Chapter 5: Banquet

The cases at the township police station are few, especially in the current situation where it is already minus 25 degrees at midnight. The duty officer at the front desk can just doze off in bed; if there is a call, they answer it, and if there is no call, they sleep.

Lu Ling is not familiar with everyone and does not know who to sit with. Among these 9 individuals, he only knows two directors and the two auxiliary police officers he saw today. The female police officer at the front desk did not come, but fortunately, everyone else is quite familiar with each other, so he casually took a seat.

Every time Wang mentioned a person, Lu Ling would nod in acknowledgment, which could be considered as having a general acquaintance with these individuals

Lu Ling gained a deeper understanding of what he would face in the future

Every wanted criminal, even with a reward of 1 million, cannot be found by an ordinary person. This 1 million is essentially an irresistible incentive for those around the wanted criminal.

After a brief introduction, Lu Ling fell silent, quietly listening to others chat, and many began discussing today's case

You can see for yourself, Wang did not insist: "I will go upstairs to change my clothes"

Oh, that makes sense. Lu Ling immediately nodded; he had not understood this matter before, but now it can be considered resolved.

Today's urgent task has brought back many off-duty police officers and auxiliary police. At this moment, six or seven individuals, including Director Wang, have returned one after another.

"Ah? Leader, I am not hungry," Lu Ling said, although he did not eat much in the evening, he had no appetite at all.

I will not go, I feel somewhat upset about today's matter" said Lu Ling.

"Virtue! How could you have such a fate?" Zhang Benxiu scolded.

"Can it be done? I see that many cannot be done now," Zhou Xinxin said with some helplessness.

Everyone's sources of information are certainly broader than Lu Ling's. After a few minutes of conversation, Lu Ling became somewhat more familiar with the case.

"Indeed, have the graduate students all been assigned to the police station?" someone remarked

"Hey, that's not right, work is work. It's the first day today, I still need to..." Su Dahua had not finished speaking when Sun Guolong opened the door and entered the hall, and Su Dahua immediately fell silent

Wang and others went upstairs, and soon after, the duty officer arrived, who was an auxiliary police officer that Lu Ling had never seen before

This is definitely possible, there is no escape from this intentional homicide. Moreover, what good is his confession? If the child is unharmed, then confessing with the child in tow would be acceptable in any case.

Under such temperatures, there are not many alarms. In recent years, conditions have improved, with cars and roads available. It is said that decades ago, when conditions were poor, even if there were homicides at night, they would not go until dawn. If they were to respond in the middle of the night, the police would likely freeze to death on the road

"Good," Lu Ling was invited a second time; it would be inappropriate not to attend. He had a keen ability to read the room and could tell that Su Dahua was a warm-hearted person, making it suitable to go to such an occasion

Graduate student? Sun Guolong glanced at Lu Ling, feeling a bit curious. Since the establishment of this police station, no graduate students have ever come here

In addition to Lu Ling, there are only 8 formal police officers in the office, along with 8 auxiliary police officers. Now, including Lu Ling, there are a total of 17 individuals. In the township police stations of Dong'an County, this already constitutes a large station, as some police stations have only two formal police officers.

Returning to the police station, their vehicle should be the first to arrive. There is not a single person in the lobby. Sun Guolong went directly to the second floor. He was on duty yesterday, but since it is so late today, he might not be planning to go home.

After sitting down, Zhang Benxiu picked up the teapot and began to pour water for everyone. Wang Suo then said: "Let me introduce everyone. In all this busyness today, I forgot to pick up our new colleague. I received a notification from the bureau this morning. This is a new police recruit for this year, named Lu Ling, from Yuzhou, and he is a graduate student. He will be working with us from now on, and which specific team he will join will be decided after tomorrow's meeting. Lu Ling, let me introduce you to everyone."

Is this the public security?

Upon seeing Lu Ling, Wang asked again, "Are you going? It's so late, let's have a meal together."

"Hey, Lu Ling, you haven't gone to sleep. Just in time, everyone is going out for a casual meal soon, you should join us and get to know everyone," Wang said as he patted Lu Ling on the shoulder.

I am the newly assigned officer Lu Ling, and I just went out on duty with Officer Sun. May I ask your surname? Lu Ling is very polite

Lu Ling felt an indescribable discomfort in his heart; he had endured the cold today, and he was very well aware of what it felt like to be cold. It is difficult for humans to empathize, and Lu Ling, being a psychology student, had a much deeper understanding than the average person.

"Considering what you said, even at this early hour, if you want something to eat, just give us a call, it's convenient for us here," the woman responded warmly, "How about it? Same as usual?"

There is something going on, I just finished up, Wang looked around and said: "You have already put out the fire, if I had known, I wouldn't have come."

"Now we all have to go to the grassroots level," Wang took over the conversation and continued to speak to Lu Ling: "You have met both me and Sun. Our office has a total of three groups. I am the leader of Group 1, Sun is the leader of Group 2, and the leader of Group 3 is not here today. This is Zhou Xinxin, and this is ... ... "

Oh, new officer, that's great. My name is Su Dahua, and I am from our town. I am on duty today. Su Dahua was quite enthusiastic: "I see both directors are preparing to go out for a meal, aren't you going? Oh, I see, you are in plain clothes, so you don't need to go upstairs to change."

"Alright, you are still in the same car as Guolong," Wang then said to Sun Guolong: "Guolong, drive your own car"

You cannot obtain what you have discovered, Zhang Benxiu said

Lu Ling got out of the car and followed everyone into the house. There were no guests here, and the boss was alone in the back kitchen setting up the stove again. The boss's wife came out to greet him: "Oh, Director Wang, you have arrived. You could have informed us earlier; had you done so, we could have prepared a meal for you."

After a moment of distraction, Lu Ling finally realized that there were no staff members on duty at the front desk, so he sat in the lobby for a while, and others returned as well

At this moment, Wang Ping also cursed a few times and then said: "I heard that Linan County has issued a reward, stating that a bounty of 50,000 is offered for information leading to the capture. As a result, this kid turned himself in. If I had discovered this, that 50,000 would have been great for me"

Immediately afterwards, seven or eight people from hetushucom arrived in the hall one after another, and the director, Wang, also came over

Lu Ling glanced at the proprietress and immediately knew that the lady was speaking insincerely

That won't do, I am not a police officer... If it comes to that... I will have my wife report it to the police if I find out.

This scoundrel is truly out of his mind, stealing a car is one thing, but he is really causing harm to others, Zhou Xinxin said as she took a sip of tea and cursed

"In this case, even if one surrenders, they will still be executed," commented Wang.

"Hey? Who are you?" This person, seeing Lu Ling, thought it was a police report and directly asked.

"Of course, that is impossible; those are all found in novels, in places where the police are incompetent and need to hire detectives," Wang said. "These bounties are not meant for bounty hunters to capture anyone; they are intended to encourage people close to the suspects to report them."

There are a total of 10 people, with two directors, one of whom drove a vehicle. The destination was very close, specifically the only barbecue restaurant in town, which is approximately 600 to 700 meters away from here. They arrived quickly.

"Your Majesty," Lu Ling listened for a long time and interjected, "May I ask, what is the purpose of this bounty? Is it to attract detectives to come and capture someone? That seems unlikely."

"Go ahead, you watch the meat roasting, we are all hungry. At this time, just serve whatever staple food is available," Wang said as he beckoned everyone to sit down.