You're supposed to be a security officer, what case are you solving?

Chapter 294 The Old Fools!

June 16th.

Five days have passed since the investigation into the case of the deaf-mute woman began.

The conference room of the Chengbei Branch was filled with smoke.

Jiang Jianbing and Xu Guoliang huddled together smoking, the smoke rising slowly through their hair like they were in a sauna.

The cat sneaked into the house and quietly stood behind them.

Xu Guoliang was holding a magazine that looked like it had just been seized, and he was reading it with great interest.

He licked his fingers every now and then, turned to the next page, and after seeing the revealing pictures of swimsuit-clad beauties, Xu Guoliang sighed.

Jiang Jianbing laughed and said, "Old Xu, it's no big deal."

"You don't seem to care that she's not your daughter."

"Young people these days are all like this. What's wrong with reading entertainment magazines? You read them while you're on the toilet, don't you?"

"How can they be the same! I'm a man, a grown man! How old is Xu Xiaoyan? Sixteen."

"You're just starting to experience romantic feelings, I understand. Look behind you, are there any male models?"

Xu Guoliang glared at him: "Get lost!"

"No, I'm serious. When we were sixteen, we were like monkeys, full of energy every day, never getting enough fun, and everything was new and exciting to us. Xu Xiaoyan was the same."

You're a police officer too, don't judge your children with outdated ideas. Going through her schoolbag secretly was wrong.

"What nonsense! She's my own daughter, am I not allowed to keep an eye on her? There are plenty of hooligans out there. If she dares to go astray, I'll break her legs."

“I bet you a hundred dollars that you wouldn’t even dare to scold Xu Xiaoyan.”

"Hey Lao Jiang, give me some advice, what should we do in this situation?"

Jiang Jianbing reached out his hand, and Xu Guoliang angrily pulled out half a box of Hongtashan cigarettes from his shirt pocket and slapped it into his hand.

Jiang Jianbing chuckled as he took the item and replied, "You'll have to have your sister-in-law and Xu Xiaoyan discuss this. Xu Xiaoyan is also in her adolescence and is quite concerned about her figure."

So you need to have your sister-in-law have a heart-to-heart talk with her about the health issues of teenagers. As parents, we need to pay attention. Unlike back in our day, we didn't know anything. Someone in our team didn't even know what to do on their wedding night.

Xu Guoliang frowned: "How could you tell that Xiaoyan cares a lot about her figure?"

Jiang Jianbing pointed at the magazine in his hand: "If Xiaoyan doesn't have a problem with her sexual orientation, then why is she looking at women's magazines? You've been a criminal police officer for over twenty years, a veteran investigator, and you don't even understand this much?"

"That's true. Looking at women is at least better than looking at male models," Xu Guoliang said, feeling somewhat relieved.

He licked his fingers, flipped through a few pages, and suddenly a male model with a dark chest appeared on the page.

Jiang Jianbing coughed twice, and Xu Guoliang's eyes widened as he continued to scroll down. The content was shockingly explicit, consisting entirely of male models.

"My darn thing!"

Xu Guoliang exclaimed in surprise and cursed, "Investigate! Check all the newsstands near No. 2 Middle School. They dare to sell inappropriate magazines privately, and they even sell cigarettes to teenagers. I'm not finished with these people!"

After finishing his rant, Xu Guoliang stared at Jiang Jianbing, then snatched the Hongtashan cigarettes back from the other man's hand: "Get lost!"

Jiang Jianbing looked up, feeling dejected, and saw Maozi standing behind them.

He shrank back, exclaiming, "Ouch, you scared me!"

Cat grinned and said, "Uncle Jiang, Uncle Xu."

Xu Guoliang quickly put the magazine in his hand into his pocket, frowned and said, "The atmosphere in our North City Branch is terrible. Why are there always people eavesdropping?"

Cat said innocently, "Uncle Xu, I'm not with the North City Branch anymore."

“Even if you go to work in the provincial department, you’ll still be someone from the Chengbei branch! This trend was started by you guys! Especially Wen Ling, she knows everything about this place.”

Jiang Jianbing turned his chair around to face Maozi and said with a smile, "Hey, Comrade Maozi from the Criminal Investigation Major Crimes Team of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, you've done well this year, and you've gotten stronger too."

Maozi took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes and offered them to the two elderly men.

"It's all thanks to Uncle Jiang and Uncle Xu for their excellent teaching. Without you, I wouldn't be where I am today."

Xu Guoliang saw that it was a Zhonghua cigarette, tucked it behind his ear, and couldn't bear to smoke it.

"Stop praising him, it's all your own luck. You know what luck is, right? You've been following Yang Jinwen around, no wonder you're so successful..."

The cat listened attentively and found it very helpful.

He often thought of these two people while handling cases at the municipal bureau.

Although when Maozi first joined the police force, they always made him do odd jobs and run errands; although Jiang Jianbing often made him steal toilet paper from the women's restroom; although Xu Guoliang often took advantage of Maozi under the guise of handling cases; although they often framed him...

The cat thought for a moment, "Wait a minute, what should I recite for them?"

Jiang Jianbing lit a cigarette: "Not bad, not bad, you smoke Zhonghua cigarettes, kid. The municipal bureau's income must be higher than the bureau's, right?"

Cat shook his head: "The cigarettes were given to me by Captain Yang."

"Hmm, Captain Yang is generous." Jiang Jianbing reached out and took the half-pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his hand, clicking his tongue and saying, "It's still the Soft Zhonghua."

After saying that, he put the cigarette case into his pocket.

The cat rolled its eyes: "Eh..."

"Why are you sighing? Don't you bring anything when you go back to your parents' home? How can you come empty-handed?"

"That's true," the cat admitted defeat.

"By the way, what about that kid Yang Jinwen?"

Maozi pointed to Yao Weihua sitting to the side: "Old Yao and I just came back from Dannan County. Didn't Captain Yang say that you guys would help us investigate the case?"

Jiang Jianbing nodded: "We already have the results, otherwise why would we have the leisure to stay here?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Jinwen walked into the conference room. Besides him, Zheng Kang and others were also there. Generally speaking, when cooperating with other units in an investigation, they wouldn't deploy their own unit's main force. However, Yang Jinwen came from the Chengbei Branch, so he would definitely cooperate to the fullest extent.

Zheng Kang was still the same as always, with a sullen face and no smile.

Because the cases did not involve their jurisdiction, only a few people attended the meeting.

Yang Jinwen first greeted Jiang Jianbing and Xu Guoliang, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then everyone sat down casually.

Xu Guoliang was the first to speak: "As instructed by Jinwen, we investigated the hotels and guesthouses that Tao Jianye frequented and confirmed that Tao Jianye's conduct was very problematic. He often took women to hotels to book rooms."

We showed the hotel receptionists the photo of "Yin Hong" provided by Jinwen, and they confirmed that "Yin Hong" had visited the hotel room owned by Tao Jianye in the first half of 96.

After the second half of 96, Tao Jianye went to hotels less often. Although he did go, he brought other women with him, but not 'Yin Hong'.

Until 97, Tao Jianye rarely went to hotels, and he never took women there either. The hotel he frequented was called "Paris Spring."

Cai Ting frowned: "So, does that mean he's changed his personality?"

Jiang Jianbing shook his head: "How could they change their nature? A dog can't eat shit. These guys are very perceptive. They're probably afraid that if they go to the same hotel too often, they'll be easily found out. They've probably moved to a different place."

Xu Guoliang replied, "We have also checked other places, especially late at night on January 22nd. After Tao Jianye finished dinner at the An'nan Hotel, there was no sign of him checking into any of the surrounding hotels and guesthouses."

Yao Weihua said, "A grown man who has been missing for half a year must be found, whether alive or dead. He can't just disappear without a reason."

Cai Ting pondered for a moment and said, "She must have been murdered. The body is probably hidden somewhere. Should we check the unidentified corpses from the past six months?"

Zheng Kang shook his head: "I went to the police station where Tao Jianye's family reported the case. The officers there had already checked and found no body that matched the description."

Yang Jinwen pondered for a moment, and seeing that he didn't say anything, Jiang Jianbing said, "Little Yang..."

Zheng Kang, who was sitting at the head of the table, immediately glared at him.

Jiang Jianbing coughed lightly and changed his address to "Team Leader Yang".

Yang Jinwen snapped out of his daze and nodded: "Uncle Jiang, please go ahead."

“We checked at the train station today and confirmed that a woman resembling ‘Crimson’ appeared in the ticket hall of the train station at six o’clock in the morning some six months ago.”

These words immediately perked Yang Jinwen up: "Which train did she buy a ticket for?"

Jiang Jianbing shook his head: "The ticket seller only remembers that it was half a year ago, it was snowing that day, she did not use her ID card, and we cannot find her train."

If it weren't for 'Yin Hong's' striking beauty, the ticket seller might not have remembered her face.

"What was she wearing? Which direction did she come from from the train station? Was she with anyone? Was she carrying a suitcase?"

This series of questions left Jiang Jianbing unsure where to begin answering.

Yang Jinwen immediately added, "Thank you for your hard work. I will personally take people to the train station."

After saying that, he stood up, picked up his briefcase, took out three packs of Zhonghua cigarettes, and placed them on the conference table.

Zheng Kang raised an eyebrow: "We're family, what are you doing?"

Yang Jinwen had a case to handle and wasn't in the mood to argue with him: "Master, I can't go back to my parents' home empty-handed."

Jiang Jianbing laughed and said, "Oh my, Captain Yang's awareness is amazing..."

Xu Guoliang reached out, took one, and put it in his pocket: "Jinwen, you're welcome to come home often. Your family will never mistreat you."

Zheng Kang sighed, pulled Yang Jinwen aside, and said, "Don't rush off, let me say a few words to you."

Yang Jinwen followed him to a corner.

Zheng Kang asked, "I heard that Director Wen is going to be transferred to the provincial capital after the summer vacation?"

Yang Jinwen nodded: "Master, you know too?"

"Old Lu and I talked about this privately. I just wanted to ask if you were also being transferred?"

Yang Jinwen shook his head: "That's not true."

"Director Wen can't keep you in An'nan City; you'll have to leave sooner or later."

Yang Jinwen nodded slightly; he understood.

Recently, Wen Ling called him and said that Director Wen has been getting very close to Zhang Chunxia lately, so there's no doubt about it.

In addition, his father, Yang Dachuan, called to tell him not to be afraid, as he had his back.

The implication was clear: Yang Dachuan had given in and was about to end his dissolute lifestyle.

Zheng Kang said, "Jinwen, just focus on investigating the case. Don't get too caught up in it or let your mind get to you."

“I know, Master.”

"Come to my house sometime, let's have a drink together."

“Okay, after this case is closed, Wenling and I will visit Master’s wife again.”

Bringing his fiancée to visit Zheng Kang was a great gesture of respect.

Zheng Kang patted him on the shoulder: "Okay, be careful. If you need anything, ask Wang Daquan from the patrol team for help."

Yang Jinwen nodded and left the conference room of the Chengbei Branch with Maozi and Yao Weihua.

Zheng Kang watched their retreating figures and sighed, "Just a year ago, Jin Wen had just joined our North City Branch. He climbed the ranks too fast."

Zheng Kang thought Jiang Jianbing and Xu Guoliang would agree with him, since they had both watched Yang Jinwen and Maozi grow up.

He turned around, but the two people were nowhere to be seen. The three packs of Zhonghua cigarettes on the table had vanished, and the conference table was empty. The table had never been so clean before.

"Jiang Jianbing, Xu Guoliang, you two bastards, where's my share?!"

(End of this chapter)