Chapter 14 Corrupt Cops and Mental Injection Rods (Revised)...
He Changyi stared at the policeman in front of him in disbelief.
The other person held her passport, neither checking it nor returning it to her, but instead looked her up and down menacingly, as if calculating how much he could extract from this Chinese woman.
He Changyi was also observing him.
This man had a huge hooked nose, a vulture-like appearance, and a sinister gaze, making him unforgettable.
He Changyi thought the man looked familiar, but couldn't remember where he had seen him before.
Until she caught a glimpse of a large-faced, squinty-eyed Hun man passing by, she suddenly remembered where she had seen him before.
—When she first arrived in Mosk, she was surrounded by a group of Hungarian gangsters. A middle-aged policeman who was passing by clearly saw what was happening but turned a blind eye and let her be robbed.
He was that middle-aged policeman.
He Changyi suddenly realized, and at the same time became more vigilant, a word subconsciously popping into his mind.
Corrupt police.
She had overheard some traders chatting on the train mentioning the police in Mosk, saying that almost every trader had been extorted by the police.
Well, the police in Oros always manage to lower the bar.
These local police officers knew that these Chinese black marketeers had money, and they were happy to make some extra money off them.
The most common thing they do is check passports. If they find that someone's visa has expired, the police will gleefully arrest the smuggler on the spot, confiscate the money and goods he is carrying, fine him tens of thousands of rubles, and finally escort him to the immigration office to be deported back to his country.
Even if your passport hasn't expired, don't even think about escaping.
The corrupt police deliberately nitpicked, finding fault even when there was nothing wrong with the passport. When they couldn't find anything else to complain about, they would stuff the passport into their uniform pocket, stretch out their hand, and signal for money.
The black marketeers have been extorted so many times that they're afraid of these "legal mafia" gangs. Whenever they encounter the police, they don't care if their passports are in question or not; they quickly hand over money and beg to be let go.
Over time, the corrupt policemen became quite well-off, and extorting money changers became a daily routine, a legitimate way to earn extra income recognized by the industry.
He Changyi encountered corrupt police officers who were collecting overtime pay.
Her passport was, of course, not a problem; both parties knew this.
The middle-aged policeman was merely using the pretext of checking passports to deliberately solicit bribes from this Chinese woman.
He Changyi neither spoke nor took out any money; she simply frowned and stared at him.
The middle-aged policeman tapped the passport impatiently, his gloomy gaze fixed on the ignorant Chinese man.
The Chinese are making huge profits off rubles with inferior goods, taking away precious foreign exchange like a swarm of flies sucking blood from a giant. His actions are a righteous act of revenge, and he can also supplement his family income.
Just like digging up a field mouse burrow during a famine, cooking the field mouse meat and the grain it hid in the burrow together, no one can blame the person who dug up the field mouse burrow for anything wrong.
Seeing that He Changyi had no intention of giving money, the middle-aged policeman's already gloomy expression became even more vicious.
He lost his patience, shoved He Changyi's passport into his pocket, and expertly reached out to grab her by the collar, intending to drag her to a secluded suburb and give her a good beating.
He Changyi nimbly dodged his outstretched hand, while simultaneously uttering words in broken Emei dialect.
"Passport, no problem. You, you're breaking the law!"
The middle-aged policeman paused, surprised that someone among the Chinese people who had never spoken Emei language could actually speak it.
Although their Emei language skills are not very good, compared to a foreigner who cannot speak the language, a foreigner who can communicate with the locals is obviously more difficult to deal with.
As He Changyi spoke, the nearby Oroqen people all looked over, making the middle-aged policeman's inexplicable arrest seem particularly abrupt.
The middle-aged policeman hesitated, looking at He Changyi with suspicion, but didn't reach out to pull her again.
He Changyi stepped forward and said loudly:
"No money! Passport! No problem!"
Facing the various gazes around him, the middle-aged policeman spoke a long string of words in Emei as if trying to cover up his embarrassment.
He Changyi didn't understand, but assuming he couldn't give any legitimate reason, she became even more aggressive.
"Call the police! Extortion! Fake police!"
More people looked over, some speaking in Emei, some walking up suspiciously, and others looking for nearby patrolling police officers.
The middle-aged policeman's face turned completely grim.
Unexpectedly, the seemingly easy target he randomly picked turned out to be a tough nut to crack, even though he was just trying to earn some extra money.
Not only did she dare to refuse to pay, but she also dared to shout loudly, attracting the crowd. She kept calling them "fake police officers," and her fearless demeanor was unlike any Zhong Guoren he had ever met before.
He Changyi stepped forward again and pointed to his pocket.
"Passport, mine."
The middle-aged policeman didn't want to let this fat sheep go so easily. Although the sheep had horns on its head, it was still a sheep at heart.
He pulled out his baton, brandished it, and shouted sternly, forcing the crowd to retreat.
He Changyi guessed that he was probably saying something like "Police are handling a case, bystanders stay away" and "If you dare to obstruct me, I'll lock you all up."
Although the Russian police are unfriendly to foreigners, they are also very bad to their own people.
Well, in some ways it's quite fair.
But He Changyi is in trouble.
The middle-aged policeman raised his baton, pointing it at He Changyi's nose. His hand holding the baton was itching to strike, as if he was about to give this uncooperative woman from Zhongguo a dose of authentic old Moscow-style spiritual injection.
He Changyi stared intently at him.
—If she is arrested for assaulting a police officer, can our embassy get her out quickly?
The middle-aged policeman roared something at He Changyi in a harsh tone, waving his baton up and down threateningly.
His voice grew louder and louder, and the frequency of his baton swings increased, grazing He Changyi's side several times.
If He Changyi hadn't dodged quickly, the police baton would have struck her squarely.
However, the middle-aged policeman's intimidation had no effect. The woman in front of him showed no fear, neither offering a humble apology nor taking the initiative to offer a large sum of money. She just stared at him scrutinizingly.
The middle-aged policeman even felt that she wasn't afraid of him or his baton at all; she was just wary of his uniform. Otherwise, she would have rushed up, snatched the baton, and given him a good beating.
Thinking of this, he was overcome with rage. Instead of waving the baton threateningly, he brought it down squarely on her neck!
The people around gasped in shock, as if they could already foresee her tragic end.
In the blink of an eye, the woman from Zhongguo suddenly turned to the side, and the police baton swept past her, coming within a centimeter of her nose at its closest point.
The next second, she reached out and grabbed the falling baton, pulling it sharply. The middle-aged policeman stumbled, and the baton slipped from his hand.
The crowd fell silent for a moment.
Someone who had secretly watched smuggled DVDs containing the poisonous weeds of capitalism whispered:
"Kung Fu..."
The middle-aged policeman, suddenly deprived of his weapon of swagger, was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening.
He looked at that damned Chinese woman, who weighed the baton up and down a few times, then casually grabbed it and twirled it.
The gasps from the crowd grew louder.
"See? I told you long ago, Zhong Guoren really knows kung fu!"
"So the movie was real after all..."
The woman from Zhongguo held a police baton in one hand, pointing it vaguely at the ground. She raised her chin and stared at the middle-aged policeman with a half-smile.
The wind blew through her curly hair, making her face appear snow-white, as cold and hard as an ice sculpture.
The middle-aged policeman was both shocked and furious.
He had never encountered a Zhongguo reseller who dared to resist before; this was the first time in history.
He had seen so many male middlemen, tall and short, fat and thin, strong and ruthless, but which one of them didn't obediently let him extort money? Sometimes, he was even afraid of being late in paying, and before he could even open his mouth, the other party would already be shoving the money into his hand with a big smile.
And this woman, that damned female speculator, she actually dared to resist!
Enraged, the middle-aged policeman wanted to beat her up and show her who was in charge here.
But when he met her gaze, he felt a sudden unease.
Could he really beat a Chinese man who knows kung fu...?
There is an old Chinese saying, "They fear power but do not cherish virtue," which is quite suitable for use in foreign countries at times.
Some people are just born bullies who prey on the weak and fear the strong. They only respond to force and never to be treated kindly. After being disciplined, their eyes immediately clear up, and they even complain about why they weren't woken up sooner.
Middle-aged police officers are like this; they only wield their knives against the weak.
But when facing a stronger opponent, he simply couldn't bring himself to swing his sword.
He wanted to teach He Changyi a lesson and show her who was in charge here; but he was also afraid that if they really fought, he wouldn't come out on top and would instead get beaten up badly.
For a moment, the two sides were deadlocked.
The middle-aged policeman didn't want to let He Changyi go easily, and He Changyi didn't want to let him take her passport just like that.
Time ticked by, and the departure time for the Zhong'e-Russia intercity train drew ever closer.
Suddenly, the middle-aged policeman's eyes lit up when he saw the Chinese woman across from him. The next second, as if she were throwing away a hot potato, she threw her baton at him.
The middle-aged policeman hurriedly took the baton, while simultaneously hearing the other party's loud and clear voice complaining.
"Passport! Mine! Help!"
The pronunciation was off-key, and the content was even more absurd.
What does "help" mean? Who is actually calling for help?!
He, the victim whose baton was taken from him, was clearly the one who needed to scream for help more!
He Changyi ignored what the middle-aged policeman was thinking and rushed to the young policeman who had been called over. Pointing at the middle-aged policeman, he started cricketing wildly in front of him.
"Fake police! Extortion! Assault!"
The blond policeman was panting. He had just run from the other end of the train station after someone told him that there was a suspected case of fake police extorting foreigners.
Unexpectedly, the person being blackmailed was someone I knew.
He looked at the victim; her face was rosy, showing no signs of fright. Instead, she was overly lively, like a fawn in the summer forest, triumphantly leaping over the tree roots.
The young policeman couldn't help but want to laugh, but the muscles he used for laughing felt unfamiliar, and in the end he could only awkwardly twitch the corners of his mouth.
He Changyi didn't notice his smile. Taking advantage of the young policeman's presence, he arrogantly stretched out his hand in front of the middle-aged policeman.
"passport!"
The middle-aged policeman glared at her fiercely and said to the younger policeman in Ethnic language:
"Why are you here? This is not your patrol area."
The young police officer immediately understood what had happened upon seeing the other person and couldn't help but frown.
"Is there a problem with her passport? If not, please return it to her."
The middle-aged policeman said unhappily:
"This is my job, you shouldn't interfere. Humph, don't tell me you're protecting her, a Chinese woman!"
He Changyi couldn't understand what they were saying, but he could roughly guess that the junior policeman was arguing his case, while the middle-aged policeman, relying on his seniority, was unwilling to let go of the easy money.
Finally, the young policeman stepped forward and forcefully demanded that the middle-aged policeman produce his passport.
After confirming that there was no problem with the passport, he immediately returned it to He Changyi, indicating that she could leave.
The middle-aged policeman's face was extremely gloomy. He gave her one last deep look, then left angrily to find the next unlucky victim.
Holding her precious passport, which she had lost and then recovered, He Changyi vowed that she would never easily hand it over to the local police again.
These corrupt cops are so brazen. If she hadn't known the junior officer, they would have really succeeded. It seems that having a powerful backer in the local legitimate community is still very important.
"Thanks."
The young policeman listened attentively to He Changyi's hesitant thanks in Emei dialect, then shook his head with a serious face, indicating that it was nothing.
He Changyi enthusiastically grabbed his hand and shook it up and down, leaving a US dollar bill in his palm when she let go.
The young policeman was taken aback, and hurriedly returned the money to her, waving his hands repeatedly, almost leaving afterimages in his haste.
He Changyi raised her eyebrows. How rare! This was the one in a million Slavic golden-haired little lotus flower that had emerged from the mud unsullied.
"name?"
The young policeman unconsciously tilted his head, as if digesting her strange Emei pronunciation, and only realized what she was saying a beat late.
“@#￥%&*@#￥%&…”
Okay, it's still a long list of names, like a collection of family genealogies and ancestral origins.
He Changyi earnestly extended his hand.
"Hello, Andrei."
Under the cold winter sun, his blue eyes curved into a warm smile.
A note from the author:
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The previous chapters have been revised, and several shorter chapters have been merged. The total word count remains the same, and the plots you've already read are still there; only the total number of chapters has decreased by two.
After completing the next two chapters, the revisions will be finished.
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