Police officer Chen Shu.

Chapter 168 Such Ability

Evening, Beitang Street, EME PARTY.

Zheng Tianyou led the young man who had greeted them earlier to Chen Shu. His smile was beyond warm; it was as if he had seen his long-lost father and was almost moved to tears.

"Mr. Chen, you're here! Come on in, let's talk inside."

Chen Shu knew that the other party must have discovered him through the surveillance footage. Thinking that it was indeed inappropriate to stand outside, he followed Zheng Tianyou's suggestion and led the way into the private room.

Chen Shu was a little cautious here. If this KTV was a genuine chain karaoke bar, then the monitoring room wouldn't pay too much attention to a customer wandering around.

On the contrary, there seemed to be something fishy about this place, so after Chen Shu went out for a walk, Shang K launched a very quick internal investigation, and then Zheng Tianyou, who knew Chen Shu, came out to receive him.

It probably only took about ten minutes, and considering the scene of Chen Chuan coming out of that automatic "wall door" just now, he is highly suspicious.

Furthermore, with such high-end decor, relying on the meager income from a mass-market retailer, the owner might have to sell his underwear to make ends meet!

At this moment, the atmosphere in VIP room number 15 was still extremely lively. Zhu Chaoran had already taken off his shoes and socks and stood on the coffee table, singing loudly.

Xiao Qiang was also sitting on the sofa, swaying his head and drinking alone, looking quite happy.

On the contrary, Xu Lei, who had been talking about wanting to broaden his horizons at the institute, was now just lying on the sofa bed playing on his phone, with a small plate of fruit next to him.

When he saw Chen Shu bring a few people in from outside, he glanced at them, took his feet off the sofa and sat down, but did nothing else, continuing to immerse himself in his phone.

Chen Shu entered the room and went to the small bar counter on the other side, where he picked out a high stool and sat down. When Zheng Tianyou entered, he casually took down the bill hanging on the left side of the door and followed him to the small bar counter.

In front of him, she first berated the young man, yelling, "You blind, good-for-nothing brat! President Chen is here and you don't even treat him properly! Is this what you've got to offer?"

He slammed the bill directly into the waiter's face, yelling, "Get out! Change it to the highest tier!"

The young man darted around, somewhat incredulous that these people dressed in black who had come to practice singing had suddenly become the "boss" the three bosses were talking about.

After hesitating for a long time, under Zheng Tianyou's glare and stern look, he finally realized he was going to run outside to upgrade his meal plan.

At this moment, Chen Shu grabbed him from the side.

Chen Shu turned his head and said with a smile, "Boss Zheng, we've been friends for so many years, and you're still pulling this stunt on me? Stop with the formalities, you're scaring the kids."

Turning to her, she said gently, "Just go about your own business."

The young man looked at Zheng Tianyou with trepidation.

"Hmph! Go ahead." Zheng Tianyou snorted, and the young man hurriedly ran out the door.

"You've got quite the airs of a boss," Chen Shu said, glancing at the other man.

"No, no, I wouldn't dare to be presumptuous in front of President Chen." Zheng Tianyou lowered his head meekly.

Chen Shu leaned his forearm on the bar counter, tapping the surface lightly with his knuckles, and said thoughtfully, "Boss Zheng, don't go to the Liming grid anymore. Our grid leader just graduated from school and doesn't know the ways of the world. Don't keep going over there to bully him. Now that I'm the grid police chief, you have to give me some face."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Tianyou's chubby face immediately scrunched up like a chrysanthemum, ready to pour out his grievances.

Chen Shu raised his hand to stop them and continued, "I've basically figured out what's going on here. It's not that our grid leader wants to get you, and don't even think about finding a breakthrough through her. What's that saying again?"

"It's like a deaf person trying to listen to a play—a waste of time. Go back and ask your boss if you've offended anyone in the cultural department. To resolve this, you need to move in that direction."

Seeing that Chen Shu had pointed out the direction, Zheng Tianyou thought to himself that he would be able to explain to the big boss when he got back, so he didn't say anything more.

Seeing that he had explained things to Zheng Tianyou, Chen Shu got up and went to the coffee table to get two bottles of beer. He opened one and handed it to Zheng Tianyou.

Zheng Tianyou was a decisive man; with a swift stroke, he chopped off a bottle and left in a hurry after clasping his hands in farewell.

In an instant, only Chen Shu and three others remained in the private room.

Still thinking about Chen Chuan, Chen Shu took out his phone and sent him a WeChat message, arranging to meet at a nearby slow-rock bar. After saying goodbye to the others, Chen Shu left the private room.

Before leaving, I went to the front desk to settle the bill.

When it came time to pay, the cashier said the bill had been waived. No matter how much Chen Shu pleaded, she wouldn't mention the exact amount.

According to the greeter, the minimum charge for this private room is 1688 yuan. Considering the tips for the waitresses in the room, Chen Shu estimates the total cost will be around 1900 yuan.

Although it hurt to spend the money, I knew in my heart that this "signing" was a hot potato. If I held onto it now, who knew when it might backfire?

Looking around, Chen Shu saw a QR code for merchants to collect payments in a prominent position on one side of the front desk. Without saying anything more, he picked up his phone, scanned the code, entered "2000", and pressed "OK" with a heavy heart.

He turned his phone screen, shook it twice at the security camera above the front desk, and left.

Beitang Street, North Bank Music Bar

Chen Shu ordered two glasses of juice and handed the wine order back to the waiter.

"Just juice?" the waiter asked again, somewhat puzzled.

Chen Chuan smiled and shook his head at the waiter: "Two Cuba Libre, please."

After the waiter left, Chen Shu took out a Zhonghua cigarette and tossed one to Chen Chuan.

Chen Chuan reached out and caught it, exclaiming exaggeratedly, "Oh, so our Director Chen has switched to smoking Zhonghua cigarettes now?"

Chen Shu's expression was serious, and he didn't bother to reply. After lighting a cigarette, he finally asked, "Did you report to the bureau at EME today?"

"Can they approve the daily work report?" Chen Chuan casually leaned back on the soft sofa.

"These places have facial recognition systems installed at their front desks. The moment you walk in, the disciplinary department will sound an alarm! Don't tell me a forensic technician like you wouldn't know this!"

"There's a backdoor."

Chen Chuan waved his hand, unwilling to continue the topic. He knew Chen Shu's personality; he didn't usually go to such high-end places. He casually asked, "Are you planning to shut that place down?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Shu immediately realized what was going on.

There was definitely something wrong with this EME party!

At that moment, the waiter came over with a plate.

The two fell silent in unison, watching the waiter leave before Chen Shu asked, "Do they offer paid companionship there?"

Chen Chuan reached for the wine glass, took a sip, and exclaimed, "Refreshing and invigorating! Excellent wine!"

Chen Shu quietly observed the other person; he had never truly understood this classmate.

Mingming was assigned to a municipal bureau after graduating from university without any grassroots training and became a probationary officer that same year. With such solid skills, why is he still just a police officer eight years after graduation?

How can they still be so shameless, frequenting such places of pleasure!

Chen Chuan toyed with his wine glass, watching the half-empty glass of wine swaying inside, and said disdainfully:

"You, a mere deputy director, have this kind of ability?"

(End of this chapter)