Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 266 It was all a misunderstanding.

The sun had just risen, and the air still carried the chill of last night. Although winter was already halfway over, the rising sun still offered a touch of warmth.

Chen Shu was driving his beloved Volkswagen Golf GTI on the way to Zhongshan Institute. He opened the window, leaned against the car frame, and hummed an old Jay Chou song from over ten years ago that was playing in the car, getting a little carried away.

"Flipping through our photos, a sense of longing arises, faint yet palpable. Last winter, we smiled so sweetly."

Yesterday he received a call from Zeng Hong, ending his suspension and allowing him to return to work.

Zeng Hong didn't mention the demerit during the phone call, presumably because he thought it was a minor issue.

Upon arriving at work, Chen Shu, as usual, first went to the cafeteria and ordered a large bowl of pork ribs with rice noodles. The cafeteria cook, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, kindly added an egg to his plate. The colleagues who arrived earlier also greeted each other politely.

After finishing breakfast, Chen Shu grabbed two apples and ate them as he walked towards the duty room. After the last incident, dispatcher Xiao Wang had been dismissed, and the new recruit was said to be more composed.

Upon reaching the duty room, Chen Shu glanced at the new dispatcher sitting upright in front of the monitoring computer and said in a friendly tone, "Don't be so tense. It's tiring to always be so serious. By the way, what's your name?"

The newcomer glanced at the police officer he had never met before, a little shyly scratching his head, and said, "My name is Qian Wenzheng."

Chen Shu, resting his chin on his hand, said with great interest, "Wenzheng, Wenzhen, Wencheng, your parents have high expectations for you. Do a good job, and if you have any problems, you can come to me directly. Um, my name is Chen Shu, and there's a contact list over there on the table."

After greeting the new dispatcher, Chen Shu walked around the office building to the detention room at the back. Before leaving, he glanced back and saw Qian Wenzheng had resumed his previous posture of staring at the surveillance camera.

They were probably scared off by what happened to Xiao Wang. But it's really not easy to answer police calls, dispatch officers, and monitor surveillance videos all at the same time. They need to add someone specifically to watch the videos. Chen Shu shook his head, thinking about the staffing arrangements at the duty station, and walked towards the detention room.

Coincidentally, it was still Old Ding on duty in the detention room today; I didn't see any new staff.

Chen Shu took out a Liqun cigarette and handed it to him: "Old Ding, how's the new guy?"

"Not bad. This new recruit was specially approved by the instructor. Hehe, he's my nephew, he came from our hometown to beg for a living." Old Ding chuckled as he took the cigarette and carefully placed it in the pen holder on the table.

In previous years, police stations recruited auxiliary police officers independently, submitting a report to the branch office with the officer's information and bank account number. Starting this year, auxiliary police officers in Zhengming District will be recruited by the branch office's administrative center and then assigned to the police stations.

Chen Shu found a chair and sat down, jokingly saying, "Does this job of supervising auxiliary police officers require special approval from the instructor?"

Old Ding sighed: "Although the people who came this year are all college graduates, knowledgeable and experienced, none of them last long. There was even an accident last time, so I'm worried. Later, the instructor talked to me and asked what I thought."

I'll be frank: this guard job doesn't require a college degree at all. I think as long as you're hardworking and dedicated, even a junior high school graduate would suffice.

As he spoke, he grinned and said, "I'm still in elementary school."

These words amused Chen Shu: "Don't be modest, you elementary school student are the pillar of our detention room."

Old Ding actually has some insight; his words, though crude, are not without merit. While college students have high levels of education and broad experience, they are also prone to being overconfident and lacking practical skills in their work. If they are engaged in clerical work, it's manageable, but in hands-on projects like detention centers, a moment's carelessness can easily lead to fatal accidents.

It's a good thing that the civilian personnel center has a unified plan for and deployment of auxiliary police personnel, as it relieves some of the workload and pressure on the police station. However, since they are not from grassroots units and have never worked at the grassroots level, they don't know what kind of people the police station needs.

Furthermore, due to the improved compensation for auxiliary police officers by the municipal bureau this year, coupled with a less-than-ideal economic climate, there were quite a few applicants. Consequently, their recruitment plan raised the educational requirement for auxiliary police officers from junior high school (as per previous years' independent recruitment by police stations) to associate degree.

"Okay, with you in charge, Lao Ding, the detention center should be pretty much stable from now on. By the way, is it your nephew's shift tonight? Tell him to come to the office half an hour early and come sit in my office."

Chen Shu was in charge of the detention room at Zhongshan Detention Center, so it was only natural for him to have a talk with the newly arrived auxiliary police officer in charge.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell him right away."

Chen Shu walked around the detention room. There was only a middle-aged man with a bitter face and a beautifully dressed young woman inside. It was said that the two of them had been locked up last night for soliciting prostitution.

Seeing that it was almost time, Chen Shu went to the instructor's office on the third floor, guessing that Zeng Hong had been waiting for him for a long time.

Third floor, instructor's office

The table was filled with the aroma of tea, and wisps of white smoke rose slowly. Chen Shu watched Zeng Hong's tea-making skills with great interest.

It's been so long since I've had it; I'm not only craving it, but I'm also really looking forward to it.

"Xiao Shu, I heard that you and Xiao Zhu solved a big case together during your vacation in Luya? What case was it? Tell me about it." Zeng Hong asked casually, but his hands didn't stop working.

Chen Shu shrugged, too lazy to explain: "I bumped into it by chance while drinking last night. I didn't want to get involved. The case was nothing special. Well, later the criminal investigation team came and took it over."

Zeng Hong pushed the prepared teapot in front of Chen Shu, indicating that he should pour the tea himself.

Without any ceremony, Chen Shu took a large teacup from the cup holder next to him, and without even rinsing it, poured in the freshly brewed tea, creating a steaming atmosphere.

Zeng Hong joked, "Hehe, you, this indifferent personality of yours isn't a good thing. You solved so many cases the other day, don't you have any thoughts about it?"

Chen Shu, who was about to raise his glass and drink it all in one gulp, stopped immediately upon hearing this and looked at Zeng Hong with suspicion.

Zeng Hong rubbed his hands together, a hint of smugness in his eyes: "This Friday, I'll take you to the provincial capital to try and win a second prize."

"Didn't I just get disciplined? Why am I getting an award now?" Chen Shu muttered, feeling like the other person was making fun of him.

Zeng Hong waved his hand: "Your punishment hasn't been issued yet, right? Hehe, besides, this second-class merit was reported a month ago, so there's no conflict!"

Chen Shu said "Oh" and finished his tea.

"Good tea."

After finishing his tea, Chen Shu wiped his mouth, patted his bottom, and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Zeng Hong was so angry at Chen Shu's indifferent attitude and his eagerness to leave that he almost spat out blood.

"Xiao Shu, do you know how difficult it is to get this second-class merit award? There are plenty of people in the bureau who would kill to get it. Why don't you care at all?" Zeng Hong said with exasperation.

Actually, Chen Shu can't be blamed for this. The second-class merit award, aside from a cash reward of 10,000 yuan, only includes priority in school selection for the school-age children of the meritorious police officers. As for priority promotion, that's just empty talk.

Therefore, these things are not very attractive to Chen Shu, who even ran off with someone else.

Chen Shu smiled, looking down at the teacup Zeng Hong had just bought on the table, and explained casually, "I'm usually busy, I haven't thought about that much." Zeng Hong suddenly said in a deep voice, "Hey, while I'm still here, I'll get you something, no matter what."

The room fell silent for a moment. Chen Shu stared at Zeng Hong for a long time, his smile gradually fading. After a while, he sat up straight and asked, "Are you retiring from the front line? Aren't you only a little over fifty?"

Zeng Hong remained silent for a long time, then shook his head and chuckled: "I've been at Zhongshan Institute for ten years now, it's about time for a change of position. This move will probably be to the fish farming department, but that's fine too, after a lifetime of hard work, it's a good opportunity to take a break."

According to relevant regulations, civil servants who hold leadership positions and have worked in the same position for ten years are required to be transferred to other positions. This regulation is even stricter for police officers; even ordinary police officers without leadership positions cannot work in the most basic units such as police stations or traffic police teams for more than ten years.

Every ten years, they are rotated to other police stations or traffic police teams to start from scratch. Only they know the true feeling of it all.

Chen Shu took out a cigarette from his shirt pocket, stood up and handed one to Zeng Hong, saying earnestly, "If you keep a calm mindset, anywhere will be fine. Finding a retirement home, clocking out and then going home to take care of your grandchildren isn't a bad thing."

Based on Zeng Hong's age, his transfer after the New Year is likely to involve retaining his rank but removing his official position. Conventionally, he would be transferred to a maritime police station, a labor union, or a government agency's Party committee.

Zeng Hong scoffed, his smile returning to his face: "How old are you, kid? You talk like an old man? Oh, so you're here to give me advice? Get lost! Get lost! Get lost!"

Chen Shu stood up dramatically and said at attention, "Yes, instructor."

Zeng Hongming was clearly taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "You're a deputy director now, be serious. Remember, we're leaving the institute for the provincial capital at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. You'll be driving. Yeah, bring a casual outfit and a suit, and put a case of Moutai in the trunk."

Chen Shu asked, "A suit? Is it a police uniform?"

"No, it's just the kind of business attire that ordinary people wear, with a white shirt underneath. If you don't have one at home, go buy a set; you'll need it later."

Chen Shu nodded, not asking any further questions about Moutai.

Back in his office, Chen Shu turned on his computer and looked at the information on the police platform for a while. Not long after, there was a knock on the office door.

"Dong dong dong."

"Please come in."

A young woman pushed open the door and entered.

Chen Shu looked up and saw that it was Huang Sixi, whom he had not contacted for a long time.

Today she was wearing a white business suit, standing tall to the side with a straight nose, bright red lips, and exquisitely sculpted lips, clearly having put on makeup for a long time.

She greeted him softly, her expression somewhat hesitant: "Director Chen."

Chen Shu quickly got up and led him to sit on the sofa in the office, where they were seated as host and guest.

As luck would have it, today was his first day back at work after being suspended for so long, and Huang Siqian chose this time to visit him, showing a hint of respect and speaking very cautiously.

He sat on the sofa, chatting idly with Huang Sisi about some trivial topics, when a sense of desolation inexplicably arose in his heart.

He was very familiar with this kind of attitude from the other party.

It's like this: relatives, friends, and classmates who haven't been in touch much and have grown distant suddenly need Chen Shu's help when they encounter a problem.

Having been a policeman for a long time, Chen Shu had experienced his share of things, including these kinds of interpersonal relationships. But now that this matter had fallen on Huang Siqian, a sense of sadness crept into his heart.

"Chen Shu, it's like this. My uncle was locked up for being drunk a while ago, right? Later, he got released on bail through someone's help."

While speaking, Huang Siqian glanced at the man sitting opposite her, then pretended to be thirsty, picked up the water glass on the coffee table and took a few sips. After a while, she straightened her back and looked directly at him.

Chen Shu nodded without speaking, but as he looked at the familiar stranger in front of him, a memory flashed through his mind of the girl he had met in the property management office of the community a year ago when he was handling a case. She would blush with embarrassment if he just glanced at her a few times.

Law firms are really good places to hone your skills.

"My uncle went to see a prostitute last night, and the police from your station took him away. Could you please let him go? He's out on bail now, and if he's detained, it might affect his case."

After revealing her ultimate goal, Huang Sisi's straight back slumped again, and she looked down at her toes.

Chen Shu said calmly, "I'll go out and make a phone call to ask about the case."

Getting up and leaving the office, Chen Shu chose the reception room at the end of the corridor, closed the door, took out his phone, called Chen Chuan, and briefly explained the situation to him.

Chen Shu, who originally intended to ask this experienced womanizer for advice, unexpectedly received an apology first.

After the two got drunk that night, Chen Chuan contacted his company's legal counsel the next day to investigate Huang Siqian's activities at that law firm. Being from the same legal circle in the city, the counsel quickly uncovered the truth within a few days.

When Huang Siqian recounted what she had learned to Chen Chuan, he immediately realized he had misunderstood her. It turned out that Huang Siqian's master was actually a distant relative of hers; in fact, Huang Siqian had to call him her uncle.

You tell me, if a girl just got her license, who else could she turn to if not her relatives? So she went to work at her uncle's firm. Later, when Huang Sisi's uncle got into trouble, out of trust and reliance on Chen Shu, she went to Chen Shu first, and the result was naturally a huge disappointment.

Both of them were extremely concerned about their image and were in the prime of their careers, working themselves to the bone every day, so the matter was delayed for a very long time.

Chen Shu hung up the phone. Although it was a misunderstanding, he felt strangely calm.

He then called Li Chaoyang, who was on duty the previous night. After understanding the situation, he learned it involved unauthorized phone use and decided to impose a fine of 500 yuan. This situation was still within the discretionary power of the public security organs, and Chen Shu, as the leader of the station, still had the authority to make the decision.

Back in his office, Chen Shu looked at the girl sitting on the sofa with her head down and not saying a word, and suddenly felt a pang of pity.

After he sat down, he said softly, trying to keep his tone gentle: "A fine of 500 yuan will be waived, and I don't think it will affect the original case."

Huang Sisi raised her head, her large eyes like a pool of autumn water, clear and bright.

She asked softly, her tone tinged with a hint of cautious grievance.

"Brother Shu, can I treat you to a meal?"

".May I?"

(End of this chapter)