Chapter 6 Welcome to the Special Investigation Bureau New Student Training Class
As soon as Li Xiaogou stepped into the police station, he was led into the director's office by two police officers.
The whispers in the corridor were like ants crawling across the back of his neck. He could feel the prying eyes without even turning around.
Three piles of files lay on the sandalwood desk. When the director looked up from the pile, the old-fashioned chandelier cast a spot of light on his police badge. "Little comrade, have a seat."
"Do you know about people with super powers?" Li Xiaogou went straight to the point.
He noticed the director's hand resting on the edge of the table - there were calluses from old gunshot wounds on the palm of his hand, and ink was still stained between his fingernails.
The director's hearty laughter made the teacup buzz. "When I was the captain of the criminal police, Yunlou was still playing in the mud." He pulled out the bottom file bag, the brown paper seal stained with dark brown. "Twelve years ago, in the bank robbery, out of five robbers, only the one who took the blame was caught."
Li Xiaogou flipped through the yellowed photos of the scene. On the rain-washed asphalt road, scattered banknotes clung to half a severed finger.
"These bastards had plastic surgery and changed their identities, so they couldn't even recognize the hostages back then." The director suddenly lowered his voice, "But that stench of corruption can't be washed away. That expert said that wherever they've been, there will be traces!"
"I think you are very talented, young comrade. You will definitely be able to find the clues, right?"
"Team Cloud strictly forbids us from using our supernatural powers on ordinary people."
"Pedantic!" The director slammed the table, spilling the wolfberry tea in the enamel jar onto the vermilion tabletop. "When I was fighting bandits back then, he was still in his mother's womb..." He suddenly stopped mid-sentence and grabbed the phone receiver: "Xiao Zhang! Bring me the special operations order!"
There was a sound of hurried footsteps outside the glass door. Li Xiaogou stared at the official seal on the lower right corner of the document - it was indeed the eagle emblem seal of the Special Investigation Bureau, and the ink had not yet dried.
"With this, you can do it with confidence! If that Yunlou brat dares to cause you trouble, I will severely report him!"
Li Xiaogou took the order, but quickly smiled bitterly: "But it really can't be done tonight."
The director was about to push the door open when he stopped and asked, "Are you hurt?"
"I've overused my supernatural powers." Li Xiaogou pointed to his blue eyelids. "Today, I've used my supernatural powers too many times to gather clues. Now I see double."
"Yunlou is fully responsible! We couldn't even protect such an outstanding young comrade." The director cracked his knuckles. "Get some rest. Those guys are in big trouble for kidnapping alone. Leave it to me tonight. I'll give them a proper lesson."
"Wait!" Li Xiaogou suddenly grabbed the director's sleeve. "Have you checked Lu Chenzhou's agent's whereabouts and bank statements for the past three months?"
The director's eyes suddenly lit up, and the heels of his leather shoes made a crisp sound on the floor tiles: "Xiao Zhang! Take the second team to Hongfeng Bank and squat!"
As he turned around, the hem of his police uniform blew up in the wind. "If I really catch the fox by the tail, I will apply for a bonus for you!"
…
It turns out that it was just empty promises before?
Li Xiaogou watched the director disappear around the corner of the corridor and joined two iron chairs together to make a simple bed. As soon as he wrapped himself in his police jacket, fatigue overwhelmed his hollow body and he fell into a deep sleep.
In the dream, I was once again overturned by the explosive pain -
"Huh!" He knocked over the enamelware pot when he sat up. The director was about to pat his shoulder with a frown: "Are you having a nightmare?"
Li Xiaogou rubbed the numb back of his neck and changed the subject. When he spoke, he realized his voice was hoarse: "Did they confess?"
"He confessed everything! Thanks to your advice." The director dragged an old wooden stool over and sat down. The creaking sound mixed with the echo in the corridor was particularly clear. "Every month, Lu Chenzhou's account has regular transfers to a foundation, and the founder behind that foundation is his agent! His agent has been withdrawing a certain amount of money regularly for the past three months. We staked out the bank and caught him red-handed when he was withdrawing money. I took him past the door of Interrogation Room No. 3 - at that angle, the shadow inside could be seen just fine."
He tapped the table with his index finger. "My friends said, 'We've found the money. It's all been transferred abroad by Wang Qiang (Lu Chenzhou's agent).' Then they said to Wang Qiang, 'Since you were the last one to be invited in, they asked me to put them in the same cell with you.' But before he could finish his words—" the director imitated the limp look of a prisoner, "he collapsed to his knees and vomited everything out!"
"It's good that you confessed." Li Xiaogou rubbed his swollen temples, wondering whether this achievement could serve as a stepping stone to join the Special Investigation Bureau, but he found that the director was rubbing his hands and was hesitant to speak.
"Do you have anything else to say?"
"As for the bonus approval process..." The director scratched his graying temples, "We'll have to wait for a while."
Before he could finish his words, the office door was suddenly pushed open.
The director waved his hand and said with a smile: "But don't worry, we will never treat our good comrades unfairly!"
Five or six police officers holding banners filed in, flashing lights one after another.
Before Li Xiaogou could react, he was held on the shoulders and photographed for more than a dozen photos. The makeup setting spray sprayed on his face by the female police officer had a minty scent.
That night, Li Xiaogou, who usually sleeps lightly, fell into a deep sleep in his police jacket. However, the online world, unknown to him, was being turned upside down because of him.
The first spark of controversy was a surveillance video posted by a parenting blogger showing a man in period costume knocking down a toddler at a zebra crossing before fleeing. Although the child was later found uninjured, the blogger's caption, "Suspected crew member acting like a big shot, hit-and-run," instantly set the comment section ablaze.
"You're just an 18th-tier celebrity. You dare to act so arrogantly when I can't even remember your name!"
Keyboard warriors launched a human flesh search overnight, vowing to find the man in ancient costume in the video.
Just as the entire network was comparing the notices of various crews, Lu Chenzhou's police report was like a depth bomb - the word "drug abuse" was clearly marked in white letters on a blue background.
The fan club disbanded overnight, and the online chat room was instantly flooded with comments. However, sharp-eyed netizens noticed a detail: "He was covered in bruises when he was arrested. Is this a case of gangs robbing gangs?"
The fans who were halfway to quit being his fans immediately got excited: "No, there must be a conspiracy, brother is being wronged!"
The eye of the public opinion storm suddenly turned to the Yunqing District Police Station - the police station that arrested Lu Chenzhou.
The official website of the Yunqing District Police Department, which had been ignored for several years, was flooded with traffic in just one hour, with the number of views reaching a terrifying million.
In the commendation notice in the corner of the official website's homepage, even the mosaics can't cover up the funny costume - the man with a plastic tree root on his head and the director hold a banner together, with the text reading "Li assisted in rescuing the kidnapped Jiang and Lu, and provided key clues to the 122 major case."
"Could it be that Lu is..." The Sherlock Holmes in the comment section quickly connected the clues. "Isn't the 122 major case the bank robbery and murder case? Lu Chenzhou was kidnapped by his accomplices from that time? What kind of magical realism is this!"
Suddenly, a netizen posted a comparison picture: "The man in the CCTV footage of the collision is wearing the same clothes as in the commendation photo!"
Lu Chenzhou's former fan, who had completely abandoned his fan base and turned against him, came to add insult to injury: "The children's amusement park is only 300 meters away from where Lu Chenzhou was filming that drama. The location and timeline match perfectly."
"Didn't the director of Lu Chenzhou's drama just get arrested? I thought filming had already stopped."
Former fan: "Not really. I don't know which blind fool actually invested a large sum of money."
"What a scapegoat! I'm afraid he's laundering money."
Yunlou, the unfortunate person who was working at his desk, sneezed.
#All the crew members are villains# instantly became a hot topic, and netizens made emoticons overnight: Li, the root of the tree, stepped on the drug dealer and grabbed the robber with the caption "Chinese entertainment scavenger".
"Didn't this crew pray to the gods before filming? There are so many gods hidden in one crew."
"It's revealed! The person who hit the child and the one who saved him are the same person: that Isatis root expert from the crew! The actor's name is Li Xiaogou!"
"Puppy? Which parents are so talented?"
Li Xiaogou's name swept the entire Internet with a sense of absurdity.
Netizens initially laughed to tears at the nickname "Isatis Root Essence", until someone posted a timeline comparison chart - the surveillance showed that he was rushing to the kidnapping scene when he hit the child.
"Is this the real-life Flash?"
#Bailangen Essence on the Road to Rescue# quickly became the top trending search.
Someone dug out a still of Li Xiaogou in another drama that was less than one minute long, and the sound of "Wow" spread all over the Internet.
Some people are amazed that such a beauty has not become popular. She is definitely a missed gem.
Another part is, wow, this acting is such a waste of his good looks.
But there is never a shortage of beauty lovers in this world. Beautiful losers can also attract fans, let alone a beautiful loser as upright and brave as Li Xiaogou.
Li Xiaogou attracted a lot of fans.
However, fans tried to control the comments using their real name, but found that Weibo reacted quickly and the three words "Li Xiaogou" were automatically associated with the "puppy growling" emoticon package.
At this moment, the protagonist at the center of the storm was sleeping soundly on the iron chair in the police station.
It wasn't until the morning light pierced through the gaps in the blinds and woke him up that he realized he had become a moving attraction.
"Can we take a picture together?" The trainee police officer held up his phone to his face and took a picture.
"Can you sign an autograph for my child?" The cleaning lady handed over the oil paper bag containing the hand-pulled pancake, her face full of anticipation.
"You're famous." Jiang Mu held back a laugh as he opened the door of the Special Investigation Bureau car. The bulletproof window reflected Li Xiaogou's alopecia, his hair sticking up. "Now the whole internet is asking for the same plastic tree root headgear."
Along the way, Jiang Mu explained to him what happened that night, and they just arrived at the Special Investigation Bureau after he finished.
Li Xiaogou stared at his own reflection on the metal access control panel of the Special Investigation Bureau - his messy hair was stained with wall dust, there were two dark circles under his eyes, and his face was pale, like a vampire.
When he arrived at the office, Yunlou was leaning in front of the tactical map with his arms folded. He nodded when he saw him.
"You're accepted."
"Ah?" Didn't you say that last night?
Yun Lou's fingertips slid across the holographic screen, and a trending search list floated in the air: "'Top star's drug abuse leads to an old cold case, and a mysterious extra turns out to be the key witness'—the deputy director saw this report and said you'd be perfect for our undercover agent in the entertainment industry."
"Undercover?" But he only wanted to join the Information Department.
Yunlou raised an eyebrow: "You don't want to?"
Li Xiaogou's pupils trembled: "But my acting skills are at the level of winning the Golden Raspberry Grand Slam..."
"That's why special training is needed." When Yunlou turned off the projector, Li Xiaogou caught a glimpse of the title "Relationship Map of Collapsed Artists in the Domestic Entertainment Industry" in his encrypted folder.
"The salary..."
"Are all meals included?"
"Do you have the five social insurances and one housing fund?"
"roll!"
As the metal door slammed shut behind him, Li Xiaogou heard Jiang Mu's stifled laughter: "Welcome to the Special Investigation Bureau's freshman training class."
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