Chapter 56: Caught Red-Handed

When Li Chao learned about what had happened, he asked, "What do you want to do about it?"
In terms of overt matters, he could help, and he would do so with all his might.
However, when it came to covert matters, his hands were somewhat tied.
Chen Guangliang said with confidence, "Right now, every rickshaw company has our admirers among the pullers. Finding out which company the vehicle ended up in won't be difficult!"
Li Chao immediately suggested, "Shall we have Chief Inspector Gao step in then, so we can catch them red-handed with both the stolen goods and the culprit?"
Chen Guangliang shook his head and replied, "Chief Inspector Gao is not a very reliable person. In the end, this matter might just make a lot of noise and then fizzle out into nothing. That is not the outcome I want. I want to give these people a severe warning. That is why I deliberately refrained from filing an official police report."
Li Chao was somewhat baffled and asked, "How can we bring about severe consequences for them?"
Chen Guangliang explained, "It's very simple. The official yellow-plated vehicle with the registration number 8678 is still in our hands. Therefore, the rickshaw they have in their possession with the exact same number must be a fake."
A light bulb went off in Li Chao's head. "Forging license plates is a matter that can be interpreted as either major or minor. Our Transportation Bureau can step in, slap their company with a full suspension for a license plate inspection, and drag it out for quite a while."
Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "With over a hundred vehicles, the daily rental loss amounts to over a hundred silver dollars. Having you inspect them for a week or two is completely normal. After all, they committed the forgery first."
The owner's information for every single yellow-plated rickshaw was recorded in the archives of the Transportation Bureau, and theoretically, license plates were "nontransferable and non-re-registrable."
Consequently, the license plate registered under the Yangtze Rickshaw Company banner was the genuine one.
Any identical plate in someone else's hands had to be a fake.
Li Chao said, "In that case, we must track down that specific vehicle, avoid alerting the enemy prematurely, and notify our Transportation Bureau to catch them in the act."
Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "That is precisely what I had in mind."
As it happened, the vehicle lost this time was part of a cooperative project with the Transportation Bureau, so they would naturally put effort into punishing the culprits.
After Li Chao left, Chief Inspector Gao also arrived at the Yangtze Rickshaw Company.
Regarding Chief Inspector Gao, Chen Guangliang merely mentioned the incident without going into too much detail.
Chief Inspector Gao said with a great deal of indignation, "This is simply outrageous, boldly seizing a rickshaw out in the open! Rest assured, my brother, I will send some men to investigate this matter for you."
Chen Guangliang said, "Then I am deeply grateful, elder brother."
Chief Inspector Gao assumed a righteous air and declared, "I am also a shareholder of the Yangtze Rickshaw Company; how could I not take this to heart? But tell me, brother, who do you suspect the most?"
Chen Guangliang shook his head and replied, "I don't have a specific target in mind yet, but I believe they will strike again soon. They are bound to slip up eventually."
Chief Inspector Gao said, "Brother, this kind of thing is actually quite easy to investigate. I'll have my plainclothes officers make some inquiries and let you know as soon as there is any lead!"
"Many thanks, elder brother. Rest assured, this minor loss cannot shake the Yangtze Rickshaw Company, and our cooperative project will certainly be safe. Just wait to collect your share of the profits!"

"Haha, with your words, brother, I can rest easy."
After seeing Chief Inspector Gao off, Chen Guangliang fell into a deep thought.
The so-called "plainclothes officers" were basically informants—back in the day, Huang Jinrong had once held such a position.
If Chief Inspector Gao was genuinely willing to help put in some effort, it showed he was still somewhat worth cultivating ties with.
Of course, Chen Guangliang's primary objective was still to establish an official case record with Chief Inspector Gao. That way, once they caught the culprits red-handed, they could exert pressure on the thieves through the police station.
........
By the third day, the Yangtze Rickshaw Company suffered the loss of yet another rickshaw under identical circumstances: the puller was beaten savagely while trapped inside a burlap sack, and the rickshaw was stolen.
For a time, this caused a certain degree of panic among some of the pullers. Fortunately, the company not only arranged for the injured puller to get medicine but also remained completely silent about the loss of the rickshaw itself.
By this point, however, clues regarding the first stolen rickshaw had already been uncovered.
Just as the puller of that specific rickshaw was about to take on passengers, he was immediately blocked by a group consisting of patrolmen, Transportation Bureau officials, and personnel from the Yangtze Rickshaw Company.
"Officers, what is the meaning of this?"
The puller was trembling with fear; given this array of forces, he felt as though he was going to suffer a massive financial bleeding today.
"Which company do you pull for?" the patrolman demanded sternly.
Today was a joint enforcement operation, with the patrolmen specifically assisting the Transportation Bureau in cracking down on fake license plates.
"The Han Family Rickshaw Company."
At that moment, Lin Feng looked at the license plate on the rickshaw and said, "Mr. Li, officers, the license plate on this vehicle is indeed identical to ours, but ours is the official plate registered with the Transportation Bureau. Therefore, this vehicle definitely carries a fake plate."
Li Chao chimed in cooperatively, "Indeed, I remember this license plate was issued specifically to the Yangtze Rickshaw Company. It seems the Han Family Rickshaw Company manufactured a counterfeit plate without authorization. Let's head straight to their company right now!"
Before the puller could even figure out what was going on, he was placed under arrest and escorted in the direction of the Han Family Rickshaw Company.
Along the way, he finally understood the origin of the matter and hurriedly began to plead for mercy.
"Confess honestly, and you won't bear the responsibility. Otherwise, you're going to prison!"
"Yes, yes, officers. I heard this rickshaw was a brand new one..."
.......
The Transportation Bureau dispatched two officials, the police sent four patrolmen, and two representatives from the Yangtze Rickshaw Company joined to assist.
Before long, the imposing procession arrived at the Han Family Rickshaw Company.

"Master, it's bad! The patrolmen are here at our door!"
Han Yanbao was in the middle of smoking opium and was startled, given that his guilty conscience made him jumpy.
"What is going on?"
"They claim our company has been manufacturing a large number of fake license plates, and now they are ordering all our operations suspended. Every single vehicle must undergo inspection!"
"Fake license plates... bullshit, every single one of our plates is legitimate."
Han Yanbao first heaved a sigh of relief, then stood up angrily and strode toward the outside.
If it was just a matter of fake license plates, he was determined to give these people a piece of his mind, because his conscience was clear on that front.
When he walked outside and caught sight of Li Chao, however, a bad premonition suddenly washed over him.
He remembered that this man seemed to be a partner in the Yangtze Rickshaw Company, but also worked for the Transportation Bureau.
"Gentlemen, isn't there some sort of misunderstanding here? Our company owns 152 rickshaws, and every single one of them has information registered with the Transportation Bureau. They are definitely genuine plates!"
Li Chao smiled and said, "Today, while inspecting for fake plates on the street, we intercepted a rickshaw belonging to your establishment that was using the license plate 8678. According to our investigation, the information for this vehicle is registered under the name of the Yangtze Rickshaw Company, yet today it was being operated by someone from your company. Therefore, we have strong suspicions that your company possesses other counterfeit plates as well. We must therefore ask Boss Han to cooperate with us. Today, we are conducting a joint law enforcement operation."
Han Yanbao was so furious he felt like spitting blood. He wanted to shout that this rickshaw had been "seized by force," but obviously the patrolmen would get involved in that too. Yet if he claimed it was his own, they would stubbornly insist it bore a fake plate.
"It's a misunderstanding, a complete misunderstanding! I bought this rickshaw from someone else, you see. So perhaps the Yangtze Rickshaw Company lost it, and it just happened to be bought by me."
Lin Feng immediately stepped forward and said, "Boss Han, the Yangtze Rickshaw Company has never lost a vehicle. The vehicle with plate 8678 is currently still out on lease to our regular customer."
Han Yanbao realized he had been set up. He now deeply regretted letting his guard down; he should have simply dumped that vehicle somewhere.
"This... well, that just means whoever made it committed forgery, it has nothing to do with us!"
At that point, Li Chao spoke sternly, "Boss Han, submit to the inspection. Starting today, the Transportation Bureau, in conjunction with the patrol police, will conduct a comprehensive inspection of your company. Consequently, not a single one of your vehicles may operate, or else I will petition the Transportation Bureau to revoke the operating rights of all vehicles belonging to your company."
Even though Han Yanbao knew full well that Li Chao was abusing public office to settle a personal grudge, what could he do? After all, he had just been caught red-handed with the stolen goods.
"Then how many days will the inspection take?"
"That is yet to be determined. We need to prepare the documentation for all the vehicles. It might take a week, it might take two. However, all 152 vehicles must be brought back here."
"You... I am going to report you to your superiors!"
"This operation caught the suspects red-handed and has also been fully authorized by our superiors."