Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 244 A Liar Deceives a Liar

"Han Jiajia?" Tao Cong leaned against the door, one leg trembling like a leaf.

He thought for a moment, then cursed, "Are you fucking out of your mind? That's that idiot from Class Two who shares my name! You've got the wrong person!"

Zhou Yi suddenly frowned and said, "I haven't made a mistake, it's you."

Tao Cong was stunned for a moment, then his expression changed drastically, and he turned and ran away.

Zhou Yi followed at a leisurely pace, while Tao Cong pushed over things as he ran, constantly creating obstacles.

In an instant, the whole courtyard was in chaos, with chickens running wild and dogs barking, accompanied by the shouts and curses of old men and women.

Tao Cong, with his two stick-like legs bare and wearing sandals, rushed towards the front door. He even turned his head to look at Zhou Yi, who was still some distance away, and proudly gave him the middle finger.

But the next second, he suddenly tripped and fell flat on his face. Then he felt someone knee him in the back, and at the same time, his hands were tied behind his back with cold handcuffs on his wrists.

Just as Qiao Jiali handcuffed the person, Zhou Yi walked over and pulled the person up from the ground.

"Kid, you're pretty fast. I was prepared for you."

Tao Cong, his face covered in mud, chuckled sheepishly, "I was just... just kidding."

"Come on, come back with us and have some fun."

In the interrogation room of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, Zhou Yi asked, "Name?"

Tao Cong was clearly experienced; without hesitation, he immediately provided his basic information.

"Do you know why I arrested you?"

Tao Cong nodded.

"Okay, then you tell us yourself."

"Is it... about the Dinghua Group?" Tao Cong asked tentatively.

"Don't you know whether it's true or not?" Zhou Yi's eyebrows shot up.

Tao Cong immediately nodded: "Yes, yes, that's it. Officer, I'm a victim too, I'm innocent."

"I was also fooled by that guy surnamed Meng."

“Tell me everything carefully, from beginning to end. How did you meet this person? What did you do? Explain everything clearly.” Zhou Yi tapped the table and emphasized, “Don’t try to get away with it. You’ve been to prison; you should know the consequences of lying.”

"I know I know."

Tao Cong said that he met Meng Qingtong on the train back to Hongcheng. At the time, Meng Qingtong was dressed very well and even gave him some good cigarettes, which made Tao Cong think that Meng Qingtong was quite rich.

During the conversation, Meng Qingtong said that he was the sales manager of Dinghua Group and had been sent to Hongcheng to develop business, and planned to open a branch in Hongcheng.

The two chatted amiably, and Meng Qingtong, upon learning that he was a local, warmly invited him to help her. He explained that although the group had entrusted him with an important task, it was also testing him, which was why they hadn't given him any other personnel. If he could develop the Hongcheng market within the stipulated time, he would become the general manager of the Hongcheng branch.

He promised that as long as Tao Cong worked for him, he would become the deputy general manager of the Hongcheng branch.

Then Tao Cong started helping Meng Qingtong by distributing flyers, setting up stalls to advertise, and recruiting people.

He said Meng Qingtong promised him 5% of the sales revenue as compensation. He would be formally hired after passing the group's assessment and the branch company was officially established.

Unexpectedly, around the beginning of March, Meng Qingtong suddenly disappeared one day.

“At first, I thought he had gone back to the company for some business. But I waited in the office for a few days and didn’t see him. That day I went to the public toilet nearby to take a dump. When I came back, I saw a lot of people rushing into that small, dilapidated building in a menacing manner. I knew that bastard Meng must have run away. He’s a liar.”

"I was afraid I wouldn't be able to explain myself, and I was afraid those people would ask me for money, so I ran away too."

Tao Cong looked miserable and said aggrievedly, "Officer, I worked for him for free for three months. Not only did I not get a single penny, I even lost money."

Zhou Yi nodded: "So, it was all Meng Qingtong's doing, and it has nothing to do with you. You were also deceived by him, right?"

“Yes, yes, I’m the same as them, I’m a victim too.” Tao Cong nodded repeatedly.

"Do you think I believe that?" Zhou Yi's face instantly turned cold.

Tao Cong was stunned for a moment, and wanted to force a smile, but the muscles on his face twitched: "Wh...what do you mean?"

"If you're a victim, why did you run away when you saw me? I've already warned you before, you've been to prison. If you're a victim and haven't committed any crime, tell me, why did you run away when you saw me?"

"I..." Tao Cong was speechless.

His reaction at the time was entirely subconscious and instinctive. But someone who has been to prison shouldn't react like that. Prison is nothing like a police interrogation room; if someone doesn't obey, they have countless ways to get rid of you.

Both compliant and non-compliant methods exist.

Therefore, many people with criminal records have an instinctive fear of law enforcement officers.

They won't turn around and run away unless they know they've done something wrong.

Because if they get caught, they'll have to go back to jail, and that's what they're really afraid of.

"Do you think I'm easy to fool? Or are all ex-convicts as naive as you? You meet someone on the train and, like a fool, follow them to a deserted, dilapidated building to work hard for three months without asking for a penny?"

Zhou Yi said with a forced smile, "It seems the reform at Luohe Prison has been very successful, making you so naive and honest. How about we send you back for another year or two? You're quite a success story, we should promote you!"

Tao Cong was visibly nervous when Zhou Yi spoke.

He's a seasoned veteran, but he's only twenty-two years old, not that old, and besides, he doesn't have much education.

Upon hearing that he was to be sent back to Luohe Prison, he immediately shouted anxiously, "No, no, no, officer, please! I'll talk, I'll talk!"

"What, you're not joking anymore?"

Tao Cong waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, I really won't open it this time."

"Alright, I'll give you one more chance." Zhou Yi pointed at him and said, "This is the last time. You'd better watch yourself."

"I understand, I understand," Tao Cong said with a smile as he began to explain.

"Meng Qingtong and I are actually... partners. We met when we were in jail in Luohe. He was imprisoned for swindling money from old people. After I got out, I couldn't make a living in Luohe, so I went to Taicheng for a while. One day, I happened to run into him."

"When we were drinking, he said he had recently learned a new trick that was really good. It was a popular scam in other provinces that made money much faster than scamming old men and women. He asked me if I wanted to do it with him. I didn't have any money at the time, and I thought I'd earn whatever I could, so I agreed."

"So we rented an office in Taicheng, got someone to make a bunch of flyers, and set up an office. But we didn't expect that someone in Taicheng had already done the same thing, so not many people fell for it. Not only did we not make any money, we also lost several thousand yuan."

Tao Cong couldn't help but curse, "These bastards are liars."

Zhou Yi tapped the table: "Watch your words!"

“Yes, I’m aware, I’m aware,” Tao Cong continued. “Then I came back from Taicheng because I was really broke. If I hadn’t come back, I would have starved to death. At least I could have something to eat when I got home.”

Tao Cong's household registration information shows that there is a significant age gap between his parents and him, meaning they had him late in life. Moreover, his father suddenly passed away when he was fourteen years old.

The old woman spinning yarn that Zhou Yi saw earlier must have been his mother.

"Around the end of last year, that bastard Meng Qingtong came to Hongcheng and even came to my house to see me. I didn't want to talk to him at first, thinking that he was unreliable, but he said he would treat me to hot pot, so I went."

"Then during dinner he told me that he wanted to do the business we failed to do in Taicheng before, and he even brought the leftover flyers from before."

“I thought it was unreliable. We lost a lot of money last time, so I was thinking of just having this meal and calling it a day. But he told me that he had done his research and that no one in Hongcheng had ever done this kind of business before. So we have to learn from our mistakes and seize this opportunity to be the first to make a profit.”

Tao Cong said with a serious expression, "I felt that what he said made sense at the time, so I did it."

He said that because he had spent all the money last time, he didn't have any money to set up an office this time. In the end, he found that small, dilapidated building and knew that no one was there.

Sure enough, Meng Qingtong was right. No one in Hongcheng had ever used this kind of scam before, and soon people fell for it.

However, when someone followed them to the so-called "office," they became suspicious.

"Meng Qingtong is a master at lying. He bragged that he had already bought the land and was about to build a brand new office building, which fooled people. Anyway, about ten people fell for it and handed over their money. The most idiot gave 30,000 yuan, hahaha."

boom--

Zhou Yi slammed his hand on the table and snapped, "Be serious!"

"Okay, I was wrong, I was wrong."

"How was it discovered later? What caused you to quit?" Logically speaking, this kind of annual return model should have a longer collapse period, and it shouldn't have been possible to run away in just two or three months.

Scammers, in particular, are actually more greedy than those who are deceived. They only think about how much more they can do, and they will never stop easily once they feel they have scammed enough.

Moreover, in these kinds of financial scams, the victims only realize they've been cheated after the perpetrators have fled. Therefore, something must have happened to them.

"Later...then one day, a guy came to our door arguing, saying we were cheating people. He had asked a friend in another province and found out that there was no Dinghua Group there at all. Meng Qingtong was afraid that things would get out of hand, so she refunded the money and gave him a thousand yuan as a bonus. No sooner had the guy left than Meng Qingtong told him to pack his things and leave quickly, because this was going to be exposed."

Tao Cong stamped his foot and said, "Damn it, I shouldn't have trusted that bastard back then. He arranged to meet me at the train station that night so we could move to another city and continue our business, but that bastard didn't show up and ran off with the money! Damn it!"

(End of this chapter)