Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 103 Riverside (First Update)
Don't be fooled by Liu Shengyou's tendency to use tired jokes; he's actually not one to joke around with people he's not very close to.

He prefers to use the law as a pretext.

After leaving Zhanghe Police Station, he silently led Lin Ge, Qian Wei, and Luo Jue to Baimiao Police Station.

Upon arrival, Lin Ge saw seven or eight police cars parked in front of the police station, their red and blue lights flashing glaringly. A row of motorcycles was also parked nearby, ready to go. Further on, the police officers lined up were receiving a pre-battle pep talk, their expressions serious and their bearing imposing.

Lin Ge got out of the car with Liu Shengyou, and his breath caught in his throat when he saw the scene.

It's not so much the grandeur of the place, but the overwhelming sense of oppression emanating from the national law enforcement agencies that would chill anyone who saw it.

The wailing sirens are the greatest guarantee of public safety.

Liu Shengyou didn't greet anyone; he went straight to the back of the line. Qian Wei quickly followed; at this moment, he didn't dare joke with anyone.

Lin Ge thought for a moment, then stood to Qian Wei's left, facing right.

Luo Jue did not approach; he simply remained beside the arriving police car, silently watching the scene unfold.

The one shouting at the front was Li Zhen, the director of Baimiao Police Station.

He was a middle-aged man with thinning hair, and his temples were bald under his hat. However, his voice was deep and resonant, giving people a very solid feeling.

Lin Ge and his team arrived a little late, by which time Li Zhen was already making final arrangements. He glanced at Liu Shengyou and assigned Liu Shengyou and a small team to the complex area along the Red Flag Canal.

This is a main canal extending from the Zhanghe River, and an important irrigation source for farmland downstream of Zhangzhou City. The area along the river was once incredibly prosperous, but decades later it has become a cluster of old, haphazardly built buildings. The barbershops and massage parlors common in the 1990s, also known as the red-light district, are now mostly found in this area. Of course, these establishments are generally quite respectable; the most suspicious areas are actually the bathhouses and KTVs downstream of the Hongqi Canal.

And these are all the targets that Lin Ge is targeting today.

After the team disbanded, Liu Shengyou and Li Zhen exchanged a few words before returning, followed by seven police officers, some regular officers and some auxiliary officers.

It was already getting dark, the perfect time for people to indulge in lewd thoughts after a hearty meal and drink. Sometimes, sordid ideas originate from the excitement and uncontrollable urges following a drink. And those shady establishments only dared to secretly open their doors at night.

Massage parlors do exist during the day, but that doesn't mean they're all legitimate. It's not uncommon for those scantily clad women to seduce customers inside, and then some casual sex or something similar happens.

Of course, in terms of the harm to society, these nighttime transactions are definitely the most serious.

Because it's not just a problem of spreading disease, but also a major challenge to social values ​​and moral standards. More importantly, this thing always interacts with other illegal and criminal activities, easily forming more serious criminal networks.

The extortion, robbery, and even assault and murder that stem from prostitution are the main reasons why this "industry" must be banned.

The group soon arrived at the Red Flag Canal.

The roads here are narrow, and there are many vehicles parked haphazardly on the roadside, making it impossible for police cars to get in.

In addition, the roads inside were complicated, and if they were alerted, the target could easily escape. Therefore, Liu Shengyou did not insist on driving in. Instead, he led his team on foot into the alley and began to check the situation of the riverside shops one by one.

The initial targets were barbershops, massage parlors, foot massage parlors, ear cleaning shops, and... small hotels.

In fact, you can guess a lot about a store just by looking at its exterior and the working conditions inside.

For example, a barbershop might have curtains separating the entrances, but there's hardly any hair on the floor, and the counter is neat and clean but lacks equipment. To insist that this is a hair salon business is a joke, isn't it? Then there's the massage parlor. A few curtains are reasonable in such a place. But… the owner is dressed so provocatively, there are condoms in the drawer, and there's a closed room further inside the lobby. Isn't this just trying to fool the police and challenging their intelligence?

Unfortunately, perhaps they arrived too early, or perhaps these brothels weren't doing well, because although Lin Ge and his group discovered some problems, they didn't manage to catch the customers in the act.

Lin Ge was lost in thought as he continued walking inside with Liu Shengyou. Qian Wei, following behind, was quite bored. Seeing that Luo Jue wasn't talking to him, he turned his attention to the residents watching the commotion on both sides.

Then, the group arrived at the street lined with hotels and guesthouses.

These hotels and guesthouses are very cheap, with signs outside that say things like "Special Price 50", "Computer Room 80", and "Mahjong Room 100". The entrances are also quite hidden, located deep inside alleys and lanes.

Lin Ge followed Liu Shengyou and checked the area in order. He saw an old woman guarding the entrance of the hotel ahead.

She watched TV while eating sunflower seeds, occasionally glancing outside, acting somewhat furtively.

When she saw a group of police officers approaching, the woman panicked instantly. She stood up hurriedly, fumbled something behind the counter with her right hand, and then rushed towards Liu Shengyou.

What did you just do?

Liu Shengyou shoved the old woman who was blocking his way aside.

The two men didn't linger and rushed straight into the hotel's second-floor business area.

"No... I didn't do anything!" The old woman remained stubborn, and even calmed down.

"I just wanted to welcome you all. Honestly, there's no need for all the checks. My place is perfectly legitimate! Aside from the slightly less-than-ideal environment, there's nothing wrong with it!"

Liu Shengyou ignored her and went straight to the front desk, where he pulled out a palm-sized walkie-talkie from under the registration book.

"what is this?"

Liu Shengyou gestured to his wife with the walkie-talkie.

"It's a walkie-talkie! My husband keeps an eye on it and does cleaning. When guests check out, we use it to contact them and see if they've damaged the room or anything."

The old woman's answer was also quite reasonable.

Not long after, the police officers led an old man in his sixties or seventies slowly down from up there.

Seeing Liu Shengyou flipping through the check-in register, one of the men said, "Boss, nothing unusual. Only two rooms are occupied, one by a solo cyclist and the other by someone working here. We've checked all the other rooms, they're all empty."

Why is only one person registered?

Liu Shengyou spread out the registration book to his wife, then pointed to the black screen of the computer and said, "There's no registration on the computer either, is there? Don't you know that the National Hotel Industry Security Management Information System requires and mandates the collection of check-in registration data?"

"Oh! I'm too old to handle computers. Besides, what could possibly be wrong?"

The old woman didn't care at all, laughing and waving her hand, saying, "Besides, look, only two people stay here a day. How much money can I make from water and electricity? You can't expect me to buy a computer and hire a receptionist, can you? Oh, that would mean losing money! Officer, don't try to reason with an old woman like me. I don't understand! My husband and I are just trying to earn a little money for our retirement with our own house. Do you want us to starve to death out there?"

The old woman's incessant nagging and unreasonable arguments left Liu Shengyou feeling utterly helpless.

At that moment, Lin Ge suddenly sensed something.

Seeing that the old woman was clinging to Liu Shengyou, Lin Ge slowly climbed the stairs, making steady but quick ascents to the second floor.

"Hey! Mimi!"

Qian Wei was startled.

Lin Ge had climbed halfway up the mountain when he realized that his cat was no longer by his side.

On the contrary, Luo Jue was more serious than Qian Wei, and he followed closely behind Lin Ge.

The commotion of the two people and the cat immediately stirred something in Liu Shengyou's heart.

Liu Shengyou waved to his two men to restrain the two old men, then pressed the camera on his chest twice before leading the remaining three men to quickly follow Lin Ge.

Upon arriving on the second floor, there are eight guest rooms arranged in a narrow corridor, four on the left and four on the right.

The corridor was dark, with dim yellow lights overhead, and the dark wallpaper covering the entire corridor made visibility very poor.

Near the stairs, two men living opposite each other were peeking and looking this way.

Lin Ge ignored them.

The smell wasn't coming from them.

Lin Ge didn't even bother to check the rooms that were closed on either side; he just kept his head down, sniffing as he walked. Soon he reached the end of the corridor, where his path was blocked by a wall covered with dark wallpaper.

then……

Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, Lin Ge lowered his head and banged it against the wall twice.

'Bang! Bang!'

The empty echo startled Liu Shengyou.

This isn't a wall at all, but an iron gate disguised as a wall?

He laughed angrily.

Thank you to readers Asaka晨韵 and 20220828110147699 for their donations.

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(End of this chapter)