Chapter 7: Prelude to the Big Case

  Zhou Dadao, a sturdy man with a rough appearance, walked to the front of everyone and turned his body to whisper to one of the people behind him: "Xiao Luo, distribute them to everyone first, one copy per person..." Two plainclothes police officers responded immediately, one holding a stack of materials and distributing them one by one.

  "Little Luo" in Zhou's mouth also looks like he is over thirty, with a similar appearance to him, big head and thick neck, not a big shot... ah, according to the legend, should be a great hero! The information just arrived at Tian Miao Miao, Tian Miao Miao said excitedly: "Hehe, so your surname is Luo..."

  Xiao Luo raised his eyes to look at the girl who was speaking, and laughed when he saw her. Zhou Duizhang also took a glance and laughed, apparently recognizing Tian Miao Miao: "Hehe, I didn't expect it, I remember you're not the administrator of the comprehensive market? Why aren't you collecting stall fees anymore, have you changed careers to become a police officer? My name is Luo Lin."

  Tian Miao's face was flushed with excitement as she said, "My family originally wanted me to take the police exam, but after what happened last time, I think it would be great if there were more people like you around; since there's an opportunity for me to wear a police uniform too, I'm here..."

  Tian Miao's words were a bit incoherent, Luo Lin couldn't help but laugh out loud. When she finished speaking, he happily said to Tian Miao: "Not bad, not bad, Miss Tian Miao! In today's society, the saddest thing is that too many people live without ideals. Through an unexpected event, you found your own ideal, great! I'm not even 40 yet, so in the future, if you don't mind, just call me Brother Luo or Old Luo, but please don't call me Uncle anymore, haha! My mischievous daughter said: only high-rich-handsome men can be called Uncle when they reach middle age, someone like you should be called Master!"

  Luolin finished speaking, happily wanting to pat Tian Miao's shoulder, but then realized that she was a female comrade and it wasn't appropriate. Tian Miao didn't mind these things, and smoothly wrapped her arm around his, calling out "Brother Luo" in a sweet voice, making Luolin feel like he had drunk two cups of strong liquor.

  Looking at Tian Miao still staring at her foolishly, Luo Lin doted and swung the information in his hand, saying: "Carefully look at the suspect's information, don't look at me, be careful that Captain Zhou will scold you."

  "Oh..." Tian Niao weakly responded, then embarrassingly lowered her head to look at the materials. After opening it, she almost burst out laughing. Was this painted by a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts' abstract department? The four portraits on the paper were all distorted and ugly, with one bald fat man looking like a radish, another long-haired person looking like a potato, and the remaining two short-haired ones looking like two eggplants, thin at the top and thick at the bottom. There was no difference between having such portraits or not, maybe those police officers could recognize the suspect based on these portraits, but these auxiliary police were completely lacking in this professional skill.

  The captain of the first criminal investigation team has arrived, and the auxiliary police and regular police are all looking very carefully, occasionally whispering to each other. This is not the first time they have worked with the municipal bureau on a case. In fact, most of the groundwork for major cases, including canvassing, visiting, and collecting leads, is done by grassroots police stations. It's only when it comes to the final showdown, capturing the criminals and bringing them to justice, that these usually invisible detectives come into play. Tian Miao Miao and Zhang Tong, two young women, looked at the detectives with eyes full of admiration. Amidst this admiring gaze, one young detective stood up straight, exuding an air of confidence and strength.

  "Comrades, the portraits in your hands are of the suspects who kidnapped and murdered two female students in our city five days ago. The driver has been apprehended, and based on his confession and eyewitness accounts, we created these four portraits. These four individuals are currently at large and have likely escaped beyond the city's blockade lines, possibly fleeing along highways or secondary roads to other cities in the province. Your mission is to set up checkpoints at designated intersections... I want to emphasize that the suspects may be armed with homemade steel ball guns and controlled knives. During the pursuit, some of our comrades have been injured, so please take this seriously! Be cautious! If you encounter a suspect or an emergency situation, immediately report to the municipal command center; do not take any unauthorized action... Does everyone understand?"

  "Bucket, where are you going? Why is it getting more and more biased? We've already passed Zhaojiawan, can the culprit run so far?" Tian Miao asked Zhang Tong in the car with confusion.

  This time, Zhang Tong took Tian Miao Miao and three male auxiliary police officers, driving a quarter of the police station's police van, directly out of the city. On the way, they received the latest situation report: The suspect had already passed Qinglong Town, and Liu Shouzhang required Tian Miao Miao's group to set up a checkpoint at Zhaojiawan in Yangqu County to inspect passing vehicles and prevent the suspect from escaping into the northeastern mountainous area.

  After receiving the order, Zhang Tong turned off the secondary road and drove directly to a rural highway intersection. Zhang Tong's father was a taxi driver, and under his guidance, Zhang Tong obtained her driver's license in her freshman year. During the winter and summer vacations of these years, she also worked as a taxi driver to support herself while studying, so she could be considered an experienced driver. This was also one of the reasons why the director trusted her enough to give her one of the four police cars in the station.

  "Miao, stop messing around. And you three sissies, what are you yelling about? Don't you have any common sense? Generally speaking, on secondary roads, national highways, and highway entrances, there's always a chance of running into bad people! Just the two of us girls plus you three half-men, empty-handed, what can we use to fight with others? Wait, I'll find a place to hide the car, and we'll sleep hidden for now. Tomorrow morning when we go back, it'll be fine."

  Zhang Tong, who was in a hurry to find a parking spot, explained with a bad temper. The task was divided into groups of 5 people, and this group could be considered old partners. Director So wanted to take care of his niece, so he deliberately assigned three male auxiliary police officers who looked gentle and refined to partner with the two girls, for fear that they would be bullied. As a result, in Tian Miao's and Zhang Tong's mouths, they became "sissy" and "half-man-half-woman". The three male auxiliary police officers had long been resigned to their fate under the oppression of the two palace ladies, so they just accepted being called "sissy", besides, this was a good job, usually following the auxiliary police team with only two flowers, it was pleasant to look at and not tiring, and there were many people in the department who envied them.

  A male auxiliary policeman sitting in the back seat shouted: "Stop arguing, Zhang Tong's method is very good. You two are not convinced, he has gone to university, and must be smarter than you two. The five of us together can't even deal with four thugs, just relying on this broken police bat? Do you think this is intimidating a little rascal? As soon as they see our stance, they will run away?"