Chapter 451: Skipping Two Ranks in a Row—Special Approval!

"Human greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant."

In the meeting room, the four members of Lu Zhongxin's squad were discussing the case.

One team member had just finished lamenting when another chimed in:

"Actually, in their situation, a reconciliation is possible. If you ask me, it's not a big deal—just push them to settle."

The moment he finished speaking, Lu Zhongxin and Yu Dazhang both turned to look at him at the same time.

Not only were their movements perfectly in sync, even their gazes were identical.

Stared down by that master-and-disciple pair, the team member's hair stood on end:

"Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?"

Yu Dazhang took a deep breath and asked in return:

"Do you know why no one dares to help up an elderly person who has fallen these days?"

The question caught the team member completely off guard; he seemed baffled as to why Yu Dazhang would bring this up.

Still, he answered:

"Mainly because people are afraid of being scammed—after all, there have been precedents before."

Such cases were hardly rare.

The scariest part was that everyone knows scamming is wrong, yet when they find themselves in a relatively weaker position, they will extort the other party without the slightest hesitation.

It seemed to have become an iron law.

"Why do people dare to pull these scams?" Yu Dazhang asked again.

"Because…" The team member began to answer based on his own understanding, but the words died on his lips as something suddenly dawned on him.

He quickly stopped himself, thought for a moment, then swiftly changed his tune:

"I get it. As law enforcers, we can't paper over the cracks."

The reasoning was simple.

Precisely because the cost of breaking the law through these scams is low—even if it blows up, they won't be held accountable—people dare to pull these cons in broad daylight.

On top of that, law enforcers usually handle things with a mindset of reducing big issues to small ones and letting small ones fade away, which only fuels the arrogance of these scammers.

Flip it around—if every scammer were dealt with and the law enforced strictly, would anyone still dare to act this way?

Yu Dazhang and Lu Zhongxin were of one mind on this.

We can't change this trend nationwide, but within our jurisdiction, such behavior will never be tolerated.

"He asked for twelve thousand."

Yu Dazhang said expressionlessly:

"Setting aside the extorted money, he used lies and threats to squeeze out an extra ten thousand two hundred—that amount is enough to file a case."

"Any act with the goal of illegal possession and a coercive nature can be determined to be extortion."

"Besides, he already got the money."

If the money hadn't changed hands, there would still be room to maneuver.

It's just like theft.

Reaching out but never touching the money—that doesn't count as theft.

But if he succeeds and pockets the cash, the nature of the crime changes entirely.

"Follow the procedure," Lu Zhongxin spoke up:

"File the case where it needs filing, detain where detention is warranted. No hesitation—we just do our job."

The facts of the case were now clear: the two men and one woman had indeed only asked for 1,800 yuan, and they hadn't used violence.

It was precisely because they were so well-prepared yet so timid that they managed to exploit the loophole.

But even without criminal liability, they couldn't escape administrative punishment.

In the end, the three were each detained for fifteen days and fined five hundred yuan.

The man's case was far more serious, though—the amount of his extortion reached ten thousand yuan, enough to file a case and warrant criminal liability.

After this case wrapped up, word spread throughout the entire branch.

Officers buzzed about it privately.

"That master-and-disciple pair is ruthless—they turned the victim into the defendant."

"No one handles a case like this. They got both sides locked up."

"But it's a good thing, really. The law shows no mercy. Those scammers deserve to learn a lesson the hard way."

In the blink of an eye, another week passed. Before he knew it, Yu Dazhang had been working at the First Brigade for a full month.

On a day at the end of the month, Li Jun called him into the office. "The Yu family matter is wrapped up. Everyone connected to them has been caught."

Li Jun smoked the cigarette Yu Dazhang had handed him, looking thoroughly pleased.

This detachment commander cared nothing for money or liquor—his only hobby was a smoke.

"Let's wait a bit longer," Yu Dazhang suggested:

"If I go back to the detachment now, it's still too soon. Even if it's just for appearances, I need to wait another half month."

He'd been far too comfortable at the First Brigade this past month and really didn't want to come back so quickly.

Although the detachment treated him well too, there were no rebirth perks here.

And compared to the First Brigade, things here were still a bit unfamiliar.

Yu Dazhang remembered a saying from his past life: people need to step out of their comfort zone.

The gist was: leave the field you're good at, embrace new things, and become a better version of yourself.

That had to be the most poisonous chicken soup he'd ever drunk.

Believing that was like telling Einstein to take up boxing, or telling Tyson to study relativity.

That's so unethical.

Being able to achieve something in a single field over the course of one's life is already no easy feat.

At the very least, Yu Dazhang had no desire to step outside his own circle; he felt that being a good criminal investigator was already plenty, and he had no intention of trying other challenges at all.

Old Chen the anti-fraud guy did step out of his comfort zone—look at him now, does he regret it or not?

"I didn't call you here to talk about that."

Li Jun took a drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaled the smoke, a hint of a smile in his eyes:

"You've been promoted in rank again, by special approval."

The moment he heard it was about this, Yu Dazhang immediately got excited.

Police rank is tied to salary, so a rise in grade also meant an increase in income.

"I'm a Police Superintendent Class I now?" he asked excitedly.

Li Jun didn't answer, but took out a brand-new set of shoulder insignia and held it out in front of him.

Two bars and one star?

Police Superintendent Class III!

Another jump of two grades!

Taking the shoulder insignia, Yu Dazhang no longer knew what to say.

Before he realized it, his police rank had already surpassed his master's—he wondered whether his master would be jealous.

Staring at the shoulder insignia before him, his mind had already started wandering.

From now on, Qu Tuotuo would have to keep a lower profile in front of him, and the bride price would have to go up too—he couldn't let her off cheap.

"Your merits in Province N have already been finalized."

Li Jun wore a smile, making no attempt to hide his appreciation of Yu Dazhang:

"Another individual First-Class Merit, plus a collective First-Class Merit."

After a brief pause, he shifted his tone:

"But this time you need to make a trip to the Ministry of Public Security—the leaders above have specifically requested you attend the commendation conference held by the Ministry of Public Security."

Above? Yu Dazhang didn't understand, and immediately asked:

"Leaders of the Ministry of Public Security?"

He didn't think leaders of the Ministry of Public Security could possibly know a cop at his level.

Even though he had earned several merits, when placed on a national scale…

It did seem like a rare few.

Yu Dazhang suddenly felt rather good about himself.

Speaking of merits, he really hadn't heard of anyone earning four individual First-Class Merits at his age.

"That's right."

Li Jun nodded:

"You may not know this, but three individual First-Class Merits already qualify one for an honorary title. Presumably they took your age into account, so they held it back."

"But then another one came down—four individual First-Class Merits. There's no holding it back anymore."

(End of chapter)