Chapter 34: Returning to the Capital to Report

At midnight, a Jeep 212 with its two big headlights on slowly stopped at the gate of the Grand Courtyard of the Xizhimen Railway Branch.

The duty guard, who had been on post for twenty hours, saw an unfamiliar vehicle approach and gestured for it to stop.

Lu Cheng dragged Ji Yue out of the vehicle; there was no choice, the two were handcuffed together.

The guard recognized them and exclaimed, "Comrade Lu Cheng? You finally made it back! Team Captain Zhou is in a panic; I'll go call him right now."

Watching the guard hurriedly run into the courtyard, Lu Cheng realized he couldn't escape a scolding, but at least he wasn't returning empty‑handed,

In Zhou Weihua's office there was a marching cot; he hadn't gone home tonight and had been staying by the phone waiting for news.

When the guard reported Lu Cheng's return, Zhou Weihua sprang up from the cot, grabbed his trousers and pulled them onto his legs while shuffling in his slippers toward the courtyard.

He kept shouting, "Lock him up, lock this kid up, no organization, no discipline! Where are the people?"

Lu Cheng pulled Ji Yue and walked into the courtyard, "Team Captain Zhou, you're still up this late?"

"Rest? I've been looking for you all day; you still dare to sneak onto a train? Sneaking onto a train is one thing, but you also dared to jump from a train? If you fell, how am I supposed to explain that to your Master… what is this?"

Zhou Weihua roared all the way to the courtyard; in the car lights he saw a woman standing beside Lu Cheng.

He recalled that Lu Cheng had mentioned getting married yesterday; he hadn't met her, so this woman was probably his wife.

"Look at you, why did you bring your lover along!"

Zhou Weihua hadn't even pulled his pants up; the fly was open, revealing bright red underwear.

Seeing a female comrade, he fumbled, pulling up his pants and tugging at his belt.

"You two, handcuffed together at this hour, what game are you playing? Young people sure know how to have fun."

"But I'm telling you, don't think bringing your lover here will get you off the hook; you'll still have to face punishment."

While Zhou Weihua hurriedly pulled his pants up, Ji Yue said coldly, "Who is his lover! He doesn't deserve it."

"Yo, fighting? I'm telling Lu Cheng, you're too reckless; you just got married and even your wife already has complaints about you."

Lu Cheng was still grinning foolishly, "Team Captain Zhou, you've misunderstood; I wouldn't dare take a thief as a wife."

"A thief?" At that moment Zhou Weihua saw four handcuffed men step down from the Jeep.

"Who are they?"

"Team Captain Zhou, they're the five notorious thieves on our Jingbao Line; I captured them all, and, fearing you'd worry, I rushed back to the Capital City overnight."

Zhou Weihua was stunned, looking at the thieves with disbelief.

"You caught them yourself?"

"More or less; through my active coordination, I directed the local Railway Bureau to cooperate, and that's how we netted the thieves."

"You can command the local Railway Bureau?"

Zhou Weihua's face was full of disbelief; he was just a trainee, how could the local Railway Bureau buy his account?

But the five thieves were indeed standing before them; during this period, those thieves had tormented the whole team.

Now that Lu Cheng had brought them back, Zhou Weihua, who had been quite angry, suddenly calmed down a great deal.

For the returned Lu Cheng, he felt a bit helpless; he should deal with it, after all the man achieved such a big feat, and not dealing with it would indeed be a mistake.

"You! You're really bold, daring to catch thieves alone. But don't think it's over; I have to report to Director Tang."

Zhou Weihua was indecisive about how or whether to punish Lu Cheng, so he let Director Tang make the decision.

"What are you still standing there for? Quickly unlock the handcuffs, lock these people up first, and come with me inside."

Lu Cheng lifted his handcuffs and said, "Team Captain Zhou, I still need you to unlock them."

Zhou Weihua didn't understand at once, "Where's the handcuff key?"

Lu Cheng replied helplessly, "I swallowed it."

"What? Swallowed it?"

Lu Cheng nodded, then explained how he captured the people and how the local division wouldn't let him take them away.

After hearing, Zhou Weihua shook his head and sighed, "Lu Cheng, I really have no way to deal with you. But you did the right thing; we captured these people, so why should we hand them over to the local division?"

Finally getting a compliment, Lu Cheng hurriedly said, "Then Team Captain Zhou, have someone unlock them quickly; the cuffs are hurting my wrist."

"You still feel pain? Then keep feeling it; the handcuffs in our team aren't universal—each pair has its own key."

"Huh?" Lu Cheng was stunned, "Then what do I do? I can't stay handcuffed to a thief forever."

"Who made you so impulsive? Didn't you think to make a phone call first?"

"The situation was urgent, so I had no choice but this plan."

If he had chosen to call, Wu Sanbao, being so shrewd, would have known he was calling for backup and would have…

Zhou Weihua also knew that Lu Cheng, acting alone, both catching thieves and dealing with the local Railway Bureau, truly had no choice, hence this rogue method.

"Sigh, there really is no good solution; only…"

"Laxative?" Lu Cheng felt his anus tighten and asked, "If it's not Team Captain Zhou, is there no other way?"

"There is a way, two ways: either cut it out surgically, or chop off the hand."

…

Half an hour later, in the courtyard's public restroom, a "ss… splash splash…" sound rang out.

"Sss, ouch, hmm, um, eh, ssshh, ouch, feels good…"

Ji Yue turned her head aside, one hand covering her nose, her face full of disgust.

"Did you finish? It smells terrible."

She is indeed a thief, but a soldier may be killed, not humiliated; once she's out, she'll definitely kill him.

Lu Cheng squatted in the latrine, his face showing pain and pleasure.

"Why are you in a hurry? I've suffered a great sin today just to catch you."

Damn it, this medicine's effect is really strong.

It feels like a colon cleanse; everything from half a month ago came out, and now it's just "ss" water spraying.

"Don't peek, I feel it's about to come down."

"Who's peeking at you, you hooligan."

Lu Cheng indeed felt it, sensing the shape of a key in his rectum.

He immediately held his breath, pointed his butt toward the direction outside the toilet, and then strained hard…

The key shot out with a spray of hot water.

The guard stationed outside watched the key being fired from inside, and it landed precisely in front of his shoes; he opened his mouth in shock, speechless.

How did it get from inside his body, then from the toilet, to the outside?

"Comrade, could you also untie my handcuffs?" Lu Cheng said as he pulled up his pants.

"What? You want me to untie it?"

"With just one hand, it's not exactly convenient, you know."

The guard, helpless, had to endure his nausea and, extremely unwillingly, wrapped the key in a tissue.

After the handcuffs were removed, Lu Cheng shook his wrist, clasped the guard's shoulder, and subtly brushed his fingers twice.

"Thanks, Comrade, I'll treat you to a meal later."

"Y-you, hurry and find Team Captain Zhou. I'm really having terrible luck on duty today."

He still hasn't eaten; he feels he hasn't had an appetite for three days.