Twenty-Seventh Section: Arresting Gamblers (3)

  Look at the courtyard, a mess of cigarette butts hasn't been cleaned up yet. Qiu Yuanfeng furrowed his brow, "Wang Zhongguang, what happened last night?"

  "Qiu Suo, last night Zhao Gong'an took us to catch a group of gamblers." Wang Zhongguang ran over with a thud.

  "Huh? Didn't Little Zhao return last night?" Qiu Yuanfeng was somewhat surprised, as Zhao Guotang's home was just a few miles away and could be reached by bicycle in about ten minutes. How could he not have returned even on Sunday?

  "Hmm, Zhao didn't go back, so he can just take us to get this thing done. We've been busy all night and it's already 4 or 5 o'clock, should we wake him up?"

  "Oh, no need, let him sleep for a while."

  Zhao Guodong dazedly listened to the voices outside, glanced at his watch and saw it was almost 10 o'clock. He quickly got up, washed up, and saw that the director's office was already open, so he hurried over to report.

  "Qiu Suo!"

  "Come in and sit down." Qiu Yuanfeng lit a cigarette, feeling quite pleased with himself. The person who had just arrived was the head of the Jiang Temple Taxation Bureau, who usually acted like a big shot at district meetings, but now came to his door seeking favors and speaking in a humble tone. If it weren't for District Committee Secretary Jiang calling him to ask him to maintain good relations, Qiu Yuanfeng really wouldn't have bothered with him.

  "Qiu Suo, last night Liao was on duty, I took some people to catch a group of gamblers."

  Zhao Guodong told the whole story in three to five minutes, and Qiu Yuanfeng listened very seriously. "Hmm, handled well, worthy of being from the criminal police team! Let's handle it according to your opinion. Hmm, there's a guy surnamed Lu who is a relative of Secretary Xie of the district workers' committee, and that Mao Pingwa is the nephew of Director Chen of the tax bureau. We can give them a lighter punishment, we also need to maintain some relationships."

  "Uh-huh, I see." Zhao Guodong nodded, "I've already given the stake to Sister Xue through Wang Zhongguang."

  "Let Xue Biqin go to the county bureau's finance department today to hand over the gambling funds and fines, and hurry up with the refund procedures. Give out the rewards that are due as soon as possible." Qiu Yuanfeng paused for a moment, then said with deep meaning: "Little Zhao, do your job well, our Jiangmiao police station is just short of talented people like you!"

  Gambling is not like that. Most people who come to pay fines are relatives of gamblers, and if it's a fine, only friends will come to pay on their behalf.

  In the morning, Zhao Guowen handled the matter quickly, following the principle of handling it as soon as possible. With some consciousness, he also made some concessions in the negotiations. The seven people, plus the tea house owner who provided conditions for gambling, were fined nearly 5,000 yuan, and the confiscated gambling capital was over 14,000 yuan, which is also the largest gain for Jiangmiao Police Station in two years.

  Watching Xue Biquan take the bulging package onto the bus, Zhao Guozhong couldn't help but feel a pang of envy, wishing that all this money belonged to him.

  Yesterday, in the downtown area of An city, near Niuwang Temple, I saw many people gathered there. When I asked Tang Jian who those people were, I found out that they were speculating on black market stocks. Looking at the papers posted up, it said "buying and selling Anyuan Tianding, Anyuan Guanglu, Angang Iron and Steel" and other stocks. Only then did Zhao Guotang realize that the black market stock frenzy was about to arrive.

  In his impression, the black market stock frenzy will reach its peak after the Spring Festival in '93. At its highest point, it may even be more than ten times the face value of those unlisted stocks, and the potential for making money is thrilling. However, Zhao Guodong has no money.

  Money isn't omnipotent, but having no money is absolutely impossible. Zhao Guozhong subconsciously muttered this classic phrase that had been etched in his memory for over a decade. The sand dredging business couldn't be delayed any further; the procedure wasn't the issue, but finding a sales channel was giving Zhao Guozhong a headache.

  "Zhao Ge, it's a phone call, and it's a woman."

  Looking at the ambiguous expressions on the faces of the joint defense team members, Zhao Guotang picked up the phone in confusion, "Who is it?"

  "Hey, it's only been a few days and you can't tell already?" The sweet voice on the phone made Zhao Guotang somewhat dizzy. It wasn't Tang Jian, nor was it Kong Yue or Han Dong. Who else could it be? At present, the young women who had contact with him seemed to be just these few people.

  "Uh, the phone is a bit muffled, I really can't hear."

  "Zhao Guotong! Have you forgotten who put you on this path?" The voice in the receiver suddenly became furious.

  "Ah? Little Man, I heard you, I really didn't expect you to call me, I thought I had been forgotten by the criminal police team." Zhao Guotang said with a self-deprecating tone.

  "Xiao Man? You're also calling her Xiao Man? And another thing, you've been gone for so long and didn't even call to let the team know what's going on." Upon hearing the other person call her Xiao Man, although it was over the phone, Tong Man's heart skipped a beat.

  "Alas, there's nothing new to report. It's all just the same old stuff that everyone knows and can do. No need to mention me. Ah, give me a foothold and I can lift up the earth." Zhao Guotang lazily put his legs on the table, chatting with pretty girls wasn't something that made time feel slow.

  "Who is she talking to with such a happy expression?" Huang Huacheng, who had just returned to the team, looked at Tong Man with a somewhat jealous gaze.

  Tong Man raised her hand to signal not to interrupt, and continued chatting with Zhao Guotang. Zhao's language became more and more vivid, making Tong Man giggle nonstop. This guy went to Jiangmiao Temple for just a few days and was able to catch the attention of the local leaders.

  It wasn't until a long time later that Tong Man finally hung up the phone. Huang Huaicheng couldn't hold back his inner jealousy and doubts, so he pretended to be calm as he asked: "Tong Man, who were you chatting with so happily?"

  "Who is Zhao Guocong?" Tong Man didn't notice a hint of gloom flashing in Huang Huacheng's eyes.

  "Guo Dong, how is he?" Huang Huacheng made a great effort to put on a happy face.

  "I just went to the finance office and ran into Sister Xue from Jiangmiao's dorm, who was paying money there. Wow, over 14,000 yuan! Director Ma was asking Jiangmiao how they could pay so much at once. Sister Xue said it was because Zhao Guodong led a team to bust an underground gambling den last night." Tong Manle chuckled and said: "Zhao Guodong has really made our police academy's students look good this time, even Director Ma is praising him!"

  Huang Huacheng's face turned increasingly gloomy. How could Zhao Guotang, that little brat, have such great luck even after being sent to Jiangmiao? Looking at Tong Man's delighted expression, Huang Huacheng felt very displeased in his heart.

  I and Zhao Guotang are both police academy students, to say that my grades are even better than Zhao Guotang's, and my family conditions are also much better than his. But this kid Zhao Guotang not only got close to Tang Jian, who is known as the school flower, but it seems like Tong Man also has a good impression of him.

  She had been trying to win over Tong Man with all her heart, but Tong Man always pushed three and blocked four, or said that she was still young and didn't consider these things. If it were Zhao Guo Dong who beckoned to Tong Man, perhaps Tong Man would have directly thrown herself into Zhao Guo Dong's arms. Fortunately, Zhao Guo Dong had Tang Jian now, otherwise she wouldn't even have the last bit of hope left.

  "Hmph, being sent to Jiang Miao, I'll see how long you can struggle. Will Tang Jin still look up to you?" Huang Hua thought gloomily.

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