Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 804 The master is the teacher

"The murder case isn't important?"

Chen Shu blurted out, pushed aside the table and chairs, and stood up abruptly.

In Dongzhou, the basic common sense is that no case is more important than a murder case. In fact, the city's criminal investigation branch has even set up a special team of police officers to continue to solve long-standing murder cases.

Even if no new evidence emerges, they will periodically revisit the sites associated with the case and the people involved.

This demonstrates the extent to which they take homicide cases seriously.

He Chengfeng's expression was complicated. He took another sip of his drink and said helplessly, "The shortage of police manpower is an old refrain, so I won't mention it. What I want to emphasize is that we all know we need to focus our efforts on key areas, well, in our area."

As he spoke, he tapped the table with his finger and said seriously, "For decades, drug control has been the top priority. In recent years, another headache has emerged: anti-fraud. Sigh, this thing is too new; old police officers like us simply can't handle it."

“In previous years, we only dealt with drug enforcement. After decades of working together, we could at least spare some police resources to handle other cases, if not completely clean up the mess.” “But in recent years, telecom fraud cases have surged nationwide! They have taken up most of our resources and police manpower.”

As he spoke, he sighed deeply, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes, and said, "Therefore, reality forces us to reconsider the priorities and resource allocation of our officers."

This is the main reason why Huang Mao accepted the murder case.

After all, at the beginning, everyone thought it was just an ordinary suicide case.

Chen Shu remained silent, knowing full well that every word He Chengfeng spoke was true. Nowadays, telecommunications fraud was spreading rapidly in China like a plague, eroding the peace of society.

After a moment, Chen Shu still insisted, "I admit that combating fraud is the most urgent task in the country right now, but that absolutely does not mean we can ignore the investigation of murder cases. He Da, a person's life is only once, and once it's gone, it's gone!"

“Officer Chen, the murder case is indeed important, but sometimes, the actual situation and the pressure from superiors are also factors.” He Chengfeng looked directly at the police officer from the wealthy coastal province. In his eyes, it was a harmonious and peaceful place, a good place to retire and enjoy his retirement, a place where the police were very safe.

A few seconds later, his gaze shifted to the wine glass on the table. With his eyelids half-closed, he said softly, "We are forced to make a difficult choice."

Do not advise others if you have never experienced their suffering.

As police officers in Yunnan Province, the pressure, dangers, and sacrifices they face are several times greater than those of their counterparts in other provinces of the Republic—this is something everyone can see.

Knowing his words carried little weight, Chen Shu picked up his wine cup and drank it down with his partner.

With his face flushed, He Chengfeng's eyes became unfocused under the influence of alcohol.

He murmured, "To put it bluntly, even if it's a murder case, it's only one life. But if we let the drug dealers and telecom fraudsters we're about to catch go, then millions of lives will be lost, along with countless more broken families."

Chen Shu remained noncommittal, but could only raise his glass again: "He Da, let's drink."

He Chengfeng nodded, his eyes regaining their calm, and said calmly, "Drink."

The two tilted their heads back and filled their glasses again.

Having watched the entire scene of these police officers drinking contest from the sidelines, Jiang Hai, secretly amazed, shifted closer to Chen Chuan and quietly asked, "Brother Chuan, are the police in Yunnan Province really good drinkers, or do all Chinese police drink like this? This is too exaggerated! They're really strong, downing one glass after another. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was just water!"

Chen Chuan, who was watching the show with his legs crossed, cracked peanuts and chuckled, "Haha, not quite there yet, not quite there yet. When we first started working, if we had an operation at night, we would always have a few drinks with dinner before we started!"

As he spoke, Chen Chuan shook his head and said regretfully, "Unlike now, we can't even drink on weekdays. Being a policeman is really not a good thing."

Jiang Hai subconsciously took a few steps back, the chair creaking as it scraped against the floor.

He was somewhat surprised and confused, but deep down he felt a sense of novelty and anticipation towards this "tough guy" work attitude.

During their free time at the police academy, the most common topic of conversation among classmates was their jobs after graduation, so they had heard a bit about the practice of drinking alcohol during work hours.

Jiang Hai picked up the glass containing a little cola and asked cautiously, "Brother Chuan, are you going to arrest someone after drinking? Won't that delay the case? I'm so dizzy, can you really manage?"

Chen Chuan glanced sideways, chuckled, popped a peanut into his mouth, and then casually filled his naive junior brother's cup. It was an unspoken rule in the Donghai police force: if you couldn't drink alcohol, you'd just drink a full cup of soda.

Chen Chuan affirmed without hesitation, his tone firm: "Of course, after drinking, you'll feel warm and have more energy to catch thieves! Those petty thieves won't need to use their brains under the iron fist of our socialism."

Just as Chen Chuan was taking advantage of Jiang Hai's lack of work experience and teasing him with amusing anecdotes from the older generation of police officers, on the other side, forensic doctor Lao Tang, carrying a glass full of baijiu, walked around the large round table and approached Chen Shu.

Upon seeing this, Chen Shu quickly picked up his wine glass and stood up. Just as he was about to speak, Old Tang gently patted his forearm, which was holding the wine glass.

Old Tang smiled gently, his eyes crinkling, his attitude mild, completely unlike his usual boisterous and serious demeanor in the Criminal Investigation Brigade.

Seeing Old Tang at this moment, Chen Shu, who had been scolded mercilessly at the crime scene, suddenly felt the impermanence of life. It turned out that the cold-blooded forensic doctor had another side, and was quite kind.

Old Tang laughed and said, "Don't rush to drink, let me say a few words."

"Forensic Doctor Tang, please speak."

"Forensic Doctor Tang, Forensic Doctor Tang." Old Tang first squinted and muttered to himself repeatedly, then seemed to suddenly wake up, smiled apologetically at Chen Shu, and said, "Officer Chen, this time I'm respecting you, both because I admire your abilities and because I sincerely thank you."

"Oh dear, Forensic Doctor Tang, you're too kind. How can you say that? In terms of seniority within the police force, you're practically mine."

“A wise man is a teacher.” Old Tang pressed down on Chen Shu’s raised forearm, stopping him from explaining, and recalled, “Officer Chen, in my career, I have handled countless cases. Well, I have also dissected countless corpses, men and women, old and young, complete and incomplete, sour and smelly, too many to count.”

“I viewed all of this as pure police work, and my only emotion was whether it was professional or not. I never thought much about the morality and feelings involved. However, in this case I worked on with you, I discovered something different that I had been moved by for so many years.”

Chen Shu was taken aback. He tried to recall the scenes of working with Lao Tang in his mind, but after thinking for a long time, he couldn't find anything particularly different.

Old Tang chuckled as he watched the young policeman from another province ponder for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.

He then slowly said, "When dealing with the victims, I noticed that your attitude towards the deceased is completely different from ours."

"Different? You mean..."

“Respect and goodwill.” Old Tang paused, recalling Chen Shu’s attitude in the forensic room, and said, “When there is no breakthrough in the case, my habit has always been to perform an autopsy to seek other evidence. Everyone else present took it for granted. But you seemed extremely cautious at that time, as if you were cutting your own flesh with that knife.”

Chen Shu looked a little embarrassed, raised his wine glass, and said, "No, I just felt that since the person is dead, if only..."

"At the time, I even laughed at you for being superstitious." Old Tang patted Chen Shu's forearm, which was holding up his wine glass, for the third time and said with a smile, "Later, when I calmed down and thought about it, I realized that this was not superstition, but respect for life and kindness towards the victims."

"Forensic Doctor Tang, I really didn't think that much about it."

"It's precisely because you didn't think that much about it, and it was an unconscious action, that this attitude is so precious. Why don't you think about it some more and say something so that everyone can learn from it, after all, you've drunk so much tonight."

As soon as he finished speaking, the veteran detective and Cheng Feng standing to the side, as well as Jiang Hai and Chen Chuan who had been secretly watching this side for a long time, all pricked up their ears.

"Forensic Doctor Tang, I simply feel that every deceased victim was once a living, breathing person. They had their own lives and careers, and friends and families who loved them. As police officers, we are not just dealing with cold corpses, but with lives that carry so many emotions and memories, unique lives."

Chen Shu spoke slowly, his eyes bright.

"Officer Chen, I don't believe in the lines on my palm, but I do believe in the strength of my palm and fingers."

This time, Old Tang did not pat Chen Shu's forearm gently as he had before, like an elder.

He carefully picked up his glass, rim to rim, and gently clinked it against Chen Shu's, saying sincerely, "Officer Chen, I agree with your statement."

After a pause, Old Tang, before Chen Shu could finish his glass of baijiu, repeated earnestly, "I completely agree."

(End of this chapter)