Huo Sining was still asleep when she received a call from Wu Jun. Drowsily, she picked up the phone, and Wu Jun’s voice came through:

"Miss Huo, something happened to Jiang Weide’s cold storage."

So soon?!

Upon hearing this news, Huo Sining jolted upright in bed: "What happened?"

Wu Jun hesitated for a moment before saying, "Last night, Jiang Weide’s cold storage was burgled."

Huo Sining was stunned, thinking she had misheard—burgled? That didn’t seem to have anything to do with her.

Her upturned mouth involuntarily drooped, and she said disinterestedly, "Burgled, huh? What was taken? Was it valuable?"

Thinking to herself, Huo Sining wondered if another Gentleman on the Beam had also visited Jiang Weide’s cold storage while she took Blue Fatty to dinner last night. What a coincidence! She wondered who it was that had such a similar mindset.

However, on second thought, Huo Sining felt it didn’t add up. Besides the seafood, there was nothing valuable in that cold storage. A normal thief would surely steal things that are easy to carry and transfer. Those seafood items wouldn’t be worth getting, so what valuable item could the thief have stolen? Surely they wouldn’t have gone on a wild goose chase?

Just as she was pondering, Wu Jun spoke up: "As far as valuable goes, maybe. But what’s unusual is that this cold storage lost over 1.3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity last night. The employees discovered something wrong with the meter box early this morning and immediately reported it to the police, which also alerted the Electric Power Bureau and the Criminal Investigation Bureau. Upon investigation, the Criminal Investigation Bureau found that the cold storage had secretly installed hidden lines, and the discrepancy between the recorded electricity consumption and the actual usage of equipment was apparent, leading to being caught red-handed."

Only then did Huo Sining realize she had misunderstood. The act she and Blue Fatty committed last night was indeed theft. However, Huo Sining felt not one bit guilty; instead, she was secretly pleased, especially after hearing Wu Jun’s words, which made her chuckle:

"Installing hidden lines? It’s blatant electricity theft, equivalent to stealing national resources, which is illegal. Jiang Weide is essentially digging his own grave. With such evidence, no matter how Jiang Weide tries to defend himself, the Electric Power Bureau won’t buy it! Serves him right!"

Huo Sining had thought she’d have to exert some effort to pin this on Jiang Weide. But it turned out Jiang Weide was so foolish as to hand over the leverage voluntarily, making it like mud falling on his pants—dirty whatever you think.

"So what about Jiang Weide now?" Huo Sining inquired curiously.

Wu Jun replied, "He has been taken away by the Criminal Investigation Bureau. Although the police say the case needs further investigation, the Electric Power Bureau has already issued a document, directly preparing to prosecute Jiang Weide, demanding he repay the enormous amount for the stolen electricity."

Huo Sining’s lips curled into a smile. Over 1.3 million kilowatt-hours equates to over 1.3 million in cash. Jiang Weide has tricked many people and swindled many fishermen, earning dirty money. Now, faced with such misfortune, he’s probably furious.

But no matter how angry he gets, it’s useless. Since the Electric Power Bureau is stepping in, and with secret lines in the cold storage as evidence, even if he didn’t commit the act, as long as the Electric Power Bureau pins the blame on him, he can’t argue and will have to pay up. Otherwise, the Electric Power Bureau is likely to prosecute and have Jiang Weide do jail time.

Wu Jun had initially suspected that Huo Sining was behind this, since she had just asked him to check on Jiang Weide and the cold storage the day before, and something happened the next morning. It seemed too much of a coincidence.

However, upon hearing Huo Sining’s tone, he thought otherwise. Firstly, Huo Sining had stayed at the hotel all night and shown no signs of abnormality since arriving the previous day. Secondly, Huo Sining wasn’t from Fucheng and was unfamiliar with the area. He hadn’t seen her contact anyone, so logically, she couldn’t have orchestrated such a big act overnight.

After all, over 1.3 million kilowatt-hours isn’t as simple as ten or a hundred units of electricity loss. Wu Jun was deeply shocked and puzzled upon learning the news, because he couldn’t fathom how the thief managed to steal so much electricity overnight. As for the theory that Jiang Weide was stealing electricity and pretending to catch the thief, Wu Jun dismissed it.

Anyone can clearly analyze that if Jiang Weide was stealing the electricity himself, he could have easily done so through the hidden lines, avoiding the meters and leaving no evidence. Even if the Electric Power Bureau sensed something amiss, they couldn’t catch him without evidence. No one would be foolish enough to have employees report such a thing. If Jiang Weide had done it, he’d at least clean up the cold storage before calling the police, certainly not leaving such a big indication for the Electric Power Bureau to latch onto.

Nonetheless, the police couldn’t find anything, and the Electric Power Bureau needed someone to foot the bill for those 1.3 million kilowatt-hours. So logically, Jiang Weide ended up as the most reasonable scapegoat. If he can’t find the real thief to prove himself innocent, he’s definitely paying the price!

Meanwhile, the real culprit behind the incident was leisurely stretching on the bed, looking relaxed and unconcerned about being caught by the police or Jiang Weide. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Humming to herself, Huo Sining spoke to Wu Jun on the phone: "This isn’t over yet. The Electric Power Bureau is intent on making Jiang Weide take the fall, but Jiang Weide won’t submit easily. Don’t forget, Jiang has someone powerful backing him!"

"Miss Huo, what do you mean?" Wu Jun asked, puzzled.

Huo Sining shamelessly replied, "Even if this wasn’t our doing, it’s like someone handing us a pillow when we were sleepy, right? Since Jiang Weide brought this upon himself, we might as well take advantage. I won’t hold back a bit when it comes to kicking someone when they’re down. Call Gu Xu and get him to pressure the Fucheng Electric Power Bureau and the Criminal Investigation Bureau to thoroughly investigate this matter. If Jiang Weide’s powerful backing doesn’t intervene, that’s fine. But if they dare, I assure you they can’t escape unscathed. Not even the slightest chance!"