Zhou Liuyi habitually rummaged through the snacks in her car and first found some spicy strips and yogurt to eat.
Lei Ming took Zhou Liuyi to her unit, which was the provincial criminal police team. Everyone was in a hurry during dinner time. The police station was mainly busy with local cases, and everyone would get together to say hello and discuss something.
The criminal police team is often on business trips, and some of their cases do not overlap, and some are even confidential.
However, most of the people in the criminal police team are men.
Lei Ming walked in the middle, like a sparkling flaming rose.
Many people greeted Lei Ming:
"Sister Ming, is this your boyfriend? He's so handsome!"
Lei Ming smiled, his tone still carrying undisguised pride, and patted Zhou Liuyi's shoulder vigorously, saying openly:
"My younger brother is now a policeman. He is a graduate of Donghua University and ranked first in the provincial exam this year."
Others immediately looked at Saturday with new eyes.
Most of those of his age wearing blue shirts are local second-generation rich people who are slacking off in the auxiliary police positions their families have found for them and generally do not have a high level of education.
Or maybe it’s been several years since they graduated from college, but they still can’t find a decent job, so being a auxiliary police officer becomes their only option.
But Zhou Liuyi turned out to be a police officer who ranked first in the provincial exam. Everyone looked at Zhou Liuyi differently, greeted him more enthusiastically, and asked him:
"Which unit do you work for? The hottest jobs right now are the newly established Anti-Fraud Center and the Criminal Police Team..."
Generally speaking, police recruited from society are civilians, and people don’t have much expectations… However, when Zhou Liu said he was at the Longhua Street Police Station, someone took the initiative to bring him a dinner plate and patted him on the shoulder:
"Young man, work hard!"
Zhou Liuyi followed behind Lei Ming, with long legs and a thin waist, wearing a solemn navy blue uniform, he looked fierce and domineering no matter how he looked at him.
The police canteen has just been restructured and uses a new settlement method. When the meal plate is placed on the electronic scale, there will be an automatic quote, and you just need to swipe the meal card.
This novel approach is the same as that of today's university cafeterias.
Lei Ming gave the meal card to Zhou Liuyi:
"Take whatever you want to eat, it's all mine."
It's so familiar. For more than ten years, Lei Ming has said the same thing every time. When she was a child, she went to the cafeteria of her school, and when she grew up, she went to the cafeteria of her unit.
From school uniforms to military uniforms, and then to the current police uniforms, there seems to be no change at all.
But this sense of familiarity makes people feel at ease.
The two of them found a place to eat by the window. Lei Ming ate very quickly and could swallow the huge spoon in one gulp. It didn't look like his mouth was small enough to hold such a big spoon.
The questions were asked even faster, like he was interrogating a criminal, getting to the point directly and very sharply:
"What kind of work are you in charge of now?"
Saturday and Monday, all are honestly confessed:
"I am a clerk in the household registration office. When others are too busy, they ask me to help. The job distribution in our office is not very clear, but we also handle cases and police cases."
Lei Ming nodded and commented:
"This model is actually quite good. This way you can quickly get started with the job and become familiar with all the cases in two months."
Lei Ming asked again:
"What cases have you handled now?"
Saturday one:
"Name changes in household registration, theft, pornography, gambling, drugs, and some community mediation cases."
Lei Ming ate while listening, listening very carefully, and pondered for a while:
"Yes, the Longhua Street Police Station is indeed a training ground for people. Handling more cases will be very helpful for you to judge the context of complex cases in the future."
…
After asking a lot of questions, Lei Ming put down his chopsticks like a professional manager and gave Zhou Liuyi a comprehensive assessment:
"Your advantage is that you have strong professional skills, especially in computer and social engineering. After the training, you will probably be transferred to the branch's image detection and technical investigation, or the provincial network security detachment. There is a new anti-fraud center there, and they are in great need of people. The cases you come into contact with there will be different from those in the police station."
This is probably what a normal police officer's job looks like.
But Saturday, when he joined the police force, he had other requests.
Lei Ming had put down his chopsticks and was watching Zhou Liuyi eat like a parent.
Zhou Liuyi stopped eating. He took a big sip of soup, swallowed the food in his mouth, and said solemnly:
"I want to solve a cold case from twenty years ago!"
Lei Ming looked at Zhou Liuyi and suddenly felt that this boy, who was seven years younger than her, had grown up and was even taller than her when he sat down.
When Zhou Liuyi grew up, she had an unstoppable spirit and believed that she could turn the world around with her own hands, just like the year she first joined the army.
As her fingers gripped the cold gun, she also thought that she could ambush the criminal under her gun.
But, I'm still too young.
After a moment's silence, Lei Ming's voice became unusually low:
"The day I became a police officer, I had the same idea as you."
"I cried at night while holding my police uniform, police number and police badge, because that police number was left by my father. He was a good policeman, and I thought I could quickly resolve the situation, arrest those people and make them spend the rest of their lives in prison."
"But it's been almost ten years, and I've participated in quite a few major cases. I've arrested mine managers and county heads while I was on the front line cracking down on gangsters and evil. I've fired guns, and was hit by a car and sent to the hospital with several broken ribs. I've also arrested suspects who had been on the run for more than ten or fifteen years."
"Some cases are just unsolved cases. In that era, there was a lack of technology and means of detection. As time passed, the witnesses gradually grew old, the city was gradually demolished, and all traces were obliterated.
"Sometimes I don't have a holiday for a long time. When I go back to my hometown, I can't recognize the streets. I don't know where there is an extra traffic light or which unit has moved."
Lei Ming opened another bottle of drink for Zhou Liuyi. It was unclear whether he was trying to persuade Zhou Liuyi or herself:
"I later figured it out. The purpose of my becoming a police officer is to prevent the incident like that from happening again."
"That's enough."
Zhou Liuyi didn't say anything. The chopsticks broke in his hand. When he looked up again, his eyes were red. Lei Ming 's eyes were clear and he looked at him, equally fearless and full of youthful vigor.
The two of them have the same fate and similar personalities. They are both rare action-oriented people who do things without hesitation and can withstand all pressure.
Lei Ming joined the army at the age of eighteen and embarked on a path that his peers would never have been able to take.
In fact, her academic performance is very good. Most families arrange the path for their girls to go to college and then become a teacher or doctor, or a civil servant in an institution.
But she didn't do that. She always worked hard in the man's workplace, never slacking off or retreating.
According to everyone's expectations for a talented teenager, Zhou Liuyi should be recommended for admission, enrolled in advance, study some cutting-edge software major, and then enter the Internet industry...
However, he did not do so. He chose a major in cybersecurity and took the police exam.
None of them followed the original trajectory.
But after knowing each other for so many years, they rarely talked about such a private topic, and even avoided the case that changed their destiny.
Zhou Liuyi became a posthumous child.
Lei Ming became the child of a martyr.
Lei Ming was dressed neatly, with a solemn look. Her voice was not loud, but every word she said seemed to have a tremendous force that hit Zhou Liuyi's heart.
Patience and tact are explaining:
"I'm not giving up, nor am I afraid. It's just that I've seen the reality clearly and am no longer as reckless as I was before."
Of course she did not give up. There was a scar hidden under her short hair. She was injured during the mission. She had her head shaved during the operation. She had to get eight stitches and was in a coma for a long time before she saved her life.
She didn't go home for a long time, leaving her mother alone at home. When her mother remarried, everyone was waiting for her to come back so that they could have a complete family.
But she didn't come back because she was on a mission, and the relationship between mother and daughter almost reached a freezing point.
After serving in the army for several years and passing the cultural courses, she can obviously find an easy job after demobilization. Banks and some public enterprises also have jobs there, which are very suitable for a determined female soldier like her, and she can also achieve good results.
However, Lei Ming never made any of these choices that would have made his life easier.
No one could have imagined that she would become a criminal police officer and continue to be busy every day...going through life and death.
…
She has already tried her best with her youth and passion, and she is still trying...
No one has any right to blame her.
Saturday looked around with unfocused eyes. Most people finished their meal and left after a few minutes. This is a feature of this kind of unit.
There were only two of them left.
The atmosphere between the two of them was a bit awkward because the topic itself was too heavy.
Lei Ming took out his phone and opened a short video. It turned out to be a clip of a rescue operation on Saturday morning. It had been edited into an emoticon package and reprocessed. It was widely circulated. There was also a caption below, with pictures and texts, background music and ghost comments flying everywhere:
"Luckily it's not a girl, otherwise she would have kicked me in the chest!"
"The policeman is pretty handsome. I want his WeChat. I'm offering a reward for his contact information!"
…
Zhou Liuyi was a little surprised that Lei Ming still kept such things.
Lei Ming repeatedly pointed out Zhou Liuyi's kick, and a little smile that only girls have appeared on his usually serious face:
"I didn't realize you had this skill. It's pretty good."
Zhou Liuyi felt a little proud. After all, all those sports training were not in vain. It was not easy to get the praise of Lei Ming, a female police officer who was so good at triathlon.
But he still pretended to be nonchalant:
"It's nothing. I've won awards at the National College Student Rock Climbing Competition. This is nothing."
However, Lei Ming changed the subject:
"You haven't participated in the training yet, you are just an intern. After the training, you will have a plan on how to save people. This is too dangerous. However, you are a computer programmer and you will be a technician in the future. You should avoid doing such things..."
Zhou Liuyi did not argue with Lei Ming. Lei Ming just cared about him.
After putting down the plate, Zhou Liuyi was still reluctant to leave and said something to make conversation:
"Next time you go to our cafeteria to eat, Aunt Li in our cafeteria cooks delicious food. But if you go to our unit, everyone will definitely be busy looking at you and won't have time to eat."
Lei Ming smiled and didn't expose Zhou Liuyi.
Everyone knows that the food at the Longhua Street Police Station is notoriously bad, but due to the tight schedule and heavy workload, no one noticed that the food was not tasty.
Zhou Liu racked his brains and kept telling Lei Ming about the cases that had occurred in the police station during this period. He found his stories very interesting.
Although Lei Ming and Zhou Liuyi grew up together, Lei Ming has never been as fond of joking as Zhou Liuyi.
Lei Ming looked at his career and wondered:
"Have I been a police officer for nothing for all these years? Why don't I find being a police officer interesting at all?"
Zhou Liu was smiling all the time, and there was no sign of sadness on his face.
Lei Ming suddenly realized that his persuasion work was not good enough. The handsome young man in front of him was determined to jump into the fire pit.
Moreover, when he worked independently, he did achieve results.
Looking closely, it seemed like it was the first day she met this boy who was several years younger than her. He was taller than her and was not inferior to those muscular criminal policemen when standing in front of them.
Zhou Liuyi has grown so big and is already her colleague.
However, we came here today not just to eat.
Zhou Liuyi turned around and begged her pitifully, his eyes as pure as a deer:
"Sister Xiao Ming, please don't tell my mom. If she knew I was going to be a police officer, she would definitely expose my skin!"
Lei Ming crossed his arms and said fiercely:
"Your face is now on the hot search in the city. Even if I don't say it, Auntie will know it."
Saturday smiled and said:
"Don't worry, my mom is busy cooking instant noodles in the kitchen every day and has no time to surf the Internet. If it weren't for ordering takeout and mobile payment, she wouldn't use a smartphone."
This is probably a consensus. When Lei Ming ran to join the army, it was also under the cover of Zhou Liuyi's beating. He pretended to have a stomachache and ran to find Lei Ming to take him to the hospital, but Lei Ming ran away on the way.
The two of them are comrades-in-arms.
Lei Ming stood with his hands behind his back: "So, you had to come to me for dinner with a purpose? Little friend, you are becoming less and less innocent."
Saturday is smiling like a mud monkey:
"No, I just don't want to worry my family. This is filial piety. I don't ask for much. I just want you to ignore the words "police station" when my mom calls and asks you to check on me at work."
Lei Ming couldn't help but hold his forehead, feeling very worried:
"Slippery."
Saturday hurriedly said:
"It's very simple. My mother has never worked in a government agency. She's easy to fool. You can fool my mother the same way you fooled your mother."
Lei Ming became even more worried and said quietly:
"Little boy, your mother is different from my mother. My mother is a music teacher at school. When she gets angry, she just roars a few times, like a sheep, even worse than a firecracker.
But when your mother gets angry, she will really chase people across three blocks with a knife. You have to let your mother choose the stalls outside Hualing Electronics City first.
He is a ruthless person who can untie a cow himself to save the slaughter fee. "
What she meant was that Zhou Liuyi had to clean up the mess he had caused himself and she was not responsible.
To be honest, Zhou Liuyi has a mother like that, and he himself is worried.
He often looked at the pictures of his mother when she was young, showing her gentle and lovely figure, who looked similar to Hu Sanniang and Sun Erniang in the Water Margin heroes today.
Saturday's soft and hard blistering:
"Sister Xiao Ming, if I go there, wouldn't that be like walking into a trap? The same principle applies. If it comes from my mouth, it's called sophistry, but if it comes from you, it's called true insight."
Lei Ming refused to give in:
"I think Auntie is quite reasonable, not as hypocritical as you say."
Saturday one:
"Raise your son poorly and your daughter well. Look at me and my sister. Doesn't my mother love my sister more? Sister Xiao Ming, please help me!"
Lei Ming was so impatient that he had to agree:
"You little monkey, when your mother finds out the truth, she will definitely chase you around with a rolling pin and beat you up for several blocks!"
Saturday with a smile:
"We'll talk about it later. I'm her biological son. She won't really beat me to death."
When Zhou Liuyi was born, Lei Ming was already old enough to remember things. She knew that the wife of another victim was giving birth in the hospital. Her mother thought that Zhou Liuyi's mother had a hard time and went to the hospital to visit her several times.
Due to excessive fear, Zhou Liuyi's mother gave birth to the baby prematurely and with difficulty. It took her three full days, from Saturday to Zhou Liuyi, to finally give birth to the baby. This is the origin of Zhou Liuyi's name.
At that time, Zhou Liuyi weighed only a little over four pounds, a very small baby, not even as big as a normal cat, and his crying was almost inaudible. Many people thought that this baby might not survive, and he stayed in the incubator for nearly a month.
Looking at Zhou Liuyi, Lei Ming would feel that life itself is a miracle.
Lei Ming originally wanted to drive Zhou Liuyi back, but she had to meet up at 9:30, so there was no time. Zhou Liuyi hurriedly said that he could go back and waved goodbye to Lei Ming:
"Then go back and get busy. We are also very busy and can't do without me."
Lei Ming smiled and said:
"Are you busy writing your censorship?"
Zhou Liu looked a little embarrassed, but Lei Ming tried to smooth things over for him:
"It doesn't matter. I heard that when the new police officers at the Longhua Street Police Station arrived, they checked the paper which was one foot thick. Those who wrote less than one foot thick all ran away."
So that's how it is.
The dark cloud that had originally shrouded Saturday Monday due to the inspection suddenly dissipated.
After saying goodbye to him, the heroic policewoman turned around and quickly disappeared from his sight with the vigorous steps of her combat boots.
At the beginning, Zhou Liuyi would often ask her what kind of mission she was assigned to and was full of curiosity about the daily life of the investigators.
But Lei Ming only had two words:
Confidential.
In fact, Zhou Liuyi just wanted to know whether Lei Ming was in danger and how dangerous he was when he was handling the case.
Later, Zhou Liuyi grew up slowly and would occasionally joke with her:
"You can't report your whereabouts, and you often disappear suddenly. Aren't you worried that your boyfriend will be unhappy?"
The answer of the female boss is always so fresh and refined:
"He's dissatisfied? I fought for my country, why would he be dissatisfied? A man like this must be replaced immediately. No, why should I worry about a man who didn't show up?"
Saturday smiled and said:
"What if you like it?"
The Queen of Flowers will not indulge others:
"Should we keep this kind of ignorant man for the New Year instead of breaking up?"
Zhou Liuyi waved to Lei Ming's back again:
"goodbye!"
"See you tomorrow!"
This simple and plain wish is not so easy to achieve.
On several occasions, Lei Ming was injured while on missions and stayed in the hospital, or in a hospital in another city.
The appointment to eat a bowl of noodles together has become a luxury separated by mountains and seas.
goodbye.
I hope I can come as promised next time.
See you tomorrow.
I hope this task is not complicated and can be completed quickly.
As soon as I left the house on Saturday, I received a call from home. The caller ID showed that it was a white, rich and beautiful girl. When I picked up the phone, his mother started yelling in a fluent dialect, like a string of firecrackers, deafening. Most people would be stunned and frightened when they heard such momentum:
"Saturday, what did you do during the day?"
Saturday morning replied calmly:
"What else can I do? Just relax, drink some tea, and read the newspaper."
His mother was suspicious:
"That person on the Internet isn't you?"
Sure enough, he was discovered. His mother actually had time to go online.
Zhou Liu adjusted his breathing, trying not to let his mother notice anything, and said with a smile:
"What do you mean it was me? You mean rescuing someone from the 24th floor? I watched that video, too, but I couldn't tell that the blurry image that looked like a bunch of ants was me. How did you tell that?"
He was skeptical:
"Don't join the liars out there in deceiving me!"
In fact, Zhou Liuyi's mother is a very independent and strong woman. After the department store went bankrupt, she became a laid-off worker. She did not ask anyone for help and raised a son and a daughter by cooking instant noodles at the entrance of the electronics city.
Over all these years, I have never been cheated in business, and I have rarely received counterfeit bills.
Everyone says she is a smart and capable person.
But only when faced with what happened on Saturday and Monday will one lose track and become confused due to concern.
Zhou Liuyi had no guilt at all and said shamelessly:
"Mom, you are afraid of the ropes after being bitten once. You can't just stop believing in everything after being deceived once. If you don't trust me, you can call Lei Ming. She is a child who never lies."
His mother was not happy:
"How many times have I told you to call me sister? Why are you still being so disrespectful..."
Zhou Liuyi was not happy to call Lei Ming his sister:
"Mom, she's not that old. We look like people of the same age when we walk together. You keep asking me to call her sister, but I'm making her sound old."
If I continue talking, I'll be exposed because there are people on duty at the entrance of the police station and someone is calling "Captain".
However, every time he chatted with his mother, she was reluctant to hang up the phone, even if they were arguing, they would always have endless things to say.
On Saturday, Huang Qingmei called several times on my phone. When she couldn't get through, she sent me a message:
Important case, come back quickly!
Saturday interrupted his mother:
"Mom, I have something to do. I'm going to hang up now."
His mother asked again:
"What is it?"
Saturday lie:
"My colleague asked me to have dinner with him. I've gained weight by eating like this every night. Mom, I won't talk to you now. I'll call you tomorrow when I'm free..."
His mother complained:
"You kid, you play without a care in the world!"
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Liu hurriedly got a taxi and called Huang Qingmei back. It was difficult to get a taxi at this time, so he grabbed the car of the person in front of him, opened the door and said to the driver:
"Master, hurry up, Longhua Street Police Station."
However, in the small restaurant, the lights were dim.
His mother looked older than her actual age, but smart and capable, and wore an old apron around her waist.
She did not bother to clear away the dishes left by the guests, but sat down and searched the Internet for news about police officers rescuing people who had committed suicide by jumping off buildings.
She was terrified by the sight.
She saw some suicide victims who were about to jump off a bridge being pulled by a police officer and thrown into the turbulent river.
Some firefighters who were on the rooftop rescuing a suicidal person who was about to jump off the building were also taken down.
…
There are many such news reports across the country.
She was mainly watching the recent news to see if there was any Saturday or Monday. She couldn't find a clearer picture, so she paused it, turned it to a larger screen, and watched it closely. As she watched, a turbid tear flowed from her eyes. She covered her face with her rough hands from years of hard work:
"None of these children are worry-free!"
It is the evening rush hour after get off work and there are a lot of people waiting for taxis. On Saturday, one person had to steal someone else's car.
The driver looked at the queue-jumping behavior with disdain, thinking that the young man was really uncultured. But the man was a customer after all, so he couldn't argue with him, right?
So he sneered:
"Why, are you in such a hurry to go to the police station and turn yourself in?!"
Zhou Liuyi knew that he was misunderstood, but he was not upset:
"Maybe someone is anxious to turn themselves in."
The driver looked at Zhou Liu curiously and said with a chuckle:
"Police? You don't look like that. Are you an auxiliary police officer? If you are an auxiliary police officer, I will call the police if you bully other taxi riders like this !"
Zhou Liuyi was still calling Huang Qingmei, but her line was busy. It was obvious that she was calling someone else. After finally getting through, Huang Qingmei's anxious voice came over:
"Liuyi, please come back soon. Someone has reported a missing child. I'll send the information to your phone!"
After hanging up the phone, I opened WeChat on Saturday and saw several messages pouring in, along with photos:
Li Zixuan, female, six years old, wearing a red skirt and white sandals, got lost at the door of the steamed bun shop at 5pm. The possibility of abduction cannot be ruled out. The little girl suffers from diabetes and is currently undergoing treatment. She needs to take insulin four times a day. If she is found later, her life may be in danger...
According to the time provided by the child's mother, insulin must be injected at 10 o'clock in the evening. If it is after 12 o'clock in the evening, the child may not be able to be saved even if sent to the hospital.
In the photo sent by Huang Qingmei, the little girl has pigtails and a round smiling face. She looks like a lovely little angel. Perhaps because of her long-term illness, her complexion is not rosy white, but a little pale, and she looks a little tired, which is not the case with children of the same age.
On Saturday, my hand holding the phone was cold.
There’s not much time left until ten o’clock!
Zhou Liuyi immediately relayed the child's information to the driver, scanned the driver's WeChat, and sent the child's photo to the driver:
"Can you please ask someone you know to help find this child?"
The driver finally believed Zhou Liuyi, and he was a kind-hearted person. After understanding the situation, he became serious and immediately sent a message to his group:
"Old Li, Old Li, I'm calling you now urgently, please help me find this child, the child has diabetes, find him within a limited time!"
"Old Sun, Old Sun, please come out quickly. You have the best eyesight. Have you seen this child on the road? If you find him, please call 110. The police station is looking for this missing child."
…
After sending messages to several groups, the driver stepped on the accelerator and changed his previous disdain:
"I'll take you a shortcut."
The driver drove the taxi at lightning speed and took a shortcut to the police station. Zhou Liuyi scanned the code to pay the fare, but the driver was a little reluctant and did not let Zhou Liuyi pay.
However, I thought about it on Saturday and realized that I had to write a check for eating two extra free buns. It was not worth it, so I quickly insisted on scanning the code.
After getting off the bus, Zhou Liuyi immediately ran down and heard a woman wailing loudly from a distance, her voice heart-wrenching and heartbroken:
"I beg you to find my daughter quickly. I will sell my house and car and give you everything!"
When they opened the door and went in, they saw a middle-aged woman kneeling on the ground, crying and snotting. Huang Qingmei and Shi Wenwen couldn't pull her up from the ground no matter what they did.
This is a desperate mother who just wants to find her daughter.
She cried like a limp noodle, holding a bag with all the little girl's documents in one hand. As long as the child was found, she could be sent to the hospital for treatment immediately.
In her other hand, she held the photo of the little girl, the one she provided to the police. She pressed the photo tightly against her chest, as if this would bring her closer to her beloved daughter:
"My daughter is still wearing a short-sleeved skirt at noon. It's so cold at night. What if she catches a cold?"
"If she catches a cold while she's ill, it will make her condition worse!"
"I beg you, please find my daughter quickly!"
"She was only out of my sight for a short while, how could she disappear?"
…