Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 124 Do you regret it?
Not far from Xiyangyang Kindergarten in Dongzhou City
Chen Shu and Li Meng sat inside the Santana car.

Li Meng: "Just the two of us going in? If we're both men, we can't take statements."

Chen Shu: "You can choose not to go."

Li Meng's eyes darted around: "Aren't we going in now?"

Chen Shu ignored him and said to himself, "What should I say later?"

Li Meng took out a cigarette, lit it, and looked at the crowd waiting to pick up their children at the kindergarten gate in the distance. She said leisurely, "If you're always worrying about this and that, you'll be very inefficient in solving cases."

Worried about the east, worried about the west? Chen Shu's heart stirred, recalling Liu Wanying's head bowed as she left that morning, unwilling to have the gold leaf sampled. If only he could untangle her knot in her heart...
What was her purpose?
Chen Shu rolled down the car window, took out his Liqun cigarette and lit it: "You're just too focused on the case itself. Yes, everyone is happy to see a case solved as soon as possible, but have you ever thought about the hardships and suffering of those innocent people behind the scenes?"

Li Meng nodded: "Solving the case as soon as possible is the best way to give them an explanation."

Chen Shu exhaled a puff of smoke, watching the smoke dissipate into the air in circles: "After the police solve a case, there are celebrations and rewards, then they pat their butts and turn to the next round of work, without any impact whatsoever."

However, the victims of those cases are likely to continue to suffer. So why can't we slow down a little when handling cases, making the investigations more humane, and reducing the suffering of the victims after the case?

For us, this is just a case that happens temporarily, and it's over now. But for them, it could be a major event that lingers in their minds and affects them for a lifetime.

Li Meng laughed and threw the half-finished cigarette butt out the window onto the main road with one hand: "I think you're quite suited for the political work route."

"Let's go, there's no one here."

Chen Shu took off his police uniform jacket, opened the car door, and stood by the roadside, looking at the deserted streets in the distance.

Not far from Xiyangyang Kindergarten in Dongzhou City
At Xingxingke Cafe, a few groups of people were sitting in the outdoor booths.

Near the roadside railing, Liu Wanying, with her ponytail tied, held a coffee cup on the table in both hands, her eyes fixed on the words on the cup.

This pose has been maintained for a long time.

Sitting opposite her, Li Meng couldn't help but take out her cigarette again, greeted Chen Shu, and quickly ran to the side of the road to take a deep drag.

Chen Shu downed his cappuccino in one gulp and slammed it down next to Liu Wanying's coffee cup with a slight thud.

Liu Wanying raised her eyelids, shifting her gaze from her own cup to Chen Shu's empty cup.

Well, finally there's some action. Now we can say something.

Chen Shu reached out and tapped his empty cup, saying softly, "Empty, and cold."

He moved his index finger to the coffee cup that Liu Wanying was holding and tapped it: "It's full and warm."

He reached across the coffee cup and pointed to Liu Wanying's left chest, where her heart was: "Please tell me, what's it like here right now?"

Liu Wanying's gaze followed Chen Shu's finger, but she remained silent.

Chen Shu waited a few seconds, then suddenly reached out, picked up the glass he had already emptied, and smashed it hard against Liu Wanying!

The remaining coffee in the empty cup was mercilessly splashed onto Liu Wanying's snow-white tracksuit.

Liu Wanying shifted slightly, not even glancing at the dirt on her clothes, and immediately regained her composure. This time, she finally looked up and met the gaze of the young policeman sitting next to her.

Chen Shu crossed his arms, looking down at him with disdain, and said, "Since it's all empty anyway, why are you still holding it? Why not just throw it away and use it to hit someone?"

"Give up and do nothing?" Liu Wanying's shoulders trembled slightly, showing a hint of reaction.

She stared at the policeman in front of her, who was different from what she had imagined: "Who are you going to smash?" Chen Shu leaned over, and the two of them looked at each other with their eyes only eight or nine centimeters apart.

After a few breaths.

"You listen to me."

Liu Wanying closed her eyes and nodded obediently, a few tears welling up in her long eyelashes.

Santana car

Li Meng drove her vehicle toward the Zhengming District Public Security Bureau.

An hour or so had passed, but he still pressed Chen Shu with a suspicious tone: "Tell me, why did that woman finally agree to come to the hospital to have the gold leaf extracted?"

Sitting in the passenger seat, Chen Shu remained noncommittal, simply holding a thick file bag in his hands and looking out the window. He recalled what the woman had said to him later.

"Officer, actually I'm sick. Every time I drink too much, I can't control myself and I'm very prone to believing things I shouldn't. Wang Fan isn't actually my boyfriend. I later went to the room of two male friends on the second floor and stayed there for half an hour, and I spent some time with them. So the next day, when you asked me to go to the hospital to have the gold leaf removed from my body, I really couldn't face it. Yeah, I couldn't face myself."

Later in the elevator, I did chat with the man for a while, but when he suddenly tried to pull me away, I snapped out of it and held onto the elevator door tightly, refusing to come out.

The morning after the incident, after I sobered up, I didn't dare touch the three thousand yuan Wang Fan had taken from him. Because I knew that if I took that money, I would truly be tainted.

Officer, please believe me. Even though I really did something reckless, back then, in the elevator, I really, really... *sobs*

"Chen Shu!"

"Chen Shu!"

Chen Shu snapped out of his reverie and turned to look at Li Meng, who was staring at him with a suspicious expression.

"What's wrong with you? Are you stupid? I've been calling you for ages and you haven't responded. Get out of the car, we're at the station."

Chen Shu got out of the car carrying the case file bag and looked at the huge stone in the center of the Public Security Bureau courtyard, which had the five red characters "Serve the People" written on it.

He pursed his lips and resolutely walked into the office building.

Zhongshan Police Station, Detention Room
Chen Shu walked up to Xu Long with a stack of criminal detention documents. Looking at the timid middle-aged man in front of him, and recalling his ferocity when he was driven by lust in the elevator video surveillance, Chen Shu felt a strange mix of emotions.

"Your wife is here, she's in the living room."

Upon hearing this, Xu Long lost his grip on the pen and dropped it to the ground, then immediately knelt down on his knees.

"Wife, my wife is here. I... I'm so sorry to her."

Chen Shu pulled Xu Long up and threw him onto a chair, then took out a cigarette, lit it, and stuffed it into Xu Long's mouth.

After taking a few breaths, my emotions calmed down a bit.

Chen Shu bent down, picked up the pen that had been thrown on the ground, and pressed it back into Xu Long's right hand. Then he took a stack of criminal detention documents and placed them on the table in front of him.

Xu Long looked at the detention warrant stamped with a large red seal at the top. His hand, which had just been holding a cigarette, now felt a little unsteady on his grip on the pen.

He looked up fearfully at the policeman standing ramrod straight in front of him, his voice trembling: "Officer, how long do I have to sit here?"

(End of this chapter)