1995, Starting as a Criminal Investigation Expert

Nanjiang Municipal Bureau.

Li Shu, a 95 graduate of the Criminal Science and Technology major at Ningjiang Police College, came to the criminal investigation office on the third floor with his classmate Tan Guoxiong.

Fresh out of college, they were all energetic and spirited young men.

Li Shu was taller, with a neat short haircut and fairer skin, unlike Tan Guoxiong, whose face still showed signs of puberty.

At the same time, he has deep-set features and a well-defined face, somewhat resembling the singer who sang "A Fire in Winter".

So the female police officer from the personnel department who accompanied him would always glance at Li Shu a couple of times, and then shyly look away quickly.

The policewoman led the two men to the office of the head of the criminal investigation division.

Today is October 28rd.

Li Shu and Tan Guoxiong had arranged to report to the Municipal Bureau together.

Ningjiang Police Academy is the first police professional school in the country.

Because they were from the provincial level, following the principle of returning to where they came from, the two were assigned to the Technical Brigade under the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Nanjiang Municipal Public Security Bureau after graduation.

We just finished the formalities, and here we are, being led to see the leader.

Before I even knocked, a loud argument suddenly erupted from inside.

The policewoman immediately stopped.

Li Shu glanced at Tan Guoxiong and decisively pricked up his ears to eavesdrop.

A man with a loud voice said, "Old Xu, do you even know what a bachelor's degree is and what an associate's degree is? I want a bachelor's degree, a bachelor's degree! And this was all agreed upon, so why did you change your mind at the last minute?"

Wooden doors don't insulate well at all; you can hear things quite clearly.

Another, more composed male voice rang out: "Old Han, yelling at me won't do any good. The assignments have already been made, and everyone has gone to report for duty. What can I do? If you don't like it, go talk to Director Tang."

Old Han's tone was still aggressive.

He yelled, "Xu Qiang, stop trying to fool me. This is ultimately your problem. Why didn't you try to fight for it? You keep complaining that we're not good enough. Fine, I've already talked to them, and they're willing to come back. How come the province intercepted it?"

Li Shu suddenly realized.

This Xu Qiang must be his immediate superior, the head of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Xu Qiang wasn't angry. He remained calm and advised, "Old Han, don't think like that. He's a top student from the Criminal Investigation Academy. To be honest, it's a bit of a waste for him to come here."

"Come on!"

Li Shu could already imagine what was happening inside the door. Old Han waved his hand angrily and said, "I've said this many times at the committee meetings: I need high-quality talent, which is related to my big plan. You've given me two college graduates now. I may be short of manpower, but I don't need two college graduates."

These words were a blow, and Li Shu nudged Tan Guoxiong beside him with his elbow and whispered, "They're talking about us."

Tan Guoxiong, being honest by nature, quickly shook his head at Li Shu, signaling him to keep quiet.

Inside, Xu Qiang was still cheerful: "Old Han, don't get excited. Anyway, this matter is already settled, it's a fait accompli, there's no going back. Besides, it's one for two, isn't that great?"

"You don't know anything!"

Old Han was furious, and then he heard hurried footsteps.

The next moment, the door creaked open.

A middle-aged man with gray hair and glasses appeared at the door.

Upon seeing Li Shu and the others outside the door, he paused for a moment, then frowned.

Li Shu quickly stepped aside.

I just asked the policewoman, so this must be my direct superior, Han Jianjun, the captain of the technical team.

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything and left in silence.

The policewoman then quickly went up and knocked on the door to explain the situation.

Li Shu saw Xu Qiang.

He was also a middle-aged man, but he looked younger than Han Jianjun, probably not even fifty years old.

With short hair and a square face, he stood up and greeted the two of them with a smile, even offering to pour them water from a thermos.

This fits Li Shu's image of a "good old man" within the system.

However, Li Shu noticed a scar on the left side of his neck.

It was supposed to be a hole.

This guy is probably not a nice person at all; he's a ruthless one who's been shot before.

Xu Qiang sat down, looked the two of them up and down, chatted briefly about their family situations, and repeatedly said they were good.

"To be honest, you guys really caught a lucky break," Xu Qiang said with a chuckle.

Just a few months ago, the technical squadron directly under the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Municipal Public Security Bureau was officially upgraded to a technical brigade.

This action naturally demonstrates the importance the Municipal Bureau attaches to the development of its criminal investigation technical capabilities.

For Li Shu and his partner, this also means starting from a higher point.

The benefits are pretty good.

That's more than 30 yuan more a month.

"Chief Xu, don't worry, I will definitely do my job well." Li Shu quickly expressed his determination, and then nudged Tan Guoxiong.

Tan Guoxiong realized what was happening and quickly echoed his sentiment.

Xu Qiang smiled and nodded, then said, "You probably heard what I said earlier. Don't take it to heart. I'm not targeting you. You'll know what Lao Han is like once you get to know him. He has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. He's actually very responsible towards you young people."

Once we've opened up, I can't help but ramble on a bit more.

It was basically something like, "Don't be arrogant and unrealistic, and learn more from the senior members of the team."

Li Shu responded repeatedly.

Like his father, Xu Qiang was a heavy smoker; he would start smoking after saying just a few words.

He handed it back to Li Shu and the other person as he went.

Tan Guoxiong quickly shook his head and said no.

Li Shu wouldn't smoke either, mainly because his father thought smoking made him look like a street thug and wouldn't allow it.

Xu Qiang didn't care; he found the cigarettes, but not the lighter.

Li Shu has a sharp eye.

Han Jianjun must have pushed something off the table, which is why the lighter fell under the table.

Li Shu hurriedly stepped forward, picked up a lighter, and lit Xu Qiang's fire.

He glanced at Xu Qiang's cigarette case as he went along.

First-class plum blossom.

The market price is 4.5 yuan a pack. To be honest, I feel that for someone of Xu Qiang's level, smoking this cigarette is a bit cheap. It should be at least Hongtashan or higher.

The key question is, does the fact that he smokes this cigarette prove that he is relatively honest and upright?

Before I reported for duty, my dad stuffed a few Dongdu noodles into his bag and told me to give them to the leaders.

It's still the city operation version.

The third city games haven't even started yet, and these cigarettes are hard to buy. My dad went to great lengths to get a few cartons to give as gifts.

A pack costs 50 yuan, which is more expensive than Zhonghua cigarettes.

But now that things have turned out this way, Li Shu doesn't know whether he should send it or not.

Xu Qiang observed their reactions and simply smiled.

He had read the background information of Li Shu and the other person.

Nanjiang is a cradle of private enterprises. Li Shu's family runs a small factory, and their conditions are much better than Tan Guoxiong's.

It's normal to be a bit shrewd and resourceful if you've been exposed to such things since childhood.

After he finished speaking, he told the two of them to go directly to Han Jianjun to report.

As he got up, after Tan Guoxiong left, Li Shu suddenly turned back.

"Chief Xu, I have a question, which may be a bit presumptuous, but please don't take it too seriously. I'm just asking a simple question," Li Shu said cautiously.

Only after Xu Qiang nodded did he raise the question.

"Goodness, you're looking for trouble, aren't you?" Xu Qiang exclaimed in surprise.

Li Shu inquired about the possibility of transferring to a different position and becoming a criminal police officer in the future.

In fact, becoming a criminal police officer has always been Li Shu's dream.

Unfortunately, my academic performance wasn't ideal, so I didn't get into the Criminal Police Academy. I did get into the provincial public security college, and I originally applied for criminal investigation, but it's a popular major, and my score wasn't high enough, so I was assigned to criminal science and technology.

The current system is characterized by "fixed job assignments and separation of job responsibilities," making job transfers extremely difficult.

But Li Shu still wanted to ask.

Xu Qiang's statement that you want to endure hardship was not just empty talk.

In his mind, the technical position was much easier than the reconnaissance position.

Li Shu's ability to come up with such a thought actually made Xu Qiang look at him with new respect, feeling that this young man might not be as he had imagined.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Qiang said, "Alright, since you know it's difficult, why ask? Don't overthink it. You've just graduated, and your most important task right now is to study and grow into a qualified technical police officer as soon as possible."

With that, he waved his hand, signaling Li Shu to go and report first.

Li Shu had no choice but to close the door and leave.

Although Tan Guoxiong and Li Shu were not in the same class at school, there were only two classes in the entire major, with a total of forty people. Moreover, they were both from Nanjiang and were fellow townsmen, so they became very close.

He knew what Li Shu was thinking, so he didn't say much and went with Li Shu to report to the technical team at the end of the corridor.

The office is alright, it's quite big.

There was no welcoming ceremony as I had imagined.

No one even greeted him.

At first glance, in the spacious office, everyone was busy behind a long, dark brown table with peeling paint.

Each table was covered with stacks of file cards.

Then they all lay on the table, one eye pressed against the horseshoe lens, intently observing the fingerprints.

People were also walking through the room, constantly carrying files out of the archives.

Han Jianjun was there, huddled together with another middle-aged man, holding a magnifying glass and discussing something.

Everyone was working; the only sound was the footsteps.

Nobody paid any attention to me.

This atmosphere made Tan Guoxiong involuntarily nervous and somewhat at a loss.

Li Shu, thick-skinned as ever, pulled Tan Guoxiong forward and greeted Han Jianjun.

Having just finished calling everyone, Han Jianjun waved to someone in the distance without looking up: "Zhao Yong, assign jobs to these two newcomers."

A head peeked out from behind a table a few steps away.

He looked older than his age, probably close to forty, with red eyes. He glanced blankly at Li Shu and the other man before realizing what was happening.

"My name is Zhao Yong, and I'm the head of the trace evidence team. You'll be working for me from now on."

Zhao Yong stepped forward and shook hands with the two men, pointed to a corner of the office and told them to go next door to move a table. He then said, "Logically speaking, you two only reported today, but things are urgent, so there's no other way. You two should have no problem with fingerprint comparison, right?"

Tan Guoxiong nodded hurriedly.

Li Shu nodded in agreement. He studied criminal science and technology, which included fingerprinting as a basic skill.

"Go find Sister He to collect your things."

It seemed the matter was truly urgent; Zhao Yong barely said a few words before telling the two of them to prepare on their own.

After setting up the table and returning with tools such as a horseshoe mirror from the management team, the table was already covered with file cards.

Two stacks of fingerprint record cards, 50 cards per stack, tied together with rubber bands.

That's good. It seems that Lao Zhao is a good person and will take care of the newcomers after all.

Of course, it's also possible that they don't trust newcomers and are afraid to let a novice handle too many tasks.

Tan Guoxiong had already quietly begun preparations.

Li Shu was not a lazy person, so he immediately sat down and started working.

As soon as Li Shu picked up the copy to compare, he suddenly felt a blur before his eyes and saw something new in his field of vision.

It looks like a virtual interface.

Upon closer inspection, the words at the very top read: 【Criminal Investigation Expert System】