Chapter 777: A Dream Start

"Does a supermarket really require such a long chat? Is it because she knows so much?"

"Isn't that quite clear?" Wang Yan explained with a smile, "People are coming and going in a supermarket all day, so they definitely know a lot of news. Especially since this supermarket is small, unlike the big one next door. Big supermarkets rely on their goods, while small ones rely on human connections. For example, if someone is short a few cents, they just waive it. It's not much money, but it warms people's hearts, and they'll be willing to come back next time."

"Doesn't that create quite a few regulars? Sister Su is actually quite talkative. Most people who come here end up chatting for a while. Just like the people we were chatting with earlier—you heard it too—she knows all the gossip in this residential complex. These things are what help us carry out our work."

"After visiting this small supermarket, for other shops, we only need to chat for ten or twenty minutes to get to know the people and check fire safety in passing. That's the good thing about us police officers at the local station: we can't manage everything, yet we can manage anything."

"Saying we can manage anything is because there are all kinds of police reports and all sorts of disputes, involving many different departments. And saying we can't manage everything is, of course, because we don't have that kind of authority. It's not uncommon for multiple departments to pass the buck. We are just local station police; at most, we handle public order cases. Anything bigger has to go to the Criminal Investigation Team. Of course, we can't manage everything."

"Even the case of Han Tianquan and Lv Shuzhen—the couple currently regretting their actions at the station—regarding the illegal possession of someone else's property, requires the Criminal Investigation Team to send someone over to assist. Criminal investigation is criminal investigation; for criminal offenses, you look for the Criminal Investigation Team."

"Is gossip useful? I didn't hear them say anything good. Who's having an affair, whose child isn't biologically theirs, who's getting a divorce—it's all just that kind of stuff." Xia Jie felt very uncomfortable with this behavior of spreading rumors. Only the parts where people mentioned neighbors upstairs and downstairs fighting over noise, or disputes in the underground garage over parking spaces, had some credibility.

"How do you think I carried out my work in Dongning Village? It was by relying on those aunties and sisters who had nothing better to do. They know everything about the village like the back of their hands; there's nothing they don't know. What does gossip indicate? It indicates conflict. Whether true or false, if a complex of five or six thousand people knows about it, it's unrealistic to say there isn't a problem."

"Even if someone is maliciously spreading rumors, shouldn't we consider why they are doing it? These kinds of conflicts could escalate at any time; people could end up in a brawl or even lose their lives."

"So, I conducted targeted visits based on the situations they mentioned. I mediated conflicts whenever possible, and if they wouldn't listen to reason, I would simply side with the weaker, bullied party. Basically, everything was resolved properly. The fact that there hasn't been a single police report in Dongning Village for nearly ten days is a great testament to my work results."

"Unfortunately, the relationships in apartment buildings are too distant, and there's too little gossip, which limits its help to us. We can only understand things specifically, family by family. The workload for these five thousand-plus people is actually greater than the workload for the ten thousand-plus in Dongning Village."

Wang Yan explained patiently to Xia Jie, then waved his hand: "Let's go. People are iron, rice is steel; if you don't eat a meal, you'll be starving. Let's go eat."

"Let's go, back to the station." Xia Jie bared her canine teeth and grinned, "You really have done a great deed. I truly don't know how the station chief and the others have endured it for several years."

"You're still young. I've inquired; this current company has been working for less than two years. The previous master chef was better than the current one, though not by much. In general, this outsourced cooperation company is always being changed."

"Are you saying someone is embezzling?"

"How simple a matter. It would be fresh news if there wasn't." Wang Yan shook his head and smiled, took out his keys to unlock the car, and pulled two long-sleeved shirts from the trunk: "Take off the eight-piece kit and the body-worn camera. Wear the long shirts to cover your clothes. They're new; I haven't worn them yet."

Xia Jie took the clothes, looking a bit dazed: "Aren't we going back to the station?"

"When have you ever seen me go back to the station for a meal?"

"It didn't taste good before, but it tastes good now. If you don't eat the free food, isn't it a waste of money to eat outside?"

"I just have a lot of money. Get in the car quickly. I found a new place; they say it's incredibly delicious. Hurry, hurry, hurry."

Xia Jie was urged into the car. Wang Yan didn't waste words, drove off smoothly, and laughed, "Haven't even eaten yet, and you're already feeling burdened? It doesn't matter. Zhao Jiwei has been eating with me for half a month. Haven't you noticed how he walks with me every day and has even gained a bit of weight? Eat with peace of mind; it's no big deal."

"I've already taken such a big advantage of you; it's so embarrassing."

"What advantage have you taken? Did you sneak into my room..."

"Go to hell. I'm renting your house! What kind of messy things are you thinking about?" A flush of red appeared on Xia Jie's face, and she slapped Wang Yan in annoyance.

"How could I not know? But I wouldn't mind if you took a little more advantage." Wang Yan chuckled, "You know, I'm a nouveau riche from demolition; I'm basically financially free. Now that I'm a police officer, considering the negative impact, there aren't many places to spend money. Shouldn't I eat and drink well? Otherwise, my ancestors for eighteen generations wouldn't be at ease."

"As long as I don't start a business and don't think about having more money, I certainly won't go broke from eating. To say nothing else, just the car gathering dust in my garage—I could eat and drink luxuriously for ten or eight years just on that. Just be at ease and enjoy the food with me. Don't be awkward; I dream of having a rich person treat me to food and drink. But it's such a pity..."

Xia Jie's family conditions should still be decent. In the original drama, Xia Jie thought about driving for a ride-hailing service to earn money only because her mother was dating someone in Dali, which had high consumption—just the accommodation alone was several thousand a month. They actually still had some savings; it was said they even bought wealth management products. It was just that the short-term expenditure was relatively large, leading to some tightness, which is why she wanted to drive for a ride-hailing service to supplement it.

She still had normal consumption ability; she was just relatively frugal. But clearly, no matter how much she consumed, she wouldn't think about going to restaurants for all three meals a day; that wasn't normal consumption.

Regarding Wang Yan's low-key wealth flaunting, Xia Jie was speechless, but she didn't say anything else. She was already in the car, so she might as well just follow along.

She understood Wang Yan's generosity. Zhao Jiwei hadn't stopped talking about what delicious food he had eaten that day, and that kid actually had quite a bit of talent; he described it as very delicious...

Driving a long way to a shop in Ping'an District, they had a hearty meal. After chatting and laughing to cultivate their relationship, the two returned to Xincheng Aofu to continue visiting merchants.

The complex had four gates—southeast, northwest—but currently, only the East and North gates were open. This was because one-third of the houses had still not been sold. It was also for this reason that the merchants here were not that prosperous.

For a newly built complex, if you want the street-level shops to prosper, unless it's in an old urban area surrounded by other complexes, the foot traffic cannot be low. In a newly developed place like Balihe, for newly built real estate, it's impossible for street-level shops to prosper without four or five years, because the surrounding area hasn't been developed and the foot traffic is too low. Opening a shop isn't making money; it's being a living Bodhisattva paying off the landlord's loans.

Xincheng Aofu was in such a situation. In the two rows of fifty or sixty shops in the East and North directions, only half were open for business. However, it was precisely this half that basically met the needs of daily life.

There were one large and two small supermarkets at the two entrances, three pharmacies—Kangtai, Guoda, and Neptune—two laundromats, one courier station, three barbershops, three barbecue restaurants, two breakfast shops, three home-style restaurants, one foot massage parlor, one spa massage parlor, one fresh milk bar, one community clinic, one small-scale private kindergarten, one chain and one self-operated vegetable and fruit shop, and one lottery station with dual qualifications for welfare and sports lotteries.

With these twenty-nine shops simply listed, one could see how tragic the competition was. The shops open for business were mostly concentrated on the East gate side because it was closer to the subway entrance than the North gate, making it more convenient.

The situation of these shops had already been provided by Su Qingmin earlier. After all, with only those few shops, logically speaking, new shops would have to get to know their neighbors on the left and right. Su Qingmin was the first to arrive; otherwise, she wouldn't have rented the shop at the East gate to open a supermarket first. She knew the merchants or the employees of the chain stores in this row on the East side; they all had to come to her to buy things.

It was also because of this, and because the groundwork had already been laid, that Wang Yan handed over the chatting work in the afternoon to Xia Jie, letting her go understand the situation.

Xia Jie's situation was basically the same as Zhao Jiwei's. Even though they were wearing blue uniforms, they didn't have a deep understanding of the police authority that the blue shirts represented. When contacting strangers, they always subconsciously placed themselves in the perspective of an ordinary person, constantly trying to obtain information by pleasing others. Moreover, she was very nervous herself, speaking in a stuttering manner.

This was a normal phenomenon. If a newly arrived police officer, just after putting on the uniform, started acting high and mighty toward the masses, then one could imagine how rotten this violent institution had become and how rotten the social atmosphere had become.

Another point was that chatting with a strong purpose was not the same thing as ordinary idle chatter. She could usually chat quite well, but when she really needed to obtain information through chatting, her mind was often a mess, lacking logic, lacking priorities, just chatting blindly, and in the end, obtaining nothing. This was also an ability that needed to be exercised, learned, and cultivated. After all, even if one could obtain information logically, there were still higher-level requirements for the ability to dig deeper into information.

The speed of chatting while bringing Xia Jie along was very slow, and the efficiency was very low. Wang Yan wasn't in a hurry; he just wandered around the shop observing the situation, or sat there listening to Xia Jie chat, occasionally interjecting a word or two.

Just like that, they had walked through three shops in two hours. Wang Yan couldn't help but extend the expected time for visiting Xincheng Aofu once again. If they visited like this, it would definitely take a month.

Of course, Xia Jie's treatment was definitely different from Zhao Jiwei's. This was also why the village of ten thousand people before only took half a month to finish, while now five thousand people were taking longer and longer, even pushing toward a month. Men and women are different...

Just like that, Wang Yan followed Xia Jie to the fourth shop. This was a barbershop with a "Famous Cut" sign. The shop wasn't big, about fifty square meters. The air conditioning was on in the room, and the cold air was very strong. As soon as they entered the door, they were hit by the coolness.

There was no unique layout in the shop; it was no different from an ordinary barbershop. Three chairs were placed in front of three large mirrors, there was a tall shelf with messy products on it, and a long sofa. Several good speakers were installed in the room, playing popular songs from the internet—the kind of "spit-take" songs despised by professionals.

Two young men were sitting on the sofa playing with their phones. One of them, with long hair swept to the side and the same hairstyle as Wang Yan, was leisurely smoking an electronic cigarette. Seeing Xia Jie and Wang Yan enter one after another, the two young men playing with their phones turned their heads in unison.

This wasn't the problem. The problem was that the young man smoking the electronic cigarette stopped his leisure abruptly, coughed, and subconsciously waved his hand to disperse the lingering smoke.

This series of actions, let alone Wang Yan, even Xia Jie frowned. It wasn't that she saw something, but she felt the young man's panic. She subconsciously turned her head to look at Wang Yan, who had entered a step behind.

Wang Yan raised his eyebrows at her. He wanted to express that "business is here." He didn't know if Xia Jie grasped the spirit, but she gave him a roll of the eyes in return.

"Uncle Police, welcome, welcome. Are you here for a haircut or..." The other young man was sitting in an outer position and didn't notice the abnormality of the young man smoking the electronic cigarette.

Wang Yan waved his hand, walked up to them in a few steps, sniffed the smell of the smoke, and then, under their gaze, the corners of his mouth lifted. He smiled and raised his right hand, pressing the switch of the body-worn camera on his left chest. Seeing him make this move, Xia Jie hurriedly followed suit and stood at the door without moving forward again.

Taking out his police terminal, Wang Yan gestured to the two of them with his head and said: "Balihe Station visit. My name is Wang Yan. Please show your ID cards."

By this time, the kid smoking the electronic cigarette was already very panicked. Wang Yan's sniffing action just now was very obvious, and in fact, Wang Yan didn't hide it, so this kid was extremely unnatural, looking fidgety.

He raised his hand and said: "Uncle Police, I, that, I didn't bring my ID card."

"Saying your ID number is fine, or if you haven't memorized it, just show me the photo in your album." Wang Yan looked at him with a smile. In this day and age, who doesn't have a photo of the front and back of their ID card in their album if they use a smartphone?

Seeing what he was hesitating about, Wang Yan explained, "You don't need to be nervous. You should understand the corresponding laws. I'll check your ID cards, and you two come back to the station with us to understand the situation. The specific punishment is not yet certain. If you didn't participate in selling for profit, at most it's administrative detention for fifteen days and a fine of two thousand."

This kid was smoking an "added-material" electronic cigarette, commonly known as a "head-rush" electronic cigarette. Its ingredients were uncertain; perhaps it contained cannabinoids, or maybe ketamine—commonly known as K-powder—or other methamphetamine-type synthetic products. An electronic cigarette with added materials is no different from taking drugs; they all have a series of side effects like hallucinations, addiction, and mania.

However, if you just take drugs directly and don't participate in selling, the maximum punishment if caught is the fifteen-day detention and two-thousand-yuan fine he mentioned. For someone like this kid, if his attitude is good, it's just three days of detention and a five-hundred-yuan fine, though he might be sent to a drug rehabilitation center for compulsory detoxification afterward.

Calculating carefully, this was the third drug user he had encountered, and he had only seen ten thousand-plus people. A probability of three in ten thousand, but compared to the actual probability, there was still a big gap.

In our country, the number of registered, statistically tracked drug addicts who have been off drugs for more than three years has been removed. There are over two million registered, statistically tracked drug addicts. Those not on the register are impossible to count, but according to expert estimates, there are over ten million drug addicts in our country in total. Calculating based on a population of 1.4 billion, drug addicts account for eight per thousand, which is much higher than three per ten thousand.

However, this is also reflected in the data. After all, among ten thousand people, whether it's three or eighty, it's not that conspicuous. And this stuff also depends on the region, generally related to the degree of economic development.

Especially since Ping'an City is a big city with a population of nearly five million, economically developed, there are more undiscovered drug users. And because of various reasons, in the past, only unemployed people took drugs, but now, students, various company employees, civil servants—in short, all walks of life, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, have people taking drugs.

He wandered around Dongning Village, and it took ten thousand-plus people for him to bump into three, which is already very few. It might be because his prestige is too great, and they are all hiding from him. After all, there were nearly two thousand people in Dongning Village he hadn't met, though most had been contacted by phone.

Hearing Wang Yan's words, the other young man who had gone to his waist bag to get his ID card was stunned. He turned his head blankly to look at his friend, employee, or whatever relationship he had, who was looking down, and stared with wide eyes, asking Wang Yan: "That, Uncle Police, let me ask, what did he do wrong?"

"Suspected of taking drugs."

"What?" He widened his eyes in disbelief.

Wang Yan waved his hand, interrupting the kid who wanted to ask more questions, and said: "Move quickly. If you have anything to say, say it at the station. Since you are with him, regardless of whether you participated, you have to explain the situation to us."

The young man blankly brought his ID card over. Wang Yan placed it on the police terminal to identify it. This young man was named Wang Qiang. Wang Yan smiled: "Same surname. Is this shop yours?"

Wang Qiang sighed, his face full of anger at his friend's lack of ambition: "We opened it together. I was wondering why he smelled so bad. You say you..."

Opening a barbershop together, and not a big one, meant they were good friends who had known each other for quite some time. Generally speaking, a "Tony teacher" needs three to five years to finish their apprenticeship, mastering the whole process of washing, cutting, blowing, perming, and dyeing. If they want to open a shop, they must have taken out their savings. But one point we have to admit is that most "Tony teachers" have a certain attribute: they dropped out of school early to mess around, basically at sixteen or seventeen, messed around for a year or two, and finally found a barbershop to start from washing hair.

So "Tony teachers" are still in the stage of youthful frivolity for the first three to five years, earning little and spending much, or earning much and spending even more. When they have the consciousness to go solo, they have no savings and have to work for another two, three, four, or five years to accumulate capital and consciously learn to understand the specific operation of a barbershop.

And these two people were relatively consistent with this attribute. This Wang Qiang was twenty-five years old, with about seven or eight years of experience. Overall, for these two to be partners, they must have known each other for at least a year or two, and it was right to hate him for not being ambitious.

The young man's reaction ability was still there; he wasn't scared just because he had to go to the police station. Wang Yan gave a small affirmation, but his face still lost its smile, "Alright, there will be plenty of opportunities to scold him later. You, report your ID number."

By comparison, the kid smoking the electronic cigarette had a much worse mentality because he was really going to be detained. Hearing Wang Yan's words, he took an ID card out of his pocket...

Wang Yan shook his head and smiled, not caring about this act of self-deception.

Swiping the ID card, Wang Yan said: "Fu Hao, I'll ask you one question. The person who sold you the electronic cigarette isn't nearby, right?"

Although the stimulation from the few puffs he took just now was still there, the intensity wasn't that strong. Fu Hao shook his head, lifeless: "It wasn't bought around here, it was..."

"Alright, you don't need to say the rest. Explain it when we get to the station." Wang Yan interrupted him and said, "I'll hold onto your ID cards for now. I won't confiscate your phones, but you'd better not make any unnecessary moves; otherwise, it will be easy to explain things unclearly, and even easier for it to turn from administrative to criminal. From now on, you two are not allowed to have a single conversation. Do you understand?"

"Understood, understood, Uncle Police, don't worry, we definitely won't talk. Look at him, now he knows to be afraid? What was he thinking when he was smoking?" Wang Qiang looked down on him.

"Alright, there will be plenty of opportunities to scold him later. Pack up, close the shop, and take our car." Wang Yan waved his hand to urge them.

Wang Qiang sighed, took his bag, put his phone in it right in front of Wang Yan, turned off the air conditioning and lights in the shop, and after a flurry of activity, locked the shop door.

Under the gaze of other passersby and several shop owners sitting on small stools at the shop entrance smoking, Wang Qiang and Fu Hao followed Wang Yan and Xia Jie into the black car.

Wang Yan believed that no matter how thin the human connections in the apartment buildings were, his name, "Officer Wang," would definitely spread.

Compared to catching a thief who had been committing crimes for many years in one day in Dongning Village, taking away two groups of people in the same complex within one day was a dream start.

It's just that the people caught in Xincheng Aofu were a bit different from those caught in Dongning Village. After all, in Dongning Village, he had truly solved a problem the masses were worried about—everyone was afraid of being stolen from at home. Now, he had caught two groups of people, but it had no interest relationship with the other masses; some people might even speak ill of the police.

However, Wang Yan believed that someone would definitely explain for him, telling others what he had done in Dongning Village, and someone would also spread what Lv Shuzhen had done earlier that was so annoying, helping him build his reputation...

Without a word along the way, he drove back to the station, walked in through the front door with the two people, and sent them all the way to the detention room in the basement, again finding Zhang Zhijie.

"What's the situation? Why did you bring two more people back?" Zhang Zhijie was very puzzled. When he went out for visits, apart from disputes among the masses, he hadn't found any problems. How come when Wang Yan went out for visits, he either found clues or directly caught people and solved cases?

Wang Yan turned off the body-worn camera, handed the ID cards to him, and said: "They are barbers. When Xia Jie and I went to visit, this guy named Fu Hao was smoking an electronic cigarette. When he saw us enter, he panicked directly. I smelled that smell, and it was drugged. Come, take out your electronic cigarette and the smoke cartridges."

Fu Hao was very obedient and put the things he had in his pocket on the table.

Zhang Zhijie went to find gloves and evidence bags, picked up the electronic cigarette and smoke cartridges, looked left and right, but didn't see anything...

But this didn't hinder him from putting the things into two evidence bags separately, and he nodded with a gratified face, speaking to Wang Yan: "I said you kid are truly amazing, a human drug scanner; even police dogs aren't as sensitive as you."

"I'll just take that as a compliment, Brother Zhang." Wang Yan asked with a smile, walking out with Zhang Zhijie while asking, "How did the case this morning go?"

"I just finished writing the materials, and the person is still locked in that room. You've sent me another job."

"You have to work hard, Brother Zhang. You must get two bars this year. The station chief is leaving, and I estimate Old Gao and Station Chief Cheng will definitely be transferred. I think it's just right for you to be promoted to deputy station chief."

"Forget it. If people hear you say that, they'll think something is up with me." Zhang Zhijie waved his hands repeatedly, "But your heart is good; it's just that you're full of nonsense and too unreliable."

"What's wrong with that? We'll just handle a few more cases. Your qualifications are sufficient, your merits are not bad, and you've been in the police force in Balihe for fourteen years, familiar with local conditions. If you can't get promoted, there must be a dark curtain, and I'll definitely have to slam the table at Bureau Chief Song."

"Oh my, you stinky kid, look at how capable you are, even wanting to slam the table at Bureau Chief Song?" Wang Shouyi walked out from the corner, glaring, his face full of annoyance, "Why don't you just go to heaven? Is the Public Security Bureau opened by your family?"

Wang Yan chuckled: "Station Chief, look, you've forgotten the netizens' words, haven't you? As long as you don't want to be promoted to deputy section level, you're deputy division level. Although Bureau Chief Song entered the district committee, he's only deputy division level, which is the same rank as me. Can't I slam the table at a cadre of the same rank? Plus your face, and my merits, I really can slam the table. When I win a first-class merit, I'll even dare to slam the table at Bureau Chief Liang."

Bureau Chief Liang, Liang Zhengjiang, the head of the Ping'an City Public Security Bureau who entered the municipal committee.

"Oh my, your mouth. If this gets out, I estimate we'll meet in the archives room of the township below." Wang Shouyi shook his head with a bitter smile, but he also knew he was just bragging without restraint, so he waved his hand and turned to ask, "I heard you caught two groups today? What's the situation?"

"Smoking drugged electronic cigarettes. Interrogate them to find the channel, and if we take down the whole line, that will also be a big case."

Wang Shouyi nodded: "That is indeed a big case. Like this, Zhijie, you interrogate them first, and tell me the situation later. We'll determine the next step based on the situation."

"Yes, Station Chief, I'll interrogate them now." Zhang Zhijie nodded to Wang Yan and Xia Jie, turned around, and walked back to the detention room.

"Xia Jie, how does it feel to go out for community visits with Wang Yan and do mass work? Are you adapting?" Wang Shouyi asked with his hands behind his back, smiling.

"Adapting." Xia Jie answered stiffly.

She still wanted to discard her father's relationship and didn't want to be treated specially because of her father. She knew that Wang Shouyi was treating her specially now. What she wanted was to stand on her own feet with her own ability, just like Wang Yan.

But little did she know, part of Wang Yan's ability stemmed from the houses and land left by his parents that were demolished, which was also because of his parents. Or even if his parents existed, they were rich, because demolition was always going to happen. Of course, this is after removing the "living father" and referring only to this realm.

Wang Shouyi nodded: "That's fine. Wang Yan, you must take good care of Xia Jie. In case of any sudden situation, you must not act recklessly. Do you hear me?"

"You still don't trust me, Station Chief?" Wang Yan waved his hand, "We're leaving now, Station Chief. There are still quite a few families we haven't visited."

"It's mealtime, go."

"I'll visit one more merchant, and after that, I have to go to Dongning Village. The Tongle Chess Room we caught in the operation yesterday—wasn't that a clue I found while visiting Dongning Village? We didn't catch him this time because we remembered he had the merit of providing clues. I have to go scare him and make him learn a lesson."

"Then you must go. I remember you said he had already lost more than thirty thousand, right? You scare him well. If he doesn't repent, just detain him. It won't take much effort to add one more."

"The station chief is the station chief; detain if you say detain. Truly domineering."

"Stop flattering, disappear quickly, pay attention to safety..."

Coming outside, Xia Jie hesitated and said: "Wouldn't it be the same if we went after eating?"

"Because I don't want to eat." Wang Yan raised his eyebrows, put his hands on her shoulders to turn her around, pushed her out of the police station, and only let go when they reached the front reception hall, "Don't think too much; just follow your brother and enjoy."

Xia Jie curled her lips, but Wang Yan was truly enthusiastic and didn't give her a chance to refuse. Helpless, she had to get in the car and go to Xincheng Aofu once again.

By this time, it was slightly cooler, almost mealtime, and it was the prelude to the peak hour after work—the time when kindergartens and primary schools let out. The area around Xincheng Aofu, which seemed unpopular in the morning, was now bustling.

Parents picking up children in front of the kindergarten were driving all kinds of cars. At this time, even if the traffic police came, there was no such thing as traffic rules. Chaotic parking and honking caused the traffic flow, which had already started to peak at this intersection, to become even more congested.

Two traffic police officers were maintaining order with straight faces, urging parents to drive according to the rules and directing traffic. Traffic police are also police; they also lack police force, also have various tasks and actions, and are also more tired than dogs.

This is not sarcasm; in fact, within the public security system, people are truly more tired than dogs...

And the shops on the east side of Xincheng Aofu were also bustling. Some people were already sitting outside in the open air eating barbecue and drinking beer. The restaurants were also starting to get people, and the vegetable and fruit shops were also crowded. It was all fireworks, looking prosperous.

Wang Yan and Xia Jie didn't make themselves unwelcome, but they did. Because they didn't go to the ones with booming business, but to the ones with poor business. The boss of this restaurant was bored swatting flies. Hearing the sound of the door, he thought customers were coming, but he saw two police officers...

This time, Xia Jie didn't need to go; her level wasn't enough to deal with the current situation where the boss was impatient. Wang Yan had to go out himself.

So in the next half hour, after Wang Yan simply understood the situation, he started chatting with the boss about business. Of course, business wasn't the goal; understanding the boss's interpersonal relationships, etc., was the goal, but Wang Yan did indeed offer some feasible suggestions.

Because the boss said very confidently that before opening, he had already tasted the dishes of other restaurants and sneered at them. But because they were at the North gate, the foot traffic was low, so the business was much worse.

This boss belonged to the "big smart" type. He felt that the barbecue, restaurants, and breakfast shops on that side were clustered together, and his shop wouldn't be conspicuous, so even though there were empty shops, he chose this side and was complacent about his smart decision...

In this situation, there was actually no particularly good method. If his craftsmanship was truly super strong, then needless to say, the stickiness of regular customers would definitely be very high. But the fear was that his craftsmanship was better than others, but only by a limited amount, and ordinary people couldn't feel it much, which would be terrible.

In the end, he could only ponder about creating features, differentiated competition, setting up a sign at the door, doing small activities, and fighting a price war. Of course, this was secondary; after all, a price war hurts harmony, so just being a little cheaper is fine. The main thing is to let people see his sign and grab the attention of passersby.

Facing the enthusiastic retention of the big brother, Wang Yan didn't leave in the end. Watching the big brother stir-frying and pulling noodles in the back kitchen, he also nagged about some key points on the side. He could see the level just by watching the operation; it was just past the middle stage of level three. Opening a small restaurant was definitely more than enough, but the terrifying competitiveness determined that in a situation where everything was more than enough, the level was poor.

To say nothing else, Wang Yan could eat at any shop on the street, basically at the level of top level two or middle-lower level three. This boss's strength was still not hard enough.

After eating a meal and chatting with the big brother for a long time, although the big brother repeatedly indicated that he didn't want money, Xia Jie still paid. Dinner was cheap, she could afford it, and while the big brother was tearing, she was also tearing.

Finally leaving the restaurant that was miserably about to go bankrupt, and getting in the car, Xia Jie giggled: "Why didn't you go eat a big meal?"

"The enthusiasm of the masses. If it were an individual's home, that would be fine; it's definitely not allowed to stay. This big brother opened a restaurant and is so miserable; how could one bear it?" Wang Yan shook his head and smiled, "Actually, the place we were going to go tonight isn't expensive either; it's also a small restaurant. The dish prices aren't expensive; it's just that there are so many people that you can't get a number."

"Then why were you still going?"

"If we really went, the most expensive thing about that meal might be the money to buy the number." Wang Yan raised his eyebrows and implicitly expressed his wealth once again.

Xia Jie lost her smile. How simple and unadorned...

Chatting and laughing, they drove to Dongning Village. By this time, it was almost six-thirty. They had stayed in that big brother's restaurant for nearly two hours, chatting and eating, and afterward, they smoked and drank tea. Although it sounded very enthusiastic, it was all the big brother's bitter tears. Because during the mealtime in the evening, he was very free...

Coming to the intersection in the east of the village again, Wang Yan took Xia Jie over and clattered against the open gate, then walked straight into the courtyard.

The workers who had just returned to the east and west wing rooms and were busy cooking hurriedly came out to greet Wang Yan. Wang Yan responded with a smile, caring about how their life had been in the past few days, what they were eating in the evening, and so on.

At this time, Zhao Xianming had long since walked out with his wife, accompanying him with a smiling face.

"Officer Wang, what's the matter with coming over this time?"

Wang Yan waved his hand, nodded to Zhao Xianming's wife and others: "I'm here to understand the situation. Let's go, let's talk outside."

Arriving outside, Zhao Xianming grinned, revealing his teeth stained with cigarette stains, and took out a "White General" to offer Wang Yan a cigarette.

Taking the cigarette and lighting it himself, Wang Yan took a puff and asked: "The Tongle Chess Room was taken down by us in one fell swoop yesterday. Everyone knows, right?"

"Know, know, I heard people say it. Oh, it was also a fellow worker who was pulled over by Zhu Yong to play two rounds, but he didn't play later."

"This time, it's because you provided us with clues that your punishment was waived. You haven't played lately, have you? If you played, you'll have to admit it. I'll go in and tell your sister-in-law, and detain you for half a month first."

"No, no, Officer Wang, I didn't play, I really didn't play, I swear." Zhao Xianming shook his head repeatedly and even raised his rough hands, which had calluses from playing mahjong.

"Let me tell you, you'd better really not have played. You don't want to spend money on smoking, drinking, and eating, but you don't blink when you lose or win ten thousand in a night gambling outside. You'd better learn a lesson."

Xia Jie still had some progress. Watching Wang Yan lecture Zhao Xianming, who could be his father, like a grandson, she had no expression at all. Perhaps it was also because she knew Zhao Xianming's gambling deeds in advance and understood Wang Yan's good intentions.

Waving his hand at Zhao Xianming, who was constantly promising, Wang Yan continued to ask: "The Zhao Zilong next door still has no movement?"

"No, I'm also strange..." Zhao Xianming frowned, "This kid usually doesn't go home, but he can always show his face every ten days or half a month. This time, it seems he hasn't been seen for half a month, and I don't know what he went to do. Officer Wang, you say he won't have any trouble, will he?"

"Where would I know? I haven't even seen the person."

Wang Yan shook his head. This kind of person basically had no relatives or friends, and no one cared about him. Especially since Zhao Zilong hadn't caused any trouble every three days like before in recent years, he couldn't attract others' attention. Maybe the grass on his grave was already three feet high, and people wouldn't remember him.

Ignoring it, he continued to ask: "You know Zhao Zhendong, right?"

Zhao Xianming was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Didn't he die long ago? I remember it was said that he was fished out in Balihe at that time? It's been seven or eight years, right?"

"Good memory, fished out eight years ago." Wang Yan nodded with a smile, "Tell me about his situation."

"Officer Wang, it's been too long, I really can't remember clearly. He was just a hoodlum, not doing his proper job, and he occupied everything—eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling. Maybe he did too many evil deeds, and he didn't even have a child. But he also had ability; the wife he married was quite beautiful. Later, maybe they really couldn't live on, so she divorced him and I don't know where she went. To say it, they should have divorced. You say, with someone like Zhao Zhendong, which good person could live with him? All the money in his hands was gambled away."

"Stop it, you still have the face to say others gamble. Let me tell you, if you don't learn a lesson, you'll end up with a broken family, and you'll implicate your son to suffer."

"No, why is this being said again? I really don't gamble anymore, Officer Wang." Zhao Xianming felt quite innocent. He really didn't dare to gamble anymore. Not to mention Wang Yan's handling of him, his wife wouldn't let him have an easy time either.

To say that this Zhao Xianming also looked honest, now that it was confirmed there was no trouble, he immediately returned to his true nature.

Glaring at him, Wang Yan continued: "I heard that Zhao Zhangyi wasn't a good thing when he was young. Since this Zhao Zhendong's wife was beautiful, did they spread any rumors back then?"

"Zhao Zhangyi is indeed not a good thing, but to say with Zhao Zhendong's wife..." Zhao Xianming frowned and pondered, smoking silently for a long time, before shaking his head, "I really haven't heard of such a thing. Zhao Zhendong divorced his wife after less than two years. By the time he died, it must have been more than twenty years. Officer Wang, are you suspecting that Zhao Zhendong was killed by Zhao Zhangyi?"

"Does this still need to be suspected? Your village had a death, and the most powerful and ruthless one is Zhao Zhangyi. If there's something, count it on him; eight out of ten times it won't be wrong."

"I remember when you police came..."

"So many people, asking all over the village, and also asked me about this. Then according to what you say, you suspected Zhao Zhangyi at that time, so why didn't you catch him?"

"Police work isn't about looking at who isn't a good thing, but looking at whether evidence and clues have been mastered. If there's nothing, how to catch?" Wang Yan waved his hand, impatiently, "Don't know anything else?"

"Really don't know anymore, Officer Wang. Is this case being handled by you now? You are a divine detective, Officer Wang. You must make an effort and send Zhao Zhangyi in quickly."

Wang Yan looked at him amusedly: "How is it? So many years have passed, and he doesn't live in the village usually, and he didn't harm your family, so why catch him quickly?"

Zhao Xianming looked left and right, and whispered: "Let me tell you, Officer Wang, it's just that Zhao Zhangyi has lived outside for the past ten years, and he has become a big shot, so we dare to talk about him. Back then, when he was in this village, he was very capable. Who dared to speak ill of him?"

"And when the village chief was elected, he brought his two sons back, giving gifts and buying favor door to door. In the past few years, it has been better in the village. Taking people's hands makes one short, although he is also scolded, but in the end, the scolding is lighter."

"And, I'll just tell you this, Officer Wang. I heard that Dongning Village is going to be demolished. This time it's not fake; it's really going to be demolished. If he is still the village chief, how much money will he take from us? Hey, is this evidence? He is embezzling; can he be caught?"

"Embezzlement is not our business. How much ability do you think the local police have?"

Looking at Zhao Xianming's mysterious appearance, Wang Yan was amused, "Land demolition is very complicated; it's not just Zhao Zhangyi's business. And in the past few years, demolition and resettlement work has constantly issued new documents. Our village has no land, and the houses built later have no property certificates, so it's impossible to get rich overnight from demolition like ten years ago."

"According to the current situation, and the land price around us, I estimate it's about changing to a 120-square-meter apartment in Balihe, plus two or three hundred thousand in cash. This is already very generous."

"The most important thing is what? Your village is demolished every year, and it hasn't been demolished for seven or eight years. Don't always believe those rumors. If the government doesn't issue a planning announcement, then it's not certain to be demolished. Alright, I won't chat with you anymore. You think about Zhao Zhendong's situation recently. If you think of anything, call me at any time. Also, I'm asking you about Zhao Zhendong and Zhao Zhangyi; don't tell anyone."

"Then I definitely can't say it; I don't think my life is too long."

Wang Yan patted his arm: "Alright, go back."

"I'll see you off, Officer Wang. It's really bothering you."

"Two steps, what's there to see off? Gone."

Wang Yan waved his hand, took Xia Jie to the intersection, got in the car, and left.

Not until he saw their figures disappear did Zhao Xianming turn around and enter the courtyard... ===== CHAPTER 778 =====