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

Chapter 35 Video Arcade (Please read on, and give me your monthly votes!)
June 13th, 8 PM.

Inside a noodle shop on Jianmin Road.

The ceiling fan whirred and spun, its rotation path resembling a dark shadow due to years of accumulated dust.

The proprietress stepped out of the kitchen, carrying two bowls of noodles with soybean paste.

She was wearing a floral dress, her forehead was sweaty, and she was carrying a one-year-old baby on her back, using a red cloth bag as a baby carrier.

Yang Jinwen glanced at it but couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. The child was sucking its thumb and its eyes were bright.

Zheng Kang took the bowl of noodles from her and said, "Xiao Ying, we can do it ourselves, so don't bother."

"It's okay."

The woman wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand: "Officer Zheng, it's been a while since you've come."

Zheng Kang took two pairs of chopsticks out of the bamboo tube, handed one pair to Yang Jinwen, and replied, "The bureau is a bit busy. By the way, your child is quite cute."

The woman named Xiaoying glanced at the child behind her and teased, "Fanfan, come here and call Grandpa Zheng."

Zheng Kang dipped his chopsticks into the Coke bottle, scooped up a little Coke, and held it to the child's lips: "Here, have a taste?"

The child turned his head away and spit out a small bubble.

Zheng Kang smiled and said, "He's quite good-looking."

Xiao Ying's face was full of tenderness as she gently supported the child's bottom with both hands.

“Last time his dad went to the department store and bought a can of milk powder. After eating this, the child became addicted to it and didn’t want to eat porridge anymore.”

"Try adding some maltose to the batter; kids love sweet things."

"Okay." Xiao Ying saw that Zheng Kang had already started eating and said politely, "Then please enjoy your meal."

After saying this, she looked at Yang Jinwen, smiled and nodded, as if to acknowledge him.

Zheng Kang slurped up a mouthful of noodles and instructed Yang Jinwen, "Get me the vinegar."

After handing it to him, Yang Jinwen asked in a low voice, "Master, did you know each other before?"

"You wouldn't have invited me to eat noodles here if you didn't know me?"

"Right."

Zheng Kang glanced at him and, seeing that Xiao Ying had gone to the kitchen, explained, "Three years ago, Lao Xu, Jianbing, and I arrested a robber on Jianmin Road. Xiao Ying was a witness and gave our statement."

"Oh." Yang Jinwen responded absentmindedly. He recalled that in his previous life, his master had never brought him here.

Zheng Kang took a bite of noodles and casually asked, "What's wrong? Tired?"

This week, all the officers with legs from the Chengbei Branch went out into the streets to work with the patrol team to arrest criminal suspects with prior convictions.

The layoffs have led to a surge in criminal cases, including theft, robbery, and brawls.

Yang Jinwen and his team were doing alright, especially the anti-pickpocketing squad, who were even more exhausted. They were everywhere, from train stations to bus stations, and they had to arrest people as soon as they opened their eyes, one group after another.

The Major Crimes Unit is not exempt either; they can't be allowed to rest. However, their work is slightly easier, since they are the ones who need to solve any major criminal cases that occur.

Their mission was to cooperate with the patrol team to investigate and rectify "three halls and one room", namely video halls, dance halls, game halls and billiard rooms.

These four places are frequent locations for fights and brawls. Once the patrol team had identified the suspects, they ordered Zheng Kang and his team to make the arrests.

Taking advantage of a spare moment, Zheng Kang quickly grabbed Yang Jinwen to grab a bite to eat, otherwise they wouldn't have time to eat once it got dark.

Yang Jinwen thought to himself that in his previous life, because he was a trainee police officer, he hadn't been assigned a mentor when he first entered the branch office. He followed the anti-pickpocketing team and spent a month squatting at the train station, but he didn't arrest anyone. He was just asked to run errands.

Having been reborn, his original memories were no longer very useful; he could only remember a few unsolved murder cases.

But there were no leads to solve the case. Even if we brought it up rashly, Zheng Kang and the old hands in the branch office would definitely become suspicious, which would be like asking for trouble.

It's better to play it safe for now and not act impulsively like when solving the 5*30 case.

Not long ago, Yang Jinwen had just finished writing the case file for the 5*30 series of murders. Regarding the motive, he wrote that Li Chao killed the victims because he ate their bodies…

As for why Li Chao did this, when the Major Crimes Team was collecting details of the evidence, they discovered that during Li Chao's treatment in the mental hospital, he believed he could attain immortality, and that he even covered his head with a stainless steel basin while sleeping at night. Zheng Kang quickly finished his noodles, then frowned at Yang Jinwen's untouched bowl of noodles and asked, "What? Not to your liking?"

Yang Jinwen shook his head: "No, it's too hot, I can't eat much."

"You have to eat, even if you can't. You've seen how little time you've had to eat these past few days. Don't go hungry."

"Okay." Yang Jinwen nodded.

A moment later, Zheng Kang was picking his teeth with a toothpick when the kitchen curtain was lifted.

A shirtless man with an apron tied around his neck came out and handed Zheng Kang two bowls of takeout noodles.

"Uncle Zheng, it's all packed up."

“Okay.” Zheng Kang took out his wallet and handed him fifty yuan: “Write me a receipt.”

"Understood." The man smiled, ran to the counter to find a pen, bent down to write, and handed it to Zheng Kang along with the change.

The man greeted him warmly, "Uncle Zheng, come again soon."

Zheng Kang nodded, and before leaving, he asked, "Where's Xiao Ying?"

"She's in the kitchen, where it's cooler by the curb. She's putting the baby to sleep."

"Okay, come again next time." Zheng Kang waved and led Yang Jinwen out the door.

There is one dance hall, three billiard rooms, and eight video arcades on Jianmin Road.

Yang Jinwen was carrying two bowls of noodles. At this moment, there were no takeout containers; the noodles were packed in aluminum lunch boxes.

In the 1990s, the streetlights weren't as bright, there weren't as many cars, and the streets were full of bicycles.

They walked to a small alley behind Jianmin Road and came to a Santana parked by the roadside. Zheng Kang opened the driver's side door.

Yang Jinwen handed over the lunchbox in his hand: "Uncle Xu, Uncle Jiang."

"Oh dear, I'm starving!"

Jiang Jianbing took the bag, took out a lunchbox from it, and handed it to Xu Guoliang behind the steering wheel, asking, "Is it spicy? I can't eat it if it's not spicy in this hot weather."

Zheng Kang sarcastically remarked, "It's too spicy, I'm afraid your crotch can't handle it."

"Get lost." Jiang Jianbing rolled his eyes.

"What's the situation?"

Jiang Jianbing glared at him: "Don't ask, if you do, something's going to happen. Keep your mouth shut."

Zheng Kang grabbed his face and said, "Who are you talking about?"

Jiang Jianbing broke free and laughed: "You've lost face in front of your apprentice? Little Yang, if you want to betray your sect, come with me, I'll take you under my wing."

Yang Jinwen smiled and pretended not to hear what he said.

Zheng Kang glared at Jiang Jianbing: "Eat your noodles!"

Yang Jinwen opened the back door of the car, preparing to go inside and wait for a while.

Just as the two were about to get into the car, the walkie-talkie on the control panel rang.

"Hey, hey, Lao Jiang, Lao Zheng. The video arcade on Fengtai Road, come quick, something really bad has happened!"

Jiang Jianbing sighed, threw his chopsticks into his lunchbox, picked up the walkie-talkie, and yelled, "What's going on?"

The other party replied: "A young couple was hacked to pieces by a group of thugs!"

"Holy crap, this is a major case!"

Xu Guoliang suddenly looked up, not even bothering to eat his noodles, and shoved the bowl into Jiang Jianbing's arms before quickly inserting the car keys.

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(End of this chapter)