Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 596: Simple Folk Customs
"Thank goodness you handled it so quickly! If we had waited until we arrived to try and break the window to rescue the person, it might have been too late. The patient showed signs of drowning in his nasal cavity and trachea. If he had inhaled too much water, even if he didn't suffocate, there was still a chance of lung infection."

After a difficult effort to remove the man with the beer belly from the car and place him on a stretcher, he received basic first aid and was finally out of danger. The doctor who accompanied the ambulance expressed his gratitude to Nie Guoqiang, Xie Changjun, and the kind-hearted bystanders who helped with the rescue.

The ambulance left quickly; the victim still needed to sober up, receive treatment for external injuries, and undergo internal examinations to determine if he had suffered internal damage. He seemed fine for now, but who knows what might have happened to his internal organs?

"Did you hear me? You only care about yourself and almost killed someone, do you know that?"

The traffic cop next to him slapped the designated driver on the head, feeling both relieved and furious. Damn it, there were clearly people in the car, yet they almost caused a fatal accident; that bastard deserves to die!

After the traffic police arrived, they retrieved the vehicle's surveillance footage and the designated driver's own surveillance equipment. The video footage shows that after the designated driver got into the car and started the engine, he didn't focus on driving but instead kept using his phone.

He kept looking down, showing extreme inattentiveness while driving for a few dozen seconds. Then, seemingly seeing something on his phone, he instantly displayed a look of shock and even panic. Even more unbelievably, he became completely distracted and started operating his phone, ignoring the road for over ten seconds. The vehicle then veered off course, and upon looking up and realizing the problem, he made another mistake, accidentally pressing the accelerator, leading to the accident.

At the same time, the passenger sitting in the back hit his head on the metal bar of the driver's seat and immediately lost consciousness.

"I didn't mean it."

The young designated driver, Zhang Gebing, scoffed and shook his head, completely ignoring the traffic police's questioning. He figured the designated driver company's insurance would cover the compensation, and besides, he hadn't done it intentionally, so it shouldn't be his fault.

Even thinking about his own affairs, Zhang Gebing grabbed the traffic policeman's hand.

"Hey! Police, what am I going to do?! I've been scammed! Someone transferred all the money out of my bank account! You guys need to take care of this quickly! How could the bank let someone transfer my money without my permission? They have to compensate me!"

He paused for a moment, then looked at the traffic policeman expectantly and said, "Is there any way I can get my money back? I just checked online, and there's a two-hour confirmation period for large transfers, right? Please don't hold me back now, I need to go to the bank right away to freeze the money! I'm telling you, if you cause me to lose my money, you'll have to compensate me, understand?"

Zhang Gebing's arrogant attitude made the traffic policeman laugh.

Having seen all sorts of people, the traffic policeman shook his head and looked at him, saying, "You caused an accident and broke the law, and you still want to leave? Huh! You almost killed someone, and you don't feel any remorse at all? Besides, all the banks are closed now, where am I supposed to find a bank that can help you?"

At this point, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"By the way, these kinds of financial issues aren't under the jurisdiction of my traffic police squadron. If you say you've been scammed, produce some evidence first, and then I'll call the police for you. Otherwise, I'll assume you're trying to escape punishment. Besides... so you weren't thinking about saving anyone just now because you were still preoccupied with being scammed, right? Is your money more important than human life? Aren't you shameless? You're the one who did wrong!"

"I only care about my own business; what other people's business is none of my concern!"

Zhang Gebing remained arrogant. When the traffic police stopped paying attention to him, he reached out to another traffic policeman and asked for his phone, saying he needed to contact the bank's customer service number immediately.

The traffic policeman really wanted to slap him.

But ultimately, if this guy is indeed a victim in another case, then as a police officer, you really have to help him.

He exchanged a glance with his partner, shrugged, went to the police car to get Zhang Gebing's phone, but did not unlock his handcuffs.

Of course, traffic police rarely use handcuffs on suspects under normal circumstances. However, this guy named Zhang Gebing is clearly not an ordinary case. He is suspected of attempted murder or attempted manslaughter, so we cannot easily let our guard down around him.

What's the bank's customer service number again?

Under Lin Ge's silent gaze, Zhang Gebing found the bank's phone number starting with 9 online and focused on his work.

After making the call, Zhang Gebing was asked to provide his ID card and bank card number. He then shamelessly continued to make demands of the traffic police, wanting to get his wallet back.

These days, online payments are prevalent, and most people rarely carry wallets. But this guy is different; he has a habit of demanding tips from drunk customers. In this situation, cash is obviously the best option, as it's less likely to be complained about by the customer after they sober up.

The two traffic police officers had no choice but to continue serving this guy until he was scammed, and then they could talk about other things later.

"The people of Baiyan are so kind and honest!"

Lin Ge watched this scene with a cold eye, sighing helplessly.

Of course, it's not to say that all the residents of Baiyan City are scoundrels. At least the bystanders who helped with the rescue of the car accident, as well as the traffic police and police officers, were quite good and responsible.

But just as Guan Er's matter was resolved, he encountered another driver who didn't care about human life and caused an accident. Lin Ge couldn't help but sigh that there were quite a few oddballs in Baiyan City. Or perhaps the people here have a kind of indifference to things, which makes the good good and the bad even worse.

After much deliberation, Lin Ge felt that although each place had its own unique style, Zhangzhou City was more to his liking.

Furthermore, to put it arrogantly, after nearly a year of his hard work in cleaning up Zhang City, there are hardly any particularly vicious people left. In other words, Lin Ge feels he has contributed to the current peace in Zhang City, and naturally, he is happy to enjoy it.

"What did you say? The money has already been transferred? How can that be?! Don't you have rules? Didn't you always say you were responsible to your customers? Oh, now that something's happened, you're starting to shirk responsibility?"

Zhang Gebing started throwing a tantrum again, apparently dissatisfied with the results from customer service.

Curious, Xie Changjun leaned over to ask the traffic police officer what was going on. When the officer learned that Xie Changjun was a policeman, he didn't hide anything and told Xie Changjun all the ridiculous things that Zhang Gebing had told him.

"In just a few minutes, scammers can find a bank card through an identity information and transfer all the money out of the bank card? This is a professional method, not something that ordinary scammers can do. If you encounter something like this, it's probably wishful thinking to get your money back."

Xie Changjun shook his head regretfully.

"Who are you?"

With bloodshot eyes, Zhang Gebing was impatient to hear these words that displeased him.

"police!"

Xie Changjun had no intention of giving this man face and bluntly said, "You probably won't get your money back. I reckon you're already out of the country by now. But who told you to be so careless? You were looking at some shady stuff and still dared to give away your detailed identity information and even your facial recognition data. Were you blinded by lust? What's the difference between your situation and handing over your bank card to someone else? Don't waste any more time at this point. Go to the traffic police station and settle the accident! Let me tell you, the insurance might not even cover what you did today! You know how much it will cost to repair those two nice cars; it might cost tens of thousands of yuan!"

"What do I care! I have no money, but you can take my life! The money I was scammed out of was borrowed, and now that it's vanished into thin air, I'm not going to pay it back. Do whatever you want!"

Zhang Gebing's eyes darted around, and he quickly decided to give up.

"Tsk!"

Lingo flicked his tail, having already guessed that this guy would make this choice.

After all, you can tell from his attitude in the ride-hailing business that he's not someone who works hard during the day and does part-time work at night; he's just making a living this way.

"You..."

Xie Changjun pointed at the guy speechlessly, not knowing what to say about him.

But just as the traffic police were about to take him away after yelling at him, the driver of the Mustang that he had hit finally rushed to the scene.

The man was even wearing pajamas, suggesting he was a nearby resident. Seeing the wreckage of his car and hearing that the perpetrator had no money to pay and was likely uninsured, the man immediately attacked without a word.

Nie Guoqiang and another traffic policeman quickly stopped him, and Nie Guoqiang almost stumbled from being pulled. Although he failed to hit Zhang Gebing again, he continued to point at him and curse him, which made the onlookers even more boisterous and gossipy.

Seeing that things were not going well, the traffic police had no choice but to put both of them into the police car and ask Xie Changjun and Nie Guoqiang to stay there and wait for their colleagues to come and help the roadside assistance vehicle to tow the two vehicles involved in the accident back to the traffic police squadron.

Nie Guoqiang naturally wouldn't refuse.

The rescue vehicle arrived quickly, in about ten minutes. Seeing that both vehicles were in good condition, he didn't dare to take both, but instead asked for a price that surprised Lin Ge.

"Two thousand yuan?" Nie Guoqiang looked at the tow truck driver with confusion and asked helplessly, "Are you going to tow the car out of the province? It should be no more than five kilometers to the traffic police station, right? Isn't four hundred yuan per kilometer a bit excessive?"

"Is the insurance price the same for a luxury car as it is for a regular car?"

The rescue vehicle driver spoke with conviction.

"Luxury cars and ordinary cars both use ordinary gasoline!"

Xie Changjun retorted without giving him any face.

"In short, this is the price! And what's the point of haggling over this? Isn't it all paid for by the insurance company? Oh, let's not talk about this anymore. It's all industry practice, okay? At most, I'll buy you a pack of cigarettes afterwards."

The driver tried to persuade Nie Guoqiang and Xie Changjun to stop arguing by saying that the car owner wouldn't have to pay. After learning that the two were not involved in the accident, he simply went to the side to smoke and ignored them.

Soon, a second rescue vehicle and another traffic policeman from nearby arrived.

This time, there was no question of negotiating the price. Seeing that the road was completely blocked by the two vehicles involved in the accident and two rescue vehicles, the traffic policeman immediately ordered that the vehicles be taken back to the traffic police station first to clear the road, and that the issue of money be discussed with the perpetrators.

"That guy still has money?"

Lin Ge blinked, finding the straightforward way of doing things in Baiyan City rather endearing. Of course, it wasn't a matter of whether the simple and honest nature of the people was good or bad; it just didn't concern him personally.

Ultimately, the case was taken over by the Baiyan City Traffic Police Squadron, and since there was nothing particularly questionable about the case itself, the two men could only feel sorry for the beer-bellied man and the Mustang driver. After lamenting their bad luck and finding an unreliable designated driver, they shook their heads and returned to their drinking spot to rest.

Lin Ge lingered a little longer, watched the commotion from the other side, and then returned to his side, satisfied, to continue eating.

After eating and drinking for a while, the two stopped drinking and just chatted while snacking on peanuts and broad beans.

‘Dingling bell~’

Just then, Nie Guoqiang's phone rang. He took it out and saw that it was Li Yiduo calling.

Lin Ge quickly perked up his ears.

"Captain Nie, are you busy?"

Li Yiduo's voice came through the phone, sounding somewhat frustrated, but still relatively normal, as if nothing major had happened.

To be honest, both Lin Ge and Nie Guoqiang were a bit stressed at this moment.

Well, to put it simply, Baiyan City felt somewhat chaotic to them. It wasn't an obvious disorder, but rather a general sense of social disorder; frankly, other places also have various moral and criminal issues, large and small. However, the heinous crime Baiyan City had just experienced, and the various moral flaws they witnessed tonight, seemed a bit more likely. So much so that the two of them were somewhat worried that Li Yiduo might have encountered something similar.

And it turned out... to be true.

"I've run into a bit of trouble and need your help. Here's the thing: I bought something at a shop here, but what I received was completely different from what I ordered. You understand what I mean? The item I paid for and what they gave me after packaging is something of vastly different value. The shop gave me a different item and packaging, and now they're accusing me of trying to scam them. I'm going to go out and exchange it and come back to them. Heh... it's a bit embarrassing, isn't it..."

At this point, Li Yiduo laughed, unable to continue.

"Aren't there any security cameras in the store?"

Nie Guoqiang remained calm; he certainly believed Li Yiduo wouldn't lie. Even setting aside the fact that this man was his subordinate, given Li Yiduo's family background, he wouldn't stoop to such a criminal act of taking advantage of someone else.

"There are security cameras inside the store, but not outside. I only discovered the problem after I got back to my car and unpacked it. When I came back to find someone, they said they wouldn't handle anything outside the store. It's such a messy and troublesome situation!"

Li Yiduo was helpless, because this kind of thing couldn't be resolved in a short time. As long as the store insisted that it had nothing to do with them, resolving it might be very time-consuming.

"You tried to fool the police, but you didn't tell them who you were?"

Nie Guoqiang frowned.

“I did tell them, but they’re like pigs that don’t care about boiling water. We’re going back tomorrow, how can I have time to keep arguing with them here? So I can only ask you to come over and put some pressure on them, and resolve this matter in an unconventional way.”

Li Yiduo became increasingly helpless as he spoke. The fact that the police could only get things done by using connections or threatening their identities when they encountered problems made him feel uncomfortable.

But that's how society is; even a police officer's identity isn't omnipotent, especially since he was just a police officer from out of town.

Putting aside whether out-of-town police can manage locals, the merchants who run these scams know that out-of-towners, especially tourists, don't have time to waste here.

If they don't want their trip to be disrupted by a small matter, the best approach is to settle things peacefully and voluntarily give up; or voluntarily accept the possibility of only receiving 30% compensation and resolve the matter quickly. In any case, they can't afford to lose out.

In fact, this situation exists in the vast majority of tourist attractions in this society.

Minor offenses are called overcharging, while serious offenses are not much different from fraud. It's just that because they only target out-of-towners, and because of the saying "even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake," most victims choose to accept their bad luck and not bother to argue, or they dare not argue at all. That's all.

"This is... outrageous! They're bullying my people?"

Lin Ge's eyes widened as he began to rub his hands together, planning to go with Nie Guoqiang later and teach those people a lesson.

Nie Guoqiang and Li Yiduo wouldn't dare to hit anyone, but his cat was fearless. If those people really remained obstinate, Lin Ge wouldn't mind using force to teach them the price of deception.

Unlike Lin Ge, Nie Guoqiang quickly understood Li Yiduo's meaning.

"I'll call the Baiyan City Public Security Bureau right away and see if Director Yue can help call two people over to handle this. We don't have time to waste here, but we also need to see if Director Yue is afraid of losing face in front of his colleagues from out of town."

Nie Guoqiang was speaking to Li Yiduo, and also explaining to Lin Ge.

Of course, Lin Ge understood this principle, but it still bothered him. In a world where even the police have to compromise, there's still too little that the police can do regarding morality and professionalism.

Hey!
Lin Ge sighed and looked up to see that Xie Changjun had already paid the bill at the restaurant owner's place.

The price was slightly higher than expected, and Lin Ge even vaguely felt that the number of dishes the proprietress calculated seemed to be a little more than what they had eaten. It all came down to whether or not they were willing to waste time arguing – perhaps this is a characteristic of tourist cities?

Nie Guoqiang and Xie Changjun, two grown men, naturally wouldn't bother with such a trivial matter.

They knew, of course, that the shop was a bit of a cheater, but there was nothing more to say now that things had come to this; Li Yiduo's matter was more important.

Nie Guoqiang hailed a taxi and insisted that the meter be used instead of the driver's suggested price. Seeing that the guy was getting impatient, Xie Changjun smiled and flashed his police ID, and the guy immediately became obedient.

He didn't take detours or stop at traffic lights; soon, at a fixed price of about half the metered fare, the group arrived at the entrance of the digital mall that Li Yiduo had located.

The lights at the entrance were already off, but they still saw Li Yiduo.

He was arguing with two burly-looking men. One of them was the main argumenter, while the other stood by, smoking and offering support, occasionally threatening him with a fist or a leg, putting more pressure on the out-of-towner.

Li Yiduo was holding a graphics card box. Lin Ge took a closer look and found that it was written entirely in English. This was what he had come to buy.

(End of this chapter)