Chapter 169: The Gun Is Lost!

He shouted affectionately, and Lu Cheng seized the other's hand.

"Dear Ying Ying, I really didn't expect you to be such a good woman; I have no job now, and you still are willing to reconcile with me."

"I was the one who made mistakes before; from now on I'll obey you. As long as you behave well, we can definitely have a happy life."

Li Huiying flicked his hand away: "What does that mean? You want me to support you for free? What kind of dream are you having!"

"Hey, didn't you just say you wanted to make up with me?"

"Who wants to make up with you? You don't even have a job now; what's the difference between you and a street drifter?"

"But I have ambition."

"Ambition is useless."

Lu Cheng knew this woman would be fickle, and sighed helplessly: "Sorry, I was just teasing you earlier. I actually wasn't fired; not only was I not fired, but because of my merit performance, I was promoted to Deputy Bureau Chief."

Looking at Li Huiying, an indescribable complex expression was on her face—regret and shame.

She pretended not to care, continuing to mend her foot while saying, "Ah, having a job or not doesn't matter; even if you don't, at worst I can work a little harder and still support our little family. I was just joking with you earlier."

"Is that so? Then I was also joking with you; I actually have no job."

This time Li Huiying firmly insisted: "Ah, stop going back and forth with jokes; you just love to make a fool of people."

Lu Cheng sat up: "Who is making a fool of you? I've only been working a few months—could I possibly be promoted to Deputy Bureau Chief? I truly have no job; right now I'm just an unemployed youth."

The mocked Li Huiying, angry, stood up: "Which of your statements is true and which is false?"

"Then which statement do you want to be true and which to be false?"

"You…" that sentence left Li Huiying speechless; she didn't know how to answer.

Seeing Li Huiying angry, exasperated, and tangled, Lu Cheng was delighted.

He guessed that tonight Li Huiying would be unable to sleep, tangled over which statement was true.

Keep puzzling over it slowly; that's the effect Lu Cheng wants.

Even after finishing the foot treatment, Li Huiying still looked absent‑minded, wanting to speak several times, but Lu Cheng gave her no chance and walked straight out.

His mother was still waiting for him to come home for dinner.

In front of the wooden wardrobe where clothes are stored, Lu Cheng opened locker No. 13, took up his clothes and was about to put them on when a sudden shock hit him; he felt both sides of his pockets…

The gun's gone!

He hurriedly took out all the clothes, searched through them, but still didn't find the handgun.

He immediately became a bit flustered; this wasn't a trivial matter.

Although this era lacks a comprehensive and explicit gun‑prohibition policy, ordinary citizens aren't allowed to possess firearms, except for certain groups like the commune militia, factory security departments, etc.

If this handgun were to circulate and affect society, he couldn't just walk away unscathed.

Moreover, this handgun was a gift from Lei Zhan Ge.

If it gets lost, Lei Zhan Ge would inevitably get angry.

It was clearly stolen.

Lu Cheng examined the cabinet; the wooden wardrobe for storing clothes was the kind with individual cubbyholes.

Everyone receives a key from the counter; after placing clothes inside, they can lock it to prevent loss of important items.

But most are unlocked; those who can bathe in the bathhouse are mostly locals who know each other and feel locking is unnecessary.

Of course, because there are no valuables in their pockets, they just push the clothes into the wooden cubby and go straight to bathe.

Before coming, Lu Cheng forgot to leave the handgun at home; he even locked it specifically at the bathhouse—how could it still be stolen?

Actually, a lock like this only deters gentlemen, not rascals.

It's just a simple little iron lock; Lu Cheng can open it, and a small piece of wire can easily pry it open.

Someone definitely tampered with his cabinet just now.

Lu Cheng, holding his clothes, scanned the bathhouse; there were still many people, some familiar faces from nearby, and some strangers.

People like Xiao Yan sat around the pool.

Everyone is naked; anyone who took the handgun would be visible at a glance, but since it was stolen, the thief wouldn't be foolish enough to hold it.

Either it was hidden in another cabinet or taken away.

Now Lu Cheng's biggest worry is that the person left the bathhouse with the handgun.

Not daring to be careless, he went to the counter and explained the situation to Lao Sun.

Lao Sun immediately frowned: "Lost something? A handgun? Ah, why did you bring the gun here?"

"There are no bullets inside; I'm worried that the person has left. Uncle Lao Sun, do you recall who left just now?"

Lao Sun thought for a moment, then shook his head: "You didn't stay long in the bath; everyone has been here the whole time, no one has left yet."

Lu Cheng instantly relaxed; as long as no one left, it means the handgun is still in the bathhouse.

At the same time, Lu Cheng couldn't help but remark that the thief was incredibly bold—stealing even a police gun, and after stealing it, didn't leave immediately but stayed leisurely soaking.

"Uncle Lao Sun, from now on, this bathhouse is entry‑only, no exits; I'll start checking right away."

Lao Sun hurriedly nodded; regardless of Lu Cheng's police identity, even a regular guest losing something requires the bathhouse to cooperate with the investigation.

Otherwise, it would damage the bathhouse's reputation—people who bathe here and lose belongings won't return.

"Lu San'er, I'll close the door now and have Xiao Qin and the others help you search together."

After calling a few people, Lu Cheng stood there and shouted at the bathers: "All the uncles, aunties, elders, and…"

Lao Sun tugged at him from the side: "This is the men's pool; there are no aunties or grandmas. Let me handle it."

Almost all the naked old men turned to look.

Lao Sun cleared his throat: "Everyone, listen to me. I'm the director of our public bathhouse; my surname is Sun. A guest here has lost something. If anyone took it, please return it and I'll pretend nothing happened; otherwise I'll turn you over to the Public Security Bureau."

Lu Cheng was speechless; his words were as good as unsaid—once stolen, who would foolishly return it? He couldn't expect the thief to have a conscience.

Sure enough, after a while, everyone just stared with wide eyes, and none admitted anything.

"What should we do, Lu San'er?"

Lu Cheng pushed Lao Sun aside, took out his work badge, and said firmly, "I am a Beijing Station Railway police officer; now I need to inspect these cabinets one by one, so anyone who has locked them, please unlock the locks."

The scene instantly erupted into chaos, and everyone started chattering all at once.

"On what grounds are you inspecting? I didn't take anything of yours."

"Exactly, even if you lost something you need evidence, right? How can you just check our stuff at will?"

Lu Cheng was more than familiar with this kind of situation; he often encountered it on trains and had experience handling it.

"I want to make it clear to everyone: a Handgun is missing. If it falls into the wrong hands, it could be very dangerous, so please cooperate."

When they heard it was a Handgun, everyone froze for a moment, realizing it wasn't a trivial matter.

Moreover, given Lu Cheng's status as railway police, everyone was willing to cooperate.

However, just as Lao Sun was leading the group to inspect the cabinets one by one, a bald man in the bathhouse, wiping his upper body with a towel, said in a measured tone.

"Even if you're railway police, so what? Your jurisdiction is the Railway, not the local security police; you have no right to inspect us!"