The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

Wang Xincheng took Chen Shi to the station. After Chen Shi got off the bus and thanked him, he went into the station, bought a ticket to go back, and caught the last train.

It was already dark when we returned to Fushan Town.

After entering the police station and returning to my dormitory, I had just put down my bag when Zhang Hu walked in.

He glanced at Chen Shi and asked, "Where have you been these past two days? I haven't seen you anywhere."

"Brother Zhang, I'm going to Mingzhou on business. Please have a seat. What's the matter?"

Zhang Hu pulled up a chair and sat down: "The station chief gave you a last-minute notice that you needed to go to the Public Security Bureau for training on Saturday, but since you weren't there, he said to go next week."

Inside the room, there was only one chair. Chen Shi sat on the bed, stood up, took out a cigarette, and handed one to Zhang Hu.

Zhang Hu took it, and Chen Shi quickly took out a lighter and lit it for Zhang Hu.

"Brother Zhang, the station chief has my phone number, but I haven't seen him call me."

Zhang Hu took a puff of his cigarette: "It's not anything important. The county public security bureau has training every Saturday. Going next week will be the same."

I've only been working for half a month, and when the supervisor looked for me, I wasn't there. I'll have to go talk to the director tomorrow morning to explain.

Zhang Hu kept smoking, and hesitated several times before finally speaking. Chen Shi asked, "Brother Zhang, just say what's wrong. I'll do my best to help if I can."

Zhang Hu took the last drag of his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground, and stomped on it.

"Here's the thing, I spent all my money on lottery tickets and didn't win a single penny. Could you lend me 500? I'll give it to you when I get paid on the 10th."

Chen was out of money for living expenses; he had no money on him at all, only thirty yuan in his pocket.

Zhang Hu was one of my men, and since it was the first time he had asked to borrow money, I had to lend it to him even if I didn't have any, especially since it wasn't much.

"Brother Zhang, I went to Mingzhou and spent all my cash. I'll go to the bank tomorrow morning and withdraw some more for you."

Zhang Hu smiled broadly: "Thank you, Xiao Chen. If you have any questions at the police station in the future, feel free to ask."

"No need to thank me, we're just helping each other out."

Zhang Hu asked, "You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Chen Shi was about to say that he had already eaten, but Zhang Hu continued, "Come on, have a couple of drinks with me, it's on me."

Since you're treating, you have to have a couple of drinks. I'm heading back to my dorm as soon as I get off the bus; it's so late, I'm starving.

Arriving at a barbecue stall, Zhang Hu was very familiar with the owner and greeted him from afar.

"Officer Zhang is here!" The shop owner said with a smile, handing over the plate.

Zhang Hu took the plate: "Boss, business is good."

The boss smiled apologetically and said, "It's all thanks to your patronage that the business is thriving."

The two ordered some barbecue and a case of beer.

Chen Shi opened a beer, took two glasses, and poured one for Zhang Hu.

Zhang Hu took a sip of beer, sighed, and said, "Xiao Chen, do you think being a police officer at the grassroots level is meaningful?"

Chen Shi remained silent, waiting for Zhang Hu to continue.

"I feel it's all meaningless. I only get about three thousand yuan, which isn't even enough for my food. There's no hope for promotion at all. Staying in this small place is boring."

Chen Shi thought to himself, "You're nothing compared to Ma Guoliang. He worked his whole life, working his way up to deputy director before it was his turn. It's practically impossible for him to even get a deputy section chief position."

Eating in rural towns doesn't seem cheap either, comparable to eating in Yizhou.

During my internship at the Public Security Bureau, I earned over 4,000 yuan, and after becoming a full-time employee, I earned over 6,000 yuan. But when I returned to my hometown, my salary was halved to around 3,000 yuan.

It's mainly related to the local finances. Chunyang County is a poor county, so where would they get the money to increase the salaries of frontline workers? It would be good if they could even get it paid on a monthly basis. Many poor counties simply can't pay their salaries at all, and some can even delay it for several months.

The owner warmly brought out the barbecue, sat down, and had a couple of drinks with me before getting up to get back to work.

In small towns, business is mostly done with acquaintances; you see each other all the time. Anyone who can survive in a small town is a real talent.

Zhang Hu ate two skewers of barbecue and drank two bottles of beer.

"I'm starting to regret it now. When they came to our school to recruit police officers from Xinjiang, I didn't go because it was too far away."

Some of my classmates went there and earned around 10,000 yuan a month, more than 100,000 yuan a year. That's more than we could earn in several years.

Chen Shi poured some water for Zhang Hu: "Brother Zhang, it's dangerous over there. There are frequent reports of police officers dying in the line of duty. Their income is proportional to their sacrifices."

"We're poorly paid here, but there's not much danger. When we go on patrol, we basically don't even carry handguns."

Zhang Hu lit a cigarette: "But the wages are so low, I can't even support myself."

"Buy fewer lottery tickets. The odds of winning are lower than the odds of getting promoted to deputy section chief."

Zhang Hu sighed, "I need to find a way to become a leader. As a grassroots police officer, I'm barely making ends meet."

Who doesn't want to be a leader? But there are only so many positions available, and it's very difficult without connections.

Most grassroots civil servants in townships are actually only slightly better off than farmers; they just appear glamorous on the surface.

The other half I found also has a job. We'll save money, buy a house in the county town, raise a child, and that's all.

Listening to Zhang Hu's complaints, Chen Shi knew that Zhang Hu was beyond saving. He had only worked for a year and had just been promoted, yet he was full of complaints and resentment. He thought that if he didn't try to improve himself, he would never improve in his entire life.

It's all about human effort. We're still young, so we should definitely give it a shot.

Chen Shi observed that Zhang Hu was already showing signs of retiring and waiting to retire.

In order to fit in, Chen Shi also made a few complaints. After all, they're like brothers; if you don't complain, they won't treat you like one of their own.

After finishing the barbecue, Zhang Hu stood up, swaying slightly, and called out, "Boss, put it on the tab, I'll settle the bill with you in a few days."

The shopkeeper smiled apologetically and said, "Okay, Officer Zhang, take care."

On his way to work in the morning, Chen Shi arrived at Wang Jianming's office and gently knocked on the door.

Wang Jianming called out, "Come in."

Chen Shi walked in: "Good morning, Director."

Wang Jianming looked up and glanced at Chen Shi: "Sit."

Chen Shi sat down: "Chief, I heard from Zhang Hu that you wanted to see me this weekend."

"It's nothing. I forgot last week. I was going to ask you to go to the Public Security Bureau for training."

I'll go again this week; it happens every week, it's nothing serious.

Chen Shi explained, "Chief, I had some business to attend to over the weekend, so I went to Minnesota."

Wang Jianming nodded: "Is there anything else?"

Chen Shi stood up, indicating that he wanted him to leave.

"No, I have something to do, I need to go now."

Wang Jianming found Chen Shi interesting; he even knew to explain things and respect his superiors. He treated even the smallest matters as important when his superiors contacted him, which was better than most police officers.

Chen Shi walked out of the director's office and ran into Ma Guoliang in the corridor.

Ma Guoliang, holding a stack of documents, asked, "Xiao Chen, are you free this morning?"

Chen Shi immediately became alert; he must be looking for someone to help him with all that information.

Within the system, you can't blindly help others when it's not your job, or be a pushover. If you achieve results, it's someone else's credit; if there are problems, it's all your fault.

"Brother Ma, the police were called to Dahe Village a while ago, and it wasn't handled properly. They called again later, so we need to go and deal with it."

Ma Guoliang said with a smile, "You young people are familiar with computers and type quickly. These materials are from cases over the past few years. We need to organize them this week and submit them to the Public Security Bureau next week."

Don't go out on duty or handle cases this week; I'll go in your place.

You old fox, if it were such a good thing, would it be my turn?

As a newcomer, I'm unfamiliar with the case, and if something goes wrong, I'll have to take the blame.

When on duty, he would rely on his seniority to order younger officers around while he stayed in the break room waiting to get off work.

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Brother Ma, I'd better go on the call. After all, I'm young and fast. As for these documents, we can ask Sister Xu in the administration office for help. Her people are in front of computers all day, so they can type much faster."

Seeing that Chen Shi was not cooperating, Ma Guoliang walked away with a gloomy face.