Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 327 Should We Broaden Our Horizons?

Branch office, deputy director's office.

"Hahaha!"

Director Zhang Xuming sat on the sofa, laughing heartily, holding a newly printed fax report in his hand, which he kept waving in the air.

"You know, this guy sprained his ankle and instead of resting at home, he sneaked out to cause trouble! And he even ran all the way to that godforsaken place in X North. Look at this bald guy he caught, the amount of stolen money recovered from just this one person is over four million, tsk tsk, and this is just one person."

Director Wu smiled broadly as he took a document from liaison officer Xiao Li: "The Menghai County branch was decisive. Based on Chen Shu's arrest of this bald man, they immediately formed a special task force, splitting into six groups to conduct a thousand-mile manhunt, and successfully apprehended six money laundering organizations hiding in the country. Afterwards, the recovered illicit funds amounted to over 30 million yuan."

"Director Zhang, I reckon this alone will be enough to fill the gap in this year's quota, not just for the county bureau, but even for the city bureau."

Zhang Xuming put down the fax in his hand, took out a bottle of mineral water from under the coffee table, unscrewed the cap and took a few sips. He rested his elbow on the armrest of the sofa and joked, "If they weren't full, they wouldn't have given us Baldy's four million or so."

Director Wu: "Four million yuan isn't a lot, but it's not a small amount either. Director Zhang, what do you think we should do? Shouldn't we hold a 'Return the Stolen Goods' ceremony at the bureau and return all the money to the victims on the spot, and then have the publicity department report on it?"

Zhang Xuming laughed and said, "Old Wu, you're being a bit petty. Since Chen Shu arrested this person, the event should be held at their SWAT team. Our branch shouldn't steal the limelight."

"That's right."

Inside the office, the two leaders were having a lively conversation. After the provincial department issued an order to crack down on fraud and carry out the work of solving cases and recovering stolen assets, they immediately arrested the number two figure of the overseas organization and successfully recovered more than four million yuan in stolen money.

Solving cases isn't a real skill; everyone in the police force can solve cases and arrest people. The real skill is recovering the money that people have been defrauded of. In fact, the police system has established a strict performance indicator that prioritizes recovery in cases of telecom fraud.

So, with these results, Zhang Xuming could practically walk around the city bureau with impunity. Perhaps, during lunch with the bureau's bigwigs, he could even manage to spin the lazy Susan a few times while they were picking up food.

After chatting for a while, Director Wu suggested that Chen Shu should be promoted extensively later, and then he got up to say goodbye.

Liaison officer Xiao Li, who was standing nearby, quickly accompanied the director to the door. When he returned, he casually mentioned something.

"Director Zhang, I have an idea, but I don't know if I should say it."

Zhang Xuming was taken aback. He knew his secretary's personality very well; she was usually very tight-lipped and rarely spoke.

"It's just the two of us here now, so feel free to say what you're thinking."

Xiao Li nodded, took out another document from the leather file folder in his hand, and handed it to Zhang Xuming. While waiting for the other party to look at it, he pondered and slowly began to explain:
"Director Zhang, although Chen Shu handed the man over to the local police station this time in the manner of ordinary citizens, he actually crossed the border illegally, and is suspected of the crime of illegally crossing the border."

According to the statement, the arrested bald man was unaware of Chen Shu's identity, so in the local police's statement, he relentlessly accused Chen Shu of illegal possession of a firearm and smuggling. It's likely he was motivated by revenge, thinking that since he was already arrested, he might as well take someone else down with him.

If the local procuratorate takes it seriously and demands another witness statement from the police, or if they bring Chen Shu into the picture by explaining the arrest, then things will get complicated.

Zhang Xuming looked down at the document and pondered, "This cross-border law enforcement permit isn't something our branch office can handle. So what do you mean?"

Xiao Zhang slowly said, "Director Wu's suggestion to vigorously publicize Chen Shu is obviously not advisable. This matter can only be handled quietly. Then, the Menghai County Branch also needs us to issue a letter stating that Chen Shu cannot reveal his identity because of the undercover investigation, and we hope that they can directly erase Chen Shu's identity information in the transcript or related documents."

Zhang Xuming nodded and affirmed, "I think using undercover agents is more suitable. After all, it's a border area, and it's reasonable to use undercover agents due to limited conditions. Xiao Li, I'll leave this matter to you, in my name."

"Yes."

Xiao Li snapped to attention and left the room. With everyone gone, Zhang Xuming was left alone in the large office. He picked up the last documents Xiao Li had given him, reading them with great interest, and then returned to his desk and chair.

"North China, gunfight, undercover operation, hostage rescue. Interesting."

Zhang Xuming kept repeating these words, as if some thoughts were popping into his mind, but he couldn't quite grasp them.

Yu Guangzhong noticed the duty phone contact list for each unit of the branch office under the glass, with the two characters "国" (Guo, meaning "country" or "people") crammed into a secluded corner, standing out somewhat. He placed his hand on the receiver of a red landline phone in the corner of the desk, picking it up and putting it down repeatedly.

He finally let out a long sigh and remained silent.

This is a shortcut, but it's also a road of no return.

Zhengming District Special Police Brigade, Instructor's Office.

After returning to his unit from the branch office, Li Da went straight to his old partner Xie Chi's office, knocked on the door and went in. To his surprise, Xie Chi was the one with a dark expression on his face, just as he had expected.

Unexpectedly, he was carrying a small plastic watering can, watering the flowers by the windowsill, and humming a song, looking like he was in a very good mood.

Li Da strode over angrily and sat down heavily. He grabbed the freshly brewed tea from the coffee table, drank it down without caring whether it was for him or not, and then slammed it down on the coffee table with a loud bang.

Xie Chi chuckled and said, "Isn't that exactly what you wanted? The bureau allocated the quota to our brigade this time, which is just what you wanted."

“Oh dear, I used to take on extra work voluntarily, but this is a task that must be completed. These are two different things, how can they be considered the same? Besides, let’s not even talk about the number of app downloads, we can’t even finish recovering the amount of money!” Li Da said in a gruff voice.

Xie Chi put down the small water bottle in his hand and sat down next to Li Da. He looked at the head of the unit in front of him, who was now sulking like a child, and he was both amused and exasperated.

Tell me why we can't finish it?

Li Da spread his hands in front of him, looking worried, and said, "Anyway, I've been thinking about this the whole way and still can't figure out what to do."

Seeing that Li Da was upset, Xie Chi gave up his teasing and said frankly, "I just received a call from the bureau. Chen Shu handled a case half a month ago and recovered more than four million yuan in stolen money from telecom fraud. This is on our team's payroll."

"what?"

Li Da suddenly stood up, his eyes wide with disbelief, and said, "Half a month ago? Didn't he sprain his ankle and stay home to recover? Wait, what was that number you just mentioned, tens of thousands?"

"four million."

Li Da muttered the words "four million" to himself repeatedly. After a long while, he suddenly realized something, laughed heartily, and patted Xie Chi's shoulder hard with his large hand.

“Old Xie, I told you this a few days ago. You need to broaden your perspective. Look, now the renovation costs for those bungalows downstairs have been recovered, haven't they?”

"Hahaha! Old Xie, we'll partition off half of that training hall and renovate it into a detention room!"

Li Da waved his hand grandly, displaying great generosity.

(End of this chapter)