Chapter 625 - 625: 625
Hearing this, Chen Jia'an couldn't help but frown. The crimes committed by the Beggar King were such that they stirred anger in both man and gods, and the case would only be considered thoroughly solved if this mastermind was captured.
Yet now, after searching through Tianhui City, they couldn't find the Beggar King at all, indicating that he had likely already fled. Under these circumstances, capturing the Beggar King would be no easy task.
No wonder the Beggar King was so bold when he called earlier; he must have already left Tianhui City by then, which is why he dared to challenge Chen Jia'an so openly.
"All of our actions are carefully planned, and we have surrounded each of the Beggar King's hideouts before attacking them. Moreover, we have prioritized the Beggar King as our main target. If he were hiding at these locations, he definitely would not have escaped!" The deputy glanced at Ye Qing and said in a deep voice, "I suspect that the Beggar King had already fled before we took action. After all, when Mr. Ye called to report to the police, it might have tipped him off!"
In his words, the deputy implied some blame towards Ye Qing. And it was no wonder, for the Beggar King case was a major one. Capturing the Beggar King would have meant a significant achievement for him. Naturally, he was displeased with the fugitive's escape.
Ye Qing remained silent. His decision to call the police first was strategic. His aim in coming to Tianhui City was not only to eradicate the Beggar King's influence but also to draw out the person behind the Beggar King. Therefore, he had to let the Beggar King escape so he could follow and find the person backing him. His prior call to the police was to spook the Beggar King into fleeing!
"That's not entirely fair to say!" Chen Jia'an was more protective of Ye Qing and waved his hand, "If it weren't for Ye Qing's call to the police, we wouldn't have been able to find out in advance that so many in the Tianhui City police system were in collusion with the Beggar King. Without knowing this, had we entered Tianhui City, we might have even sought help from the local police, and the problem might not have been just one escaped Beggar King!"
Seeing Chen Jia'an put it this way, the deputy did not argue and asked, "So, what do we do now?"
After pondering for a moment, Chen Jia'an said, "Block off all the exits of Tianhui City, and send a message to the Provincial Department, issuing a one-level arrest warrant to capture him with full force!"
"Yes!" The deputy quickly went to carry out the task.
Meanwhile, Chen Jia'an called in some police from the nearby substation. Led by officers from the Provincial Department, they detained all the Beggar King's subordinates. The interrogation could not proceed immediately because there were simply too many of the Beggar King's men. Chen Jia'an had already sent a report to Liu Changping, requesting that the Provincial Department send more support for the interrogations.
Of course, Chen Jia'an's movements within the city bureau caught the attention of all the police in Tianhui City. The police previously surrounding Black Bear and his men also began to disperse. Moreover, with Ye Qing asking for Chen Jia'an's help, a team from the Provincial Department was dispatched to bring Black Bear and his men back. Old Bai was also captured by Black Bear's men, although he was now knocked out.
Seeing Old Bai, Ye Qing was deeply moved. This man was connected to the whereabouts of his brother, Ye Jun. Finding him meant there was hope for rescuing his brother!
It was about 6:30 in the morning, just after dawn, when Ye Qing received a call from Li Lianshan.
"Ye Zi, I've already brought the people. Where are you now?" Li Lianshan yelled over the phone, leading the team personally, "Do you need weapons? I've brought an extra few dozen knives, enough for you to use. When do we move out, and where to? Shall I send someone ahead to scout first?"
Li Lianshan apparently still thought that Ye Qing had asked him to bring people over to fight. Ye Qing laughed and said, "No need, Li, come straight to the police station now!"
"Huh?" Li Lianshan was startled and asked, "To the police station? You... you got caught? You want me to break you out? Damn, I'm not equipped for that, they have guns!"
"What are you thinking about!" Ye Qing laughed, "I'm here doing some work with the Provincial Department. Hurry up and bring your people over, I need your help with something. And tell the brothers to put away their weapons, there are police everywhere here!"
"You're not going to make us work for the police, are you?" Li Lianshan grumbled to himself, his sentiments towards the police were still rather negative, Zhao Chengshuang being the exception, of course!
"Stop worrying and just get over here," Ye Qing ended the call and sighed as he looked at the several hundred children in the police station's lobby.
He had Li Lianshan bring three hundred men over specifically to take care of these children. Based on his past experience, only twenty to thirty percent of these children would be able to find their families and continue their lives at home. The majority who couldn't find their families, or who were rejected by families unwilling to support them due to disabilities, would need to be taken to an orphanage.
Ye Qing had zero trust in public orphanages at this point, so he asked Li Lianshan to bring people to transfer these children to Shenchuan City first. Those whose families were willing to take them back would be sent to their relatives by Ye Qing. And for those who couldn't find their families or were abandoned, Ye Qing planned to adopt them into his own orphanage.
Only by keeping these pitiful children close could Ye Qing find peace of mind. He wouldn't feel at ease if they were anywhere else!
The people brought by Chen Jia'an were already overwhelmed by dealing with the Beggar King's men. They had even less energy to deal with these children. Black Bear and his people had been the ones looking after these children, but with so few hands, it was quite difficult. It wasn't until Li Lianshan brought people over that the situation finally started to improve.
"Damn, so you had me bring people over just to be nannies?" Li looked at the children and said, "Are you addicted to adopting orphans? All these kids, do you plan to take them all back to your orphanage?"
"What's wrong with that?" Ye Qing countered.
"Are you serious?" Li's eyes widened in shock as he stared at Ye Qing and said, "There must be four or five hundred children here, and your orphanage already has two or three hundred. Together, that's seven or eight hundred. What are you planning to do? How much money do you have to earn to support them?"
Ye Qing looked at the children and said, "The money I earn from those places is enough to support them!"
"Damn, that money of yours has to support your own guys, and these children, plus provide them with education and necessities of life. After all the calculating, how much will you have left?" Li said.
Ye Qing replied, "Enough for food and living is fine."
"You... you really have ambition!" Li was speechless for a moment, having been brothers with Ye Qing for so long. Honestly, he had never seen Ye Qing spend generously on himself. Buying textbooks for the children, paying salaries to the orphanage staff, he always spent big. But himself? The clothes he was wearing were still from when he worked as a bodyguard for the Lin family, bought by Lin Huayu.
In fact, Ye Qing's own meals were very simple. If he wasn't socializing, a plate of fried rice or a bowl of noodles would suffice. Li had been around for a long time but had never seen any billionaire be so stingy with themselves.
However, Li could understand Ye Qing. Growing up without a mother and in that kind of family environment, even though his father loved him dearly, the family's conditions were poor, and he had experienced his fair share of hardships since childhood. Coming from such a background, he felt a deep compassion for these children with tragic fates. Nonetheless, Li found it hard to accept that Ye Qing intended to make adopting children his life's work?
Just in Shenchuan City and Tianhui City alone, there were seven or eight hundred homeless children. If you considered the entire Eastern Province or the whole country, how many would that be? Even with Ye Qing's considerable wealth, he couldn't support that many people!
Meanwhile, Chen Jia'an, after arranging his subordinates' affairs, came over and said to Ye Qing, "Ye brothers, you don't need to take these children back with you. I can help them apply for aid stations and orphanages, where the government and charity organizations will provide for them!"
Ye Qing shook his head firmly and said, "I don't trust those departments!"
Chen Jia'an was somewhat surprised by Ye Qing's directness and looked at Li Lianshan beside him.
Li shrugged and said, "He's seen how those orphanages treat these kids. That's why, no matter what, he insists on bringing the children under his own care. Only then does he feel at ease."
Hearing this, Chen Jia'an sighed and said, "A public welfare organization, a public orphanage, yet to have such little public trust. Sigh, it seems I need to suggest to the higher-ups that these departments should also establish a strict oversight institution!"
Chen Jia'an did not oppose Ye Qing taking the children away because he could see that Ye Qing was very determined. Moreover, he had heard about Ye Qing setting up an orphanage in Shenchuan City. He had great respect and admiration for what Ye Qing was doing. After all, not many people were willing to spend their own money on such a cause, but Ye Qing did. So, he completely trusted that Ye Qing could take good care of these children!
"That's fine then!" Chen patted Ye Qing's shoulder and said, "Ye, you take these children back with you for now. In a few days, I can try to apply to the authorities for some financial support for you."
"Chen, thank you so much!" Ye Qing was overjoyed. He didn't need money for himself, but the orphanage did!
"Do a good job, don't let me down!" Chen smiled and turned to deal with other matters.
"Who is this guy? Acting so high and mighty?" Li asked in astonishment, unaware of Chen Jia'an's identity.
Ye Qing replied, "The Deputy Director of the Dong Province Police Department, Chen Jia'an!"
"What? Why didn't you say so sooner!"