Chapter 72 Case Follow-up
The crowd burst into laughter, and the third concubine said angrily: "I provided the capital for the gambling house. Giving you one month's gambling money is already the most I can do. You have never worked, and yet you want a share of the profits." As she spoke, she quietly glanced at the man on the ground.
The middle-aged man clutched his bundle tightly in his right hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his left hand. When no one noticed, he whipped his right hand, pulled out a pistol from his bundle, and jumped up, threatening, "Get down, or I'll be rude to you!"
The third concubine was not in a hurry. She watched Lin Er and his group lie down reluctantly, and then glanced at Jiang Nan and the other three.
The middle-aged man's hand holding the gun slowly shifted direction. Just when everyone thought he was going to make Jiang Nan and the other three lie down, the middle-aged man suddenly pointed at the third concubine and said with a smile, "Give me the bag."
The third concubine looked at the man as if she couldn't believe it.
The middle-aged man laughed, then pouted and said loudly, "I said, give me the bag."
"Dad." The young man was a little bit incredulous. He took a few steps to stand in front of the third wife and said angrily, "Are you kidding me? The gun is not aimed at our own people."
"One of us?" The middle-aged man seemed to have heard a huge joke. He pointed at himself with his other hand and said, "Ask your mother if she considers me one of her own! I'm a son-in-law, sure, but I'm not a coward. I don't want to be cuckolded all the time! Don't call me dad. You're not my son. We've never been one of us."
The third concubine chuckled: "Since you know that I never considered you as my own, why don't you think about why I would let you hold a gun?"
Seeing the man's surprise, the third wife pushed aside her son who was blocking her way, and calmly took out another gun from her bag. She held it up and said, "Your gun has never been empty. This one of mine is the only one that's actually loaded with bullets."
Jiang Nan and the other four: Uh, they seem a bit redundant in this scene.
Lin Er and the other two idiots squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands. Seeing the three men holding two guns, they were already scared to death. Lin Er trembled and said, "I... We don't want any money. You guys can go away and pretend we've never been here, okay?"
The third concubine and the middle-aged man roared in anger: "Not good!"
After yelling, the middle-aged man opened the gun chamber and saw that there was no bullet inside. He said angrily: "Okay, you have been wanting to see me make a fool of myself for a long time, right? You vicious woman, you..."
Without a word, the third concubine shot the middle-aged man in the leg. She said, "Stop pretending to be a good person here. If it weren't for me, you would have starved to death. You were the one who was dishonest first. What's wrong with me looking for a man? Stop pretending to be innocent. I was able to return to Baishui from the provincial capital with my valuables, so I won't let anyone bully me."
She raised her pistol and looked around. Jiang Nan and the other three raised their hands in surrender. Although she and Zhou Zhixing were police officers, they were not usually equipped with guns when on missions. Moreover, they were out for fun today, so it would be strange for them to have guns.
The four of them obviously underestimated the enemy this time. No one expected that the third concubine's family actually had guns.
The Third Wife: "Son, go get your uncle Gao's bag, let's go."
The young man wiped his face, looked at the woman, then looked at the man he had always called Dad. His eyes were slightly red. He lowered his head and walked forward, bending down to pick up the bag. But the man didn't seem to want to give up. He grabbed the young man's neck and the two rolled into a ball in an instant.
Seeing this, the third concubine fired a shot into the ground with a bang and threatened: "Let go of my son!"
The middle-aged man was frightened by the gunshot and paused for a moment. It was this moment of hesitation that led to another gunshot and the middle-aged man fell to the ground instantly.
The young man was completely frightened. He screamed and pushed the man away. His eyes were dull as he saw the blood spurting out of his body. He let out a howl and fainted on the ground.
The third concubine held the gun and quickly retreated in front of the two men. The moment she bent down to check on her son, she felt a pain on the back of her hand and the loaded gun fell to the ground. Zhou Zhixing had moved closer and swept his long legs. Jiang Mancheng bent down and picked up the gun that had been kicked towards him, shouting, "Don't move!"
The third concubine closed her eyes and chuckled twice: "I didn't expect that it would fall into your hands in the end."
She raised her hands and said, "Come on, I accept the loss. I own the gambling house, and it has nothing to do with my son. He is young and has never been involved in these things."
Jiang Nan searched the forest for a while, and together with Zhou Zhixing, they picked up some vines and tied up Lin Er and the other three people, along with the Third Wife's family. Then, he and Jiang Mancheng divided the work. "Dad, Mom, you stay here and guard. Zhou Zhixing and I will go to the police station to call for backup. We have to get them all to the police station today."
Jiang Mancheng held his gun in the most standard posture, showing no sign of relaxing. He said seriously, "Okay, you guys go ahead. Your mother and I will watch here."
Jiang Nan thought for a moment and advised, "Dad, you... don't have to act so conspicuously. Really, even if you're not tired, I'm tired just watching you."
This was Jiang Mancheng's first time, and possibly his last time, holding a gun. He was so happy that he didn't care at all when his daughter sabotaged him. He said, "What do you know? Dad, this is called being handsome."
Zhou Zhixing complimented him: "Uncle Jiang, your movements are so standard that if you didn't know me, you would be mistaken for a veteran Red Army soldier."
For the first time, Jiang Mancheng felt that his future son-in-law understood him. He raised the corner of his mouth and said modestly, "Well, I can't call him a veteran Red Army soldier, but I'm a little better than a police officer like you."
Jiang Nan: “…”
"Dad, you can't just shoot. Uh, how about having Zhou Zhixing and you watch here while Mom and I go get someone from the police station? I'm worried about you holding the gun like that all the time."
Jiang Mancheng maintained his posture and said, "Okay, anything is fine. I won't shoot. You and Jinhua don't have to worry. It's okay to go slowly..."
Jiang Nan took Chen Jinhua's arm and flew down the mountain. On the way, Jiang Nan couldn't help but complain: "Mom, my dad is really good. He doesn't feel tired even if he lifts it like that."
Chen Jinhua: "Your dad wanted to be a movie star since he was little. He wanted to play a revolutionary who killed bad guys. Now he's touching a gun, so he's excited."
Both of them were very strong and rode their bicycles at the speed of a car, arriving at the police station in an hour.
After hearing the two people's report, Lan Qingshan and Shen Mingguang's eyes shone brightly in the broad daylight like stars in the dark night. Shen Mingguang laughed heartily: "Xiao Nan is simply a lucky star for the police station. Before he even arrived, he helped us catch the oil thief and the spy. After coming in, he has solved major cases one after another. Great, great."
He patted Jiang Nan's shoulder hard and said to Lan Qingshan, "Notify all field officers at home to gather at the police station."
Jiang Nan and Lan Qingshan rode their bicycles, calling everyone one by one. Since it was the weekend, eight of the twenty-four field workers had gone to visit relatives, leaving the remaining fourteen all present. They all rode their bicycles, led by Shen Mingguang and Lan Qingshan, and headed in a mighty procession to the Shan'aozi Brigade.
On the mountain, Jiang Mancheng had had enough of the drama and finally resigned himself to handing his gun to Zhou Zhixing, sitting on a rock to rest. The two of them didn't have to wait long, less than three hours, before Jiang Nan and Chen Jinhua led the group up the mountain.
Looking at the heavy men tied together on the ground, Shen Mingguang felt refreshed. The troublesome gambling house case was solved!
By the time they were escorted back to the police station, it was already 4:30 in the afternoon. Shen Mingguang waved his hand and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Xiaonan and Xiaozhou. You two can go back now. Don't worry, you will be credited with the first merit in this case!"
Jiang Nan immediately smiled: "Thank you, Director."
Jiang Mancheng argued for his rights: "Director Shen, what about Jinhua and me? We have made contributions this time, right? This letter of commendation is a must, right?"
Shen Mingguang squinted at him and said, "You've been working here for so many years, and you still want a letter of commendation from our police station?"
Jiang Mancheng was excited: "Why not? This is an honor! Who would complain about too much honor, right?"
"Okay, don't worry, I will definitely give you a letter of praise."
All four of them got what they wanted and left satisfied.
When the crowds had thinned out, Jiang Nan happily announced, "The probability of explosion has dropped to 55%!"
The joy in the corners of his eyes and eyebrows instantly infected the other three people.
Jiang Mancheng said, "That's great! This is a blessing in disguise. Although we underestimated the enemy, fortunately none of us were injured. Let's go to the state-owned restaurant and celebrate."
Everyone agreed. In less than half a year, they had reduced the probability from 100% to 55%. Shouldn't they celebrate? If there were other entertainment options, Jiang Nan would have wanted to stay up all night.
Since they no longer had to pretend to be ghosts to scare people, it was not yet seven o'clock when the four of them came out of the state-owned restaurant.
Now that the weather is getting cooler, people don’t go out for a walk after dinner. Most of them bring a small stool and sit at the door to chat.
When the four of them arrived, they heard everyone talking at once, seemingly trying to persuade Old Lady Cao.
"Aunt Cao, calm down. Dachui was being rude today. Don't bother with him."
"That's right, Aunt Cao, you are such a magnanimous person. Why would you bother with Dachui? He is just a scoundrel."
Wu Dachui snorted angrily, "How am I so reckless? The man today was not good-looking to begin with, so why can't I just tell the truth? I am an honest person and I don't tell those empty lies."
After retorting, he shouted downstairs: "Aunt Cao, this is not my fault. I just said something that looked old, and she got angry. I can't afford to serve a woman with such a bad temper."
Old Mrs. Cao sat on the third floor, snorting and not bothering to refute. He was just saying that she looked old. Who wouldn't be angry to say that this woman looked older than his deceased mother? She snorted and shouted upstairs: "Wu Dachui, don't come to me for your problems in the future. I don't care."
Wu Dachui leaned over from upstairs and explained, "Aunt Cao, it's really not my fault for what happened today..."
Old Mrs. Sui was listening to the commotion on the fifth floor. She glanced back at her eldest granddaughter, who had been divorced and sent home, her eyes darting. Why hadn't she considered that, while Wu Dachui was older than Xiaoyun, his son and daughter-in-law were both regular employees, and he himself was strong and able-bodied, capable of handling the dirty work in the oil fields. Supporting a young Sui Yun wouldn't be easy. Her Sui Yun, divorced and sent back to her parents' home, couldn't just sit there and wait. She had to start looking for someone while she was still young.
Old Lady Sui leaned forward and said to Wu Dachui, "Dachui, what kind of person are you looking for? Tell me and I'll find one for you."
Wu Dachui didn't expect such a good thing to happen, so he immediately repeated the conditions.
Old Mrs. Sui didn't take it seriously, but she acted as if her compliments were free. She agreed with everything Wu Dachui said, and praised Wu Dachui so much that he wanted to become her confidant.
Inside the house, Wang Jianyu touched her belly and whispered to Wu Jianguo with a serious face, "Sui Yun divorced and returned to her parents' home. The Sui family will definitely marry her off again. What do you think... is Grandma Sui attracted to Dad?"
Wu Jianguo was shocked. Yes, although in his subconscious mind, Sui Yun was of the same generation as him, the two families had no relationship. Sui Yun was almost thirty years old and could indeed marry his father.
Wu Jianguo's expression froze, and he whispered, "I know. If this doesn't work out, the Sui family is a hell of a place. Don't worry, I'll be watching over Dad."
Not only Wang Yanjiu, but anyone with a bit of common sense in the building noticed something was going on. Sun Qiaolian pouted and whispered, "Shameless."
Seeing Jiang Nan and Zhou Zhixing return, Fang Nanshan's eyes dimmed slightly. He had been released yesterday after a few questions, as he had nothing to do with the gambling incident. His emotions were churning, and he turned back to his room.
Seeing this, Jiang Nan chatted with the system in his mind: "Does he want Sun Qiaolian to seduce Uncle Zhou?"
"Yes, host. Fang Nanshan lost face in front of you and Zhou Zhixing and wants to redeem himself. He wants Sun Qiaolian to seduce Zhou Yuanqing, so he can use this as leverage against him and embarrass Zhou Zhixing."
Downstairs, Zhou Zhixing raised the corners of his mouth. Very good, it seems that he needs to talk to his uncle and aunt.
Upstairs, Jiang Nan passed the message to Zhou Zhixing through the system and returned home with peace of mind.
The next day, upon arriving at work, Jiang Nan and Zhou Zhixing were singled out for praise by Shen Mingguang. This time, the office was even more generous, handing each of them twenty industrial vouchers. Shen Mingguang said, "The oilfield attaches great importance to this gambling house case. These vouchers were issued by the oilfield, specifically to commend you for your outstanding performance in handling the case. I hope Jiang Nan and Zhou Zhixing will continue their efforts and contribute to the safety of the oilfield!"
Jiang Nan was delighted, and even happier because today was the day the police station distributed military coats. Nowadays, police uniforms and active-duty military uniforms are essentially identical. The military coats were similar, too. As soon as they were issued, Jiang Nan couldn't resist putting them on and taking a walk.
It is worthy of being military supplies, the quality is really impeccable. I can stand outside motionless for half an hour and not feel cold.
Seeing that everyone had calmed down, Lan Qingshan clapped his hands and called for the field staff: "Let's have a meeting. This gambling house case has sounded the alarm for both the oil field and the police station. The oil field is going to work with our police station to conduct a tour of the surrounding brigades, focusing on those brigades where oil field work teams are stationed. They must do a good job of managing the oil field employees. The captains of each rural brigade must also do a good job of supervision and urge the unemployed villagers to work hard. Group 6 is responsible for the investigation of the gambling house case, so they don't need to go out for inspection this time. Now I will assign the work arrangements for the other groups..."
Jiang Nan breathed a sigh of relief. Riding a bike outside in this weather was already painful enough.
Because the Third Concubine and Lin Er had already admitted to running a gambling house during their confrontation that day, the interrogation didn't take long. The Third Concubine's idea of opening a gambling house to make money stemmed from her time as a concubine in the provincial capital, where she socialized and played mahjong with other concubines. Initially, she operated a small operation, simply providing a place to play mahjong and charging a small entrance fee, much like a mahjong parlor in later times. However, as the profits grew, Lin Er and his men began cheating and defrauding people in the mahjong parlor. The Third Concubine decided to go all out and opened her own gambling house, hiring Lin Er and his men to work for her.
After the interrogation, it was time to get off work. The two men went home directly in their military coats. Although they didn't attract 100% attention along the way, they still attracted everyone's attention and salutes.
The weather was getting colder. After finishing this week's inspection work, Jiang Nan, wearing a military coat, returned to the Xihe'an Brigade with Jiang Mancheng, Chen Jinhua and Zhou Zhixing on the weekend.
Jiang Gui's marriage was finalized, and as Jiang Mancheng's uncle, it was natural for him to attend the wedding. Jiang Nan still remembered the time Jiang Gui sent steamed bread to Tang Xi. He wondered if he had forgotten her. If he still cared about Tang Xi but married someone else, Jiang Nan would have something to say about this cousin.
But Jiang Gui was clearly a shrewd person. Ever since Tang Xi and the original male protagonist's relationship became stable, Jiang Gui had given up on the idea. The girl she'd settled on wasn't much worse than Tang Xi: Luo Tao, one of the few in the village who'd passed the exam to become a worker. The two families were familiar with each other. Luo Tao's mother, Aunt Chunxing, was the village matchmaker and had long had her eye on Jiang Gui. Whenever Jiang Mancheng came home, Aunt Chunxing was always present, fearing Jiang Mancheng would interfere in Jiang Gui's marriage. And so, after such meticulous precautions, she finally secured the marriage for her daughter.
Luo Tao was two years older than Jiang Tong, a high school graduate, and a good match for Jiang Gui. The wedding banquet was magnificent; Jiang Manpo had somehow managed to find a roe deer, and the meat and vegetables were plentiful.
As his uncle, Jiang Mancheng gave him two thermoses, two four-piece sets, and two enamel teacups—considered a substantial gift. Jiang Nan gave ten of his industrial coupons to Jiang Gui, and Zhou Zhixing followed suit, also giving him some.
The four of them drank the wedding wine and when they returned home, it was already seven o'clock in the evening.
Hearing the footsteps of the four returning, Sun Qiaolian, who was inside the house, had a dark look in her eyes. She had attacked Zhou Yuanqing today, not only having suffered a loss, but also being caught red-handed by Huang Yuxiu and the others from the pharmacy, and being scolded by everyone. Although she had refused to admit to seduction, word had spread, and she hadn't dared leave the house all day.
She lowered her eyes, thinking about talking to her son again. After Meijuan married, she would be the mother-in-law. She could take the initiative to flirt with men, but she couldn't reveal her true intentions.
She has to stand up straight in front of her daughter-in-law.
After attending the wedding, Jiang Nan, who felt that things were going particularly well recently, received new good news in the new week.
The investigation results of the Lu Jiahui and Su Shuixian spy case were announced, and Jiang Nan was specifically mentioned and praised in the announcement. Before she could digest this great news, she received a promise of an exceptional promotion in Shen's office next year.
When she emerged from Shen's office, dazed and distraught, she felt as if she hadn't transmigrated into a book, but into a koi fish. These few days were her lucky days; no matter what she did, good news awaited her.
In just one morning, a crowd gathered around the case report. Wang Zili and Wang Gengsheng read it over and over again. They wanted to be police officers, so they weren't afraid to go to the police station. After reading the notice, they ran to Jiang Nan to inquire about the situation with the spy arrest, their eyes darting around, clearly wanting to copy the original.
Jiang Nan, who finally regained consciousness, tapped their foreheads and said earnestly, "I know Kung Fu. When you two can defeat me, then you can think about arresting people. Do you understand?"
She warned them, "If you see anyone suspicious, report it to the police station and we'll investigate. If I find out you two are acting alone, I'll tell Sister Yanchi and have them beat up."
Jiang Nan thought for a moment, then took the two to the police station cafeteria and demonstrated a basic set of boxing techniques in public. The moves were simple, but the punches were sharp and practical, which made Wang Zili and Wang Gengsheng very excited. Jiang Nan demonstrated it twice more, and after confirming that they had memorized it, he said, "You two should practice first. When you are good at it, come to me and I will teach you the second set of boxing techniques, okay? When you have learned the third set of boxing techniques, we can talk about fighting."
What Jiang Nan didn't know was that after this announcement went out, it wasn't just Wang Zili and Wang Gengsheng who were encouraged. Everyone was gathering their strength, hoping to capture the spies and gain merit. While they didn't want to go to the police station, who wouldn't want the glaring credit and honor? Her warnings were ultimately just empty words.
Some were inspired, while others were terrified. Old Wu, the old neighbor in Courtyard No. 1, was one of those terrified. To be more precise, he was not just terrified, but actually fainted from fear.
Old Wu had a lot of experience with Su Shuixian. If he was not an oil field worker and could not provide any useful information, he would have been arrested long ago.
The other brothers of the Nian family immediately severed ties with Nian Weiguo in a newspaper announcement. Even the old man of the Nian family, who had been living with his youngest son in his old age, was instigated by Fan Taohua to kick Nian Weiguo out of the house.
Nian Weiguo had no choice but to live in the dormitory, and quietly cleaned the toilet under the strange looks of others.
However, these have nothing to do with Jiang Nan for the time being. She and Zhou Zhixing have returned to work as normal. They had just finished sorting out the case and handed over the gambling house case in the morning, and were already dealing with trivial matters in the afternoon.
It wasn't a big deal, just a chicken lost in the FRP community. Coincidentally, the family that lost the chicken was Bai Shun's.
The person reporting the case was Bai Shun's youngest daughter, Bai Liujin, who was only ten years old. When she ran to the police station, there were still scratches on her face. With red eyes, the little girl ignored her mother's dissuasion and insisted on finding Jiang Nan. She said, "Officer Jiang, I want to report a case. My chickens were stolen by Wang Fugui. You guys hurry up and catch him!"
Jiang Nan had met Bai Liujin before when he went to the Bai family's house. Seeing the girl with a facial injury, he didn't rush to ask about the case. Instead, he asked with concern: "Liujin, what's wrong with your face? Did you get into a fight?"
Bai Liujin's eyes were red and he didn't say anything. His mother Hong Na lowered her head and didn't say anything either.
Jiang Nan's heart sank, knowing that the Bai family must have been targeted due to Bai Shun's influence. She didn't ask any more questions and followed the other members of Group 6 to the Fiberglass Residential Area to investigate.
Nowadays, every household can raise two chickens. Jiang Nan lives in a tube-shaped building where there is no condition and no one raises chickens. However, here in the fiberglass community, which is a bungalow, almost every household has made chicken coops and raises chickens in them.
When the four arrived, a large crowd had already gathered outside Bai Shun's house. The two daughters-in-law of the Bai family were guarding the chicken coop, not letting anyone approach. Seeing the police coming, the crowd fell silent for a moment, pointing and talking at the Bai family. They had never expected that this family would actually dare to call the police.
Zhou Zhixing searched around in the crowd. The original owner's face was still very intimidating. At this moment, he had a serious face, which made the lady and the boy lower their heads.
He understood and leaned down to examine Bai Shun's chicken coop. It was a simple coop, woven from thin bamboo strips. It was small, just enough for two chickens. The bottom of the coop was padded with hay. A lone chicken clucked twice at Zhou Zhixing.
Zhou Zhixing carefully examined the hay and basically determined how to find the perpetrator.
On the other side, Jiang Nan, the only female comrade, comforted Hong Na and her two daughters-in-law: "Auntie, sister-in-law, don't worry, we will investigate carefully. If anyone stole the chicken, we will catch them."
Hong Na lowered her brows and nodded almost imperceptibly. Compared to last time, her shoulders were much more hunched. It was obvious that she had been hearing a lot of gossip recently, and the guilty conscience had exacerbated her inner inferiority, making her a little timid.
Bai Liujin's eyes were stubborn, and he stiffened his neck as he said, "It was Wang Fugui who did it. I smelled the chicken his family had for lunch, and I even saw the chicken bones they threw out!"
In the crowd, the old lady's eyes flashed. She didn't dare to curse in front of the police, but she denied it flatly: "You little bastard, stop talking nonsense. My chickens are bought, don't accuse me. Police comrades, don't believe her words. She is the child of a gambler, and her words cannot be trusted. My family..."
Jiang Nan interrupted, "Comrade, we will naturally investigate. Please be quiet. Bai Liujin, can you tell me why you suspect it was Wang Fugui?"
Bai Liujin said angrily, "He said his father learned gambling from my dad and that my dad is a bad guy."
Bai Liujin wiped his tears and continued, "He's talking nonsense. My dad is not a bad guy. His dad didn't learn from my dad. We clearly went together. I know that his dad and my dad often go in and out together on the team. I was even thinking that my dad was led astray by his dad."
Jiang Nan nodded and turned to the old lady, "Excuse me, what is your name? When did you buy the chicken? Which supply and marketing cooperative did you buy it from? Do you remember who the salesperson was? We need to verify the situation."
The old lady stammered, "Why do you believe everything he says? My family bought it. There are many families in the community who eat chicken. Do you have to verify every one of them? You are police officers, and you just accuse people without any investigation..."
Zhou Zhixing stood up, clapped his hands for silence, and pointed to the chicken coop. "There's a bloodstain in the coop. It must be from a chicken biting my hand while I was trying to catch it."
As he spoke, he looked at the boy next to the old lady and asked, "Wang Fugui, do you still want to hide it? How did you get the injury on your right hand?"
Wang Fugui was only an eleven-year-old boy. Upon hearing this, he immediately covered his right hand and stammered, "I...I...didn't mean to do that, I..."
The old lady suddenly slapped her thigh and cried, "Is there any law? The police are scaring children, not helping innocent people like us, but colluding with gamblers..."
Bai Liujin cried and shouted, "Your family is the gambler. My father was led astray by Wang Liu. Your family is the bad people. Wang Liu's nickname is Liu Tiao. Police comrades, go search his house. He has mahjong at home and plays mahjong every day. His family is the gambler."
The old lady's sobs suddenly stopped. Thinking of the mahjong at home, her face softened and she began to plead for her grandson: "Comrade police officer, my grandson is ignorant and just greedy. He stole a chicken in the middle of the night. It's not a big deal. I'll just give him one back. Seriously. I'm willing to return it."
Zhou Zhixing didn't want to search the house for no reason, so he asked sternly about the reason for stealing the chicken. After they finished, before leaving, Jiang Nan said loudly, "The gambling case hasn't been sentenced yet. Bai Shun, Wang Liu, and the others are still being detained and questioned. We're not only colleagues and family members, but also neighbors. We should practice harmony in our daily interactions. If anything else happens, our police station will report it to the oil field and criticize everyone."
Seeing everyone's heads bowed, Jiang Nan didn't care if they were listening and continued, "Stealing is no small matter. If proven true, you could be detained for five days. It will also be recorded in your file, and it will affect your future job search, promotion, and rating. Don't take it lightly. Today, considering that this is Comrade Wang Fugui's first offense and he voluntarily compensated the owner for his losses, the police station will not punish him. But if he commits the same offense again in the future, it won't be so simple."
After a lot of beating and pulling, it finally had some effect. The old lady flattered him and promised to keep a close eye on him, and then Jiang Nan and the other three left.
On the way, the four of them rode their bikes in silence, not saying much. Suddenly, Wang Zili and Wang Gengsheng appeared in front of them. The two young men, their faces brimming with excitement, were escorting a middle-aged man with pointed cheeks and monkey features. They were flanked by four or five indignant middle-aged men and women. One of them, with long curly hair and dressed in a cadre uniform, would occasionally punch the middle-aged man in anger.
Jiang Nan stopped his bike and shouted, "Self-reliance, rehabilitation, what are you two doing?"
After dealing with the "chicken theft incident" in the FRP community, Jiang Nan and his three companions came out and unexpectedly ran into the brothers Wang Zili and Wang Gengsheng, who were excitedly escorting the thief to the police station.
Jiang Nan called out to them. Wang Zili and Wang Gengsheng stopped, scratching their heads with one hand and grinning. Dabolang, who was standing beside them, breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Oh, police comrades, you're here! These two guys are doing a good deed and helped us catch the thief! Look, that's him."
Big Wave pointed at the sharp-nosed monkey and said, "He stole my bag and ran off, swooshing away like crazy. Luckily, these two guys were able to run and chased me for two miles before finally getting it back for me. Otherwise, our company would have lost the payment for goods today. It's several thousand, which is no small amount. Police officers, you must severely punish this thief and praise these two guys."
Jiang Nan raised an eyebrow, glanced at the two brothers who were so happy that they didn't know what to do, and asked, "Comrade, can you tell me what unit you work for? How did you bring so much money? Did this thief always follow you, or did he act on impulse?"
Big Wave: "I'm the treasurer of the heating station. Today I have to go to the coal plant to pay the deposit. Our oil field will be heating soon, and our company must ensure the supply of coal. Today, four colleagues and I went to pay the deposit, and this guy followed us all the way."
She continued, "At first, Section Chief Lu was holding the bag, but he had to go to the restroom and gave it to me for safekeeping. That's when these guys took action, snatched the bag, and ran away. They were so fast that four or five of us couldn't catch up. It was only because these two guys ran so fast that they helped us recover our losses."
After explaining, she sincerely praised the two brothers, "Be self-reliant and make a living. Don't worry, our heating department will definitely send you letters of praise. Police comrades, you should also send letters of praise. This is considered a brave act, right? We can't let your help go in vain."
"Yes, yes, it's all thanks to those two young men. Police comrades, you must praise them well."
"That's right."
Several colleagues from Dabolang spoke up, making Wang Zilii and Wang Gengsheng's eyes shine even brighter.
Jiang Nan and the other three found it very interesting. They pretended to take careful notes of everyone's comments and said they would listen to everyone's opinions and actively make suggestions to the director.
Because the amount involved was quite large, Jiang Nan took several people to the police station. After confirming that the money was not missing and that the thief had no accomplices, they had someone sign a statement of the case. The thief was taken to a holding cell and would be transferred the next day.
At the door, after the people from the heating station left, Zhou Zhixing patted the two brothers on the shoulders and warned them, "Let's just catch the thief today, but don't be impulsive next time, okay? What if he has accomplices? You two could very well get hurt."
Wang Zili said cheerfully, "Officer Zhou, Sister Xiaonan, Gengsheng and I have been practicing martial arts every day recently, using the same set of skills that Sister Xiaonan taught us. We will be careful."
Jiang Nan felt relieved. After Zhou Zhixing sent them off, he said to Jiang Nan, "Don't worry. You two have received four or five letters of praise this year, right? I guess Chief Lan has taken them to heart. If there's any temporary job opportunity, he'll think of them first."
The two brothers were single-minded in their work as police officers, neither causing trouble nor fearing it, and they had a good reputation within the police station. Jiang Nan wasn't the only one who took notice; Directors Lan Qingshan and Shen Mingguang also took note. However, during this difficult period, many of the police station's functions had been taken over by the Revolutionary Committee, making it difficult to apply for staffing positions, so they had to resort to temporary employment.
As the sky darkened, Jiang Nan and Zhou Zhixing were leaving work when they happened to run into Old Wu and Wu Dachui, who had just returned. Old Wu was pale, as if he had suffered a major blow, his eyes gleaming with fear, his body hunched over, as if he had aged ten years in an instant, and he needed Wu Dachui's support to walk.
On the side, Old Lady Sui brought Sui Yun and asked Wu Dachui about his well-being.
Old Lady Sui: "Hey, Dahammer, what happened to Old Wu? How could he faint after reading an announcement? Are you okay? What did the doctor say?"
Wu Dachui's face darkened. He said perfunctorily, "It's okay. My dad didn't have breakfast and is hungry. Just hang two bottles of glucose and he'll be fine. Haha, haha."
Old Mrs. Sui didn't care about Old Wu at all. She didn't listen to what Wu Dachui said and secretly poked her eldest granddaughter who was standing aside.
Sui Yun's face turned pale. She looked up and saw Wu Dachui's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot. She shuddered with fear and hummed like a mosquito: "Dachui...Brother Dachui, if you are too busy, I will go to your house to help..."
Wu Dachui was in a state of confusion and didn't notice Sui Yun's address. He caught a glimpse of Jiang Nan and Zhou Zhixing coming back, and his heart skipped a beat. He ignored the two people from the Sui family and quickly returned home with the old man.
Jiang Nan shrugged. No one had expected that Old Wu had a relationship with Su Shuixian. It was good enough that he could escape unscathed. It was good that he was scared, so that the old pervert would not change his evil intentions and harm other people again.
This old guy took advantage of Gaigai in the past.
Thinking of this, Jiang Nan checked the explosion probability in the system and found that it had dropped from 55% to 50%! Could this old Wu also be related to the explosion?
She quickened her pace and could still hear the voice of Old Lady Sui scolding her granddaughter from behind.
Jiang Mancheng, the Jiang family, had a darker heart. After learning what happened today, he said quietly, "If Wu Chunli wasn't Wu Dachui's daughter, would Old Wu... then, it wouldn't be so hard to understand why Chunli wanted to blow up the building, right?"
Jiang Nan's mind went blank for a moment. She was not a sixteen-year-old girl who knew nothing. She was worried about Wu Chunli in another time and space. She must have suffered so much.
Seeing that everyone understood, Jiang Mancheng continued, "A sudden drop of five points means that Old Wu can no longer do anything to Chun-Li. He must have been scared... scared to death."
Chen Jinhua's expression instantly turned from fury to surprise, and she said happily, "Serves him right! He should have been crippled long ago! If this weren't just our speculation, I really want to cripple him myself! This kind of person is so fucking disgusting!"
With the constant stream of good news, the four decided to hold an impromptu "Sit in a Row and Eat Fruit" event. This time, they were tasting Ruby Roman grapes, known as the "God of Grapes." They were incredibly valuable, costing a full thousand gold coins for two kilograms, making them the most expensive fruit they'd ever tasted. If it weren't for the recent good news, including the crackdown on the gambling ring and the handling of several minor incidents, Jiang Nan wouldn't have been willing to part with them. Her system's melon-eating coins had already surpassed 10,000, enough for the four of them to indulge in several extravagant treats.
Back to the point, Jiang Nan handed Zhou Zhixing peeled grapes to Chen Jinhua and said with a chuckle, "Mom, don't be angry. If God doesn't want this kind of person, we will. Don't worry, with us here, Old Wu won't have to suffer."
Jiang Mancheng knocked Jiang Nan's hand away and personally handed over a grape as big as a ping-pong ball, saying, "Come on, Jinhua, try it. These grapes are so expensive, we have to eat them well. We don't want to worry about anything that makes people angry."
After being comforted by her husband and daughter, Chen Jinhua's expression softened considerably. She took the fruit Jiang Mancheng handed her and tactfully changed the subject, "It's down to 50% so quickly. Will it be zero next year? Wouldn't that mean we've completed the main mission ahead of schedule?"
Zhou Zhixing peeled grapes and shook his head. "After 50%, it's probably going to be hard to lower it. After all, everything has two possibilities: it can happen or it can't happen. The probability won't drop to zero until that exact moment arrives."
Jiang Mancheng waved his hand. "It's okay. We were able to reduce the probability to 50% nine years in advance, which is already impressive. Who can predict the future?"
Jiang Nan felt a surge of nausea when she thought about what Old Wu might have done to Chun Li. She felt a little uneasy and asked, "Did Old Wu really...do that? Can you verify it? The more I think about it, the more disgusted I feel. What if he's not disabled?"
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