Chapter 389 - 389 356 Consumers

Words : 1876 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

389: Chapter 356: Consumers 389: Chapter 356: Consumers Jiang Yuan reviewed the file on the counterfeit money case himself and checked the recent reports of other cases from several locations before going to find Huang Qiangmin. “Director Huang,” Jiang Yuan entered Huang Qiangmin’s new office, greeted him, and began to report the situation. Huang Qiangmin felt completely relaxed just hearing Jiang Yuan call him “Director Huang.” After listening to Jiang Yuan’s report, he pondered for a moment and said, “Economic crime cases are not impossible to handle, but counterfeit money cases usually involve a wide network and aren’t easy to crack. It’s not just the difficulty of the investigation, we’ll probably have to travel extensively to handle the case.” Jiang Yuan nodded, as he hadn’t considered this aspect much. After thinking it over, he said, “The people in my team have all been pretty idle lately.” “That’s right, since they are all borrowed anyway,” Huang Qiangmin’s mind instantly switched to a new channel. Thinking it over, most of Jiang Yuan’s subordinates were borrowed personnel, whether from Changyang City or the newcomers from Guqi City. Feeling that they wouldn’t be available for much longer, he decided they should be utilized to their full extent while possible. Jiang Yuan didn’t know where Huang Qiangmin’s thoughts had wandered to, but he continued on the subject of the case: “I want to involve the provincial department.” “Ah, that’s the right approach,” Huang Qiangmin slapped his thigh in agreement. The core issue with counterfeit currency cases is that they have a vast scope. Although the counterfeiters are the key target, in the early stages of an investigation, it is usually impossible to reach them. The focus is on peripheral cases, arresting users and transporters of the counterfeit money, to try and get to the counterfeiters. And these users and transporters, as is evident, move around the entire province and even throughout the country. No counterfeiter would produce fake currency and then circulate or use it only around their hometown. For a small county bureau like Ningtai County, not to mention anything else, just the travel expenses for these minor cases represent a significant expenditure. But if the provincial department were involved, it goes without saying that they would provide some funding and resources. Though it might be a drop in the bucket for the provincial department, for the county bureau, it would be quite a relief. Of course, not just any county bureau could summon the support of the mighty provincial department. The working styles of provincial departments vary by province, some focusing on public security, some on anti-smuggling or narcotics, and others on maintaining stability... In short, criminal investigation is only one piece of the puzzle in the eyes of provincial departments. Important, yes, but not the most important. If truth be told, even as Director Huang, Huang Qiangmin would not be able to call on the Shannan Provincial Department. But Jiang Yuan had no such problem with his involvement. That very afternoon, Liu Jinghui rushed to Ningtai County from Changyang City. Working on cases with Jiang Yuan was much more interesting than the cases he usually worked on. Liu Jinghui would have preferred to spend his days working on cases in Jiang Yuan’s team if it weren’t for his high rank and his position in the provincial department. To be honest, as a level-four senior superintendent like Liu Jinghui, when it came to promotions, there wasn’t much room for advancement. Even if he were promoted to a level-one senior superintendent, without a leadership position, it would be but an honorary title in reality. The driving force behind Liu Jinghui’s dedicated work was the job itself. If he could... work with Jiang Yuan regularly, Liu Jinghui believed his efficiency would be extremely high. As usual, Liu Jinghui arrived alone at the Ningtai County Bureau. After meeting with Huang Qiangmin and others, he joined Jiang Yuan in the conference room to begin reviewing the files. The forty-something Liu Jinghui, neat and tidy in his crisply ironed shirt and police uniform, sat alone at the other end of the conference table looking quite professional, with no trace of his former haggard appearance. Anyone, without knowing who Liu Jinghui was, could tell by the scene in the conference room that this man was someone extraordinary. Across from Liu Jinghui, Jiang Yuan also had a file in front of him. He was idly toying with the green radish on the table while seemingly casually perusing the file. By the time Liu Jinghui arrived, he had already gone over these cases. Surprised by Liu Jinghui’s swift arrival and to facilitate discussion of the case, they decided to wait for him. Liu Jinghui was aware of this and sped up his page-turning. Regardless, he still took a thorough look wherever necessary. Working under pressure is a basic operation in this line of work, with nothing to complain about. “Whew... With that view, the recent dozen or so reports of counterfeit currency cases should all be considered a series,” Liu Jinghui closed the last file: “But, not a single case has been solved, meaning not a single suspect has been captured.” “Those reporting are small restaurant or supermarket owners who received the counterfeit bills and were outraged enough to report it. There aren’t many people who take a fake 20 yuan bill seriously. But when the police respond to the reports, it’s too late to find anyone. According to the surveillance and timing, these counterfeit bill users are likely more than one group of people. Also, the fake 20 yuan bills they used seem to have a total of 5 serial number prefixes...” Tang Jia had worked with Liu Jinghui before, and she was very active in speaking up at this point. After all, with two new female officers added to Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team in one go, Tang Jia felt like someone was targeting her, worried that Jiang Yuan was being led astray. Liu Jinghui, having just finished reviewing the files, also had a strong desire to share his thoughts. He nodded slightly and said, “These groups probably got their hands on the counterfeit money around the same time. They are likely just peripheral members, or even purely consumers.” Tang Jia: “Consumers of counterfeit money?” Dong Bing was also becoming familiar with the environment and the colleague with the nasal voice before him. He followed up with a question, “How do you know the counterfeit money was obtained around the same time?” Faced with questions from two female officers, Liu Jinghui felt as if he were being pursued by 200 male officers. He patted his belly contentedly and said, “Let’s take it one question at a time.” Liu Jinghui glanced at Jiang Yuan and, seeing that he seemed to be listening, became even more cheerful. “The judgment of the same time period comes from their travel routes. Not all the business owners who received counterfeit money reported it to the police. Some probably didn’t even notice. There’s an element of estimation involved here, but we might confirm it later.” Liu Jinghui paused, then continued, “As for the consumers of the counterfeit money... it should be said that the 20-yuan counterfeit bills are consumer-grade. Of course, this is just my opinion.” At this point, Tang Jia cooperated and asked, “Why are they considered consumer-grade?” “That’s the difference between 20-yuan and 100-yuan counterfeit bills. Users of the 100-yuan bills tend to spend them on smaller transactions, getting change while making payment. The change they get is their profit. Those who use 20-yuan bills, on the other hand, generally spend them directly. They’ll spend a few tens of yuan and give out one or two counterfeit bills or mix them with real money. Because the denomination is small, many people won’t notice.” “But nowadays, not many people use cash, do they?” Liu Jinghui nodded, “There’s still quite a bit of cash used on the road. Places like gas stations, small roadside restaurants, supermarkets, and some small towns; the worse the network, the more elderly there are, the more cash is used. I see these people have such tendencies...” A number of deductions were already brewing in Liu Jinghui’s mind, and they all seemed quite feasible. At that moment, Jiang Yuandao said, “Let’s look at the surveillance.” Liu Jinghui was taken aback and chuckled, “These transactions occurred in remote areas; not all of them are covered by surveillance. Plus, these cases are spread across several provinces, and many places’ reports have not been handled properly...” “We’ll look at however much we have.” Jiang Yuan smiled and said, “There’s always something we can use.” “This is too mundane.” Liu Jinghui looked at Jiang Yuan in disbelief, thinking to himself, if cases are solved in such a boring way, why did I even bother coming here? The gazes of the two leaders collided, and their subordinates dared not babble, each one meekly doing their work. Soon, several pieces of surveillance footage that had been collected were put on display. Everyone, including Jiang Yuan, focused their attention on the surveillance footage. Since Liu Jinghui had just arrived, the footage displayed was what Wang Chuanxing and others had already reviewed and filtered. On the large screen, four videos were played at once, creating a contrast. “It’s always one person each time,” Tang Jia pointed out first. “They only use one or two bills at a time, but the total expenditure is also very low,” Dong Bing chimed in. “They’re all wearing masks and hats, so they are well-prepared and obviously committing the crime knowingly.” “If they only use one or two counterfeit bills at a time, wouldn’t they have to visit many places in one day to make it worth it? The number of police reports seems a bit low.” Liu Jinghui sighed and said, “That’s why these are just the end consumers. Even if we catch them, they probably won’t know anything. The core is to find their pattern, which will help us sketch out the full picture.” “Director Liu means to find more such consumers and then analyze the pattern?” Jiang Yuan summarized briefly. “Not entirely relying on analysis, but certainly, the more clues we have, the easier it is to find the counterfeiters. These guys usually hide pretty deep,” Liu Jinghui pointed at the video and continued, “Just these people, constantly on the move, self-driving, they’re not easy to find.” “Just use mobile phone tracking,” Jiang Yuan suggested. “And the phone numbers?” Liu Jinghui spoke, then answered his own question, “Get them from the road checkpoints? Sounds a bit troublesome, doesn’t it? Didn’t I see a car with its license plate captured on video just a moment ago?” A nearby officer immediately rewound the footage. Here,” Liu Jinghui pointed to a corner and said, “I think it’s good to track mobile phones through vehicles.” “That’s fine,” Jiang Yuan didn’t care which method was used to solve the case. Seeing Director Liu actively participating, he simply saved himself the effort.

Chapter 389 - 389 356 Consumers

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