Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Underworld

  Everyone gazed at Chen Zhenhua with eager eyes, the police chief and Yan Song, who had just been promoted to deputy director, shot fierce glances, gritting their teeth and hiding behind the crowd, staring at Chen Zhenhua to death. They really hoped that their eyes could grow a sharp arrow, so they could shoot Chen Zhenhua and Huang Aiguo to death, and silently solve them.

  But their idea was impossible to achieve, Chen Zhenhua looked so excited and proud under the attention of everyone's eyes.

  He glanced around at the people present, then pointed to the worker who had just said that he personally saw the deceased steal a plate of cooked fish from the kitchen and leave, saying: "The accomplice is him!"

  "Is it him?!" The crowd shifted their gaze to the well-dressed man again. Then they whispered among themselves, seemingly disbelieving that this person could be an accomplice, because the deceased on the ground looked like a down-and-out thug from his clothes, and no matter how you looked at it, he couldn't be connected to this suit-and-tie man.

  "You say I'm an accomplice to the dead?! This man pointed at his own nose with a surprised and cold smile, "You ask around, I Jiang Qing am also a figure, the general manager of the Huo Corporation is not picked up from the ground, and I am also Mr. Huo's younger brother-in-law, with such a noble identity you say I would be a thief?"

  Huo Jucai also looked at this person. He had always believed in the wisdom of his friends, but as for saying that this person was an accomplice of the deceased, he didn't quite believe it either.

  "Zhenhua, you must be mistaken! He's my uncle, always helping us with the Huo family business. It's impossible for him to collude with thieves to steal from our own home." Huo Jucui pulled at Chen Zhenhua's clothes, hoping he would put on a good show in front of all the leaders, so he didn't want Chen Zhenhua to make a mistake.

  "What's the logic in that!" Yan Song sneered, "If you want to show off, there's no need to frame someone, and yet you think you're clever, but you've gone and accused someone else's relative of being a thief. How does it feel to be embarrassed?"

  "I didn't say anything wrong!" Chen Zhenhua said, "I have good reason to suspect it was him."

  "Speak up!" said Old Man Huo, "I'm a figure in this city of Haizhou, I know what kind of person I am. If you spout nonsense and make false accusations that affect my reputation as Huo Tinglong, I'll sue you for slander."

  "Father," said Huo Jucai hastily, "Zhenhua may have made a mistake for the first time being in such a situation with so many people paying attention, so even if there's anything wrong, please forgive him."

  "Unforgivable," Yan Song immediately added fuel to the fire, saying with righteous indignation, "Chen Zhenhua was originally my subordinate, so I don't want my subordinates to hastily seek merit and curry favor with their leaders by recklessly slandering good people and using others' reputations to achieve themselves. This is an extremely shameful behavior, which is not tolerated in a police station that upholds justice. Jiang Qing and I are old friends, and I know what kind of person he is best, so I suggest that we immediately expel Chen Zhenhua, who has slandered good people."

  "Listen to me," Chen Zhenhua said, seeing someone rolling up their sleeves and coming forward, looking as if they really wanted to throw him out of the study room, so he hastily shouted, "I have a reason."

  "Speak!" Old Master Huo glared at him angrily.

  Chen Zhenhua glanced around at the crowd, then calmly pointed to the deceased's shoes and said: "Everyone please look, the deceased's shoes are covered in yellow mud. Where did this mud come from?"

  "The whole city of Haizhen is so prosperous, everywhere has been cemented or asphalted, shouldn't it be free from mud?" said Huo Jucai.

  "There is a piece of land behind my villa, where I usually grow flowers and grass to pass the time. However, that place is quite far from here, and ordinary people wouldn't normally go there," said Old Master Huo.

  "But the deceased may have gone there unintentionally," Chen Zhenhua said. "Now everyone please look at Mr. Jiang's shoes."

  Everyone's eyes turned to Jiang Qing again.

  Jiang Qing's shoes were also covered with the same yellow mud. Seeing that everyone was staring at his shoes, he hastily retreated a few steps to hide, but those muddy shoes were still clearly visible to everyone.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, someone like Mr. Jiang who is dressed so neatly in a suit, with a clean face, and holds a position in the Huo Mansion, should be a person who loves cleanliness. But how can such a person have mud on his feet and not mind? Unless he was in a hurry and forgot for a moment." Chen Zhenhua paused for a moment before continuing.

  "What's with the mud on your feet?" Mr. Huo's expression was indifferent, but his eyes were coldly fixed on Jiang Qing.

  "Brother-in-law," Jiang Qing hastily lowered his head to explain, "Listen to me, I have indeed been to your flower garden, but I saw a stranger there and went to tell him to leave."

  "Even if Mr. Chiang intended to drive the dead away," Huang Aiguo said, "afterwards, when he encountered the dead person holding a fish cooked by the kitchen in the house and running wildly, Mr. Chiang should have recognized at a glance that the dead person was not a member of the Huo family's servants, why didn't he stand up for himself, and resolutely drive the person out of the Huo Mansion."

  "Can I be so ruthless?" Jiang Qing sneered, "Today is my brother-in-law's birthday, no matter who comes, since they've come, it's not like we'd refuse them at the door, would we?"

  "This is not convincing," said Chen Zhenhua, "The Huo family attaches great importance to status, everyone should know that from the parking position, you can see the elegance of the Huo family's interpersonal relationships. The parking lot has a specific arrangement for which car to park in which position, and it's all arranged very carefully, emphasizing identity. Ordinary vehicles can't even get in. Moreover, this morning we were almost blocked by the gatekeeper at the door, and even a gatekeeper is so strict. How could someone with status in the Huo family be treated like that? So, Mr. Jiang's words 'since you've come, we cannot refuse you' seem unconvincing. Plus, he clearly knew that the deceased was sneaky, as a loyal person to the Huo family, he should have stopped him."

  "Yes, indeed unconvincing," the leaders whispered among themselves, muttering and conferring with each other.

  "I don't quite believe that Mr. Jiang and the thief are in cahoots, Mr. Jiang is living a life of luxury at the Huo's, and his salary isn't low either, so why would he be tempted by the small gains stolen by the thieves?" Secretary Huang stepped forward, feeling that it was unbelievable to say that Jiang Qing was in league with the thief. Plus, as someone from the provincial government, if he just listened without taking action, wouldn't that make him seem unimportant?

  "Mr. Jiang would certainly not covet the small amount of wealth that ordinary thieves steal, and compared to this thief, his identity is beyond comparison, but what if the thief came to the Huo's house at Mr. Jiang's behest?" Chen Zhenhua said.

  "Just now, the respected Secretary Huang said that I, Jiang Qing, what identity do I have in the Huo family? Do I need to steal? The money spent every day is not enough for a thief even if they steal for half a year. Can I partner with thieves to steal things and still say that the deceased was instructed by me? It's simply ridiculous." Jiang Qing sneered, shrugged his shoulders, and glanced at Chen Zhenhua with disdain, then looked at Yan Song, as if he was saying this for Yan Song to hear, also as if looking for someone to support him.

  Yan Song nodded solemnly with a pouted mouth, showing great approval of what Jiang Qing had said.

  The director also sneered and crossed his arms, tilting his head with a scornful gaze at Chen Zhenhua.

  "What if it's a seal?" Chen Zhenhua said calmly.

  "What seal?!" Old Huo's face twitched when he heard the two words "seal", and he glared at Jiang Qing with gritted teeth.

  Jiang Qing heard Chen Zhenhua mention stealing the seal, and a fleeting shadow flashed across his face, his body shuddered with a chill, and his eyes darted around, no longer as sharp as before.

  Mr. Huo stared at Jiang Qing for a moment, then rushed to the office desk and saw that the lock on the drawer had been pried open and the drawer was opened.

  "Ah-ha!" Old Master Huo exclaimed as soon as he saw the drawer, then walked up to Jiang Qing and said viciously, "Jiang Qing, I treated you well, but you stole my seal! I know what you wanted the seal for - you embezzled 50 million from our company and were afraid I'd find out, so you stole my seal to forge documents and sell off our company's assets. Just a few days ago, a business partner mentioned that there were documents circulating about selling off our company, and I was investigating it. Who would have thought it was you!"

  "No," Jiang Qing saw that Huo Lao Ye's eyes were flashing with a fierce light, and knew that the matter had already been exposed. He hastily knelt down and said, "Brother-in-law, listen to me."

  "What else do you have to say?" Old Master Huo rebuked sternly, "You beast who eats inside and peels outside."

  "Brother-in-law, forgive me this time." Jiang Qing begged.

  The director saw Jiang Qing admit it himself, and hastily shouted loudly: "So it was you?! No wonder I had seen that something was wrong with you early on, take him away."

  Yan Song also spat at Jiang Qing, who was kneeling on the ground, and said: "You're simply a despicable person! You usually dress up to look decent, but in fact you have a belly full of evil water. Actually, I pretended to be friends with you just to see your disgusting true face."

  At the director's order, several police officers stepped forward, removed a pair of handcuffs from a servant's hands and put them on Jiang Qing's hands, then pushed her out.

  The case finally came to an end, and everyone let out a sigh of relief. Mr. Huo apologized profusely to everyone, and only then did they return to the banquet table with peace of mind to eat and drink freely.

  Back in his seat, Huo Jucai whispered to Chen Zhenhua: "How did you know that Jiang Qing was going to steal the seal?"

  "I don't know," said Chen Zhenhua, "but I saw a piece of paper on Mr. Huo's desk with several seal patterns stamped on it. I thought that the seal was related to the prosperity of the Huo enterprise, so why would Mr. Huo casually stamp it on a scrap of paper for no reason? So I took a look at the deceased's hand and indeed saw red ink on his fingers. I made a bold guess, and it turned out to be true."

  "I had the same guess," said Huang Aiguo, "A thief playing with a seal, it can be seen that he knows the use of this seal, maybe he wants to satisfy his desire to be a boss. But I think it's too hasty to conclude the case like this, and I'm not dare to say it, Zhenhua is indeed bold, but such boldness makes me, Huang, admire."

  "What's there to admire? We're all brothers!" Chen Zhenhua chuckled and the crowd also burst into laughter.

  After this incident, the leaders present seemed to have a different view of Chen Zhenhua, whether it was good or bad, they all paid attention to him.

  Huang Secretary came to his side, holding up a wine glass to toast Chen Zhenhua, then walked in front of the Municipal Party Committee Secretary and said: "Secretary, I didn't expect that Haicheng City has so many talented people, hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Today, I really opened my eyes."

  "You're right," said the municipal party secretary, standing up and raising his cup to Secretary Huang, "Our city government has strict requirements for civil servants, constantly reminding them to strengthen their personal business skills, to ensure the safety of citizens' lives and property in our city. The police are required to be even more stringent, and Officer Chen's performance is commendable, of course."

  "Wasn't it Inspector Chen who cracked the sensational murder case of Ruan Huangu just recently?" Secretary Huang continued to ask.

  "This... this... under the strong leadership of the municipal government and the municipal police department, with the close cooperation of Deputy Director Yan, Officer Chen cracked the case. For this case, Deputy Director Yan didn't go home for several days and nights." The mayor said hesitantly.

  "Is that so," Secretary Huang nodded and then downed a cup of wine, starting to chat and joke with the others again.

  When Huang Secretary was talking to others, the Municipal Party Secretary approached the Director and whispered: "You'd better consider Chen... what's his name?"

  "Zhenhua Chen!" said the director with his head down.

  "It's him," said the secretary. "You'd better consider promoting him, or it won't be easy to deal with later on. Wait for a while and then find an opportunity to bring him down."

  "What position should he take?" asked the director.

  "Whatever," said the secretary, "you handle it."

  The director nodded.