Chapter 037 Scrap Collection Station
Jiang Nan is known for her ability to maintain a positive mood. After all, her life motto is to be cheerful wherever she goes. She quickly put aside her worries and began to enjoy a cheerful day.
Being a police officer is quite busy. She had only been on the job for three days. On the first day, she dealt with trivial matters all day long. On the second day, she attended the funeral of Zhou Zhixing's parents. On the third day, she received the case of Fan Taohua.
Just this afternoon, another report was received. Jiang Nan asked everyone curiously, "Are we this busy every day?"
Guan Shun looked at Jiang Nan strangely and said, "You don't know?"
Jiang Nan blinked her big eyes, full of confusion: "Know what?"
Guan Shun groaned, and seeing that she truly didn't know, he explained, "Actually, I wasn't this busy before. It's just that lately, there have been so many good people and good deeds, and everyone's been watching. You know, right?"
Jiang Nan was shocked: "This, this, they are not thinking?"
Wen Qiang smiled and continued, "Why not? Think about it, if a sixteen-year-old girl like you can be specially recruited into the police station, don't those boys think they can do it too? In the past, we had to deal with several fights between young people every day, but you've been here for three days and there hasn't been a single one. Don't you think it's strange? It's because everyone is busy doing good deeds and has no time for fighting."
"There aren't that many good people doing good things. Many of them are colluding to defraud our police station of letters of commendation and banners." Zou Li rubbed his eyes and said, "Team Three handled a case a few days ago. A young man arrested a thief and brought him to the police station. After less than two hours of interrogation, the thief was released. It turned out that the young man's parents bribed the thief to gain honor for their son and also wanted him to be specially recruited into the police station. What kind of thing is this? It's causing trouble."
"But you know what, there are fewer petty thefts recently," Wen Qiang said.
"Everyone is watching us. Who dares to take action at this time? That would be asking for death." Guan Shun replied.
Don't assume that just because we're poor now, there are no thieves. There are always people who want to get by without working hard and get away with it. As long as there are people like that, it's easy for petty thieves to thrive. And since life is better in the oil fields, there are more thieves.
Jiang Nan hadn't expected her visit to the police station to have such an impact. She said uncertainly, "So I guess I'm contributing to oilfield security, hahaha."
Guan Shun nodded and agreed, "That's fine. Lately, there have been fewer fights, but more reports of crime. They're all from these young people. One day they suspect an old lady taking a walk is stealing something, and the next day they suspect an old man is stalking the place. It keeps us field officers so busy."
The four of them chatted as they rode to the crime scene. This time, it was another case of a caring citizen reporting a fight at a scrap yard. As they chatted, they pedaled their bikes furiously, quickly arriving at the scene.
Scrap collection stations are a prime spot for finding bargains in period novels, appearing almost 100% of the time. Jiang Nan disembarked, feeling like a pilgrim, only to find a crowd gathered outside. The scrap collection station was tucked away in a relatively secluded corner of the work area, yet it still attracted so many people. It's clear that people who enjoy watching the action are everywhere.
The four of them quickly reached the center. The scrap yard was a large courtyard. Legend has it that it was once a place where landlords kept horses and raced horses. Because the space was large but there weren't many houses, it was used as a scrap yard. Upon entering, the yard was overflowing with miscellaneous items. Broken plastic boxes, thermos shells, and scraps of rubber—things that couldn't withstand the rain—were piled outside, while waste paper and rotten wood were piled inside the stables.
The four of them crossed the yard and entered the stables, where they saw two boys, about fifteen or sixteen, pinning a short, plump middle-aged man. The three of them were in the log area. The middle-aged man's face flushed red, and he struggled constantly, muttering curses. Seeing the police approach, his eyes flickered, but he didn't dare move.
When the two boys saw the police coming, one of them, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, immediately smiled broadly. He said, "Comrade police, you're finally here. My second brother and I have been keeping an eye on this guy for three days. He comes to the scrap yard every day to rummage through things, and he spends the whole afternoon rummaging. Don't you think he's suspicious? Today, he didn't find anything, and he was smashing things and cursing. I knew something was wrong, so I thought of subduing him and calling the police. Hehe."
Seeing the middle-aged man didn't move, he loosened one hand, scratched his head, chuckled twice, and said, "Well, police comrade, you are going to arrest him for questioning, right? If he has any problems, am I a good person? Can I get a letter of praise or something? Don't they say that if you do enough good deeds, you can be specially recruited as a police officer, hehe."
"Brother." The young man next to him whispered, "Why do you say everything?"
"Then I can't lie to the police, comrade police officer, am I right?"
Jiang Nan's eyes twitched, but Guan Shun said calmly, "Young comrade, don't worry. We will interrogate him thoroughly. If he is truly a bad element, we will definitely commend you. But whether he can be specially recruited into the police force is not up to me. I'm just a small police officer, and I don't care about these things. This is all up to the leadership to decide."
The boy chuckled twice and nodded, "I understand, I understand. Go interrogate him. There must be something wrong with him, otherwise why would he always come to the scrap collection station?"
Seeing the police didn't handcuff him, the middle-aged man quickly broke free from the two boys' hands and defended himself, "Officer, don't listen to their nonsense. I just... I just wanted to barter for something. The scrap yard is cheap, so that's why I came here. I've only been here three days in a row. That's nothing, right?"
His eyes flickered, and it was obvious he wasn't telling the truth. Guan Shun wasn't polite either. This kind of person would behave themselves in the police interrogation room. He said, "Comrade, since we've received the report, according to regulations, we need to ask you three to come to the police station to record your statements. If there's nothing wrong, we'll release you. Please rest assured. We won't wrongly accuse a good person, but we won't let a bad person go either. Please."
This is what it means to handle matters impartially. In fact, if it's a minor conflict, you don't need to take it to the police station if you explain it clearly. This middle-aged man isn't telling the truth. Since he's hiding something, don't blame the police for being rude. Guan Shun said, turning around and saying to the staff at the scrap yard, "Hello, comrade. Please don't let anyone into the scrap yard today. We may come back after we finish the interrogation. If too many outsiders come, it will affect our investigation. Please understand."
Guan Shun had a vague suspicion that the middle-aged man was looking for something. He was afraid that someone else might have guessed something and wait until they returned to interrogate him before looking for the item, and it might be gone.
The staff member was an old man in his fifties, his last name was Cai. Uncle Cai nodded and said, "Don't worry, young man. I will close the door after you leave, and no one will be allowed in."
These days, scrap collection stations are all public, so whether people come or not, Mr. Cai will still get his salary. It would be better if no one comes, as it would save him a lot of trouble. Mr. Cai agreed without hesitation.
Guan Shun was relieved and waved to everyone, "Wen Qiang, Zou Li, you two stay here and watch. Jiang Nan, come back with me."
The middle-aged man, with a mournful expression, walked slowly between Guan Shun and Jiang Nan. The two young men, on the other hand, looked excited. The younger one said, "Police comrades, you must conduct a thorough investigation and don't listen to his excuses. He must be in trouble. Look, he doesn't even dare to go to the police station. These days, what good person wouldn't dare go to the police station? I dared to go."
"I dare you too." The young man who spoke first puffed out his chest, proud and complacent, and glared at the middle-aged man fiercely. Humph, you dare to say that their brothers are talking nonsense? They don't. They have sharp eyes and a sharp gaze. Humph.
"Young man, what are your names? When you write a letter of praise from now on, you must have a title." Guan Shun asked as soon as he entered the police station.
"My name is Wang Zili, and this is my brother, Wang Gengsheng."
Guan Shun nodded and pushed the middle-aged man into the interrogation room, leaving him there for a while. He then came out, patted Wang Zili on the shoulder with a smile, and encouraged him, "You're good, young man. If there's any result, we'll send you a letter of praise as soon as possible."
The two brothers were so happy that they scratched their heads and laughed foolishly.
Guan Shun was also amused by what he saw. He waved over Jiang Nan and said to the two brothers, "This is Officer Jiang Nan. She's the one who was specially recruited to the police station because of her good deeds. She'll question you two in a moment, so you must tell her everything you know. Understand?"
The two brothers nodded frantically, patting their chests and saying, "Just wait and see, Officer Guan. We'll tell you everything we know."
Guan Shun smiled and nodded, raised his chin to Jiang Nan, and indicated that he would tell Deputy Director Lan.
Jiang Nan was so curious that she wanted to go to the interrogation room to find out what was going on. However, she had to suppress her curiosity and asked the two brothers to sit down and ask them how they had targeted the middle-aged man.
It's actually very simple. The two brothers graduated from junior high school and have no jobs. Their eldest sister works in a heating station and their eldest brother has gone to the countryside. They are not needed and have no jobs, so they have nothing to do all day.
The two brothers happened to have some carpentry skills, so they wanted to make some small gadgets to sell out, so they set their sights on the scrap collection station, because the things there were cheap. Some of the furniture was still in good condition after being smashed, so the two of them set their sights on this wood.
The two of them went there for two days in a row, and they ran into the middle-aged man every day. Originally, they didn't think it was a big deal, because they went there every day, so it didn't matter if other people went there.
But the middle-aged man had no goal in mind, picking up random things at random, not wanting the good wood, and even wanting to smash it into smaller pieces. Isn't that strange? The three of them even had a quarrel over this, and the two brothers then set their sights on the middle-aged man.
Wang Zilii was a thoughtful man. Thinking of the most talked-about thing in the oil field recently, that is, the little girl being specially recruited into the police station, he immediately became excited and the two brothers followed the girl for two consecutive days.
My goodness, this guy is really brazen, coming to the scrap yard every day. Without a second thought, the two brothers went up and pinned him down. The middle-aged man, a grown man, was much stronger than two teenagers, so a fight ensued. Fearing they could lose control, the two brothers asked their friends to help call the police.
Jiang Nan was taking notes quickly. After Wang Zili finished speaking, he asked curiously, "Officer Jiang, were you recruited because of some good deeds you did? People say you caught a murderer and that you know kung fu and can beat ten people at once. That's why you were recruited, right?"
Jiang Nan was speechless. When did she catch a murderer? She was fighting ten people at once. She wasn't a martial arts expert, so she was lucky to be able to fight four people at once.
Jiang Nan coughed lightly and said, "Don't listen to what people say. I do know kung fu, but it's not that great. And I didn't catch a murderer, I was a spy, but I can't say who I caught. But I've been doing good deeds since I was a child. If you don't believe me, ask Deputy Chief Lan of the police station. I've known him since I was less than ten years old, and I've been doing good deeds for more than six years."
Wang Zili scratched his head: "It's been so long. I'm already sixteen, and in six years I'll be twenty-two. I was thinking of becoming a police officer and getting married."
"You kid, you want to get married at the age of sixteen." Jiang Nan teased.
"Hey, why can't I think about it? My brother is one minute younger than me, and he still thinks about it."
"Jiang Nan, let's go to the scrap collection station." Guan Shun put on his hat, his face serious. Seeing that the three of them were already chatting, he knew that he had finished asking questions, so he called the two brothers and said, "You two can go back first. Don't worry, if it's true, you will definitely receive letters of commendation."
The two brothers left happily, and before leaving, they asked, "Are you going to the scrap yard? Do you need our help?"
Guan Shun waved his hand, and the two brothers stopped arguing and left humming a song.
Jiang Nan followed Guan Shun and asked, "Team Leader Guan, have you found out? What's going on?"
Guan Shun did not hide anything and repeated the middle-aged man's confession: "The middle-aged man's name is Zhang Dali, and his son Zhang San wears a red armband. A while ago, they smashed up a house. They said that the owner was an exploitative capitalist in the city. Although his assets had been handed over to the state, he still had some valuables hidden. So they went to his house to smash up the house. Zhang San found a wooden box that looked wrong, but he kept it secret and mixed it in with the smashed things, intending to pick it up at the scrap yard later. As it turned out, they probably got a good haul from the smashed house, and they've been very busy these days. So he asked his father to look for it at the scrap yard, but he couldn't find it after five days of searching. That's when he was caught."
Jiang Nan's mouth twitched. "Zhang San, what a sloppy name!" Look, every father has a name like "Da Li"—whether that's good or not is another matter, but naming your son "Zhang San" is just too much of a sham. It's said that boys are valued more than girls these days, but this shows you don't take your son seriously at all.
Jiang Nan didn't understand, but she held back and asked, "Why did he think of looking for it in the scrap yard afterwards? If he had wanted to, wouldn't he have hidden it right there?"
"The box was not small. It was said to be as big as a piece of letter paper. Where could he hide it? Besides, there were so many people watching, he couldn't do anything. He secretly kicked the box under the bed and smashed the bed. He thought the box should be fine, so he left with peace of mind." Guan Shun explained.
Jiang Nan had truly learned something new. To get rich, they'd think of anything. While the oilfield protests weren't very intense these days, they were still done to prevent disruptions to production, so red armbands could still be seen in the family compound. She worried, "Will the case be handed over to the Revolutionary Committee? After all, these are their families."
"So we have to act first and find the thing. Even if they want to do something, they won't be able to do it." Guan Shun glanced at Jiang Nan and said apologetically, "I might have to get off work late today. We have to find the thing."
"Okay, no problem." Although she had to work overtime, Jiang Nan was still very happy. Rummaging through the scrap yard, she wondered if she could find something. She asked, "Did he tell her what the box looked like?"
"It was a very ordinary willow box, painted yellow, with a circle of colored stones inlaid on the outside. It wasn't worth much. The circle of stones fell off when they were smashing it, but when the boy picked it up and threw it, he felt the weight of the box was wrong, so he became suspicious."
The two quickly arrived at the scrap yard, and Guan Shun knocked on the door: "Uncle Cai, Wen Qiang, Zou Li, open the door, we are here to investigate."
Although Mr. Cai was old, he was still very agile. He quickly opened the door and said, "Don't worry, police officer. I closed the door as soon as you left. No one has been in here. The two police officers can testify to this. Don't worry, I haven't moved anything. You will definitely find it. That man is obviously here to hunt for treasure. I've seen many people like him."
Seeing Wen Qiang and Zou Li nodding behind the old man, Guan Shun finally felt relieved.
The two men met up with Wen Qiang and Zou Li. Guan Shun was about to speak, but saw Uncle Cai standing there motionless. He raised his eyebrows, and Uncle Cai then walked out as if waking up from a dream.
Guan Shun whispered the middle-aged man's words again, and the four of them began to rummage through the wood area. Jiang Nan actually found some good wood, like a complete table leg and a wooden box with a missing lid. Although it wasn't a good wood, it was still intact. Her father liked to tinker with handicrafts, so who knows what he could make with it.
After searching for a long time, Jiang Nan finally figured it out. Treasure hunting here? That would be a dream.
If you think about it carefully, it becomes clear that people in any era are not fools.
Material resources were so scarce back then. Even if they were going to smash and destroy things, the red armbands would definitely check everything before they started. Even if they couldn't steal things openly, they could always do it covertly. Not all of those people were hot-blooded young men with brains gone wild.
Furthermore, if the smashed items were still usable, the red armbands would be sent to second-hand stores to be sold as funds for future activities. Only the tattered items would be sent to the scrap collection station. So, even if Jiang Nan wanted to hunt for treasure, he wouldn't do it here.
Jiang Nan searched diligently, putting aside some of the wood she liked. Seeing Guan Shun looking over, she scratched her head and said, "I saw that these woods were still intact, so I thought I could buy some and make something out of them."
"Okay, just don't forget the main thing." Guan Shun didn't care about that. The things in the scrap yard could be bought, so he wouldn't say anything.
Wen Qiang and Zou Li's eyes lit up and they followed suit.
"Comrade police officer, have some water." Grandpa Cai brought in four cups and handed them to everyone one by one. He smiled apologetically and asked, "Comrade police officer, when were you trying to find out? I sorted all the things. Tell me about it. Maybe I can provide some clues, right?"
Uncle Cai's eyes flickered. He had his own selfish motives. The police were definitely looking for something valuable. He wasn't looking for a meal, but a little soup would be nice. He'd worked here for seven or eight years. While the job wasn't glamorous, the income was truly good. He collected fine wood, broken pieces of ceramics, and some torn, aged paintings and calligraphy. These valuable items were always valuable; he kept them, hoping they would come in handy.
"No thanks." Guan Shun had no idea what the old man was thinking. He gulped down the water and handed it over, saying, "Thank you very much, uncle. We'll look through it today. If we can't find it, we won't come back."
Uncle Cai bowed and turned to leave. He realized that what the police were looking for was wood.
Jiang Nan raised an eyebrow and lowered his head to continue searching. There was indeed a lot of wood in the scrap yard. The good wood Jiang Nan had picked out was piled half a meter high, and there was no sign of the strange yellow willow box.
She stood up and pounded her waist, not forgetting to chat with the system: "Xiao Tong, did you scan it? Did that person tell the truth? Is it really just a small box?"
Yes, it was a box. The father and son thought there was gold in the box, so they hid it.
"Okay." Jiang Nan comforted himself, "God will give great responsibilities to this person..."
As the sky grew darker, Guan Shun turned on his flashlight and fixed it on the diagonal windowsill. The four of them continued to search. Jiang Nan's hair was all dusty. Fortunately, she had short hair, so she could just comb it a few times. Otherwise, long hair would be even more unsightly.
"Xiao Nan." Jiang Mancheng was carrying a lunch box, and Chen Jinhua was pushing a cart with a lunch box hanging on the right handlebar. The two were calling people at the door of the purchasing station.
Jiang Nan heard the voice and ran to open the door happily: "Dad, Mom, why are you here?"
"It's already this late, and you haven't come home yet. Your mom and I must be worried. I went to bring you food. Your colleagues said you were at the purchasing station, so your mom and I came here." Jiang Mancheng explained, and at the same time stepped forward and shook hands with Guan Shun. "You are Team Leader Guan, right? Xiaonan told me that you are an excellent team leader. Thank you so much for taking care of me. Xiaonan is a spoiled girl, and you must take good care of her."
As he spoke, he didn't forget to open his lunch box to take credit: "I heard that your team is all here and haven't eaten yet, so Xiaonan's mother and I came here specially to bring some extra food. Team leader Guan, Qiangzi, and Zou Li, you all eat too. It's not a good thing. If you don't eat it, you're looking down on me, Jiang Mancheng."
Guan Shun and the other two looked at the scrambled eggs with green onions in their lunch boxes and swallowed. To be honest, who wouldn't be hungry at this time? Didn't you see Jiang Nan's saliva dripping?
Guan Shun was not one to shy away, and said straightforwardly, "Then I won't be polite. After eating your delicious food today, I will do my best to take care of Jiang Nan next time."
He was joking, but Jiang Mancheng waved his hand: "Just kidding, just kidding. Even if you don't eat, Team Leader Guan, you're still very sincere to everyone. You, I can tell at a glance that you're a sincere person."
Wen Qiang and Zou Li nodded. Guan Shun has always been very influential in the group, and everyone agreed with this statement.
Jiang Nan smiled and felt warm in her heart. Her father never forgot to pave the way for her.
The four of them didn't waste any more time, each grabbing a pair of chopsticks and beginning to eat, while Jiang Mancheng and Chen Jinhua helped rummage through the box. It was just a box, and since they were both police officers' families, Guan Shun didn't hide it. Jiang Mancheng was, after all, Jiang Nan's father; the two of them were of the same caliber, both putting away the goodies as they searched.
Perhaps the four of them had almost finished their search, because Jiang Mancheng hadn't been looking for long when he held up a yellow box with a missing lid and asked, "Team Leader Guan, can you take a look and see if this is it?"
Guan Shun had already finished eating and covered his lunch box. He took two or three steps forward, shook the box, and nodded. "Yes, this is it. Let's look for it again and try to find the lid as well."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Jinhua screamed, "Oh, is this it?"
Jiang Nan swallowed. She and her colleagues had been searching for so long, but how come her parents had found it so quickly? Could it be that her parents had a koi-like constitution?
Jiang Nan was daydreaming, so beautiful that it was bubbling.
Guan Shun was also extremely happy. He didn't expect to find it so quickly. He said, "Let's go and send him to the police station. Inspectors Lan and Shen are waiting."
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