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

Chapter 34 The Wronged Cat

That night.

The steel plant's staff dormitory.

Yang Dachuan stepped out of the kitchen, wearing only a white sleeveless T-shirt and carrying a bowl of noodles in one hand.

He still had a cigarette in his mouth, the butt of which was almost half burned off. Seeing that the ash was about to fall, Yang Jinwen quickly took the two bowls of noodles and placed them on the dining table.

"Can't you be a little more hygienic?"

Yang Dachuan reached out and took the half-smoked cigarette butt from his lips, then flicked it on the edge of the ashtray.

"You're pretty clever, kid. If you hadn't brought up a box of safety helmets, those guys in our factory office would have gotten their heads banged today."

Yang Jinwen was adding MSG to the bowl when he glanced up at his father.

"You still have something to say? Announcing the list of laid-off workers, such a big thing, and you didn't have any sense of prevention at all. Your factory office is not as good as Uncle Wei in the canteen. He knew something bad was going to happen."

"Sigh..." Yang Dachuan sighed, "The situation at the factory is not optimistic."

Yang Jinwen slurped up a mouthful of noodles, found the flavor a bit bland, and added some soy sauce to the bowl.

"I'll say it again: you'd better think about your own way out. Don't think you can rest easy just because you're the deputy factory director."

Yang Dachuan held the cigarette butt to his lips, but didn't smoke it right away. Instead, he squinted and pondered, "Our steel plant was built in the early 1960s, almost forty years ago. Your grandfather used to be an old fitter in the boiler room."

"Our family, three generations of Angang employees, has weathered countless storms. How can it just collapse like this?"

“Dad, it’s like this all over the country.” Yang Jinwen pointed at him with his chopsticks: “Whether you stick your neck out or not, you’re going to get stabbed anyway. Don’t hesitate, just like we were talking about the other day, hurry up and start your own business!”

Yang Dachuan took a breath, smoked the last puff of his cigarette, and threw the cigarette butt into the glass ashtray.

He picked up his chopsticks, stirred the noodles, and said thoughtfully, "Let me think about it some more."

Yang Jinwen nodded and pondered for a moment, then said, "If you really decide to go into business, take Uncle Jiang with you."

Why would I bring him along?

“The more people there are, the more secure we are. Besides, Uncle Jiang is more capable and can take a beating than you. He can help you.”

“We’re not doing any speculation or profiteering, what’s there to be afraid of?” Yang Dachuan put down his chopsticks and stared at his son, saying, “By the way, Lao Jiang told me this morning that you solved a case?”

Yang Jinwen glanced at his expression. It seemed that Jiang Hong hadn't told him the details, such as him personally killing the criminal. He Jinbo must have given him a lot of warnings when he gave his statement at the branch office yesterday.

"Just lucky." Yang Jinwen looked away and continued slurping his noodles.

Yang Dachuan leaned closer and pressed, "Is it that dismemberment case?"

"Ah."

"Are you so awesome?"

Yang Dachuan was startled. He stared at his son, looking him up and down, like a writer looking at his old novels, finding them less and less like his own work.

After slurping up the last mouthful of noodles and taking a sip of soup, Yang Jinwen let out a burp and said, "Because of this case, the bureau has shortened my probationary period."

Yang Dachuan blinked: "How long should it be shortened?"

"I'm a full-fledged police officer now, in the Major Crimes Unit."

Yang Jinwen stood up from the chair, walked to his mother's portrait, and took out three sticks of incense.

Yang Dachuan swallowed hard, stared at his son's back, and shouted, "Quickly tell your mother that you've become so successful. If she knew this in the afterlife, she would definitely thank me."

“If my mother knew you still haven’t quit smoking, she would definitely come to me in a dream and scold you.” Yang Jinwen lit a match, lit an incense stick, bowed three times to his mother’s portrait, and said in a devout tone, “Mom, bless me.”

He placed the incense sticks into the incense burner, glanced back at his father, and said, "You wash the dishes, I'm going to bed. I have to get up early tomorrow."

Yang Dachuan stared blankly at him, then turned around to take a bite of noodles, only to find that the noodles had already dried into a clump.

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The next day.

Yang Jinwen first went to the department store and bought a lot of things, which he then threw into the basket in front of his bicycle.

A large water bottle, a pair of black sneakers, several pairs of all-cotton black socks, a large stack of medicated plasters, and also a hardcover notebook and a Hero brand fountain pen.

Each detective has their own notebook, in which they write down their analysis of the case and the clues they find. This is better than a cassette tape recorder, as there's no need to hide anything.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Yang Jinwen had just parked his bicycle in the bike shed when someone pushed open the tinted glass window on the second floor, and He Jinbo's big head popped out of the window.

"Dawdling so early in the morning, don't you know there's a morning meeting? None of you are any of you who can be left out. You have one minute, get upstairs now!"

The people in the courtyard who were smoking and chatting, kicking pebbles with their hands in their pockets, and squatting on the ground checking which bastard punctured their bicycle tires, all rushed upstairs when they heard He Jinbo's shout, running faster than rabbits.

He Jinbo was about to pull his head back when he caught sight of Yang Jinwen stepping out of the bike shed. He immediately smiled and said, "Little Yang, so early? The meeting is still a few minutes away. Haven't you had breakfast yet? Go to the cafeteria and get two steamed buns."

Yang Jinwen looked up and nodded: "Captain He, I've already eaten."

He Jinbo's expression changed, and he suddenly cursed, "Can't you have any manners? What are you doing parking your bicycle next to my Mitsubishi? If you scratch my car, I'll make you clean the toilets for a month!"

Yang Jinwen thought he was being insulted and was about to retort when Maozi ran past him with a wronged look on her face. After a few steps, she quickly turned around and moved her bicycle away.

Feeling a pang of pity, Yang Jinwen walked up to him and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"

Cat wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled: "What could possibly be wrong with me?"

Seeing that he was trying to remain calm, Yang Jinwen breathed a sigh of relief and took out a plaster from the bag and handed it to him.

“When I checked you last night, I saw that you had sprained your ankle. I put this on, it feels cool and refreshing, and it works quite well.”

Cat looked at the plaster, pursed her lips, and smiled, "Thank you."

"It's no big deal." Yang Jinwen patted him on the shoulder and followed him into the building.

"By the way, Xiao Yang."

Seeing that no one was around, Maozi whispered, "The city bureau leaders came yesterday."

Yang Jinwen recalled for a moment and asked, "Yang Guochang?"

Cat nodded: "And Wen Mo, the branch captain of the Municipal Public Security Bureau."

"What are they doing here?"

“I don’t know the specifics, but as soon as they came in, they asked about the 5*30 case and who solved it.”

Yang Jinwen raised an eyebrow, finally understanding why Lu Shaohua was in such a hurry to have him sign and stamp, and why He Jinbo was in such a rush to get rid of him.

Cat continued, "After that, Director Lu and Captain Zhang accompanied the two leaders to their offices. In the afternoon, they also went to the city together. Director Lu didn't return until very late."

Yang Jinwen nodded, thinking about June in his previous life, which meant that the special campaign to crack down on organized crime would begin tomorrow.

This lasted for a full month, until the college entrance examination in July.

(End of this chapter)