Chapter 1741: Trying to Pass the Buck

After they lit up their cigarettes, Liu Fusheng looked at the pack of soft Zhonghua and said, "Your standard of living is pretty good, right? As far as I know, you don't have a stable source of income, right? The two boats in your family are both under the name of your eldest brother Hong Haotian. When he was alive, the boats had nothing to do with you."

Hong Haoyu said: "Secretary Liu, you don't need to test me. When I registered the fishing boat, I was still in school and didn't have the qualifications, so I registered everything under my eldest brother's name."

"We have a very good relationship as brothers, and I am too lazy to make any changes. Now, whenever we go out to sea, we split the earnings of the two fishing boats equally. At least I can still afford this kind of cigarette."

Liu Fusheng nodded and said, "Indeed, if you just bring a little bit of the stuff, it will be enough for you to smoke Zhonghua cigarettes for several months."

Hong Haoyu frowned and said, "Secretary Liu, you have to provide evidence when you speak."

Liu Fusheng's face darkened. "Hong Haoyu, how can I find you without evidence? You'd better understand the situation. I'm meeting you in private instead of letting the police from the task force arrest you. I'm giving you a chance... The smuggling business between you and your brother has been exposed a long time ago. Don't think that everyone in Hong Village is a monolithic entity!"

Hong Haoyu remained silent. He was not sure whether Liu Fusheng really had evidence or was deceiving him.

Liu Fusheng said: "Think about it, how many fishing boats are there in Hongcun, and how many people can earn as much money as you and your brother? You are a vested interest, so you won't betray others, but there are more than 40,000 people in Hongcun. Is everyone in the same situation as your family?"

"..."

Hong Haoyu knew that Liu Fusheng was right.

There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor in Hongcun, and not everyone is involved in smuggling.

Most of the common people are honest and make a living based on their abilities.

Those who dare to take risks are always a small minority.

Hong Haotian and Hong Haoyu are considered to be doing relatively well, while Hongwu, the village entrance, can only drink some soup with them at most.

The income gap between them is at least ten times.

It is human nature that people are not troubled by poverty but by inequality. As long as there is a gap, it is impossible to be truly united.

Seeing that Hong Haoyu didn't say anything, Liu Fusheng smiled and continued, "Guess why the police investigated your brother Hong Haotian's bedroom so carefully?"

Hong Haoyu shook his head and said, "I can't guess."

Liu Fusheng said: "Your brother Hong Haotian was a direct participant in the arson case in Jiangtou City."

Hong Haoyu said loudly: "Impossible, he is not that kind of person."

Liu Fusheng sighed, "How do you know it wasn't? Before the arson, your brother took two fishing boats and went out to do some private work."

Hong Haoyu was slightly stunned: "How did you know?"

Liu Fusheng said: "The net of heaven is vast and nothing can escape it. Do you think the police are just there to do nothing? They can't even find out this?"

In fact, this matter was entirely deduced by Liu Fusheng himself based on the known information.

After police investigation, it was found that there was not much of that kind of fuel in Hong Haotian's home. In other words, Hong Haotian participated in the gardening activities himself and sprayed the fuel himself. Hong Haoyu should not have been aware of this.

Hong Haotian has a fishing boat and often engages in smuggling activities. He participated in spraying fuel and is likely to be involved in fuel transportation. Because this matter is an illegal and criminal act and is of great importance, the fewer people who know about it, the better.

Further speculation is that it is even possible that Hong Haotian was dragged into the arson by the people who planned the arson after smuggling the fuel and participated in the fuel spraying process.

Because the other party was worried that Hong Haotian would leak the smuggling information, only a deep bond could prevent him from revealing the matter to the outside world for the sake of his own interests and life.

Liu Fusheng suspected that many of the people who sprayed fuel in the guesthouse were members of the fuel smuggling group like Hong Haoyu. If this could be confirmed, the scope of the investigation could be narrowed to the greatest extent possible.

However, Liu Fusheng now has some reservations about the special task force of the Ministry of Public Security, so he must first go to Hongcun to find the answers he wants, and after verification, he can launch a targeted investigation.

At this time, Hong Haoyu's words had confirmed his guess in some aspects.

So Liu Fusheng pressed on and continued to ask Hong Haoyu: "Do you know what the goods your brother brought in from outside are?"

Hong Haoyu shook his head.

Liu Fusheng said: "What he smuggled in this time was the fuel that ignited Building No. 3 of the Guest House."

Hong Haoyu took a breath, he also knew the seriousness of this problem: "You... do you have evidence?"

Liu Fusheng said with a sullen face: "Hong Haoyu, you have asked me three times whether I have any evidence! I know you are not a bad person, nor a fool. Don't you know the nature of the arson case in the guesthouse?"

"Those martyrs who were burned to death were all from Yanjing, and they were high-ranking clerks and leaders directly under the state... If this incident did not have a big enough impact, would your brother have committed suicide out of fear of punishment?"

"Also, when we were carrying his body away, everyone in your Hong Village was trying to stop us. But why did Hong Chengli let us leave? Let me tell you, it's because he knows the seriousness of this matter better than any of you. If you cooperate with this matter, it's an investigation. If you don't cooperate, it's counter-terrorism."

"Investigations require answers, counter-terrorism only requires coordinates, understand?"

When Hong Haoyu heard this, his body shuddered slightly.

Liu Fusheng said: "Now do you think I have evidence? Or do I need to provide you with evidence?"

Hong Haoyu said stubbornly: "You...how do I know that you are not lying to me!"

Liu Fusheng said, "I don't need to lie to you. Only if you provide me with evidence can we control the situation to the minimum. As the secretary of the Chaojiang Municipal Party Committee, I know that most of the villagers in Hong Village, including you, Hong Haoyu, have nothing to do with this matter. My comrades in the Ministry of Public Security and I don't want to make a big fuss, so we have been communicating with you repeatedly to look for clues."

"I can tell you clearly that someone in Hong Village has already reported the clues of smuggling to the comrades in the Ministry of Public Security. I will give you one last chance - who are the people who went out with your brother Hong Haotian to bring the goods?"

Liu Fusheng's voice suddenly became cold.

Hong Haoyu trembled all over and said, "Secretary Liu, I really don't know. You also said that my brother drove two boats out by himself. I..."

At this point, Hong Haoyu's eyes turned: "Secretary Liu, I remember now, my brother said before he died that he was from Sino-Ocean International Group and was looking for him to go out to sea to do business together!"

Liu Fusheng said in a deep voice: "Are you sure that this smuggling activity was organized by the Ocean Group?"

Hong Haoyu smiled bitterly and said, "This kind of thing is often organized by Sino-Ocean International. We just follow the ship and earn a little money by sharing a few boxes of goods. In fact, we don't know what those things are, nor do we know whether they are smuggling activities. After all, for such a large trading company, isn't it normal to find some people to help transport the goods?"

Hong Haoyu is quite cunning. Even at this time, he still tries to get away with it and put all the responsibility on Sino-Ocean International.