Chronicle of the 70s-Chapter 409 - 382: Found

In a standalone house in the suburbs of the capital, Li Xianglu would certainly recognize this place if she came; she had been here before.

It was nearing the end of September, and the grape trellises were already heavy with fruit.

A woman in long sleeves with a mask on was picking grapes, carefully placing them into a basket at her feet.

This woman was Li Huan, who had been missing for quite some time. After filling a basket with grapes, she ascended the steps while the formidable man behind her carried the basket back to the living room.

In the center of the living room sat a large table, which had a scale atop it, a big bag of white sugar, and containers like funnels and basins.

Two people sat on the east side of the table; one appeared to be in his forties, while the other seemed in his seventies, with graying hair, squinting at Li Huan as she crushed and filtered the grapes into bottles brought in by the big man.

It was only after Li Huan had completed these tasks that she washed her hands and sat down on the west side of the table, facing the two men, as the big man served her a cup of hot tea.

Li Huan took a sip, feeling the warmth in her mouth and gradually warming her body; this autumn was a bit cold.

The man in his forties was indeed Qin Shouhan and he ruffled his hair with agitation, saying to Li Huan, "My daughter has gone missing."

Li Huan raised an eyebrow, uttered an "Oh," and continued to sip her tea indifferently.

The septuagenarian frowned at her and said, "Li Huan, are you planning to break our agreement?"

Li Huan shook her head and smiled, "Why would I? Mr. Qi, what is it that you really want to know?"

Mr. Qi before her, with his gaunt figure and a deep scar stretching from the corner of his eye to the edge of his face on the left side—who looked a little grim because of it—started to laugh upon hearing Li Huan’s question, his mouth curling up in a sarcastic smile: "Haven’t we already asked you? Does that old man have any cards left to play? What’s the deal between him and Xu Wangzheng?"

Li Huan smiled and replied, "I’ve said it several times already, I don’t know. That Xu is bizarre, suddenly appeared out of nowhere, with strange behaviors and extremely suspicious."

Clearly, Mr. Qi was not satisfied with Li Huan’s answers. Qin Shouhan rubbed his hair with irritation on the side, "I said my daughter is missing, are you even listening?"

Li Huan asked doubtfully, "Isn’t your daughter studying in the United States? When did she return to the country?"

Qin Shouhan was agitated, but still, he disclosed to Li Huan their earlier plan—a plan they had painstakingly devised for over a year, which not only failed but also resulted in the disappearance of both his daughter and the government’s spy.

Hearing this, the corner of Li Huan’s mouth twitched. These people really would think of anything. She spoke in a nonchalant tone, "You never shared this matter with me from the beginning to the end. I can only try to find out if there’s any news about your daughter."

Qin Shouhan was truly on edge. His daughter’s whereabouts were unknown, and while it would be one thing if she were dead, it would be a complete disaster if she disclosed anything. They knew some details of the plan, and there were other secrets that the daughter was privy to; if she revealed anything, it would mean real trouble.

Qin Shouhan felt he couldn’t just let things be; he had to destroy some things and be prepared for the worst should Qin Miao fail to hold out and reveal everything.

As expected, on the fourth day of Mr. Qin’s detention, it was leaked that he had received eighty thousand yuan, after signing an agreement with a salesperson from an instrument factory, who turned himself in to the police. He informed the police that initially, the director was unwilling to buy their instruments, leading him to make multiple visits.

Indeed, there were witnesses for the multiple visits—after all, it was true that he made the visits, but each time, he was turned away by Qin Shouren, who was alone in the office.

Outsiders were unaware, so the salesman’s testimony became strong evidence.

The informant claimed that he finally agreed to give the director eighty thousand yuan at once, with a promise of commissions to follow, which led to the director’s agreement to sign.

After signing the contract, he deposited the money into an account provided by Qin Shouren.

The newspapers reported the incident, and the police department, recognizing the severity of the bribery scandal, planned a thorough investigation.

Xu Wu also made some progress, locating the health bureau leader referred to by Mr. Qin. The leader was clever; there was no extra income in his account.

Thus, everyone suspected he was likely paid in cash or valuable goods—this was when Lao Ba stepped in, offering information that three months earlier someone had announced a willingness to purchase a Jade Guanyin statue regardless of the cost.

The health bureau leader’s mother was particularly fond of Jade Guanyin statues—too coincidental to be a coincidence. Lao Ba added that eventually, an antique dealer in Panjiayuan had stock and sold it for eighty thousand yuan—a middleman, bragging of his one thousand yuan commission, said this and it became a topic of conversation in the antiques circle for a while, with many curious about the wealthy buyer.

According to the description brought by Lao Ba’s informant, the buyer looked exactly like Qin Shouhan, and thus, Qin Xi understood what was happening.

The situation was urgent, with almost everyone condemning Qin Shouhan; it seemed the authorities planned to use this case as a precedent to calm public outrage.

The Lu Family began to sense that something was afoot. With someone from above pulling strings and Mr. Lu nearing retirement, with Lu Family’s eldest still on the ground level, they were in a transitional phase, with many bystanders unwilling to take action—a typical bureaucratic politics landscape.

Without concrete evidence, at least proof was needed that the health bureau leader accepted gifts.

So Lao Ba’s subordinates sprung into action, but despite searching every room and cabinet, they came up empty-handed.

Surprisingly, it was in the leader’s office that they found the items, leaving everyone stunned. What did this mean? Was the leader unbelievably bold or overconfident? Not only did Lao Ba’s people discover the Jade Guanyin, but they also found a significant amount of cash and jewels.

Su Yan analyzed that the leader probably thought his office was the last place anyone would look—a place where valuable items would be hidden in plain sight—while Li Xianglu pulled a face, knowing that many corrupt officials in history had been unlucky enough to be discovered by thieves after stashing bribes in their offices. How could anyone be so foolish?

This fool, however, proved to be useful to them. The next day, he was reported, and the police also found the reported items.