Chapter 112: Speculation

Uncle Shi’s expression darkened as well. Seeing Chen Liang drenched like a soaked rat, he didn’t say much. “You’re here? Let’s have a look then!”

Chen Liang nodded to Uncle Shi and began to observe carefully. He glanced at the large iron door of the finance office, then entered the room to scan the surroundings before stepping out deep in thought.

Once Chen Liang emerged, Uncle Shi waved his hand decisively. “Get heavy iron chains to lock this door. No one is allowed in or out without my orders.”

“Yes, Chief!” At the command, the security team swiftly fetched four massive iron chains and bound the heavy door tightly before locking it.

Back in the security room, Chen Liang wiped himself with a towel and shared his thoughts.

“Uncle Shi, investigating this won’t be difficult. It has to be an inside job, and there’s likely a mole in our security department helping them. Give me some time, and I’ll recover every penny.”

Uncle Shi, a lifetime soldier, was a master at leading troops into battle—a piece of cake for him—but expecting him to handle such a mentally taxing case was like casting pearls before swine. He was sharp in every way except this one.

“Really? Don’t fool me, you brat. We’re just days away from payday. If we can’t recover the money, it’s going to cause big trouble!” Uncle Shi looked skeptical.

“Rest assured, Uncle Shi. By tonight at the latest, I’ll have every cent back for you,” Chen Liang said confidently. After all, he had watched over 1,400 episodes of Detective Conan in his previous life.

In this day and age, the petty tricks used were glaringly flawed to Chen Liang. The thieves’ supposedly foolproof plan was laughable to him.

Though the theft seemed to have no leads, on closer thought, it was riddled with glaring weaknesses that left Chen Liang no room to complain.

First, it was clearly an inside job. The iron door had been opened with a key, and the safe was opened intact. Chen Liang was certain it was done by someone within the finance department.

Second, the stolen sum was just under one million yuan. Each large black ten-yuan note measured 155 millimeters long, 77 millimeters wide, 0.1 millimeters thick, and weighed 1.15 grams. Calculating the weight of 100,000 such notes was straightforward—multiplying 1.15 grams by 100,000.

Therefore, the total weight was easy to find: 100,000 times 1.15 equals 115,000 grams, or 115 kilograms—about 230 jin.

Thus, Chen Liang immediately dismissed the possibility that the guards inside the gate were involved—it was too unrealistic for anyone to steal such an amount from the impenetrable Red Star Steel Mill without being noticed. Of course, this excluded Chen Liang himself with his supernatural spatial abilities.

Third, to transport this million out without detection, collaboration from the security department was essential. Otherwise, before even climbing the wall, the noise would have alerted the patrolling guards.

With these three key points as a foundation, the difficulty of the case transformed from an impossible needle in a haystack to something as simple as fishing shrimp in a river. That was why Chen Liang could boldly swagger with hands on hips, boasting.

Dressed in a clean, crisp security uniform, Chen Liang looked serious as he faced Uncle Shi. “Uncle Shi, I’m only telling you this here. Once we step outside, I won’t take responsibility for what I say!”

“Hah! What nonsense can you little brat spout? Why the serious face? Are you putting on airs?” Uncle Shi felt his pride bruised and slapped Chen Liang’s head. “Speak properly, you little rascal!”

Chen Liang crouched, clutching his head, inwardly annoyed but resigned. Damn it, you’re Uncle Shi, the boss—what you say goes!

“Uncle Shi, please believe me. I’m talking about our lives and futures here. Please don’t hit me; just hear me out.”

Seeing Uncle Shi hold back, Chen Liang leaned in and pointed upward with his right index finger. “Uncle Shi, you can feel the shifting winds above, can’t you?”

“What shifting winds? What feelings? You little brat, don’t talk nonsense. Stop it and focus on having kids with Xiaoyu—that’s what really matters!” Uncle Shi quickly interrupted.

“Uncle Shi, you sensed it too?” Chen Liang was surprised at Uncle Shi’s political intuition—he had underestimated him.

After all, Uncle Shi wasn’t from the future. To glean such crisis awareness from mere newspaper details was rare indeed.

“If you keep babbling, I’ll break your leg!” Uncle Shi grew anxious. This brat was getting cocky, even daring to talk nonsense like that—didn’t he know walls have ears? This was courting death!

“Don’t, Uncle Shi. Just hear me out before breaking my leg,” Chen Liang said once he realized Uncle Shi wasn’t about to strike. “You’re the chief. I’m only telling you because of that. Otherwise, I’d keep it bottled up forever.”

“Hmm.” After a grunt, Uncle Shi allowed him to continue.

“Uncle Shi, this will likely take a long time, so we must prepare early. Your position as chief is critical—it’s the key to ensuring all our safety.”

Chen Liang then laid out his plan. After a long silence, Uncle Shi’s voice grew hoarse, disbelief etched on his face.

“This is all just your speculation, little brat. Can you really guarantee everything you say is true?”

Of course! Though Chen Liang hadn’t graduated from the police academy, he was a diligent rural scholar from the 21st century. This was something even a high school senior could understand. How could he be wrong?

“Uncle Shi, this is my worst-case scenario. Who really knows what will happen?”

“Also, Uncle Shi, we may have no intent to harm, but we can’t be without caution. If—just if—what I said does happen, holding control of the security department at least gives us a chance to fight back…”

Stunned by Chen Liang’s words, Uncle Shi pondered deeply. Finally, he clenched his teeth and drew on his old soldier’s grit.

“Damn it, I’ve faced Death more than once. What’s there to fear? You little brat, go all out! I’ll back you all the way!”

As the ancients say, the older the person, the sharper the wit; the older the ghost, the craftier it is. Once Uncle Shi grasped the magnitude of Chen Liang’s suspicions, all doubts vanished. It was time to act!