S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 85

Lucky Murderer 15 – Anyone Can Run Out of Money at Some Point

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The Lian family's situation was immediately reported in the newspapers the next day, and no one knows who informed the media, but the story was all over the place.

First, it was said that Lian Tongli's family were descendants of Boss Lian, and the legend was like a tomb raiding novel. Then evidence was cited from all sides that the Lian family had left behind many legacies from their tomb raiding days, all of which were national treasures, and that this was the capital of Lian Tongli's family.

It was also said that Lian Qianyi was shot and his life was in danger. He may be the target of an international gang, and there were threats to kidnap Lian Tongli's wife and children. Now the whereabouts of Lian Qianzhong are unknown, Lian Tongli was arrested for selling cultural relics, and the powerful family instantly fell, making people sigh...

Zhan Zhao got up early in the morning and leaned back on the sofa drinking milk and reading the newspaper, "Tsk… are these reporters hiding under the beds of Lian Tongli's house? Even the love affairs of the rich family are well known. If you look at these three pages in detail, you can directly find an editor to change it to make a TV series, just call it 'A Rich Family Antique'... No, 'Tomb Raiding Mansion'?!"

Bai Chi, wrapped in a thick quilt, held a thermometer in his mouth and leaned against the humidifier in a daze. Gongsun came over and reached out to take the thermometer out of his mouth, looked at it, and reached out to rub Bai Chi's head "Well... Xiao Chi Chi, take sick leave, it's thirty nine degrees!"

"Cough cough." Bai Chi coughed, pillowing himself on Lisbon in a daze, “I’ll just take the medicine..."

"It won't get better, you need an IV!" Gongsun brought milk for him, "Be a good boy and take your medicine."

Bai Chi was particularly unlucky when he stepped on the tail of a black dog in Lian Tongli's backyard yesterday and was chased, falling into the pond in a moment of desperation. When he was rescued, he had a headache and woke up early this morning with a high fever. Zhao Zhen took him downstairs with his blanket and showed him to Gongsun, and sure enough – he was sick!

"It's good to rest." Zhao Zhen put his arm around Bai Chi, "I'll order some good food later, take your medicine and rest well, Yang Fan said he'd come to hang your fluids later."

"Cough cough." Bai Chi continued to cough, feeling humiliated, dropping the chain when it mattered.

“Gongsun," Bai Yutang brought out the finished breakfast and said to Gongsun, “give that cat a cold pill to take as well."

"Why?" Zhan Zhao looked up, "It's not like I'm sick."

The crowd looked at him together – With a pathogen in close proximity to them in the house, it was only a matter of time before this cat got infected.

"I'll go boil some vinegar and smoke it, and everyone will have a bowl of ginger soup later." Bai Yutang went back to the kitchen.

Zhan Zhao bit into his sandwich, "The material for those news reporters have must have been sent out by the Lian family! Otherwise it couldn't be that detailed, and the timing is too coincidental."

"It's a good thing this time." Gongsun still had some back pain, sitting down on the soft sofa, holding the little lion that had pounced up in his arms and rubbing his fur, "Lian Tongli is detained, Lian Qianyi is lying in the hospital, Lian Qianzhong's whereabouts are unknown, and Lian Shuli is also in the bureau... the family is all here."

"Ai… the drama is torn between the Lian family and it's no one else's business." Zhan Zhao was somewhat dissatisfied "But this matter, it is clear that there is someone else behind it." He always felt that the one who sniped Lian Qianyi was not Lian Qianzhong, but where did this person go?!

"If they could get hold of Lian Qianzhong's gun, it must be someone from the club, right?" Bai Yutang came out of the kitchen, "Have Ma Han and Zhao Hu check again later."

“Right," Gongsun asked, “any clues about that engineer squad Lian Tongli hired?"

"It's a rumour, isn't it? No one has been seen." Bai Yutang finished feeding the adults and started feeding the family's flock of animals with milk and healthy food. Lilia was due to give birth in a few days, her belly was huge and she was now a priority animal. Bai Yutang looked at the sky and wondered how many cats could be born in one litter. He had already contacted the vet who had helped Luban lose weight last time, so he could send her to him to give birth. But after this litter, the family would probably be overflowing with cats. Bai Yutang sighed... The doctor who did Lilia's neutering last time was too useless, why didn't he do it more cleanly!

"Xiao Bai." Zhan Zhao saw Bai Yutang squatting beside Lilia and stroking her fur, while Lilia was drinking milk with a happy expression, "Don't molest Luban's daughter-in-law!"

Bai Yutang was powerless. He looked back at him, stood up, and went to wash his hands and change his clothes. This whole family was idle, only he was busy… He couldn't help it, who told him to have a cleanliness problem and be unable to hire a nanny.

Bai Jintang was coming down the stairs with his tie on, and when he arrived downstairs, he took the milk that Gongsun handed him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Good morning, I won't be back until evening today."

"Mmm." Gongsun nodded, "I was thinking of spending the day in the forensics room, Xin Xin has found a lot of new clues... Gee, this girl is getting more and more competent."

"Wait for me after work tonight." Bai Jintang and Gongsun were being intimate, and the crowd wrinkled their noses.

The clock’s hour hand pointed to eight o’clock. The crowd had all finished eating and were ready to go out, when Bai Yutang suddenly received a phone call from Bao Zheng.

"Bao Sir?" Bai Yutang picked up the phone and heard Bao Zheng's tone on the other end being somewhat schadenfreude, "What did you guys do?"

"Huh?" Bai Yutang froze and looked at Zhan Zhao, who looked relaxed with his head down and was drinking tea.

"Qian Jiarang just called, saying that the sniper team has found a suitable coach and that there is no need for Ma Han to be transferred. He said that he is a great talent and it is a waste to be a coach, so he can continue to contribute to SCI in peace, and asked me to let you know so that you can tell your own men."

Bai Yutang was baffled, "There is such a thing?"

"But it's a good thing, I thought Xiao Zhan had split that Qian Jiarang, instead, his character shifted a hundred and eighty degrees and he also helped take the initiative to apply for increased funding for SCI from the top."

......

Bai Yutang hung up the phone, sat down on the edge of the sofa, and reached out to cup Zhan Zhao's chin, asking, “Oh, you were with me all day yesterday, it's impossible to have split Qian Jiarang, how did that kid change his character?"

Zhan Zhao smiled mysteriously, “Secret!"

Bai Yutang pinched his chin and didn't let go, "Tell me! Give an honest explanation!"

"Huh." Zhan Zhao crossed his arms, "I didn't say it, but Hu Zi is quite capable."

"You asked Hu Zi to do it?" Bai Yutang was surprised, "What did that boy do?"

"How can you walk by the river without getting your shoes wet, it's easy to get Qian Jiarang to bow down, just tell him 'I know what you've done'... and it's okay!" Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows, "Snakes have snake ways and rats have rat ways, Zhao Hu's friends in that society are enough to provide him with the secrets that will keep Qian Jiarang from going near SCI for the rest of his life."

"Awesome." Bai Yutang was satisfied, "No blood on our hands!"

After saying that, he picked up the key to leave, but saw Zhan Zhao sitting on the sofa as he launched into a daze, seemingly thinking of something.

"What's wrong?" Bai Yutang asked him.

"Well... snakes have snake ways and rats have rat ways... often walk by the river and always have to wet their shoes!" Zhan Zhao stood up and gave Bai Yutang a pat on the shoulder, "There are clues!"

Afterwards, the crowd went to work. Bai Chi struggled and wanted to follow, but eventually was carried upstairs by Zhao Zhen to rest, and Yang Fan took the IV to him to hang up.

Gongsun, Zhan Zhao, and Bai Yutang arrived at the police station and decided to disperse their investigations.

Everyone at SCI was very busy today.

Luo Tian and Qin Ou went to the hospital to question Lian Qianyi.

Wang Chao and Zhang Long continued to interrogate the three tigers of the Xu family, but these three were thick-skinned and refused to tell the truth. They need to work harder.

Ma Xin and Gongsun continued to examine the bodies for clues.

Qi Le and Chen Yu, who had come to help, continued to talk to Lian Shuli, hoping to get more clues.

On Lian Tongli's side, Bao Zheng himself went to question him.

Jiang Ping continued to check for clues about those ancient coins.

As for Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, they are going out into the field with Zhao Hu and Ma Han. They were to go to three places. First, the antique market, to find local snakes and informants and ask which people were specialised in helping tomb raiders and had knowledge of Lian Tongli's business. Second, since Lian Qianyi was hospitalised back then, it was necessary to make a trip to the hospital to learn more about his condition; Zhan Zhao was an expert in this area and would definitely be able to get more clues. Third was to make another trip to the firing range, to see the people on the range and find out the possible whereabouts of Lian Qianzhong.

The officers on Ai Hu's side, working with SCI, worked together to find Lian Qianzhong, who was on the run.

The car drove out, with Ma Han and Zhao Hu in the back seat. When Zhan Zhao went to work, he bought all the newspapers and magazines regarding the change in Lian Tongli's family from the major newsstands and the two were reading them.

"Wow... it's wonderful!" Zhao Hu tsked, "This family is either crazy or have no face to lose, even the news of Lian Tongli stealing a woman from his son Lian Qianzhong broke out, it's killing me!"

Zhan Zhao leaned over the back of the front seat and asked Zhao Hu, "Hu Zi, do you really know the local snake?"

"Yes, I do!" Zhao Hu nodded, "I know all the bosses from the southeast to northwest districts, and there are two that I know well."

"That Xiao Wang specialises in antiques, right?" Ma Han asked.

"Yes! If you are selling antiques, all the ones on the surface are fakes, the real ones are underground. They used to be sold outside the country, but now they don't dare to. It’s a serious crime against the ancestors, so they are traded within the country itself, the people of the country are rich!"

"Are there really still tomb robbers?” Zhan Zhao was curious.

"Now it's all about where to demolish and dig up the river, and taking a metal detector to it." Zhao Hu closed the magazine, "The graves of the old ancestors, all that can be found have been dug up by people. Think about it, Sun Dianying even blew up the grave of the old Buddha Cixi, whose grave dare not be robbed, the ones that are named have all been dug up."

"Well..." Zhan Zhao nodded, “that means that the map that Boss Lian had back then is especially valuable now!"

"That's true." Zhao Hu nodded, "The informant I made an appointment with today is called Wang Gui, and he said that we ordinary people are only now learning about this heirloom of Lian Tongli's family. It's all a secret from more than ten years ago, some say this map was stolen, some say it was burned back then, and some say that Boss Lian was a loyalist who couldn't harm his descendants, so no one has touched them… however, some say Lian Tongli is not that simple, there are people in his hands, so no one dares to make a move."

"So, this time, it was not the so-called Taoist gang who often raid tombs that did it?" Zhan Zhao frowned.

"That's right, now everyone is on edge. On one hand, the country is tightening its grip and the risk of selling cultural relics is getting bigger and bigger, and on the other hand... they all say that this time it may be done by outsiders, possibly from other disciplines, or foreigners... The recent economic crisis has seen a number of arms dealers dying and looking for money to turn around."

"Chinese are rich and patriotic, there is this kind of old ancestral treasure to return to their roots and recognize their ancestors' filial thoughts, so the old players are stealing from the country and then selling to the country, just like when the Allied Forces of the Eight Kingdoms openly robbed. You can pay for it if you want it back, where can you justify it?"

"Lack of money?..." Zhan Zhao muttered, “Lack of money ah..."

"Dr. Zhan, you're not short of money." Zhao Hu smiled and glanced at Ma Han, then leaned over and asked, “Ai, the cashier's checks that were found in Zhao Jue's box last time, how did you spend them? It was enough to buy half a Caribbean villa, right?"

"Xiao Bai and I both donated it.” Zhan Zhao said, "I got a few awards, all for psychology. There is also a part that went to schooling, supporting poor areas to build schools, college student grants, then natural disaster aid to buy supplies and what not, all donated cleanly away. All of Xiao Bai's went to police officers and disabled veterans from the war..."

"Wow... this is considered treating money like dirt." Zhao Hu tsked twice, "But yes, that's too much money, it's a curse to have it lying around."

Bai Yutang looked in the rearview mirror and saw Zhan Zhao with a thoughtful look on his face, so he asked, "Cat, what's on your mind? "

"Hmph.” Zhan Zhao suddenly laughed, "I'm thinking that having too much money is indeed a curse, but without it, it's impossible to do anything. In this world, it's hard to beat a hero without a penny, everyone needs money at times, right?"

When Bai Yutang saw him smiling smugly, he knew that the cat must have some kind of clue!

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: May 14, 2022 by Angel