Police officer Chen Shu.

Early summer, before noon.

Dormitory of Zhongshan Police Station, Zhengming Branch of Dongzhou Public Security Bureau.

"Beep beep beep!"

The phone rang abruptly, and Chen Shu, who was lying in bed sleeping, snapped her eyes open.

He reached for his phone on the bedside table and glanced at the screen with his eyes half-open.

Huh? Two drunkards got into a fight last night while I was on duty. I was busy all night and just finished handing over the duties this morning. I was about to catch up on some sleep. Why is Professor Zeng calling again? Could something have happened...? He wondered to himself as he answered the phone.

Zeng Jiao, whose real name is Zeng Hong, is 51 years old. He is the instructor of Zhongshan Police Station, at the level of a section chief, and is the leader on duty today.

"Feed. Zeng Jiao, what's up?"

"We just received a report that a man's wife has been kidnapped. Xiao Ma has already gone to pick her up and should be able to bring her back to the station in about twenty minutes. Could you come to my office for a moment?"

"Okay, I'll be right there."

Just as Chen Shu was about to hang up the phone, a thought struck him, and he cautiously asked, "When Ma Ming went to pick them up, he was driving a random car and wearing civilian clothes, right?"

"You brat, you think you're so capable! Do you think you need to tell me these things? Get over here right now!"

After hanging up the phone, Chen Shu sat up abruptly and tapped the upper bunk with his right hand: "Fatty, get up. Time to get to work."

The upper bunk remained motionless, and the snoring continued unabated.

Last night, the fat guy was the one who subdued the two drunkards who were causing a scene, one by one. He must have been exhausted...

Chen Shu knocked twice more forcefully: "I'll go first. You sleep a little longer and then get up and wait for me in the duty room."

"Um..."

The sound of the wooden planks creaking as the fat man turned over came from the upper bunk, then it went silent.

Within a few minutes, Chen Shu took out a clean police uniform from the wardrobe and put it on neatly.

He glanced at the fat man still fast asleep on the upper bunk, shook his head with a smile, picked up the small alarm clock from the bedside table, set the time, placed it on the desk a little further away from the bed, and then opened the door and left.

......

The instructor's office is on the third floor of the Zhongshan Police Station office building.

Chen Shuduan sat upright in his chair, reached for the steaming teacup in front of him, and downed the tea in one gulp: "Quite refreshing!"

"Aren't you afraid of getting burned?" Zeng Hong felt a little upset that the tea he had painstakingly brewed had been gulped down in one go.

"I didn't notice," Chen Shu replied with a smile, putting down his teacup, wiping his mouth.

"How can you drink tea like that! This is aged white tea from Fujian province!" Zeng Hong said with some heartache, unable to resist admonishing him.

Chen Shu nodded repeatedly, his expression serious: "Your instruction was excellent, you're right."

Zeng Hong seemed to feel somewhat relieved after being teased like this, as the kidnapping incident had been weighing on his mood. He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said in a deep voice:

"You just finished a night shift last night and didn't sleep a wink. I didn't really want to wake you up. But I suspect this case is complicated, so please take on the challenge and get it under your wing."

In recent years, most of the criminal cases handled by the Zhongshan Police Station have been handled by Chen Shu. Including ordinary public security and administrative cases, as long as they pass through his hands, there is no case that fails to be solved.

Chen Shu stroked his chin thoughtfully: "Instructor Zeng, if it's illegal detention, I have no problem with it. But if it really is the kidnapping case the complainant is talking about, I suggest you transfer it to the Criminal Investigation Division."

Zeng Hong nodded in agreement: "I'll have Xiao Wang from the duty room talk to the Criminal Investigation Division's duty room first. You and Xiao Li go and take the first statement from the person who reported the case. We'll assess the situation before making a decision. Um, I'll also go to the observation room next door later."

"Okay. I reckon the person who reported the incident should be at the station by now. I'll head down now."

Chen Shu stood up and gently placed the teacup he had just finished drinking from on the tea table beside him: "Good tea."

......

Zhongshan Police Station, duty room.

The usual hustle and bustle of the police station's first-floor duty hall was gone. Even with people coming and going in hushed tones, the somber atmosphere in the hall couldn't be masked. The occasional jarring ring of the telephone would abruptly stop after the first ring.

The police officers coming and going seemed to sense the unusual seriousness in the hall, and they slowed down and looked around with wide eyes.

Ultimately, everyone's focus shifted to the area behind the call center.

The innermost interrogation room.

Chen Shu turned to a very young policeman sitting next to him and asked, "Chaoyang, what do you think?"

The young man named Chaoyang is Li Chaoyang, a police officer who graduated from the provincial police academy with Chen Shu and works in the public security crackdown team of Zhongshan Police Station.

Li Chaoyang's face was ashen: "Senior brother, I think it's kidnapping."

Chen Shu glanced at the name of the person being questioned on the statement, picked up a half-length photo of a woman on the table, and began to verify the case: "Zhao Hu, tell me, what exactly happened?"

The woman in the photo is nearly forty years old, with big eyes, an oval face, curly hair, a pair of Chanel earrings hanging from her ears, a Bulgari necklace around her neck, and a GUCCI jacket covered with luxury brand logos. She is short and thin, which contrasts sharply with her air of wealth.

Zhao Hu, true to his name, was broad and sturdy, but his posture was unsteady, swaying from side to side. His eyes darted around, and he spoke haltingly, only managing to utter a single sentence after a long pause. His face flickered between light and shadow, as if he had many concerns.

He sat across from two tall, burly police officers, his massive frame hunched in the large chair. Under the pale light of the interrogation room, he tilted his head slightly and recalled:

"Around 1 a.m. yesterday, or maybe 2 a.m., I came home after drinking with friends and found my wife wasn't there. Her phone was off. But she might be home, just sleeping in the guest room, probably because she didn't want me to come home late and disturb her rest."

Zhao Hu spoke haltingly, then suddenly paused, secretly glancing at the police officer. Seeing that the officer didn't press further, he quickly continued:

"It was the middle of the night, and I was too lazy to investigate further. I really wanted to go back to my bedroom and sleep. I thought about calling my wife or checking on the guest room next door, but I had drunk too much last night and fell asleep in a daze."

"When was the last time you contacted or saw your wife?" Chen Shu asked.

"I contacted her once yesterday afternoon around 4 PM, I think..." Zhao Hu said, taking out his phone to check the call log. "Yeah, it was 5:50 PM when she called, asking if I was coming home for dinner. I told her I was drinking with friends and wouldn't be home. Then she told me she was going out for a walk later. After that, I couldn't get in touch with my wife anymore."

Chen Shu cut to the heart of the matter: "Why did you say someone kidnapped your wife?"

"Around 10 a.m. this morning, I received a call from the kidnappers. They told me that my wife was in their hands and that I needed to prepare a ransom of 10 million within two days. They said they would contact me again after that time."

As soon as Zhao Hu finished speaking, Chen Shu's heart skipped a beat.

Deprivation of personal freedom without debt or economic disputes. It seems to be a kidnapping case after all... Chen Shu nodded slightly towards the surveillance camera in the corner of the interrogation room ceiling, which connects to the observation room next door.