Officer Ma didn’t know I was also related to the stop the cars to stop the dogs incident, so he couldn’t really control whether or not I entered the restaurant to eat. That’s why he didn’t really stop me when I initially followed him into the restaurant.
As a narcotics police officer, Officer Ma would wear civilian clothes all year round to prevent alerting the enemy. His gray windbreaker was pretty standard, but the police officer behind him was probably not from the narcotics division. It looked like he was dressed as a civil police officer, since these cases should be handled by civil police in the first place.
I bet it probably wasn’t the first time Ma HuiYu gathered volunteers to block cars on the highway to save animals. Since she was related to Officer Ma, plus he was on break, the police leaders probably thought it would be good to send him along with the civil police.
Nowadays in China, blogs can rule the world, and public opinion can kill. The police chief was probably worried the incident wouldn’t be resolved well and would cause police across the country to be criticized online. That’s why he specifically sent Officer Ma so he could deal with his relative, and urge them to settle it peacefully.
After Officer Ma and I greeted each other earlier, I already took off my sunglasses and hung it on the collar of my T-shirt. I followed the civil police officer inside and instantly attracted the gazes of many people.
Based on their expressions, I could already guess what they are thinking: I was definitely a criminal who got caught by the police and was being transported back to the police station.
But after another look, they realized I wasn’t handcuffed. The civil police officer was also walking behind the man with the windbreaker and completely ignored me, so they had no idea what was going on.
“I could even tell he’s a bad guy, so why doesn’t the police arrest him?” A diner at the edge of the restaurant said quietly to his companion.
“Save it.” His companion slapped the desk, “Your third uncle looks like a good person, but he probably scammed you out of a lot of money. Now, you don’t even know where he is.”
The class leader, Ma HuiYu, and the others sat in an 8-person table by the window. The window was facing the large dog truck that was only 50 meters away.
The reason they chose the spot was probably because the Zeng brothers wanted to keep an eye on the volunteers that were taking care of the dogs. Ma HuiYu also wanted to have a view where she could always observe the outside environment.
The class leader sat in the seat closest to the window. She would listen to Ma HuiYu negotiate with the Zeng brothers that were seated across from them, while carefully scanning passing cars and pedestrians with her hawk eyes, so she could find out which car contains the stolen pets and who were the Zeng brother’s accomplices.
Ma HuiYu had already seen Shu Sha’s excellent vision first hand back on the highway. Shu Sha had already spotted the truck’s license plate before Xiao Ding could even confirm it with binoculars and she told everyone to get ready to stop the truck.
The class leader, who had been staring out the window the entire time, of course also spotted me long ago. When she saw me coming over, she nodded to me as a greeting.
The Zeng brothers sat on the right side of the table and there were still two empty spots left out of the four available spots.
On the left side, starting from the seat closest to the window, was the class leader, Ma HuiYu, and the chubby rich woman whose surname was Xu. She promised to pay for the Zeng brothers’ meals, so that’s why she was also here.
“Hmph, keep eating, is that enough? Why don’t you just stuff yourselves to death?”
The rich woman was carrying a high-end purse. and her outfit was subtle with a hint of extravagance. It seems she had already washed off her ruined makeup and she looked peaceful due to a long term of being a vegetarian and praying to Buddha.
The Zeng brothers still had half of a large plate of chicken left, but they were already burping and it looks like they couldn’t eat anymore.
The dishes the rich woman ordered for the Zeng brothers could account for both breakfast and lunch. Every single dish was oilier and fattier than the last. Other than the large plate of chicken, there was pork shoulder, red braised pork, twice cooked pork, and steamed pork with rice flour… I suspect the rich woman wanted these two to eat a lot of fat, then get cerebral arteriosclerosis.
The Zeng brother’s side was full of dishes, but the class leader’s side only had drinks. The volunteers had already passed out bread while they were driving on the highway, so none of them were hungry.
“Keep eating, don’t you guys love eating animals? I want to see you guys get karmic retribution.”
The rich woman would constantly deride the Zeng brothers, but since they already got a free meal, they ignored her. They began to negotiate the price of the dogs after they ate their fill.
“Hey, isn’t that Niu Zong really rich? Why isn’t he even willing to spend 100 thousand?” Zeng Lao Liu asked while picking his teeth.
Zeng Lao Da picked up another chicken leg and thought about if he could eat anymore.
“Shu Sha, what’s the current market price of live dogs?” Ma HuiYu didn’t respond directly to Zeng Lao Liu, but crossed her hands and asked Shu Sha as if she was asking her secretary.
The class leader had done the prep work beforehand and responded immediately: “In Dong Shan city, live dogs are ¥10-13 per 500g, but that’s the retail price, the wholesale price is about ¥8 per 500g. An average dog weighs about 10-15kg, so that would mean the average dog costs about ¥200. I’ve already counted the number of dogs in the truck and it only comes to a total of 188 dogs. Even if we used 200 dogs as the calculation, it would only cost 200 x ¥200 = ¥40,000…”
Damn, class leader, did you come here to solve math problems? It seems you still haven’t forgotten the role of a student, since you don’t forget to study even during summer break!
“Hear that?” Ma HuiYu waited until Shu Sha finished, then looked at the Zeng brothers with a half-smile, “You can buy the dogs for ¥40,000, but you’re asking for ¥100,000. I don’t even think dirty money is this dirty.”
“If you to buy it, then buy it. If not, we’re taking it with us.” Zeng Lao Da put down his chicken leg and blurted out, which caused the other diners to look towards them.
“It’s another stop the cars to save the dogs, right? It’s already the third one this month, I think these dog lovers have too much free time.”
“Honestly, if they’re actually going to buy ¥40,000 of dogs for ¥100,000, then I’ll also go transport dogs tomorrow and hopefully some volunteers will stop me.”
Zeng Lao Liu waved his hand to tell his brother to calm down, “Don’t rush, we’ll get all our losses back on these bastards, let me talk to them.”
“You’re the bastard!” The rich woman cursed, “Your entire family are bastards!”
“Fuck, you dare curse…” Zeng Lao Da stood up to hit the rich woman, but Zeng Lao Liu pulled him back.
“Brother, there are security cameras here. Don’t drop to her level, didn’t she say she will treat us? Let’s order a bottle of Maotai, I could drive if you get drunk.”
I’m not even sure if they sell real Maotai here in the service stop, but it’s defintiely more expensive than real Maotai. Zeng Lao Da had an evil smile as he ordered a bottle from the waiter.
“We only have Maotai Prince here, is that okay?” The male waiter wearing a red outfit asked.
“Just bring me your most expensive alcohol.” Zeng Lao Da banged on the desk. It seemed like he was already somewhat drunk before he even began drinking.
“One bottle isn’t enough, give him two bottles. Shanxi fake liquor is the best, I’m going to watch him drink himself to death.”
The waiter had a bitter expression: “We really don’t have Shanxi fake liquor here…”
Although I walked near the negotiation table and also exchanged glances with Shu Sha, I didn’t rush to sit on the side of the volunteers. I stood at a slight distance to observe first and see how things progress.
Officer Ma probably had the same idea as I did and didn’t immediately approach them. Ma HuiYu had spotted him and gave him a look of annoyance, making Officer Ma quite uncomfortable.
Ma HuiYu introduced herself to the class leader as 26 years old, so that means it has only been a couple years since she graduated. She might still be in graduate school, or studying for a PhD. She thinks she is participating participating in the May Fourth Movement by taking action to save animals.
She might not be considered beautiful, but she gets extra points for her fervor and confidence. She was also dressed very lightly and people could tell at a glance that she was an animal protectionists who takes action. Also, she looked similar to Officer Ma, so there was no doubt they were related.
Zeng Lao Da only cared about drinking and didn’t realize police had arrived. Zeng Lao Liu noticed the civil police behind Officer Ma, so he could tell Officer Ma had a higher rank, so now it was even harder for them to use violence.
So he tapped his fingers on the table and said slowly, “It’s true we could only sell this truckload of dogs for ¥40,000 or ¥50,000 in Dong Shan city, but Guangzhou is different. There’s a lot of demand for dog meat in Guangzhou, and in Baiyun District, we’ve sold it for ¥15 per 500g before…”
“It still wouldn’t make the total price ¥100,000!” Ma HuiYu said angrily, “Also, if you sell the dogs right now, then you wouldn’t have to go all the way to Guangzhou, and it would save you gas money and time.”
“We’re going to Guangzhou whether you buy the dogs or not.” Zeng Lao Liu said with a wicked grin, “I have an intimate friend in Guangzhou, and you can’t really do the things she can for me…”
Wow, how dare you try to take advantage of these female volunteers. I’m the only one who can do that to the class leader!
I wanted to go over and give him a piece of my mind, but who knew Officer Ma beat me to it. He pulled out a fist from his pocket and it looked like he was going to punch Zeng Lao Liu.
Huh, how could you be so hot headed as a police officer? If you hit the dog dealer, then it’s going to end up on the news! Unscrupulous journalists will find out that you’re related to Ma HuiYu, then accuse you of favoring your relatives and that you’re unable to enforce laws fairly. Maybe, you won’t even be able to keep your position as the captain of the narcotics division.
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