Courir partout et jouer des rôles mineurs

Chapitre 99

Shanglin, however, could not help but be fearless.

Just now, several of them were beating one person without using knives, but now they were all bloodthirsty and Shang Lin saw someone's hand quietly reaching into his waist.

He shouted, "Chang Sheng, run! Run!"

Changsheng, with his back to the man with the knife, had just helped Ji Yunwen up when he heard her words. He paused for a few seconds, not thinking deeply about what she meant, and grabbed Ji Yunwen to run. After running a few steps, he turned around and saw several men with knives rushing towards him. He was relieved but also a little scared, and without saying a word, he started to run for his life.

They ran to the main road, but there was no one there. Shanglin continued to shout desperately, while Xialin, holding onto his sister, ran for their lives, also yelling at the top of his lungs, "Fire! Help! Burglary! Murder! Bandits!" He shouted whatever came to mind, without thinking.

The guys chasing after them were all stunned.

This kid is dishonest. He's pinned so many crimes on us in the blink of an eye—if he gets caught, even the death penalty wouldn't be enough to atone for his sins.

Although there was no one on the road, they became frightened. This shout would probably draw everyone out to see what was going on. These guys were after money, not jail time. They exchanged glances, and knowing it was getting dangerous, they made their escape.

They stopped and began to retreat.

The matter should have ended there.

But when Ji Yunwen saw that the other party had stopped chasing, he seemed to have lost his mind and shouted, broke free from Changsheng, and rushed back to fight to the death!

Changsheng ran with great enthusiasm, not even glancing back, half-dragging and half-pulling Ji Yunwen along as they ran incredibly fast. He was having a great time when he suddenly felt something in his hand. He was puzzled by Ji Yunwen's lightness, but when he turned his head, he saw that what he was holding was a tattered piece of cloth—both hands were strong enough that Ji Yunwen managed to break free, leaving only half a sleeve in his hand.

His heart sank; Ji Yunwen had already rushed towards the other party.

Monkey King looked at him and thought, "Hey, you're still going strong after getting beaten up? I can't beat this big black guy, but I can beat you pretty boy?"

With a flash of light, he met the opponent head-on, waiting for them to pounce before unleashing a devastating attack.

Changsheng rushed back desperately, but he was only human, not a god, and did not have the ability to teleport. He was always a bit too far behind. He shouted for him to come back, but Ji Yunwen ignored him and rushed towards Monkey King. He could neither hear nor see anymore, and only knew that he wanted to beat someone up.

Shang Lin was terrified. The distance was closing, and the gleaming blade was only a few meters away from his abdomen. In the blink of an eye, a police siren sounded from the end of the road.

Although they were still far away, it was enough to terrify them. Someone immediately told the monkey guard to leave, so he had no choice but to give up and turn to flee.

Changsheng finally caught up with Ji Yunwen and hugged him tightly, refusing to let go despite Ji Yunwen's irrational and frenzied beatings.

He breathed a sigh of relief, watching the police car getting closer and closer, and silently thought, "The police are always late. Fortunately, you're not too late."

Xia Lin stared blankly at the policeman who jumped out of the police car, and instinctively shouted, "Help! There's a fire!" The young policeman who finally jumped out of the car almost fell to the ground because his legs went weak.

Bullying others

A police station in Huaiqiao City. A veteran officer, with many years of experience, yawned, lazily surveyed the room, and propped his legs up on the edge of his desk, hoping to relieve his fatigue. Looking at the dejected men who had been brought in—clearly petty thugs—he immediately began to curse:

"You bunch of bastards, can't you just let me get a good night's sleep? My poor back..."

He kept cursing and ranting, casually circling the folders and slapping them one by one, when his gaze fell on the foyer and he suddenly froze.

Several disheveled but calm young people walked in, among them a female student. She was quiet and unassuming, showing no fear of being in a police station, her face serene and unperturbed.

Having handled cases for many years, he noticed that when the three boys who had just entered glared at the group of thugs around them, and the thugs were not to be outdone by muttering foul language, a scene of harassing an innocent young girl immediately flashed into his mind.

He also has a daughter of similar age in middle school, and he worries every day that she might be bullied by delinquents at school. Thinking of this, he pounded his fist again.

"What are you glaring at? What are you glaring at? You're still acting tough now that you're inside!"

They then noticed the strange expressions on the faces of the young police officers who had responded to the scene. They went over and stopped one of them to ask what had happened. Upon hearing that the officers had attempted a knife attack but failed, they quickly asked if the weapon had been found.

The young police officer hesitated, shook his head, and seeing that his colleagues weren't paying attention, secretly made a hand gesture and said, "They reacted quickly, even throwing away the murder weapon, so they didn't dare to investigate carefully..."

The old police officer stuck out his tongue. Although he didn't feel sorry for the victim, he knew all sorts of shady dealings after working in this line of work for so long. As the saying goes, even emperors have a few poor relatives. Huaiqiao City isn't big; you never know, you might bump into an old man on the street who might just be the provincial party secretary's father-in-law.

After taking the case and catching up with them, just as they were about to search for the murder weapon based on the victim's statement, the lead police officer received a phone call, hung up after a few words, and headed back.

His gaze swept over the dejected thugs, secretly wondering which one was the emperor's poor relative.

Changsheng and the others were taking statements. The interrogator and the recorder were the last young policemen to get out of the police car. They were the ones who had almost been knocked to the ground by Qiu Xialin's shout. They were fair-skinned, beardless, and had a stern face, looking very displeased.

"Name!"

"age!"

"Work! Home address..."

Ji Yunwen was the first to be questioned. The police officer's tone was unpleasant, which made him feel annoyed. But this was, after all, a police station, and even if Ji Yunwen was immature, he knew he couldn't lose his temper.

When it was Qiu Xialin's turn, the young policeman became even more impatient: "Name, age, occupation, home address, reason for coming to the city!"

Qiu Xialin grinned and said, "I will not change my name or surname. My surname is Lü and my given name is Shun..." His voice was not loud and his attitude was too casual, which had already attracted the attention of the other policemen. When they heard him introduce himself, they were stunned and looked at the young policeman who was buried in taking a statement.

The young policeman paused, slammed his pen on the table, and gritted his teeth: "Qiu Xialin, you better behave yourself!"

Xia Lin remained unchanged: "Lu Dashun, keep your voice down!"

Two soft chuckles suddenly broke the solemn atmosphere of the room. Shanglin and Changsheng covered their mouths, beaming with joy.

Lu Shun flicked his finger on his head, gritting his teeth in hatred: "Fire? Why didn't you shout for an explosion, flood, or breach of the dike?"

Rubbing the reddened spot, Xia Lin said bluntly, "But I didn't expect—speaking of which, Lü Dashun, after all these years, you're still just as spineless as ever..."

Insulted, Lü Shun nearly jumped up: "A coward? Back in the day, I..."

The older policeman nudged the dazed younger officer: "What's going on?"

The young policeman snapped out of his daze: "I know him, he's Brother Shun's friend—he just had a fight with the captain and is still upset, so let's not mess with him."

One insisted on a thorough search, while the other insisted on packing up; they were locked in a stalemate and almost came to blows.

The old policeman clicked his tongue: "That's terrible. Little Shunzi has such a bad temper..."

The young policeman sighed, "So what if I have a bad temper? I still have to follow orders from above. Brother Shun is unlucky; he offended his superiors and was demoted again and again, now relegated to this small place—a tiger fallen into the plains! These days, you can't be a good person—we want to serve the people too. But who doesn't have parents to support? Offending your superiors means losing your job, causing harm, and ultimately, you get nothing but trouble."

Lü Shun, from Zifang Town, Shiju County, came from a family of honest, hardworking farmers. With the rise of reform and opening up, he started a small business and accumulated some savings. However, his mischievous nature led him to become a notorious bully at school. One sunny afternoon in junior high, he and a few friends tried to collect two yuan in protection money, but their attempt backfired, costing them their entire future.

Back then, they were the school bullies, thinking they'd one day slay in the streets. No one could have imagined that the group would scatter and their little team would completely disintegrate. He got into police academy, while Cheng Jiu struggled in vain and was forced by his parents to attend business school, eventually working for Qiu Shanglin, the mastermind behind everything.

Lu Shun was unsure whether he should be grateful to Qiu Shanglin or blame her.

If she hadn't interfered, he would still be extorting money on the streets of Zifang Town, or perhaps he would have become more successful and started a small business with his parents. He would have lived a muddled and aimless life.

Qiu Xialin's statement could not be taken down. Fortunately, Lü Shun knew him better than he did. After sketching it out in a few strokes, he looked up and found Qiu Shanglin sitting in front of him.

The two looked at each other for a long time.

She hadn't received a letter from Lü Shun in a long time. After graduating from police academy, Lü Shun was assigned to the Major Crimes Unit of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, becoming a police officer specializing in handling major cases. In his letter, he was full of vigor, saying that he had learned a lot and was wholeheartedly dedicated to serving the people and the country. He also revealed that he was recently investigating a big case with his mentor, and if they could close the deal, he might get a promotion.

I haven't received any more letters from him since then.

Shang Lin had no idea what had happened to him. The city branch and the police station both used the same three-word phrase, but their actions were worlds apart.

When Lü Shun first joined the municipal branch, he returned to Zifang Town full of vigor and ambition. But now, his face is ashen, and his tired eyes are devoid of any life.

The captain in charge announced the cessation of the search and led his team back. He went to argue with the captain, but was rebuffed by a few words.

In the police car, his downcast eyes were incredibly gloomy.