Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 12 Late Night Barbecue
Zhu Chaoran drove his old black Santana, taking the two of them straight to the only barbecue restaurant in the area that was open all night, "Lao Liang Kou Barbecue" on Dongming Road.

The shop is quite far from the police station; it took a while to get there.

Although it was already past midnight, the shop was still packed with people. Chen Shu didn't bother going to any crowded spots; he simply found an empty small round table on the sidewalk outside and sat down. He picked up his phone, scanned the QR code on the table, and placed his order.

A little while later, Zhu Chaoran, who had parked his car, came running over excitedly. He had barely sat down when he jumped up again and ran inside to grab two bottles of chilled beer.

"Come on, Brother Shu, let's have a drink and forget about all that messy stuff!" Zhu Chaoran slammed his beer bottle down on the small table with a loud "bang!"

Chen Shu reached out, gently picked up the two bottles of beer, weighed them in his hand, then placed them under the table, saying casually, "Hehe, I still have to work later, so I won't drink."

"Brother Shu! Still doing it?" Zhu Chaoran's eyes widened in disbelief. "There's no one left, how can we keep going?"

Yes, the solving of most major cases in modern times relies more on multi-departmental cooperation, using technologies such as on-site investigation, video surveillance, network communication, and big data to conduct rational and thorough analysis, directly searching for and analyzing on-site information or related clues, then eliminating all possibilities, and finally directly identifying the perpetrator.

It's not that reasoning is useless, but it's far less useful than technical methods, and reasoning demands too much of an individual's ability. Unlike technical methods, which are universal and widely applicable, and whose goals can generally be achieved with sufficient training and by following standardized procedures, reasoning is not something anyone can use.

Chen Shu knew all this, but as always, he was dismissive and said with a smile, "It's alright, I'll do it at home. We just got a high-spec computer at home."

Seeing that Chen Shu had no intention of returning to the office to handle the case, Zhu Chaoran assumed that he was giving him a way out, so he didn't bring it up again.

As we were chatting, the barbecue restaurant owner brought a sizzling, oily iron plate full of barbecue to the table.

"Officer Chen, sorry to keep you waiting! You've ordered so much food, are you sure you won't be able to finish it all since there are only two of you?"

Chen Shu stood up and helped the proprietress place the iron plate on the table. He then laughed and said, "Proprietress, have you forgotten Fatty's fighting power? He's worth three people! By the way, could you please pack another serving of the same dish for me, plus a large Coke? Thank you for your trouble."

"Okay, okay, no trouble at all. You guys are the ones who work so hard, getting off work so late. Luckily you're here, our little business runs smoothly. You guys eat, I'll go back to my work now." With that, the proprietress leisurely went back to attend to the other customers.

Zhu Chaoran grabbed a skewer of grilled meat, stuffed it into his mouth, and mumbled as he chewed on the meat, "The crackdown on organized crime in recent years has yielded some results. Hehe, the people know all too well."

"Eat your food, stop talking so much nonsense." Chen Shu picked up a lamb skewer and started munching on it.

Without saying much more, the two devoured the barbecue on the iron plate in no time. Zhu Chaoran patted his round belly and made satisfied noises.

Chen Shu took a big gulp of cola, paused, and then let out a loud burp. It was as if this released all the fatigue and grievances of the day.

He sat quietly until Zhu Chaoran finished his barbecue before standing up and walking into the store to pay the bill.

"Fatty, go get the car and wait for me at the entrance."

"No problem! Brother Shu." Zhu Chaoran, who had just finished eating, shook off his previous dejection. After hearing what Chen Shu said, he jumped up and ran to the car with great enthusiasm.

As long as there's meat to fill you up! The world of fat people is so wonderful... After sighing for a while, Chen Shu walked to the front desk and scanned the payment code.

"Officer Chen, it's 240 yuan. Same old price, I've given you a 20% discount and rounded it down. That's the price at our station," the proprietress said quickly with a beaming smile.

The boss also peeked out from the kitchen, which was right next to the front desk, pulling back the curtain slightly. His head was covered in sweat, and he said loudly, "Officer Chen, it's pointless to keep arguing like last time. We're all very busy!"

After saying that, he quickly pulled his head back, seemingly afraid that Chen Shuzhen would challenge him.

"Thanks, I won't argue this time." Chen Shu didn't stand on ceremony and smiled at the proprietress. He pulled out his phone calculator, dialed 240 yuan divided by 0.8, and got 300 yuan. To be on the safe side, Chen Shu added an extra ten yuan.

When the mechanical voice of "Received 310 yuan" echoed at the front desk, he smiled, nodded, and turned to leave.

With a flick of his sleeve, he took away a packaged takeout order.

He walked to the roadside, lit a cigarette for himself, and looked back at the laughter and chatter at the barbecue restaurant, a smile unconsciously creeping onto his face.

In addition to solving cases, the police should also protect the people behind the cases and stand up for ordinary people who are not involved in the cases.

"Whoosh! Screech!" The Santana stopped at the side of the road.

Chen Shu threw down his cigarette, stomped it out, opened the car door, and tossed the packaged takeout bag inside: "Take the food to Li Chaoyang and the others. You should get some rest too."

"Okay, Brother Shu. As for this case, we still..." Zhu Chaoran was still a little worried and brought it up again.

"The chances of this case are slim, but I want to give it another try," Chen Shu said calmly. "Alright, let's go."

After saying that, he closed the car door behind him, pounded on it, and signaled to drive away.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Chaoran rolled down the car window again, grinned with his chubby face, took out a small object from his pocket, and gently tossed it out.

Chen Shuyang caught it, and upon closer inspection, discovered it was a USB drive used by the institute for external communication.

"Fatty, what's this...?"

"Brother Shu, this is a USB drive prepared by the brothers in the video surveillance team. It contains all the data you provided that was copied from the intranet. They've only organized a portion of it; you'll have to handle the rest yourself."

After saying that, Zhu Chaoran rolled up the car window and drove towards the police station.

Holding the USB drive in his hand, the warm touch made Chen Shu realize that he was not fighting alone.

Each person's effort may seem insignificant, but the combined efforts of a group cannot be ignored. Originally, it was just a matter of spite, a chance that one person could only try again, with little hope. But now, a group of people stand behind him.

Although there is still much to be done, a huge amount of data, and complex clues, there is at least hope.

Worth a try!
We will definitely succeed!

Chen Shu stood by the roadside, waved his hand, and a taxi stopped in response.

He got into the car and looked into the distance with a determined expression.

"Master, Jiefang Street, Chanyun Shopping Mall."

It's late at night, but it's still dark.

(End of this chapter)