Chapter 285

The next day.

Jiang Yuan woke up early, paid out of his own pocket to buy ingredients at the market, drove himself to the Police Dog Unit, and timed it perfectly to prepare a Level-5 standard dog meal for Da Zhuang.

As Da Zhuang ate, he whimpered and burst into tears.

If anyone in the Criminal Investigation Unit missed Jiang Yuan the most, Da Zhuang was undoubtedly the strongest contender.

Li Li, the commander of the Police Dog Unit, sniffed the aroma of the Level-5 dog meal and couldn't help drooling. "You only made this for Da Zhuang?" she asked.

Jiang Yuan handed her a box of braised beef tail. "If you don't mind, I made this last night."

Li Li glanced at Da Zhuang's colorful dog food, then at her own boxed meal, sighed quietly, and said, "Thank you. It looks delicious."

"Fresh beef tail, braised with a bit of wine—all the alcohol should've evaporated," Jiang Yuan paused, then asked, "Da Zhuang helped Lieutenant Liu's rescue operation, right? Has the bonus been issued yet?"

"Bonuses don't come that fast—we haven't even received the medal yet. Probably won't be until year-end. But Lieutenant Liu spoke up for us and raised Da Zhuang's food allowance to fifty yuan. Once the bonus comes, we'll increase it further."

In private, Li Li sometimes called Huang Qiang "Old Huang."

Jiang Yuan clicked his tongue. "Lieutenant Liu actually remembers to repay kindness—quite dog-like." Li Li agreed. "It's like adding one extra chicken leg per day. We can't give him that much, so now we've increased the beef portion—he gets a big chunk every other day."

Police dogs eat only once a day, and their food budget is purely for ingredients. In terms of meal quality alone, a single police dog eats better than a patrol officer at a police booth.

Jiang Yuan watched Da Zhuang finish eating, patted his head, and added gently, "Make sure the ingredients are fully cooked—if not, boil them longer."

"Don't worry—I learned from your method," Li Li said, patting Da Zhuang's head too. "Right, Da Zhuang?"

Da Zhuang looked from Li Li to Jiang Yuan, then suddenly buried his head in Jiang Yuan's chest and began whimpering again.

After soothing Da Zhuang for a while, Jiang Yuan stood to leave.

Da Zhuang watched Jiang Yuan depart with obvious reluctance, then turned back to Li Li, his face full of helplessness.

Jiang Yuan felt sorry for Da Zhuang, but all he could do was wave goodbye.

A police dog's life can't be defined merely by food. Li Li's efforts aren't just about cooking meals—more importantly, she communicates with Da Zhuang, guides his training, keeps him in peak condition, and strives to enhance his abilities.

What they call "turning a job into a career" probably describes a police dog's life. Turning back, Jiang Yuan took a casual detour to the nearby video office building.

The video office was definitely due for an upgrade, but whether it could be elevated to the unit level might still take time.

Even so, people had started coming over lately.

In a small county, positions are always scarce—leadership roles even more so. Those with ambitions often came to take a look.

Zhuang Wei usually ignored them.

But when Jiang Yuan came, Zhuang Wei greeted him warmly.

"Jiang Yuan, come take a look—this is a suspect I locked down last night," Zhuang Wei said, opening his computer to show his overnight work.

The original "Four-Eyed Duck," Zhuang Wei, didn't seem particularly known for diligence.

He was the type who spent all day glued to his screen but always clocked in and out on time.

Ningtai County's old surveillance system was simple and dull, yet the video office had no shortage of tasks: supporting major cases, securing evidence, solving various crimes, identifying blind spots, and occasionally helping people find lost bicycles, phones, or bags left in taxis.

This time, Zhuang Wei seemed to have upped the difficulty.

The new surveillance system had wide coverage, high clarity, and abundant data. The vendor provided plenty of software and features.

Previously, Zhuang Wei hadn't studied them much—just listened during vendor training sessions and learned enough for daily use. But after learning from Jiang Yuan yesterday, his mindset changed.

The vendor's trainer's workload skyrocketed.

Had the trainer not been a male engineer with full confidence in his looks, he wouldn't have stayed late to tutor Zhuang Wei last night.

The results were obvious.

Zhuang Wei directly identified the main suspect in an old robbery case.

"Congratulations," Jiang Yuan said, knowing exactly what Zhuang Wei needed—he bowed slightly in praise. "Now that you've confirmed the suspect, how does it feel?"

"With a casual smile, the bandits vanish into smoke—the thieves and robbers fall into my net…" Zhuang Wei muttered two lines, grinning like a shonen anime protagonist.

"Have you called Captain Huang yet?" Jiang Yuan reminded him.

"Oh, right…" Zhuang Wei quickly pulled out his phone.

On the line, Huang Qiang sounded cheerful: "An old robbery case? Good, good—I'll send Team One to arrest him right away. Wu Junhao's been so bored he's growing fur…"

Huang Qiang chuckled to himself, then dialed.

Zhuang Wei hung up, then immediately started typing on his computer, whispering, "We can watch the live feed."

On screen, a small residential area's ground-floor shops appeared—four storefronts within camera range.

"This area had no cameras before. Now we've installed one, and it's perfectly positioned to catch the suspect's car wash," Zhuang Wei explained. "Based on my records, this suspect's three cases involved over 100, 00 yuan total."

"A serial robbery case? That's a major one," Jiang Yuan replied.

"Can't compare to a murder," Zhuang Wei said, though he was already thrilled—especially the thrill of commanding from a thousand meters away while watching colleagues make the arrest.

If only he could catch a murderer… Zhuang Wei couldn't imagine how much joy Jiang Yuan must feel.

"The suspect lives upstairs in the car wash. He's probably cohabiting with a girlfriend," Zhuang Wei said, recounting his findings from last night like a proud father. "The car wash mainly runs on two people—a part-time student shows up around lunchtime to help. So now's the perfect time to move in."

Zhuang Wei switched to several other screens, placing them on the auxiliary monitors.

The video office had half a wall of screens, but relied on quantity—the main screen was only 80 inches, quite frugal.

"It'll take a while for the teams to deploy. I'll go grab something."

Zhuang Wei returned after fifteen minutes, carrying a box of snacks and placing it directly on the table.

"Help yourselves," he said, tearing open a bag of chips and staring at the empty screen with rapt attention.

He wasn't hungry—he just wanted the atmosphere.

Another fifteen minutes passed, and a dirty Passat pulled into the car wash.

Moments later, the suspect's girlfriend appeared on screen.

"That car must belong to one of the detectives—I think I've seen it before," Zhuang Wei munched on a chip, delighted.

"Team One's," Jiang Yuan said—he'd worked more with Team One and recognized the vehicle.

Thus, Huang Qiang had sent Team One, and the on-site commander was likely Wu Junhao.

Zhuang Wei put down his chips, picked up the mouse, and switched camera angles, trying to locate Team One's position.

He guessed that if the detective unit had sufficient manpower, they'd send at least two vehicles and seven or eight officers.

Then he spotted Wu Junhao crouched on the roof of a two-story building across the street.

The building across the street was also two stories, about ten meters tall. Wu Junhao crouched atop it, surrounded by nearly ten others.

Zhuang Wei blinked. "They're all hiding here? If the suspect tries to escape, they won't have time to block him."

"Look over here," Jiang Yuan pointed to another screen.

Zhuang Wei switched to it and saw over a dozen burly men crammed into a narrow alleyway, necks craned toward the car wash.

He zoomed in further and saw Liu Wenkai, commander of Team Two, with a middle-parted hairstyle, smoking until smoke curled around him.

"Two teams?" Zhuang Wei was surprised. "There's more."

On another screen, a dozen officers from Team One were silently approaching the car wash in small groups.

Before they could react, officers from Team Four arrived from another route, flanking the scene.

"Is this guy some kind of fugitive?" Zhuang Wei suddenly doubted himself.

Had he missed some crucial detail in his investigation?

He speculated aimlessly, then dialed Liu Wenkai's number.

Clearly, Team One was leading the arrest, with Wu Junhao as on-site commander. Liu Wenkai and his Team Two seemed more like spectators.

"Commander Liu, are you here to make the arrest?" Zhuang Wei asked quickly.

Liu Wenkai grunted. "Taking new recruits out for experience. Haven't had any real cases lately—they'd get rusty."

"So you're deploying everyone?"

"Yeah, everyone's short on cases," Liu Wenkai said. "Team Four's here too—lots of them."

"Same. No decent cases lately."

"Alright. Even with so many people, the new recruits must stay safe," Liu Wenkai said, nodding. "Our new guys only get released during safe periods."

On screen, the arrest was about to begin.

The surrounding teams surged toward the car wash. "Arrest him!"

Wu Junhao gave the order. The team that had just entered the car wash instantly turned menacing.

Outside, dozens of detectives closed in—some participating, most just watching.

Cases had been too scarce lately. A case with any weight was rare—and everyone was curious.

-- To be continued