Chapter 53: First Encounter with Jiang Mengmeng

Time is limited; everyone must act quickly as if seizing time.

In less than ten minutes, the front carriage became chaotic, yet this chaos was orderly.

Everything remained within the Train Police's controllable range.

Since the doors of the front and rear carriages were filled with Train Police, the passengers were momentarily startled by the scene.

"Why are so many Train Police suddenly here? It's terrifying."

"I don't know; could there be bad elements among us?"

"How bad must the person be to warrant deploying so much police force!"

While the passengers debated, they immediately kept distance from strangers nearby, fearing the person next to them might be the bad element.

Mutual suspicion instantly shrouded the carriage in fear.

At this moment Ding Han Zhen squeezed into the carriage and saw the passengers' tense expressions, exactly the concern he had earlier.

But now the arrow is on the string; it must be released.

"Comrades, don't be afraid. We just received a report that a traveling Comrade lost something and is quite anxious. We suspect there's a thief in the carriage, so we need to investigate and hope everyone can cooperate."

Hearing Ding Han Zhen's words, Big Sister beside him covered her chest.

"Oh, so it's catching a thief. Your big display scares people; I thought you were after a murderer."

Ding Han Zhen, with slight apology, said: "Sorry to have startled you, Big Sister."

Big Sister replied boldly: "No problem, no problem. Since it's catching a thief, as revolutionary masses we should support your work.

Search me first, and here's my luggage; feel free to look!"

The upright fear no shadows; with Big Sister's initiative, other passengers also requested the Train Police to inspect, proving their innocence.

Seeing everyone's cooperation, Ding Han Zhen was stunned; he hadn't expected Lu Cheng's method to work so surprisingly well.

To shorten the time, over twenty Traffic Police Unit members all went in, carefully searching each person and every piece of luggage.

With such force, in less than five minutes they finished searching this carriage.

But they found no suspicious items; nevertheless, no one lost heart—if we follow this method, searching carriage by carriage, we will definitely find it.

When the next carriage passed the Broadcast Room, Jiang Mengmeng leaned at the doorway, saw so many Train Police approaching, and couldn't help asking out of curiosity.

"Hey Comrade, what are you doing? Why so many?"

The Train Police officer lifted his head and said only two words: "Confidential."

"Confidential?" Jiang Mengmeng was even more curious.

Grabbing another Train Police who came, she asked: "Comrade…"

"Didn't you hear I said confidential? Don't ask what you shouldn't!"

Jiang Mengmeng rolled her eyes: "Tsk, what's the big deal! I wasn't even going to ask."

Since they wouldn't say, Jiang Mengmeng couldn't make herself look foolish, so she turned back to the Broadcast Room.

But at that moment, someone bumped her from behind.

"Sorry, sorry, Comrade, I didn't mean it."

Lu Cheng apologized while turning to Liu Jian'an beside him: "Look at you, why did you bump me!"

Liu Jian'an was stunned, looking aggrieved.

We were a meter apart; when did I bump you? Clearly you lunged at me.

"I…"

"Don't explain; explaining is covering up."

Lu Cheng cut in, then said to Jiang Mengmeng: "Are you okay, Comrade? This kid is clumsy; later I'll scold him."

Jiang Mengmeng lifted an eyelid, patted her clothes and said: "You don't look that big, yet you call them a kid."

Opportunities must be created by oneself; that just gave us a chance to talk.

Lu Cheng rested one arm on the doorframe, estimating Jiang Mengmeng to be about 1.58 m tall; for a woman's height, that's fairly average.

But next to the robust Lu Cheng, she seemed somewhat petite.

As Zhao Bin said, this young woman's hips are firm and perky, truly like a little sprite.

Upon closer look, Lu Cheng noticed a clue.

Standard Railway uniforms are relatively loose, due to the job requiring frequent carriage movement to better serve the public.

If the uniform doesn't fit, one can at most take it to the tailor shop or logistics department to adjust the waist and shorten the pant legs.

Conversely, Jiang Mengmeng's blue work uniform was different, clearly modified in several places.

It not only narrowed the waist but also tightened the pant legs, thus highlighting her figure and making her hips especially perky.

Everyone has a love for beauty, especially since Jiang Mengmeng is already attractive and well‑shaped; such uniform alteration is understandable.

It was Jiang Mengmeng's pair of small square‑toe leather shoes that caught Lu Cheng's extra glance.

"Comrade, those small leather shoes look great on you; where did you get them? I'd like to buy a pair for my sister."

Jiang Mengmeng, praised by Lu Cheng, showed a delighted smile, shook her shoes, and bragged: "They're not easy to find; they're high‑end fashion, ordinary people can't get them."

"Is that so? I told you you have good taste; most people lack your discernment. Without great artistic cultivation, others wearing them wouldn't suit them."

To get Jiang Mengmeng to help obtain a pair of shoes, Lu Cheng had to employ his Pick-up Artist skill.

Sure enough, Jiang Mengmeng was so flattered she was almost embarrassed.

"Ah, you have such a sweet mouth. But I've been married; if you have other thoughts, then we can only say we have no destiny together."

"Married? Well then."

A married woman doesn't entangle people.

"Ah, good? How is being married good?" Jiang Mengmeng was momentarily confused.

"No problem, Comrade, don't misunderstand; I just want you to help me get a pair of shoes like that."

Jiang Mengmeng's face showed difficulty: "We're a Railway system, now that you've spoken up, I have no reason not to help you, but this style of leather shoes is indeed out of stock; the next shipment won't arrive for two months, otherwise I could have my aunt keep an extra pair for you."

Two months? That's a bit too long.

Lu Cheng stared at Jiang Mengmeng's leather shoes again and casually said, "Your shoes are still quite new."

"Definitely, I've only worn them less than three times in total, and I usually polish them for maintenance."

"Oh, your feet are quite small, what size shoes do you wear?"

"Size 36, what's the matter?"

Isn't that a coincidence?

The leather shoes Song Ling asked him to bring happen to be size 36, and the pair on Jiang Mengmeng's feet is also quite new, well maintained, and there's hardly any difference from a newly bought pair.

Lu Cheng's eyes flicked, and he immediately got an idea.

"Forget it, forget it, since it's hard to arrange, I won't buy them. Thank you, Comrade, we'll talk another time if there's a chance. I still have to carry out an arduous mission."

Lu Cheng deliberately pronounced the words "arduous mission" heavily; just now he heard that Jiang Mengmeng, out of curiosity, wanted to inquire about the mission.

After speaking, he turned his head and walked away.

Sure enough, after chatting a few sentences with Lu Cheng, even if they became familiar, asking about the mission might satisfy her curiosity.

So she hurriedly shouted, "Hey Comrade, what exactly are you… executing as a mission?"

Lu Cheng's face broke into a smile; this is something you insisted on asking, so I can't blame you for freeloading.