Chapter 1141: The Child Cannot Be Kept

In the cold winter, the train without warm air felt not the least bit chilly; in fact, people wearing thick cotton jackets and double-layered cotton trousers were sweating profusely.

A young man in his twenties, wearing an oversized Lei Feng hat and a dirty, tattered cotton jacket that looked filthy, pushed and weaved through the crowd.

He secretly and swiftly slipped his hand into someone's pocket; occasionally, with a flick of his wrist, a sharp blade appeared at his fingertips, making an imperceptible slash to cut open clothes or bags.

Whenever he succeeded, an involuntary smile always spread across his face.

But occasionally, when he looked up at an inconspicuous man with a long, pale face in the distance, his smile vanished.

This was nothing to be proud of; he had learned his craft from that man, but the process had been far from pleasant, leaving him with a hatred etched into his bones.

"I must kill him..."

He couldn't help but think this constantly.

Yet it was only thinking; he dared not, truly dared not...

"Thief! The money in my pocket is gone!"

At that moment, a middle-aged man shouted loudly.

As soon as this man shouted, everyone in the carriage immediately reached for their own pockets.

"My bag has been slashed open!"

"My clothes have been slashed too!"

"Damn your mother, whoever did this, stand up! I'll fucking kill you!"

"Are you sick? If you stole something, you should be the one standing up? Call the police! Haven't you heard of Wang Yan? I asked when the train departed; he's on this train."

Hearing the clamor, the young man adjusted his hat, the oversized brim covering his eyes; he knew it was time to stop, as the police would arrive shortly.

As a thief who could be considered part of the underworld, he possessed professional knowledge and understood the jargon of the Jianghu; under the guidance of that damn old thing, he had even caught a glimpse of the declining Northeastern Jianghu.

He had stolen his way from rural markets to buses, and then onto short-haul trains, never failing once and never being caught.

Today, he had arrived at the most difficult railway line in the Northeast.

That damn old thing had said that if he could disembark safely, he would be considered to have completed his apprenticeship.

The old thing originally hadn't wanted him to come, but he, as a thief, had pride; if he was going to steal, he would be the most awesome thief.

He certainly knew of Wang Yan; without Wang Yan, he wouldn't have come to steal on this train in the first place.

He quickly moved away from the previous carriage, casting a glance at that damn old thing as he passed, then traversed two more carriages before stopping, shrinking into a corner of the carriage to hide inconspicuously within the crowd.

After about six or seven minutes, a stir arose within the crowd.

"Wang Yan, is there another thief?"

"Old Liu is quite sensitive nowadays too," Wang Yan replied with a smile.

"Not at all; you've only patrolled this carriage once, and here comes another incident; since the loudspeaker hasn't broadcasted a search for a lost child, it must be a thief being caught."

Wang Yan nodded with high approval, giving a thumbs-up: "Well-reasoned and well-evidenced, Uncle; it would be a waste of talent if you weren't a police officer."

The old man was indeed very happy: "The masses are also a part of ensuring public safety."

"Comrades like you have such high awareness; I must learn from you."

Hearing the voices drawing nearer, the young man couldn't help but lift his head to take a look.

He saw a young man dressed in a dark blue police uniform and wearing a large-brimmed cap, looking spirited and imposing, appearing very majestic.

He had learned that Wang Yan was a year younger than him, yet was already an honorable, majestic, respectable police officer with a great reputation, while he was merely a sneaky thief.

He felt somewhat envious, after all, few people willingly become thieves, and he was no exception.

Just then, he saw Wang Yan look over; instinctively, he panicked and tried to evade gaze, but then felt it was unnatural, so he reached up to adjust his oversized hat, exposing his eyes again, and pretended to rummage through his pockets as if hearing about a thief and checking whether his own belongings were missing.

Then he saw Wang Yan walk over, smiling kindly at him: "Comrade, please come with me to the dining car."

He was stunned, not understanding where he had been exposed, nor how Wang Yan could be so certain that he was the thief; he instinctively wanted to refuse, but realizing all the stolen goods were on his person, he had no room to argue.

Sighing as if resigning himself to fate, he lowered his head and was led back by Wang Yan, who held him by the shoulder; what struck him as strange was that along the way, he did not see that damn old thing.

Many people on the train knew Wang Yan, so naturally, they also knew why Wang Yan had caught someone, and inevitably cursed a few words, with some occasionally seizing the chance to kick him a couple of times or slap him, which was entirely normal.

Amidst such loud cursing, the young man was brought by Wang Yan to the dining car.

The young man looked up at the current environment of the dining car, where several people sat in small groups, and another person sat opposite a young police officer registering names, units, and addresses; he recognized these people as the victims from whom he had just stolen.

Another older police officer stood to one side, holding a mug and drinking tea, while on the other side, the man with the long, pale face whom he had learned his craft from—that damn old thing—was squatting.

His eyes shrank slightly; seeing the murderous look in the old thing's eyes, he hastily looked away, no longer making eye contact.

At this moment, he heard Wang Yan speak.

"Oh, so you two know each other? Judging by your ages, did this old rascal teach you? Did you come here to complete your apprenticeship under my nose?"

"I don't know him."

"You say you don't know him, so you don't? Take out all the stolen items!" Wang Yan slapped the back of his head, "And you few comrades, identify your own belongings; don't take anything extra; we've dealt with more than one or two such cases before, so everyone pay attention."

"Who would do such a thing? We are all honest people."

"Right, those who were dealt with before said the exact same thing," Wang Xin remarked with a sigh.

"Hey, you comrade, how can you..."

Ma Kui glared at Wang Xin, walked over to soothe the situation: "This kid is speaking the truth, but that doesn't mean us few comrades aren't honest, right? When traveling, comrades must keep a close watch on their belongings; since these were found, if they hadn't been, wouldn't we just have to accept our bad luck and then scold us police for being incompetent?"

"How could that be? Everyone is human; we can understand, we can understand."

Of course, the victims who had lost their belongings wouldn't really cause trouble for Wang Xin; each collected their items and left chatting and laughing.

Then Ma Kui sat down: "Come on, you two, explain the situation."

"I don't know him," the man with the long, pale face immediately raised his hand to declare.

Wang Xin went up, grabbed his ear, and slapped his face repeatedly: "Do you think the three of us are blind? Do you think we didn't see you giving him signals? Huh? What, he confessed and implicated you, and now you want to kill him? Do you have that ability? Why act like a tough guy? Hurry up, say whatever there is to say, so we can finish this early."

"I can report you for administering private punishment."

Wang Xin paused for a moment, then turned his head to look at that young man: "So you still don't know him, do you?"

The young man lowered his head and said nothing.

"Alright, come on, dear brother, you just had to look for suffering; give me a couple of hits."

Ma Kui watched from the side without saying anything; he was a traditional man, but not a pedantic one.

Under the anxious gaze of Long White-Face, Wang Yan flicked his fingers and struck the man's chest a few times with a thud, causing the crowd to watch as Long White-Face rolled on the ground in pain; Old Lu, Cai Xiao, Yao Yuling, and the others most enjoyed seeing exactly this, for when bad people received punishment, it always felt immensely satisfying to watch.

Rolling on the ground in pain, Long White-Face shouted loudly, "I know him, I know him! He was my student, I taught him, I taught him..."

Seeing Wang Yan turn to look back, and seeing that even the old wretch had confessed, the young man naturally saw no need to remain stubborn, nor did he have the courage to be stubborn; trembling, he watched the old wretch looking as though death were preferable to life.

He nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes, yes, it was all taught by him; he forced me to steal, and if I didn't steal he would beat me, even saying he would kill me; basically all the money stolen was offered up to him."

Wang Xin laughed: "If you'd done this earlier, wouldn't it have been fine? You're just cheap, refusing to cry until you see the coffin, needing a taste of pain before you understand what cooperation means."

Thus everything was thoroughly satisfying; the master and disciple spoke freely, even exposing each other's shortcomings, and upon reaching the station both were sent away, adding two more to Wang Yan's record.

The return journey afterward went smoothly; nothing was lost, no children went missing, only some minor disputes between passengers needed mediation, which was also related to Wang Yan's growing fame nowadays.

Nowadays, among the passengers on the train, there were always those who knew Wang Yan; some even inquired while buying tickets at the station whether Wang Yan was on duty for that particular trip, all for the sake of the 'safety' that Wang Yan represented.

With someone like Wang Yan present, passengers chatting idly on the train could not help but discuss how formidable he was; others hearing this, even if they thought it was boasting, would not ignore it, for everyone understands the principle that under a great reputation there are no false scholars.

Under such circumstances, driven by greed, petty thieves would hesitate and dare not act; after all, they were not professional thieves and none possessed much courage, so with even a slight hesitation, the intent to commit petty theft vanished, meaning that by now, the train Wang Yan was assigned to had become very safe.

Relatively speaking, other trains on this route were far worse, yet the achievements of Wang Yan's train rested entirely on his shoulders alone; although others had learned the advanced experience of 'catching thieves,' their skill level ultimately fell far short of Wang Yan's.

Therefore, the leadership specifically changed the arrangements so that Wang Yan's three-person team was assigned to shifts irregularly, precisely to catch people off guard, and also to maximize Wang Yan's deterrent effect, ensuring the safety of life and property for passengers on this vital Northeast lifeline route.

After all, Wang Yan's power was not merely reflected in catching thieves; he also suppressed other violent incidents on the train with great force, resulting in a sharp decrease in fights and disturbances on trains where Wang Yan was present, a contrast that was striking...

The train slowly pulled into Ningyang Station, the passengers disembarked, and Old Lu and the others inspected the interior of the car.

At this moment, Cai Xiao exclaimed, "Hey! Master, there's a child here! Whose child was left on the train?"

Old Lu hurried over and looked at the child Cai Xiao had placed on the small table: "Hurry and get Old Ma and the others over here."

Cai Xiao responded and left, and before long, the entire crew had gathered in this carriage.

"You say, what kind of parents are these, how can their hearts be so big? To leave behind a child they were holding in their arms?" Cai Xiao shook his head repeatedly, "Now look, this trouble has landed in our hands."

Wang Yan asked, "Didn't you find him under the seat?"

"Ah, what's wrong with that?"

Wang Xin said from the side, "Just think about it, what parents would stuff their child under a train seat? It was definitely abandoned on purpose; they specifically saw that our crew members were good people, so they dumped the child here for us, the target was very clear, right, Wang Yan?"

"You've improved," Wang Yan nodded with a smile, "So what do we do with this child, Old Ma?"

"What else can we do? Take him back first, see what Old Hu says; we should still try to find the child's parents, and if that truly fails, just send him to an orphanage."

Old Lu said, "Alright, this child is handed over to you then, Old Ma; fine, that's it for today, let's disperse."

"You ah..." Ma Kui pointed at Old Lu with an amused expression.

"No choice, the fewer troubles the better; let's go, let's go, I'll treat you to drinks tonight," Old Lu departed quite decisively...

Wang Yan looked at the sleeping child, shook his head, and smiled.

He naturally knew this child; this was precisely the child of Hou Sanjin, whom they had caught earlier; his family had undergone some misfortunes, and he could not raise the child himself, so just as Wang Xin had said, the target was clear, heading straight for Old Ma.

This child was Ma Yang Jian from the original drama; Wang Sufang strongly desired to raise such a son; knowing her own health was poor and knowing raising a child was exhausting, she still insisted on raising him, because she had once been pregnant with a son, but unfortunately Ma Kui had encountered his accident at that exact time, resulting in the fetus dying in the womb, which created this obsession.

Wang Sufang's rapid death was also closely related to this child.

At the previous station, Wang Yan had patrolled the other side, so he had not seen this Hou Sanjin; after all, the dining car was in the middle while patrols covered both sides; previously the three-person team acted together with Ma Kui imparting experience to the two, but later they naturally split up to maximize manpower.

If he had seen him at that time, this child could never have appeared here; under no circumstances would he have allowed Wang Sufang, burdened by illness, to raise such a child.

Ma Kui held the child, and the three-person team returned to the bureau; unsurprisingly, Old Hu instructed Ma Kui to take the child home to raise temporarily until they could search for the child's parents.

At this point, Wang Yan interjected: "Old Ma, let's send the child to Fuli Academy first; my aunt's health is poor, this child is so small and difficult to care for, if she wears herself out and something happens, it would be far too unworthy."

Ma Kui waved his hand, saying carelessly, "Just for a few days, nothing will happen; she is somewhat interested anyway, actually she quite likes children."

"A few days might be fine, but I fear that after raising him for a few days you'll develop feelings, and then be unwilling to send him away; what will we do then? My aunt's health is truly poor, I think we should avoid inviting trouble; besides, when I marry your daughter Ma Yan and have children, won't my aunt be helping to raise them too? Will she be able to handle it?"

"Get lost, the more you talk the more nonsensical it gets," Old Ma glared, but after thinking it over he accepted Wang Yan's suggestion and sent the child to Fuli Academy.

On the way back, Wang Yan even instructed him: "Old Ma, when you get back don't speak too much, act as if this never happened; the child's parents will likely never be found, and we have already agreed with Fuli Academy that when looking for the family in the future we will also keep an eye out; we will ensure the child does not suffer hardship or endure pain but grows up safe and sound; doing this much means we have been more than decent, fulfilling both our duty and our sentimental obligation."

"Get lost, acting without respect for elders every day, do you think I need you to lecture me?"

"I just fear that after a couple of drinks down your throat, you'll lose all sense of proportion."

Old Ma snorted coldly and ignored Wang Yan.

Of course, in his heart he was quite satisfied, after all, Wang Yan was truly considering his family's well-being...