Transmigrated to 1994 (9)

Although this was the second time he had heard this joke.

The first time was in a classroom at the China Criminal Police University.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were two kidnappers who thought they were clever. After kidnapping a child, they demanded twenty thousand in ransom from the parents. Then, to distract and exhaust the police force, one of them ran to the Police Bureau to report a crime, saying he had been robbed by three men——

But normally, kidnappers would never set a price that couldn't be divided equally.

After all, so many criminal gangs were exposed because of unfair distribution of loot, so why would they bring trouble upon themselves?

Furthermore, the young man in front of him also had a Southern accent.

Of course, based on these two points alone, it couldn't be proven that he was a member of the kidnappers. What if he was just like those previous citizens, wanting to scam the reward money and thus making up this news?

But in this case, he even knew the detail that the kidnappers had changed the license plate of the Santana before committing the crime——

One must know that the entire Chang City Police Bureau had initially set up dozens of checkpoints at intersections but still found no trace of that Santana. Later, they spent over an hour running to every car rental company in the city before concluding the kidnappers used a fake plate.

If he wasn't a kidnapper, then who was?

At this moment, the duty officer attending to him said, "I’ve noted the situation. I’ll report it immediately."

The young man had no intention of leaving: "Then about..."

"Oh, you mean the reward money."

The duty officer said, "Rest assured, as long as what you said is true, after we verify it, someone will bring the reward money to your home."

The young man said, "That’s good then."

Quite the actor.

Lian Chi walked toward the duty officer while glancing at the young man, who was trying to hide a smile and the excitement in his eyes. He quickly came up with a plan.

Once the sound of the young man’s footsteps faded in the hallway, Lian Chi put down the registration book he had taken from the duty officer and said to Shen Jian She, "Change clothes, call the men, and follow him."

The head of the general team on duty, after hearing Shen Jian She’s report, immediately called four team members with good combat skills to follow them.

Sure enough, after leaving the Police Bureau, the young man hailed a motorcycle taxi. But the place he wanted to go was not Changming Street, the address he had registered at the Bureau, but Luohe Street, a street in the completely opposite direction.

Although Lian Chi was a rookie, fortunately, he had the memories of the original host, and with Shen Jian She and the others leading the way, they weren't discovered by the young man along the way.

On the other side, although Du Zhi Qiang tried to slow down, he still reached Yanjiang Road after fifteen minutes.

Just as he was about to contact the kidnappers, their message came again.

"You must reach Songhe Street within five minutes, otherwise, prepare to collect your son's corpse!"

So, when they saw Du Zhi Qiang’s car arrive at Yanjiang Road, the kidnappers didn't tell him to stop but instead made him speed up. Brigade Leader Peng’s expression immediately changed.

Clearly, the kidnappers had tricked them. The transaction location they chose was not Yanjiang Road.

In other words, all their previous arrangements had gone down the drain.

Brigade Leader Peng gritted his teeth and said, "Follow him!"

Yanjiang Road was in the south of Chang City, while Songhe Street was in the east.

Thus, Du Zhi Qiang almost floored the gas pedal and finally reached Songhe Street after five minutes.

As a result, Brigade Leader Peng and the others were left behind.

At this moment, the kidnappers' message came again.

"Look to the left; there’s a cinema. At the cinema entrance, there’s a manhole cover with a red checkmark drawn on it. Bring the money out of the car, open that manhole cover, then tie the money to the buoy hanging at the mouth of the manhole and throw it down. I suddenly noticed the mole on your son's nose looks quite like the one on mine. I don't want to kill him either, so you better not force me."

Reading the last sentence, Du Zhi Qiang hurriedly rushed out of the car.

Sure enough, at the cinema entrance was a manhole cover with a red hook drawn on it.

He ran over and tried to lift the manhole cover, but couldn't.

An older woman passing by saw him so frantic he was about to cry and hurriedly ran over to help: "What’s wrong, brother? Did something fall down?"

As a result, as soon as the manhole cover was opened, Du Zhi Qiang grabbed the briefcase full of money, tied it to the swimming buoy hanging nearby, and threw it down.

The woman was stunned.

Perhaps she suddenly felt Du Zhi Qiang wasn't a good person; maybe she had just helped him do something bad, like disposing of evidence?

Brigade Leader Peng’s face, after finally catching up with great effort, also stiffened.

He rushed straight to the manhole opening, lying flat to look down.

The swimming buoy had already carried the briefcase away in the rushing water below.

Only now did he realize why the kidnappers had waited until dusk to urge Du Zhi Qiang to trade—they were intentionally waiting for this time.

Because this was the time of peak water consumption in the city. In just a few minutes, the sewage in the pipes could sweep everything miles away.

No need to guess; the kidnappers must have sent someone downstream to fish out the ransom.

At this moment, Du Zhi Qiang no longer cared about the money; he only cared about his son's safety.

He took out his pager and sent a message to the kidnappers: "Where is my son?"

Actually, his son's full name was Chen Du, because the boy was not his biological son.

He was the son of a comrade who had died in battle. Although that comrade had never saved him on the battlefield, he had taken a bullet for him.

But one minute passed, two minutes passed, five minutes passed... The other side didn't reply.

Du Zhi Qiang’s eyes went dark, and he fainted on the spot.

Brigade Leader Peng’s heart also sank to the bottom.

The thing he feared most had happened.

Almost at the same time, Lian Chi and the others had followed the young man to Luohe Street.

At Luohe Street, the young man got off the motorcycle taxi and entered a small alley.

Fortunately, there were many dogs kept nearby, and since people weren't asleep yet, even if Lian Chi and the others made noise, they weren't discovered by the young man.

Until the young man suddenly sped up.

Lian Chi hurriedly signaled the others to stop: "We’re nearing their hideout."

Seeing this, everyone quickly hid behind the large trees nearby.

Sure enough, not long after, the young man stopped in front of a residential house.

Before knocking, he specifically looked around to ensure no one was following him before knocking and entering.

Only then did Lian Chi and the others approach.

Conversation had already started inside.

"Number Five is back? How’s the situation?"

"Those cops are really being led around in circles by us."

"Hahaha."

"I bet Number Four has already gotten the money?"

"Let me see, it’s seven o'clock. He definitely got it."

"By the way, what about that kid? Are we really letting him go back?"

"Let him go back? Are you kidding? That capitalist dog Du Zhi Qiang has exploited so much money from the people; we only took fifty thousand from him, which is already a great mercy. Does he still want his lineage to continue?"

"Oh, right, Three, I remember you’re the only one among us who hasn't killed anyone, right? Then I’ll leave the kid to you."

"No problem."

Hearing this, everyone in Lian Chi’s team was startled.

They could almost certainly confirm these people were the kidnappers.

Perhaps this wasn't their first time committing a crime, otherwise, they couldn't be so cold-blooded.

Shen Jian She raised his hand: "Go."

They were lucky because these kidnappers didn't keep dogs, so they easily climbed over the wall.

The conversation inside continued.

"Hey Five, let me borrow your axe for a bit."

"No problem."

The room was lit, so Lian Chi and the others clearly saw a figure from the central main room walking toward a small room next to it.

Lian Chi immediately flicked the safety off his gun.

As he neared the small room, through a gap in the window, Lian Chi clearly saw a pair of small, tied legs struggling on the ground. At the same time, a middle-aged man raised the axe in his hand, saying to the owner of the small legs: "Kid, blame your bad luck. You could have been born to anyone, but you had to be born as Du Zhi Qiang’s son."

As he spoke, he raised the axe high.

Lian Chi immediately raised his gun, aiming at the middle-aged man’s right hand holding the axe.

Bang!

The middle-aged man’s right arm sprayed blood.

Lian Chi: "..."

I missed.

But for him, it didn't seem to matter.

After all, he hadn't held a gun in a long time, and back at the police academy, he mostly used blanks.

The middle-aged man in the small room clutched his right arm, screaming in agony.