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During Lin Xu's investigation, a debt collector named Han Youliang was mentioned. Through internal channels, the information had already been sent to Mary's computer. Lin Xu, being an experienced police officer, had likely identified someone relevant to the case. Since Lin Xu couldn't spare any resources, it would be better for us to take on the investigation ourselves.
The information provided by Lin Xu was not very detailed and seemed to be preliminary. However, with Mary on our team, she could easily pull up details about this person online. In about half an hour, Han Youliang's basic information appeared before us.
Han Youliang was forty-two years old and originally from the southern part of the city. After graduating from junior high school, he dropped out and spent his days running around with local thugs, engaging in petty crimes. By the age of twenty, he became a henchman for someone named Zhao Huanghe and left Zhao's gang at twenty-five to start his own operation.
While working under Zhao Huanghe, Han Youliang learned various methods of loan sharking and debt collection. After going solo, he became notorious for his ruthless tactics in recovering bad debts. When debts couldn't be collected, the big bosses often turned to Han Youliang for help, and he charged a ten percent fee for his services.
Each time, Han could earn tens of thousands from these collections. The bosses knew that if they didn't hire Han Youliang, they would lose their money entirely. As long as Han could recover some of it, it was worth it to them. Thus, his "business" thrived; by thirty, he was both lending money and acting as a collector.
According to the records, Han Youliang was extremely brutal. If someone failed to repay their debts, it was common for him to break their arms or legs and even kidnap their wives and daughters. If payments were delayed beyond the agreed period, he would take a finger for each day overdue; after five days, he would crush bones, leaving victims with no hope of reattachment. If they still refused to pay, he resorted to violating their family members—he was capable of any despicable act.
Han himself claimed that he buried layer upon layer of bodies in his backyard. Of course, such statements were likely exaggerated; otherwise, he would have been caught long ago. Those who were injured or disabled often chose not to report him out of fear of retaliation or because they had compromising information on him.
Now at forty-two years old, Han Youliang had not saved any money. He had a serious gambling addiction that consumed nearly all his earnings. As a result, he remained a lifelong bachelor, living carelessly day by day.
Currently, Han continued his dual role as a loan shark and enforcer, with several young followers in their teens and twenties under him. The materials provided by Lin Xu included testimonies from addicts; one addict mentioned that the relationship between Qiang and Han Youliang was not just that of lender and borrower.
Typically, lenders wouldn't extend credit to addicts—especially those with long-standing drug habits—because once their cravings hit, they would forget about everything else: family included. Threatening them with family members was futile; most addicts' families had already abandoned them by that point. Moreover, any money they managed to get would go straight into buying heroin or other drugs; they often sold their homes just to feed their habits.
Given these two points, it was clear that these individuals lacked the ability to repay loans. Therefore, most loan sharks were reluctant to lend money unless there were assets like houses or cars available for collateral.
The records indicated that Qiang could often borrow from Han Youliang without collateral—something others could not do. This suggested that their relationship went beyond mere business dealings. After reviewing the materials, I began to piece things together; if what we had was accurate, there were likely two possibilities.
One possibility was that Han Youliang knew something about Qiang's situation—perhaps Qiang still had a bungalow that could serve as collateral for high-interest loans—or that Han was related to Qiang in some way. However, the first possibility seemed more plausible; while at the Container location earlier, we deduced that Qiang knew Killer as well.
Mary had already discovered that Han Youliang was a compulsive gambler who frequently hung out at a mahjong parlor when he wasn't collecting debts. The address was already on the computer and we could leave at any moment. Dezi drove while saying, "If it really is Han Youliang behind this, he's probably already on the run."
I nodded, then shook my head, saying, "Looking at Han Youliang's profile, it's clear that this person is ruthless. Moreover, the traces at the scene were cleaned up very thoroughly. If what the data says is true, I doubt Han Youliang would run away. Running would only raise our suspicions; not running might allow him to evade them."
I tried to put myself in Han Youliang's shoes, thinking about what I would do if I were him. After a moment of contemplation, I said, "If he didn't kill anyone, that's one thing. But if he did, then Han Youliang wouldn't run unless we had substantial evidence against him. So, let's first try to deceive him a bit."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
We drove to the outside of the mahjong parlor and saw a few cheap vans parked outside. From the windows, we could even see inside; many of the van seats had been removed, leaving only the driver and passenger seats.
Seeing this setup made me understand immediately. I remembered back in junior high when a kid threatened me by saying, "Do you believe I can call someone in a van to beat you up?" This was the infamous van used for transporting thugs, with the seats removed to fit more people.
Given the condition of these vans, there were likely quite a few people inside. Just the four of us would find it difficult to handle. I turned to Mary and Juan Juan and said, "We'll go in first to assess the situation while you wait in the car for our signal. If you hear glass breaking, it means we need to take Han Youliang back to the Police Department, regardless of whether he's the killer or not; at least we suspect him. If glass breaks, it indicates that Han Youliang is uncooperative and has taken action. In that case, contact the Police Department immediately for backup. If nothing happens, we'll come out shortly."
"Do you understand?" I asked them.
Juan Juan and Mary nodded. Juan Juan added, "You two be careful; no matter if he's a killer or not, he's not someone to take lightly."
I patted Juan Juan on the shoulder and said, "If things escalate inside, don't get out of the car. Having you two girls with us would make us more vulnerable. Just focus on contacting the Police Department when needed. Now go back; we need to head in."
After adjusting my clothes, Yan Junde and I walked toward the mahjong parlor. From the outside, it didn't look very large and was located in a remote area. It was obvious this place was used for gambling and had probably been shut down numerous times before. But like cockroaches that refuse to die, it always reopened after things settled down—quite annoying.
The windows on both sides were covered with newspapers and plastic sheets, and there were curtains at the entrance. From outside, it was impossible to tell how many people were inside or who they were. Pulling aside the curtain, I pushed open the door and stepped inside first, followed closely by Dezi.
Upon entering, I noticed that the room was divided into two sections with only one floor.
The outer area had about five mahjong tables packed with players and several others watching nearby. The noise was deafening—sounds of tiles clashing mingled with shouts from players, spitting sounds, smoke wafting through the air, and curses—it was quite lively.
After surveying my surroundings carefully, I spotted Han Youliang in one corner of the room. He was flanked by two lackeys who were smoking and playing on their phones, looking like bodyguards. At that moment, someone at the left counter using a computer also noticed Dezi and me.
The man stopped moving the mouse, furrowed his brow as he looked at me and Dezi, and then said, "Sorry, the table is full. I think you should find another place."
I waved my hand and replied, "We're not here to play Mahjong."
As soon as I finished speaking, four or five people turned to look at us, clearly alerted by my words. I smiled and continued, "I'm here to see Han Youliang, Brother Han."
Upon hearing my words, a few of them returned to normal. However, this indicated that something was off about this place. They might have suspected us of being undercover, but they guessed correctly. I ignored the guy on the computer and walked straight toward Han Youliang's table. Looking at Han Youliang's table, the men there seemed to be around forty years old, while the others were mostly in their twenties.
This comparison made it clear that Han Youliang's table was the main event; the other tables were just for show. They were likely idle thugs with nothing better to do. If a fight broke out, even if Dezi could take on ten by himself, that would still leave me outnumbered against twenty people at this table. It seemed we needed to tread carefully. However, since I had to bluff Han Youliang, I needed to be confident.
Dezi's eyes were scanning the area; he was probably calculating how he would act if things turned violent—where to attack and where to defend. Taking a deep breath, I realized that if a fight did break out, overthinking wouldn't help.
While contemplating this, Dezi and I approached the table. The four middle-aged men were still engrossed in their game of Mahjong, not bothering to look up. Instead, it was two bodyguard-like thugs who noticed us. One of them came over with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and sized us up before speaking. "Who are you two? I've never seen you before."
"That's right; you've never seen us," I replied with a smile. "I'm looking for Brother Han."
An unsolved mystery emerged in the 21st century as airborne troops mysteriously appeared in North America, rescuing an Indian red-haired beauty, enjoying the company of a blue-eyed busty blonde, dominating Wall Street, amassing wealth across America, and initiating a global model of Han ethnic colonialism.
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