Chapter 378: Isn't This the Guy Who Pretended to Be the Old Grandma?

"Um…"

Qi Fang flicked the ash off his cigarette, instinctively wanting to speak up and make his presence felt.

But to his surprise, the moment he made a sound, the room immediately fell silent, and everyone—including Yu Dazhang—turned to look at him.

A wave of pressure washed over him.

This made Qi Fang's heart skip a beat. He swallowed, and said, forcing himself to push through:

"Actually it's not that complicated. No matter how the other side hides, their target has always been those mentally disabled individuals."

Once he got the opening out, he suddenly felt the words flowing:

"Since that's the case, why don't we play to their tastes and send one over to them?"

"When a wolf sees meat, it's bound to pounce and bite."

The moment these words left his mouth, everyone in the room was stunned.

What a good idea… Yu Dazhang realized that everyone had fallen into a misconception before this.

They had all been thinking about using proper channels to track down the suspect.

Luring the snake out of its hole isn't the exclusive patent of criminals—if they can use it, of course our side can use it too.

"It's just that…"

Seeing that no one reacted, Qi Fang quickly added:

"If we do it this way, there's a bit of an entrapment issue, so maybe we should still…"

Before he could finish, Yu Dazhang immediately cut in:

"That's a great plan. We'll do it your way."

Lu Zhongxin and the others chimed in one after another.

"Truly worthy of a colleague from the provincial bureau—your thinking is just more thorough." Lu Zhongxin looked thoroughly pleased.

Ma Jian also showed an admiring expression:

"For now, this method is the most direct and effective—you could say it'll show results immediately."

"Right." Zhang Sen also said approvingly:

"To come up with this plan in such a short time, only a seasoned veteran criminal investigator could do it."

Liu Miao, meanwhile, looked utterly humbled:

"There's still a gap between us and the provincial bureau's colleagues."

Qi Fang nearly lost himself in this wave of praise.

The idea he had just floated was really just him forcing himself to make his presence felt—it wasn't all that brilliant.

Could it be…

That their earlier discussion had been deliberately steering around this very method?

Very likely.

It wasn't that they couldn't think of this method—they just didn't dare try it lightly.

Once it came from our side, the nature of it changed, and all the responsibility afterward would naturally fall on the provincial bureau.

He'd been played!

Qi Fang suddenly felt a tingling numbness crawl across his scalp.

He had just casually tossed out a half-baked suggestion, and they had actually taken the easy out and gone along with it.

The teamwork among the Songhai colleagues was absolutely freaking seamless—way too seamless.

Before he knew it, they had him neatly boxed in.

This cigarette must be laced with something… Qi Fang quickly pinched out the cigarette in his hand, nearly finished.

"Shouldn't we study it a bit more?"

There was almost a pleading note in Qi Fang's voice:

"This plan has its holes too. First off, who's going to be the bait is already a problem—it's not that easy to pretend to be mentally disabled."

Yu Dazhang hadn't thought that far; he genuinely thought the idea was a good one.

As for who would disguise themselves as a mentally disabled person, he already had someone in mind.

You have to remember, their side had a genius performer.

"I already have someone in mind."

Yu Dazhang turned to look at Zhang Sen:

"Sen-ge, you confident?"

Zhang Sen didn't even hesitate, answering straight away:

"Leave it to me. I'll guarantee the mission gets done."

Isn't this the guy who pretended to be the old grandma… Qi Fang suddenly recalled the scene at the open-air parking lot when they'd caught the suspect.

He had taken part in the arrest back then too, and had been thoroughly won over by Zhang Sen's acting.

Who would've thought—a criminal police officer could have that kind of acting talent.

"You, you guys…"

For a moment, Qi Fang's brain short-circuited.

The person was already picked~

The trap had been dug long ago, just waiting for him to jump right in.

The next day.

Early that morning, Zhang Sen left Yangcheng with one of the officers, heading for another city.

This had already been settled the night before by Yu Dazhang and the others.

Do the act properly, all the way.

If you're going to pretend, design every step in advance.

Zhang Sen's best entrance is to walk through the station exit into the railway station, and the train ticket in his hand must be genuine and valid.

Those touts are constantly watching the exit; their main customers are people who've just gotten off the train.

This aligns perfectly with the criminals' intentions.

Nine o'clock in the morning.

Yu Dazhang gathered all the officers and laid out the operation plan in detail.

Captain Hua had also arrived from Yancheng last night and was now standing beside Yu Dazhang.

Then they divided into teams, two per team, dispersing into smaller units.

After arranging everything, Yu Dazhang called Captain Hua alone into a room.

"Our police cars are too conspicuous."

Yu Dazhang said in a conciliatory tone:

"If the target takes the bait today, we must follow immediately; to avoid detection, we'll inevitably need to switch vehicles frequently."

In truth, he had no certainty whether the other side still had people at Yangcheng Railway Station.

Although Zhang Chao's group is currently focused on Province N, we cannot entirely rule out the possibility they've notified this side to stand down.

But that possibility is very small.

No one is immune to greed; those mentally disabled people are seen by them as an endless source of wealth.

And as long as someone is human, they harbor侥幸 psychology—this business has gone on for over a decade; anyone in their place would find it hard to give up completely.

The facts fully prove this point.

Too many criminals have already earned more than enough money, yet still refuse to stop.

Only when caught by police do they begin to regret bitterly.

The reason is simple: greed and侥幸 psychology.

Therefore, this operation not only aims to draw out the other side, but Yu Dazhang also wants to see whether Zhang Chao's group intends to quit.

"Just say how many cars you need."

Captain Hua knew Yu Dazhang was being polite, so he cut straight to the point.

"Seven cars." Yu Dazhang had already calculated it in his mind:

"We have eighteen people total; these seven cars will be driven by the officers, one team per car."

"You and Qi Fang ride with me, blending in."

His SUV, though bearing an out-of-town license plate, is still a private vehicle.

Even if the other side sees it, it doesn't matter—there's nothing strange about seeing an out-of-town car on the road.

Captain Hua nodded, but then realized something was off:

"Seven cars for seven teams—that's fourteen people, plus you, me, and Qi Fang—that's seventeen. One's missing."

Immediately after speaking, he guessed Yu Dazhang's plan, and his face darkened:

"You're not just trying to draw out the other side—you plan to let Zhang Sen get captured by them!"

Captain Hua had assumed this operation was only about drawing out the target.

Once the target was spotted, assign personnel to create chaos and help Zhang Sen escape, then lock onto the target for surveillance.

In his view, there was no need to risk the colleague from Songhai.

Besides, playing a mentally disabled person isn't easy—if the other side discovers him en route, Zhang Sen's chances of survival are slim.

Even if his acting fools them.

What if we lose him on the road?

Zhang Sen would end up in an underground prison doing hard labor.

And once he's in, no one knows when he'll get out.

(End of Chapter)