Chapter 57: The Death Bell Never Tolls for Ah Pao!

“Mr. Chu, could you please be more specific? I’ll make a note of the details,” said Hu Qing, the investigating officer. Since someone wanted to file a report, it was his duty to accept it on the spot.

Chu Lin turned to Ah Bao and said, “Officer Hu, my aquaculture farm has recently bred some Neptune grouper fingerlings, a pair of specially fertilized oysters, and several blue-ringed jellyfish intended for breeding.”

“A single Neptune grouper can fetch over forty thousand each, a fertilized oyster, once matured after spawning, can be sold for two hundred, and their eggs can number in the tens of millions. Each blue-ringed jellyfish can sell for over a hundred, and during breeding, each can yield several thousand offspring without issue.”

“Due to water transfer procedures, I had temporarily kept all these in buckets in the yard, but a thief broke in and toppled the buckets, resulting in their deaths.”

“The projected future loss could reach tens of millions, causing tremendous financial harm. Moreover, the death of these fingerlings, breeding jellyfish, and Neptune grouper fry has severely disrupted the operation of my farm, resulting in massive economic loss.”

“Therefore, I am filing a report now.”

Even though the projected sum might not be fully recognized in court, the charges would easily be enough for a seven-year sentence.

Hu Qing was stunned, his mouth agape at the mention of tens of millions. He had thought this would be a simple case—who could have guessed it would turn into a major economic crime?

“Hurry, collect and preserve the evidence!” Hu Qing urgently instructed a fellow officer. “And notify the station to send for forensic personnel.”

That officer’s expression shifted upon hearing the word “tens of millions”—there was shock and excitement. The shock was for the same reason as Hu Qing’s; the excitement was for encountering such a big case. He rushed to the car for his tools and began collecting the carcasses.

Perhaps due to the rush, the officer missed many details while collecting the bodies. Otherwise, some irregularities might have been noticed afterward. But since Lin Dapao had already been identified at the scene and photos had been taken—it was clear which buckets he had knocked over—certain things were simply overlooked.

Ah Bao was completely dumbfounded.

What did this mean?

He had toppled those buckets, which contained such valuable creatures, and now their deaths had caused a loss of tens of millions?

Was this some kind of joke?

At this moment, Chu Yan also looked at Ah Bao and said coldly, “I advise you to name your accomplices. Willfully damaging another’s property in such a significant amount carries a sentence of up to seven years. The charge of sabotaging business operations, causing major economic loss, carries the same penalty.”

“Wha—?” All color drained from Ah Bao’s face. He looked helplessly at Hu Qing. “Is… is what she said true?”

Recalling the earlier attitude, Hu Qing chuckled. “Lin Dapao, as long as Mr. Chu’s valuations are accurate, there’s no deception here.”

“No, impossible!” Ah Bao shook his head frantically. “How could something worth millions just be left out like that for me to knock over?”

Hu Qing reminded him, “Lin Dapao, you need to understand—keeping property in one’s own farm isn’t negligence. It’s your illegal entry that caused all this. Whether or not it’s true, we’ll know once our station completes the appraisal.”

Then, in a gentler tone, Hu Qing turned to Chu Lin. “Mr. Chu, please cooperate with us and provide a statement.”

How could he not be polite? With such a huge loss, the man’s emotions were surely unstable.

The other party appeared calm, but he might erupt at any moment.

“I’ll cooperate,” Chu Lin nodded, forcing himself to appear furious at the loss. “Officer, you must see justice done for me.”

…

Not long after, more urgent sirens wailed outside the farm. One police car after another pulled up.

A middle-aged man led a group of officers into the farm. He was Wang Xin, head of the Pingjiang Police Station. The report had drawn him to the scene personally—after all, a case involving tens of millions was monumental.

Given the scale, Chu Lin wasn’t surprised. He had anticipated this; with such a large sum involved, it would be odd if the station chief didn’t show up.

What did puzzle him was how a simple theft at a fish farm had escalated to this degree.

“Xiao Hu, what’s the situation?” Wang Xin asked as soon as he saw Hu Qing in the courtyard.

Hu Qing immediately brought over a bag of carcasses. “Chief, everything has been collected, just awaiting verification.”

“Gentlemen, I’ll trouble you,” Wang Xin said to three men beside him.

They nodded, took the bag, and began their examination.

Truthfully, there wasn’t much to verify—those familiar with Neptune groupers could recognize them at a glance.

So, it didn’t take long for the results.

One of them reported to Wang Xin, “Chief Wang, these are indeed Neptune grouper fry. Market value is over forty thousand each, so these dead ones are worth over two million.”

“These blue-ringed jellyfish also fetch over a hundred each, and are all mature specimens suitable for breeding. As for these oysters, they have indeed been fertilized and have spawned. The exact price of the oysters will need market verification.”

Chu Lin immediately added, “These oysters are supplied to the Zhizhen restaurant chain at two hundred apiece. That’s easy to confirm.”

The appraiser evidently recognized the oysters from Zhizhen and was astonished. “If these really are the kind supplied to Zhizhen, then the value of these two fertilized, spawning oysters is enormous. With their spawning capacity, their future output could reach tens of millions. However, we’ll need to take them back for further comparative analysis before issuing an official report.”

For Wang Xin, this was sufficient. He promptly turned to Hu Qing. “File the case.”

Hu Qing nodded and stepped in front of Ah Bao. “Congratulations, the attempted theft case is dropped. Now, given the scale of the economic loss, we’re opening a criminal case against you.”

“No… no…” Ah Bao’s face was already pale from the appraiser’s conclusion, and now he grew even more desperate. “I had no idea those buckets contained such valuable things—I didn’t know!”

He could never have imagined that what was supposed to be a simple shrimp theft—one that hadn’t even succeeded—would escalate to this.

Hu Qing sneered and reminded him again, “Lin Dapao, destroying another’s property isn’t mitigated by ignorance. Damage is damage. You are responsible, unless you wish to continue insisting you acted alone.”

“No… no…” Ah Bao’s legs gave way in terror. “I’m not the mastermind! The mastermind is someone else—someone put me up to this! I’ll confess!”

He was panicked. What a joke—how could he shoulder a ten-year sentence? Zhong only gave him a deposit of twenty thousand. Besides, he knew well that with his circumstances, confessing to being incited would reduce his own sentence, while the instigator would face a heavier penalty.

At this point, better for Zhong to go down, not him.

“Speak,” Hu Qing ordered.

“It was Zhong Lei,” Ah Bao blurted. “He was envious of Mr. Chu’s prawns and wanted me to steal broodstock. The other person in the car was his companion. He lives in Building 7, Apartment 604, Jinhua Community, Feifu Road.”

Wang Xin immediately said to Hu Qing, “Take him in. I’ll prepare the arrest warrant. Once that’s ready, go and apprehend him.”

“Yes, Chief,” Hu Qing nodded.

Soon after, all the officers left Chu Lin’s farm.

Chu Lin accompanied his elder sister to the station to complete some paperwork.

…

Building 7, Apartment 604, Jinhua Community.

Zhong Lei stepped out of the shower and changed into pajamas. Thinking of the day’s events, he was full of regret. Ah Bao was hopelessly unreliable. But he had no choice—Ah Bao was the only one he could trust for this. Anyone else caught would betray him.

Only Ah Bao wouldn’t.

Still, he was unwilling to give up so easily. He needed a new plan. After this incident, the other side would be on guard.

Perhaps he could send someone to apply for a job at the farm. If they succeeded, they could steal from within.

The more Zhong Lei thought about it, the more he liked the idea. Once Ah Bao was out, he’d have him find someone trustworthy.