36
After a day's work, Zheng Nanle hurriedly went to the county to report for duty.
This job is impossible to complete.
She expressed her highest admiration for the farmers.
First, walk to the commune, then take a minibus to the county, and finally take a bus to the county public security bureau.
Walking was actually the easiest part of the whole process.
There was no stuffy, cramped space, no people crowding together, no stopping and swaying, no smell of sweat, livestock, or stinky feet; every second was pleasant.
No wonder Da Hu and Da Ya, who studied in the county, and Zheng Lao Wu and Zheng Lao Liu, who married and worked in the county, didn't want to go home unless absolutely necessary.
The journey home and to the county town is too difficult.
If she hadn't had the mental power to block out the stench, she wouldn't have been able to sit in that lousy car for even a second.
The county public security bureau is located on the main street. From the outside, it looks like a small, dilapidated house. If it weren't for the plaque on the door next to it that says "XX County Public Security Bureau", I would have thought I had come to the wrong place.
Upon entering the police station, we found two middle-aged women arguing, while several other middle-aged women and police officers worked together to separate them, and a few old men were watching the scene unfold.
Zheng Nanle listened for a while while carrying his luggage and found out what had happened.
Auntie 1 and Auntie 2 are neighbors. Auntie 1's family lost some clothes, and someone told her that Auntie 2 had picked them up. Auntie 2 denied it, so Auntie 1 wanted to search Auntie 2's house. Auntie 2 stopped her, and then the two of them went to the police station to argue and ask the police to judge. As they were talking, the two of them started fighting and arguing in the station.
A few minutes later, two police officers and a group of elderly people left to investigate where the woman's clothes had gone.
A while later, another policeman walked in, took a sip of tea from his enamel mug, and shouted, "The farm says a big, fat pig has escaped. It might have run off to the back of the mountain. Anyone want to go catch it with me?"
Zheng Nanle: "..."
This was not quite the job she had imagined.
Just then, a kind young woman noticed Zheng Nanle standing there, looking lost and confused, and went up to her to ask, "Little sister, what happened? You can call the police if you need anything. The police are here to solve all kinds of problems for the people."
Zheng Nanle handed the temporary worker's registration certificate and documents to the young woman.
"Oh, you're a new colleague." The young woman was somewhat surprised to see that Zheng Nanle's position wasn't in logistics.
Generally speaking, women wouldn't become police officers. Police officers sometimes have to confront criminals and catch spies, which requires physical strength.
But she didn't say much. She manually entered Zheng Nanle's information, changed Zheng Nanle's name, created a separate household registration for him, and transferred his grain ration—all of which were done at the Public Security Bureau, so there was no need to go to another place.
After finishing these tasks, I took her to her dormitory.
The dormitory is a four-person room with bunk beds, about 20 square meters in size. It is cramped, dimly lit, and does not have a bathroom. To wash up, shower, or use the toilet, you have to go to the public restroom at the end of the corridor.
Given the current conditions, Zheng Nanle had no choice but to accept the situation and stay there.
The report stated that on this day of rest, after settling in, Zheng Nanle went to scout out the surrounding area and familiarize himself with the environment.
While passing a machinery factory, Zheng Nanle encountered Hua Chang and Xie Jianhua, who were wearing security uniforms. After glancing at them, Zheng Nanle turned and walked away.
When a police officer is working as a security guard, it's obvious they're on duty.
Just as I left the gate, a burly man rushed out from inside, carrying a gun and a middle-aged man.
The burly man's gun had no target; he fired indiscriminately, with the attitude that whoever he hit would be fine.
Zheng Nanle hissed, "The police are in a bit of danger."
With his mind at ease, Xie Jianhua unleashed his spiritual power. The burly man, who had been frantically firing his gun, suddenly became dizzy and his gunshots faltered. In that brief moment of hesitation, Xie Jianhua seized the opportunity to pounce, dodging the gun and grabbing Xie Jianhua's shoulder, pinning him down with his hand behind his back.
Zheng Nanle was very satisfied with this scene.
very good.
The pressure was just right.
If you use too much force, the other person's head will be damaged and they'll become an idiot; if you use too little force, they won't feel as much pain.
She hummed a wordless tune as she slowly walked away. As she passed through a nearby alley, she encountered a bespectacled, refined-looking middle-aged man walking quickly into the depths of the alley, turning into the deeper part in a few steps.
Considering the deliberate chaos at the entrance of the machinery factory, it's hard not to think of the phrase "luring the tiger away from the mountain."
Zheng Nanle wanted to pretend she knew nothing and leave unhurriedly, but her conscience wouldn't allow her to be so cold.
Stomping his foot, Zheng Nanle released his spiritual power and followed.
The middle-aged man was extremely cautious. Every time she turned a corner, he would hide behind a wall and peek. Sometimes he would deliberately take a few steps, turn back, and continue to peek. If she hadn't cheated with her mental powers, she probably would have been discovered by him during the tracking process.
Finally, the middle-aged man arrived at the back door of a small alley and stopped in front of an unremarkable house.
He knocked on the door, his movements varying in intensity and speed, more like a melody than Morse code.
Zheng Nanle had no knowledge of music from the 1970s or even earlier, so he didn't know what kind of music it was. At that moment, the door opened, and a simple-looking middle-aged woman peeked out. She looked around and then pulled the middle-aged man inside.
Zheng Nanle walked over and casually stood on the wall next to the room, but his spiritual power followed the middle-aged man into the courtyard.
The courtyard had a standard front shop and back yard layout, but since private business was not allowed in this era, the shop was converted into a large living room.
Besides the middle-aged woman, there was also a middle-aged man with a dark complexion and a slightly hunched back in the courtyard.
He asked, "Is the mission complete?"
The middle-aged man nodded. "Go buy a train ticket. I'm leaving tonight."
"Okay, go buy the tickets. Tell them your mother-in-law is dying and you need the tickets urgently."
"Okay." The middle-aged woman took the money and walked towards the back door.
Zheng Nanle looked up and saw that the alley ended at a wall; it was a dead end. She left before the woman opened the door.
Returning to the machinery factory, she didn't see Huachang or Xie Jianhua, so she went to the police station and asked the woman from before, Zhang Yanhong, if she had seen Xie Jianhua.
Zhang Yanhong pointed to the interrogation room. "They're busy. Is something urgent?"
“Yes.” Zheng Nanle nodded.
Zhang Yanhong stared at Zheng Nanle for a moment, and after confirming that she was not lying, she said, "I'll have someone call out Captain Hua."
As for Xie Jianhua, she dared not call out to him.
A short while later, Hua Chang stormed out and shouted at Zhang Yanhong, "Don't you know you're busy? Why did you come out after shouting? You'd better have something extremely urgent to tell me."
Zhang Yanhong shrank back as she was scolded.
Zheng Nanle was still very loyal; she stood in front of Zhang Yanhong and said, "I'm the one who came to find you."
Hua Chang saw Zheng Nanle, his anger hadn't subsided much, but considering she had helped him make a great contribution, he suppressed his anger and asked, "What is it?"
If it's just a small matter like helping her with onboarding, don't blame him for getting angry.
Zheng Nanle looked at Zhang Yanhong, who tactfully walked away.
Zheng Nanle lowered his voice, "At the machinery factory, I saw a middle-aged man with a refined appearance sneaking around in the alleys, occasionally checking to see if anyone was following him. Finally, he entered a small courtyard, and I heard another person ask him, 'Have you completed the mission?'"
Hua Chang's anger froze. He suddenly looked up at Zheng Nanle, his eyes deep and sharp. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Good lad!" Hua Chang laughed heartily. "Director Xie was right about you. You're definitely a good candidate for the police force."
He ran excitedly to the interrogation room.
Good Boy Zheng Nanle: "..."
A short while later, Hua Chang and Xie Jianhua came out, accompanied by three other people.
As they approached, Zheng Nanle called out, "Brother Jianhua, Brother Huachang," and nodded to the others.
Hua Chang introduced the two sides to each other, learned their names briefly, and then urged Zheng Nanle to lead the way.
Zheng Nanle didn't say much, turned around and left, saying to Hua Chang as she walked, "I prefer you calling me 'good girl'."
"Okay, okay, good girl." Hua Chang was just used to calling him "good boy" and didn't mean to mistake Zheng Nanle's gender. When Zheng Nanle pointed it out, he quickly apologized.
Hua Chang's familiarity with the county town far surpassed that of Zheng Nanle. When Zheng Nanle was nearby, Hua Chang knew which alley and which house it was.
Xie Jianhua called out to Zheng Nanle, who was walking ahead, reached into his pocket, took out a meat ration coupon and a yuan, and said to Zheng Nanle, "Er Ya, go to the state-run restaurant and have some braised pork."
Zheng Nanle had not yet started working, and the arrest operation was dangerous, so Xie Jianhua was unwilling for Zheng Nanle to take the risk.
Zheng Nanle took the hostage and said, "Brother Jianhua, I have money."
She waved to the group and walked across to the other side.
However, she did not go to the state-run restaurant, but instead went to a nearby scrap metal recycling station that was closer to the courtyard.
She planned to look for the "Self-Study Series on Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry" here.
It is said that this 17-volume set of books was the ruby of the 1977 college entrance examination, and the best study guide for getting into university. In the novel, the protagonist who wanted to go to university would go to the scrap yard to collect this set of books to review.
It was only after witnessing the argument between Zhao Shu and Zhang Yu that Zheng Nanle realized what returning to the city meant for the educated youth.
Those educated youth were all city kids; the earliest of them had arrived eight years ago. For those eight years, these city intellectuals, who couldn't distinguish between rice and weeds, poured their sweat onto the rural land day after day, cherishing their longing to return to the city and persevering day after day.
They are products of their time, but the oldest of them is no more than thirty years old, and their future is full of infinite possibilities.
Their future should not be buried in the countryside.
Zheng Nanle wanted to help them.
Therefore, she changed her mind and decided to work in the county town.
Perhaps there was a reason why she suffered so much in her past life. After all, she was a follower of the principle of "cultivating one's own virtue when poor, and helping others when successful." She couldn't bear to see people who were too miserable but not wicked, living even more miserable lives in front of her.
Otherwise, in her previous life, with her strength, she could have easily built her own small base and had ordinary people with weaker abilities support her, allowing her to live comfortably. Instead, she joined an official base, which required a lot of effort and worry.
As she flipped through the discarded books, she used her mental energy to keep track of the battle situation over there.
Seeing the middle-aged, refined man carrying a briefcase rummaging through the next room, preparing to slip away through the front door, she cursed under her breath, walked out of the junkyard, and crossed the street.
The middle-aged man went out, looked around, and his gaze fell on Zheng Nanle. He reached into his pocket.
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