Chapter 68.1: A Soft Persimmon? No, a Tough Nut to Crack
Jiang Xia’s bicycle was easy to recognize. The sun was scorching, and to keep the black leather saddle from absorbing too much heat, she had gone out of her way to add a white seat cover. As a result, her bicycle stood out conspicuously among all the other bikes with black seats. One quick glance was enough to notice that it was missing.
If the bicycle was gone, then its owner had obviously left the station too. Lu Yixing couldn’t help feeling puzzled.
Jiang Xia wasn’t in the habit of leaving work early. Why had she suddenly left so soon today?
He was a little worried, but judging by the fact that she had already been gone for some time, he had no idea where she might have gone.
After thinking it over for a moment, Lu Yixing made up his mind.
He would go to Zhouying Police Station first and take a look. At the very least, he needed to find out how Jiang Xia’s mentor was doing.
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It had been a long time since Jiang Xia had last visited, and showing up empty-handed felt a little awkward. So she first took a detour to the supply and marketing cooperative, where she bought some pastries and two packs of good cigarettes. Only then did she head toward Zhouying Police Station.
After cycling for a little over ten minutes, Jiang Xia turned onto the road leading to the police station.
The familiar low buildings and green gate came into view one after another. The iron ring that had fallen off the gate still hadn’t been replaced. Farther ahead, the slogan Serve the People was still painted on the wall.
The pile of straw beside the fourth household’s wall, used for kindling, had been restacked into a tall mound. Along the wall on the right, where the sunlight fell directly, quite a few morning glories had sprung up. Their vines climbed over the wall, with red, blue, and purple blossoms scattered everywhere. They were lovely enough to make anyone smile.
At first glance, this familiar yet slightly changed scenery was rather charming.
Humming a tune, Jiang Xia soon arrived at the police station entrance.
Perhaps she had arrived at just the right time. There was no one coming or going in front of the station today. There didn’t seem to be many people inside, either, and the entire courtyard was deserted, giving the place a somewhat desolate feel.
Across the road, however, two young men were sitting on the curb. One had his knees bent, while the other sat with his legs casually stretched out in front of him, almost in a jizuo posture. Both were smoking heavily, chatting in low voices as if they were meeting in secret. Every so often, their eyes drifted toward the police station opposite them. In fact—
Their gazes had even lingered on Jiang Xia herself.
Sensing their stares, Jiang Xia immediately looked straight back at them.
Her brows drew together slightly.
Those two were clearly petty thugs. How did they dare squat right across from a police station?
Something wasn’t right.
Their behavior looked far too much like surveillance.
Her heart sank a little. Jiang Xia entered the station grounds, parked her bicycle, and carried her purchases into the office.
“What can I help you with—”
Hearing the noise, Wang Xuguang instinctively began to ask a question. He looked up as he spoke, but the moment he saw who had arrived, he froze.
“Jiang Xia? What are you doing here?”
“Why shouldn’t I be allowed to come back?”
Jiang Xia glanced around. There were only two people in the entire office: Wang Xuguang and Deputy Chief Xu. Everyone else was absent.
Something was off. She could understand the others being out on field assignments, but why wasn’t Sister Chen here, either? Today wasn’t her scheduled day off.
Her growing sense of unease deepened. Jiang Xia immediately asked, “Where is everyone else? Are they all out on field assignments?”
“Uh, not exactly. Old Lu and Sister Xu have both taken leave.”
At her question, Wang Xuguang’s expression suddenly turned rather strange. Looking at Jiang Xia, he asked cautiously, “Jiang Xia, you don’t know?”
So something really had happened.
Jiang Xia’s heart sank. She immediately asked, “I’ve been away on a business trip these past few days and only got back yesterday. What happened?”
“Well, um—”
“Ahem!”
Just as Wang Xuguang was about to explain, Deputy Chief Xu suddenly coughed beside him.
The pointed cough immediately reminded Wang Xuguang of something, and he shut his mouth.
Deputy Chief Xu spoke up. “It’s nothing serious.”
They were already in enough danger as it was. They couldn’t drag Jiang Xia into this, too. After all, she had only been a rookie at the municipal bureau for a few months. How could she possibly deal with a whole gang of people like that? And if she got caught up in this and something happened to her, just as it had to Hu Wei, wouldn’t that make things even worse?
“Jiang Xia, you came back to visit Chief Wu, didn’t you?”
Deputy Chief Xu changed the subject. “From the looks of you, things must be going pretty well for you at the municipal bureau. That’s a relief. Come to think of it, we’ve seen several of the portraits you drew here at the station recently. It’s just that Chief Wu isn’t here today, and we don’t have much going on, either. We’ll be leaving once our shift is over. Why don’t you head home early today and come back in a few days?”
Who in their right mind would be in such a hurry to send a visitor away the moment they arrived?
Recalling what she had seen outside the station, Jiang Xia’s expression grew even more serious.
“I’d say something major has happened here.”
She cut straight through his attempts to cover things up. “When I arrived, I already saw people keeping watch outside. Anyone bold enough to act so brazenly must have more than just those two men backing them. Did the station get into a conflict with them, and are they retaliating against you now? How are my mentor and the others who aren’t here today? Have any of them been hurt?”
Deputy Chief Xu still seemed hesitant. “Well, this…”
“She’s already here and has seen everything for herself. You can’t keep it from her, Deputy Chief Xu!”
Wang Xuguang couldn’t hold back any longer. Turning to Jiang Xia, he said, “You’re right, Jiang Xia. Something serious has happened at the station.”
He then explained the entire story from beginning to end.
“It happened just six days ago. Chief Wu went out on patrol with Xiao Hu, Old Shen, and the others. They came across a few street thugs who were extorting so-called sanitation fees from vegetable vendors. They were also groping a female vendor—one of them had even shoved his hand inside her clothes!”
“Xiao Hu couldn’t stand it and went up to arrest them. But who would’ve thought those thugs wouldn’t be intimidated at all? Instead, they actually ass*ulted a police officer! Chief Wu and Old Shen stepped in to stop them, but they got beaten up, too.
“Later, Chief Wu and Old Shen finally managed to pin one of the men down. Unexpectedly, one of the thugs on the other side pulled out a knife and stabbed Xiao Hu right in the body.
“Fortunately, when the thugs saw blood, they panicked a little. Chief Wu drew his gun, too, and that finally scared them into running away. He had Old Shen take the man they’d caught back to the station, then sent Xiao Hu to the hospital.
“The doctor said the knife hadn’t hit an artery, so Xiao Hu would be fine. The injury wasn’t too serious, either. He just needed a few days of rest to recover.”
“After Chief Wu got his own injuries treated at the hospital, he didn’t even stay there to recuperate. Instead, he came straight back and insisted on continuing the search for those thugs.”
“But they’d already run off.
“Actually, it wasn’t surprising that they’d fled and we hadn’t managed to catch them. They’d ass*ulted police officers, after all. Of course they’d run. What we didn’t expect was that, the night before yesterday, when Chief Wu was returning home as usual, someone would come up behind him and crack him over the head with a blunt object!”
As he spoke, Wang Xuguang’s voice suddenly rose. There was a hint of fear and indignation in it, emotions so intense that even he himself seemed unaware of them.
He paused briefly to compose himself before continuing.
“Then there’s Sister Xu. The day before yesterday, her granddaughter, who’s still in elementary school, got home more than an hour late. When Sister Xu asked her what had happened, the girl said some strange, supposedly well-meaning uncle had insisted on walking her home. But he’d taken a wrong turn, and they’d ended up going in circles before finally getting back.”
“How is that escorting someone home? It’s an outright threat, plain and simple!”
Wang Xuguang struggled to contain his anger. He spread his arms and pointed toward the window.
“And after that, there’s what you saw yourself, Jiang Xia. Those two men standing at the entrance, just staring at us like that. They’ve been watching us nonstop, right up until now!”
Something this serious had happened at the station?
Jiang Xia clenched her fists, anger surging rapidly from the depths of her heart.
These people were far too brazen! Absolutely shameless! They were acting as though the law didn’t apply to them at all!
They had to be arrested as soon as possible!
Suppressing her anger with considerable effort, Jiang Xia first pressed him for an answer. “How is my mentor doing now?”
“He’s all right. Those people didn’t dare go as far as to kill him.”
Wang Xuguang sighed. He lowered his hand and clasped his fingers together in front of him before continuing.
“Chief Wu regained consciousness after being out for a little while. He had a lump on the back of his head, and the hospital examination showed a mild concussion. The doctor told him to rest at home, but he refused. He insisted on coming back to work, even though he couldn’t keep going. He’s resting in the storeroom right now.”
Jiang Xia finally managed to breathe a little easier, but the whole situation seemed even more absurd to her now.
The way he put it, you’d think simply surviving was already something to be grateful for.
“Honestly, Jiang Xia, you shouldn’t have come here at all…”
Deputy Chief Xu’s jaw tightened, and his lips pressed into a sharp, thin line. “They’re trying to force us to release those men. They’ll stoop to any dirty trick to get what they want. Now that you’ve come here—”
“They’ve set their sights on me, too,” Jiang Xia finished calmly.
This was indeed something she hadn’t anticipated, and the last thing she wanted to encounter. But Jiang Xia didn’t regret coming.
If these people dared to target community police officers like this, they would eventually dare to go after criminal investigation officers, too. It was only a matter of time before she became a target herself. The difference was simply whether it happened sooner or later.
“Jiang Xia, this is no game.”
Wang Xuguang pressed his fingers together so tightly that the skin where they overlapped had begun to turn white, reflecting the strain he was under.
“These people are too despicable. They’re threatening our families! Who could possibly hold out against that? Sister Chen broke down in tears and asked for leave that very day. Lu Fusheng ran off, too. Even Old Shen couldn’t hold out yesterday. And as for me… I don’t know how much longer I can keep going myself.”
“There are just too many of them. The few of us here really can’t handle this!”
The police force as a whole vastly outnumbered these people, but officers were spread out across different stations. A single local police station might have no more than ten officers, and many had even fewer. Without orders from their superiors, police stations at the same administrative level had difficulty coordinating their actions independently. Naturally, when faced with an organized criminal gang, they were left woefully outmatched, like isolated troops fighting alone.
“Sigh.”
After hearing all this, Deputy Chief Xu let out a quiet sigh and said nothing more. His hand unconsciously rose to his forehead, and he looked utterly exhausted.
Police officers were human, too. They could feel fear and terror just like anyone else. Faced with such blatant threats, it was understandable that some would retreat. He didn’t think Old Shen and the others were cowards.
The only reason he could still hold his ground was that he understood one thing clearly: if they gave in this time and released the thugs who had injured someone, their station would have effectively knelt before that gang. Once they did, they would never be able to stand tall again.
Yet even though Deputy Chief Xu knew they couldn’t afford to back down, he had no idea how much longer he could keep going. He didn’t know what might happen on his way home, or what he might find when he finally got there.
He could only do his best to hold on a little longer.
Wang Xuguang was in the same position.
Jiang Xia could hear the fear in their words, and she could also see how hard they were trying to hold their ground.
She didn’t offer empty reassurances about enduring a few more days. Instead, after thinking for a moment, she said, “This afternoon, I heard that Third Criminal Investigation Unit was looking into the related cases.”
“They are investigating. They even came to ask us questions,” Deputy Chief Xu replied. “Otherwise, we really wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.”
“It’s just a matter of how much longer we’ll have to wait.”
A glimmer of hope appeared in Wang Xuguang’s eyes. “I hope they can get to the bottom of this as soon as possible and arrest all of them!”
“Let’s not talk about it anymore.”
They were all police officers, and having experienced the situation firsthand, Deputy Chief Xu knew all too well how difficult the investigation would be and how much resistance they would face. He didn’t want to dwell on how long they might have to wait or how likely they were to succeed.
Thinking about that would only undermine their morale.
“It’s getting late. Jiang Xia, go check on your mentor. After you’ve seen him, head home early.”
After speaking, Deputy Chief Xu hesitated before adding a reminder. “And remember to tell your family to be extra careful over the next couple of days.”
“I understand.”
Jiang Xia nodded slightly. “I’ll go see my mentor.”
She picked up the pastries again, turned around, and headed toward the storeroom.
The storeroom door was open. When Jiang Xia walked in, she saw a folding camp bed set up against the wall. Chief Wu was lying on his side, resting on it.
He must have had a rough few days. Even in his sleep, his brows were tightly furrowed, and there was a large, swollen bruise beneath his left eye.
Before Jiang Xia could even call out to him, Wu heard the noise and opened his eyes.
He looked up groggily and froze the moment he saw her.
Hadn’t his concussion healed yet? Was he hallucinating Jiang Xia?
Wait a minute. Had his apprentice really come here?
Oh, no!
Wu jolted upright and sat up quickly, his expression turning stern.
“Didn’t I tell Captain Feng not to let this get out? Why did you come here anyway?”
“How could you let people keep something this serious from me, Master?”
At that, Jiang Xia suddenly remembered something. When she had asked Bai Fangqiang about it earlier, his expression had been a little unnatural. At the time, she’d thought he was angry. Who would’ve guessed there was more to the story?
“If you hadn’t kept it from me, I could’ve come to see you yesterday! I could’ve even made some preparations in advance!”
Chief Wu wisely chose not to dwell on what sort of preparations Jiang Xia might have made before coming to see him.
“I was just worried about your safety.”
That was a lie.
What he was really worried about was that once Jiang Xia found out, her anger would get the better of her and she would cross the line, fighting fire with fire.
That wouldn’t end well.
“Well, it’s a little late for that concern now.”
Jiang Xia set the pastries aside, which didn’t particularly interest him, then took out two packs of Golden Leaf cigarettes and handed them over.
“The Third Criminal Investigation Unit is investigating this. I reckon it won’t be long before nearly the entire criminal investigation team comes under threat. When that happens, I won’t be able to escape it either.”
“Oh, and because you told everyone to keep quiet, I’ve already been targeted.”
“You little brat!”
Wu grumbled, “So now this is all your master’s fault, is it?”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
Jiang Xia replied with deliberate sarcasm, “I’m just a little brat. How could I possibly compare to you, playing the hero over here?”
Wu fell silent.
Ever since this apprentice of his had transferred to the municipal bureau, not only had her temper grown sharper, but her tongue had become quite a bit more cutting, too!
“Fine, fine. I can’t win an argument with you.”