Chapter 71: The Bureau Chief Who Was Scared Silly

The train station has always been where crowds gather most, and also a good opportunity for pickpockets to take advantage.

The train has just pulled into the station, and the exit is packed with people.

Of course, on the surface there seems to be nothing wrong; they are all ordinary folks lugging big and small bags, squeezing outward.

But if you observe carefully, you'll notice that some individuals behave quite suspiciously.

Instead of going with the flow outward, they insist on squeezing inward.

People like this are very likely to be pickpockets.

Basically every platform has pickpockets who make a living from this skill and can gain without effort; even if the railway police increase patrols, they cannot eliminate theft.

Only with the advent of online payments in later times did the incidence of being stolen greatly decrease.

But such people who profit without effort certainly exist; they simply switched to fraud, which is even worse than stealing money—not only taking your cash but also cutting out your kidney.

Lu Cheng stood somewhere, needing no deliberate concealment; since he wasn't in uniform, he looked like an ordinary civilian, and no one would notice him.

After searching the crowd for less than ten minutes, his eyes suddenly lit up; he quickly pushed through the people and headed in a certain direction.

A person whose appearance showed nothing wrong deliberately bumped into a bespectacled man, then hurriedly apologized.

That person was definitely a pickpocket; when he bumped, his hand clearly went into the other's pocket, quickly felt something, then swiftly moved it behind his back, using the apology as a chance to slip the item into his own pocket.

Lu Cheng witnessed the whole scene, walked over, and grabbed the person's hand.

The pickpocket obviously froze for a moment: "What are you doing?"

Lu Cheng tightly gripped the pickpocket's arm to prevent escape, and at the same time shouted at the bespectacled man who had just walked away.

"Hey, comrade, your stuff was stolen."

Hearing the shout, the bespectacled man turned around, confirmed it was aimed at him, and hurriedly felt himself over.

"Hey, where are my things? Where are my things? Was it you who stole them? You just bumped into me!"

It was Lu Cheng who shouted at him; the thief certainly wasn't Lu Cheng, so it could only be the person Lu Cheng had grabbed.

Seeing the other react, the pickpocket also panicked and hurried to flee.

But Lu Cheng had been on guard; his hand was like a vise, and the pickpocket's struggles could not break free.

Seeing he couldn't get away for the moment, he could only deny verbally: "Who stole your stuff? I'm a law-abiding citizen; don't wrong a good person."

The bespectacled man, presumably an intellectual with a scholarly air, seeing the pickpocket shout loudly, was frightened just like that, and looked pleadingly at Lu Cheng.

After all, he himself hadn't actually seen that person steal his belongings.

Lu Cheng, seeing this, asked: "Comrade, tell me first what you lost."

The bespectacled man didn't even need to recall, he blurted: "It's a handkerchief containing two 5‑catty national grain tickets, plus two yuan in paper money and three fen in coins; I'm a factory technician on a business trip here—if the grain tickets are gone, I'll starve."

He spoke in great detail; Lu Cheng looked at the pickpocket: "Are we wronging you? Take out what's in your pocket and let's see!"

The pickpocket swallowed saliva, of course not daring to produce it, and could only stubbornly deny: "What handkerchief grain ticket? I've never even seen such a thing…"

Lu Cheng couldn't be bothered with more talk; he twisted the pickpocket's wrist, making him yelp in pain.

Taking advantage of the opening, Lu Cheng reached into his pocket and pulled out the handkerchief.

The bespectacled man looked, eyes widening, and said: "Yes, yes, this is my handkerchief; thank you, comrade, you're really a good person."

As the bespectacled man spoke and reached for the handkerchief, Lu Cheng did not hand it over.

"Come on, this person stole your stuff; you also have to come with me to the railway bureau to give testimony."

The bespectacled man was a bit reluctant.

The reason Lu Cheng didn't immediately return the handkerchief was that he knew many people dislike trouble; once they find their lost item, they just want to leave.

As for whether the pickpocket gets punished, it doesn't matter; anyway, if he steals again it'll be someone else's loss.

The bespectacled man said: "No, it's not needed; I still have urgent matters to attend to."

The reason Lu Cheng caught a pickpocket was certainly not because he was idle and bored; he had his own purpose.

"Fine then, if you don't want the handkerchief, go ahead and leave."

Hearing that, the bespectacled man had no choice but to follow Lu Cheng to the nearest railway branch.

Arriving at the bureau, Lu Cheng knew his older brother was anxiously waiting, so he didn't linger long, explained the situation briefly, and handed the pickpocket over to the railway police comrades at the bureau.

Finally he deliberately threw out a sentence: "Your branch's usual patrol work is a bit lacking."

Having said that, he left while the young comrade looked on puzzled.

The young comrade muttered: "Hey, what kind of person is this, treating you as a leader and daring to criticize our work—something's wrong…"

Lu Cheng pretended not to hear, walked into the courtyard, and deliberately tossed out his work ID and introduction letter.

Afterward he went to look for his older brother; Lu Feng had been searching everywhere for him.

"Lu Cheng, where did you run off to? You vanished in an instant; I've been looking for you half the day!"

"It's fine, big brother; I just saw a pickpocket, so I caught him and handed him over to the railway bureau on the way."

Lu Feng then slapped his forehead: "Look at my brain—you've become a railway police officer now, how promising!"

Lu Cheng smiled: "Let's go, big brother; we still have to hurry on our way."

"Right, right, your sister‑in‑law must be anxiously waiting."

……

In the courtyard of the railway branch.

After the railway police comrade finished questioning the pickpocket and temporarily locked him up, passing through the courtyard later, his gaze was drawn to something on the ground.

When he picked it up and looked, it was a work ID; upon closer inspection, it was the work ID of the Beijing Station Railway Bureau, and his eyes widened immediately.

Looking around, he hurriedly ran into the bureau chief's office.

"Bureau Chief Li, I picked up a work ID; it seems to have been dropped by the person who just caught the pickpocket."

Bureau Chief Li was reading the newspaper, frowning, and said: "How many times have I told you not to be careless? Can't you be steadier? A work ID—why panic? Just leave it at the guardroom; he won't come back to get it himself!"

"No, Bureau Chief Li, you should still take a look; this is the same as ours, a railway bureau work ID, and it's from Beijing as well."

"From the Capital City?"

Li Juzhang then took the work ID, flipped it open and glanced: "Lu Cheng? Hiss! This name sounds a bit familiar, as if I've heard it somewhere."

He hurriedly flipped through the nearby file folder and finally found a Department Committee-issued commendation order notice.

He checked with both hands, the name was correct.

"Could this Lu Cheng be the one on the commendation order?"

The little comrade nodded: "This Lu Cheng came from the Capital City; it's surely correct."

Li Juzhang pondered: "Why did he come all this way? Just to catch a pickpocket?"

The little comrade shook his head: "Probably not; this is his introduction letter, he came to Yushu Gou to visit relatives, catching the pickpocket was just along the way. Right, when he was leaving, he also said our work wasn't up to par."

"Hiss!" Li Juzhang couldn't sit still, his mouth kept making a hissing sound.

"No way, he couldn't be representing the Capital City, secretly inspecting our bureau's work, could he?" Li Juzhang muttered to himself while pacing back and forth.

"It's not impossible; this Lu Cheng just made a great achievement, even the Department Committee personally commended him, his future is limitless. This is surely to train him, to study and inspect everywhere, and incidentally check which railway branch's work is lacking. Otherwise, why would he have said that just now?"

Hearing that, the little comrade also got a bit startled: "What, what should we do? The superiors wouldn't criticize us, would they?"

Li Juzhang gestured for him not to panic: "There's still room for redemption; since his work ID was accidentally dropped in the Grand Courtyard, it shows heaven wants to give us a chance."

"You do this, immediately drive and bring someone, go retrieve this Lu Cheng. Whether or not he's representing the Capital City on a secret inspection, he's also a hero; we must treat him well."

The little comrade understood: short mouth from eating, soft hands from taking; as long as we entertain Lu Cheng well, when he returns to the Capital City, he definitely won't speak ill of our branch.

"Li Juzhang, I'll go take care of it right away."

"Hurry go, even if we have to chase him all the way to Yushu Gou we must bring him back! No, I'll go myself..."

……

In the direction toward Yushu Gou, Lu Cheng sat in the car frame, sometimes looking at the swaying cow's buttocks, sometimes looking behind.

"Why aren't they here yet? Still waiting for you guys to help me show off."