Chapter 547
Arrested
Chapter 547 Arrested (4000 words)
County Chief Tian was very dissatisfied with the handling of Chen Haidong, but he knew that this was the limit.
Chen Haidong's problem was quite common in this era, falling into the category of "if the people don't report it, the officials won't investigate."
If things escalate too much, like what happened with Lin Xiaohe dealing with the twelve state-owned factories in Anning County, the entire Liaoyang province will be unable to contain it.
"Okay, I understand, thank you, boss." Lin Xiaohe expressed her gratitude repeatedly.
County Magistrate Tian sighed deeply: "During times of change, there will be all sorts of voices, but we must still have faith in the country and the Party."
"Yes, I've always believed that."
"Have we arrived in Russia yet?" County Magistrate Tian asked with concern.
Lin Xiaohe: "Yes, we've arrived."
"What's the situation in Russia? Is there any potential?"
Lin Xiaohe recalled what she had seen and heard in the past few days and said with a strange expression, "The situation is complicated and not as simple as I imagined."
County Chief Tian wanted to ask more questions, but considering the high international roaming fees, he only offered a few words of encouragement before hanging up the phone.
As Changhong Factory gradually expanded its international business, the Anning County government enabled international direct dialing functionality on the landlines in the offices of County Head Tian and the top official.
When making a call, you first dial the international long-distance prefix 00, then add the country code and the other party's number. It costs more than 20 yuan per minute, which is quite extravagant.
Even though County Chief Tian didn't have to pay for it personally, he still hung up the phone 59 seconds before the deadline.
Meanwhile, Lin Xiaohe and the others were at the Moscow police station.
The police station mobilized almost its entire force to surround Lin Xiaohe and her group.
The first thing Lin Xiaohe smelled was musty, mixed with tobacco, vodka, cheap perfume, and some kind of indescribable sour stench.
She looked down; the cement floor was pitted and uneven, and most of the plaster on the walls had peeled off, revealing blackened red bricks.
A fluorescent light above my head flickered on and off, emitting a buzzing sound.
Everyone knew she was the leader, so no one handcuffed her.
Ivan was in a bad situation; his appearance was very distinctly Russian, so he was handcuffed without any mercy.
He moved his wrist; the Russian-made handcuffs were heavier than those in China, and the edges rubbed painfully against his wrist.
Ivan was practically speechless. Speaking in his thick native dialect, he rambled on, protesting, "Hey! We're the victims! Why are you arresting us? Comrade, did you hear me?"
Sitting across from me was a fat policeman, in his forties, with a face full of fat, and the buttons of his uniform were about to burst from his belly.
He was slowly flipping through a document, occasionally glancing up at Lin Xiaohe with a playful look in his eyes.
He's in the police station, and he still dares to answer the phone? Interesting!
He then looked at the mobile phone in Lin Xiaohe's hand, his heart pounding with desire. It was a big, fat sheep!
"Comrade? The Soviet Union has already collapsed. Are you still nostalgic for that red? That's right, you just came from a red country."
The fat policeman's sarcastic tone made Lin Xiaohe frown.
The fat policeman didn't care about any of that.
Shock therapy nearly paralyzed the entire Russian nation.
Three years have passed, the ruble has depreciated, prices have skyrocketed, and milk prices have increased by a staggering 2019 times!
He was just a poor little policeman, earning a meager salary of a little over $100 a month. Back home, a food basket containing staples had risen to $25.
His monthly salary can only buy four or five food baskets.
The fat policeman curled his lips into a mocking smile. His family would starve to death on their salary alone!
Thinking of this, the fat policeman said fiercely to Lin Xiaohe, "Name."
Ivan was translating beside him; his voice was a little hoarse.
Half of his face was swollen, and there was dried blood at the corner of his mouth. He had been hit with the butt of a gun by that group of thugs on the train.
"Lin Xiaohe".
"Profession."
"Director of the Hong Factory in Liaoyang, Dongguo".
The chubby policeman raised an eyebrow, turned the document in his hand over, and tapped a line of text on it with his knuckles.
"Lin Xiaohe, a citizen of Dongguo, is suspected of participating in a fight on train K19, resulting in 5 people being seriously injured and 13 people being slightly injured. Is this your signature?"
"I signed it."
The fat policeman laughed, a laugh that was very uncomfortable, condescending and mocking, as if looking at a wild beast trapped in a cage.
"Ms. Lin, do you know what crime is committed in Russia for causing serious bodily harm?"
Lin Xiaohe did not respond.
The overweight policeman continued, "Five years at the beginning. If there are aggravating circumstances, ten years. Of the people you beat, five are still in the hospital, and we don't know if they'll ever wake up. Ten years, Ms. Lin, have you considered that?"
He threw the documents on the table, leaned back, and the chair creaked.
"Of course, if you cooperate and have a good attitude, things might be a little lighter. For example, why were you fighting?"
Lin Xiaohe raised her head and looked into his eyes.
“Officer, they attacked first. More than twenty people, armed with knives and guns, stormed into our private room to rob us. We were acting in self-defense.”
"Self-defense?" The fat policeman laughed, an exaggerated laugh, his fat face jiggling. "More than twenty people, beaten like this by more than fifty of you, and you're telling me it was self-defense?"
He stood up, walked to Lin Xiaohe's side, and circled around her.
“Ms. Lin, look at yourselves. What do you look like? Like soldiers. The way you walk, the way you talk, the way you fight. You're not ordinary businesswomen, are you? Retired? Special forces?”
Lin Xiaohe did not answer.
The portly policeman didn't seem to care and continued, "We've checked your identification; it's all genuine. You're from Changhong Factory in Liaoyang, Dongguo, doing business in Russia. What are you selling? Color TVs?"
He suddenly bent down, leaned close to Lin Xiaohe's ear, and lowered his voice.
"Do you know who I hate the most? It's you Eastern scalpers. They sell counterfeit goods, rip people off, and then run away, leaving us to clean up the mess. Those Russian citizens buy your junk, have nowhere to complain, and then come to curse us police, saying we don't care. How can we care? The people have all run away!"
He straightened up, and his voice returned to normal.
"So tell me, why should I believe you're a legitimate businessman? Why should I believe you were acting in self-defense? What if you've come to Russia to continue swindling people?"
Lin Xiaohe looked him in the eye and said, word by word, "I am a legitimate businessman. Our color TVs are of qualified quality and have all the necessary documentation. We have legitimate channels in Moscow, and we have come here with the utmost sincerity, hoping to achieve a win-win situation with you. If you don't believe me, you can check."
"Investigate?" The fat policeman laughed again. "Investigate what? Investigate how many people you've sent to the hospital?"
He went back behind the table, sat down, picked up the document, and flipped through a couple of pages.
"Okay, Ms. Lin, let me show you a way. Plead guilty, admit it was a fight, not self-defense. If you have a good attitude and cooperate actively, I'll help you get a lighter sentence. Three years, at most three years, you'll be out. How about that?"
Lin Xiaohe stared at him for a few seconds.
Then, she suddenly laughed: "Officer, how much money do you want?"
The fat policeman's expression changed, but he quickly recovered: "What did you say?"
"I said, how much money do you want to release us?"
There was a few seconds of silence in the police station.
All the police officers tacitly looked away, pretending to be deaf and blind.
The fluorescent lights buzzed, and the wall clock ticked away.
The chubby policeman stood up, walked to the side, made a phone call, mumbled something for a while, then came back, sat down opposite Lin Xiaohe, and changed his expression.
“Ms. Lin, you are very smart. But what you said puts me in a difficult position.”
Lin Xiaohe didn't say anything.
The fat policeman took out a pack of cigarettes from the drawer, pulled one out, and lit it.
Smoke filled the interrogation room.
"Your matter is serious. More than twenty people, five seriously injured, and the hospital says those five are unlikely to survive. Two of the victims are members of a local gang. That group is ruthless and vengeful. Understand?" Lin Xiaohe nodded.
“So this number,” the fat policeman held up five fingers.
He glanced at his colleagues around him, then changed his mind: "Not enough. We need this number."
He held up all ten fingers.
Lin Xiaohe looked at him without saying a word.
The chubby policeman thought she was complaining about the amount and was about to explain when Lin Xiaohe spoke up: "One hundred thousand rubles?"
The portly policeman was stunned, then burst into laughter: "Ms. Lin, are you kidding me? 100,000 rubles, what can you do with that? Buy a few bottles of vodka?"
He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray: "US dollars. One hundred thousand US dollars."
Ivan gasped in shock.
One hundred thousand dollars!
Good heavens, I could keep this money! I'd be willing to go to jail for Director Lin!
Lin Xiaohe was silent for a few seconds: "How many can get out?"
The fat policeman held up five fingers: "All of you. Get out, no criminal record, no deportation, and you can continue doing business in Moscow tomorrow."
"make a deal."
Ivan panicked: "Director Lin! This..."
Lin Xiaohe raised her hand to stop him, looking at the fat policeman: "When are you going to release them?"
The chubby policeman stood up and dusted off non-existent dust from his uniform.
"Wait until I receive the money. Do you have someone outside? Have him deliver it. The sooner the better."
An hour later, a gentlemanly-looking man from the East, dressed in a cashmere coat, pushed open the door to the interrogation room.
He was carrying a black briefcase, and his face looked terrible.
After entering, he placed the box on the table and opened it.
The green US dollars were neatly stacked.
The fat policeman's eyes lit up for a moment, but quickly returned to normal.
He walked over, picked up a few stacks at random, flipped through them, and then put them down.
"Okay."
He called out towards the door, and a young policeman ran in.
The fat policeman spoke a few words to him in Russian, and the young policeman nodded and came over to unlock Ivan's handcuffs.
Ivan flexed his wrists, his face full of regret. He glared at the fat policeman, but was pulled back by Old Sun beside him.
The chubby policeman didn't even look at him, but said to Lin Xiaohe, "Ms. Lin, you're lucky to have run into me. You might not be so lucky next time something like this happens."
Lin Xiaohe stood up and straightened her clothes.
She looked into the fat policeman's eyes and said, word by word, "Officer, don't worry, it won't happen again."
The chubby policeman raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.
Lin Xiaohe turned and walked out, and the fat policeman saw them off.
As they reached the entrance of the police station, the portly policeman suddenly spoke up: "Ms. Lin, that box, is it fake?"
Lin Xiaohe paused in her steps.
The fat policeman laughed: "The stacks on top are real, the ones on the bottom are paper. You think I can't tell?"
Lin Xiaohe turned around.
The chubby policeman, with his large belly, walked slowly behind Lin Xiaohe, seemingly unafraid of being stuffed into a sack after leaving the police station.
The chubby policeman looked at Lin Xiaohe with a hint of amusement in his eyes: "But that's enough. The ones above are enough to get me done, as for the ones below, I'll just throw them away."
He paused, then said, “Ms. Lin, you are a smart woman. But I’ll say it again: you Dongguo middlemen have a negative reputation with me. I’ll let you off this time, but if you mess with me again next time, ten times the money won’t be enough.”
Lin Xiaohe looked at him and suddenly smiled: "Officer, don't worry, we're not middlemen. We're legitimate businessmen. Next time you buy our color TVs, I'll give you a discount."
The fat policeman paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.
The laughter echoed in the empty corridor, following Lin Xiaohe and her group: "I hope you can sell a color TV."
Outside, the sky over Moscow was overcast, and light snow was falling.
A black Volga was parked on the side of the road, and Andrei leaned against the door, a cigarette between his fingers.
Seeing them come out, he threw away his cigarette butt and opened the car door.
"boarding."
Ivan climbed into the car, muttering, "One hundred thousand dollars, one hundred thousand dollars just gone like that..."
Lin Xiaohe didn't speak, looking out the window at the receding police station building.
The building was drab and gray, with iron bars welded to the windows. Two policemen in overcoats stood at the door, smoking and chatting.
One of them was that fat policeman from earlier.
He saw Lin Xiaohe in the car, raised his hand and waved, as if saying goodbye, or as if saying goodbye again next time.
Lin Xiaohe looked away.
The Volga drove into traffic and disappeared into the gray skies of Moscow.
The car was quiet, with only the sound of the windshield wipers swishing against the windshield.
After holding it in for a while, Ivan finally couldn't help but ask, "Director Lin, do you think that policeman knew that what's down there was fake?"
Lin Xiaohe did not answer.
Old Sun answered for her: "I know. But he doesn't care."
Old Ma was stunned: "Don't care? That's 100,000 US dollars!"
Old Sun smiled and said, "What he cares about isn't the 100,000 yuan, but our attitude. The fact that we're willing to pay shows that we have the resources and connections, unlike those small vendors who get bullied on trains. That's what he wants."
Ivan was silent for a moment, then sighed.
"This place is fucking shady. Why don't we teach them a lesson?"
More than fifty veterans from the East gave Ivan a strong sense of security.
Lin Xiaohe looked out the window and rubbed her forehead: "Although Russia is in chaos right now, the police still represent the government. What are we here for? We're here to do business, not to fight with them."
She paused for a moment, then said, "We'll get that 100,000 back from the Japanese sooner or later."
More than twenty well-prepared men went to rob a group of more than fifty people, a formidable group that wasn't carrying any goods.
What about the motivation?
Although Lin Xiaohe had no evidence, her intuition told her that it must have been the Japanese who were behind it.
There's no need for evidence to pin the blame on the Japanese. If she thinks it's true, then it is!
The car fell silent again.
The Volga sails across the Moscow River, and the red star of the Kremlin shines in the distance.
Ivan leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and muttered, "One hundred thousand US dollars... one hundred thousand US dollars..."
The sound grew fainter and fainter, finally disappearing into the roar of the wheels.
I had congee hot pot today, and it tasted pretty good!
Following Baozi's advice, I successfully cooked rice puffs and rice oil. The house didn't smell like hot pot; it was filled with the aroma of rice.
Unfortunately, I couldn't buy any fresh oysters. Next time, I can try when the weather is warmer.