Diary of a Criminal Investigator

If I were merely arrested, with the police only having some ambiguous evidence and unable to point fingers completely at me—even if the video suggests I was involved in conspiracy to murder, but didn’t actually do it myself—I might just serve a few years and then get out.

In that case, the people backing me might still support me.

After all, I’m not dead, just serving time inside for a few years, and eventually, I’ll be out. As long as I can get out, those people won’t abandon me.

But now...

The thing Wang Fugui least expected was that Old Mo had recorded every time he arranged tasks for him.

Wang Fugui knew best how he treated Old Mo, he truly regarded him as his brother.

Even though Old Mo was involved in shady, murderous activities, he was even more trustworthy because of it. And over the years, Old Mo had never failed, never let him down.

But it fulfilled that old saying: those who know you well can hurt you the deepest.

Old Mo dealt a fatal blow!

Thinking of this, the foremost thought in Wang Fugui’s mind was how to save himself!

How to save myself?

"Captain Qin!"

"I confess, I confess everything!"

"I have explosive information!"

"I want to atone for my sins!"

The harder the stone, the more thoroughly it shatters after the alternation of hot and cold.

To reduce his sentence, to evade the death penalty, Wang Fugui confessed to all the bad deeds he had done over the years.

The immediate consequence was that several action teams of the Haizhou City Criminal Investigation Team were extremely busy.

Saturday noon.

All four remaining elders of the Songbei Mining Group were arrested at home.

Wang Fugui’s hands weren’t clean, and neither were theirs.

When they first took over Songbei Mining Group, in order to expand market influence, they used all means, coercing sales, suppressing competitors by any means necessary, and if suppression failed, they would oppress them through other methods.

"Old Second has three lives in his hands that I know of, Old Third has one, Old Fourth has five, Old Fifth has two."

"They’re all in Mine Shaft 98. They didn’t let Old Mo do it, they found people themselves."

"Under the right side wall of my bed, there is a hidden compartment with a black notebook inside; it records all the bribes I’ve given over the years."

"Each person’s amount? Time given? It’s all recorded, and some have recordings."

"I’ve organized the recordings; they’re stored on a USB flash drive clipped inside the notebook."

"With just this ledger, you can achieve great success!"

Wang Fugui wasn’t lying. After the five elders of Songbei Mining Group, including him, were arrested, each revealed a lot of information.

The entire Haizhou City... experienced an earthquake.

Crime Scene Investigation Office.

"Have you heard? Even someone important got involved at the provincial level."

The entire Criminal Investigation Team was full of gossip these past few days.

Old Yang knew many people and was quite resourceful, bringing the latest news every day.

"Damn, I never thought he’d be caught. I just learned from his speech the day before yesterday."

"He was responsible for mining work in Haizhou City back in the day. It’s hard to imagine Wang Fugui’s business growing so big without any connection with him."

"Actually, the exposure of the issue wasn’t because Wang Fugui gave him a lot of money; Wang Fugui did try to bribe him, but he didn’t accept it."

Old Yang lit up a Zhonghua cigarette and started explaining high-level tactics to Lu Chuan.

"They say dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes to phoenixes, and the son of a mouse knows how to dig a hole, but there’s also such a thing as a tiger father with a dog son."

"That man’s son and daughter were average students."

"When they took the college entrance exam, they scored just over 200 points and had no way to get into a university."

"Wang Fugui is a ruthless man; he somehow found a way to donate to a school in the Beautiful Country, became a director, and got some study-abroad slots, directly recruiting that man’s son and daughter."

"I heard they returned home a few years ago with doctoral degrees from prestigious schools."

"That’s how the man lost his position."

"Right, people may have different vices; one doesn’t like this, but loves that."

Old Bai cracked walnuts, saying it could prevent dementia.

"How’s Old Ren doing?"

"Lu, didn’t you go visit yesterday? How’s Ren Qiang’s recovery?"

Lu Chuan and Zhang Hui managed to find time to visit Ren Qiang at the hospital yesterday.

"The doctor said he’s recovering well, and in about one and a half to two months, he should be able to get out of bed, but he’ll need three months for full rest. Then it shouldn’t be a problem."

"Yeah, even though it wasn’t a particularly severe fracture, it’s said that it takes a hundred days to recover from tendon and bone injuries. Ren Qiang has been very tired lately; he should take this chance to really adjust himself."

"The old guy can not only adjust himself recently but also earn merits."

"It’s not easy to earn this merit. If it weren’t for his superb driving skills, the car would have rolled into a ravine, just three to five meters from the cliff; it wouldn’t just be a fracture then."

"Anyway, this case of Wang Fugui’s was the first clue he got, and the case stemmed from him, and he got injured severely during the mission, so I guess he’s bound to earn a first-class merit."

"By the way... can we also earn merits?"

Yang Sen’s eyes lit up when he mentioned this.

Old Bai put down the walnut, visibly excited: "I’ve already asked about this. The case is so big, and the key clue was discovered by the three of us together. Of course, Lu was the main one; we just went along for the ride. But even just for tagging along, at least I’ve heard that second-class merit is guaranteed. Lu might even earn a first-class merit."

"Second-class merit? Damn!"

"Does it mean extra money upon retirement?"

"At least a thousand more a month!"

Old Bai grinned so widely that his nose almost tilted; a man who hasn’t earned much merit in his life suddenly gained three in the past year, and his salary went up two grades, and it’s going to rise even more this time.

Yang Sen looked at Lu Chuan: "Lu, this entirely depended on you. Without you, whether or not we cracked this case, we wouldn’t have earned any merit."

"That day was indeed a coincidence; Brother Bai was watching a TV series and suddenly remembered this thing, so it’s fair to say it was discovered by the three of us together."

Lu Chuan became a police officer not for the money; if he wanted money, he would have just gone back to Qiangsheng Group.

But merit and achievements, those he liked, provided a great sense of accomplishment and honor.

The main case has been solved, but there are some subsequent cases to handle, which will take more time, as more names emerge from Wang Fugui’s ledger, ones that lead to further discoveries.

This time, Haizhou City will probably see many positions open, and some people will be promoted.