For a moment, Jiang Weide only felt his breath catch, almost fainting on the spot. He stared in disbelief at the few patrol cops in uniform in front of him and stubbornly confirmed again and again:

"What did you say, thirteen million? Are you kidding me? You can see the layout of my cold storage at a glance, its power usage is obvious. You’ll know as soon as you check. In just one night, even if I ate electricity for every meal, I couldn’t possibly swallow that much power!"

The few policemen exchanged looks on the spot, subconsciously glancing at each other. Then one of them spoke up:

"Mr. Jiang, we will definitely get to the bottom of this, but before that we have to follow procedure. Please cooperate with our inquiry and provide the account records for this cold storage for the past few months."

When Jiang Weide heard they wanted the cold storage’s books, his heart sank with a thud. He vaguely sensed this wasn’t good. But he still kept his composure. After dealing with big shots these past two years, he had toughened up. Seeing the cop staring at him, meticulous and unyielding, he couldn’t help letting out a cold laugh and said,

"What kind of cops are you? If you haven’t figured things out, then go investigate. But in this matter, our cold storage is the victim. You don’t come to comfort us, fine, yet you still want to investigate me? Do you really think I, Jiang Weide, am just a lump of meat you can knead however you like? Your chief at Dongcheng Police Station is Liu Baocheng, right? I want to see what he means by this!"

As he spoke, Jiang Weide pulled out his phone and called Liu Baocheng. As soon as the call connected, Liu Baocheng’s familiar sly voice came through:

"Yo, President Jiang, what wind is this that blows you to personally call me?"

In earlier years, Jiang Weide had bent over backwards trying to cozy up to Liu Baocheng, but failed to latch onto that thigh. Later he turned his life around overnight and married a good wife; in an instant his status soared far above Liu Baocheng’s, and the tables flipped. The same Liu Baocheng who used to look down on him now was constantly sucking up to Jiang Weide, fawning to the point of being ridiculous.

Only now, Jiang Weide no longer thought much of Liu Baocheng at all. Hearing his voice, his eyes flashed with open contempt and disdain:

"Director Liu, what’s with your people? They come at the crack of dawn to investigate my property. What, Director Liu, you have some opinion about me?"

As soon as Jiang Weide said this, Liu Baocheng froze on the other end. Clearly he had no idea his men had gone down to the wharf to check the cold storage:

"President Jiang, what do you mean by that? I... even if you gave me a few more guts, I still wouldn’t dare investigate you. Besides, I don’t have that kind of clout."

Jiang Weide couldn’t tell if Liu Baocheng was lying or not, but he knew very well that if the police really dug into this, the tricks he’d been playing with that cold storage would be exposed. This had to be handled quickly—no dragging it out.

"Director Liu, I’m at the wharf right now, your men are here too. I rushed over in such a hurry I didn’t even have time to have breakfast with my father‑in‑law. Your people want to check the detailed accounts of my cold storage. You figure out how you want to handle that."

Right on cue, Jiang Weide brought up his father‑in‑law. Sure enough, as soon as he mentioned the number one in Fucheng, Liu Baocheng’s body gave a jolt. He hurried to placate Jiang Weide with an awkward laugh:

"President Jiang, don’t be angry, calm down. I’ll call my guys right now and tell them to handle it properly. They definitely won’t cause you any trouble, you can rest assured."

Hearing Liu Baocheng’s guarantee, a cold glint flashed in Jiang Weide’s eyes. He gave a snort and directly hung up.

The few policemen were standing right beside Jiang Weide, so they naturally heard his conversation with Liu Baocheng. They all looked at each other, and the look in their eyes toward Jiang Weide turned hesitant, as if they weren’t sure what to do next.

After Jiang Weide hung up on him, Liu Baocheng’s expression shifted several times.

Damn, just a few years ago this bastard was still shamelessly licking my boots and bringing me gifts, running around after me like he wanted to swear brotherhood. And now he talks to me like I’m his servant. This is fucking suffocating!

But thinking of who Jiang Weide was now, Liu Baocheng understood full well: Jiang was a petty man who’d tasted power. In that Jiang’s eyes, he was nothing but an ant. If Jiang wanted to crush him, it would take just a word.

At that thought, Liu Baocheng couldn’t help feeling deflated. He was just about to call those little bastards under him and tell them to brush it off casually, when, unexpectedly, just as he picked up his phone, a strange number came in.

Though a bit puzzled, Liu Baocheng still answered, "Hello, who’s this?"

"You’re Director Liu of Dongcheng Police Station, right?" An aged voice came from the other end.

Liu Baocheng paused, then asked, "This is Liu Baocheng. And you are...?"

"I’m Xie Chengting from Fucheng Electric Power Bureau. I just received a report from my staff. There’s an incident at the East City Fish Market Wharf in your jurisdiction. You know about this, right?"

Frowning, Liu Baocheng did know something had happened at the wharf because Jiang Weide had just called. But what did this have to do with the Electric Power Bureau? Also, this guy claimed to be from Fucheng Electric Power Bureau, name’s Xie Chengting. That name... he’d heard it somewhere.

His brain spun, trying to remember where he’d come across that name. But before he could think it through, the voice on the other end continued:

"Since this happened in your jurisdiction, I hope you’ll handle it strictly according to the law and not let unrelated parties interfere too much. I won’t hide it from you: the amount involved in this case is huge. For a mere police station chief like you, I’m afraid you won’t be able to cover it up."

He’d originally wanted to ask what exactly this was about, but the moment he heard that, Liu Baocheng exploded.

He knew his position as a station chief wasn’t worth much, but having it thrown in his face so blatantly—wasn’t that straight-up looking down on him? He was practically choking with rage. First thing in the morning, Jiang Weide had already made him swallow his anger, and now even someone from the Electric Power Bureau had to step on him. This was too damn much!

He was about to snap back when the other side gave him no chance, tossing out one last line—"That’s all I have to say, you decide what to do"—and hung up.

Color rushed to Liu Baocheng’s face, his breath stuck in his throat, neither going up nor down. He felt like he was about to suffocate.