Chapter 769: Slander
Ma HuiYu returned from her phone call, then sat to the right of the rich woman and said to the Zeng brothers: “Niu Zong said he’s going to come personally to negotiation, so wait a bit more.”
“That’s fine.” Officer Ma replied in stead of the Zeng brothers, “I want to see if he looks ratty or dignified.”
“Officer Ma.” Zeng Lao Liu complained, “We can’t afford to wait since we’re driving long distance! Who knows where Niu Zong is right now.”
“Well you’re going to have to wait.” Officer Ma said calmly, “Or do you not want the ￥60,000?”
Zeng Lao Liu went silent and furrowed his brows. It seemed like he was weighing the pros and cons in his mind.
Ma HuiYu sent a questioning glace at Shu Sha and Shu Sha shook her head. It meant no suspicious people or vehicles were spotted outside.
“Why would Niu Zong come personally this time?” The rich woman wondered, “Isn’t his company very busy recently?”
While the rich woman was kept in the dark, Ma HuiYu, Shu Sha, and I knew: it was a deliberate attempt to stall for time so that the volunteers would have a better chance of discovering the other car that was smuggling pet dogs.
The Zeng brothers might have originally planned to meet up with their accomplices at the service stop and stuff the stolen dogs into the truck, but they probably already cancelled their original plan since their truck was stopped by the volunteers.
“I’m going to the washroom.” Zeng Lao Liu stood up and said, “Since Niu Zong won’t be here for a while anyway.”
I bet he’s going to the washroom to contact his accomplices, so I stood up and said: “What a coincidence, I need to go too. Let’s go together.”
Zeng Lao Liu glared at me, but I feigned innocence.
“I suddenly don’t need to go anymore, I’ll go later.” Zeng Lao Liu sat back down, “You go by yourself.”
“No worries, I can hold it. I’ll go together with you whenever you go.”
Zeng Lao Liu was so angry that his eyes rolled back. Ma HuiYu thought I did a good job and gave me a look of approval.
Based on Zeng Lao Liu’s reaction, it looks like he already contacted his accomplices once and told them to not get exposed and wait for further contact. If he thinks he can sell all the dogs for ￥60,000, then it’s worth a return trip even if they don’t transport the stolen dogs. So he wants to tell his accomplices to hide themselves properly so they don’t get discovered by the volunteers or police.
I made sure to keep my eye on him. His brother, Zeng Lao Da, was already drunk.
“Beat him. Beat him to death.”
The square outside suddenly became chaotic. Ten or more people who looked like security guards ran behind a vehicle, then surrounded two men and began to beat them.
I initially thought it was the volunteers who clashed with the security guards, but when I took a closer look the conflict happened pretty far away from the truck and I didn’t recognize the people being hit.
“That’s what you get for stealing gas, damn thieves.”
The security guards said as they continued to hit them.
“I can’t believe you would have the gall to siphon gas out of someone’s tank in the middle of the day.”
“Captain Luo is on duty today, let’s teach them a lesson.”
The civil police, Xiao Zhang, was alerted and wanted to yell at them, but Officer Ma waved his hand.
“Recently the gas thieves have been getting out of hand. Xiao Li, from the 9th squad, parked his squad car outside of a neighborhood to keep an eye on a suspect, but those thieves actually tried to steal gas from a police car and even injured Xiao Li with a machete… The security guards often hit people and know how to hold back, so let them handle it.”
Before he even finished speaking, the two gas thieves were beaten to the point they couldn’t stand anymore but it looks like their lives were not in any danger.
Captain Luo ordered a few security guards to drag those thieves to the nearest police station.
“Why are those guards so violent?” The rich woman said, “Especially Captain Luo who acts like an ex-convict.”
Actually, I also look like an ex-convict if I take off my sunglasses, but the rich woman believes I love dogs, so I’m someone who appears evil but has a good heart.
Captain Luo said something along the lines of ‘why take care of those stinky mutts’ to the volunteers, so the rich woman still hates him.
Right when I wanted to turn away from the commotion going on outside, I realized three young people walked into the service stop while holding signs.
The first person held a sign with the words “Care for animals, refuse to eat dogs and cats”.
The second one held a sign with a picture of a cute puppy with the words “How can you bear to eat me” underneath.
The third person’s sign was the largest, with large words: “Protest against high housing prices”.
Hey, I think the third person came to the wrong place! I could understand dog lovers uniting on social media and coming to help once they found out about what was going on at the service stop, but why are you coming here to protest against high housing prices?
I later found out the one protesting against housing prices was also a dog lover, but he left in a rush and brought the wrong sign.
Zhao Yao, the annoying reporter from Dong Shan News, saw the security guards beating up the gas thieves and wanted to get a first-hand shot, but was stopped by Captain Luo.
When he saw new volunteers walk into the service stop, he immediately jumped next to the one holding the sign about housing prices, pointed his mic at them and asked: “Excuse me, do you think it’s the system’s fault that housing prices remain high nationwide?”
Officer Ma was unhappy seeing more and more people arrive, so he asked Ma HuiYu:
“Who asked you to contact more volunteers, do you think it’s not chaotic enough? I already said just sign the contract and bring those dogs to Niu Zong’s place, then it would be solved.”
“I never contacted them.” Ma HuiYu had no intention of apologizing, “Who doesn’t have a few online friends these days. It’s not strange at all for information to leak.”
“So when is Niu Zong getting here?” Zeng Lao Liu slapped the table, “Did you call these dog lovers here to snatch the dogs from us?”
“No one can snatch it from you when the police are here.” Xiao Zhang said seriously, then glanced at the Swiss Army knife that was in my pocket.
So it looks like you still admire my cool knife. Since you’re not letting other people snatch stuff, then you won’t try to snatch my knife either, right?
Within 10 minutes, there were 6 more volunteers holding signs. It was the second wave of support and those who did not hold signs, went to help take care of the dogs.
There were now 30 or so volunteers in addition to Xiao Ding’s group at the service stop and it was growing.
“Nope.” Zeng Lao Liu suddenly stood up and said, “We’re leaving, we’re not selling the dogs anymore.”
“Why?” Officer Ma wondered, “Do you think ￥60,000 is too less?”
“Those dog lovers aren’t acting in good faith, they just want to snatch our goods, also… we’ve already wasted a lot of time and my paramour at Guangzhou is getting anxious.”
Zeng Lao Liu said as he shook Zeng Lao Da to wake him up.
The class leader and I looked at each other, it was clear Zeng Lao Liu was feeling guilty. He was just dreaming of getting rich, but now he’s giving up because he’s afraid of his accomplices getting found.
It means his accomplices still haven’t left the service stop. They might have been already hiding here, since even if Zeng Lao Liu called them, they might not have been able to leave in time.
Ma HuiYu pushed the contract under her arm forwards and said: “You guys are so impatient. Niu Zong is almost here and the police are also here. Us volunteers are law-abiding citizens, so we won’t snatch your goods… sit down and let’s talk about it…”
“There’s nothing left to say.” Zeng Lao Liu said rudely, “I’m leaving right now. The truckload of dogs is mines, so I can sell it to whoever I want, for however much I want.”
Then he turned to Officer Ma and asked: “Officer, you won’t force us to sell it, right? I heard forcing other people to sell or buy goods is illegal.”
“Yeah, I can’t force you to buy or sell.” Officer Ma, who was still tired, said slowly, “If they want to leave, then you volunteers can’t force them to stay or it’s illegal. As the police, we have to protect the legal rights of the citizens.”
At this point, Zeng Lao Liu had already woken Zeng Lao Da, “Brother, let’s go. Go sleep on the passenger seat, let’s stop messing around with these dog lovers.”
“You’re not allowed to leave!” The rich woman shrieked, “You can leave with the truck, but you have to leave the dogs behind.”
“I’ll stay if you give me my money right now.” Zeng Lao Liu blurted, but felt it sounded wrong and said: “I’ll leave the dogs behind if you give me my money right now.”
“I don’t have ￥60,000 in cash.” The rich woman shook her purse and said, “But I can call my sister over, just wait a bit.”
“Wait my ass.” Zeng Lao Liu flung his arm, “I don’t have time to waste with you. Brother, wake up, I can’t support you. Let’s get out of here, there are people waiting for us in Guangzhou.”
“People who eat dogs will go down eighteen levels of hell.” The rich woman tried to grab onto Zeng Lao Liu, but he dodged it and she grabbed air.
“Officer Ma, are you going to do something about this?” Zeng Lao Liu complained, “They want to force us to sell and they are now hitting me when we don’t agree!”
Xiao Zhang was a little hesitant, but Officer Ma pondered for a moment and said, “That’s also good. Farmed meat dogs aren’t suitable as pets, so the follow-up procedures are troublesome even if you buy it. Since the dog dealer insists on leaving…”
“It’s all your fault!” Ma HuiYu pointed at Officer Ma’s nose and said, “If it wasn’t for you, we would have already reached a price we both agree on.”
“Hmph, if you’re going to blame someone, blame Niu Zong for being cheap.” Officer Ma crossed his and didn’t feel sorry at all.
The scene was a mess, but the class leader and I knew the most important was to stall for time. Based on how Zeng Lao Liu looks guilty, his accomplices might not be able to hide anymore if we wait a bit more.
The class leader bit her lips and tried to think of a way to stall for time, but she was restrained to the thought process of a Justice Devil, unlike me who was unrestrained.
I cleared my throat, then pointed at Zeng Lao Liu and yelled:
“I don’t need to hide it any more. Officer Ma, I received insider info that these dog dealers are actually hiding drugs in the dogs. Aren’t you in the narcotics division, then hurry up and search their truck!”
I didn’t really care since I had to stall for time. I was also wrongly accused for carrying drugs before, so now it was time for the dog dealers to experience it once.
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