There are too few people in the police station, but that doesn't mean there is no work. The newcomers take turns cleaning the toilets, and even Huang Qingmei is no exception.
In the unit where there is a serious shortage of labor, gender equality has been fully achieved. Huang Qingmei not only cleans the women's restroom, but also the men's restroom.
Li Hua immediately made the decision:
"In order to avoid cleaning the toilet, we must find the owner of the key!"
After saying that, Zhou Liuyi and Li Hua began to study this inconspicuous key as if they were analyzing a major case.
Huang Qingmei frowned. When the iceberg goddess was thinking, there was a different kind of charm. She herself was not a graduate of the police academy, so she had no idea where to start, but she still explained based on her experience:
"This key is not a mobile phone. There is no positioning or contact information on it. How can it be found? But I definitely won't take so many keys. The total number of keys in our institute and my home is no more than ten. These more than twenty keys seem to belong to three generations of grandparents and the company."
Li Hua took the key and looked at it several times, but still felt that he had no clues. He was extremely anxious, like a poor student who had seen a complicated question:
"I'm a graduate of criminal investigation, and I also feel like I can't find it. There are so many keys, and they're all ordinary."
Zhou Liuyi held the keys in his hand and looked through them one by one:
"What Sister Qingmei said just now is right. There are too many keys in this bunch. At first glance, they are all house keys. They should belong to middle-aged women. Young people nowadays work and live alone, so they won't have so many keys."
Huang Qingmei also felt that she couldn't do it:
"That's what I was saying. Apart from being able to tell it was a key to a house my mother was at that age, I can't tell anything else."
On Saturday, one of them was taken out. It was a key with the number 139 hanging on it, similar to a telephone coil:
"Not necessarily. This key is quite special. It also smells like shampoo. If I'm not mistaken, this key should belong to a nearby bathhouse."
Huang Qingmei quickly came over and grabbed it, reading it several times:
"Yes, from childhood to adulthood, no matter what kind of bathhouse, they all have keys like this! But with this, we can't find the owner, right?"
Li Hua's eyes lit up at first, but when he heard about the bathhouse, he immediately became depressed:
"Even if we know it's a bathhouse, we have a police station record, but it's still not easy to find. There are more than a dozen bathhouses nearby, and they all use similar keys. Do we have to call each one? People will think we have a new anti-pornography and anti-illegal mission. It's too much of a fuss just for a bathhouse worker's key. It will have a bad impact, and people will laugh at us behind our backs."
Finally got a clue, but this clue is not so suitable, and even makes people feel very embarrassed.
Saturday was not busy:
"It's okay. I have a solution."
Li Hua really wanted to know what solution Zhou Liuyi would come up with, but Wang Caizhi called Li Hua to go with him. Li Hua refused Wang Caizhi:
"Lao Wang, you go alone. Don't take me with you to mediate such a small conflict as a couple's quarrel. I want to rest more in the station!"
Wang Caizhi certainly disagrees:
"It takes at least two people to handle the case. Who else can I turn to if not you?"
Li Hua was worried about finding someone to accompany Wang Caizhi:
"There are too few people in our institute. Normally, shouldn't we work in pairs? Why are you all working with me?"
Wang Caizhi taught him as a senior elder:
"This shows that you are quite capable. We all need you. Come out quickly!"
At this time, Hu Liang came back, and Li Hua seemed to have seen a savior:
"Brother Liang, you and Lao Wang are on a police mission, I'll treat you to a midnight snack tonight!"
Hu Liang glanced at the three young policemen and did not refuse:
"Okay, but I'll eat in the cafeteria tonight, so I'll skip the midnight snack."
He originally wanted to remind the younger generations not to spend so much time on these meaningless things, but when he remembered that when he first joined the police force, he also helped people with directions and helped find cats and dogs, so he didn't say anything.
This is the passion of young people.
Li Hua continued to fiddle with the keys with Zhou Liuyi.
In fact, Hu Liang was not refusing midnight snacks, but ordering takeout was too expensive. The salary gap between regular police officers and auxiliary police officers was quite large, and Hu Liang didn't want Li Hua to spend too much money.
On Saturday, I opened the mobile app to check the nearby map and looked at the nearby bathing centers:
"Don't be so absolute. Maybe we are lucky."
Huang Qingmei and Li Hua both thought this was impossible, but Saturday suddenly made a shocking statement:
"I found it. This key belongs to the Sunshine Bath Center."
Huang Qingmei didn't bother to put down the things in her hands, and ran over in two steps: "No way, you can find this?"
Li Hua was dumbfounded: "Oh my God! How can you be sure?"
On Saturday, I showed them a picture of a review. It was a review written by a consumer after he used up the group purchase coupon, and it happened to have captured a picture of the key.
Zhou Liuyi has already found the merchant's information on the page and called the merchant:
"After consuming, you can get discounts and points by leaving a review. Just like takeout, you have to upload pictures, but a bath center is not a restaurant, so you can't take pictures casually. I just tried my luck to see if anyone had uploaded pictures of key cabinets or something like that, but I didn't expect there really was one."
The merchant answered the phone, and the girl at the front desk spoke:
"Hello, Sunshine Bath, how can I help you?"
Saturday said:
"Someone has found the key of the auntie who is doing the bathing at your bath center. Please go to the Longhua Street Police Station to collect it as soon as possible."
Then, I heard a burst of joy on the other end of the phone:
"Aunt Zhang, we found your keys! Go to the Longhua Street Police Station and get them. That's great. You don't have to get new keys since you have so many!"
Huang Qingmei is an icy beauty, and she looks very cultured and well-educated, but now she can't help but blurt out:
"Fuck!"
Li Hua looked at Zhou Liuyi in astonishment:
"No way, can we really find it?"
How could a bunch of keys, which had no location, no markings and were so ordinary that they couldn't be more ordinary, be accurately found by the owner without checking the surveillance footage or finding professional personnel?
Is this a new police officer?
This is simply the Sherlock Holmes of Longhua Street!
Zhou Liuyi made an OK gesture to Huang Qingmei and Li Hua, meaning that the matter was now done.
The middle-aged woman on the other end of the phone answered the call, her voice very excited:
"Comrade police, have you found the key?"
Zhou Liuyi accomplished such a thing, but he was not excited at all. His tone was calm. He turned on the speaker and continued to verify the situation:
"What are the characteristics of your key?"
The middle-aged woman answered hurriedly, her voice trembling:
"There are seven keys to the main door and bedroom of my yard. There are six keys to my mother-in-law's house, three keys to my daughter's house, four keys to my son's house, and five keys to my unit. The number of my cabinet is 139, a red plastic coil.
Comrade Policeman, is this my key?
There was no mistake at all, it was certain that this was the key that this lady had lost.
Huang Qingmei and Li Hua were so excited that they almost jumped up.
Zhou Liuyi pretended to be mature, as if he had been a policeman for many years:
"Come to the police station and get it. It's your key."
After hanging up the phone, Li Hua ran over and patted Zhou Liuyi's shoulder hard:
"I used to watch detective cases on TV, which were so mysterious. But when I was actually interning at a workplace, I found that it was a human-wave tactic and evidence collection, not reasoning and analysis at all. It took a very long time. I didn't expect you to analyze evidence. That morning, I thought you had peeked at the police bulletin board downstairs. What a blind cat that always catches a dead mouse!"
Huang Qingmei stood with her hands behind her back. Although she still didn't like to smile, her eyes showed signs of melting.
Less than ten minutes later, a fat middle-aged woman came. She came in such a hurry that she was sweating profusely. She was still wearing the slippers from the bathing center and had not had time to change. When she saw that her key was in Huang Qingmei's hand, she felt relieved and thanked the three policemen profusely:
"Thank you, police officer. These keys belong to my family. My son and daughter are not often in Sanjiang City, so I have to go to clean up for them frequently. If these keys are lost, I don't even have a place to make a copy."
Huang Qingmei was very young and it was her first time to be a police officer. Some people were so grateful to her and regarded her as a savior, so she was a little overwhelmed:
"We are the police, this is what we should do!"
After that, she quickly took a pen, asked the aunt to sign, and returned the key to her:
"Please check again to see if there is anything you missed."
The aunt was in a good mood and even joked about Huang Qingmei:
"No, everything is ready. Do you have a husband? I'll introduce one to you!"
Huang Qingmei's always cold and pale face turned red:
"I'm working, don't make fun of me."
The aunt got the key and was in a very good mood:
"Look, I am so happy that I am confused. Young people nowadays don't like this. No one would introduce blind dates to someone just after meeting them."
Then, the auntie went out, but in less than ten minutes, she came back with a smile and a net bag of fruit:
"You guys helped me a lot!"
Zhou Liuyi didn't care at first, and even wanted to reach out and grab a fruit to eat. The big pink apples that had just been picked in early autumn were in the plastic bag, exuding an attractive fragrance.
Zhou Liuyi took it for granted that this was a reward for his hard work.
Huang Qingmei has always been working at the general post in the hall and has never handled a case, so she has never received any gifts of thanks from the public. She was quite happy and stretched out her white jade hand, wanting to take a purple plum.
But Li Hua was completely different. He was like a cat whose tail was stepped on. He raised his hands and hit Huang Qingmei and Zhou Liuyi's hands.
He looked at the fruit as if he were looking at a landmine, and he obviously remembered the inspection that he couldn't finish after smoking a cigarette and drinking a bottle of water. He ignored Huang Qingmei's angry eyes, and quickly took the fruit and chased after her, saying something very lofty:
"Aunt, this is what we should do. You don't have to be so polite. Take these fruits back and eat them!"
Li Hua took great pains to force the fruit back into her mouth. The old lady was so moved:
"Who says that all police officers nowadays are bad police officers? I think you are all good police officers!"
Li Hua breathed a sigh of relief when he came back.
Huang Qingmei's eyes were almost rolling up to the sky:
"I just ate a plum, is that so serious?"
Li Hua drank the boiled water and felt very at ease:
"I almost wrote an extra inspection today. I already owe the director fourteen inspections. For that bag of fruit, the director will at least make me write ten inspections when he gets back. Will he still scold me for being so poor that I can't even afford an apple?"
Huang Qingmei turned her anger into laughter:
"I almost forgot, the regulations clearly state that we are not allowed to take even a single needle or thread from the people."
The smile of the iceberg beauty was like a flash in the pan, beautiful and extraordinary, but fleeting. Zhou Liuyi couldn't help but take a few more glances at her:
"Sister Qingmei, you look much prettier when you smile than when you don't."
Huang Qingmei is pretty, and she knows that the more the boys praise her, the more she can raise her voice. So when Zhou Liu praises her, she puts away her smile, crosses her arms across her chest, and looks as arrogant and cold as ever:
"You are just lucky and happened to find the owner. There are so many keys here. I can only buy milk tea if you can find another owner."
Saturday 1 does not allow this:
"Sister Qingmei, I'll treat you to milk tea as long as I find the owner of that key!"
Huang Qingmei gathered her hair and her eyes moved:
"You found the owner of a key in just a few minutes, and you exchanged it for a cup of milk tea. How much do I earn in a month? Besides, I have never treated boys to milk tea. It's always boys who treat me to milk tea."
After saying that, Huang Qingmei glanced at Zhou Liuyi:
"Stop calling me sister, you make me sound old!"
Women's minds are full of twists and turns. She changed her mind about something she had promised. Zhou Liuyi looked at Li Hua:
"Brother Li, testify for me, Sister Qingmei didn't say that just now."
Before, Li Hua promised Zhou Liuyi that as long as Zhou Liuyi could get Huang Qingmei to treat him to milk tea, Li Hua would take Zhou Liuyi with him on police missions.
Responding to the call is the ultimate goal of Saturday's call.
This is a nesting doll process, and no one can be left behind.
However, since Li Hua was able to talk to Huang Qingmei, he no longer cared about a cup of milk tea and smiled and flattered Huang Qingmei:
"That was too easy. Do you have the nerve to cheat Qingmei out of so much money?"
As he spoke, Li Hua took out a key from the drawer. It was a community access card and a Mercedes-Benz key:
"Just find this! You have to give Qingmei good value for money, otherwise how can she buy it?"
Zhou Liu took it and looked at it in his hand for less than two minutes before he came up with an idea: "Okay, then I'll order a takeout milk tea first, but this one has to be reimbursed. To find this key, I need a cup of milk tea, otherwise I won't be able to find it."
Huang Qingmei thought Zhou Liuyi wanted to ask for a cup of milk tea in advance, so he would definitely not be willing to do so. She also wanted to see how to find the owner of such a key without a name or location:
"According to our procedures, everyone pays first and then comes back to get reimbursed. You should pay first."
Li Hua had a rare opportunity to show off in front of Huang Qingmei, so he quickly said:
"You found the key, if Qingmei doesn't reimburse you, I will!"
Saturday's eyes flashed with a hint of cunning:
"Brother Li, I'm sure I can find it. Why don't you just order it now? And you can also take care of all the midnight snacks for this week."
Li Hua didn't want to be considered stingy by Huang Qingmei, so he felt a little pained by the fact that the delivery price of milk tea started from 20 yuan. After all, the monthly salary of an auxiliary police officer was less than 2,000 yuan.
But I wanted to talk to Huang Qingmei for a few more words, so I gave the phone to Zhou Liuyi:
"Order whatever you want. Brother's treat! We'll each have a cup, and if you want snacks, get some too."
In fact, a week's worth of midnight snacks would almost consume Li Hua's monthly salary.
I immediately placed an order on Saturday:
"You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb. It definitely requires funds to handle a case."
Li Hua felt painful about this order because he ordered the most expensive item in the store.
About half an hour later, the milk tea was served. Li Hua took it and said:
"I really don't see what ordering a milk tea has to do with finding the key."
Huang Qingmei was also confused. She had never looked at the takeout order before, but after looking at it for a long time, she still had no clue and even felt that Zhou Liuyi was fooling her.
But Zhou Liuyi did not let the delivery boy go. Instead, he took the milk tea from Li Hua and gave it directly to the delivery boy, then asked:
"I want to ask, which community around here doesn't have facial recognition yet, uses access cards, but uses fingerprint locks to enter the house?"
The delivery guy had been running around all day and was thirsty. Since the police invited him so kindly, he was too embarrassed to refuse. He drank the whole cup in one breath and said without thinking:
"Jincheng Royal Garden, this community is finely decorated, and the developer gave us fingerprint locks, but the entrance to the community doesn't accept face recognition, but access cards. I'm a delivery guy, but I had to go to their property management to register for an access card, and they also charged me a deposit of 100 yuan. It's too rip-off. Even if this thing is lost, it's less than 10 yuan. Isn't this extortion? Someone at our site quit and had a fight with their property management before they returned the deposit!"
Li Hua came back to his senses:
"Fuck! That's amazing! You didn't order a milk tea, you ordered a takeaway boy!"
Saturday snapped his fingers:
"Yes, no one knows the situation of this neighborhood better than the delivery guy."
Huang Qingmei still didn't understand how she could get useful information from the delivery boy, but she stopped talking and just watched.
Saturday I got the property management contact information from the delivery guy, who also provided an important piece of information:
"I went there two days ago and there happened to be a family going through a divorce because the man lost the keys to his Mercedes-Benz."
this!!??
Huang Qingmei's jaw dropped in surprise:
"It wouldn't be such a coincidence, right?"
Saturday smiled and said:
"According to Locard's Exchange Principle, as long as the criminal commits a crime, he will inevitably directly or indirectly affect the victim and its surrounding environment at the crime scene, and will consciously or unconsciously leave traces.
If such a large set of keys was left behind, and it is also very valuable, there must be other clues. We just need to find ways to get closer to them."
Huang Qingmei thought Zhou Liuyi was pretty impressive, but she refused to admit it:
"Show off your knowledge!"
I called the property management on Saturday:
"Hello, this is the Longhua Street Police Station. I found a bunch of car keys. I want to ask, are there any owners who have lost their keys?"
The feedback from the property management was particularly positive:
"Comrade police, we have an owner here who lost his Mercedes-Benz car keys. He registered his case with us and forced us to clean up the neighborhood to find his keys. He came to my place three times a day to make trouble. Now I send messages to the owner group and WeChat Moments every day, but it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. I didn't expect you to find it!
I will contact the owner now!"
It’s amazing!
Huang Qingmei was really convinced this time:
"Will this work?"
If the first key found its owner, it was like a blind cat catching a dead mouse, but the fact that the second key was also found shows that Zhou Liuyi is really capable.
Li Hua felt a little regretful:
"It would be great if key-finding-key could be included in the crime-solving rate. We still have a lot of cases that have not been solved in our station."
Less than twenty minutes later, a middle-aged man came. His suit and tie looked very inconsistent with the tattered electric scooter. It was obvious that he had to ride the electric scooter after losing the key to his Mercedes-Benz.
It really looks funny and sad.
This guy started complaining as soon as he entered the door:
"Thank you so much! I drank too much at a social gathering last time and I don't know where I lost my car keys. My wife got into a fight with me when she got home and refused to pay for a new key. A new key costs less than 5,000 yuan, so why would she do that?
They force me to ride an electric scooter to work every day. As a sales manager, I rely on this little bit of face to maintain my status. I wear a suit and ride an electric scooter every day to negotiate contracts worth millions of dollars with others, and people all question my ability.
It's so embarrassing!
If I can't find my car keys again, I think my job is over!"
When Li Hua handed over the Mercedes-Benz car key, he looked at the small key in his hand with some disbelief:
"This key is worth five thousand?"
The salary of an auxiliary police officer is not enough to fill up a nice car even if he doesn't eat or drink. Li Hua's face is a little anxious. Salesmen earn more than auxiliary police officers, and they are not tired...
However, the owner wanted to buy them drinks, holding Li Hua's hand and thanking him:
"Comrade police officer, can I treat you to a meal? It's almost time to get off work, and I know a few good restaurants!"
The gratitude was sincere and the gloom on Li Hua's face disappeared:
"This is what we should do, it's a small matter, go back and live a good life!"
This guy was rejected by the three policemen with a righteous attitude, and he kept giving a thumbs up:
"Thank you! The property management in the community is looking for things for us and they want money, but you don't want it."
Li Hua didn't know what to say, but this guy had already walked out. Before he left, he called his wife, looking very happy, and completely different from his previous depressed look. He shouted on the phone with full energy:
"Hey, bitch, I found the key, why don't you let me into bed tonight?"
Zhou Liuyi turned around from his chair, crossed his fingers, and asked Huang Qingmei with a smile:
"Sister Qingmei, can you please buy me some milk tea now?"
However, Huang Qingmei found the fun of being a police officer looking for things. She squatted on the ground without caring about her image and found all the keys in the drawer. She brought them to Zhou Liuyi without even bothering to wipe the dust off her face:
"Hurry up and look for these keys too!"
Saturday felt a headache looking at so many keys, since he was not a key duplicator. However, it was almost time to get off work, and Aunt Li from the cafeteria asked in the group how many people came to the cafeteria for dinner, and everyone replied in the group that they were going to eat.
Zhou Liu looked at the pile of keys and picked up one at random. He had to do better than others in these small things to get a chance.
He was confident that when everyone came back for dinner, they would see the results of the work he had done in his office.
Being mediocre can only keep him here, but being stunning and eye-catching can make him continue to move forward.
Zhou Liuyi held the key tightly in his hand!
Wang Caizhi was the first one to come back. When he came in from outside, it was already dusk. He was covered in dust. He was over fifty years old and looked a little tired.
But Lao Wang always has a kind face and is always patient no matter how difficult the case is.
After a busy day, he found a chair to sit down as soon as he came in, unscrewed the thermos and drank some water, but his eyes were immediately attracted by the three little ones:
Those inconspicuous keys piled up in the police station are actually collected by people from time to time!
As an experienced policeman who had been on the front line of handling cases for many years, his attention was immediately drawn to the incident. After asking Li Hua and Huang Qingmei about how they found the key, he was extremely surprised. He thought Zhou Liuyi was good at thinking of quick wits, but he never expected that this young new policeman was so knowledgeable about all aspects of social life.
He doesn't look like a college student who just walked out of the ivory tower, but rather like a veteran who has been in society for many years.
But Zhou Liuyi's enthusiasm was like that of a new employee who was full of expectations for his career. Wang Caizhi also joined in:
"This key is hard to find, isn't it? The gym card on the key is a chain brand. Almost every community has one. Moreover, a large gym serves users within a three-kilometer radius. According to the population size here, there should be at least several hundred people, right? Moreover, gyms often run away nowadays. They close down after about a year and a half. Even if you get a gym card, it's hard to determine which community it belongs to."
This is still a process of finding a needle in a haystack.
What Zhou Liuyi is holding in his hand now is a key with a gym room card, and it looks exactly as Lao Wang said.
Li Hua looked at it for a long time:
"How about we try another one? This one is a bit difficult!"
Huang Qingmei provoked:
"Forget it if you can't find it. It's just a cup of milk tea. I can afford it."
The three people watching took finding the key as a serious matter, but Zhou Liuyi treated it as a game and did not think it was a difficult task:
"We can go from small to large. For example, if we identify this gym, we can identify the nearby community on the map. There is other information on this keychain..."
The other three people couldn't tell what other secrets were on the key, but Zhou Liuyi showed them the key ring:
"This keychain is from a well-known brand. Small accessories are not given away casually. You have to spend a certain amount of money."
Huang Qingmei also uses brand-name cosmetics and has received expensive gifts from suitors, so when she saw this keychain, she suddenly thought of:
"I see. We can contact the saleslady at the mall now!"
Unexpectedly, Zhou Liuyi shook his head:
"Customer privacy is extremely important nowadays, so people simply won't provide it to us. Besides, it's already time to get off work, and except for companies like us who are still working overtime, all other normal service industry companies have gone off work.
Besides, the keychain may not belong to the owner, but may be given by someone else. It is also possible that the owner has no brand awareness at all and just bought one for a few dollars on Pinduoduo.
Now the manufacturing quality of domestic products has improved.”
Huang Qingmei was a little frustrated:
"It seems that the owner is definitely not found. Why is there so much and so confusing information?"
Li Hua was also a little depressed, irritable and impatient:
"Replace one, replace one. It's been a long time. The owner must have replaced it with a new one. Let's not worry about it."
Zhou Liuyi, however, was not at all impatient. He was still looking at the key carefully, trying to find information that could solve the case.
Wang Caizhi was drinking wolfberry soaked in a thermos cup, thinking that now was a good opportunity to explain to the three young people who had just joined the company what evidence was:
"We can't draw a conclusion based on the single situation of this bunch of keys, so we might as well think about the chain of evidence. In the future, we will all have to prepare case files. The case files must not only pass our review, but also stand the test of time, other professionals, and our own professional ethics."
Li Hua and Huang Qingmei were no longer so impetuous. Their eyes fell on Wang Caizhi and listened to his analysis.
Li Hua scratched his head:
"Old Wang, are you trying to make us fall asleep by talking about theory? Can you talk about something practical?"
Wang Caizhi shook his head, feeling somewhat disappointed:
"At my age, I still often read theoretical books. How old are you? Why do you get dizzy when you hear theoretical knowledge? Nowadays, all government agencies are constantly evaluating each other. How can you get promoted like this?"
Li Hua made a bitter face:
"Lao Wang, if you don't teach me quickly, I'll be off work soon."
Wang Caizhi asked Li Hua to bring the paper and pen from the desk:
"You haven't been to a scene with the medical examiner yet, right? Law and order are better now, and there are fewer homicides. When we get to the scene, we have to mark down all the evidence."
"For example, the gym membership card is a key piece of evidence. We mark it as one and roughly divide the scope into four nearby communities."
"For example, this shiny new key, marked "2", is different from the other keys. We speculate that the owner may have just rented a house or changed jobs."
"For example, the keychain is particularly cute, marked with the number three, and is a relatively rare brand. We can infer that the owner of the key may be a young woman."
…
After analyzing it for a long time, Zhou Liuyi noticed that the plastic film containing the gym card seemed to have an interlayer and was sealed tightly. He asked Huang Qingmei for a utility knife in the office and opened it along the plastic seal. He never expected that there was a mystery inside:
Inside were an ID card and a bank card. The ID card stated the name, gender, and residential address.
The residence is indeed within three kilometers of the gym.
Gender: Female.
Not too old, born in 1992.
…
Although the analysis was correct, the only way to find the real thing was through the ID card. Huang Qingmei was shocked:
"No way, can you find the key this way?"
This was completely beyond her understanding. As an auxiliary police officer who had worked here for more than half a year, she didn't even need to log into the household registration system. Now that she was off work, she had no authority to log into the household registration system.
She just needs to call the street office:
"Hello, I'm the household registration police from the Longhua Street Police Station. Someone found Li Yingying's ID card and bank card. Please come to our police station to get them. You can come now or tomorrow. We are all on duty..."
Li Yingying had just got off work and was contacted immediately. She was an elementary school teacher and drove over immediately.
The case was settled, and Zhou Liuyi picked up another key.
Wang Caizhi patted Zhou Liuyi on the shoulder, smiling like a teacher looking at his proud disciple, extremely satisfied:
"Why don't we take a break and prepare to go to the cafeteria for dinner. You will definitely be in the residence tonight, and you still have to deal with the case."
Zhou Liu raised his head and smiled, obviously enjoying it. He said:
"It's okay. I'm not tired."
Li Hua touched her belly:
"Oh, I'm starving. Liuyi, I'm going to eat first. After I finish eating, I'll come over and work overtime with you."
Wang Caizhi couldn't help but say to Li Hua:
"If you had the same passion for work as you have for food, you would have passed the civil service exam long ago."
Li Hua had no intention of staying to work overtime and continued walking towards the cafeteria:
"If the civil service exam questions were as easy as eating, I would have definitely ranked first by now."
Wang Caizhi was so angry that he stared blankly. Li Hua saw that Wang had a backache after sitting for a while and had to hold on to the table to get up, so he came back in two steps and helped Wang up, and continued to say:
"Old Wang, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but police officers of your generation who work in mediation all have stomach problems. They can't eat many meals on time throughout the year. Those who patrol the streets all have arthritis. How can their legs not hurt when they're out on the streets in the wind and rain? As for criminal police, I know several of them who have been prescribed insomnia drugs in the hospital. They're too anxious..."
What Li Hua meant was that when you are not busy at work, you should take care of your body so that you can work better.
There seemed to be nothing wrong with this logic. Wang Caizhi was silent for a long time, but he found that a police officer who was mediating could not refute it.
Huang Qingmei was also a little hungry, so she followed them to the cafeteria to eat. She was now very interested in solving the case, and her eyes on Zhou Liuyi were completely different from before:
"What do you want to eat? The cafeteria has cold noodles, fried rice, pancakes and soup in the evening."
Zhou Liuyi looked up and saw stars twinkling in the boy's eyes. Huang Qingmei blushed and her heart beat fast. She quickly avoided Zhou Liuyi's gaze:
"Sister Qingmei, I don't want anything. I'll eat after I'm done."
Huang Qingmei felt it was not appropriate to continue rushing to bring him lunch, so she walked out of the office. The cool breeze of the early autumn evening blew towards her, bringing with it a fresh and cool scent of earth.
Huang Qingmei picked up her phone and placed an order for milk tea for Zhou Liu. This was the first time she treated a boy to milk tea, but it actually felt pretty good.
The wind blew, and she heard Zhou Liuyi's voice on the phone coming from the office:
"Hello, is this Ms. Liu Aiwen? This is the Longhua Street Police Station. Did you lose a set of keys? Please come to our police station to pick them up."
On the other side, Fu Sheng hurried back home. His wife Xiufen had just entered the house and was cleaning the house. Fu Sheng entered the house, left the cash to his wife, and hurriedly grabbed the dirty clothes and socks that were scattered all over the house and threw them into the washing machine, then hurried out again.
Behind him, his wife Xiufen's roar was a little louder than his own, and the whole building could hear it:
"You still know that this garbage dump is your home? Your stinky socks drove away all the rats! My white shirt was stained like a rag by your faded police pants..."
"Fu Sheng, come back here!"
"Three thousand yuan is not enough to pay for your son's summer school training!"
…
Fu Sheng ran up from downstairs again, handed the salary card in his pocket to his wife, and also roared:
"Can you lower your voice a little? Is there any wife like you?"
Then he lowered his voice:
"All my wages for the past few months are in there. I haven't spent a cent of it. Just use it to buy whatever you need."
His wife's face looked a little better, and Fu Sheng turned around and left again:
"I really have something urgent to do. Liang Peihe has screwed me over again. I have to go to his office to get an explanation!"
His wife Xiufen's eyes widened:
"What time is it? Director Liang must be off work. Come back here. Look at what month it is. The last time you had dinner with us was in the spring!"
Fu Sheng, however, came downstairs with a clatter, and his wife stuffed two oranges into his hands:
"Look, the corners of your mouth are all chapped. Don't keep shaving when you eat."
Fu Sheng peeled an orange while walking:
"He must be working overtime in the office now!"
Xiufen saw that Fu Shengzhen didn't come home, so she slammed the door loudly:
"I know that for you policemen, your workplace is your wife, and we, the legitimate family members who have obtained a marriage certificate, are all called mistresses!"
Fu Sheng finished the orange in two bites, went downstairs, got in the car, and drove straight to the Sanjiang City Public Security Bureau.
It was already 7:30 in the evening, but the entire Sanjiang City Public Security Bureau building was still brightly lit. It was obvious that everyone was working overtime, which was almost the norm in city-level government agencies.
As soon as I entered the compound, I saw the conversation between the young policeman who was picking up takeout:
"Do we get overtime pay for working overtime?"
Another said:
"What are you thinking about?"
…
Fu Sheng went straight to Liang Peihe's office. At this time, the lights in Liang Peihe's office were still on. A young policeman just came out of the conference room next door and turned off the lights. He was still on the phone and talking:
"No problem, we need to contact you again about this matter."
He had obviously just finished a meeting and was very busy.
Fu Sheng was actually very clear that Liang Peihe had been working for so many years, and he could be said to have abandoned his family and career, and was even more carefree than him, so he cleared his throat and then entered Liang Peihe's office, raising his voice by eight octaves:
"Director Liang, Liang Peihe, boss, you can just break my bones and use them to make oil! I don't understand why you don't want so many outstanding talents, but want such a young man?"
"I know you have a lot of cases, but can you find some reliable people to handle the cases?"
"Do you know how old that child is?"
…
However, Fu Sheng said a lot, but Liang Peihe didn't respond. His eyes were red and his expression was extremely solemn. He showed Fu Sheng the information he had opened on the computer:
"Look, this kid is a policeman now! He's using Lao Sheng's police number!"
Fu Sheng took the mouse and moved it up and down, his expression gradually becoming serious:
"Changfeng, that kid, is he a policeman now? I remember he was good at math when he was young. My senior brother's wife is an accountant, and she wants him to work in actuarial science in the future..."
The child who was once given other expectations is now a policeman!
Liang Peihe nodded:
"This kid worked for a while after graduation, but he didn't like it and still wanted to be a policeman, so he applied for a unit that didn't have any restrictions on employment, and has been working there for a year, but he never contacted us. You know, there are a lot of people in the unit now, you're busy like a top in Longhua Street, and I'm working on a special case in the bureau. He didn't meet us during his induction training and rotation."
Liang Peihe spoke very skillfully. He did not mention that he was responsible for the training of new police officers this year, so as not to provoke Fu Sheng's sensitive nerves towards Zhou Liuyi.
Liang Peihe did have other arrangements for the newcomer Zhou Liuyi, who would be of great use.
But for Fu Sheng, it is a taboo.
Fu Sheng stared at the computer intently. The young man in the photo was the son of their senior when they were in police academy.
My senior brother died in the year when the Ministry of Public Security focused on cracking down on firearms. He was shot with more than 30 steel balls on his chest and back. Only more than 20 were dug out during the rescue. The remaining steel balls could not be picked out during the emergency surgery. After the rescue failed, they were not taken out, but cremated with the body and turned into ashes. At that time, they all saw that the steel balls in the ashes had not melted.
Their senior brother was forever buried in the Martyrs' Cemetery, his age forever frozen at the age of 32.
So many years have passed, and the brothers' sons have grown up and become their colleagues, their young new comrades-in-arms...
Fu Sheng had mixed feelings in his heart. His hands were trembling slightly as he moved the mouse, and he couldn't utter a word.
The high-spirited young man was dressed in navy blue, with an upright posture and bright eyes. He looked a bit like the senior brother from the past.
Fu Sheng's eyes fell on the police number worn on his chest. Even after more than ten years, he still remembered it clearly. This was the police number of that awe-inspiring senior brother, and now it was awarded to his son.
According to regulations, the police numbers of fallen police officers will be permanently sealed. The way to unseal them is that when their children become police officers, the police numbers will be awarded back to their children.
The senior brother’s police number was unblocked on the day his son became a policeman.
Fu Sheng couldn't help but his eyes turned red:
"A lot like my brother. I didn't expect that boy has grown up so much now. He is taller and stronger than my brother was back then. My brother has a bad temper, but this boy looks much gentler than him..."
Liang Peihe nodded. They were brothers who shared the same bunk beds back then. They were close friends. Now they were in the same place. Although they were superiors and subordinates, they were not alienated from each other at all.
"Yes, seeing him, I felt like I saw my senior brother again. When the school started, he was the discipline officer of the senior class and checked our dormitories and confiscated our Nokia phones. None of us accepted his advice and even made trouble for them all day long and stole back the phones they confiscated.
We didn't know our place at that time and even made an appointment to fight with our senior brother. At night, on the playground behind us, we were completely suppressed by his grappling and fighting skills.
We became friends after a fight.
We were young back then, so we could still have this kind of friendship that was built through fighting. Now, it is impossible to have such friendship."
Fu Sheng also nodded:
"The senior didn't make things difficult for us. He said that young people are like this. He took us to get familiar with the environment around the university, where the small restaurants are delicious, where there are many beautiful women, and where teachers often hang out. A girl in our class lost her wallet on the bus, and it was the senior who helped her find it."
Those were the truly green years of youth.
Later, when providing security for the summit, he caught a thief for the first time and uncovered a gang of criminals. He also took people to the vicinity of the high-speed rail station when the high-speed rail was just opened in the capital and cracked down on a case of trafficking disabled children to beg.
As police cadets at the time, they were featured in the big news several times.
Young and full of energy, they regard professional honor as more important than anything else!
But at that time, the senior brother kept telling them:
Generation after generation of police officers have gone through this, there's nothing special about him.
Later, when they themselves became freshmen, they indeed did so.
Fu Sheng remembered a lot of things, and he no longer had the aggressive attitude he had when he first entered the door:
"I remember that every time I completed a mission, I would take everyone out for a beer. The small boss's shop was located in an alley. Because of his good cooking skills, he became very popular. There were always thugs asking for money, and the small restaurant was almost forced to close.
He blocked those street thugs in dead ends several times, saying that he was a relative of a small boss and a policeman. After that, those who wanted to collect protection money didn't dare to come.
He started work earlier than the rest of us. That year, the internship positions in my place of residence were full and there was no place for internship, but he asked me to intern at his unit, and even prepared bedding and trainee police uniforms..."
Liang Peihe nodded continuously. He had been dealing with that senior brother for quite some time.
"Later, I went to his home several times to deliver the pension. In those days, the government didn't give much money, and my sister-in-law took care of the whole family by herself. People in the unit collected some money, but my sister-in-law refused to accept it and said to me:
Xiao Liang, I have hands and feet, I can feed the children he left behind, and I can take care of his parents.
I don’t want people to think that we’re living off his sacrifice.”
He was a particularly good senior brother, loyal and affectionate, a good husband, a good father, and a good son... Apart from leaving early, he had no regrets in his life.
Fu Sheng's eyes became redder and he couldn't help but shed tears.
That senior brother was their first friend of life and death, their brother who had shared life and death with them, and their eldest brother!
But those illegally manufactured firearms took his life. He once passionately stated in a report that if these illegal guns were not confiscated, our people would pay the price in blood and tears.
These guns will fall into the hands of drug dealers, who will wantonly murder our people, our loved ones, and our young people!
These guns will fall into the hands of illegal poachers, our endangered wild animals will be gone from us forever, and the volunteers who protect the Tibetan antelopes will fall under these guns!
…
Every word and sentence, even after more than ten years, still echoes in my ears like the sound of pine waves.
With the memory of his senior brother, the young policeman in front of him became more heroic.
The director pointed at the photo of the young man on the screen and kept saying:
"This is a good boy! Good job!"
Liang Peihe handed Fu Sheng a tissue: "Being a police officer is a tradition passed down from generation to generation, isn't it? Your father is a police officer, and you are also a police officer. Look at the police families' compound where you live, many of them are also following in their father's footsteps. Being a police officer is also good."
Fu Sheng slammed the table to show his agreement:
"Yes, being a policeman is great. I even told my son to try to become a policeman, but he is not motivated. He started playing games and using his phone early on, which caused his eyes to become nearsighted!"
The two chatted for a long time, from the social crime situation when they graduated to the recent years, from the workplace allowing drinking when they graduated to now having to report even if they drink a beer, from the former police cadets to the current auxiliary police...
When the director came out of the police station, it was already dark. He first called his senior brother's son:
"Changfeng, kid, why didn't you tell me that you became a policeman?"
The voice on the other end was loud and full of energy, and it was obvious that the child was very likable:
"I started working in the provincial department after the joint exam results came out. I'm a civilian, no different from an ordinary civil servant. I'm embarrassed to tell you that I'm a policeman now. It's different from Uncle Liang who handles special cases, and it's also different from you, Uncle Fu, who helps the people solve problems every day at the police station.
I'll treat you and Uncle Liang to a drink when you're free!"
Fu Sheng was in a very good mood:
"You little monkey boy, you only get a few wages from work, I should be the one treating you! Whether you are investigating a case or working in the command center, we are all police officers!"
After a few words, there was a commotion from Sheng Changfeng's side:
"Uncle Fu, I'm sorry, my colleague asked me to attend a meeting, so I have to leave first!"
Fu Sheng had no doubts:
"This is how it is in our government. We have more and more meetings now, and we often have to work overtime, but we don't get overtime pay. You should take care of your health."
Sheng Changfeng also gave a warning:
"Uncle Fu, you should also take care of yourself."
He hung up the phone in a hurry.
When Fu Sheng went to get the car keys, he suddenly realized that something was wrong. Liang Peihe deliberately showed him that his senior's son was a policeman. He was questioning him from another angle:
If the sons of martyrs can take over their fathers’ mantle and work on the front lines as police officers, why can’t ordinary people do the same?
If Sheng Changfeng can be a policeman, why can’t Zhou Liuyi?