Chapter 233: Becoming a Criminal Overnight

Xiao Yucheng had no idea what crime he had committed before being directly seized by four burly men.

After driving through the city for about forty minutes, the SUV arrived at a compound in the suburban Longkou District. This compound occupied about ten thousand square meters, with four or five buildings inside and out, and several warehouses connected in rows.

This was the office location specially approved by the city for the Materials Control Department. After being brought here, Xiao Yucheng discovered the compound was full of people inside and out - white people, Chinese people, large numbers of arrested laborers, and people who looked like drifters helping judicial personnel work - altogether a very strange scene.

The SUV stopped and the lead burly man said to Xiao Yucheng: "Come, get out!"

"Brother, what crime did I actually commit?!" Xiao Yucheng asked urgently, limping.

"Told you to shut up, don't you understand? You'll know what you did soon!" the other replied impatiently, grabbing Xiao Yucheng's handcuffed hands and directly taking him into the four-story building on the left.

Entering the hall, Xiao Yucheng turned to look around, seeing many laborers wearing cuffs, squatting against the walls on both sides, being cursed and questioned with shouts.

Going up to the second floor, the burly man pushed Xiao Yucheng into an empty room saying: "Wait here honestly - someone will question you later. Also, don't think about running - there's a riot squad outside, if you're blocked, they'll shoot directly."

With that, the burly man locked the door and left, giving Xiao Yucheng no chance to ask questions.

In the room, Xiao Yucheng sat in a chair wearing handcuffs, his brain spinning rapidly, recalling his experiences in Xinaluo, finally concluding that they arrested him probably because he had worked with the Chi Army. But he had only cooked there, hadn't directly participated in any warfare, and wasn't considered core personnel, so there shouldn't be any big problem.

Thus, Xiao Yucheng sat in the room waiting, from morning until after 1 PM, before seeing the law enforcement personnel coming to interrogate him.

In the room, the lights came on as two men dispatched from the Police Bureau - one responsible for recording, one for interrogation - had law enforcement recording equipment running throughout.

"Name!"

"Xiao Yucheng."

"Household registration!"

"I don't have registration - I was in the first batch of laborers sent to Xinaluo, had citizenship procedures pending but not yet approved," Xiao Yucheng replied.

The other nodded expressionlessly and asked several routine questions before getting to the main point: "Did you have any military service experience in Xinaluo?"

Hearing this, Xiao Yucheng didn't hide his background, because if they could find him it meant they had some understanding of him, or other arrested laborers had informed on him, so lying was meaningless: "I never served in the military, but I worked for the Chi Army, cooked for them."

"Entered a military camp but doesn't count as military service?" the other asked raising his eyebrows.

"I had an employment relationship with them," Xiao Yucheng explained. "Just purely work for money."

"Don't explain - just answer what I ask," the other reminded before turning to the recorder saying: "Mark this as important."

"Yes." The recorder nodded, noting Xiao Yucheng's relationship with the Chi Army in the interrogation record and marking it as important.

The main interrogator looked at Xiao Yucheng continuing to ask: "While in Xinaluo, did you sell military supplies to the Mofi official army? Besides giving you monetary benefits, did they also ask you to probe situations in Dragon City and Zone One?"

Xiao Yucheng replied frowning: "I was just a laborer working to eat - these issues you mention have nothing to do with me...!"

After about an hour and a half of exchange in the room, the main interrogator finally took the materials and stood up saying: "Your problem is very serious - now you're under personal control - someone will take you out later."

Xiao Yucheng was stunned: "Why control me? What crime did I commit?!"

The main interrogator looked at him replying: "The Chi Army is a bandit army that kills, loots and commits all evil - you worked for them, isn't that a crime?!"

"...I just cooked!" Xiao Yucheng replied somewhat excitedly. "I couldn't earn money there - I couldn't starve to death, right? I had to find work?!"

The main interrogator glanced at him indifferently before turning to leave.

"Don't you have any reason? I didn't commit any crime - you have to let me out! My child is still at home...!" Xiao Yucheng never imagined he might face the danger of detention, so he chased out calling.

"Bang!"

Just as the main interrogator walked out the door, a burly man kicked Xiao Yucheng back into the room - with his bad leg, he lost balance and fell directly to the ground.

Three burly men walked in, directly pressing Xiao Yucheng's head: "You fucking dare rush out - you don't want to live?!"

The door was closed as the main interrogator said to an idle social person with no official position or law enforcement authority: "His problem is quite serious - worked for the Chi Army - follow up with him."

"Alright!" The idle person nodded.

After the main interrogator left with the materials, that man also pushed open the door and entered the room.

Soon after, Xiao Yucheng's screams from being beaten rang throughout the room.

For an entire afternoon, Xiao Yucheng was beaten and dealt with as they forced him to answer about his relationship with the Chi Army and the facts of his selling military supplies.

At first Xiao Yucheng still explained and showed signs of verbal refutation, but by the end he was truly beaten to breakdown. All ten fingers were abraded by the other's shoe soles, bleeding profusely.

By evening, Xiao Yucheng had no meal treatment - he was locked in rows of large warehouses, cuffed together with dozens of arrested laborers.

The physical pain Xiao Yucheng could endure, but the psychological anxiety he couldn't control.

His son was seriously ill - he had been gone a day, and if he didn't return by night, something could easily happen to the child.

Xiao Yucheng squatted by the dirty metal pipe, forcing himself to call to the guard: "Officer, officer, I beg you, let me see that interrogation officer again... my son is sick, I must go home tonight. Or, let me make a phone call - I can ask friends to check on my home."

The other ate his night snack, frowning and turning back to berate him: "Shut up!"

"Officer, I beg you...!"

"Bang!"

The other kicked Xiao Yucheng in the face, frowning and berating: "Beg your mother's currency! Do I look like law enforcement? Is begging me useful? Just wait!"

......

In the Yu family villa.

Su Tianyu sat on the sofa, looking at Yu Mingyuan saying: "You Yifan wants us to accompany the garrison troops to Old Triangle - who do you think should go?"

"Let Big Bai and Tianbei go - we two still need to work on relationships at home," Yu Mingyuan replied.

"That works too," Su Tianyu nodded.