Chapter 82
"Sure, I'll call him over now?" Kang Yongsheng was very enthusiastic. Without saying a word, he took out his mobile phone and tried to find the name among a pile of contacts.
Luo Jingyao, who had been silent the whole time, was a little surprised when she heard this: "It's already this late, isn't it disturbing?"
"No, he's not off work yet!" After searching for a long time without finding anything, Kang Yongsheng simply suggested: "Why don't I take you to see him directly? He should be around here."
The two were stunned by his words, but since the other party had taken the initiative to ask for it, they naturally had no reason to refuse.
Luo Jingyao also didn't expect that the place Kang Yongsheng mentioned was really close.
After the three came out of the archives room, they crossed the entire case handling area, and then came to a small alley from the back door of the police station. Out of this small alley was the Haida Night Market Street, which was very famous in the entire Jinshi City.
The bustling noise was almost overwhelming, forming a sharp contrast with the quietness of the alley just now.
Kang Yongsheng walked quickly in front, smiling and greeting many small vendors along the way, looking very familiar with everything on this street.
Soon, he stopped in front of a Kung Fu Fried Rice stall. Seeing a few people gathered around the stall, he tactfully stopped and didn't move forward. He turned around and introduced himself to the two people following him, "The person reporting the case is the owner of this night market stall. His surname is Wang. He's been here for many years. He's a good cook and a nice guy."
Lin Jiafan nodded in understanding.
After about ten minutes, the people buying fried rice gradually dispersed, revealing the figure holding a large spoon behind the stall.
He wiped the sweat from his face with the towel around his neck. As he reached for the water cup beside him, he glanced at Kang Yongsheng, who was a few steps away. "Officer Kang?! You have time to hang out today? Are you hungry from working overtime again?"
"Yeah, I was thinking of coming here for a free meal."
The stall owner didn't believe it at all: "If you say that, I will really start a fire and burn the oil. Don't regret it then."
Kang Yongsheng chuckled and took two steps forward to introduce the two parties. "This is Wang Jian, the stall owner at Haida Night Market. He's the person who reported the underage theft case late last year."
"These two are from the Jinshi Public Security Bureau. They want to know some details about the case."
"Hey, hey, hello, police officers." Wang Jian hurriedly walked out from behind the stall and shook hands with them respectively, looking a little frightened.
He usually abides by the law, and his only in-depth contact with the public security organs was probably at the end of last year. He was suddenly visited by the Municipal Public Security Bureau, and it is impossible for him not to be nervous.
But in just a few seconds, he went through almost all the bad things he had done since he was a child in his mind.
"Mr. Wang, don't be nervous. We just want to know about He Jinzhe's situation from you." There was no special expression on Lin Jiafan's face, which could be described as pleasant, but the words he asked were not vague at all.
"It wasn't the first time you saw that kid on the day of the theft, was it? Did you know him before?"
Seeing Wang Jian's bewildered look, he kindly reminded him, "You mentioned in your police statement that you often saw him hanging around the stall."
"Ah... yes, but I can't say I know him. I just see him occasionally." Wang Jian shook his head and sighed, "The kid is so thin and small. Sometimes my wife feels sorry for him and wants to call him over for food, but he runs away so fast."
"I can't say exactly when he first started appearing on this street. But one day he started stealing things, and then my wife and I gave up our pity for him."
"You mean, He Jinzhe has robbed more than just your family?" Kang Yongsheng frowned, his tone questioning, "Why didn't you say that when you reported it? He's a repeat offender, and you're even offering a letter of apology. Isn't that ridiculous?"
Wang Jian looked embarrassed: "I thought he was just a child, so young... Besides, the things he stole weren't mine."
"Who else has he stolen from?" Lin Jiafan asked.
"This..." Wang Jian hesitated for a moment, looked around, and seeing no one was paying attention, he lowered his voice: "There must have been a lot of thieves on this street, but not many were caught, and even fewer people like me went to the police to report it."
Lin Jiafan narrowed his eyes. "Caught a thief and didn't call the police? Could it be that he resorted to lynching?"
Looking at the stall owner's expression that changed instantly, he knew that his guess was almost right.
"They just slapped us a couple of times to teach us a lesson. We run a small business, and if we get robbed once, it's like a day's work is wasted. It's understandable that everyone is angry!" Wang Jian defended weakly.
"And basically they won't go too far. They say harmony brings wealth, and we don't want to cause trouble."
He said this cryptically, but everyone present understood it clearly. Children like He Jinzhe were obviously specially trained, and there must be a gang behind the scenes manipulating them.
"Have you ever noticed who He Jinzhe interacts closely with on a daily basis?" Lin Jiafan asked the most crucial question.
"No, I'm here to do business. I can't even make a living, so how can I pay attention to other things? Besides, that kid hasn't appeared on this street for half a year." Wang Jian's eyes were evasive at this time, and it seemed that he had some concerns.
Kang Yongsheng was a little anxious and was about to argue, but was stopped by the person next to him.
"Okay, thank you for your help, Boss Wang." Lin Jiafan nodded slightly, then turned around and left happily.
"Captain Lin, why didn't you let me ask clearly just now? And why is the Municipal Bureau suddenly so interested in this case? Did something happen to He Jinzhe?" Kang Yongsheng caught up with him and poured out all the questions in his mind.
"He Jinzhe was reported missing again today, and the system automatically linked it to this case, so we thought of coming here to find out more about the situation." Lin Jiafan explained vaguely, then looked at the other party with a little curiosity.
"There seem to be two night markets like this with a lot of traffic in the jurisdiction of the Rongcheng Police Station, right? I imagine the daily workload must be very stressful, and there must be a lot of petty thefts."
"They don't always work alone. Don't you have any suspects in your department?"
Kang Yongsheng understood the hidden meaning in his words and shook his head helplessly: "A few years ago, when the Internet was not well developed and there were not so many cameras on the streets, there was indeed a gang of habitual thieves on this street."
"We staked out the gang day and night and eventually busted them. Now the so-called 'boss' is still in jail!"
"Information technology has advanced over the past two years, but these hardened thieves have also kept up with the times, with methods like remote command emerging one after another. Grassroots police stations are really stretched thin, both in terms of manpower and technology."
"We finally caught one or two people in the act, but they either refused to give up, or they were minors, so it was very difficult for us to deal with them!"
Patting Kang Yongsheng on the shoulder sympathetically, Lin Jiafan comforted him, "We must do our best within our capabilities. As long as we have a clear conscience, that's all."
"Thank you for your cooperation today. We have some things to do at the bureau, so we won't be going back to the police station."
"Okay, then you go back and drive carefully." Kang Yongsheng did not doubt him. After waving goodbye to the two of them at the entrance of the alley they came from, his strong figure was soon swallowed up by the darkness.
After confirming that the other party had indeed returned to the police station, Lin Jiafan turned his head and smiled at the people around him: "Coach Luo, I haven't had dinner yet."
The topic jumped so quickly that Luo Jingyao couldn't react for a while.
She blinked blankly, thinking about how this person had driven for hours to Black Wind Mountain just because of her simple two words, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed: "Then I'll treat you to dinner. Do you like barbecue or hot pot?"
"Hmm..." Lin Jiafan looked around and then took a step forward: "Let's have spicy skewers!"
Even after following him and sitting in front of the spicy skewers stall, Luo Jingyao was still in a daze.
Taking the stainless steel plate wrapped in a plastic bag handed to her by the boss, she glanced at Lin Jiafan who was carefully selecting skewers, and belatedly understood his plan.
"Try this. Their quail eggs are braised in advance, which is different from those in other places." Lin Jiafan put a bunch of quail eggs on her plate with a calm expression, looking like a very hungry regular customer.
It is already late at night. Although there are still many people on the street, most of the businesses are half-closed.
The couple selling spicy skewers were a middle-aged couple. The proprietress was sitting in the back wearing potato chips, so her appearance could not be seen clearly. The slightly fat, bald boss was standing in the front, responsible for attracting customers.
Hearing Lin Jiafan say this, the bald boss smiled and praised him: "Young man, you know how to eat! Are you studying nearby? You look familiar."
"I went to college at Ocean University and graduated many years ago." Lin Jiafan made up a lie and remained calm when fooling people.
"After all the eating, the food here still tastes the best, right?" The bald boss raised his chin proudly, then looked at Luo Jingyao who was quietly eating quail eggs. "This girl is obviously a good girl. She doesn't mind being taken to a place like this for a date."
Cough cough!
The spicy taste rushed straight to the top of her head. Luo Jingyao picked up the mineral water at hand and didn't dare to respond.
Lin Jiafan didn't bother to explain anything. He turned his head and glanced at her clothes. Finally, he reached out and helped her zip up her coat pocket. "Be careful here. I lost two cell phones and three hundred yuan."
Hearing this, the bald boss suddenly became interested. While busy blanching the food, he sneered, "You lost so many times? Your luck is really bad!"
"No way?" Luo Jingyao's eyes widened in agreement, looking unconvinced. "If I remember correctly, there's a police station nearby. How dare those thieves do that?"
His innocent words were met with a sneer from his boss: "You haven't seen the skills those people have now. They might even do something under the police's noses and they might not even notice! Many people only realize they've lost something a long time later, and the person has already run away!"
"Is it true? Didn't they escape your eyes, boss? I think you are better than the police." Luo Jingyao gave a perfect compliment.
Sure enough, after hearing this, the bald boss almost raised his head to the sky.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com