Chapter 9: He's Always Got a Play! |
Extortion Case... Three Million!?
Li Xiang snapped his head up, staring at Wu Kang in disbelief — then, almost immediately, understanding dawned.
Li Er-Niu was dead. Li Youcai and Liu Cui would never let things rest; they'd love nothing more than to get their hands on Li Xiang and bleed him dry.
Sending him off on an assignment like this right now... it was as much about letting him lay low as anything else.
And if he played it right, he might even rack up a major merit in the process.
Still...
"Zhang Hu?"
Li Xiang suddenly felt his expression go a little strange. He rubbed his chin.
"Isn't that the guy whose wife — Bai Jie — was cheating on him? The one who filed a police report about it not long ago?"
"Wasn't he gearing up for a court hearing over the divorce? How did he suddenly turn around and report his wife's lover for extorting him out of three million?"
Li Xiang felt like something was off.
After all, adultery was a moral matter — the police couldn't do anything about it.
Extortion, though, was a different story entirely.
Let alone a completed extortion offense involving three million yuan.
The thing was... the man was already headed for divorce. How did he end up getting extorted for three million by his wife's lover? Was this some kind of joke?
"Who knows."
Wu Kang shook his head and handed the case file directly to Li Xiang.
"The reporting party is in the lobby right now."
"Go verify the information, then bring the suspect in."
Li Xiang still felt uneasy inside, but he took the assignment regardless.
"I'll get on it."
Wu Kang gave a nod and waved him off. "Go."
Li Xiang turned on his heel and headed toward the lobby. In moments, his figure disappeared from Wu Kang's sight.
Wu Kang's expression settled. He turned his gaze toward the detention room — toward the slight, forlorn silhouette of Wang Qiang — and let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Tsk."
"People, I tell you..."
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In the station lobby.
The victim in the extortion case turned out to be none other than Zhang Hu — the client who had once come to Xu De for a consultation after finding out his wife was cheating on him.
Right now, Zhang Hu was sitting in one of the public chairs, grumbling under his breath.
"Son of a bitch, Xu-lǜ really called it..."
That said, despite his muttering, there wasn't a trace of sorrow on his face. On the contrary, he was buzzing with excitement.
"Three million..."
"I dared to hand it over — and you actually took it, didn't you!"
The thought made a grin spread across Zhang Hu's face. It had been a long, long time since he'd felt this clear-headed and elated.
After going home, he'd followed Xu De's approach and tested the waters a little — and found that the adulterer had no qualms about taking the money. Not just any amount either; the man helped himself to hundreds of thousands, millions, without batting an eye.
The moment he saw that, Zhang Hu — having been "awakened" by Xu De — wasn't about to let the opportunity slip. He'd gone and arranged the whole package: bank transfer as evidence, then straight to the police station to file a report.
Just thinking about what was about to happen...
Zhang Hu couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from pulling upward.
He was only snapped out of it when a voice broke through beside him.
"You're Zhang Hu?"
Li Xiang had returned to the lobby. He looked at Zhang Hu with a peculiar expression.
Going by what Wu Kang had told him, the man in front of him was indeed the victim — but why in the world was the victim smiling like he'd won the lottery?
"That's me, that's me."
Zhang Hu reined in his expression, recognizing that the officer had come for his case.
He pulled out the stack of evidence he'd prepared beforehand.
"Officer, take a look — this is the call the adulterer made to me last night, on his own initiative."
"And the extortion texts — all sent by him."
Zhang Hu handed over the printed documents.
Li Xiang took them and looked them over. His expression immediately turned odd.
The messages were straightforward: the man had threatened Zhang Hu with a video and demanded money, and Zhang Hu had paid. But the problem was...
"You knew he was your wife's lover, you knew she cheated on you willingly — and you still gave him the money!?" Li Xiang asked, incredulous.
Zhang Hu's expression shifted. The words Xu De had spoken came back to him, and he opened his mouth:
"Ah, well, I was scared at the time. And even though my wife cheated... I still love her."
"Naturally, I didn't want that man spreading the video around, so..."
"The things he said to me back then — I was terrified!"
"Panicked! Devastated! Horrified!"
"I had no choice. I was forced to transfer the money."
Li Xiang: ?
"And now?"
Zhang Hu said, "Oh, now I've come to my senses. I realize I was deceived — that he was extorting me."
Did you really only just figure that out...
Li Xiang studied him suspiciously from head to toe, looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't quite bring himself to. After a pause, he finally said slowly:
"This evidence of yours... did a lawyer put it together?"
He looked down at the documents in his hands.
The evidence Zhang Hu had provided was internally consistent, with a complete chain of proof — from the suspect initiating contact to the transfer itself, everything was airtight. One glance was enough to tell it was the work of a professional.
That thought brought Li Xiang up short.
If Wang Qiang had evidence like this... he might have gotten a lighter sentence.
"Officer, are you... looking for a lawyer?"
Zhang Hu asked tentatively.
His emotional intelligence was sharp enough to read what was really going on behind those eyes.
"Hm?"
Li Xiang snapped back to attention and shook his head.
"It's nothing. There's just a case I've been hoping some competent lawyer would take on."
Zhang Hu's eyes lit up immediately. He leaned forward with urgency.
"Want me to recommend someone? I'm telling you, there just so happens to be an exceptionally capable lawyer hiding right here in Lüsen City!"
Li Xiang gave a dry chuckle and shook his head.
"No need — the client has their own ideas. In a couple of days, the bar association will be heading to Jinmao Law Office..."
Jinmao Law Office?
At the familiar name, Zhang Hu froze — then his eyes went wide, his brows shooting up.
"Is it a young lawyer they're going to see?"
Li Xiang paused.
Seeing his reaction, Zhang Hu pressed on:
"Is his surname Xu? Is it — Xu De!?"
Li Xiang stared at him, bewildered.
"How did you know that?"
Zhang Hu sucked in a sharp breath, visibly stunned.
"What a coincidence — it really is Xu-lǜ!"
He'd only been fishing. Who would've thought it was actually him...
At that, Zhang Hu settled into the posture of a man who'd been through the wringer and come out wiser, and broke into a grin.
"Ha! Then don't worry about it, Officer. If Xu-lǜ is willing to take the case... I won't say he'll win outright, but you can count on a satisfying result."
Li Xiang still looked a bit puzzled. He thought back to Xu De and asked, baffled:
"What has that lawyer actually done? That you'd speak so highly of him..."
Zhang Hu said nothing — just smiled wider and wider.
What had Xu De done?
Xu De had gotten him to cut his own salary. Got his father to charge him rent for his own place. And coached him into playing the "devoted husband."
And today, he'd gotten him to send the adulterer away in handcuffs.
This lawyer — every play he gives you actually works.
Honestly, if it were allowed, Zhang Hu would have dropped to his knees and kowtowed.
As for whether Xu De could come up with equally sharp, unconventional angles on a criminal case — that, Zhang Hu genuinely didn't know.
But he chose to trust him blindly.
"Officer, never mind the details — the bottom line is..."
Zhang Hu grinned. "Xu-lǜ's always got a play!"
Li Xiang's feeling of strangeness only deepened.
He looked the man over one more time, then finally shook his head.
"Let's hope so."
"Alright... you've been extorted out of three million, your wife cheated on you, and you don't look the least bit rattled. What's wrong with you."
Li Xiang stared at the man in front of him, somewhere between exasperation and amusement. He gathered up the evidence.
"Let's go make the arrest first."
With that, Li Xiang led the team out.
Before long, a man with delicate features and a face full of bewilderment was brought back to the station.
After pocketing the extortion money, the adulterer had made no move to run. He'd wracked his brain a hundred times over and never once imagined how Zhang Hu could go from terrified and compliant one evening to coolly filing a police report the very next morning.
Watching it all unfold, Zhang Hu laughed with wild, unrestrained satisfaction — positively gleeful.
As for Li Xiang.
Once the arrest was done, he turned and cast a glance in the direction of Wang Qiang's cell, and let out a quiet sigh.
"...Hah."
What a world.
Good people get guns pointed at them.