Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 559 Police Dispatch

Xiao Wei said, "Really? That would kill someone!"

Lu chuckled, took out a cigarette and handed one to Xiao Wei, then lit it for himself and said, "We in Northeast China may lack many things, but we certainly don't lack people willing to risk their lives. Go to the hospital morgue and see. Saying people die every day is a bit of an exaggeration, but there are stabbings and hackings every week."

Xiao Wei pointed to the crowd fighting in the middle of the road and said, "Aren't you going to separate them? I see they have sticks and steel pipes."

Lu said, "Wait a little longer. You have to be careful when dealing with these kinds of things. Don't get involved when both sides are angry. If they really lose their temper, they won't care who you are. These people are all veterans in fights. They know what they're doing. It won't be a big deal. If they really wanted to kill someone, they would fight like this."

Xiao Wei looked at the person lying on the road closest to them. His shirt was torn, his body was covered in footprints, his nose was crooked and swollen, his lips were turned inside out, and his body and face were covered in blood.

Lu said, "Look at these guys, they look pretty bad, but they're actually not seriously injured. They're just cowards, lying here pretending to be dead because they're too scared to fight, or they're making excuses for their own people. If their bodies are clean underneath, then there's no need to worry about them. But if you see blood seeping from under their bodies, then something's wrong, especially if it's their head; then they're basically beyond saving."

Xiao Wei asked, "Are we just going to watch them fight like this? How long will that take?"

Chief Lu laughed and said, "No, they'll disperse soon. These people are so shrewd; they might even suspect someone inside called the police. Actually, they knew what was going on as soon as we arrived. They're just putting on an act now. Look at that guy with the iron pipe; he's just gesturing and talking about hitting his legs."

Xiao Wei took a closer look and indeed, the two sides were slowly separating now, not as intense as when they first arrived.

Lu said, "These aren't big deals. The fact that they waited until we arrived means they didn't expect anything serious. The real danger is when someone really decides to go all out. They won't have time to call the police or wait for us. If they really go all out, it'll only take a few minutes. Alright, that's enough. Liu, Xiao Li, separate them." He then led Xiao Wei over.

Xiao Li and Xiao Liu went over and started yelling, "Police, disperse! Squat down! Squat down! I'm talking to you, squat down!" They didn't rush into the crowd, but pulled the people on the outer circle and shouted at them to squat down.

Lu Suo said to Xiao Wei, "You can't rush in like this. Be careful of unexpected situations. It's faster to deal with it from the outside than to rush in. First, you can't get surrounded, and second, you can always keep an eye on things. Once the people on the outside disperse, there won't be any problems inside."

At this moment, Xiao Liu and Xiao Li showed none of the caution they displayed at the station. They were controlling the fighting parties with a combination of pulling and kicking, and if anyone was even slightly slow, they would be kicked. Xiao Wei glanced at Chief Lu and said, "Isn't it a bit inappropriate to resort to violence like this?"

Lu said, "It has to be this way. You have to intimidate people first; if you can't even intimidate them, then responding to an emergency becomes a joke."

The two of them walked over to the group of people. Xiao Wei looked them over and saw that almost half of them had injuries on their faces, some swollen, some broken, and some bleeding. However, as Lu had said, these injuries looked scary but were actually nothing serious.

Lu said, "Hey, what are you doing posing with that iron pipe? Throw it away, squat down, hands behind your head." He kicked one of the men in the leg. "Squat down. What are you looking at? Want to fight me?" The three of them quickly brought the situation under control, and the men who had been fighting obediently squatted down. Xiao Wei counted them; not counting the ones lying on the side, there were seventeen of them. Seven or eight of them were carrying weapons, but most were empty-handed.

The fighters quieted down. Xiao Wei saw that Director Lu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Then he pointed to a few people in the crowd, picked out Xiao Liu and Xiao Li, and handcuffed them. Two people were handcuffed at a time, and six people were handcuffed and taken aside.

After looking around the crowd again, Chief Lu said, "Xiao Liu, you two take these six back first and arrange for someone to take their statements. Xiao Wei, you and I wait here for the ambulance."

The six men were taken away. Director Lu said to the eleven men who were squatting down, "Split up. Which group are you? One group stays put, the other group squats over here. Hurry up." The eleven men split up, and four of them got up and squatted down where Director Lu pointed.

Lu asked the seven people on the group, "Which car are you in?"

One person pointed and said, "These two over here."

Lu Suo said to Xiao Wei, "Go check if the keys are in the car."

Xiao Wei went over and saw that the keys to several cars were in the ignition. He reached out, pulled them out, and shook them at the police station.

Lu said, "Everyone get on the bus, get on this one. Xiao Wei, you keep an eye on things. You guys, get on that one. Stay on the bus and listen up, okay?"

Eleven people got into two cars. Just then, the ambulance arrived. Chief Lu spoke briefly with the accompanying doctor, and the other four were helped into the ambulance and taken away. Chief Lu said to Xiao Wei, "Give me the car keys. You drive that one and take the people back."

The two men drove the eleven people back to the police station, and then Xiao Liu and Xiao Li drove to the hospital to bring the four people back.

Two hours had passed by the time they returned to Chief Lu's office. Chief Lu poured Xiao Wei a glass of water, and the two sat down to talk. The six people from before were handcuffed to the heating pipes in the main office, while eleven others were squatting in a row against the corner, with several officers taking statements.

Lu asked, "Was this your first time? How did it feel?"

Xiao Wei said, "I didn't feel anything; I was quite excited at first."

Lu said, "Remember what I said. Be more careful when you go on duty in the future. Do as I say. This is all experience that has been summarized from generation to generation. I'm not kidding. Police officers are trained by senior officers one after another. The mentor-apprentice relationship is very important in the police force."

Xiao Wei asked, "Why did you bring those six back in handcuffs first?"

Lu said, "Just observe. Of the six people, four were uninjured, and five were carrying weapons. This means that these are the ringleaders, and they can fight. If we control them, the matter will be settled. No matter how many people are involved in the fight, there are only a few ringleaders. Most of them are just following along. As long as we control the ringleaders, the instigators will be easier to deal with, since they don't have any real grudge against the other side."

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and then smiled and said, "I really need to learn this from you. I didn't even notice it until you pointed it out."

Lu said, "It gets better with time. When I first became a policeman, I was still quite clueless. Once, I was called out to a call about a fight, and I rushed in to stop it without saying a word. As a result, I got hit several times, and my eye was bruised for half a month. Later, with more experience and guidance from my mentor, I gained more expertise."

Xiao Wei asked, "Who's your mentor? What does he do now?"

Lu said, "I retired. Once, while on duty, I got hit on the head with a stick, and my body collapsed."

Xiao Wei asked, "How did this happen? It shouldn't be like this."

Lu shook his head and said, "It depends on the situation. Today it doesn't look like anything serious. That time, the two sides were fighting so fiercely that people would have died if they hadn't separated them. My master and his men held on and separated the two groups. Of the five who fought, plus my master and his men, a total of eight people, six were hospitalized, two of whom were seriously injured, one of whom was my master."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Being a policeman isn't as glamorous as it seems from the outside. Sometimes you have to be willing to risk your life."

(End of this chapter)