Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 439 Police Academy Student (Part 2)
Jiang Hai had just locked the door when the short, fat man impatiently pulled open the travel bag on the floor, revealing dozens of neatly packaged cigarettes inside.

The short, stout man, who came from the countryside, was so shocked by the sight of a bag full of cigarettes that he collapsed to the ground.

He pointed shakily to the half-open bag and stammered, "Bamboo pole, is all of this...China? Why...did you bring...so many cigarettes to school? Isn't school...a place for...smoking?"

Because the short, fat man was blocking his view, he couldn't see what was inside the bag. But seeing the short, fat man's outburst, the three-inch man quickly took a few steps to pull the short, fat man out of his way and bent down to look into the travel bag.

He behaved a little better, randomly pulling out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his bag and examining it closely: "Bamboo Pole, I remember you don't smoke, right? Why are you bringing so many cigarettes to school? It won't be a small matter if the school supervisor finds out!"

There are so many cigarettes, even if Zhugan smoked them for three years, he wouldn't finish them. Could these cigarettes not be for him? Then who could they be for? Could it be the school supervisor? Jiang Hai crossed his arms, his mind racing.

Because his parents divorced when he was very young, Jiang Hai, who had been left out in society since childhood and had witnessed the coldness and warmth of human relationships, felt that he had vaguely grasped the truth.

Early maturity is a good thing, because you know what you want and what you need; but it is also a bad thing, because you lose your innocence and childhood too early.

The skinny guy smiled slightly and kicked the short, fat guy sitting dumbfounded on the ground: "It's been more than a month since the police training started. Do you know why our dormitory and the platoon leader's dormitory are the only ones in the whole squad that haven't had points deducted by the school inspector? Fatty, do you really think you've cleaned your toilets really well?"

"The head of the school supervision team!" Jiang Hai exclaimed in surprise.

"What group leader?" the short, fat man muttered as he stood up, puzzled.

The man with the bamboo pole glanced at Jiang Hai, smiled and nodded, then pulled up a chair and sat down, resting his hands on his knees, and said, word by word, "Actually, I shouldn't have told you this so early, but after a month of this, seeing your efforts, I feel it's necessary to teach you a lesson in advance, so as not to waste our time."

"Alright, you bamboo pole! All you do is lecture, I don't like listening to you." The short, fat man, having recovered his senses, stood up, curled his lip in disdain, and said, "It's just cigarettes, right? I'll have plenty of people giving them to me when I start working."

Bamboo Pole chuckled and said, "Fatty, why do you think they gave you cigarettes?"

"Does asking someone for a favor mean you have to bring cigarettes and alcohol? Why did you kick me like that!"

The short man standing to the side kicked the fat man who was speaking recklessly and uttering taboos, and scolded him: "What are you saying! Don't bring your old-fashioned stuff here! Aren't you ashamed! I even stayed up all night helping you revise your application to join the Communist Party just a few days ago!"

The short, stout man, who had been kicked and stumbled, rubbed his side and looked at the skinny man sitting in the chair. He said aggrievedly, "Skinny man, what I said is all true. Everyone knows you're a second-generation official. Come out and tell me if this makes sense?"

The skinny man rubbed his forehead and said helplessly, "That makes sense, but not the way you put it. These kinds of things that happen under the table take a long time to explain. Hmm, you might as well figure it out yourself while you're working."

"Bamboo Pole, you didn't bring these cigarettes here as gifts, did you? For a teacher? If it was for a teacher, there's no need to go looking for them after lights out. If someone finds out, both sides will be in big trouble. Besides, the teachers in the brigade and the department leaders probably wouldn't even look at these few cartons of cigarettes."

Jiang Hai knew things weren't that simple. Meeting the bamboo-skinned man's gaze, he suddenly snapped to attention: "Besides the school supervisor and the group leader, there were also instructors! You gave cigarettes to the instructors! You gave cigarettes to the senior students. Wait, even the instructors and the group leader wouldn't need so many cigarettes. I'm guessing there were others too. But who could it be?"

Jiang Hai, frowning, couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried. He wondered who in the police academy was suitable to receive this cigarette and who the trainees would give it to.

The short, fat man and the three-inch man, seeing the bamboo-stick man's tacit expression, knew that Jiang Hai had guessed correctly. They both looked at Jiang Hai with admiration, thinking that this logic was already an amazing thing.

“Jiang Hai, you’re right. The day after I reported for duty, I knocked on our instructor’s dorm room with four packs of cigarettes. It’s natural that you don’t know who to give the rest of the cigarettes to, since none of your families are from the police academy, otherwise I would have told you this common knowledge beforehand.” In the following words, the skinny guy revealed the intricate relationships within the police academy, opening the eyes of his three roommates who had only thought they were studying hard and waiting to graduate and start working.

In the police academy, everyone from the chairman of the academy's self-management committee to the captains and deputy captains of the platoons, as well as the heads of the supervisory groups and the supervisory subgroups, were predetermined.

No matter how outstanding the trainees' performance is after they report for duty, these positions were already decided by the leaders a month after the college entrance examination.

The reason the skinny guy carried so many cigarettes was because his family had some connections at the police academy, but they weren't strong enough, so he had to personally find someone to build those connections.

The daily management of the police academy is the responsibility of the students themselves. From small things like weekly duty, course arrangement, and daily inspections, to big things like party member quotas, individual rewards and punishments, and final evaluations, all are handled by student leaders. Teachers only play a supervisory and guiding role.

"There are rules and etiquette to all of this. For example, there are two rules for the main district, one for the deputy district, and four for the head of the school supervision group. When the supervisors meet, a few gifts and some pleasantries are enough. As for what can be done, Fatty, you can think back. Last time you were caught talking after leaving the cafeteria, did anyone come after you to investigate?" The skinny man smiled and pointed out the details one by one.

The short, fat man complained, "I was wondering why the instructors hadn't given me any feedback after so many days. I thought the governor had forgotten to report it. Turns out you cut it off at the source."

"Bamboo Pole Bro, you're awesome, I'm impressed! This is seriously 'street-smart,' it's similar to what we do back home. No, it feels even more 'street-smart.'"

The straightforward, short, and stout man seemed to have forgotten his previous dissatisfaction and was now filled with respect for the "weak scholar" he had been looking down on for weeks.

The three-inch man, who thought a little deeper, asked doubtfully, "Bamboo Pole, if things are as you say, and the cadre positions are all predetermined, what's the point of you still trying to get in? Three years of university are over in the past, and whether you're a cadre or not doesn't really matter. After all, we all start as police officers."

Police academies have a four-year undergraduate program, with three years spent in the academy and the fourth year spent interning at local police stations. Therefore, students often refer to their three years as "university." Another explanation is that police academies were upgraded from former higher vocational colleges (junior colleges, three-year programs). Although current students complete a four-year program, they still retain the self-deprecating humor of the three-year junior college system.

The skinny guy bent down, zipped up his travel bag, and stuffed it back into the corner of his wardrobe on his bookshelf. He said, "The current list of student leaders hasn't been announced yet. Apart from a few people who are already chosen, most students, including you, don't know. If I'm going to befriend those students who are sure to become big shots in the future, it will be easy for me to integrate into their circles."

Jiang Hai remained calm. Although these were experiences he had never encountered before, for someone who had been independent since childhood, they were just like listening to a story—something he would listen to and then forget.

Or rather, they don't like to hear it.

"You guys chat, I'm leaving now."

Seeing that the skinny man had already packed up his travel bag full of cigarettes, Jiang Hai turned around, unlocked the door, waved, and went out for night training alone.

Inside the dormitory, the short guy asked Jiang Hai what was on his mind: "Bamboo Pole, is there any point in what you're doing?"

Watching Jiang Hai leave, the skinny man immediately lost interest and concluded, "These people have connections that reach the highest levels. Even though they all go their separate ways after graduation, there's a high chance they'll return to the provincial level or rise through the ranks in local government. At that point, the bond between us police academy classmates will be invaluable."

Seeing the shocked yet enlightened expressions on the faces of the three-inch man and the short, fat man, the skinny man's expression softened slightly. He looked at the door closed by Jiang Guan and muttered, "You, you seem humble, but you're actually quite arrogant. I really don't know where you learned that from."

"Anyway, he definitely didn't learn it from his dad," the short, fat man finally managed to chime in, stating confidently.

(End of this chapter)