When Lu Tao left the police station, it was already dark outside.
During the Lantern Festival, the sound of firecrackers gradually sounded, and every household was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. The atmosphere of reunion was enhanced by the silver decoration.
Snowflakes fell in the sky again. Lu Tao looked up at the pale sky and sighed.
The flickering light of the firecrackers after they took off was like the scorching sun, blinding his eyes.
After a while, Lu Tao wiped the corners of his eyes and disappeared into the snowy night.
Lu Tao walked through the snow and walked to the Phoenix Chess and Cards Room unknowingly. He happened to see Binbin helping Guan Lei out: "It's so cold outside, and you're injured again. Do you want to go out?"
Guan Lei was a little surprised when he saw Lu Tao come back: "Tonight we played a game of Pai Gow in the mountains. It was a big game. I have to keep an eye on it myself! Brother Tao, didn't you go back to Shenbei? Why are you back again? ?”
Lu Tao forced a smile: "Naoxin, I want to have a drink with you."
Guan Lei's eyes lit up: "That's great! Binbin, you go up the mountain and keep an eye on me tonight. I won't go. I'll stay at home with my brother. Let's have a good time today!"
Lu Tao waved his hand: "No, I'll go with you, don't delay your business."
Guan Lei looked at Lu Tao unexpectedly: "Brother Tao, didn't you say before that you wouldn't participate in these things?"
Lu Tao exhaled a mouthful of white mist: "Before I pedaled three wheels, I was doing it for others to see. I froze outside for a while and woke up my brain."
Although Guan Lei saw that Lu Tao was not in a high mood, he was already happy when he saw that he was willing to go up the mountain with him. He called Lu Tao to the pickup truck on the side of the road: "Brother Tao, it's cold outside, let's talk in the car. "
Lu Tao glanced at the tattered pickup truck and the four gasoline cans in the back compartment: "What's going on here, diesel for the generator?"
"Brother Tao, you can really joke. Ours is a generator, not a fighter jet. This diesel is for the loader."
Binbin helped Guan Lei into the car and explained to Lu Tao: "The snow is too heavy today. Private cars can no longer go up the mountain. The punters can only squat in the bucket of the forklift to transport them up."
Lu Tao was startled when he heard this: "Are these people so addicted to gambling? Are they going to suffer in such a cold weather?"
"When Li Jifeng opened a gambling bureau in the past, in order to prevent inspections, he moved the gambling bureau to the back wall of the crematorium for a period of time, which did not delay those people from gambling. Once these people get on the gambling table, they will not care about anything, or Why do you call this kind of person a money man?"
After Guan Lei waited for Lu Tao to get in the car, he handed over a cigarette: "I started this gambling game in Xiaonian, and it has been running until the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Today is the Lantern Festival, it is the last game. I will feel sorry for myself tonight, and I will make good arrangements for tomorrow. you!"
Lu Tao smiled: "On a day like today, I'm quite content if I can still have someone to talk to."
…
The place where Guan Lei opened his gambling bureau was very remote, located on a fruit mountain at the junction of the Soviet District and Tiexi Development Zone.
It's nighttime, and the temperature in the mountains has dropped below minus 20 degrees. The north wind on the mountains is howling, and ghosts are crying and wolves are howling.
In a wind-sheltered valley, two tents were like adjacent tombs. The roar of the generator kept buzzing, mixed with the shouts of the gamblers.
The curtain of the smaller tent was opened. Guan Lei sat next to the pit where the wood was burning and poured a glass of white wine for Lu Tao: "Brother Tao, I didn't expect the weather to be so cold. Two electric heaters were sent to the next door. You Drink some white wine to warm yourself up."
"The gamblers here are all your God of Wealth, so you should take good care of them."
Lu Tao rubbed his frozen palms and asked Guan Lei: "On the way up the mountain, I found that you didn't set up any sentries. Is it safe?"
"We usually let people go, but today it's too cold, private cars can't come, and it's hard for people to go out and stand guard."
Guan Lei sipped his liquor and replied: "The relationship with the surrounding police stations has been taken care of. As long as the police are dispatched, I will receive the news here."
Lu Tao clinked glasses with Guan Lei: "Is the relationship you are looking for reliable?"
Guan Lei grinned: "I'm not like Li Jifeng. He has a lot of money and long-term work. He is always connected with the leadership! The people I'm looking for are all auxiliary police and security guards on duty in the station. Although they are inconspicuous, But the news is pretty accurate.”
Lu Tao chatted with each other: "Since this business is more profitable than opening a mahjong parlor, why didn't you do it long-term before?"
"Where is the capital? If you want to make a big gambling business, you have to have a loan business to follow! But with my small body, how can I afford loan sharks? If I lose a sum, I may have to lose money. Woolen cloth!"
Guan Lei added a few branches to the fire: "I asked people from outside to go up the mountain before, but then they had some disputes over debt collection, and they even joined the criminal police team and almost got me involved. From then on, I If the moneylenders are not allowed to come forward, the gamblers will not be able to do much if they have no money."
Lu Tao was convinced of this and took another sip of liquor: "Why did your brother die?"
"smuggling!"
Guan Lei looked at the dancing flames with a sad expression on his face: "The person who came to see my brother asked us to work as local airplane boys, which is the second link in the smuggling chain. The motorcycle boys who received the goods transported the smuggled cigarettes from the border. Come here, we drive a modified car to transport goods on the highway. Once we are chased by the police, the speed of the car reaches 245, which is often the case."
Lu Tao took a sip of liquor: "Did he die in a car accident?"
"Shot to death."
Guan Lei drank all the liquor in one gulp: "We have been fooled! The person who assigned us the job only asked us to transport cigarettes in the first week. Each trip was about a thousand cartons of cigarettes, and the shipping cost for each carton was ten yuan. Okay. When I was working, I could get 20,000 to 30,000 yuan a day! But on the day my brother had the accident, the goods were mixed with drugs, and they were put in deliberately."
When Lu Tao heard this, there was a hint of anger in his eyes: "Who is the person who harmed your brother?"
"I don't know! The smuggling industry chain is not much worse than drug trafficking. They are all connected through a single line. My brother and I lived in Fangchenggang for half a month, and I only saw his line."
Guan Lei poured himself another glass of liquor: "Later I heard that the boss at the top of this smuggling line was a police informant. In order to have a good relationship with the leader, he deliberately created a group of drug dealers! We are delivering the goods At that time, they were arrested by plainclothes officers. One of the six people died on the spot and two were arrested.
I ran into the mountains with my brother, and I didn’t know until halfway that he had been shot. My brother was the one who contacted me about the smuggling business. Those people didn’t know my true identity, so I managed to escape. The police were chasing me at the time, and I couldn't take my brother away, so I had to bury him in the mountains.
At that time, my mind was very confused, like a headless fly. I wandered in the forest for two days before I found a path down the mountain. When the storm passed, I went back to the mountain and searched for half a month, but everything looked the same. My brother was buried in a foreign land... but there wasn't even a tombstone! "
Lu Tao took a deep breath: "Is this online still in Guangxi?"
Guan Lei showed a wry smile: "Yes, I will stay there forever! He is the one who was beaten to death! The clue was cut off on him. I can't even find a clue to revenge!"
"Your brother died a miserable death."
Lu Tao sprinkled the remaining half glass of white wine in front of the bonfire and filled up another glass for himself.
The wind and snow are hunting, and the fire is swaying.
The two men were sitting in the tent, with warm wine in their throats, looking at each other in silence.
Ten minutes later, a rich-looking middle-aged man walked into the tent and broke the silent atmosphere: "Hey, we have guests, Xiao Lei!"
"Brother Li, let me introduce you. This is my brother, Lu Tao!"
Guan Lei acted as the introducer: "Brother Tao, this is Li Xueyou, the accountant of the brigade of Taimin Village. He usually helps to attract the guests here."
"Brother Li, hello!"
Lu Tao smiled and said hello: "It's cold outside, come over and have a drink!"
"Okay, this weather is indeed suitable for drinking some wine."
Jacky Li didn't see anyone else, he came over and squatted next to the bonfire, poured himself some liquor with the lid of the thermos, and asked with a smile: "I have a business that can make a lot of money. I wonder if you two are interested? "
