My absurd experiences in North America over the years

The heavy snow stopped at 3 a.m.

The streets of Manhattan were buried under half a foot of snow, and the streetlights on Fifth Avenue emitted a dim yellow light under the white blanket, like lanterns covered in gauze.

Li Fu stood by the window of his hotel room, holding a half-finished cup of hot water, looking at the snow scene outside.

Just then, the phone screen lit up, and Thompson sent a message: "Everything is normal at the construction site. The night shift patrolled three times, and there were no abnormalities."

He glanced at the text message, didn't reply, then placed the water glass on the windowsill, drew the curtains, and lay back down on the bed.

He was about to take a break; he had been too busy these past few days, and his mind was constantly on edge.

When he closed his eyes, those numbers were still running through his mind: the acquisition of Huawei's terminal business equity. To get 50% of the shares, at least $1.2 billion was needed, and he was still at least $500 million short.

Five hundred million dollars is certainly not a small amount.

JPMorgan Chase has changed its mind and is willing to increase its share from 800 million to 1 billion, and the French investment bank is also willing to add 200 million.

However, he did not want the two companies to invest further. The equity ratio had to be renegotiated. In the future, these globally influential technology giants should not be allowed to have even the slightest chance to gain a voice from foreigners.

He didn't know when he fell asleep.

At seven o'clock in the morning, he was woken up by his cell phone ringing. It wasn't the alarm he had set, but a call from Thompson.

After the call connected, the voice on the other end was very low, "Mr. Li, something's happened. The police have sent more than a dozen cars and surrounded the construction site. They said they received an anonymous tip that drugs were hidden in the basement of the construction site."

Li Fu immediately sat up and leaned against the headboard.

The sky outside the window was not yet fully bright, it was hazy and gray, and the snow light reflected into the room, making everything look pale white.

"Have they found them?"

"Found it. It was in the equipment floor on the basement level. The concrete surface had been broken open, and more than twenty sealed bags were found inside, all filled with white powder. The police tested it on the spot and found it to be cocaine, weighing about two kilograms."

Thompson gave a brief explanation of the situation.

"Oh, I see," Li Fu replied calmly.

"The police will definitely summon you for questioning. Ms. Ivanka is already on her way. She told you not to move and to wait for her lawyer to arrive before speaking..." Thompson said as briefly as possible.

Li Fu lay on his side on the bed, closing his eyes to rest.

He had long anticipated this moment, but he hadn't expected it to come so soon.

Thompson wanted to rush back to go to the police station with him, but Li Fu refused, telling Thompson to do what he was supposed to do, as this wasn't the first time he had been summoned by the police.

He hung up the phone, stood up, and walked to the window.

The heavy snow outside the window has started falling again, the sky is still leaden gray, and the clouds are very low.

About a minute later, he dialed Cole's number.

"Why is the phone ringing at this hour?" Cole's voice was somewhat somber, clearly having been woken up by the call.

"I've run into some trouble. Two kilograms of drugs were found at the construction site, and the police want to summon me to cooperate with the investigation," Li Fu explained the situation.

"Okay, I understand. You need to be prepared," Cole said calmly. "Don't trust anyone in the NYPD."

He was well aware of the gangs' infiltration capabilities. Whether it was training young people in the community to become police officers when they grew up, or bribing them with real benefits, it was common for local police stations to be infiltrated like sieves.

Their call was brief, and some things were left unsaid.

When Ivanka arrived at the hotel, Li Fu had just changed her clothes. She was wearing a black cashmere coat and her hair was up in a bun, still as charming as ever.

Behind her was a man in his fifties with gray hair, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and carrying a dark brown leather briefcase—a typical lawyer's attire.

"This is Bruce Morrison, a senior partner at Morrison's law firm. He's been handling my father's legal affairs in New York," Ivanka introduced to Li Fu.

The two sides shook hands briefly to exchange greetings.

"Mr. Li, Miss Ivanka has already told me about the situation. We're going to the police station now. Once we get there, please don't say anything. I'll handle everything," Morrison said politely.

Li Fu nodded, picked up his coat, and walked out of the hotel.

This whole thing has been strange from the beginning. For example, why was he the one summoned, or why was only he summoned?

Ivanka is the main person in charge of the project, shouldn't she be the first one to cooperate with the investigation?

Therefore, Li Fu viewed this as a special operation targeting him.

The Queens Police Department is not far from the drug-hiding construction site. The main building of the police department is a gray-white four-story building, with a row of police cars parked in front, their red and blue lights still flashing.

The interrogation room was small, furnished with only a table and three chairs, and the walls were painted with a stark white latex paint.

Li Fu sat on one side of the table, Morrison sat to his left, and opposite them were two police officers: Caldwell, a middle-aged white man with thinning hair, and Washington, a young black woman.

Several photos were spread out on the table: photos of the black plastic bags being dug out of the concrete, close-ups of the drugs under the lights, and some on-site pictures of the construction site.

Caldwell opened the folder, looked at Li Fu, and said in a serious tone, "Mr. Li, at 6:15 this morning, our bureau received an anonymous tip that a construction site in eastern Queens was hiding a large quantity of drugs. As far as we know, you are the investor in that project."

“That’s right,” Li Fu said, looking at the photos. “Those are projects that I developed in cooperation with the Trump Organization.”

"Upon arriving at the scene, the police discovered several black sealed bags containing white powder in the basement equipment room. Preliminary testing indicated cocaine, with a total weight of approximately two kilograms. As the main investor in this project, could you please explain how these drugs ended up on the construction site you invested in?"

Washington spoke very quickly, with a somewhat aggressive tone.

Li Fu leaned back in his chair without saying a word.

Morrison adjusted his glasses and leaned forward slightly. "Officers, my client is willing to cooperate with the investigation. But before answering questions, I need to confirm one thing: in what capacity is Mr. Li being questioned?"

He asked the police to soften their stance and not to treat Li Fu as a suspect.

There is no evidence to suggest that Li Fu was responsible for the drug possession or that he instructed others to do so.

Caldwell and Washington exchanged a glance. "They're certainly not suspects at the moment, but..."

"OK, OK, that's good," Morrison interrupted him. "Since my client isn't a suspect, his answers should primarily focus on cooperation. I don't want my client's business reputation to be affected by cooperating with the investigation. Therefore, please keep this questioning brief."

Caldwell's expression was not good, but he couldn't refute it. These rich people who always had a top lawyer with them were not easy to deal with.

The interrogation lasted less than twenty minutes. Li Fu's answer was simple and clear: he didn't know where the drugs came from, the construction site security was handled by a professional company, and he was not involved in the daily management.

Caldwell couldn't get any information out of them, so he had no choice but to release them.

When Li Fu reached the door, he suddenly stopped.

"Officer Caldwell, I have a question for you. You dispatched over a dozen police cars to the scene, making such a big fuss. Did you assume from the beginning that there were definitely drugs hidden there?"

His questions were quite sharp; normally, two or three officers would be enough to handle such a report.

Caldwell was taken aback.

Li Fu left the police station without waiting for a reply.

The inquiry and investigation made no progress, but the matter still escalated.

Some tabloids published full-page reports claiming that Li Fu and the Trump Group were using the resumption of work as a pretext to collude with drug dealers to traffic drugs.

The police department continued to pursue the case and also initiated criminal proceedings.

Two days later, the news that Li Fu and Ivanka had been formally indicted made the front page of the New York Post, and was also followed up by the New York Observer.

The headline was large and in bold: "Chinese investor involved in drug trafficking; two kilograms of cocaine found at Queens construction site."

The Trump Organization was also thrust into the spotlight, causing a public uproar.

When the news reached Nashville, the phone lines at Forrest Tower were ringing off the hook. Lina received no fewer than twenty interview requests from the media, all of which she politely declined.

Cole was surrounded by reporters outside the state capitol building, who asked him for his opinion on Li Fu's drug case.

Cole paused and looked at the reporter, his tone calm. "Mr. Li Fu is a business partner of our family. His investment company has created thousands of jobs in Tennessee. Now someone is saying he's involved in drugs, which is absolutely a false accusation. I believe the judiciary will give a fair answer."

That afternoon, a commentary appeared on the front page of The New York Times with the headline, "Who's paving the way for gang drugs?"

This report did not mention Li Fu's name directly, but instead started with the background of the resumption of work at the construction site, analyzing the long-standing gang problem in eastern Queens and the current situation of police ineffective law enforcement.

The article concludes: "An investor who funded the resumption of work during the height of the financial crisis, creating thousands of jobs for the city, is now accused of hiding drugs on the construction site. If true, he should be punished by law. But if false, then we should ask: who is using drugs as a pretext to stifle the city's recovery?"

The reporter who wrote the report is James McKinsey, a senior reporter on The New York Times' investigative reporting team.

The trial is scheduled for the second week of December.

When Li Fu arrived at the court, a dozen or so reporters from various media outlets had already gathered at the entrance, their flashes going off and microphones being thrust out in rows.

Morrison walked ahead, using his briefcase to block the microphones at the very front.

"Mr. Li, what is your response to the drug-related charges?"

"Mr. Li, what is your relationship with the Forrest family?"

"Ms. Ivanka, do you know Mr. Lee well enough? He has already dragged the Trump Organization into this mess. Can you answer my question?"

……

Li Fu remained silent throughout, while Ivanka walked beside him at a steady pace, her expression unchanged.

The courtroom was bustling with activity, and the gallery was packed with people.

The prosecutor was a white woman in her forties named Nicole Parker. She wore frameless glasses and spoke very quickly, like a machine gun.

In her opening statement, she used a series of strong terms such as "major threat to public safety," "organized crime," and "transnational drug network" to portray Li Fu as a drug lord disguised as an investor.

Some people in the audience were whispering to each other, while others were taking notes rapidly in their notebooks.

Morrison did not interrupt her. He sat at the defense table with his hands crossed on the table, his expression calm, like an old man listening to the weather forecast.

When it was his turn to speak, he stood up, straightened the hem of his suit jacket, and walked to the jury.

"The prosecutor just used a lot of very inappropriate language, which I will not pursue for now. However, there are a few questions I must ask. If my client really did hide two kilograms of cocaine on the construction site, why would he choose his own construction site? Why did he do it so soon after construction began, when the media was paying close attention? Would someone who can earn billions of dollars in the foreign exchange market be stupid enough to hide drugs on his own construction site?"

The audience fell silent instantly.

Next, we will proceed with the formal court proceedings.

The prosecution's first witness was Rodriguez, a crime scene investigator with the New York Police Department.

Rodriguez, in his early thirties, with a neatly trimmed short beard and wearing a dark blue windbreaker, described the search that morning from the witness stand.

His account of what time he received the report, what time he arrived at the scene, where the black plastic bag was found, what was inside the bag, and how many photos were taken at the scene was professional, clear, and watertight.

Until there is evidence to prove that it was a false accusation, Li Fu and Ivanka should at least bear responsibility for mismanagement.

Even if they ultimately escape criminal punishment, they will certainly lose in the public eye.

Morrison stood up and asked questions in a cross-examination.

"Mr. Rodriguez, when you found those plastic bags on the equipment floor, did you personally break through the concrete surface?"

"Yes," Rodriguez nodded.

"The cement pouring only took three days according to the construction schedule, and the chisel marks can verify that, right?" Morrison asked again.

Rodriguez thought for a moment before answering, "Yes, it's clear that the cement was poured in the last few days."

"So, those drugs were put in just a few days ago, not months ago, not weeks ago, but only in the last few days?"

"Judging from the traces at the scene, yes."

Morrison nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

The prosecution's second witness was the narcotics detective in charge of the case, named Martinez, who was in his forties, with short hair and sharp eyes.

He recounted the contents of the anonymous tip-off call, the police response, and the preliminary test results from the drug scene.

Morrison stood up and asked questions in a cross-examination.

"Detective Martinez, what time did the anonymous tip-off call come in?"

"6:15 a.m."

What time did you arrive at the scene?

"Around 6:40."

"Only twenty-five minutes, that's a very fast response time." Morrison adjusted his glasses and gave a thumbs up. "But I'd like to ask, do you usually respond this quickly when you receive drug reports?"

Martinez paused for a moment, then said, "Not necessarily."

He knew very well that this couldn't be faked; their response time was always very slow.

"Then why so quickly this time?"

"Because the whistleblower said there were two kilograms of cocaine at the scene. We take such a large quantity very seriously."

"Taking it seriously?" Morrison chuckled coldly. "Agent Martinez, how many drug reports have we received in East Queens in the past three months?"

Martinez did not answer; he had the right not to answer the question.

"According to the data I have, there are forty-seven cases, eleven of which involve more than 500 grams of cocaine," Morrison said, picking up a document from the table and waving it toward the jury.

"Of these eleven reports, the police responded to only two within 24 hours. For the other nine, some were delayed for three days, some for a week, and some still have no police response record."

Some people in the audience were whispering among themselves.

The jury was equally surprised; the speed of the police response was simply too...absurd.

Prosecutor Parker immediately stood up. "Objection! The defense attorney is citing unverified data!"

"Objection valid," the judge said, glancing at Morrison. "Defense attorney, please ask your questions regarding this case."

Morrison did not insist and sat down.

The prosecution's third witness, a forensic pathologist in charge of the tests, confirmed that the white powder in the plastic bag was cocaine, and that its purity was not low.

Morrison did not question it, because it was a fact.

After the prosecution finished presenting its evidence, it was the defense's turn.

Morrison stood up again and submitted a list of evidence to the judge.

This evidence is crucial to the overall direction of the case and is also a "trump card" to persuade the judge and jury.