"Wu Lin should have briefed you on the situation on the way here. Do you have any good suggestions?" Old Yang asked Hua Yan as he poured water for them.

"Are we certain the drugs are in one of the locations we predicted?"

"Not certain. This time the drug lords have done a thorough job of misleading us. It’s especially difficult to handle," Old Yang admitted, somewhat discouraged.

"Which location is closest to us?" Hua Yan asked.

"The customs at Haibin City. We've received information that drugs might be transported there tonight."

"Is it an overseas businessman?"

"Yes, an American businessman is scheduled to transport a batch of cars through customs before midnight. It's 10:50 now, we don't have much time and must inspect immediately."

"Can't we just detain the cargo?"

"We can only conduct a secret investigation."

At the customs site, Hua Yan and her team followed other customs personnel to several containers. After inspecting a third of the hundred cars, they still found nothing, and with the customs release time approaching, Hua Yan insisted on continuing. By the time she reached the fifty-fifth car, she was feeling faint.

Stepping out of the container, Hua Yan sat on a flower bed to rest. In the quiet night, she heard a familiar female voice nearby. After listening closely for a moment, she realized it was Cheng Yunqi’s voice. What was she doing here when she should be at the party?

From what she overheard, it seemed like Cheng Yunqi was overseeing cargo loading. The Cheng family also had goods going through customs tonight. Just then, a staff member walked by, and Hua Yan asked, "Excuse me, is the Cheng family loading cargo over there?"

"Yes, you're new here, right? It's best not to ask about the Cheng family's goods. They have powerful connections, so it's common for their cargo to pass without inspection. I was just as surprised as you when I first started, but after seven or eight years, I've gotten used to it."

"So their goods aren't being inspected?"

"That's right, they unload directly from the ship and load onto trucks. I think it's a batch of appliances. Just take care of your own duties. I'll be off now, but remember what I said: mind your own business!"

"Thank you." Hua Yan looked towards the Cheng family’s area, feeling the need to investigate. After discussing with Old Yang, she and Wu Lin disguised themselves as laborers and approached under cover of darkness.

"What are you two dawdling for? Hurry up and move!" a supervisor shouted at them.

Nodding and keeping their heads down, Hua Yan and Wu Lin followed the other workers into a container filled with refrigerator-sized boxes. Hua Yan placed her hand on one and began to scan it with her vision, but found nothing suspicious.

She shook her head at Wu Lin and moved on to another box. Suddenly, she froze; she had spotted the drugs hidden in the bottom layer of this imported refrigerator—nine neat packages in total.

"Did you find something?" Wu Lin whispered. Glancing around to ensure the other workers were still focused on moving boxes, she nodded.

Wu Lin, initially in disbelief, quickly called Old Yang. Within minutes, armed police had secured the customs area, and Old Yang arrived with his team.

"The goods are really here?" Old Yang asked.

"Yes," Hua Yan confirmed.

Old Yang patted her shoulder and signaled to his men. Three officers stepped forward and opened the box Hua Yan had scanned. Just then, Cheng Yunqi, in high heels, arrived in a huff. "What are you doing? Why are you dismantling our cargo without permission? Customs director, explain what's going on!"

"The goods being imported. Customs have the right to inspect them." The customs director, who had been friendly just an hour ago, suddenly changed his tone, leaving Cheng Yunqi stunned.

"Miss Cheng, this is a search warrant." A military police officer presented a document to Cheng Yunqi. As the situation spiraled out of control, she quickly called Cheng Jie to explain. Upon hearing the news, Cheng Jie realized the seriousness of the situation. He instructed Cheng Yunqi to call Ke Shaozheng and ask him to come to the customs. However, Ke Shaozheng couldn't make it as he was traveling out of town. After hanging up, he immediately disposed of his SIM card and called his associate to eliminate the person who had signed the contract with the Cheng family.

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Meanwhile, guided by Hua Yan, Old Yang had already uncovered over forty bags of drugs from five containers. The laborers, Cheng Yunqi, and later Cheng Jie, who rushed to the scene, were all apprehended by Old Yang. Although the customs director wanted to leave, Old Yang insisted he accompany them back to the bureau to report the incident.

With the drugs discovered in the containers and the contents of the other three containers examined, this drug bust was unexpectedly solved thanks to Hua Yan's accidental breakthrough.

The events that followed didn’t require Hua Yan’s presence. She was escorted home by Wu Lin and arrived within minutes. Upon reaching the second floor, she saw her parents, still drowsy, sitting in the living room.

"Dad, Mom, why are you still up so late? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?" Hua Yan asked.

"We heard the door, so we got up," Mom replied with a smile, helping Hua Yan take off her coat.

"Why are you back again? I thought you had something important to attend to?" Dad inquired.

"Oh, everything's fine now. I can finally get a good night's sleep," Hua Yan yawned. Mom then went to prepare a bath for her.

"You look exhausted. Go wash up and get some rest," Dad said with concern. Hua Yan smiled, obediently headed to her room. As she washed up, she noticed the jade pendant that Gao Ruqing had given her last time placed on her bedside table. She remembered asking her father to bring it to her room before the party, intending to see what kind of jewelry it could be crafted into.

Under the gentle lamplight, the jade was translucent and beautiful, captivating her. Watching it for a while, Hua Yan eventually fell asleep, but the jade remained in her hand.

Mom came in and turned off the light. In the dark bedroom, after a while, Hua Yan noticed two places on her body emitting light—the dragon-phoenix jade pendant on her neck and the three-color jade pendant in her hand.

Gradually, the light from the dragon-phoenix jade pendant grew larger, almost enveloping Hua Yan's entire body, while the light from the three-color jade pendant dimmed. Moreover, only the central part of the three-color jade was jade; the rest had turned into stone.

The next day, Hua Yan woke up feeling soreness in her thighs. Upon looking, she found a stone on her bed. Rubbing her hair, she muttered, "Where did this stone come from?" Seeing that it was already past seven, she felt surprisingly energetic, without a hint of fatigue. Placing the stone on her bedside table, Hua Yan decided to go for a run.

After running around the park for about ten laps, Hua Yan saw her father in high spirits, playing chess with a few other elderly men. Not wanting to disturb him, she planned to return home and make breakfast with Mom. On her way, she bought a newspaper from a newsstand. Flipping through it, she stopped abruptly. The headline read, "Haibin City Customs Busts Major Drug Trafficking Case, Involving Overseas Trading Giant Cheng Family."

In smaller print, it stated that Cheng Jie, the only son of the Cheng family, had been released this morning, but his sister remained detained without visitation rights. After calling Old Yang, Hua Yan learned that Cheng Yunqi's testimony couldn't be validated officially. One of the German businessmen, Ke Shaozheng, refused to admit any involvement in the drug case. The foreigner who had signed the contract with the Cheng family had been found dead on the outskirts, with no useful clues left behind. If the Cheng family couldn't find substantial evidence soon, Cheng Yunqi might face severe punishment.

In the afternoon, Cheng Family Overseas Trading had already lost over thirty percent of its clients, and many cooperating companies had suspended trade relations. Additionally, Gao Ruqing, regardless of the financial compensation, terminated the jade collaboration with the Cheng family. Thus far, the Cheng family had suffered losses amounting to over a billion. The company was in turmoil, and the situation was deteriorating rapidly. Mr. Cheng had been transferred to the intensive care unit the night before.

Cheng Jie had sprouted many white hairs overnight, but he persisted in not allowing himself to collapse. He went to see Shangguan Ning, hoping she could help rescue his sister. This time, Shangguan Ning didn't refuse to meet him.

"Yunqi has been set up, help us out, use your connections to get her out. Although she has wronged you, considering the affection you've had for her over the years, please help."

"I understand the situation now. It's completely unfavorable for you. With such a huge amount of evidence against you, even my grandfather couldn't protect me. So I can only promise to help you see her situation inside, and we'll see how things go from there. You should prepare yourselves mentally," Shangguan Ning replied.

"Isn't there still Ke Shaozheng? Can't we investigate some matters through him?" Cheng Jie interjected.

"Do you have evidence to prove that this batch of goods belongs to him? Everything before was just hearsay, and he also mentioned that the friend you referred to, the one who died in the countryside, was just that," replied Gao Ruqing.

"Now that there's no evidence, it's hard for the police to believe you. And your refusal to follow proper procedures and allow inspection before loading the goods is something that could be used against you. The customs chief has already been suspended, and I believe more will be caught in the future. If you don't want to go bankrupt, find a way to minimize your losses quickly."

Later, Cheng Jie personally went to plead with Gao Ruqing to continue their cooperation, but Gao Ruqing remained firm in his decision. Cheng Jie, in frustration, dangerously said, "Mr. Gao, don't push people too far! Don't think I don't know about your past deeds. If you provoke me, I'll expose them sooner or later..."

Gao Ruqing smiled lightly and said, "If you hadn't secretly been digging into my sculptor, clients, and so on while cooperating with me, I would have fully supported you today. Unfortunately, you're still unrepentant."

After Cheng Jie left, Gao Ruqing said to his secretary, "If the sky were to fall, could you hold it up?"

"Why do you ask such a question?" the secretary couldn't quite understand.

After sighing inwardly, Gao Ruqing asked, with a hint of severity, "Answer my question?"

"Yes, I will definitely not embarrass you," the secretary replied instantly.

In that moment, Gao Ruqing dispelled the gloom and his hearty laughter echoed through the office.