I'm back in 1990

Chapter 396: Good and Evil Will Be Rewarded in the End

Huang Xiaochuan casually asked, "How did you two get here?"

"I took a taxi here. Yu Wei said he was going to drink tonight, so I didn't let him drive."

While responding to Huang Xiaochuan, Tang Yuan placed a large watermelon with a bright green rind and clear stripes at the kitchen door.

Huang Xiaochuan looked at Yu Wei, who was changing his shoes at the door.

"I could tell from your voice on the phone that you have some good news. Now, can you tell me?"

Yu Wei acted all high and mighty, but he couldn't hide the joy on his face: "I solved a big case, and the prison awarded me a second-class merit."

Hearing that her younger brother was about to achieve some merit, Yu Xiang worried that Yu Wei was exaggerating, so she asked Tang Yuan, "Really?"

Tang Yuan nodded: "In this major cultural relic smuggling case, Yu Wei is a key member of the special task force. His commendation has already been submitted and should be approved soon."

Huang Xiaochuan wanted to know Yao Haifeng's fate, so he asked Yu Wei, "The case is closed, can you reveal some inside information now?"

Yu Wei noticed that Huang Xiaochuan was still wearing an apron.

"Go cook first, I'll tell you the details when we drink later. Oh, and tonight we have to drink the 85 Moutai you've been hiding."

Huang Xiaochuan pointed with a spatula towards the basement.

"Go find whatever you want to drink. I don't know where I put that bottle of wine you mentioned. If you can find it, bring a few more bottles back with you."

Huang Xiaochuan doesn't like the taste of Maotai liquor. Although he has bought a lot of it in the past two years, it's all due to the inertia of his past life memories. He uses some of the Maotai he buys to entertain guests or give away, and stores the rest in the basement.

The basement of this old villa is now filled with Moutai liquor, and the rest are various famous domestic liquors, mainly strong-aroma baijiu. Other types of baijiu are relatively rare, and no one drinks them regularly.

Upon hearing this, Yu Wei was overjoyed and headed straight for the basement.

Huang Xiaochuan smiled, shook his head, and went back into the kitchen to continue preparing his dishes.

Grandma and Aunt had eaten dinner early. Grandma went to play mahjong at the entrance of the alley, while Aunt went to chat with some other women.

There were only four young people left in the family.

Huang Xiaochuan casually grabbed a bottle of Yanghe Celadon liquor and filled his own glass.

Yu Wei was eating with chopsticks.

Huang Xiaochuan pointed to the wine glass in front of Yu Wei: "Eat later, no one will take it from you, hurry up and pour the wine."

Yu Wei immediately stuffed half a piece of smoked fish into his mouth and picked up the wine bottle to pour himself a full glass.

Seeing that Yu Wei had poured the wine, Huang Xiaochuan raised his glass and suggested, "Come on, let's all raise our glasses and celebrate with Yu Wei. Congratulations on solving a major case and being awarded a second-class merit."

Yu Wei feigned modesty, saying, "The second-class merit award hasn't been issued yet, so it's a bit early to celebrate."

"That was bound to happen sooner or later. Let's celebrate first, bottoms up!"

After saying that, Huang Xiaochuan took the lead and drank the wine first.

After a few rounds of drinks, Huang Xiaochuan gestured with his chin toward Yu Wei, indicating that he could speak.

Yu Wei then cleared his throat and recounted the whole story of the case.

"The Yao Haifeng I asked you to introduce me to is the mastermind behind this case. He colluded with a tomb raiding gang to smuggle cultural relics, including 33 national first-class cultural relics and 119 national second-class cultural relics."

This man took advantage of his position as an export trader to smuggle these cultural relics out of the country by hiding them in modified shipping containers, and then sold them at small private auctions in Europe and America. The amount involved was as high as $3.2 million.

Based on this guy's confession and identification, we joined forces with the police to bring all the tomb raiders to justice.

The interrogation is now over, and the case has been transferred to the procuratorate for prosecution. It's currently a period of severe crackdown, and this case has alarmed higher authorities, who have issued instructions to handle it strictly and swiftly. It's estimated that Yao Haifeng won't be getting out of there, but because of his meritorious service, he might be spared.

"Meritorious service? What merit did he perform?" Huang Xiaochuan asked, puzzled.

"This guy was incredibly arrogant outside, but once he was in there, he couldn't even hold out for a day before he completely turned on us. He didn't want to give up, did he? The evidence was irrefutable, with photos and recordings all there, plus the confessions of his men and the artifacts we seized on the spot. He was dumbfounded. I pointed out the criminal law to him one by one, telling him that whether he confessed or not, he would still have to eat a peanut. However, if he could voluntarily confess and perform meritorious service, he might be able to save his life."

Good heavens, I had barely finished speaking when this guy burst into tears and confessed everything, even revealing the entire tomb-raiding gang in an attempt to gain merit. I originally thought it would be a long battle, but I took him down in one move.

Yu Wei spoke with great enthusiasm, even using phrases he had read in martial arts novels.

Huang Xiaochuan smiled. He knew what the photos and recordings Yu Wei mentioned were about. He had spent over a million US dollars to get them. They were like nuclear bombs; once they were thrown out, they would be devastating, knocking everyone off their feet.

Tonight, Huang Xiaochuan was in charge of carrying the sedan chair, showering Yu Wei with compliments until he was almost completely overwhelmed.

"I didn't realize you were this good, kid. Thumbs up!"

"One isn't enough! You have to drink two! Come on! I'll drink mine first!"

Seeing the two of them drinking so fast, Yu Xiang hurriedly advised, "You two drink slower. Yu Wei, finish this drink, eat some food, rest for a while, and then drink more later."

Yu Wei said nonchalantly, "It's okay, sis. This is nothing. I've only had about 150ml so far. I won't drink much tonight. I'll just finish this bottle."

Tang Yuan glared at him with dissatisfaction, and took the opportunity to complain to Yu Xiang: "Big sister, you should keep an eye on Yu Wei when you have time. He's drinking so much he doesn't even know his limits."

Yu Wei immediately objected: "Don't talk nonsense, okay? What do you mean I drank too much? Do you see me drinking at home? Aside from coming to my sister's house, your older brother's house, or at most having a little when eating with colleagues, who else have I drunk with?"

Yu Xiang raised an eyebrow: "Don't speak, shut your mouth."

Seeing that Yu Xiang was angry, Yu Wei didn't dare to say a word.

At this moment, Huang Xiaochuan tried to smooth things over, saying, "Alright, alright, tonight is a celebration for Yu Wei. We only have this much wine in the bottle, so we'll finish it and that'll be it. I can vouch for Yu Wei, as he is usually very restrained when it comes to drinking."

A warm feeling welled up in Yu Wei's heart. He looked at Huang Xiaochuan gratefully. "My buddy is the best! He's so loyal!"

Seeing that Huang Xiaochuan also spoke up for her, and that he was indeed happy tonight, Yu Xiang stopped criticizing Yu Wei.

Instead, she gently advised, "No rush, you two take your time drinking."

Then he said to Tang Yuan, "Don't go back tonight, just sleep here. The room and bed are ready. I don't have any new clothes, I'll get them for you later. Yu Wei can use his brother-in-law's. They grew up wearing the same pair of pants, neither of them is picky."

"Okay! Then I won't leave. It'll save me the trouble of dealing with him by myself when I get back." Tang Yuan readily agreed.

Upon hearing that he wasn't leaving that night, Yu Wei picked up his wine glass again.

"Come on, let's continue. The wine has been poured out for a while and hasn't been drunk yet, so the flavor has gone away."

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiang glared at him again, and Huang Xiaochuan quickly kicked her under the table, which finally made Yu Xiang stop!

After finishing their meal, Yu Xiang and Tang Yuan went to the living room to chat, planning to clean up the table after Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Wei finished drinking. However, the two of them kept drinking and chatting until they had their grandmother and aunt in bed. They were still not done, and after finishing a bottle of baijiu each, they were not satisfied and started drinking beer.

The two drank until almost 11 o'clock before stopping. After taking a shower, Huang Xiaochuan lay in bed, but he was wide awake, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

Not long after, the political and legal authorities, adhering to the three directives of speed, speed, and severity, sentenced the main culprit, Yao Haifeng, to death with a two-year reprieve. Six months later, Huang Xiaochuan learned from someone else that Yao Haifeng had died.

The reason wasn't complicated: his betrayal led to the execution of the tomb-raiding gang leader, so naturally, they wanted revenge.

After careful planning, one of the members of the tomb raiding gang was transferred to the prison where Yao Haifeng was being held. One morning, Yao Haifeng died at the hands of this person.