Chapter 49: What a Small World
With Wang Anguo’s orders, the young police officer naturally didn’t dare to delay and immediately unlocked the handcuffs on Li Yi.
At the same time, the young officer couldn’t help but say, “You really should’ve told me sooner—since you know Captain Wang, why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “I was just worried about getting him into trouble!”
“Are you and Captain Wang related? I heard him call you ‘brother’!”
“We’re not related, but we’re definitely on good terms!”
…….
The two chatted as they walked, and before long they arrived at Wang Anguo’s office.
The young man poured Li Yi a glass of water and then left, and soon Li Yi was alone in the office!
With nothing else to do, Li Yi began to take in the furnishings of Wang Anguo’s office!
The office wasn’t very large, and the layout was fairly simple. Aside from a desk and a small sofa set, there was only a wooden cabinet for books and documents.
Suddenly, Li Yi’s attention was drawn to a photograph on the desk.
It was a group photo of three people—two adults and a child—presumably Wang Anguo and his family.
It wasn’t Wang Anguo who caught Li Yi’s attention, but the woman in the photo—he actually recognized her!
Her name was An Hong. In Li Yi’s previous life, she had been a formidable business rival; the two had battled each other for over a decade, yet neither had managed to defeat the other.
Li Yi had once sent people to investigate An Hong’s background and knew she was the widow of a martyr, raising her son alone after her husband died in the line of duty.
Later, when the company she worked for struggled financially, she was forced to go into business for herself. Through her own efforts, she gradually rose to become a billionaire.
But Li Yi never could have imagined that An Hong was actually Wang Anguo’s wife—what a small world!
And the man he had inadvertently saved turned out to be the husband of his old rival—what a mess!
At the same time, Li Yi realized a very serious problem!
In his previous life, An Hong had been laid off after her husband’s line-of-duty death because her company was struggling, and she was subsequently forced to go into business.
But in this life, not only had Wang Anguo not died in the line of duty, but judging by the current situation, he was likely to rise even higher. If that were the case, even if An Hong were laid off, she wouldn’t be forced into business by financial necessity.
In that case, would she still go into business like she did in her previous life?
Moreover, there seem to be strict regulations regarding business activities by the spouses and family members of public officials. Given An Hong’s current status, engaging in business is indeed inappropriate!
Could I have just eliminated my biggest future competitor?
If that were the case, things would get really interesting!
Just as Li Yi was deep in thought, the office door suddenly swung open, and Wang Anguo strode in with purpose.
Upon seeing Li Yi, he immediately smiled and said, “Brother Li Yi, sorry to keep you waiting!”
“Haha, no problem. If it weren’t for you, Captain Wang, I might already be locked up in the interrogation room right now!” Li Yi replied with a smile.
After they sat down across from each other at the desk, Wang Anguo said gratefully, “Brother Li Yi, I really can’t thank you enough for this. If it weren’t for you, not only would I be in trouble, but everyone at the county bureau would be facing reprimands from higher-ups!”
“This has nothing to do with me. I just provided you with a new angle—it’s all thanks to your hard work!”
Hearing this, Wang Anguo immediately got the hint and burst out laughing. “Got it, got it!”
Then, Wang Anguo added, “By the way, Brother Li Yi, I just spoke with Old Zhao about your situation. It’s a minor matter! I’ve already told him to let it go.”
“Thank you so much!” Li Yi said.
“Brother Li Yi, there’s one thing I don’t quite understand. With your abilities, you could easily find a proper job at a reputable company. Why bother with small-scale business?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Do you look down on businesspeople?”
“Not at all, but you know how things are these days—it really isn’t the right time for business!”
“Haha, do you believe the government will soon lift restrictions in this area—and even encourage the private sector?” Li Yi asked.
“There are rumors about that, but still…”
Before Wang Anguo could finish, Li Yi cut him off: “Captain Wang, you know what I’m capable of. If I say the government will lift restrictions on the private sector, it will happen. When that time comes, going into business will become the trend of the times!”
“And I’m simply just one step ahead of everyone else, preparing for the business boom in advance—that’s all!”
Wang Anguo had intended to object, but upon reflecting on Li Yi’s unfathomable abilities, the words on the tip of his tongue ultimately remained unsaid!
“Brother Li Yi, will the higher-ups really issue an order allowing private enterprise to exist?”
“They will, and it’ll be implemented very soon. We just need to wait for the news!” Li Yi said.
“Hmm, I see!”
Then Wang Anguo added, “I’ve already spoken to the Public Security Brigade. I told them you’re an informant for our Criminal Investigation Team, and that you’re running this small stall to gather intelligence. They’ve been instructed not to give you any trouble in the future!”
Hearing this, Li Yi almost burst out laughing. That excuse was, in a word—ridiculous!
If someone had said that a decade or so later, it would have made perfect sense.
After all, back then the streets were packed with street vendors, so blending in with that crowd to gather basic intel would have made perfect sense.
But now? There were hardly any street vendors left in the whole city, and every single one stood out like a sore thumb. How could he possibly call himself a “secret intelligence operative” under these circumstances!
“Is that okay?”
“Of course it’ll work. Besides, you’ve actually helped us crack two major cases, so I’m not wrong to say that!”
“If you say it’s fine, then it’s fine. Just don’t keep dragging me in for questioning all the time!” Li Yi said with a laugh.
“Hahaha, no way. That won’t happen again!”
“By the way, have they caught all those human traffickers yet?” Li Yi suddenly asked.
“They’ve all been caught—not a single one got away!”
“What about the children?”
“They’ve all been rescued. Aside from a few who were sent to the hospital for treatment due to illness, the rest were just a little shaken up—nothing serious!” Wang Anguo replied.
“That’s good!”
Li Yi then added, “As for those human traffickers, you’d better dig deep into their backgrounds. Every single one of them is a despicable monster. Interrogate them thoroughly—you might just uncover some unexpected surprises!”
Li Yi knew full well that many of these men were desperate criminals with murder on their hands, and some were even on the Ministry of Public Security’s wanted list.
If they could dig all that up, it would be a major achievement!
Hearing this, Wang Anguo’s face lit up instantly. “Hahaha,” he said, “We’ll definitely dig deep—we can’t let those bastards get away with it!”
“Alright then. If there’s nothing else, I’m heading back. I still have half a batch of liangpi left to sell today—I can’t let that go to waste!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“Hahaha, no way it’ll go to waste. My brothers and I have been so busy rounding up suspects today that we haven’t even had lunch yet. We’ll gladly polish it all off for you!”
“That’s great, hahaha!”
……..