"I'm sorry, you can't go with me..."
The lieutenant stopped the middle-aged fat man who wanted to join in the fun.
"I called the police, I want to be a witness..."
The fat man seemed convinced that Zhuang Rui was a drug dealer and started shouting in dissatisfaction.
"They might have guns, and they might hurt you..."
The lieutenant was at a loss with this clown, so he simply threatened him with a remark. This trick worked, and the fat man immediately shut up after hearing it.
Zhuang Rui followed behind several armed police officers helplessly, shaking his head repeatedly. This fat guy was really bored out of his mind. If they really encountered armed drug traffickers, he would definitely shoot him first. Zhuang Rui even had the urge to beat him up.
Upon arriving at the office, the lieutenant said to Peng Fei, "Please put your bag on the ground and take two steps back..."
Looking at Zhuang Rui and his companion's attire, especially Zhuang Rui's calm demeanor, the lieutenant didn't dare to go too far. He simply told Peng Fei to put down the large backpack. If it were a real suspect, he would have handcuffed them before questioning them.
After carefully opening Peng Fei's backpack, the lieutenant was immediately stunned. Inside the backpack were scattered animal bones, as well as ten tiger penises wrapped in cloth.
With the eye that the lieutenant had developed over his long time at the checkpoint, he could tell at a glance that it was indeed the spine of a large feline. When he looked at Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei, his eyes sharpened. However, he did not take action immediately because one of them was fair-skinned and the other, although tall, had lost an arm and should not be much of a threat.
"Gentlemen, could you explain your smuggling of tiger bones and tiger penises?"
The lieutenant stood up and said in a serious tone, while the two junior armed police officers behind Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei immediately pulled back their bolts and pointed their guns at the two men.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant, I think you used the wrong words. The tiger penis and tiger bone that the country prohibits the sale of refers to those poached. And the so-called smuggling refers to the illegal importation of duty-free items for profit. It seems that there are no regulations in our country's laws prohibiting the importation of tiger penis and tiger bone. Besides, even if we poached these things in Myanmar, it's not under Chinese law to regulate them, is it?"
Peng Fei raised an eyebrow, looking at the lieutenant with a half-smile, and said the words above. He used to be in charge of investigating smuggling and drug trafficking, and he knew these regulations better than anyone. How could he be intimidated by this junior officer?
"You...you're just making excuses! Ten tiger penises, kept for your own use? And these tiger bones, enough to make dozens of jars of wine, right? Keep those for your own use too? You better behave yourself!"
The lieutenant slammed his hand on the table, dismissing Peng Fei's words with disdain. Ten tiger whips would require hunting at least ten male tigers.
Even if it's for personal use, there's no need to buy so many, right? They must be planning to smuggle them into China for sale.
Chapter 506 Buddha
Zhuang Rui, growing impatient, spoke up: "Just declare customs and pay taxes according to regulations. Stop with the nonsense; we need to get back to Beijing tonight..."
"You two, first show me your ID cards and passports..."
After Zhuang Rui produced his ID card, the lieutenant gestured to an armed policeman to collect Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei's passports, and then said, "Only now you think about customs declaration? Too late. If you're going to make up a lie, at least make it believable. Do you two need to drink tiger penis wine all the time?"
As he spoke, the lieutenant's face was full of sarcasm. In his view, it was a foregone conclusion that he had cracked a major case of smuggling valuable medicinal herbs. Perhaps soon, the 12 cents on his shoulder would become 13 cents.
"It seems we haven't even cleared customs yet, and you've already brought us here? How do you know we won't declare it?"
Zhuang Rui was a little annoyed. Although he really hadn't planned to declare it for customs, he was still annoyed by the lieutenant's taunts. Was it really worth making such a big deal out of such a trivial matter? Besides, he hadn't even bought it himself; it was a gift.
The lieutenant waved his hand and said, "You don't need to tell me these things. After I complete the handover procedures, you can explain them to the police officers. Wang Liang, take them away..."
"yes!"
A soldier behind Zhuang Rui poked Zhuang Rui's arm with the barrel of his gun. This soldier was kind enough not to touch Zhuang Rui's injured left arm.
"Lieutenant, you will be held accountable for your actions!"
Zhuang Rui took out his phone. To be honest, he really didn't want to call anyone, but if he were locked up in Ruili for a few days, his postgraduate entrance exam would be ruined.
"Who gave you permission to make that call?"
The lieutenant slammed his hand on the table and stepped forward to snatch Zhuang Rui's phone. Unexpectedly, Peng Fei, who was standing next to him, grabbed the lieutenant's outstretched wrist with lightning speed with his left hand, pulled the wrist and elbow, and pressed the lieutenant down on the table. With his right hand, he pulled out the pistol from the holster on the lieutenant's waist.
"Crack..."
With a gentle downward motion of his right hand, the pistol grazed Peng Fei's thigh, and the bullet slid into the chamber. Before the two armed police officers behind Zhuang Rui could raise their guns, the dark muzzle was already pointed at him, scaring the young soldier into immobility.
"Brother Zhuang, let's make a call. This counts as assaulting a police officer..."
Peng Fei's series of movements were as smooth as flowing water. It was a pleasure to watch, but the lieutenant who had been pinned down on the table felt a mixture of shame and regret. Why hadn't he handcuffed the two men earlier?
Although Peng Fei shouted that he was assaulting a police officer, he didn't take it seriously. People from his unit were always audacious and had done a lot of disciplinary violations. Sometimes, for the sake of the mission, they would even knock out their own people. Peng Fei had done this several times.
Furthermore, Peng Fei knew quite a bit about Zhuang Rui's background, so handling this matter shouldn't be a big problem. Even if Zhuang Rui couldn't handle it, he had other ways.
Zhuang Rui was also stunned. After hearing Peng Fei's words, he remembered to make a phone call. Just as his finger touched the keypad, the office door was pushed open from the outside with a "whoosh".
"Liang Yi. You little rascal, you damn fool, are you on duty today? Are you hiding in the office again?"
A curse came from the doorway, but it was tinged with amusement. Then a tall soldier appeared in the doorway.
The lieutenant struggled desperately beneath Peng Fei, repeatedly shouting, "Captain, don't come in, it's dangerous..."
The man who appeared at the door reacted quickly. When he saw the lieutenant being pinned to the desk and a dark gun barrel pointed at him, his massive body instantly crouched down on the ground. He didn't care about looking good at all and rolled backward like a ball.
After exiting the office, the man suddenly sprang up from the ground, hiding beside the door. In a flash, the pistol holstered at his waist was in his hand.
The time was too short; he only noticed that the two soldiers in the office and Liang Yi seemed to have been subdued. There were two other people on the other side, one of whom had a gun, and the other had his hand wrapped in bandages, as if he was injured.
"Captain, there are two of them, only one gun. The other one is wounded. Don't worry about me. Take them out..."
The lieutenant started howling loudly in the office, but Peng Fei ignored him and looked towards the door with a half-smile.
Zhuang Rui was startled by the person outside and didn't make the call. Just as he was about to call again, Peng Fei waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to call. Although Zhuang Rui was a little confused, he put down his phone.
"Listen up, you people inside! Lay down your weapons immediately. Surrender is your only way out..."
The soldier at the entrance, with 22 cents slung over his shoulder, was a proper lieutenant colonel in the People's Armed Police.
Although the man spoke in a very serious tone, he seemed to be smiling, which was puzzling. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that he had a smiling face, somewhat like Maitreya Buddha, with sparse eyebrows and large earlobes. If he were to play a character in "Journey to the West," he probably wouldn't even need makeup.
Just then, several more armed police officers walked in from outside. They were startled when they saw the lieutenant colonel. The lieutenant colonel gestured to the officers, indicating that there was danger inside the office. Immediately, the armed police officers outside dispersed and found their own hiding places.
The lieutenant colonel cleared his throat and shouted again, "I'll repeat myself, everyone inside, listen up, immediately..."
"Alright, Laughing Buddha, are you planning to have someone distract me first, then take down or kill the people around me? Force your way in? Stop with the nonsense, just get in already..."
Suddenly a sound rang out in the room, followed by a series of cracking sounds. A Type 64 pistol was disassembled into several parts and thrown out of the room.
Upon hearing this, everyone inside and outside the house was stunned. Zhuang Rui looked at Peng Fei, while the lieutenant beneath him stopped struggling, because he knew that the nickname "Laughing Buddha" was exclusively reserved for their captain.
"Instructor?"
The lieutenant colonel outside, who looked like Maitreya Buddha, was stunned for a moment after hearing the noise inside. He then reacted quickly, holstered his gun on his waist without hesitation, and waved for the men lying in ambush under the window and across the room to leave.
"Is it really you, Instructor? What are you up to?"
The lieutenant colonel appeared at the door, picked up the pistol parts on the ground, and then went into the room. At this time, Peng Fei had already released the lieutenant and looked at the officer who came in with a smile.
"Don't laugh, seeing your smiling face makes me uncomfortable..."
Peng Fei let out an exaggerated shout, then went over and hugged the lieutenant colonel. They patted each other on the shoulder. The lieutenant was dumbfounded. Although the battalion commander was usually unpretentious, he had never seen him so affectionate with anyone before.
"Instructor, come, sit down, sit down. Liang Yi, you son of a bitch, aren't you going to get some water?"
After releasing Peng Fei, the lieutenant colonel quickly helped him onto the sofa, then turned and yelled at the still-dazed lieutenant, startling him. He hurriedly rummaged through the tea leaves and poured a cup of tea for both Peng Fei and Zhuang Rui.
"Alright, get out of here. Don't talk about what happened earlier. That's against the rules!"
The lieutenant colonel waved his hand and said with a serious expression, but the seriousness could only be discerned from his tone, because his face was always smiling.
"yes!"
The lieutenant saluted and walked out, full of questions, but he didn't dare to ask any more. As the saying goes, a higher rank can crush a lower one, and there's a difference of several ranks between a lieutenant colonel and a lieutenant.
"Instructor, please have some water. It's been over a year since we last contacted each other. What brings you here today? Are you on some kind of mission?"
The smiling lieutenant colonel moved the still-steaming water cup closer to Peng Fei. This action was nothing like that of a lieutenant colonel; it was more like the service of a clerk.
"To carry out a mission?"
Peng Fei's smile was somewhat bitter as he said, "Buddha, to tell you the truth, I've been discharged from the army for over a year now, and I'm working with Brother Zhuang now..."
"What?"
The lieutenant colonel was shocked by Peng Fei's words and involuntarily stood up, saying, "How could this be? Instructor, what happened? Should I write a report and specially recruit you back into the army? I'd even give you my battalion commander position..."
"Company commander? Even if I don't retire, I'll only be a major at most. I'm doing fine now..."
Peng Fei shook his head. Now that his parents were gone and his young sister needed his care, he could no longer serve in the army without any worries as before.
"Instructor, how could he be a retired soldier? Didn't your order to promote him to captain already come down at that time?"
The lieutenant colonel asked, puzzled.
"He shot and killed a few drug dealers during a mission, but let's not talk about that. Master, let me introduce you. This is my older brother, and also my boss, Zhuang Rui..."
Peng Fei clearly didn't want to bring up the past, so he changed the subject, introduced Zhuang Rui to the lieutenant colonel, and explained the relationship between the two to Zhuang Rui.
It turns out that this lieutenant colonel's surname was Li, and his given name was Xiao, so he was called Li Xiao. However, because of his smiling face, he was given the nickname "Smiling Buddha".
Because he was in charge of anti-smuggling and anti-drug operations at the border for many years, his own people called him the Laughing Buddha or Buddha, while the drug dealers who hated him to the bone called him the Smiling Tiger.
Two years ago, Li Xiao's unit sent more than 20 armed police officers who were fighting on the front line of drug enforcement to Peng Fei's mysterious unit for special operations training, and Peng Fei was the instructor at that time.
Chapter 507 Comrades
When they first went to the training camp, Li Xiao and the other trainees were not convinced by Peng Fei, this pretty boy. He had a lower rank than them, was shorter than them, and looked like a little kid. What kind of ability could he have? Several of them expressed their dissatisfaction at the time.
The military is a more direct place, unlike the local political arena. These trainees are all key personnel carefully selected from various border stations. They have rich combat experience and have always considered themselves the best in the world.
Such people are generally very clear about their likes and dislikes, and are mostly straightforward. When they are upset, they will express it, and the best way to do so is naturally to compete and vie with each other.
The result of their defiance was that, whether in one-on-one duels, group fights, firearms contests, or combat in various terrains like jungles and cities, the trainees were thoroughly outmatched by Peng Fei. They were completely convinced of the young instructor's abilities.
Although Buddha was already a major at that time, he greatly admired Peng Fei, who was a generation younger than him and two ranks lower. During the three-month intensive training, the instructors and trainees developed a deep bond.
Afterwards, Peng Fei led them on some unknown missions, forging a deep camaraderie amidst iron and blood. Peng Fei's skill during the missions made these trainees, who considered themselves the best in the world, realize the gap between themselves and that mysterious unit.
"Are you kidding me? Killing a few drug dealers is nothing unusual. Your unit's discipline isn't that strong, is it?"
Li Xiao looked at Peng Fei with suspicion. Although our army has always had the tradition of not killing prisoners of war, this tradition is not always well implemented. Even in the War of Resistance Against Japan half a century ago, many units did not take prisoners.
"Alright, Master, let's not talk about this anymore. Anyway, I'm fine now. Find someone to clear customs for these things, see how much they're worth, and we'll pay the customs duties..."
Peng Fei waved his hand, not wanting to say more about what had happened in his family, and he harbored a deep secret that he hadn't even told Zhuang Rui.
Peng Fei killed those drug dealers who had already surrendered on purpose, because he knew that if he didn't do it, the army that had trained him for so many years would not let him go easily. However, his autistic sister at home needed his care.
So those drug dealers became the unlucky ones; Peng Fei wouldn't feel any guilt at all about killing them.