Chapter 124: The Same World

The portraits of the five thieves were extracted, printed into a booklet, and handed to Wei Zhengguo.

Wei Zhengguo sighed again and left with them.

His weathered and indescribable appearance was just like a regular customer witnessing a familiar, skilled young lady getting married—a bit sentimental, a bit sad, a bit dramatic, but that didn't stop him from taking care of other young ladies.

Come to think of it, Wei Zhengguo had caught all five thieves himself. The impression wasn't that deep, but once they were brought up, he remembered them.

Old Juan was a curly-haired guy, naturally curly. He was quite handsome when he was young and had an unclear relationship with the widow twenty years his senior next door. Now that he was older, his looks had plummeted, and there were no more rumors about him and women.

Another one was a troublemaker in the village. He had three older brothers, and he was the youngest. After he got married, his wife ran off with someone else, and he became idle, starting to steal small things.

Another was an orphan with no elders at home, lacking discipline.

The other two were about the same; there were more or less problems in their families.

Recalling the information on the five, Old Wei had a headache. They committed crimes repeatedly, just wouldn't change, and relied too much on luck.

He had caught many thieves. Especially as his experience grew and his seniority deepened, Wei Zhengguo faced more cases of burglary, gang theft, and itinerant thieves.

Pickpockets like the ones before him were usually left for newcomers to practice on.

Because the value of the cases was too small, handling them was often more complicated than other cases—if it could be said that murder suspects always lost miserably in the interrogation phase, then the pickpocket industry belonged to the winning side in interrogations.

Unlike murder suspects who lacked training, those who were pickpockets were already too familiar with places like police stations or case handling centers.

Many pickpockets started stealing when they were very young, took a few years off, and then could continue stealing, resting and stealing again.

They had been interrogated many times and had suffered quite a bit; they could often weigh the pros and cons very well. They knew they had to go to jail, but on that basis, pickpockets could always find ways to spend less time in prison and live more comfortably.

This kind of experience was something ordinary murder suspects really didn't have—once they went in, it was for a lifetime, just like married people; it was hard to get out, and even harder to do it again.

However, with Jiang Yuan helping to collect evidence this time, Wei Zhengguo felt much more relaxed.

Taking Wen Ming and several other criminal police officers with him, Wei Zhengguo caught them one by one along the way, and finally ran straight to the home of one of the pickpockets to make the arrest.

The last pickpocket was named Guo Jingbao, who was eating watermelon at home. His living conditions were actually quite good: color TV, refrigerator, computer, and there was even a crystal candle holder and a long-haired plush carpet in the bedroom. Although the styles of the things in the house were very different, it was arranged very comfortably.

This was a thief who loved his home.

The stolen items were also well-organized; things of different styles looked quite good when placed together.

The police who came were all speechless. With the effort to tidy up the bedroom and arrange things, couldn't he do something proper? Why did he have to steal!

When Wei Zhengguo returned, he chatted with Jiang Yuan and the others: "The last one we caught, surnamed Guo, actually made his home quite comfortable. When he saw us, he actually said with righteous indignation that the police couldn't enter a home to make an arrest."

Jiang Yuan expressed his admiration for this.

Mainly because his home was just him and his old man, two big men. Not to mention artistic sense, it wasn't as messy as a pigsty, and it was good enough that it could be kept tidy.

"This thief feels like he knows a bit of law, but also doesn't know much."

"They know jack about the law!"

Wei Zhengguo was dismissive: "A smart thief should at least be stealing in Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou. Hiding in the county to steal things, what kind of smart person could there be? Besides, if he were really smart, he would have been hanging around bus stations and train stations for thirty or forty years. Watching people do business, he should have learned how to do it. Why would he continue to steal?"

Wang Zhong happened to stroll over and laughed: "Maybe he just likes a dissolute life."

"A lazy life is more like it."

But thinking of the scene of the arrest, Wei Zhengguo couldn't help but be happy.

"When I got to his house, a fifty-year-old thief, it was tidied up cleanly, and the home was very warm. We even thought we had caught the wrong person. Watermelon on the table, plus snacks, all laid out. He lived a more comfortable life than us."

He even took photos. A few people looked at the photos, and don't say, it actually looked very much like an internet-famous check-in spot.

A look of taking life seriously.

Working hard to steal things, then adding furniture, as if living clearly.

"I'm going to interrogate them." Wei Zhengguo waved his hand and went down to the case handling center to get busy.

The conditions of the criminal police team's case handling center were quite good. The purpose of the renovation a few years ago was so that once the big iron door was closed, the people inside wouldn't have to come out; they would have food, drink, and work.

Including criminals and criminal police.

Wei Zhengguo pulled Wen Ming and others over, two people interrogating one thief, striving to dig out more cases.

Interrogating petty thieves was just about this little pursuit and fun.

Otherwise, for a small case involving only a few thousand yuan, the procuratorate would find it troublesome to prosecute.

Petty thieves actually had experience. When they couldn't hold on, they would cooperate a little, confessing one or two small cases. Although the sentence would increase, counting factors like "good attitude in pleading guilty" and "voluntarily confessing criminal facts" for sentence reduction, the actual sentence wouldn't increase much.

This way, going to prison wouldn't be too embarrassing.

Furthermore, going to prison to learn new knowledge also required a certain amount of time. If the sentence was too short, it wouldn't be interesting.

Of course, one couldn't really get stuck in it because of this. If one went to jail for several years at once, it wouldn't be worth it.

Wei Zhengguo didn't interrogate anyone himself; he just strolled around the case handling center. If he saw a group that needed a replacement, he would go over and interrogate for the time it took to take a dump.

Strolling around, Wei Zhengguo stopped at Guo Jingbao's interrogation room.

"I really haven't committed any crimes lately. It's too much for you to catch people like this."

"No, I can understand you asking me to confess; you have tasks too. But I really haven't done any cases lately. What do you want me to confess?"

"You ask the people at the police station; haven't I appeared less lately?"

Old Guo argued with righteous indignation, causing the interrogation room to enter a state of stagnation.

Wei Zhengguo couldn't help but be a little curious.

Guo Jingbao, because his name was particularly plain, was also impressive. He said his mother hoped he could be dressed cleanly every day and be full, so she named him Guo Jingbao.

He could be dressed cleanly every day, and then rely on stealing things to keep himself full.

He had been caught several times.

Probably because Jin Yong's martial arts novels were very popular in that era, he called himself Guo Jing, removing the 'Bao' character. But every time he stole things, he was very stupid, and the police could usually solve the case within four hours.

So he had a nickname, Stupid Guo.

This kind of stupid thief who couldn't even get out of Ningtai County was now choking the case-handling police officer with every sentence. Did he go for advanced studies?

Wei Zhengguo was a little surprised.

Thinking of this, he followed what Stupid Guo said and called an acquaintance at the station police station.

After some pleasantries, Wei Zhengguo got the confirmed news that Stupid Guo had indeed rarely appeared at the bus station lately.

Wei Zhengguo thought about it and called two other acquaintances.

This was also the benefit of having fewer pickpockets. Everyone knew the few pickpockets left on the streets.

After some inquiries, Wei Zhengguo was surprised to find that Stupid Guo had indeed rarely come out to be a pickpocket lately.

A thirty-year veteran pickpocket had actually started slacking off. How could Wei Zhengguo believe this?

As the saying goes, a dog can't change its habit of eating shit. A thief of Stupid Guo's age was at the critical period of saving money for retirement. How could he rest? His home wasn't arranged like he had no money.

Wei Zhengguo was convinced that Stupid Guo must have other cases in his hands.

Knock on the door, enter.

Wei Zhengguo nodded to the two interrogating police officers and asked Stupid Guo directly: "You really haven't committed any crimes lately?"

"Really haven't committed any crimes." Stupid Guo insisted.

"Show him the video." Wei Zhengguo signaled the interrogating police officer.

"Watch this now?" The interrogating police officer was puzzled. Generally speaking, this kind of evidence was held tightly to force the criminal suspect to confess. Unless he happened to confess to this case, otherwise, it would be considered that he didn't confess honestly.

If he didn't confess honestly and didn't confess everything, then the cases he confessed to earlier wouldn't even count as surrender, which would naturally greatly affect sentence reduction.

This mode forced you to confess continuously, confess continuously, until you couldn't spit anything out, and then they would release a segment. Forcing you to continue confessing.

Many petty thieves would fall into this state of taking small advantages and suffering big losses because of this.

Even worse, some interrogating police officers would create a strange atmosphere in the interrogation room of "two items at 80% off, three items at 70% off, 10 minus 3 and free shipping," inducing the suspect to confess to more cases.

Wei Zhengguo had his own ideas and nodded again. The interrogating police officer then played the intercepted video footage.

It was exactly the footage of Stupid Guo stealing luggage at the bus station.

"This... I just did it by hand." Stupid Guo didn't even feel like he was stealing things.

"What's inside?"

"Nothing valuable, just clothes and shoes. People's suitcases nowadays are boring."

"There's a pair of headphones inside?" Wei Zhengguo had done his homework in advance, and the victim had also reported the case. One phone call, and everything was clear.

Stupid Guo hesitated for a few seconds and said: "Just took a pair of headphones."

Wei Zhengguo asked: "Besides this, what other cases have you committed lately?"

"Nothing else." Stupid Guo lowered his head.

Wei Zhengguo's hair stood up along with his criminal police instinct. If he couldn't see that there were cases inside, he would have wasted his decades.

Wei Zhengguo let out a "humph" and asked directly: "You haven't committed any crimes lately, where does your income come from?"

"No... no crimes."

"No crimes, where did you buy the food, drink, and things you use?" Wei Zhengguo repeated the question.

The two young police officers responsible for the interrogation heard it clearly and couldn't help but feel a shock.

"I... saved money." Stupid Guo said.

"Saved earlier?"

"Yes."

"Where is it saved? Alipay or WeChat? Or in a bank account..."

"No... that, cash."

"Saved in cash?"

"Yes."

"When was it saved, and how did you earn this money?" Wei Zhengguo asked slowly, not afraid of not being able to break through.

In the end, most of Stupid Guo's income came from being a pickpocket, and he was hit once every two or three years. When it was fast, he would go in once every year or two, almost a cycle of four or five years.

When he was young, he had relatives to help him, but at this age, no one cared.

So, saving money was a thing for Stupid Guo. And the source of a large sum of money, or a windfall, was worth studying.

Stupid Guo explained a few more sentences, couldn't explain it, and simply stopped talking, looking like he was ready to deny it to the end.

Wei Zhengguo sat opposite, picking his fingers, waited for about ten minutes, and said leisurely: "Old Guo, we've known each other for more than 20 years, right?"

Stupid Guo still didn't say a word.

As usual, petty thieves like them had to be smooth with criminal police; how could they have such strong confrontation?

Especially when the police comrades started to play the good cop, and the thief didn't cooperate, Stupid Guo himself felt it wasn't appropriate.

Wei Zhengguo laughed twice and said: "When I entered the industry, you were already a thief. Now that you're old, you've done such a big thing for us. Seeing you not talking, I guess you have a human life in your hands, right?"

"No, Brother Wei, no need, is it worth it?" Stupid Guo wasn't purely stupid, he opened his mouth reluctantly: "If you really want your brother to carry a case for you, find someone who is close enough. Can a murder case be justified?"

Wei Zhengguo looked at Stupid Guo's appearance, but felt it was completely different from usual.

Judging by Stupid Guo's age and past, he obviously couldn't have self-awakened criminal ability.

What does that mean? It means someone taught him.

Wei Zhengguo was completely interested, asked a few more questions, confirmed the idea in his heart again, and got up to leave.

The three people in the interrogation room were confused, but Wei Zhengguo didn't say to stop, so the two criminal police officers played the conversation game with Stupid Guo for a while.

Wei Zhengguo went to the imaging office first, and then brought them to find Jiang Yuan.

What he wanted to do was still portraits.

There were two segments of video that had already been clipped, both of Stupid Guo and another person.

The youngest Gao Jiansheng took out the video, still a little embarrassed, and whispered: "Still making portraits, but we followed your previous method, and it feels a bit clearer, but the face is still not clear, and I don't know how to adjust it."

"This image is a bit more complicated, the condition of the camera itself is relatively poor." Jiang Yuan said while watching: "There are many reasons why images can't be made. Many are caused by the monitoring system itself, such as sampling resolution, frame rate, compression quality, camera attitude control, etc..."

"Can't this be done?" Wei Zhengguo was shocked.

Jiang Yuan let out an "Oh" and said: "That's not the case, it's just a bit difficult."

Jiang Yuan said, found a new algorithm, and tapped the parameters. In a while, a semi-clear photo that could see the face appeared in front of several people.

"Damn!" The first-generation imaging man, Zhuang Wei, couldn't help but curse.

Everyone seemed to be doing the same thing, but it seemed like they were not in the same world. The eyes had learned it, but the hands... where should they put their hands? ===== CHAPTER 125 =====