9: Chapter 9 left JC speechless.

"Name?"

"Chen Sheng."

"Gender?"

"Male."

"Speak up! What is your relationship with Lai Yong? Why were you at the Fulong Hotel? Why did you send a message to Qiu Guilan? What is your relationship with Qiu Guilan?"

Chen Sheng rolled his eyes speechlessly.

Reflecting on the journey from the hotel to the police station, he was truly speechless.

Just a moment ago, the police officer arrived at the hotel. After understanding the ins and outs of the matter, they brought the two involved parties, Lai Yong and Qiu Guifen, as well as the "catching-an-adulterer" team led by Qiu Guilan and the salary-recovery team led by him, back to the police station.

The good news was that the police station officially registered Lai Yong's "bucket-toting" escape as a civil case.

The bad news was that the rest of the 16 members of the salary-recovery team led by him were released after giving their statements. Only he was kept behind for a special "courtesy" statement because he was designated as the organizer and was the one who tipped off Qiu Guilan about Lai Yong's whereabouts.

"Lai Yong is my former boss. Yesterday, Lai Yong and his Sister-in-law suddenly ran off, and the company still owes us unpaid wages and commissions."

Following the order of the police officer's questions, Chen Sheng first explained his relationship with Lai Yong, then stated the reason he had prepared in advance: "I was driving for a ride-hailing service this morning when I happened to run into Lai Yong. I followed him all the way to the hotel, and then I contacted my former colleagues, intending to find Lai Yong to recover our wages..."

Since he usually drove for a ride-hailing service and the civil case had limited impact, Chen Sheng wasn't worried that the police officer would conduct a detailed investigation.

"In the nearly five years I worked at the company, I met Qiu Guilan no more than ten times. We aren't close, and I don't even know when I saved Qiu Guilan's number."

"As for why I sent a message to Qiu Guilan?" Chen Sheng paused for a moment and admitted frankly: "I heard online that it's very difficult to recover owed wages in these situations. I told Qiu Guilan about Lai Yong just because I wanted to vent some frustration."

The police officer was clearly at a loss for words regarding this kind of melodramatic soap opera. After a long silence, the officer said: "Comrade, don't believe so many rumors online."

"Huh?" Chen Sheng looked at the police officer in surprise.

"The procedures for handling such issues are very standardized now. When you encounter situations like this, you can report it to the police. We will have the labor arbitration department assist you in negotiating with Lai Yong."

"If you can't reach an agreement, you can have the labor arbitration department assist you in pursuing legal arbitration. As long as you provide clear evidence, the court will generally have a notary agency monitor the defendant's account. The funds in the account will be used for settlement, and the settlement will be disbursed in batches according to the proportion of the victims' claims."

"During the enforcement period, all assets under the defendant's name will be frozen. Only after all debts are settled will the relevant departments issue a certificate to unfreeze them."

"What if they refuse to comply?" Chen Sheng asked back.

"If they refuse to comply, the victims can file for compulsory enforcement with the court. The court will issue a notice of compulsory enforcement to the defendant. If they still refuse to fulfill the judgment during the notice period, the court will enforce it against the defendant."

"Compulsory enforcement includes, but is not limited to, auctioning off fixed assets under the defendant's name."

"And what if the defendant has no assets under their name?" Chen Sheng asked back.

"May I ask, Comrade Police Officer, how long does this whole process take?"

"Who covers the expenses for hiring a lawyer during this time?"

"I can't just ignore my elderly parents and children at home, right?" Chen Sheng said leisurely: "Comrade Police Officer, Lai Yong only owes me one month's wages and commission."

Silence! As soon as Chen Sheng said this, the entire interrogation room fell completely silent.

Even the young police officer responsible for taking notes stopped writing.

The young police officer looked up and met the gaze of the deep-eyed Chen Sheng. Chen Sheng read sympathy for himself in the officer's eyes, as well as the officer's pride in his own position.

An iron rice bowl—even just a public institution position—is just that secure.

Unpaid wages? That doesn't exist.

Otherwise, why would there be the saying, "The end of the universe is the civil service exam"?

But... "What are you sympathizing with!" Chen Sheng was speechless.

Not to mention that the whole thing was orchestrated by him.

Even if there were quite a few unexpected accidents during the process.

Besides, he was a man with a system.

"Brother! A life with cheat codes, get it?"

The key person, the middle-aged police officer in charge of the questioning, perhaps thought of his elderly parents, perhaps thought of his wife who had been managing the household for years due to the special nature of his work, or perhaps thought of his child growing from babbling to running fast. Yet, after all these years, he had barely attended a few parent-teacher meetings.

For a moment, his eyes were blurred by the wind.

The middle-aged police officer took out a cigarette case and handed one to Chen Sheng: "In terms of reason, what you did was fine; it's very satisfying to the public."

"But from a legal standpoint, because you told Qiu Guilan about Lai Yong's whereabouts, if we had arrived a step later, or if Qiu Guilan and the others had lost their rationality at that moment, resulting in Lai Yong becoming disabled or dying, have you considered that you would bear joint liability?"

The middle-aged police officer took a deep drag of his cigarette. As he exhaled the white smoke, he continued: "Just like you said, Lai Yong only owed you one month's salary and commission. If you were implicated because of this, have you thought about your elderly parents, wife, and children at home?"

At this moment, the middle-aged police officer's eyes, shrouded in white smoke, were faintly glistening with tears.

Clearly, this was a man with a story.

"Understood! It won't happen again." Chen Sheng promised.

It wasn't that he knew he was wrong, but the glaring eight characters on the wall behind him—'Leniency for confession, severity for resistance'—taught everyone who entered this place to behave.

Sure enough, upon hearing Chen Sheng's firm and powerful promise, the police officer's stern expression relaxed immediately. He looked at Chen Sheng with a "you are teachable" gaze and said softly: "Alright! The routine questioning ends here. You can go back. If there are any further questions, we will contact you by phone."

"Regarding Lai Yong's unpaid wages, we suggest you follow the formal procedures. I will also report this to my superiors and strive for us to contact the relevant departments to conduct a tripartite negotiation. Please pass this information on to your colleagues."

"Okay!" Chen Sheng replied quickly.

The police officer personally escorted Chen Sheng out of the police station. Outside, seeing the police officer escorting Chen Sheng out, Old Liu and the others who hadn't left yet quickly gathered around.

Don't misunderstand! It wasn't out of concern, but...

"Old Chen! What did the police officer say?"

"Yeah! Brother Chen, can we still get our wages?"

"The police officer will negotiate with Lai Yong and also report it up, requesting relevant departments to assist us in a tripartite negotiation. We will wait for notification for the specific results." Chen Sheng briefly summarized the advice the police officer had given.

"Is that so!" The person speaking sounded disappointed.

Clearly, it wasn't what they wanted.

"Alright everyone, it's getting late, let's leave it at that. When there is news from the police station, I will notify everyone." Chen Sheng waved his hand. At this moment, he was mentally exhausted and didn't want to talk anymore.