Chapter 306

"Jiang Team, wait a moment after clock-out, I need to talk to you." Tang Jia whispered as she passed Jiang Yuan, brushing her hair against him, then hurried away.

"What—" Jiang Yuan's words were half-spoken when she was already far off.

12: 0 noon.

Officers with no urgent matters gradually bid farewell and headed home.

After a major case, everyone naturally takes leave or leaves early, feeling perfectly justified. Even though this case didn't take much time, effort, or overtime, the habit remained.

Jiang Yuan also stood up to clock out. If Tang Jia had something, she'd send a message—he wouldn't actually wait for her to finish work.

At the underground parking lot, just before his car, he heard a "Wah oo!" shout.

Tang Jia sprang out cheerfully, waving her arms and legs, body stretched out, showcasing her figure.

"I've trained in wrestling." Jiang Yuan stopped a few steps away.

"I've trained too—I've done classical style. Want to practice together?" Tang Jia challenged boldly.

Classical style means grappling and grabbing each other's crotches—if a man and woman trained together, the gym would shut down immediately.

"I'm self-taught." Jiang Yuan promptly backed down, suspecting Tang Jia was performing tea art, and asked: "You didn't call me just to show off, did you?"

"Jiang Team, if you chat like this, you'll never get a girlfriend. Forget it—I brought you something, help me carry it." Tang Jia pointed toward the other elevator lobby.

Jiang Yuan followed and saw Wang Chuan, Shen Yaowei, and Miao Liyuan each pushing a flat cart piled high with several cardboard boxes.

"These are all community cooperation gift packages sent by various units, plus some small presents—Captain Yu personally selected them for you," Tang Jia explained, adding: "Nothing expensive—we all get these during holidays. Captain Yu said he's making up this year's for you."

"Mine are from the Public Security Brigade," said Shen Yaowei.

"Chief Changsun from Image Investigation also sent some—he wants you to visit and guide the team when you have time," said Miao Liyuan.

"I have no qualification to guide other brigades. Don't come looking for trouble every day." Jiang Yuan summoned a hint of his Jiangcun elder brother's aura and shut Miao Liyuan's words down.

Tang Jia hurried to say: "These are all Captain Yu's heartfelt gifts, no rules broken. He just thought you've been away so long—you should bring something home to warm up your relationships with family and friends."

She opened the top few boxes and said: "See? Just nuts, Wangwang snacks, candies, chocolates, masks, gloves, towels…"

Others opened their boxes too, saying similar things.

Jiang Yuan: "Too much… I'll take one box."

"Jiang Team, at least one box each," Shen Yaowei quickly said. "It's just a token—so you can take it home and show your family how much we value you. Nothing else."

Jiang Yuan didn't listen—he checked the top box from Captain Yu, picked it up, and walked off.

"What about the rest?" Tang Jia hurried to ask.

"Return them all. I'll call Captain Yu later."

"Don't forget to call Captain Yu—he says he's on 24-hour standby," Tang Jia said.

Jiang Yuan grunted, suddenly feeling like a daughter from an ancient wealthy household—already sold off, yet still pursued by scholars who occasionally slipped small gifts through the back garden.

Still, Tang Jia's suggestion about small gifts wasn't bad.

Jiang Yuan took the gifts from Yu Wenshu without guilt. Back at Jiangcun Community, he started at the convenience store, handing out candy packs to every child he saw.

As for whether any child didn't eat candy—Jiangcun folks didn't care that much.

Kids were still happy with treats. Soon, a crowd of "three-generation splitters" gathered around Jiang Yuan, swiftly dividing the entire box of snacks and items, then vanishing without a trace.

For Jiang Yuan, this completed the emotional exchange—in under half an hour, the whole community would know he'd returned and brought gifts.

In fact, it took less than ten minutes—the community's surveillance system had already displayed Jiang Yuan's arrival on several large screens around the neighborhood.

Only after entering the community did Jiang Yuan notice that around the property office's surveillance room, four 100-inch screens had been erected, displaying live feeds from multiple entrance points: the main gate, walls, and key streets.

In the center of the courtyard, elderly villagers exercised while watching the screens, occasionally pointing and scrutinizing the footage for any suspicious behavior.

Jiang Yuan felt dizzy just looking. Facing Xiang Geng, who came to greet him, he asked: "Is this legal?"

"Legal? We only filmed the main gate and this street section—all are our community's fire lanes," Xiang Geng whispered: "Third Uncle ordered these installed. Otherwise, everyone would crowd into the surveillance room every day."

"So now they don't come?" Jiang Yuan didn't believe it—he'd grown up eating meals from every household in Jiangcun; he knew these uncles and aunts too well.

Xiang Geng chuckled: "Now they just check if the screens sync properly. After a few visits, most people get lazy and stop coming."

Jiang Yuan grunted and said nothing, planning to persuade Third Uncle later. Xiang Geng was just carrying out orders—talking to him was pointless.

He wandered through the surveillance room, saw everything running normally, then headed home.

Along the way, he was greeted repeatedly. The atmosphere in Jiangcun now was different from before.

When Jiang Yuan was young, he ate at one neighbor's house after another—sometimes receiving side-eyes. But after three relocations, internal harmony in Jiangcun had reached unprecedented levels. Combined with Jiang Yuan and his father rising to the top of the social hierarchy, villagers now mostly greeted him with smiles.

Jiang Yuan could still recall some villagers' old expressions—but he rarely did. The Jiangcun people gathered here were just ordinary folks—many were barely background figures.

Jiang Fuzhen was, as always, busy in the kitchen—but today, over a dozen relatives had gathered around him.

"Dad." Jiang Yuan called out, pulling Jiang Fuzhen's attention away.

"Oh! You're back already? I thought you'd be another few hours—didn't you finish your afternoon shift?"

Jiang Yuan grunted: "A case is done. Boss gave me some stuff. I kept a bag of pine nuts—gave the rest away…"

As he spoke, Jiang Yuan handed his father a jar of pine nuts.

"Good, good!" Jiang Fuzhen happily accepted it, opened the lid, tasted one, nodded: "Tastes great. Third Uncle called people for a meeting—election's coming up soon. Everyone needs to discuss how to handle it."

At that moment, Third Uncle waved and called: "Jiang Yuan's back? Perfect—join us. You're grown now; it's time to participate in the election."

Third Uncle had long been mooching meals off Jiang Fuzhen—mainly because Third Aunt's cooking was terrible, forcing him to find other sources.

He'd once been the most frequent relative bringing meals to Jiang Fuzhen and Jiang Yuan, and had always been close to Jiang Fuzhen.

Jiang Yuan replied and entered the kitchen, volunteering: "What do you need me to do?"

"You're young—help us decide which of these two phones to give," Third Uncle pulled out two shiny, top-tier flagship phones.

Jiang Yuan's eyelids twitched: "Third Uncle, this is illegal."

"What's illegal about giving small gifts to villagers?" Third Uncle laughed, then grew serious: "What if the other side gives something?"

"With this amount, you'll go to prison," Jiang Yuan also grew serious.

"Exactly! Jiang Yuan says the same thing, right?" Third Uncle's voice rose sharply: "Tell him—if he wants to go to prison, let him go! Haven't we already sent Jiang Yuan to prison enough times?"

The people in the kitchen instantly grew excited.

Jiang Yuan quietly stepped out of the kitchen area. Third Uncle's Huabo Xuetu dog crawled out from under the crowd—the atmosphere was too intense, even for people and dogs.

Jiang Yuan silently withdrew from the kitchen area, and Uncle San's Hubei Snowdog crawled out from beneath the crowd's feet—the kitchen's atmosphere was too lively, overwhelming both people and dog.

The next day.

Jiang Yuan squatted on the balcony, loosening soil and watering the winter melon. Level-3 winter melon cultivation was a powerful skill—even out of season, with some high-tech help, the melon was thriving.

When the doorbell rang, Jiang Yuan was still bent over the balcony, hard at work.

"Jiang Yuan, you grow crops?" The visitors were Shen Yaoguo and Shen Yaowei.

Shen Yaowei still looked like a spoiled rich kid, but his face wore a sweet smile.

Shen Yaoguo, older, smiled calmly.

"Shen Branch." Jiang Yuan rose in surprise.

"Yes, about a case—I want to talk to you," Shen Yaoguo walked straight onto the balcony and sat down on a chair.

Jiang Yuan hesitated, then sat too: "What case?"

"Ah… I'll be direct. There's a case I handled years ago—never solved. I thought—if you have no ideas for your next case, why not take this one?"

"Hmm… why?" Jiang Yuan didn't ask about the case first—he asked why.

In his view, Shen Yaoguo coming to him now, especially to his home in Ningtai County, and making this request, was abnormal.

"Jiang Yuan's still sharp," Shen Yaoguo forced a compliment, then continued: "I botched that case back then. Now I worry about lingering consequences. If we solve it, that'd be best."

"Jiang Yuan is still quite perceptive," Shen Yaoguo forced a compliment, then added, "The case was botched by me back then, and now whenever I think about it, I fear there might be lingering consequences. If it could be solved, that would be best."