Chapter 54: I dare you to search

Seeing Jiang Mengmeng's curiosity stirred again, Lu Cheng put on a troubled look.

This is indeed a confidential mission; if you tell others, it would be a mistake.

Anyone else, hearing how serious this is, would surely not keep asking.

But Jiang Mengmeng is too curious; if something happens on the train and she doesn't find out, she could go three days without eating.

Don't worry, comrade; I keep my lips sealed—even if it rotted in my stomach, I'd never tell anyone.

Usually, the more solemn such a promise, the looser the lips—like the waist of cotton pants.

Then I definitely believe you; just looking at your small mouth, I can tell you're not the gossiping type.

Jiang Mengmeng nodded vigorously.

You really want to hear?

Jiang Mengmeng nodded vigorously again.

Lu Cheng gestured: "Then let's talk in the broadcast room."

This time Jiang Mengmeng didn't nod, she hesitated a moment; the broadcast room isn't big, and it wouldn't be proper for a lone man and woman to be inside together.

But she quickly realized: since it's such an important mission, with passengers all around outside, it's bound to be overheard.

All right, then come in and speak.

Lu Cheng followed her into the broadcast room, took a look—just small broadcast equipment, a table, a stool, and the rest were Jiang Mengmeng's personal items: a water cup, a makeup mirror, a comb, and such.

There was only one stool; Jiang Mengmeng greeted him to sit.

Lu Cheng wasn't polite; after sitting, he rested his arms on the chair back and waved.

Jiang Mengmeng didn't understand at first: "What's up?"

Come closer, watch out—walls have ears.

"Got it, got it." Jiang Mengmeng bent down, and Lu Cheng had her move even closer.

You smell quite nice.

Jiang Mengmeng's face flushed; besides her husband, she'd never been this close to a male comrade before.

I just put on some snowflake ointment; hurry up and speak—I can't wait.

Lu Cheng sat upright, cleared his throat twice, then said: "Let me tell you, we're capturing a murderer."

A murderer?" Jiang Mengmeng's face showed surprise: "You mean there's a murderer on the train? Impossible—how could one get onto a train?"

Lu Cheng replied: "You still don't believe me—haven't you noticed many unfamiliar faces suddenly on the train?"

Jiang Mengmeng nodded: "Yeah, I'm just curious—many aren't our Beijing Station comrade police officers, including you."

That's right; I'm from Xizhimen Station, ordered to come to your Beijing Station to carry out a joint mission—if it weren't such an important criminal, we wouldn't be conducting joint enforcement.

Jiang Mengmeng thought it made sense: "That's true—have you caught him? After you said that, I don't even dare leave the broadcast room."

Lu Cheng shook his head: "Not caught yet; you'd better stay in the broadcast room—I'll tell you, this murderer is extremely brutal and perverse, especially toward women, liking to kill before raping."

Huh? Then why doesn't he rape first and kill later?

Jiang Mengmeng's question left Lu Cheng bewildered.

He had just said it offhand—does it matter whether it's kill first or rape first?

What kind of brain circuitry does Jiang Mengmeng have!

People are dead—do they still think about enjoying themselves before death?

Cough, cough—this is the murderer's habit, and he also has a special fetish; do you know what it is?

Jiang Mengmeng shook her head; as Lu Cheng lowered his head to glance at her little leather shoes, she became even more confused.

Lu Cheng leaned in and whispered: "Let me tell you, this murderer's wife ran off with someone else, just because someone bought her a pair of leather shoes, so he especially hates women who wear leather shoes—he kills any he sees."

Jiang Mengmeng swallowed saliva; she now felt her beloved leather shoes were scorching her feet.

Then what should I do? He won't target me, will he? This is terrifying!

Oh, hard to say—you say you're so pretty and have a great figure...

You, you stop scaring me—then hurry up and catch him.

We'll definitely catch him, but you've seen it too—it's really hard to catch; otherwise there would have been news by now.

Jiang Mengmeng's chest heaved with fear: "Then what should I do? After you said that, I don't even dare wear leather shoes."

Lu Cheng said nothing; Jiang Mengmeng grew more anxious: "Then why don't you help me dispose of them? I have slippers—I daren't wear leather shoes."

Seeing Jiang Mengmeng panic and start taking off her shoes, Lu Cheng was delighted inside but said: "No, no—I can't take your shoes."

Oh, I don't mean give them to you—I mean help me throw them away; I'm afraid if I go dump them, he'll spot me again, so please be a good samaritan and help me out.

Lu Cheng scratched his head, reluctantly saying: "Look, you're begging me—what else can I do? Since we're part of the railway system, I have to help you."

Jiang Mengmeng nodded vigorously: "Mm-hmm, thank you, comrade—you're really a good person."

Outside the broadcast room, Lu Cheng weighed the leather shoes in his hand, his mouth grinning crookedly.

All good—he helped Song Ling deliver the shoes, and the twenty-something yuan spent on the shoes ended up in his own pocket.

Having done all this, he felt a bit embarrassed.

He smelled the leather shoes Jiang Mengmeng had just taken off—hey, they still had an odor.

However, such original-scent leather shoes, if placed in modern times, would definitely be favored by otaku, who'd pay high prices for them.

He took a newspaper from an old man nearby, wrapped it up, and slipped it into the inner pocket of his cotton-padded jacket; just as he patted it down, Liu Jian'an came running over in a hurry.

"Lu Cheng, where did you go? I couldn't find you just now."

"Oh, my stomach hurt just now—how many carriages have you searched so far?"

"The third carriage—I came to find you to talk about this."

Seeing Liu Jian'an looking anxious, Lu Cheng asked: "What's up? Did you run into trouble?"

"You guessed right—the third carriage is a sleeper; its occupants aren't cadres but traveling technical workers, and they won't allow a search, so now our train police are in a standoff with them."

Ordinary citizens are reluctant to buy a bunk car ticket; anyone who can stay in the bunk car must have status and rank.

These people are usually highly respected, accustomed to being praised, and being suddenly subjected to a body search would surely make them feel embarrassed.

When Lu Cheng arrived in a hurry, he saw a young man in plain clothes who pulled out a work badge and shouted while holding it up.

"I'm from the Beijing Public Security Bureau, my father is the director, try searching us!"

Ding Han Zhen glanced at the other's work badge and immediately got a headache.

When searching the first two carriages, they were all ordinary citizens and were very cooperative; they didn't expect to encounter serious resistance upon reaching the bunk car.

The crucial point is that the other side is still from the Public Security Bureau, and Ding Han Zhen suddenly felt his head spin.

Capturing enemy spies is an important mission directly issued by the Three Ministries; if they fail to catch them, the embarrassment will fall on the Railway Department and on us Train Police.

With the mission at hand, most people still support a resolute search of the bunk car; although these people are all officials with status, who can guarantee that the enemy spy isn't one of them?

Only a small minority think it's better not to search; these officials all have status, and the situation could blow up badly.

Ding Han Zhen was momentarily caught in a dilemma.

At that moment, the tall crew member who had previously pushed Lu Cheng aside in the Dining Car saw the hurried Lu Cheng and made a sarcastic remark.

"Yo, where's this cat taking a big nap, and you even know to come!"

Lu Cheng, unable to tolerate the person, shot back: "What's the matter, didn't you say it's the same with or without me, and now you've run out of tricks?"

The tall crew member was choked for a moment: "You! Fine, you've got a move, if you're so capable go and search! I doubt you'd dare to search!"

He deliberately used his words to provoke Lu Cheng.

If he doesn't dare to search, it shows Lu Cheng is a coward.

If he dares to force a search, he will certainly offend these officials, and if anything goes wrong, Lu Cheng will bear the blame.

It ended up making him the one to take the fall.

That single remark created a yin‑yang situation, and Lu Cheng seemed to be wrong no matter what he did.