Chapter 56: What Does This Have to Do with a Thief Like Me?

When Chu Yan heard her brother’s words, she immediately reminded him, “Xiaolin, you can’t just randomly name a price. It has to match the market value. In cases like this, the police will have professionals assess the value—it’s not up to the parties to decide what it’s worth.”

Chu Lin laughed. “Sis, I’m quoting the market price. The Neptune grouper goes for over forty thousand apiece, the oysters I supply to the Zhizhen Restaurant are two hundred each, and blue-ringed jellyfish are a hundred each, all by the market rate. I’ll just kill a few on purpose and say they died because of the thief.”

“Well, seven years it is, then,” Chu Yan said, her mouth dropping open in astonishment.

She’d always wondered how her brother managed to get rich so quickly—buying a villa and a luxury car in such a short time. Now she understood: the creatures he raised were incredibly valuable. No wonder they attracted thieves.

But then Chu Yan frowned. “Still, if you really have such things, is it worth it just to teach a thief a lesson? Isn’t that foolish?”

A single fish was worth forty thousand. And those fertilized oysters, two hundred each, each capable of producing tens of millions of eggs. Even if not all survived, the offspring from just two would be worth a staggering sum.

So, for the sake of punishing a thief, it simply wasn’t worth it. Only a fool would go that far.

But in Chu Lin’s eyes, it was worth it. These things were easy for him to replace. And doing this gave him a sense of satisfaction.

Without hesitation, he grabbed a bucket and pulled out a few blue-ringed jellyfish, some Neptune grouper fry, and scooped up two fertilized oysters. Then he deliberately killed them, scattering the remains on the ground.

Just as his sister had said, only a fool would do such a thing—the police would think the same, as would the judge. That would only make his case more convincing.

Chu Yan stared at the fry, jellyfish, and oysters now lying lifeless on the ground, momentarily speechless. That was all money, right there. Was her brother really so headstrong?

She could only press her hand to her forehead, turning the matter over in her mind. After a moment, she said, “Since it’s come to this, you’ll need to file a report later, accusing them of sabotaging your business. With the death of your fertilized oysters, blue-ringed jellyfish, and Neptune grouper fry, your farm’s operations have suffered significant losses—enough to raise the maximum sentence to seven years.”

“You can pursue two charges—though it’s hard to add them up to fourteen years, if the thief has prior convictions and is a repeat offender, it’ll show clear intent. You could easily push for a ten-year sentence, and most petty thieves like this have prior records.”

Ten years. The very thought was chilling.

Chu Lin felt that calling his sister first had been a brilliant move. No wonder people always say, never cross a lawyer—especially a skilled one. They were all ruthless in their own ways.

Of course, he also knew that anyone else would hesitate to sacrifice blue-ringed jellyfish, Neptune groupers, or fertilized oysters for something like this. As his sister said, it was a lot of money, and not worth it.

At that moment, the wail of sirens sounded from outside. Chu Lin’s phone began to ring—it was an unfamiliar number.

When he answered, a voice said, “Mr. Chu, this is Officer Hu Qing from the Pingjiang Police Station. You’ve probably heard by now—a thief was caught attempting to steal from your aquaculture farm. We need to bring the suspect to the scene for identification and collect surveillance evidence. We’ll need your cooperation and consent.”

Chu Lin had been waiting for this. He called out, “Officer Hu, my lawyer has already collected evidence. You can come in.”

Outside the farm, Hu Qing hung up, looking surprised. “He even got a lawyer to gather evidence? Is that really necessary?”

It was a straightforward theft case. The thief had already confessed, admitting he tried to earn some extra cash on his own. Their investigation had revealed the man had a criminal record—he was a repeat offender. Even his claim about being bitten by a dog and seeking compensation had no basis; they weren’t going to entertain it. All that was left was to review the surveillance footage—case closed.

Why bother with a lawyer?

Chu Lin quickly saw Hu Qing and his team, who had with them a man in custody, limping as he walked. This must be the one Liu Xiao had caught.

An officer led the man aside, prompting him to point out locations for photographs—a standard procedure for scene identification.

Hu Qing introduced himself to Chu Lin. “Mr. Chu, I’m Hu Qing, the officer you just spoke with. Where is your surveillance system? I need to collect evidence.”

“Officer Hu, this man had accomplices,” Chu Lin said, leading Hu Qing into the surveillance room and playing the footage for him.

After watching, Hu Qing furrowed his brow and called the suspect over. “Lin Dapao, you claimed you acted alone. What about that car? Who was in it?”

Lin Dapao stared at the screen, dumbfounded.

They’d parked on the corner precisely because there were no cameras nearby, far enough from the farm that even if it had surveillance, it couldn’t possibly cover that distance. What was going on? Did this farm have a problem—installing cameras so far out? What did that street corner have to do with the farm?

But Lin Dapao was an old hand at this. He played dumb. “Officer, how should I know? I just hailed a random car, paid the guy fifty to give me a lift. Besides, haven’t I already confessed?”

For a repeat offender, a failed theft meant only a few days in detention. Why would he rat out Boss Zhong? He still needed to work for him after he got out.

Hu Qing, seeing the man’s nonchalance, said coldly, “You think we can’t find out if you keep quiet?”

He made a call. “Xiao Lin, check this license plate for me, Min*HI776... Yes, that one!”

Lin Dapao watched with a smirk, barely concealing his disdain. Did they really think he’d be so careless? He’d already thought of this.

Moments later, Hu Qing’s phone rang. “Brother Hu, we checked—the car hasn’t been in Min City for days. Someone used a fake plate.”

Hu Qing hung up, scowling at Lin Dapao. “Fake plates, too? Lin Dapao, you’d better tell us who your accomplice is if you want any leniency.”

“Officer, I’ve already confessed. I had no accomplice,” Lin Dapao replied indifferently. A few days in detention was nothing—what did he need leniency for?

Hu Qing’s frustration was evident. This kind of hardened thief was always a headache.

Chu Lin, watching Lin Dapao’s careless attitude, sneered, “Officer Hu, once you finish gathering evidence here, I want to file two more reports: one for damage to my property, and another for disruption of my farm’s operations.”

His words caught Hu Qing off guard. Even Lin Dapao glanced at him.

Still, he’d only attempted theft—those two charges had nothing to do with him.