Chapter 771: The Weight of Life

"Jiwei, are you going to follow this case or not? If you are, I'm leaving first; if not, then get out of here quickly."

After leaving the station chief's office and heading downstairs, Wang Yan found Zhao Jiwei, who was there bragging with Li Dawei.

"I'll follow it. This is the first case I've encountered, and I want to see it through from start to finish," Zhao Jiwei said firmly; this was a rare experience. Just a moment ago, Li Dawei had been complaining that they hadn't handled any real cases in the last two days—other than mediating disputes, it was all just dealing with fights, which was incredibly boring.

"Alright then. The chief will arrange it when he comes down in a moment. Obey orders and listen to instructions; don't act on your own." After giving this instruction, Wang Yan waved his hand, went into the station to fill his thermos with hot water, nodded at Xia Jie as a greeting, and left briskly.

"I just don't get it. Why is Brother Yan so good to you?" Li Dawei asked, hugging his shoulders and rubbing his chin.

"Maybe it's because I'm relatively poor, and he doesn't want me to go down the wrong path," Zhao Jiwei thought about it seriously, then waved his hand again. "And honestly, Brother Yan isn't that special to me; he just brings me along normally and gives me pointers from time to time. Maybe it's also because I don't understand much, so he has to spend a lot of breath on me."

"If you think he's good to me, that's just because you haven't interacted with him much. I feel that as long as you don't provoke him, he's pretty good to everyone. If you go out to visit the public with him, it's the same."

"I'd like to, but the chief has me doing public security."

"Oh, Comrade Dawei, you're not making fun of us community officers anymore? You want to do community work too?"

Li Dawei turned his head in a fright, just in time to see Wang Shouyi's old face. "Chief, look at what you're saying. We police officers are here to serve the people, right? We can shine and generate heat in any position."

"Get lost. Do you want to do mass work? I think you just want to trail behind Wang Yan and mooch off his credit."

"Chief, that's not right," Li Dawei said righteously. "As long as there is credit, it must be because we solved problems and troubles for the people. That's a great thing."

"Wouldn't it be better if you could solve problems without seeking credit? A bunch of twisted logic. Come with me!" Wang Shouyi glared, took Li Dawei and Zhao Jiwei inside, and handed the case over to Chen Xincheng.

This was a current case; the people were definitely still in Ping'an City. Interrogate them immediately, round them all up...

"Little Wang, I heard that Liu Guizhen performed a meritorious service? You're going to send her a silk banner?"

Having arrived at Dongning Village once again, he passed a small gathering place where old men and women who were watching their grandchildren were cooling off outside. An old woman grabbed Wang Yan and wouldn't let him leave, curiously asking about the situation.

Wang Yan couldn't help but admire the village's gossip system; the news traveled too smoothly. He had gone back and forth, and it hadn't even been half an hour in total. This place wasn't even close to old lady Liu Guizhen's house, and they already knew.

"That's right, ma'am. Two people selling health supplements came to the door to push their sales, but old lady Liu was very vigilant and saw through their scam at a glance. She kept them at home and called me directly. She was especially sharp; she didn't say anything about 'Officer Wang' or 'police' when she called, she just told me to come over and take a look, which made those two scammers relax their guard. I went over and pinned them down."

"This is a criminal gang that specializes in scamming money from the elderly. They take some flour and saccharin, roll them into little pills, and use high-end packaging to make them look incredible at first glance. A bunch of useless things, and they wanted twenty-eight thousand eight hundred from old lady Liu. How heartless. Grandpas, grandmas, you must learn from this experience. In the future, if anyone comes to push sales on you, call me directly. If you can't get through, call 110 directly, and our officers from the station will come over."

"As for old lady Liu this time, once we close this case and round up this criminal gang, our chief will have to come over personally to present her with a silk banner. Reporters will come too; that's going to be on television."

"Oh my, that old lady got a bargain. I used to just take the free eggs and laundry detergent, I never thought about this side of things. Little Wang, keep an eye on your phone at all times. If there's a situation, I'll tell you. I'm not like that old lady Liu, wanting a silk banner—this is just what should be done." The old woman sneered at Liu Guizhen, looking down on her completely. What was there to show off about...

"There must be a silk banner. Grandpas and grandmas have clear heads and are smart, but there are those who are confused. We have to make a big scene and let people know what's going on."

Wang Yan laughed heartily, rubbing the head of a little one who was clinging to his thigh and wouldn't let go. "Health supplements are one aspect, but there's also investment and wealth management and the like—you must, must be careful. Scammers these days have many tricks. Once you transfer the money to them, they move it abroad, and we wouldn't even know where to look for it."

"Anyway, remember this: as long as they ask you to pay money, especially large sums, ninety-nine percent of the time it's a scam. Contact me immediately. Otherwise, if you regret it later and drag me in to solve the case, there's nothing I can do."

He casually conducted some anti-fraud publicity, and a group of old men and women promised repeatedly, their words expressing all sorts of disdain for those who had been scammed, believing they had no brains...

After dealing with them for a few sentences, teasing the children for a while, and doing some more publicity, Wang Yan continued his visits.

Old lady Liu Guizhen still had quite an impact. During the morning visits, only occasionally would someone ask about the matter, but by the afternoon, it was lively; people who knew her and people who didn't all had to ask a couple of questions.

This caused Wang Yan's visits today to turn into publicity for anti-fraud tactics. Previously, he had only mentioned a few things, but now it had become his main work. He even popularized various applicable laws, such as how to characterize the sale of counterfeit and shoddy products, organized fraud, how to determine the nature of the crime, how to sentence them, and so on.

One could see the old men and women's eyes shining. Whether they got credit or a silk banner didn't matter; the main thing was that they didn't want the scammers to remain at large, cheating them, the people, out of their hard-earned money...

Because of this additional matter, his reputation in Dongning Village became even higher, and the strange, messy questions on WeChat also increased. Of course, people who had nothing to do and just wanted to chat with the police were ultimately in the minority. However, he had been visiting for eight days now, and whether they were locals or people from out of town renting rooms, he had left his phone number for everyone, with his WeChat being the same number. As a result, in just these few days, his WeChat friends had reached over two thousand people.

There were even a few people from far away who added his WeChat to consult on problems. These were people renting rooms here who saw that he was easy to talk to and were looking for ways to solve problems for their relatives back home.

If things went on like this, by the time he finished visiting Dongning Village, his WeChat friends would reach the limit. However, he had long considered this problem and had applied in advance to get an enterprise account, but it was still going through the process and would take a few more days. By then, one WeChat account would solve the problem.

After all, there were nearly one hundred and thirty thousand people in the jurisdiction. If he walked a full circle and didn't make it a mandatory requirement, he wouldn't dare say too much, but fifty or sixty thousand people would be no problem. This wasn't a problem that a personal WeChat account could solve.

And in fact, in the area of community work, there were precedents in other places for getting these police enterprise WeChat accounts, which were properly treated as performance and written about.

Doing work is like this: whether there is credit is important, but not making mistakes is even more important. Whether the people see it is not important; that the leaders see it is the top priority.

Just like he told the curious grandpas and grandmas before, to present a silk banner to Liu Guizhen, the chief must go out personally, must communicate with the branch bureau, find media to write about it, and then write two work reports to submit.

Of course, it's a good thing for them to present a silk banner to the masses, and it cannot be compared to other things. After all, this is something the people can see, and the leaders can see too—a great thing that kills two birds with one stone...

Ending another day of visits, Wang Yan finished his dinner, and at a little past seven, he drove his little car back to the Balihe Police Station. Carrying his eight-piece kit, he swayed along, greeting people with a smile all the way, and walked straight into the building.

He first poured out the tea leaves in his thermos and brewed a new bag of Longjing before sitting down at his workstation to start working.

Unsurprisingly, there were two more document bags on his desk. These were cases that had happened today, requiring image enhancement to catch people; the veteran police officers handling the cases had already sent him a message.

"You're back." Xia Jie, who was hunched over writing materials, let out a long, relaxed breath and greeted Wang Yan.

Chief Cheng also had quite a few cases in his hands that had been solved through Wang Yan's image enhancement. Not letting Xia Jie go out to participate in dangerous operations didn't mean she wasn't allowed to write materials, which was also quite exhausting.

Wang Yan nodded with a smile. "What about Li Dawei and Zhao Jiwei? How are the cases going?"

"After you left this morning, the chief handed the case to Brother Chen. They interrogated them immediately, and after grasping the situation, they started an investigation. They've all gone out to catch people now, and I expect they'll be back soon."

"How was your day?"

"Same as usual..." Xia Jie sighed.

"Actually, you don't need to resist the arrangements in the station. No matter what, being able to earn money steadily while engaged in work you like is a good thing. You sitting here hunched over writing materials is you exerting your value. It's not like you have to participate in some arrest operation to be called a police officer. Otherwise, what would my community work, or the station's internal affairs, household registration, and our work count for? Wouldn't it all be meaningless?"

"And even if you're catching people, it's actually not that interesting. They're all petty thieves, and if you really look into these people, they are all hateful yet pitiful, and more or less have some sad stories. Think about it from another direction: your momentary sense of honor and mission is built on the foundation of other people's miserable lives going off track, which is also a sad thing."

"You previously sympathized with the ringleader of a prostitution ring because he looked pitiful. Anyway, wanting to show your sense of justice on those petty thieves who look a bit more vicious is very contradictory."

"Your father's dying wish was for you to be a good police officer who serves the people, not that you have to personally catch thieves, fight criminals, and become a crime-fighting hero to be a good police officer who serves the people."

Xia Jie puffed out her cheeks and shook her head, somewhat unconvinced. "Then tell me, what should I do?"

"Straighten out your mother who's making trouble. I go out to visit every day and don't stay in the station, but I've heard about your mother's affairs. She calls the station for no reason, and even calls Chief Song. Is this appropriate?"

"She's the family member of a martyr, but you two aren't the only ones. I know it's not easy for you, and you have awareness, but your mother's awareness is really too low. The honor that should be given has been given, the help that should be given has been given, and the care has been taken care of. No matter what, our public security system has not let down your father's sacrifice."

"I heard that ever since your father sacrificed himself, your mother stopped working and has been guarding you and watching you all day long. What do you two eat and drink? Isn't it your father's pension, and the subsequent various subsidies for widows? Now that you've grown up, your mother has just stayed at home like this for more than ten years. Has the country not done enough?"

"It's understandable to be stimulated and unable to let go, and it has a big impact on emotions and spirit—that's all normal. But among so many widows of military and police martyrs, who keeps making trouble like this? Always bringing up your father, always using the guilt that the people in our station feel toward your father to constantly threaten and act unreasonably. You tell me, is this appropriate? This is not disrespect to the people in our station, or Chief Song, but a desecration of your father's heroic spirit."

"Sigh..."

Xia Jie let out a long sigh and was no longer in the mood to work. She just watched Wang Yan fiddling with images and comparing fingerprints, rambling on about all the messy things she had experienced from childhood to adulthood, all of it full of bitter tears...

"Just like this, Wang Yan, you tell me, what can I do?"

Wang Yan looked at the time; it was already past nine. Xia Jie had been rambling for two full hours, which showed how much resentment she had and how deep her depression was.

He smiled and said, "Then I'm definitely just standing here talking without back pain; outsiders definitely have no way. Don't blame me for speaking harshly, but if there's a way, it must be to have a psychiatric evaluation done for your mother. I think she definitely has some obsessions, otherwise, it's impossible to be so paranoid. Or, like managing a child, give her a beating? Say some harsh words to stimulate her? But obviously, you definitely wouldn't agree to either of these methods; you can only rely on yourself to communicate."

"But I also understand your dilemma. You can't reason with her; as soon as you talk, she wants to die, and she brings your father out, right? But isn't this a kind of kidnapping? I'm not teaching you not to acknowledge your own mother, but if the state of you and your mother continues to be maintained at this level, let's put it this way: you'll never be well in this lifetime. Not only will you not be able to do your police work well, but you also won't be able to live your life well. I think you have foresight about this yourself."

"I'm telling you so much because I want you to feel better, not to work here while carrying bitterness. To be honest, a large part of your energy is consumed in this kind of confrontation, which is not a good thing."

Xia Jie had a polite smile on her face. "I thank you. First you say my mother is mentally ill, then you want to give her a beating like a child. After listening to you, I don't feel better; instead, it's even worse."

"Is it fighting poison with poison? Serious illnesses must be treated with strong medicine. I'm not attacking your mother; I'm explaining the facts to you. As for your mother, I personally respect her very much. After all, she raised you alone for so many years, and although she didn't do much work, she must have been struggling herself, which is also not easy."

"Do you think she doesn't know she's pushing you too hard? Doesn't know that doing this is wrong? She knows it all. Then why does she still do it? This is obsession; this is her illness. An illness that looks like it's under the guise of being good for you while managing everything, but is actually all selfish."

Just then, the sound of a car came from outside, followed by a burst of shouting. Wang Yan stood up and patted Xia Jie's head. "Let's go. They've only just returned after such a long time; they must have caught quite a few people. Let's go, let's go help out."

"Don't touch my head. Don't you know it's easy to make someone stupid?" Xia Jie gave Wang Yan a slap in annoyance.

"A dignified university graduate from the police academy, and you still believe in that? Besides, do you think you're very smart?"

Wang Yan raised his eyebrows and then ran off with a trot. Xia Jie hurriedly followed behind, caught up, jumped high, and touched Wang Yan's head, which was considered the end of it.

Obviously, what Wang Yan said was inappropriate—it's a very simple truth that one shouldn't speak deeply to someone you don't know well. But what's even more obvious is that Wang Yan didn't care. He explained an objective fact with a serious face, and even if Xia Jie wasn't happy, she wouldn't blame him. On the other hand, Xia Jie was still living in a suite at his place. If you eat someone's food, your mouth is short; if you take someone's hand, your hand is soft. If you take advantage of someone and say a few honest words, the tolerance level is naturally higher...

In the backyard, there was a pile of police cars with flashing lights. If it weren't a holiday or a festival, and there were no leaders inspecting, you would absolutely never see so many police officers. The police lights were flashing, shaking the surroundings into a sea of red and blue.

Wang Shouyi also ran down, thumping along. Since his waist, back, shoulder, and neck condition had eased, his movements had become much more agile.

"Gao Chao, how many people did you catch? Wang Yan, Xia Jie, hurry up and lend a hand; everyone inside has come out."

"Nineteen."

"Good heavens, it really is a big gang. Did you catch them all?"

"Not one missed. Where's Wang Yan? Chief, this kid is really amazing. One pull and it's a whole piece; one catch and it's a whole group. If you ask me, he doesn't need to do public security with me; he should just go out and visit the public every day. Look at how busy we've been this time; it's all caused by him."

Wang Shouyi laughed heartily. "It really is a bit like that Conan the young people talk about."

Gao Chao teased, "Oh, Chief, you're doing well. You even know about Conan?"

"Go away, you kid. Do you think this old man who's about to retire is out of touch? I know more than you do. Hurry up and get to work." Wang Shouyi felt looked down upon, slapped Gao Chao on the shoulder, and urged him to act quickly.

After a flurry of activity, all nineteen people were sent into the basement and locked up. Without stopping, two groups of criminal police and four groups of station police, a total of six groups, filled all the interrogation rooms and waiting rooms, interrogating them through the night.

Even Li Dawei, Yang Shu, Zhao Jiwei, and Xia Jie were pulled over to participate in the interrogation. Half of the station's police force was used up at once, and the remaining police officers were left to deal with police situations and go out on calls. It was already past nine, and the patrols and duties outside were about to start; there were even not enough hands.

The Balihe Police Station was actually already too busy to get away, but if you didn't go to the basement, you couldn't feel it, see it, or hear it. For example, Wang Suozhang Shouyi, who was smoking by the flower bed with swaying bougainvillea in the backyard, and Comrade Wang Yan, a probationary police officer—if an ordinary person saw them, they might even think the police station was really damn idle.

"I really didn't expect that a case of scamming by selling health supplements would actually turn into a major case. I was just telling Chief Gao that you, you brat, really do have a bit of Conan in you."

"Isn't that scolding me, Chief? This is my sharp eye, being able to discover the bad guys hiding among the masses. Today's matter was because I did my mass work well, and the people were willing to cooperate with our police actions. Otherwise, for this kind of thing, generally speaking, no matter how much these scammers talk, the old ladies would just take the eggs and decide not to buy them, and then go back and talk to the people around them. How would they think of calling the police?"

"It's because I've been visiting every day for a while and did some publicity work in this area, which is why it had an effect. And you don't know, Chief, I heard that after we close the case, we're going to present a silk banner and write a letter of commendation to old lady Liu Guizhen. When I was visiting today, the grandpas and grandmas in the village were all full of enthusiasm."

"There are quite a few of these people who fool the elderly. I heard the grandpas and grandmas in the village complaining that they often encounter such things. You just wait; in the near future, there will definitely be similar cases. Oh, right, Chief, for the letter of commendation and the silk banner, you must do it properly. The power of an example is infinite."

"Do I need you to tell me? The amount involved in this case is not small, and there are several factories producing counterfeit and shoddy products. Ending this whole line is also a major case. Once the case is closed, I'll talk to Chief Song. Those who are in officialdom love this kind of thing; he'll be more concerned about it than us."

Wang Yan laughed heartily. "I reckon the thing Chief Song regrets most in his life might be recognizing you as his master."

"You brat, you..." Wang Shouyi wasn't angry, and he was actually laughing quite happily. "There's no way around it. Who told him he's a kid who can climb? Don't look at me being annoyed with him all the time; I'm actually helping him. Every time our Guangming District holds a big meeting, I'm the first to support him. If others don't obey, I help scold them. He's only been a bureau chief for a year, and I've used up all the good connections I've built over half a lifetime. You brat, do you think it's easy to be a master to a bureau chief?"

"Alright, let's talk about serious matters. Chief Gao just told me that you don't need to do public security with him; it's quite good to just keep doing community work. I think so too. You've really done a good job in the community area; you have to admit it, the station really doesn't have anyone better than you. Since that's the case, then you just do community work. Of course, I'll say it again: our station's police force has always been insufficient; it's impossible to say you'll only manage that one area of community business."

"Just like these few days you've been working, you've bumped into a crime scene, discovered drug users, and today you directly caught a scammer who came to the door to push sales. And you also know image enhancement and fingerprint comparison; you definitely still have to do what you should do, and if there's an action and not enough hands, you have to support it."

"In addition, for the duty area, you definitely have to participate. In two more months, you'll be regularized early, and I trust you to lead people out to enforce the law. The capable do more work; is there any problem?"

"No problem, Chief. During this time, I've also understood our police work. It's just that even if we're not on duty, if there's no emergency, we still have to wait until seven or eight, or eight or nine o'clock to leave. Otherwise, there's too much work, and today piles up on tomorrow, and tomorrow piles up on the day after, which would be terrible."

"That's the logic. Don't look at us as law enforcers, but the labor law doesn't work for us. I won't arrange any tasks for you. For the community area, just let Zhijie handle the tasks issued by the superiors. You just visit all the more than one hundred and twenty thousand people in our jurisdiction. Hey, this isn't a task I'm giving you; it's your own requirement for yourself."

"This point is still very good. Zhijie does a good job in community work, but he hasn't visited every household. Insufficient manpower and many tasks are the main reasons. Now, Zhijie writes the articles, and you do the practical work; the division of labor is clear. And in the process of this visiting, your ability—let's be honest—is indeed stronger than all of us. You can discover problems and solve them even better. Since you are willing to walk and are willing to go deep among the masses, then go; I support you."

Wang Shouyi's face was full of gratification, very much like an old father looking at his son. There aren't many young people willing to keep their feet on the ground, and even fewer young people who keep their feet on the ground and have ability, rather than looking down on everyone. Wang Yan is exactly such a person.

As an old turtle who has lived for a thousand years, Wang Yan naturally didn't care about the gratified gaze of others looking at a son. Because now he is a 'young man', this instead became the affirmation of the leader, although it was indeed quite something...

Wang Yan nodded with a smile. "But Chief, there's one point you have to pay attention to: Brother Zhang's credit cannot be less. Players like Cao Army Supervisor are already at two bars and one star; Brother Zhang is not inferior to him at all. Hey, don't look at me like that, Chief. I'm not speaking ill of people behind their backs. I know you value him quite a bit, but you tell me, how many days have I been here? Those credits were all discovered by myself outside, right? I didn't steal his credit, did I? Why do you look at me with displeasure?"

"It's like I owe him money. What's the matter? With him here, I can't perform meritorious service? From the time I came to the station until now, the two of us haven't said a word. His heart is as small as anything; he doesn't have the look of a man at all. Look at his red face and big nose; you can tell at a glance he drinks a lot."

"Now is not the era of drinking to get things done, and he's still drinking? Even if it's still drinking to get things done, who has he done things for? What has he done? Has he violated discipline? And his law enforcement method, I won't even mention it; I can't finish talking about it."

"Chief, I'll give you a preventive shot first; I don't know when I'll have to scold him."

"You dare, you brat." Wang Shouyi glared, but seeing Wang Yan's indifferent look, he really had no way and had to sigh and say, "This Cao Army Supervisor, he's also not easy; his family..."

"Chief, you don't need to say more. I'm really not destroying the collective. Now you're pulling the bias; this won't do. He's not easy, am I easy? I'm an orphan; I'm struggling for my life alone. I might have a bit of money, but that also makes people think about me. I know you care about the collective, but am I not a member of the collective? I have no relatives or friends, and I'm a new comrade who just arrived; shouldn't I receive the care of the organization?"

"Everyone in the station knows I'm an orphan and living alone; does Cao Army Supervisor not know? Why haven't I felt warmth from him? Others take care of me; look at how I spoke before, and no one really argued with me. Cao Army Supervisor is older than me, a senior, an old party member, an old comrade; does he not even have this awareness?"

"Besides, I haven't offended him; I haven't said a word to him, and I even solved several cases that were pressing for him. If he doesn't thank me, that's fine, but can he still hold a grudge?"

Wang Shouyi was out of power, instinctively opening his mouth to speak, but just couldn't say it. He knew very well that Wang Yan was playing the rogue here, but what Wang Yan said was indeed the truth, even bringing up being an orphan, leaving him with nothing to say...

"Chief, don't worry. What are you worrying about? Heaven wants to rain, and mothers want to remarry; look at it openly. Besides, I'm definitely doing it for his own good. He doesn't unite with me, so I have to unite with him. If he keeps going like this, with his shortcoming of being small-hearted and loving to show off, once it's magnified by the effect of alcohol, something will happen sooner or later. I'm also wanting to help him; I don't want to see him go astray."

Wang Yan smiled, extinguished his cigarette butt in the flower bed. "I still have quite a few fingerprints that haven't been compared; these are all mass satisfaction. Speaking of this, nothing else, currently, if our bureau's scoring phone call reaches Dongning Village, it will definitely be one hundred for every household. I'm going to work, Chief; you go back early."

Wang Shouyi opened his mouth blankly, looking at Wang Yan's swaying back until it disappeared for a long time. Only then did he let out a long sigh, shaking his head and laughing bitterly. "This brat..."

A burst of output, and he wouldn't even let him speak, and he even told him to look at it openly? He gave a preview of someone about to make a mistake and told him to look at it openly? He was about to scold someone, and he still shamelessly said it was for their own good?

Wang Suozhang had bitterness in his heart that no one could tell. If he were filming short videos, 'Family members, who understands...'

Wang Yan understood, but obviously, Wang Yan wouldn't care that much. He continued to sit there doing fingerprint comparison, contributing to the assessment indicators of the Balihe Police Station's case-solving rate and mass satisfaction.

As for changing his work to focus on community work, he really had no opinion. Just as Wang Shouyi said, he himself was shouting to visit all the nearly one hundred and thirty thousand people in the jurisdiction, so there was no problem with being the main force in the community. And he didn't have to deal with various tasks from superiors; in fact, his daily life was the same as now, with no influence, and it wouldn't delay his case-solving.

And he wasn't doing it for the sake of solving cases. Up to now, the ones he participated in interrogating were just the two petty thieves he caught at the beginning. As for the rest, he just started them and handed them over to others. He visited the masses, in fact, to go deep among the masses, understand contradictions, and resolve contradictions, thereby reducing the crime rate and making life in the jurisdiction relatively harmonious.

To say there were none at all, that would definitely be impossible. Just like the previous Dong Nianfeng, wasn't that bullying an honest person? After being wronged, the law would indeed not punish the adulterer and adulteress, because this was a moral issue, not a legal issue. Thinking about it more and more, it didn't make sense, and the depression was deep and long; wouldn't it be that a man's anger would lead to no one living, just for that breath...

This was a matter for the national congress, a matter for more than two thousand representatives, not a matter for a small police officer like him.

The small police officer worked conscientiously, visiting the masses as usual every day. In Dongning Village, what he basically saw were smiling faces, because no matter what difficulties each family had, for 'Little Wang', the police officer who really got things done, the first thing the villagers did when they saw him was to greet him with a smile.

Whether someone is a person who gets things done, the people know, and they see it. The problems that Wang Yan, this small police officer, could solve were all solved at the first opportunity. For those he couldn't solve, he also helped think of ways. For those with difficulties at home or those with serious illnesses, he also left two hundred yuan for consolation. Whether it was human relations or doing things for the people, it was all done properly.

Especially after Wang Yan walked a circle, the people in the village who loved to act like rogues were all cleaned up, and they were visibly much more honest. The children who didn't learn well hadn't been jumping around recently, and they were all incredibly quiet. In the near future, Dongning Village briefly reached the level of not closing doors at night, because a detective was wandering around the village every day...

Also staying in the village every day was the village chief Zhao Changyi, who usually lived in a villa by the seaside. The old brat was indeed scared; he was watching at home.

Wang Yan was too lazy to bother with this old brat. If he were still in his rogue days, this village chief wouldn't have lived past three pages, and he would barely have had the qualifications to appear. But now he was a law enforcer, and he had to wait for evidence and clues.

Besides these, he was still working overtime every day doing fingerprint and image enhancement. The previous twenty-six fingerprints, after three days, were left with three. And the fingerprints he compared in six days combined were thirty-seven, fourteen more current cases. In addition, there were one or two image enhancements that had to be done every day, all small problems.

In a jurisdiction of nearly one hundred and thirty thousand people, there was also a large business district, a bar street, and the famous Fengdan Bali Street night market in Ping'an City. The daily flow of people was very large, and the composition of personnel was complex. Having some theft, smashing, stealing, and robbing was a very normal thing.

As the saying goes, without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles; without accumulating small streams, one cannot become a river or sea. As long as Wang Yan sends a few in every day, he wouldn't dare to speak for Ping'an City, but at least there would always be a day when professional thieves would disappear from Balihe. The rest would be crimes committed by acquaintances. But as long as he catches enough, and sentences all those who have the habit of stealing, after a long time, the prestige of the Balihe Police Station would be established. If it's not necessary, no one would want to steal.

Thus, three days passed, and it was Tuesday of the new week, the twelfth day since Wang Yan joined Balihe.

On this day, the backyard of the Balihe Police Station was lively once again.

The chubby Chief Song stood with a serious face in front of the equally serious Balihe police phalanx, allowing the equally serious reporters and camera teachers to film him as he delivered a speech.

"When our Balihe police officer, Comrade Wang Yan, and Comrade Zhao Jiwei were visiting the masses in Dongning Village and visiting people released from prison, they discovered the crime scene of the 6.26 major murder and dismemberment case in Dongning Village. They actively, decisively, and fearlessly captured the criminal suspect, handled it perfectly, and reported the case to the station. Comrade Wang Shouyi reported it to the branch bureau at the first opportunity and went to the scene at the first opportunity to control the situation. This action allowed us..."

"Here, on behalf of the Municipal Bureau and the Branch Bureau, I express encouragement for the excellent performance of Comrade Wang Yan and Comrade Zhao Jiwei. After research and decision by the organization, Comrade Wang Yan is awarded a commendation, a bonus of two thousand yuan, and his probation period is shortened by nine months. Comrade Zhao Jiwei's probation period is shortened by three months. I hope you will have better performance in your future work, better serve our broad masses of the people, and practice the people's police concept of the people's police serving the people."

Wang Yan and Zhao Jiwei were standing in front of the team, and they immediately saluted to express their feelings.

Under the envious gazes of Li Dawei and others, Wang Yan took the commendation certificate from Chief Song and took a separate photo with him.

Subsequently, Chief Song praised the performance of the Balihe Police Station during the recent period and affirmed Wang Yan's work method of going deep among the people and practically carrying out household visits...

After the set of procedures was completed, there was no further chatting. Chief Song and Wang Shouyi went straight into a car, a deputy chief from the branch bureau and others got into a car, the reporters and camera crew also got into a car, and half of the police force of the Balihe Police Station also got into cars.

They didn't turn on the sirens, but they turned on the police lights. A motorcade composed of eight police cars in a row, each car not full, highlighted the power, curing the road-rage old drivers during the morning peak. The reporters' cars kept weaving through the traffic, filming materials, while Wang Yan drove his little car, trailing at the end, heading all the way toward Dongning Village.

"Commendation, Brother Yan, really awesome."

All five newcomers followed along, all squeezed into Wang Yan's little car. Li Dawei in the back row leaned forward, grabbing the seat, his face full of envy and jealousy.

Comrade Wang Yan, who had just received the commendation, was calm. "Didn't you all guess it before? No need for such a big reaction; I can already feel your envy and jealousy."

"No, is what we guessed and you actually getting the commendation the same thing? And you just bumped into a crime scene; what a simple thing. Heavens, why are you so unfair? Why didn't I bump into it?"

Yang Shu nodded. "The most important thing is that you also reduced your probation period by nine months. In two and a half months, you'll be one bar and one star; we still have a year to go."

Xia Jie also sighed. "That's right, we are still struggling, and you've already been commended. In two months, you'll be regularized; this gap is too big."

Only Zhao Jiwei laughed heartily and didn't speak...

Wang Yan waved his hand. "It definitely has something to do with the Dong Nianfeng case, but it's not all because of this case. The drug-using mobile phone shop owner we discovered before, and the image enhancement cases I did before, have greatly improved our station's case-solving rate, which is also a major reason."

"In other words, before the Dong Nianfeng incident happened, all my credit became this commendation and the nine-month reduction in probation time. If it were just the credit for discovering the crime scene, there should have been a commendation and a record of merit, but the reduction of the probation period would be gone."

Li Dawei frowned and asked, "In other words, the credit after the Dong Nianfeng case hasn't been counted yet? Damn, then how much have you done during this time? Just fingerprint comparison alone, you've done more than thirty, and you broke a health supplement scam involving tens of millions. This is much bigger than those image enhancements and thief-catching cases before. Next time there's another major event you bump into, wouldn't it be a third-class merit?"

"Why don't you say you're boring? What's the use of you calculating my credit? You handle police calls steadily, serve the people wholeheartedly, and you'll definitely have credit too."

Yang Shu, who had always been steady—perhaps also feeling that these people were three years younger than him and that their cultural level was vastly different, and self-identifying as the big brother—couldn't help but sigh. "Going out on calls is all mediating contradictions and disputes; it's not like you actively looking for cases."

Wang Yan nodded. "I understand. You feel that I do community work, which is why I have the convenience of discovering so many cases, and you feel that I'm taking advantage of the different division of labor. But I remember that whether it's from the consensus of the entire public security system or your personal wishes at the beginning, you didn't look highly upon community work. Especially Li Dawei, you were the one who laughed the loudest at the time."

Is it so hard to admit that Brother Yan is excellent? You aren't even willing to say a word to Brother Yan, 'Dear Brother, bring your little brother along!' This, of course, was what Wang Yan didn't say.

"If you put it that way, I won't deny it," Li Dawei said. "But you're like Conan; wherever you go, something happens. This is too weird; you bumped into all of it."

Li Dawei's words were agreed with by Xia Jie and Yang Shu.

Only Comrade Zhao Jiwei, who recognized reality, firmly believed, "You're wrong. Can't it be that Brother Yan discovered it? Think about it, that drug-using shop owner who fenced stolen goods before—who among us saw it? Wasn't it Brother Yan's sharp eyes?"

"Hey, it still has to be Comrade Jiwei. You have a future."

Wang Yan laughed heartily. "Alright, how boring it is to just talk. Do you really take me for Conan? How about this: the chief has already told me that after I'm regularized, he'll count a group for me, let me lead people to handle police calls, and enforce the law independently."

"Xia Jie is unlikely, but by then Dawei and Yang Shu can be on duty and go out on calls with me. Otherwise, you can also apply to the chief to visit the masses with me for a few days. Jiwei likes to go out on calls and handle cases; you can swap, I have no problem with it, and I reckon the chief won't refuse either. By then you'll know, but I'll say one thing first: obey orders and listen to instructions; whatever I say to do, you do."

"If you can agree, go apply to the chief later. It's expected that Dongning Village will be finished in three more days. The next one is the adjacent Xincheng Aofu. I took a look before; the residential area has a total of three thousand five hundred households, and two thousand three hundred have actually been sold. Removing some who speculate on housing and don't live there, or other reasons that lead to housing vacancy, it's about two Battalion Commander, five thousand people."

"Visiting them all once will take about ten or so days. Jiwei should have told you that my household visit work is to understand the situation in the early stage, and in the later stage, it's to look at people, looking at everyone once. According to probability, among these five thousand people, there must be three or five who gamble, use drugs, and it's even possible to discover fugitives."

Xia Jie asked suspiciously, "Then there are more than ten thousand people in Dongning Village; how come you didn't discover any drug users or fugitives?"

"Who said I didn't discover them?" Wang Yan turned his head, raised his eyebrows at Xia Jie, and smiled. "I discovered drug users, but I didn't discover fugitives; maybe they were scared away."

Li Dawei asked, "Drug users, when did you discover them? How come you didn't say anything?"

"You tell me why I didn't say anything? Confidentiality, Comrade Li Dawei. It's not bad that I can tell you I discovered a drug user; do you have no sense of confidentiality? We are a disciplined team; do you need me to repeat the confidentiality regulations?"

"Did you report them to the Narcotics Brigade?"

"Otherwise?"

"Chase them. Big brother, the previous one was fine, but you discovered another one; chase them for a few steps, and if there are no clues, then talk about it." Li Dawei was full of grief and indignation.

Then he discovered that except for Wang Yan driving and watching the road, everyone else was looking at him. He realized it and hurriedly waved his hands. "I was just saying that; isn't it because I saw them getting credit and awards and got jealous?"

"You'd better be." Yang Shu said, "If you really did that, the possibility of getting credit is very small. The greater possibility is that you'd be killed by drug dealers, or you'd investigate privately, destroying the Narcotics Brigade's action, and finally get a major demerit. If this affected the lives of other comrades, you'd definitely be expelled from the police force."

"Alright, you can't stop people who want to die; the obligation to remind has been fulfilled." Wang Yan parked the car briskly, looked at the embarrassed Li Dawei with a smile. "We're here; get out of the car."

This was the intersection near old lady Liu Guizhen's house. Today they came here with such a big formation to present a silk banner.

In order to catch up with the good thing of commendation today, the station and the criminal police team stepped up the handling of the case and finally closed the previous health supplement scam case yesterday. They were sitting in rows in the detention center, waiting in line for public prosecution.

Yesterday, Wang Yan had already notified Liu Guizhen's family in advance that Chief Song and Wang Suozhang would come together today to present the silk banner. Let them have a preparation in advance; this kind of thing definitely cannot be a surprise attack, it must be grand, and even before, Wang Shouyi wanted to find people to beat gongs and drums together, making the momentum bigger.

However, considering that if there were people providing clues in the future, it definitely couldn't be so extravagant every time, as it would easily affect the emotions of the masses, so it was denied. In fact, Chief Song coming over was already a bit over the top, but it reflected the importance; it wouldn't be too much for the municipal bureau leaders to come. It's just that they couldn't come every time, which would make the masses later feel a bit lacking.

The result of the advance notification was that there was no need for anyone to organize it; a pile of villagers gathered around the intersection, alleys, and home near the Liu family to watch the excitement. No need to think, this was all notified by Liu Guizhen yesterday, and then it spread from person to person, spreading to the current grand occasion.

Seeing such a scene, Chief Song was stunned. He thought the masses would watch the excitement, but he didn't expect it to be so enthusiastic. He nodded and smiled friendly at the onlookers, waiting for the police behind to take out the silk banner and shake it open.

'Old but vigorous, heroic people, presented by Balihe Police Station to Ms. Liu Guizhen, to manifest her merit', eight golden characters, sixteen small characters, looking very spirited.

This was Wang Yan's suggestion. At that time, Wang Shouyi was collecting them in the station, and Wang Yan casually said this term. Heroic people and people's heroes are two different things, two concepts. And 'old but vigorous' can be flexibly replaced. For young people, it's 'young and promising', for middle-aged people, it's 'in the prime of life', anyway, it's just that meaning...

Knowing that coming here was to show off, two police officers held a silk banner and intentionally showed it to the onlookers. Only then, under Wang Yan's leadership, did they walk toward the alley.

Along the way, there were masses who had the courage to greet Wang Yan. Wang Yan responded with a smile and introduced Chief Song and Wang Suozhang to them. Chief Song and Wang Suozhang nodded all the way, hello, hello, hello...

Arriving at Liu Guizhen's home, for such a matter today, the three sons and daughters-in-law, and the three daughters and sons-in-law, all asked for half a day off to come back. Of course, there was no mandatory requirement; it could only be said that this was a good manifestation of their family harmony.

For such a big matter, the day Wang Yan caught the people, Liu Guizhen told her family about it. During this period, she was looking forward to closing the case, and she laughed in her dreams; this was what Wang Yan heard from Liu Guizhen's second son. Today it finally came; the old lady was happy, and the whole family was naturally lively.

"Little Wang, you're here. I said you didn't need to send it, you didn't need to send it. Look at you, you had to make such a big scene; how troublesome. Where are the reporters?"

"They're there, ma'am." Wang Yan pointed with a smile to the female reporter who had just squeezed in from behind.

"Oh." The old lady, wearing new clothes, adjusted her posture and reservedly smoothed her neatly combed silver-white hair. "Little Wang, look at how many people came, really, oh my..."

"It's all as it should be, ma'am." Wang Yan didn't talk nonsense and hurriedly introduced Chief Song, whose smiling face was a bit stiff, and Wang Suozhang, whose old face had long since become a chrysanthemum.

"Ma'am, this is the bureau chief of our Guangming District Branch Bureau, who came specially."

"Oh my, so young and already a bureau chief? Truly incredible."

"Hello, old lady Liu, I am Song Mingyi..."

With the introduction, Chief Song very naturally took control of the scene from Wang Yan's hands, and under the recording of the reporter's lens, in the mouth of old lady Liu Guizhen that never closed, and under the filming of the people competing to take out their mobile phones, this activity of presenting a silk banner began...

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