all issued black training uniforms and given a walkie-talkie, and they dared to call themselves "security guards".

They not only charge merchants, but also "protect" certain entertainment venues, "stand up" for people, and "settle disputes."

Outside, Nie Haishan isn't called Nie Haishan; people call him "Brother Hai."

Zhao Rui learned that Nie Haishan used to work in a debt collection team at Fengmao. After Fengmao went bankrupt, he went to the provincial capital for two years. After returning, he somehow got involved with a company called "Zhongtai Commercial Management" and started acquiring land in the commercial district.

That "Wanghu Commercial Street Management Committee" is a shady organization set up by Zhongtai Commercial Management. It used a fake document to "contract" the public management rights of a street and then subcontracted it to Anping Security Company for a fee.

One link leads to another.

After listening, Jiang Ruolan said that Zhongtai Commercial Management was the mastermind behind it all.

She asked Zhao Rui to check the registration information of Zhongtai Commercial Management.

Upon investigation, Zhao Rui discovered that the legal representative of Zhongtai Commercial Management was Xing Baolai, a native of Chengnan, who had no prior criminal record. However, a familiar name appeared on the company's shareholder list—Jin Changqing, the owner of the investment guarantee company previously associated with the Fengnong Ecological land transfer case, who had been dealt with for illegally absorbing public deposits.

Jiang Ruolan looked at the document for a while and said that these lines had all come together again.

This group isn't acting alone; they have a network.

They no longer wanted to wield weapons like Shen Wangshan, but instead wanted to develop streets, markets, and land through a corporatized approach.

They use contracts and a fake management committee to whitewash themselves, and then use soft violence and people with criminal records to push things along.

If we're going to fight, we have to fight at the root.

Lu Zheng decided to arrest Luo Da'an and Nie Haishan first, and then take action against Zhongtai Commercial Management.

Before the arrest, Chen Mo and his men pretended to buy groceries on Wanghu Road and kept an eye on Guo Xiaokai, who came to "patrol" the street to collect money every afternoon.

Sure enough, Guo Xiaokai led three people into a steamed bun shop and cornered the owner behind the counter. While the owner was counting money, Chen Mo and another police officer rushed in and immediately apprehended Guo Xiaokai and his accomplices.

At the same time, Zhao Rui led his men to Nie Haishan's teahouse in the south of the city.

The teahouse was filled with smoke, and Nie Haishan was having a heart-to-heart talk with several merchants, saying that the security fee was well paid and that no one would dare to cause trouble in front of the shop after it was paid.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the police walked in.

Nie Haishan tried to run away, but Lu Zheng blocked him at the stairwell and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him back.

When Luo Da'an was caught by police officers who had been waiting for him in a parking lot in the north of the city, he was holding a bunch of keys and trying out the doors of other people's vans one by one, saying that he was "checking the vehicle's security."

Lu Zheng said:

"You can examine it slowly once we're in the interrogation room."

Luo Da'an was so frightened that he dropped his keys and squatted on the ground for a long time, unable to get up.

Xing Baolai of Zhongtai Business Management was stopped on his way to a law firm for consultation.

He was quite cooperative, repeatedly saying that he was just a "platform provider" and had no direct relationship with the security company.

But when Zhao Rui presented the contracts of the merchants on Wanghu Road, the payment receipts of Anping Security, and the shareholding relationship between Zhongtai Commercial Management and Jin Changqing, Xing Baolai fell silent.

He finally confessed that those "commercial street management committees" were just a "shell" created by their company to circumvent property management and administrative supervision.

He said the company sent people to talk to merchants about entrusted management, and if they couldn't reach an agreement, they would send in a security company to create pressure by "standing guard" and "patrolling".

They call this "civilized clearing".

When Jiang Ruolan heard the words "civilized clearing," she felt as if she had swallowed a fly.

she says:

"The cloak of civilization cannot conceal the true nature of evil."

This case was ultimately classified as a criminal gang crime.

Nie Haishan, Luo Da'an, and others were arrested in accordance with the law, Zhongtai Commercial Management and its related companies were dissolved, and Jin Changqing was also dealt with in conjunction with other cases due to his involvement in multiple cases.

Wanghu Road has returned to its former bustling state.

Kang Guangfa placed a potted green ivy in the spot where his car had been blocked at the entrance. It was growing very well, its lush green leaves trembling gently in the wind.

He saw Chen Mo passing by, waved from afar, and insisted on giving him a coupon for a hot pot restaurant.

Chen Mo said:

"I'll bring my colleagues over to eat after I've had some rest."

Kang Guangfa said:

"Okay! We'll reserve a private room for you!"

As Chen Mo took the coupon and walked out of Wanghu Road, the setting sun shone on the newly hung lanterns of the row of shops, bathing the entire street in a warm, orange-red hue...

On the last weekend of May, Jiang Ruolan stayed in the office until evening, which was unusual for her.

Lu Zheng went back to his hometown, Zhao Rui went to the provincial department for training, and Chen Mo caught up on sleep in his dormitory.

She brewed a pot of tea and sat by the window watching the pomegranate tree in the yard bloom with its first flowers, as red as burning paper lanterns.

.........