The next day!
Once again, Li Yi woke up before dawn. He removed his hand from his wife’s body, feeling a tinge of reluctance, and reluctantly got dressed.
He went to the main room next door to wake up his third sister, and then Li Yi began another busy day.
However, with Li Na helping out, things were a bit easier than before.
By 8:00 a.m., the liangpi and mountain produce were loaded onto the carts, and the siblings set off for the county seat, driving two mule-drawn carts.
Once they reached the county seat, Li Yi went to the state-run restaurant to deliver the goods, while Li Na continued to set up her stall at the textile factory.
After successfully delivering the mushrooms and mountain produce, Li Yi immediately headed home. Instead of going to the supply and marketing cooperative to restock, he rode his black horse straight to the county bureau.
As for the case involving Xu Hong and the others, there was a general solution in sight.
Just as Secretary Feng and his parents had surmised, aside from that bastard Xu Hong, the other five male educated youths didn’t harbor much malicious intent.
They had simply grown jealous because Li Yi wouldn’t buy their mushrooms. Incited by Xu Hong, they’d wanted to teach Li Yi a lesson—but their malicious intent wasn’t particularly strong.
If they were all sent to prison, it would indeed be a bit excessive.
But expecting Li Yi to forgive them so easily was out of the question.
So Li Yi planned to give them a bit more of a hard time, then write them a letter of leniency to spare them from a prison sentence, and let the matter be settled.
He figured that after this lesson, they should have learned their lesson.
Of course, that doesn’t include Xu Hong.
This guy had betrayed him time and time again, and his methods were getting increasingly despicable and shameless. Someone like that deserved to be locked up for life.
However, to see if this was feasible, Li Yi would have to consult Wang Anguo!
And that was precisely the reason for his visit to the county police bureau!
Most of the staff at the county bureau recognized Li Yi and knew he was on good terms with Captain Wang, so the black horse-drawn carriage entered the bureau’s courtyard with ease.
Li Yi tied up Black Horse and then headed straight for Wang Anguo’s office.
As soon as he reached the door, Li Yi saw that Wang Anguo’s office was wide open, with numerous uniformed police officers coming and going—it was extremely busy.
Li Yi immediately furrowed his brow, wondering to himself if today might not be the best time to visit.
Just as Li Yi was hesitating whether to go in, he suddenly felt someone tap him on the back.
Turning around, he saw that it was Li Gang, that dimwit, who had somehow slipped up behind him.
“Brother Li Yi, it really is you!” Li Gang said, sounding both surprised and pleased.
“You guys are pretty busy here, aren’t you?”
Li Gang was about to speak, but suddenly seemed to think of something. He could only sigh and say, “Ah, disciplinary matters—I can’t talk about it!”
“Got it!”
“By the way, are you here to see Captain Wang?” Li Gang glanced at Wang Anguo inside and asked.
“Yeah, but seeing how busy you all are, I’d better not go in and disturb you!” Li Yi said.
“We are a bit busy, but we still have time to meet!”
Before Li Yi could react, he grabbed his arm and pulled him straight into Wang Anguo’s office.
Wang Anguo was hunched over his desk, carefully sifting through clues related to a case, completely oblivious to the two men behind him.
It wasn’t until Li Gang and Li Yi walked up beside him that he sensed their presence and turned around.
Upon seeing Li Yi, Wang Anguo was taken aback at first, then asked, “When did you get here?”
Li Yi smiled and replied, “Just now!”
Li Gang added, “Brother Li Yi, I saw you were busy and was just about to leave when I ran into you!”
“Looks like you’ve got something on your mind, kid?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Nothing much—I just wanted to ask how the case involving those educated youth is progressing.”
Li Gang replied, “I’m aware of that. It’s already in the prosecution phase. If all goes as expected, the trial will begin next month!”
“Could it be sent back for a retrial?” Li Yi asked, his words coming as a surprise.
“A retrial?”
“Why?”
Li Yi glanced at the others in the office but said nothing; this wasn’t the kind of thing to be discussed in public.
Li Gang and Wang Anguo realized this as well and immediately said, “Let’s go to Li Gang’s office to talk!”
Shortly after, Wang Anguo, Li Gang, and Li Yi went to the office next door.
As soon as they entered, Wang Anguo asked in a low voice, “The case was already closed. Why retry it?”
Li Yi immediately recounted how Yang Yongjun and his wife had come to his home to plead with him, and briefly shared his thoughts with Wang Anguo.
After hearing the situation, Wang Anguo frowned and said, “A retrial isn’t out of the question, but there are two issues right now. First, a retrial requires new evidence or evidence that was previously overlooked.”
“Second, even if there really is new evidence, our county bureau doesn’t have the resources to retry this case!”
“What do you mean?” Li Yi frowned.
“You saw it yourself just now—our entire criminal investigation team is swamped. Plus, the county has ordered us to crack this case within a week. Three days have already passed, and we still have no leads. We’ll just have to put the educated youth case on hold for now,” Wang Anguo said.
“What case has you all so tied up?” Li Yi asked curiously.
Wang Anguo thought for a moment and said, “This actually involves some state secrets. According to confidentiality protocols, I shouldn’t be telling you this, but since you’re now considered an informant for our criminal investigation team, there’s no harm in sharing it with you!”
“A few days ago, a major theft occurred at the county’s Plant 812. Gold worth tens of thousands of yuan mysteriously vanished right under the security guards’ noses. This incident has not only alarmed the county but has even reached the city authorities. The county has ordered us to solve the case as soon as possible.”
Factory 812? Stolen gold?
Hearing Wang Anguo’s words, Li Yi immediately recalled a report he had read on dxmbang in his previous life.
The report stated that one day in April 1990, staff at the People’s Bank of China branch on Zhongshan Road in the provincial capital were all hard at work.
Since the government had recently raised the price of gold significantly, many people had been coming in to exchange their gold.
The teller in charge of gold exchanges had just finished another transaction. Before she could even take a brief break, an elderly woman approached the counter.
The elderly woman appeared to be around 50 years old. She looked nervous, her eyes darting about as she kept glancing around the room, unable to sit still at the counter.
When it was her turn, the elderly woman carefully unwrapped a package that had been wrapped layer upon layer, and took out a substantial piece of gold.
Upon receiving the gold, the teller immediately sensed something was amiss.
The gold before her weighed a full three catties—a weight rarely found in private collections.
Although she had dealt with a few people who had brought large quantities of gold to sell, the purity of that gold was nowhere near that of the piece before her.
She also keenly observed that this was industrial gold bearing distinct cutting marks.
By all accounts, this was a piece of gold that would never appear in the home of an ordinary person.
She discreetly sized up the elderly woman at the counter—her hair was gray, her clothes were plain and showed signs of mending—which only heightened her suspicions.
The teller couldn’t help but wonder, secretly speculating on the origin of this gold—it likely came from dubious sources.
So, while she reassured the elderly woman, she quickly reported the matter to her superiors.
The bank’s management also sensed something was amiss and immediately called the police.
Eventually, police officers arrived on the scene in a hurry, surrounding the elderly woman and ultimately solving a decade-old gold theft case.
In his previous life, since this case had mentioned his hometown, Li Yi couldn’t help but take a closer look—and to his surprise, he happened to arrive just as the incident was unfolding.
Recalling the origins and details of this case, the corners of Li Yi’s mouth couldn’t help but turn up slightly.