Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 409 Selfless Selfishness

"Because Jixi County is too poor! The county's finances simply cannot support the continued development of the Hope Primary School! I don't want the Hope Primary School built by the big star to gradually fall into disrepair due to the lack of follow-up funding. The big star gains fame, but Jixi County reverts to its former state and becomes a joke."

Fang Yun rolled her eyes at Zheng Mingxing and said quite matter-of-factly, "The education funds allocated by the city are simply not enough to hire good teachers, nor can they support the daily maintenance of the school. And Jixi County, as an agricultural county, also doesn't have enough funds of its own. I'm already strapped for cash. Humph!"

The children in Jixi County now have to travel dozens of kilometers over mountains to get to school in the neighboring Mucuo County! Don't you think it's cruel, immoral, and offers no future or hope for these six- or seven-year-old children to endure such hardship?

"That's no reason to resort to such tactics! Or rather, don't you think it's not worth walking a tightrope for a mere few million? With that amount of money, a donation drive could attract a lot of people who need fame to raise it."

Zheng Mingxing's voice was a little hoarse, mainly because the woman had already started to undress him. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but what he was hearing at this moment really did not inspire Zheng Mingxing any desire to engage in sexual activity.

"You! Donating sounds simple, but do you really think there are no conditions attached? Jixi County has just gotten on the right track, and I don't want it to be influenced by any outside capital. Speaking of which, Zheng Mingxing, you've always worked in the city, so you have no idea how difficult it is for a small county like ours to raise funds. A few million yuan isn't much, not even enough to buy a house in the provincial capital. But for a poor county like ours, it's still a huge sum. Three years ago, the per capita income in Jixi County was 7,400 yuan per household per year. Out of 180,000 people and 57,000 households in the county, less than 30% had an annual income of over 10,000 yuan... You stay seated! Hmm..."

Fang Yun buried her head in Zheng Mingxing's arms, talking about serious matters while also trying to persuade him to do the same.

This schizophrenic-like state really made Zheng Mingxing's scalp tingle. He quickly pulled Fang Yun up, but the woman rolled her eyes at him with a charming yet dissatisfied look.

"Can't we talk this out properly?"

Seeing that Fang Yun was still going to act recklessly, Zheng Mingxing quickly helped her up.

"Just tell me, are you going to help me or not? I'm the county head of Jixi County, doing everything I can to secure funds for the county. Are you going to criticize me? According to my logic, the municipal finance bureau has no choice but to give the money, and then they can't cause any trouble for the county! Because the thief has already been found and arrested by experts I specially invited from out of town! At most, the money will be recovered a few days late, but that can't be blamed on the county government, right? The farmers' subsidies can't be reduced; that's something that can't be changed even if the sky falls! Hmm… isn't this kind of buck-passing normal? It just drags on for a few years and then it just disappears…"

"You've got guts... Fine, whatever..."

Looking up at the mottled ceiling, Zheng Mingxing sat on the sofa, unwilling to move. He had given up on this crazy woman; he was fine with her doing whatever she wanted.

Give me three more years!

Fang Yun stared intently at Zheng Mingxing, her blush deepening. "I originally thought I could be a good county magistrate, leading my fellow villagers out of poverty and towards prosperity, guiding them forward. But when Zheng Jiacheng came to visit during the Spring Festival, I realized just how much I missed him, how much I missed you! I was going crazy with longing! Zheng Mingxing, the desires of a thirty-year-old woman can't be suppressed by a career! Right now, all I want is to go back to Zhangzhou City and be with you and our son! So after this term, I must leave Jixi County with a satisfactory result and a sufficient answer for future development! After that, I'll go back to Zhangzhou City and never be separated from you again..."

"hiss……"

Zheng Mingxing shuddered and then stopped moving.

……

"That's what it is!"

Zheng Mingxing, his usual serious demeanor returning to its calm and composed state, was eating breakfast with the three of them and the cat at a shop not far from the county government. Zheng Mingxing said casually, "That night, there were two cases at the Finance Bureau. According to the county public security bureau, one was a theft, and the other was a suicide due to a crime; the two are unrelated. So we don't need to worry about the latter; we just need to help Jixi County catch that audacious thief."

"Sigh! I spent half the night brainstorming, but it turns out I was just overthinking things. If that's the case, what's the point of Jixi County coming all this way to find us?"

Li Yiduo felt a mix of regret and incomprehension.

Zheng Mingxing glanced at him, thinking to himself, "Should I tell you that I was just tricked into taking the blame by that crazy woman? She brought me in to share the pressure from the city. We're from Zhangzhou City, which has no connection to Sichuan Province. The slow pace of solving the case meant the money wasn't recovered in time, and even if the city authorities found out something was wrong later, they couldn't hold anyone accountable."

"This is a bit boring!"

Lin Ge yawned and picked at the steamed bun in front of him with a hint of disgust.

Everyone says that people from Sichuan love spicy food, but your meat buns are spicy? Isn't that a bit too outrageous?
He knew that Zheng Mingxing wasn't telling the truth. At least his explicit statement that the embezzler and the theft case were unrelated proved that this guy was definitely hiding something from them.

It doesn't matter, after all, she's Zheng Mingxing's wife, so I should still help her if I can.

"I have only one request for this case! Find the suspect quickly, but leave the arrest to the county public security bureau! Do you understand what I mean? After finding the suspect, keep a close eye on him, but don't act rashly. Give the county bureau a chance to redeem itself."

To prevent his own people from causing trouble, Zheng Mingxing couldn't be too direct, so he could only put shackles on Li Yiduo and the cat, and then find a plausible reason.

He eventually gave in.

After all, she's his wife; what else could he do?

And to put his wife in such a state for a mere three million, Zheng Mingxing was frankly quite angry. It's clear that many impoverished counties struggle to escape poverty for reasons that leave many feeling helpless.

So yesterday Zheng Mingxing was still questioning his wife, but today he has stood by Fang Yun's side without hesitation.

To put it bluntly, if Fang Yun's personal motives could bring a few college students or even more talented individuals to Jixi County, then the three million yuan and the subsequent disputes would all become very worthwhile.

Furthermore, even if one or two successful individuals return to give back to the county in the future, County Chief Fang's personal desires could bring hope and earth-shattering changes to Jixi County.

From this perspective, this matter really cannot be taken lightly.

After a quick breakfast, the group returned to the county government building to meet Lu Dingping. They then boarded two police cars he had brought and, together with him and three policemen, went to the Finance Bureau of Jixi County.

Even the police cars used to pick up customers in Jixi County were old 97 Santanas. They were all old cars that no one knew where they came from, and they creaked and groaned on the bumpy ride, which further solidified Zheng Mingxing's decision.

He frowned as soon as he reached the gate. Everyone they'd encountered along the way had been incredibly cold. Or rather, the entire Finance Bureau was in a state of panic due to the suicide. Nobody knew if anyone else would be implicated, so everyone avoided the police like the plague. Lu Dingping grabbed someone and asked them to lead the way, and the person immediately turned into a stern-faced man.

However, under pressure from the police, he obediently led the group to the door of the storage room where the incident occurred.

There was a cordon tape at the entrance to the storage room, and an elderly man in a security guard uniform, who looked well past retirement age, sat dozing against the wall. When he saw several policemen approaching, he hurriedly stood up and saluted, but he knew nothing about Lu Dingping's questions from beginning to end, repeatedly saying that he had to ask his superiors.

Li Yiduo also asked a few questions, but he only received various shakes of the head as answers.

Left with no other option, the group had to rely on themselves, opening the door and going inside to check for any remaining clues.

"Ok?"

As soon as Lin Ge entered the room, he smelled a strange odor. He didn't know how to describe it, but it was definitely a very peculiar putrid smell. If he had to put it into words, it was the smoky smell of fermented fodder, which was particularly noticeable in this enclosed room.

"What did Mimi discover?"

Zheng Mingxing, who had been keeping a close eye on Lin Ge, knew from his cat's subtle movements that it must have discovered something again.

Zheng Mingxing was quite envious of this ability of cats.

Scent, as an omnipresent and indelible trace, often leaves criminals nowhere to hide. However, humans, in their research and evidence-gathering in this area, can never match the keen perception of animals. And unlike DNA, we cannot materialize scent as an intangible and intangible thing into quantifiable data.

In other words, there is currently no substitute for the ability of cats and dogs, and the advantages that a cat, which is incredibly capable of communicating with humans, can bring in cases with a fixed scene are self-evident.

"Mimi?" Seeing Lin Ge standing at the door without intending to go in, Zheng Mingxing knew that this case would probably be very simple.

Therefore, the current focus is on how to identify the criminal without directly arresting him, while also preventing the stolen funds from being spent until the Finance Bureau issues a second subsidy. Then, the person and the stolen funds will be brought back to the county government, not the Finance Bureau.

To be honest, it's pretty outrageous! Even in novels, you wouldn't see something like this, but Zheng Mingxing is forced to do it according to his wife's demands.

Because none of the participants had any ulterior motives from beginning to end, Zheng Mingxing felt no guilt. Thinking back on his first time handling such a case, he found it quite interesting. He exchanged a glance with Lu Dingping, and the two completed their information exchange.

"Not many people should be qualified to enter or leave this room, right? Even if the theft happened at night, there shouldn't be many people who know that money is hidden here and can get the key and password."

"We had already investigated all the suspects before you arrived. But unfortunately, if things were that simple, we wouldn't have needed your help."

Lu Dingping shook his head helplessly.

Although he, like the two county leaders, very much hoped to leave the three million yuan for the county to build schools, this was contingent on the case being successfully solved; otherwise, all talk was meaningless.

As the head of the public security bureau in a poor county, Lu Dingping knew that his subordinates were not very capable, and that the capable ones would not stay in such a place.

The subordinates were already at their limit handling things like fights, cattle and sheep theft, water disputes between villages, electricity theft, and kidnapping. For slightly more complex cases, they had to ask their superiors for help. For cases with a bit more technical complexity, everyone in the bureau was at a loss and left it to fate.

Why are police officers from a mere prefecture-level city police station allowed to come and serve as support experts in my area?

Because the people under his command are really worse than police officers in big cities! Or to put it another way, what kind of talent can you hire for two or three thousand yuan a month? Police officers in impoverished areas wouldn't even be dogs!

Even police academy interns are unwilling to come to a place like this, so what can Lu Dingping do?

"Have all the relatives and all their interpersonal relationships with people who could have access to this room been investigated?"

Zheng Mingxing knew that Mimi already had a target, but he still hoped to narrow down the search to make it easier for Mimi to eliminate possibilities. It was too much to ask of Mimi, an outsider cat without the help of her own cat pack, to search for people across the countless mountains of the county.

"Well... the basic investigation has been done, and the detailed investigation is still underway."

Lu Dingping was somewhat embarrassed, knowing that the bureau's efficiency was still a bit slow.

But there's no other way! The population mobility in this kind of place is low; almost everyone is related by blood or marriage. A simple check of these kinship ties would involve countless people—how could it be done in three to five days?
"Do you have a rough list? Let me take a look!"

Zheng Mingxing didn't mince words; the condition for delaying the investigation was that the stolen money be found and not yet squandered. If the case was solved too late and the suspect had already spent all the money, then all of Fang Yun's plans and dreams would vanish.

"it's here."

Lu Dingping quickly took a document from the police officer next to him and handed it to Zheng Mingxing.

He didn't dare treat Zheng Mingxing as an ordinary police officer, after all, he was the instructor of a municipal police station.

Lu Dingping was quite relaxed. Regardless of whether things developed as County Chief Fang had envisioned, at least with Zheng Mingxing around, the County Public Security Bureau wouldn't be severely reprimanded by higher-ups for this matter.

"Mimi, can you take a look at these people and see if there are any suspects among them?"

Under Lu Dingping's surprised and astonished gaze, Zheng Mingxing spread the document out in front of Lin Ge. It contained details about the people connected to this house and their relationships, as well as everyone's occupation, address, and other information.

"Hiss... Show it to a cat? What can a cat understand?"

Lu Dingping gasped, and the two policemen beside him exchanged astonished glances. Is this how police solve cases in big cities? I've really learned something new.

"Fuss."

Li Siyu inwardly grumbled, extremely dissatisfied that these people dared to look down on her police cat.

She genuinely thought these people were all incompetent, unable to solve such a trivial case. If they knew about Mimi's past achievements, wouldn't they all be utterly astonished?

Li Siyu looked up again at the safe in front of her. Her boyfriend, with the help of another policeman from the county bureau, was taking photos and examining the inside and outside of the safe. The county bureau's own records were rather vague, and Li Yiduo trusted the professional equipment he had brought more.

"Hmm... pig farmers, scorpion and centipede farmers, sheep farmers. Oh, and rabbit farmers too! That makes sense, people in Sichuan love to eat rabbit heads. There's also a gastrodia elata grower here. This is the first time I've seen so many relatives of government officials involved in animal husbandry. Jixi County is really close to people's lives here."

Lin Ge squinted at the data and selected eleven individual farmers and growers. Based on the unusual smell he had detected earlier, these farmers were undoubtedly the prime suspects.

They most likely learned about the situation inside the Finance Bureau and the existence of three million yuan in cash hidden there from relatives and friends. Furthermore, people in Sichuan province often drink alcohol, which can inadvertently reveal information, providing crucial support for the suspects to commit the theft.

After poking a few holes in the names of the selected people with his claws, Lin Ge looked up at Zheng Mingxing.

"Is the target the farmers? That makes sense! The smell on farmers is stronger and more distinctive. Heh... Choosing one out of eleven, this case has actually become simple."

Zheng Mingxing smiled and returned the document to Lu Dingping.

"Is the suspect among these farmers?"

Lu Dingping was taken aback.

Is this Officer Zheng a fortune teller? He just believes whatever the cat says, but what's the reason?
"Oh! I've found a clue here too!"

Li Yiduo suddenly raised his head.

He was holding a pair of tweezers, with a hair from some unknown animal clipped to the tweezers.

Although the exact animal is still unknown, it's quite easy to determine. A simple test or by having an experienced person examine it can identify the person who had prolonged contact with animals, kept fur on their body, and had previously put their hand inside the safe.

As an impoverished county, Jixi County has few livestock farmers, and even fewer who are capable of working in the Finance Bureau, making it easy to identify them.

"He really is a farmer!"

Lu Dingping took another deep breath.

What's going on! They found the suspect so quickly, what's the next step? County Chief Fang said they'd keep it from the city and the Discipline Inspection Commission, and delay until the city finance bureau allocates funds for the second time before solving the case. So, are they going to arrest anyone or not?

"Let's catch him first, and not let him squander the money. Anyone who dares to do this and gets their hands on it won't keep the money on them for long."

Zheng Mingxing made a decision.

(End of this chapter)