Lu Linjiang leaned the pitchfork against the wall and looked at Cui Qian with a thin, mirthless smile. "Manager Cui, what is this?"
Cui Qian was visibly trembling with tension, but he forced himself to speak. "It’s... it’s for storing horse manure."
"Storing manure?" Lu Linjiang reached down and gave the ring a tug. As expected, the floor tile it was attached to lifted right up. Once the tile was removed, a bamboo ladder was revealed leading downward. Lu Linjiang pulled out his phone, switched on the flashlight, and peered inside. The space below was about fifteen square meters. The walls had received only the most basic treatment, and there was no sign of horse manure on the floor. On the contrary, it had been swept very clean.
"Where’s the manure?"
"We just cleared out a batch a couple of days ago. We haven't had time to clean the new stuff yet," Cui Qian explained with a strained, awkward laugh.
Lu Linjiang tentatively climbed down the bamboo ladder. The air inside was surprisingly fresh. He looked closer and discovered several fist-sized ventilation holes in the walls, connected to the outside via pipes.
Using the light from his phone, he circled the cellar meticulously. Finally, in a corner, he spotted a rat hole. Lu Linjiang lay flat on the ground to shine his light inside, then squeezed two fingers in with some effort. After fumbling around for a moment, he pulled out a small, tile-shaped object.
"What is this?" Lu Linjiang asked Cui Qian after returning to the stable, holding up his find.
By now, Cui Qian was shaking uncontrollably. "What... what is that?"
"I’m asking you. I found it down there."
Cui Qian’s eyes darted about. "I’ve never seen it before."
Jiang Cheng, who had been watching from the side, studied it for a moment. "I recognize it." As soon as he spoke, the strength seemed to leave Cui Qian’s body, and he slumped onto the floor. Jiang Cheng took the object from Lu Linjiang, examined it from several angles, and then crouched down in front of Cui Qian. "This is a scale. Based on its shape, it should be from a pangolin."
Lu Linjiang asked, "Manager Cui, can you explain why a pangolin scale would be in a rat hole?"
Cui Qian’s face was ashen. He closed his eyes. "I don't know."
Jiang Cheng toyed with the scale in his hand, still crouching beside Cui Qian. He said in a very gentle, amiable tone, "Actually, you don't have to say anything. Since there are rats here, we’ll just set a trap later. Once we catch one, we’ll take it to the lab for a dissection. We’ll analyze what the rat has been eating, and then everything will be clear. Even if we can't catch a rat, we can dig up the burrow. We’ll eventually find rat droppings, which can also be taken back for testing."
Lu Linjiang seized the moment to add, "We’re giving you a chance right now. Once the lab results come out, I might not even want to hear what you have to say."
Between the two of them playing good cop and bad cop, Cui Qian’s hair was now soaked with sweat. He held out for a few more moments before finally giving up in defeat. "I’ll talk."
From the moment Lu Linjiang discovered that Cui Dongming was likely connected to Cui Shihai’s wildlife trafficking, he knew the matter wouldn't be simple. But when Cui Qian laid everything out, he had to admit that "not simple" was an understatement.
Because of its unique geographical location, Liucheng Island had always seen fishing boats docking in the early years, with fishermen using small boats to provide basic supplies. Even now, there was an abandoned pier near the beach. Cui Dongming had used this unique geography to set up a smuggling operation.
He had somehow hooked up with a gang of smugglers and used Liucheng Island as a transit station. As the volume of goods grew, he used the excuse of creating a new source of income for the villagers to build the ranch. The ranch purchased a batch of fodder every month, and Cui Dongming would use those opportunities to hide the smuggled animals inside the fodder trucks to move them out.
When the ranch was first built, Cui Dongming had painted a grand vision for the future. He had even taken the unprecedented step of paying for the bulk of the construction out of his own pocket, only collecting the remainder from the village collective. It had seemed like an act of utter selflessness. Every year at the end of the term, he would publicly open the accounts and slaughter some unsold sheep to give "dividends" to every household. Although the ranch never seemed to turn a profit, the villagers received their benefits and never questioned whether there was anything fishy going on.
Originally, this was Cui Dongming’s private business, and the people he employed at the ranch were all more or less related to him. However, the money his wife had used to pay for medical bills was actually a sum of capital the smugglers had entrusted to him to pass on to a supplier. By the time Cui Dongming realized it, the money had already been turned into his brother-in-law’s motorcycle. That was what had driven him to such a rage that he got into a physical brawl with his brother-in-law at the hospital.
But the fight solved nothing. The smugglers didn't care how the money went missing; if the cash wasn't produced on time, Cui Dongming’s entire family would suffer. It was at this point that Cui Shihai came to his door over the house issue. Because of his father’s favoritism years ago, Cui Shihai had endured constant nagging and belittlement from his mother-in-law. Having harbored resentment for a long time, he finally saw an opportunity and didn't want to let it go. The house Cui Bin lived in was left by the old man of the Cui family. In Cui Shihai’s eyes, as the eldest son and with Cui Wenxing being the eldest grandson, it was only natural for them to inherit the old man’s estate. Moreover, he wasn't taking it for free; he had indeed paid off some debts, though the amount wasn't nearly as massive as he boasted to outsiders.
However, making it happen legally wasn't that easy. For one thing, if the village elders spoke up or if someone tipped off Cui Bin, and Cui Bin regained his senses and refused to sign, everything would be for naught. The key to all of this was held by Cui Dongming.
It was all a series of coincidences. When Cui Shihai went to see Cui Dongming, he happened to run into the smugglers coming to collect their debt. Cui Shihai naturally stepped in to resolve the crisis for Cui Dongming. In return, Cui Dongming repaid the favor by remaining silent regarding the house transfer and the debt issues.
Cui Shihai had only ever suffered losses in family matters; he could do nothing about the fact that his father preferred his younger brother. But in other areas, Cui Shihai had always been a shrewd and opportunistic man. He saw clearly the massive profits to be made in smuggling. He refused to take back the money he had used to help Cui Dongming, and after Cui Dongming offered to repay him for the third time, Cui Shihai revealed his true intention: he wanted to buy in as a partner.
To Cui Dongming, this was nothing short of a relief. He had originally feared that Cui Shihai would use the secret to blackmail him. A Cui Shihai who only asked for a partnership seemed, to Cui Dongming, like a man of great integrity.
After hearing Cui Qian’s confession, Lu Linjiang asked, "So, what exactly have you smuggled in the past?"
Cui Qian had been talking until late afternoon, and his collapsed psychological defenses had begun to rebuild slightly. Hearing Lu Linjiang’s question, his eyes flickered, and his jaw tightened. "Just... the usual things."
Lu Linjiang gave a short laugh. "The usual? Smuggling 'usual' animals? Are we talking about 'usual' things like chickens, ducks, and geese, or 'usual' things like pangolins?"
Cui Qian lowered his head and answered unclearly, "Just pangolins... occasionally we’d catch some wild masked palm civets that wouldn't fetch a high price, so we’d send them to Cui Shihai’s shop to be processed."
Lu Linjiang didn't speak, waiting patiently for Cui Qian to continue. However, after spilling his guts earlier, the man had suddenly clammed up. He stared down at a stain on the table as if he had said everything there was to say and refused to open his mouth again.
Lu Linjiang waited a moment, then pulled out his phone. The physical evidence had already been sent for testing, so he only had a photo. In the photo, a transparent evidence bag sat atop a paper napkin, making the three-centimeter-long brown hair inside look particularly prominent. "Do you see what’s in here?"
Cui Qian glanced at it and guessed, "Horse hair?"
Lu Linjiang remained noncommittal. "What it actually is depends entirely on what you buried in that small grove near the ranch."
At the mention of the "small grove," Cui Qian’s entire body gave an uncontrollable shudder. Lu Linjiang sneered inwardly. "Speaking of which, a large area of the ground in that grove shows signs of being disturbed. What did you bury down there?"
Cui Qian turned his head away, refusing to look at Lu Linjiang. "We didn't bury anything..." He began to nervously tug at his sleeve. "What would there be to bury in the woods?"
"It doesn't really matter if you don't tell me. At most, I’ll just wait a few hours. The lab will give me the results eventually."
Cui Qian turned a deaf ear, acting as if he had suddenly lost his hearing. It was unclear if he regretted being too honest earlier, but he was now playing the part of the mute.
Yang Bo hadn't found any useful information on the computer in the ranch office. Fortunately, because Lu Linjiang had discovered the cellar, they could legally bring the computer back for further study. The most recent files on the computer were all from within the last three days; it had clearly been wiped.
Zhao Zhijie came out after finishing the transcript with Lu Linjiang. Yang Bo was currently trying to recover the deleted files. Seeing Lu Linjiang, he said, "Two more hours."
Lu Linjiang looked around. Jiang Cheng was sitting quietly diagonally across from Yang Bo. He held his phone in one hand and a piece of Chinese cabbage in the other, feeding the rabbit. That rabbit had suddenly "flown" at the perfect moment; Lu Linjiang only now had the chance to wonder—how could it have been such a coincidence?
The rabbit showed no sign of the desperate flight it had taken in the stable. It sat on the table, a picture of serene tranquility, with a piece of newspaper Jiang Cheng had thoughtfully placed beneath it.
Lu Linjiang poured a glass of water, set it on the table, and sat down opposite him. Once Jiang Cheng looked up, he asked, "I have a question. Why did that rabbit go crazy right at that moment?"
Jiang Cheng glanced at the rabbit and gave its head an apologetic pat. "I gave its belly a hard pinch."
Yang Bo, who was eavesdropping with perked ears: "..."
Lu Linjiang laughed. "I thought it was a coincidence. So it was you helping out."
Jiang Cheng gave a soft "mm," showing no intention of taking credit. In the past, Lu Linjiang might have said "thanks" and let the conversation end there, but he suddenly felt the urge to keep talking. The image of Jiang Cheng as harmless, even timid and weak, was deeply rooted in Lu Linjiang’s mind. Even after this encounter, though he realized Jiang Cheng had changed a lot, he had subconsciously separated those changes from the man's core personality—after all, using "timid and harmless" to describe a PhD wasn't a contradiction.
But he realized he was once again dead wrong. Whether the man was brave or timid was debatable, but "weak" was definitely not a label that fit Jiang Cheng. He could tactfully resolve Guo Junyi’s embarrassment, use rabbit blood to bluff both sides, and throw a rabbit at the critical moment. How could someone like that ever be associated with weakness?
***
