Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 66 Come and get the car
Not aware of the dream of spring grass in the pond, and the sound of autumn leaves before the steps.

After being injured in the last electric bicycle theft, Chen Shu rested at home for a while. Once he was able to walk slowly again, Zeng Hong arranged for him to work the day shift in the duty hall.

This morning was also a peaceful day. Xiao Wang was reading a novel on the police forum on the intranet, while Chen Shu took out his study materials to prepare for the 'Advanced Law Enforcement Qualification Examination'.

Zhu Chaoran? Nobody knows where he's slipped away to this time. Xiao Wang secretly logged into 'Honor of Kings' and could see that Zhu Chaoran's game account was listed as 'in the game'.

"That fatso, he's off playing games somewhere again!" Xiao Wang muttered.

When handling cases, Zhu Chaoran is never ambiguous. He works overtime when he needs to, and he stays up all night when he needs to. So when he takes a little break during his free time, Chen Shu doesn't mind.

"Work-life balance, you know..." He smiled and turned another page.
"Hello. I am Zheng Tianyou's nephew from the second-hand goods exchange market."

Chen Shu looked up and saw a somewhat familiar little boy behind the front desk.

"Oh, Old Zheng's nephew, I recognize you. By the way, what's your name?" Chen Shu stood up and asked the little boy with a smile.

The little boy gripped the small platform at the front desk with both hands, his eyes looking to the side, and said softly, "My name is Xiaoxi. This guy behind me is Zhou Qiangqiang. We're here to..."

Xiao Xi obediently introduced the two people who came over, but swallowed the rest of her words and didn't say them out loud.

Chen Shu had actually seen Zhou Qiangqiang, who was tall and thin, standing behind Xiao Xi a long time ago, but his full head of red hair and the constant 'pop pop' of bubble gum made him not want to pay any attention to him.

He felt a certain fondness for Xiao Xi, who, despite her limp, still worked diligently in the shop.

Chen Shu pointed to several rows of seats in the lobby and said, "Xiao Xi, you two go sit over there for a while. Your uncle and I have already spoken on the phone, and I'll arrange for someone to help you pick up your car later. Yes, it's that chubby police officer you had a great chat with last time."

"Thank you, leader!"

Xiao Xi thanked Chen Shu and the others using the same address his uncle had used earlier, then quickly withdrew his hands and turned to walk towards the seats near the door.

Zhou Qiangqiang, who had been standing behind Xiao Xi, opened his eyes wide, his face full of disbelief.

He simply couldn't understand why the usually aloof and authoritative police officers at the local police station were being so polite to this skinny, limping guy. And what's more, a portly officer was chatting happily with this skinny guy who rarely uttered a word!
He watched as the policeman finished explaining things to Xiaoxi and then sat down behind the front desk, not even glancing at him.

Having grown up navigating the social world, Zhou Qiangqiang was very perceptive and knew exactly what to do and when. He followed Xiao Xi to the entrance of the duty hall, found a seat, and sat down respectfully to wait.

Chen Shu glanced at the two people sitting at the door, then took out his phone and called Zhu Chaoran.

"Hey, Fatty, watch out for points deductions!"

When Xiao Wang saw Zhu Chaoran rushing in, he couldn't resist making a teasing remark.

Zhu Chaoran saw the two people sitting outside and knew that Chen Shu wanted to see him, so he didn't argue with Xiao Wang and jogged over to the front desk.

Chen Shu pointed outside and said softly, "Old Zheng's nephew from the secondhand market, the one who races motorcycles, remember him?"

Zhu Chaoran looked outside carefully a few more times, then turned back and nodded.

Chen Shu said, "Okay, take them to the back parking lot and give them a car to choose from. Let them pick whichever one they want. But remember one thing: you must drain all the fuel from the gas tank of the car they choose. Make them push it."

Hearing this, Zhu Chaoran looked at Chen Shu with some doubt, but he didn't ask any more questions and just nodded in agreement.

He knew that Chen Shu must have had his reasons for doing this. He could think about it on his own afterward, and only ask Chen Shu if he still couldn't figure it out.

Chen Shu looked at Zhu Chaoran with a hint of appreciation for his composure. He continued, "You should chat more with Boss Zheng's nephew, um, that little boy named Xiao Xi. He's a nice kid. Exchange WeChat contacts later." "Okay."

After Zhu Chaoran agreed, he led his men to the parking lot behind the police station.

Xiao Wang listened for a while and roughly understood what was going on. Being clever, he kept his mouth shut and continued reading his novel on the computer, but he still let out a sentence.

"Brother Shu, why are you emptying the fuel tank?"

Chen Shu smiled and glanced at Xiao Wang, who was sitting to the side pretending to stare at the computer screen but whose ears were perked up, and said, "Do those two kids look like they have driver's licenses?"

He was aware that this operation was indeed somewhat irregular. But it was a trade-off; solving the serial theft case and letting go of an electric motorcycle or a "ghost fire" (a type of motorcycle with a stunt double) was still a worthwhile deal.

Most importantly, this opportunity also allows Zhu Chaoran to make contact with informants and spies, which will be helpful to him.

More than half an hour later, Chen Shu looked out the window next to the duty hall and saw Zhu Chaoran walking in the courtyard with the other two people.

Zhu Chaoran was almost at the entrance of the hall when he abandoned the two men pushing the motorcycle and went into the hall, walking towards Chen Shu with sweat pouring down his face.

Chen Shu stood up and slowly walked out to meet him. As the two passed each other, he grabbed Zhu Chaoran's hand, turned around, and walked towards the door together.

"You've already done so much, see them off. Remember this: for people at the bottom of society, respect is often more important than money or empty promises."

Zhu Chaoran nodded as if he understood, then walked out and escorted the two men pushing the motorcycle out of the police station compound.

Chen Shu stood on the steps, took out a cigarette, handed one to Zhu Chaoran and lit it, then lit one for himself as well.

He took a few deep breaths before asking, "You should have left your WeChat ID, right?"

"Yeah, I added him. But the red-haired guy next to him also wanted to add me, but I ignored him."

"Ignoring him was the right thing to do. Differential treatment is also a form of respect. By the way, I saw you just returned the motorcycle to them. Why didn't you make up some excuse about registering it and check their IDs?"

Zhu Chaoran looked surprised: "Brother Shu, do we need to investigate this too?"

"Of course. Since we want to recruit Xiao Xi as an informant, we must obtain his personal information. Don't be fooled by their usual submissive attitude; if you don't handle them properly, they might drag you down with them or even turn around and bite you back."

Zhu Chaoran was shocked: "That dangerous? Brother Shu, I thought you and that Old Zheng got along quite well?"

"That's your opinion. Do you know what everyone else is thinking?"

Zhu Chaoran scratched his head, somewhat confused: "Then how am I supposed to face them in the future?"

"Friends, some friends we need to respect but also be wary of. And another thing, informants must be kept secret, you can't tell anyone, not even your superiors."

"Brother Shu, it's so dangerous, let's not make friends with these people. Can't we just focus on our own work?"

Chen Shu threw away the cigarette he was about to finish smoking and stomped it out.

In this society, there is no such thing as black and white.

(End of this chapter)