Chapter 268 - Shanshan’s Interrogation

Chapter 268: Chapter 275 Shanshan’s InterrogationLi Yifei and Lin Qiong were squeezed together on the seats of a big truck, beside a driver, as the vehicle had already entered the highway and was moving steadily at high speed.

At this moment, Lin Qiong felt almost incredulous that they had managed to transport the goods out so safely and without incident, when she had expected many more people and strict checks.

In fact, this was Lin Qiong’s first real exposure to smuggling, and although it involved many complications, it was, in essence, a business. Unlike the extremely cautious drug and arms traffickers, who could be executed if caught, smugglers would just face a few years of imprisonment if nabbed.

Additionally, the most crucial aspect of a smuggling operation was its initial vetting. Because Li Yifei and Lin Qiong had prepared well ahead of time, they managed to lower the group’s guard, leading to the successful deal.

However, Lin Qiong felt no particular joy, because while they had some evidence of smuggling, such evidence couldn’t really do much, and could at most lead to the arrest of Elder Fourth, Yao Mingyuan. But arresting only Yao Mingyuan would undoubtedly be like scaring off the snake by hitting the grass, losing any chance of capturing others involved later on.

As the truck driver was clearly one of their people, Lin Qiong had to continue her act with Li Yifei at this point, coquettishly discussing with him about what he’d buy for her with the money they made and where they could go for fun.

The driver was an old hand, probably used to driving through the night. After several hours, he briefly stopped to have a bite to eat with Li Yifei and Lin Qiong, then continued driving. Lin Qiong was tired by then, and it would seem abnormal if she didn’t sleep, so she laid her head down on Li Yifei’s lap and drifted off.

Li Yifei engaged the driver in casual conversation, trying to extract some information from him, but the driver was shrewd and didn’t say much, only insisting that he knew nothing beyond his role as a driver. Eventually, Li Yifei gave up, as asking too much might reveal their intentions, so he too closed his eyes to sleep.

The following dawn, the big truck finally reached its destination. Li Yifei arranged for the goods to be unloaded into a small warehouse, and then the big truck left.

"Is this place yours?" Lin Qiong asked Li Yifei, puzzled.

Li Yifei laughed, "Where would I get a warehouse? A friend lent it to me."

"What friend?"

"Just a friend, you don’t need to worry about it. Leave the rest to me."

The corner of Lin Qiong’s mouth twitched. She really didn’t want to be involved in selling the goods, but she urgently needed funds to lure in the bigger fish from above, so she kept silent.

At that moment, Li Yifei hugged Lin Qiong from behind and said cheerfully, "Shouldn’t you take care of the thing you promised me now?"

Lin Qiong abruptly pulled away Li Yifei’s hands and turned to glare at him, retorting, "What did I promise you?"

Meeting Lin Qiong’s gaze, Li Yifei said, "Didn’t you promise me compensation after today’s deal was done?"

"Ah!" Lin Qiong let out a soft cry, her face blushing. She looked up and protested, "Nothing dangerous happened today, why should I compensate you?"

"You..." Li Yifei’s eyes widened, frustratedly staring at Lin Qiong.

Lin Qiong chuckled and said, "When we encounter danger next time, I’ll definitely compensate you. Alright, I’ll leave the rest to you. I need to rush back to work."

With that, she pushed the door open and left. By the time Li Yifei gave chase, he saw Lin Qiong sprinting away, as if fleeing for her life, which made Li Yifei laugh heartily. How interesting this policewoman was.

After the two-day ordeal, it was Monday by the time Li Yifei returned to Mile City. He hadn’t managed to find time that weekend to have a proper talk with Su Yiyi. Or rather, Li Yifei was somewhat reluctant to face Su Yiyi, so he had intentionally let the weekend slip by before returning.

Over those two days, Lin Qiong hadn’t forgotten to call him regularly, keeping herself well-informed about the situation. She knew that Li Yifei had successfully offloaded the goods and now had roughly 1.5 million in funds.

Just one such operation had brought in so much money, which made Lin Qiong’s mouth curve into a smile, understanding that the profit would have been even greater if Li Yifei had sold the goods off slowly rather than to a middleman.

Before Li Yifei’s return, he had already contacted Elder Fourth to tell him that he had successfully sold all the goods on hand and hoped to get another batch. However, Yao Mingyuan informed Li Yifei that there were no goods available at the moment, and that they would contact him when the next batch arrived.

This was exactly what Lin Qiong had been hoping for. To crack this case, she definitely needed to fully understand their entire operation, including smuggling routes, sales channels, key personnel, etc., which couldn’t be uncovered with just one or two transactions. She needed multiple deals to build sufficient trust and to present herself as a powerful business associate before she could get close to more senior figures in the operation.

During these days, she had neglected her duties at the station and put them on hold; she too had some normal police work to attend to.

On Monday evening, Li Yifei also arrived at Xu Yingying’s house. Xu Yingying and Xu Shanshan had been on the phone nonstop these past days, continuously checking on him. It was expected of Xu Yingying, but Xu Shanshan had been eagerly waiting for Li Yifei to talk about this matter. If Li Yifei didn’t visit, she would have come to drag him over herself.

"Brother-in-law, finally you’re here! I’ve missed you to death." As soon as Li Yifei arrived, Xu Shanshan rushed over excitedly and grabbed his arm.

Xu Yingying had come back with Li Yifei, and at that moment, she pushed the groceries she’d bought towards Xu Shanshan, saying, "Take the groceries to the kitchen."

Xu Shanshan didn’t take them, still holding on to Li Yifei’s arm, and said, "Hey, I’m talking to my brother-in-law here. Can’t you carry them yourself?"

Xu Yingying glared at her and said, "Didn’t I say I haven’t changed my shoes yet? Hurry up."

Xu Shanshan reluctantly let go of Li Yifei’s arm, took the groceries, but immediately grinned and said, "Brother-in-law, you have to tell me all about it today. Stay over tonight."

Li Yifei was changing his shoes and laughed, saying, "I can talk, but staying over is unnecessary."

"Hehe, you’ve stayed with my sister so many times already, this one time won’t make a difference."

Xu Yingying’s face flushed instantly, reminded of the night she had spent with Li Yifei. Previously, cohabitation had been peaceful, but now, if they were to share a bed again, she really wasn’t sure Li Yifei could stay as well-behaved as before.

At the very least, Xu Yingying was aware that if she were with Li Yifei, as long as he didn’t truly cross the line, she actually didn’t mind, and seemed to even relish, other intimate gestures. These past nights, she had been reminiscing about their closeness with Li Yifei, and it had been quite distressing.

Xu Shanshan sneaked glances at Xu Yingying’s reaction, seeing her sister’s somewhat bashful face, and couldn’t help but snicker to herself. Her proud older sister was progressively losing her immunity to Li Yifei. Just add a little more fuel to the fire, and wouldn’t their happiness be secured?

Once they were in the living room, Xu Yingying felt a bit uneasy in Li Yifei’s presence and said, "Sit for a moment, I’ll go to my room to change clothes." Then she dashed into the bedroom and with a slam, shut the door.

At this time, Xu Shanshan came out of the kitchen, sat down next to Li Yifei, and once again grabbed his arm, urging him, "Brother-in-law, hurry and tell me about what happened these past days. My sister came back and wouldn’t say a word about the thrilling things you’ve been through; it’s really irritating."

Li Yifei knew Xu Yingying was shy and would never reveal that in order to deceive others, they had to pretend to be intimate to avoid suspicion, let alone mention the intensity of their act.

"Hehe..." Xu Shanshan blinked her eyes cunningly at Li Yifei and teased, "Tell me, brother-in-law, did you manage to win my sister over?"

Li Yifei suddenly looked exasperated and said, "Nothing like that happened."

"Hehe, don’t lie to me. The second day when my sister came back, she was totally besotted. If it wasn’t for being with you..." Xu Shanshan wiggled her thumbs suggestively, her expression growing even more ambiguous.

Li Yifei laughed awkwardly and said, "No, nothing happened between your sister and me." But in his mind, he felt quite guilty; after going that far, claiming innocence was a bit far-fetched. Yet since they hadn’t actually taken the final step, Li Yifei still wanted to make some clarifications.

Xu Yingying hurriedly changed her clothes and rushed out, knowing her sister all too well. That mischievous girl could say anything to Li Yifei when alone. What if she blurted something out?

And indeed, as she reached the door, she heard Li Yifei defending himself. Hastily, she opened the door and came out, her face stern as she said, "Xu Shanshan, what nonsense are you spouting now?"

Xu Shanshan blinked and responded, "I’m not talking nonsense. I’m just curious about how far you and my brother-in-law have gotten. If there’s no progress between you two, then I might have to make a move. Don’t blame me for lacking sisterly love later; I can’t let such a good brother-in-law slip away."

Xu Yingying, initially worried Li Yifei might spill the beans about that day, changed her mind quickly. She sat down next to Li Yifei, took his arm, and intentionally let his arm graze her chest. She looked at Xu Shanshan with pride and said, "So you want to know? I’ll tell you then. That night, your brother-in-law and I did sleep together. Everything that should and shouldn’t have been done, was done."

"Really?" Xu Shanshan’s eyes widened.

"Of course it’s true. There were even cameras monitoring us. We had to make it look real to avoid suspicion."

Li Yifei was about to explain when Xu Yingying stealthily pinched him on the soft flesh inside his arm, seemingly ready to pinch harder if he dared to speak out of turn.

"No way, older sister, you’re too bold, doing that with brother-in-law right under someone’s watch. Oh my goodness, it’s unimaginable."

Xu Shanshan’s exclamation turned Xu Yingying’s face even redder with embarrassment, wishing she could just disappear into a crack in the floor.