To the east of H County, there is a gray courtyard with four old two-story red brick and tile houses in it.
It is said to be a red brick and tile house, but most of the bricks have turned gray and black, and are bumpy.
The sun at the end of September hung in the sky, with no clouds in sight.
Several shirtless young men shook the bamboo basket hanging in front of them. As the people on the roof pulled hard, the hemp rope carrying the bamboo basket of tiles slowly rose up.
It is hard for people in later generations to imagine that such a shabby place is actually the H County Public Security Bureau.
A large area of tiles on the roof had been lifted off, and any tiles that were still usable had been cleaned and covered again.
On the roof, an old man wearing a patched old vest, with a cigarette in his mouth, puffed out smoke while skillfully using a brick knife to cut the tiles in his hand into a shape that satisfied him.
There was no way around it. The roof, which had been re-covered with old tiles, still had a few gaps, and the new tiles did not match the original ones at all, so they could only be modified and used as is.
The old man was modifying the tiles in his hand while talking incoherently to a man who was plastering nearby.
"I heard that at yesterday's meeting, Shuangma Commune and Lanshan Commune almost got into a fight again?"
Guo Tao wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and answered the questions from the head of the bureau with a smile.
"That's right. If Old Yang Shuji hadn't lost his temper, we wouldn't know how the situation would have ended."
The old man's name is Wei Zhiqian, and he is the head of the Public Security Bureau.
He nodded and spoke to several deputy directors who were building roofs nearby.
"Everyone, work harder. Don't rush off work. Let's discuss this case later."
"The new County Magistrate Zhang was so generous in approving 3,000 yuan for repairs to our bureau. I think it's not just because of Deputy Director Guo's face."
"If the Sanniu case remains unsolved and the two communes continue to cause trouble, the county will probably punish us!"
All the police officers in the Public Security Bureau are busy today. Some are repairing walls with cement, while others are sawing wood to repair windows.
After the guard came down from the roof, he only took a look at the gaps in the wall and the half-exposed windows, and his face became unhappy.
If it weren't for the newcomer Xiao Guo who had face in front of County Magistrate Zhang and got 3,000 yuan for repairs in one go, the joke of their county bureau would have been spread by the people in the city for who knows how long.
At the beginning of the year, a man with three hands was arrested. Before the police had a chance to interrogate him, he went out to get a meal and then escaped by climbing over a gap in the wall, taking away a pair of handcuffs and a half-open window.
H County is poor, and their Public Security Bureau is even poorer. There are so many places where they need to spend money, so this half of the window has been covered with newspaper.
In the conference room, there was a long poplar table without a single lick of paint, and long benches were placed on both sides of the table.
The files of the Sanniu case were sent in again.
"I won't go into too much detail about the case," the guard said, frowning as he lit another cigarette. "After last year's autumn harvest, Shuangma Commune borrowed two cows from Lanshan Commune."
"Before winter, a breeder from Lanshan Commune went to Shuangma Commune to retrieve some cattle. Upon arrival, they discovered that the old breeder from Shuangma Commune had fallen into a ditch drunk and was dead."
"What's strange is that the two cows in the cowshed that were fine the day before are now dead, and the old cow of Shuangma Commune has disappeared."
"After the incident, the county took it very seriously and arranged for militia to set up checkpoints everywhere, but they found no trace of the perpetrator or the old cow."
"According to people from Shuangma Commune, the missing old cow was sick. If this kind of beef were to enter the market, the consequences would be disastrous."
"But our county bureau has organized key personnel to conduct multiple, covert investigations of various meat markets in the county. No beef of unknown origin has ever appeared in our county, or even in the surrounding counties!"
"The case has reached a stalemate."
"People from the two communes started to suspect and accuse each other, and a fight almost broke out."
Having said that, Wei Zhiqian glanced at Guo Tao.
"Deputy Director Guo just returned from County Magistrate Zhang. Did County Magistrate Zhang give any instructions on this case?"
Guo Tao ranks the lowest among the deputy directors in the bureau, but no one dares to underestimate him. After all, he is in charge of the largest Chengguan Police Station, and everyone knows that Guo Tao is Zhang Xian's high school classmate.
Guo Tao opened his workbook and spoke seriously.
"County Magistrate Zhang has instructed that the county will organize laborers to move south in the next two days. Shuangma Commune and Lanshan Commune will have to contribute a lot of people. If the Sanniu case is not solved, the people in these two communes will inevitably harbor dirty tricks. If there is trouble in other places, it will be very embarrassing."
"It will also affect the overall situation of our county's first step in reform and opening up."
"So County Magistrate Zhang asked me to tell our bureau," Guo Tao paused deliberately, "If our county bureau can solve the Sanniu case in the near future, he promised to approve the previously promised staffing for our county bureau and police station."
"Ten vacancies for the County Bureau, fifteen for the Chengguan Police Station, and an additional fifty thousand yuan in fees each year!"
"Um!!"
When Wei Zhiqian heard the price offered by Zhang Hongcheng, his back straightened instantly.
Their H County Public Security Bureau is different from other counties. Anyone with some connections can be put into the joint defense team and get some benefits.
The main reason is that their county is so poor that not only has the joint defense team but even the number of police officers has been reduced a lot.
As a result, whenever any major incident occurs in their county, they have to mobilize the basic militia.
"Did everyone hear that?"
Director Wei slammed the table in public.
"Zhang County has already set the price. If we can't solve this case within five days, we will be the sinners of the entire bureau!"
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