The real life of an American police officer: Winning over others with virtue

Chapter 159 Thunder

In that instant, Holland suddenly felt that this young patrolman was different, because the man seemed very relaxed, chatting and laughing with the owner inside, looking quite comfortable.

This made Holland understand Ray's meaning: it was quite unusual for such a young patrolman on duty alone to act so mature and composed.

"He's so young?"

Lei calmly took a cigarette from his pack, put it in his mouth, and said casually.

Does youth have anything to do with ability?

Ray lit a cigarette, took a puff, turned to look at Eric, and smiled as if he had thought of something.

"To be honest, I used to be like you, but when I saw with my own eyes how Eric killed four gunmen, it felt different, wow!"

Ray looked quite emotional, which startled Holland, who instinctively glanced at the young patrolman inside: "He fired a gun?"

“Yap! More than once.” Ray couldn’t help but laugh when he saw Holland’s expression.

"Don't underestimate Eric because of his age and appearance, or you'll be in trouble."

Ray said in a very serious tone, "Eric is very famous, but not many people know him. It's about half and half. It's normal that you don't know him."

But he's a household name within our small group; many people know him.

Holland understood what was meant, and the sentence silenced him.

Because he knew how long Lei had been on duty, this meant that all the veteran patrol officers were familiar with this young patrol officer and recognized his abilities.

But this made it hard for him to understand, because the young patrolman was too young; you really couldn't tell from his appearance alone.

-

“Wow, Emilio, no matter how you look at it, you still amaze me.” Eric said honestly, looking at the burly Mexican man and his lightning-fast movements.

In this guy's hands are chunks of meat being turned over, as well as tortillas spread out, chopped onions and cilantro, hot dogs, jalapeños, and various other ingredients.

It was complicated, but Emilio managed to handle it all and pack it all into lunchboxes, and he could even distract himself with other food.

"Hehe!" Emilio chuckled sheepishly.

One of the young men inside greeted him, "Officer Eric, coffee or pineapple juice, milk?"

“Okay, Trent, give me a glass of hot milk,” Eric shrugged.

"Alright!" Trent shouted.

Eric smiled and nodded.

The young man inside is Emilio's son, a very diligent young man who is still studying. Not only are his grades quite good, but he also helps his father by staying up late to work.

As far as he knew, Emilio had six children, including Trent, the second oldest.

It seems to be a group of two women and four men? He's only met Trent, the second oldest, and Ian, the third oldest, who looks like a thug.

After all, men are more useful at night; they can help each other and protect each other.

Eric suddenly thought about Emilio raising six children and felt a sense of hardship.

Just thinking about the enormous expenses made Eric's scalp tingle. He shook his head to clear his mind of the images.

"Officer Eric! Here you go."

Upon hearing this, Eric looked over and saw Emilio handing him a lunchbox filled with food that looked and smelled delicious.

Emilio also took the hot milk that Trent handed him and passed it over as well.

Eric nodded and took it: "Make me two of the same thing, and deliver them too."

He hadn't forgotten Darren and his trainee officer Lucy. Emilio nodded, "Okay!" and went back to work.

Seeing this, Eric picked up his things, turned around, and walked towards Ray.

At the same time, Ray had finished half a cigarette. He sensed something, turned around, and saw Eric walking over with food. He then looked back at Holland in front of him.

"Newbie, could you give me your seat? Or maybe you could go over there and clear your head?"

Holland paused for a moment, glanced at the empty seat next to him, and instantly understood Ray's meaning. He nodded, got up, and left.

Eric walked along and happened to see Holland leaving: "Rookie? The trainee you're in charge of?"

As he spoke, he placed the lunchbox and milk on the table.

“Yeah, just like you. I heard you’re leading a group too.” Ray nodded and smiled, tossing his half-finished cigarette on the ground and grinding it under his foot. He knew Eric didn’t smoke.

It's a miracle. Every veteran patrol officer has a bad habit that needs to be released. For him, it's smoking, while for others it's drinking or overeating.

So Eric was considered an oddball by his group of veteran patrol officers.

“To be honest, it’s really not as good as patrolling yourself as it is to train newbies.” Eric pulled up a chair, sat down, dragged over his lunchbox, and started eating.

Looking at Lei, how could he not see some problems?

Thanks to the keen observation skills brought about by his recent improvement in mental attributes, he is now able to capture these subtle changes in facial expressions that are difficult for ordinary people to notice.

Lei's eyebrows furrowed inward and raised, his nostrils flared rapidly, and his upper eyelids drooped weakly—these fleeting micro-expressions clearly point to one conclusion:
Lei had something weighing on his mind or a source of worry.

Eric narrowed his eyes slightly.

Speaking of this, I have to mention that this is one of the changes that occurred after he added points to his mental abilities.

He didn't have this kind of observational ability before, but after the recent mental boost, Eric found that his observational skills had become stronger, and now he can even capture micro-expressions that change in 0.1 seconds.

However, Eric also thought it was normal, since the "mental" attribute category includes memory, logical thinking, observation, perception, and so on.
“Indeed,” Lei replied.

"There's no other way. We're short-staffed lately, and the police station needs these new recruits to be trained as soon as possible."

Eric nodded as he ate and asked, "Ray, what happened?"

Lei shook his head and chuckled: "I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

Eric said calmly, "You've made it too obvious."

Ray shrugged. What a joke, his behavior was obvious. But it seemed only natural that this was happening to Eric.

He couldn't resist taking out his cigarette pack again and gesturing, "Can I smoke?"

"Whatever, I'm not your parent, I don't need to meddle in your affairs," Eric chuckled.

Lei laughed, took out a cigarette from his pack, lit it, and took a deep drag.

"To be honest, how do you usually vent your frustrations?"

Eric asked curiously, "Do I need to vent? Ray, life is so beautiful!"

"As expected of you!" Lei was utterly defeated.

Sometimes I really envy you, Eric.

"Please," Eric said helplessly.

"What happened? Is there anything I can do to help?"

(End of this chapter)