Chapter 64: The Police Station's Troubles

  Because she was preoccupied with thoughts, Bao Yucheng's mother walked quickly, and on the way, several people greeted her but she forgot to respond, making those who greeted her feel embarrassed. However, some well-informed individuals already knew about the incident at the county public security bureau. In China, rumors are the most terrifying thing, and within an hour or two, someone had already spread a rumor that someone inside the county public security bureau had stolen something worth hundreds of thousands from a foreigner.

  "Is Deputy Director Tan at home?" Bao Yu's mother didn't do as Bao Guoqiang said, she also hoped to find Deputy Director Tan and understand the situation a bit, so she went directly to Deputy Director Tan's house.

  "Ah, sister-in-law is here, what's the matter? Come, come, come in and sit down." Seeing the wife of the county organization department head coming to his doorstep, Deputy Director Tan was extremely enthusiastic, ushering her into his home. He knew clearly why Bao Guoqiang's wife had come to his door at this time.

  "I'm sorry to trouble you so late, Deputy Director Tan," said Mrs. Bao. She thought for a moment and realized that some things were better not discussed at home, especially with many people around: "I won't go in, I heard there's something going on at the bureau, and our kid didn't even eat dinner before running out. I was idle at home, so I thought of bringing some food for the child to eat. Everyone knows I'm a rough and illiterate person, I don't remember which door my child works at, so I had to trouble Deputy Director Tan to take me there."

  Director Tan's mind was clear, and he knew that Director Bao's mother would often visit the Public Security Bureau for no reason, so it was impossible that she didn't know where her son worked. However, some things couldn't be said to her face. After all, Bao Guoqiang was the head of the county committee's organization department. These words were just an excuse, and he actually wanted to send her off himself, perhaps there were other things he wanted to say.

  "You see, sister, this is what I mean. But if I don't take you there, you probably won't be able to find Bao Yucheng. This kid doesn't even make a sound when he's hungry, and now you have to run an errand for him. Otherwise, I'll just get my wife to prepare some food and send it over." Deputy Director Tan said as he put on his shoes, calling out to Bao Yucheng's mother: "Sister, I'm taking you there right away. These young folks are nothing like us, they burn through energy every day, and if they miss one meal, they're starving."

  "Director Tan, you know our family's old Bao. I want him to ask around about today's matter. He said it was a matter of discipline and didn't answer my question, but how did he know that as a mother, I'm so anxious? I heard this thing has something to do with foreigners and it's quite serious. Does it have anything to do with our family's Bao Yucheng?"

  "This is not easy to say." Deputy Director Tan patted his head: "Let's put it this way. A French military officer lost a very valuable Arab dagger, and it can be confirmed that someone from our county's criminal police team came into contact with it afterwards. I heard that the person had received some kind of French knightly honor, and the French embassy attaches great importance to his case. Director He from the municipal bureau came over this afternoon. A dead order has been given: this matter must be thoroughly investigated. It just so happens that Bao Yuchen is one of the people who came into contact with the object. Fortunately, the impact of the incident is not yet large, but it's a matter that must be cleared up." Deputy Director Tan's words were clearly meant to convey his hope that Bao Yuchen's mother could take advantage of the opportunity to deliver food and talk to Bao YuLin about it. If Bao YuLin was smart enough, he should know how to handle it. If he had stolen it, now was the time to produce it. The punishment would be much lighter. But if they waited until the truth came out, things would get serious.

  Tan Deputy Director has already violated the principle by doing so. However, there's no way around it, he has to give face to Bao Guoqing and help out a bit if he can. Actually, when asking questions at night, everyone had some idea in their minds, except for Bao Yulin, nobody else had single-handedly touched the knife, but it's also not ruled out that someone else did it, fortunately, the fingerprints have already been sent to the municipal bureau, and I believe it won't be long before this matter will come to light.

  "Good grief, this is terrible. Tell me, how much does a knife cost? I wonder if that police officer from the criminal police team thought it was fun and took it to play with?" Baoyu's mother opened her heart at this time, but she had to respond perfunctorily.

  "Ah! That's right! Now I'm afraid someone will take it away and play with it, in that case, it'll be a big deal. We've made a preliminary calculation, according to the analysis of the photos, the value of this knife should be around 500,000 yuan, which is the biggest case our county has ever had!" Deputy Director Tan said helplessly. However, he didn't think so in his heart. If it's found out that someone from the county criminal police team did it, he might become the biggest beneficiary of this matter. Who knows, if Tong Tianhao makes a move, he might even become the director."

  When Bao Yu's mother and Deputy Director Tan arrived at the temporary quarters where Bao Yulian was being kept, the door was wide open. Neither Old Zhang, who was supposed to be keeping watch, nor Bao Yuchen could be seen anywhere.

  "Hey, where did Old Zhang and Bao Yuchen go?" Deputy Director Tan asked the police officers guarding the other rooms.

  "Oh, he should be using the restroom, he's been gone for a while." a police officer replied.

  "Has it been a long time?" Deputy Director Tan's heart suddenly "thudded", he was also an old detective, and was particularly sensitive to such things.

  "Go to the toilet and take a look, and tell Bao Yucheng that his mother has arrived." Deputy Director Tan would not personally run to the toilet to observe, so he casually called a policeman.

  The policeman rushed to the toilet at the sound of his voice. Before long, the policeman rushed out shouting loudly.

  "Director Tan, Old Zhang has fainted in the toilet! Bao Yuchen is nowhere to be found!"

  "Trouble!" Deputy Director Tan heard and immediately ran to the toilet. "Notify the appraiser to arrive immediately, report to Director Tong!" he said while running.

  Bao Yuzhen's mother heard this and although she didn't know what exactly had happened, she knew something big was up.

  Taking advantage of no one's attention, she quietly went downstairs. When she was at the entrance of the stairs, she opened her lunchbox and swallowed a plastic bag wrapped in paper strips in one gulp.

  Things came one after another. Just as they had just determined that Bao Yucheng had injured Old Zhang and jumped off the building to escape, someone reported that there were gunshots coming from the county committee compound. Immediately afterwards, the duty room received an order from the municipal bureau: arrest Bao Yucheng. The fingerprint identification results showed that the fingerprints on Yingjisha's small knife belonged to Bao Yucheng. This basically confirmed that Bao Yucheng had used a trick to swap out Bao Yulin's Arabian dagger.

  Director Tong Tianhao was extremely busy that night. Old Zhang was sent to the hospital and a critical illness notice was issued at the same time. Minister of Organization Department, Bao Guoqiang said he found Bao Yulin sneaking back home, searching for something under the bed, and discovered that he had taken an exquisitely crafted Arabian dagger. In connection with the internal report in the afternoon, he realized that his son was committing a crime, so he engaged in a fierce battle with him, but unfortunately, he was shot by his ruthless son and fell into a coma.

  The entire police force of Pan Shi County sprang into action, setting up checkpoints everywhere to catch Bao Yuchen as soon as possible. Not only in Guanglan City, but also the provincial hall leaders, after learning about the news, felt shocked and angry, and took action, ordering strict control at major intersections, determined to capture Bao Yu by all means. A vast dragnet was spread out.

  Bao Yuzhen was also clear about the situation, but he had an advantage, which was that he was familiar with the environment. In addition, he was very clear about the police's handling methods. After driving out of Panshi County on his motorcycle, he abandoned the main road and drove into the Gobi Desert. On the back seat of his car, in addition to water and dry food, there was also a large oil can, which was all the oil he had saved up over time. This time, he brought it all with him.

  The police were all busy at the time. Bao Yulin was in the hospital, chatting with his mother, he didn't think that a knife of his would cause so many things to happen.

  The next morning, He Qinglong, the director of the Guanglan City Public Security Bureau, arrived at the hospital with Tong Tianhao, the director of the Panshi County Public Security Bureau. They had to report the situation to Bao Yulin. Yesterday afternoon, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called to inquire about the handling of the matter, they had already learned that Bao Yulin had lost a very valuable Arabian dagger. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs attached great importance to this matter. After the incident, the provincial department reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instructed them to do their best to capture the criminal and comfort Bao Yulin's emotions to prevent the situation from expanding. In short, if this matter were to be made public, it would be a loss of face for the Chinese police, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not want the outside world to know about it.

  Director He Qinglong had just pushed open the door of the ward, and his habitual vigilance made Bao Yulin sit up in bed. Seeing that it was Director He Qinglong who came in, Bao Yulin carefully made a quiet gesture, then quietly got out of bed, indicating that he wanted to talk outside with Director He, as he was worried about disturbing his mother's rest.

  A group of people arrived at the hospital corridor, and He Qinglong, the director, spoke up: "Mr. Bao Yulin, yesterday you told us that your Arabian dagger was lost, and we have already found out what happened to it. However, some unexpected things have occurred. The person who stole your Arabian dagger kicked open the iron railing in our public security bureau's toilet and jumped off the building to escape. Now, our provincial government has issued a wanted notice to all relevant departments, and we are doing our best to catch the escaped criminal. We came here this time for two main purposes. First, please be assured that the Chinese police will definitely catch the criminal. We believe that your Arabian dagger will be returned to you intact. The second purpose is to apologize to you for the negligence in our work, which led to the loss of your property and allowed the criminal to escape. On behalf of the Guanglan City Public Security Bureau, I would like to apologize to you. We hope you can forgive us. Later, the director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Xibei Province will rush to Panshi County to personally explain this matter to you." When He Qinglong said these words, he felt extremely frustrated in his heart. What a good thing had been messed up by Tong Tianhao! If others were not forgiving, the reputation of Guanglan City Public Security Bureau would be lost internationally.

  Bao Yulin was also surprised to hear this, he didn't expect that such a thing would happen, but as for the meaning of He Qinglong's words, he still understood it clearly, after all, he was a native-born Chinese.

  Bao Yulin smiled and said, "Director He, you don't have to be so polite. To tell the truth, I almost became your subordinate back then. As a police officer, sometimes we encounter problems like this or that. After all, these criminals are experts in finding loopholes in the law. Sometimes it's really hard to guard against them. The knife is not that valuable to me, but it holds sentimental value. It was given to me by an Arab elder as a memento after I became an officer and completed my first mission. However, I'll be retiring in half a year and returning to Panshi County. At that time, my life abroad will have nothing to do with me. So if the knife is lost, it's not a big deal. As for you saying that the Northwest Province Foreign Affairs Office Director wants to come and explain this matter personally, I think it's unnecessary. Besides, I've already helped my mother complete her discharge procedures, and we plan to take her to Guanglan City to find a better hospital for a thorough examination. Once my sister arrives and my mother wakes up, we'll head to Guanglan City. So you don't have to trouble yourself."

  Bao Yulin paused for a moment, seeing the anxious look on everyone's faces, and understood what they were worried about. He then said: "Don't worry, I just lost a small knife, nothing worth making a fuss about. There shouldn't be any problem with this."

  Bao Yulin's words made ordinary police officers, including Tong Tianhao, feel much more at ease. Upon hearing that Bao Yulin was going to take his mother to Guanglan City for medical treatment and a physical examination, they naturally had to put on a more magnanimous appearance.

  He Qinglong said, "Thank you, Mr. Bao Yulin, for understanding our police work so well. It seems that we really didn't have a good relationship. I didn't know that you almost became a policeman back then. But I'm curious, why didn't you become a policeman and instead went to France to be a soldier?"

  This matter is the most heart-wrenching thing for Bao Yulin, and basically everything stems from this. He really didn't want to talk about it.

  Watching Bao Yulin's face change color, He Qinglong suddenly felt that he had been too abrupt. It was said that foreigners were very taboo about others discussing their affairs, and it seemed that he had been a bit too careless. So he hurriedly changed the subject.

  "Mr. Bao Yulin, I'm sorry, it seems I shouldn't have asked those questions. To show my apology, today I'll arrange for a car to send you to Guanglan City. Also, I have a good relationship with the director of the Guanglan Military Region General Hospital, and the conditions there are relatively good. Why don't I make a call to the hospital, and when the time comes, you can go directly?"

  Bao Yulin was delighted to hear this. After all, he had been used to dealing with the hospital for many years. So he agreed on the spot.

  "That's great, thank you so much Director He!"

  The public security bureau's people have finished their work, and no matter what, it can be considered a happy ending for everyone. At least they have an explanation to give to the outside world. Unfortunately, they still have many things to attend to, and besides, they are not willing to face Bao Yulin and his family. It's good that things turned out this way.

  When Wang Hong and Liu Feng arrived at the hospital, Bao Yulin and his mother had already left. When they went to the nurse's station to ask for information, the nurse said that the old man had been discharged from the hospital, and also returned the medical expenses paid in advance by Wang Hong. It was said that Bao Yulin had paid the medical expenses himself, so there was no need for Wang Hong to pay.

  Wang Hong and Liu Feng felt inexplicable, how could there be such a person. Yesterday they were worried that Bao Yulin's family would open their mouths wide, but today others didn't even want a cent from them. This matter is really hard to understand. Fortunately, this matter is now in the past, at least it's a good thing for Wang Hong.