Animal Detective

Chapter 338: Chapter 276: Big Brother, You Hid That Way Too Well

Wan Chao told everyone to go on and get settled, saying there was a welcoming banquet tonight and they’d talk then. He then led Meng Fuqiang into the hotel.

Fang Weijie’s eyes lingered on Tian Kui and Celestial Skill, his thoughts unreadable.

Li Yinjiang asked, "Old Fang, has your ’Number One’ arrived?"

’Number One?’

Shen Xin froze. ’Is that a police dog’s name? That’s way too badass. Who gives their dog a name like that?’

’Or maybe it’s carrying on the traditional philosophy of Peng An’s team, wanting to usurp Ningshan’s position.’

"Of course," Fang Weijie said with a proud nod. He then offered a curt "Not bad," and turned to leave.

Li Yinjiang snorted. "’Not bad?’"

’Who does he think he is, the boss?’

Shi Xianbo wore the same expression, but he quickly went back to helping move cardboard boxes, sidling over to ask about Tian Kui and the others.

He asked how the Nanjiang team had managed to turn stray dogs into police dogs.

Li Yinjiang got a bit smug. "Old Shi," he said, "we’ve been friends for years. It’s not that I’m trying to be secretive, but honestly, it wouldn’t do you any good even if I told you."

With a look that said ’don’t press your luck,’ he patted Shi Xianbo on the shoulder, then carried his own things into the hotel.

He knew full well that whether the dog was a stray didn’t matter. ’It’s the person that’s most important.’

"Hah, that guy."

Shi Xianbo let out a soft huff and called for his own team to get back to moving their things.

As Shen Xin moved their gear, he asked Li Jiahui what the story was with "Number One."

’That name is just too epic.’

Li Jiahui said, "He’s a German Shepherd. He’s won our provincial skills competition four times and even placed second in the national competition."

"Plus, he’s the only National Level 1 Merit Dog in all of Ningjiang Province."

Whoa!

Shen Xin was deeply impressed. That was a lot of titles. He remarked that he’d have to meet the dog later.

’A merit dog...’

Shen Xin knew he had sort of taken a shortcut. For a dog like Number One, just being selected from a litter of puppies to become a police dog was already incredibly difficult.

To then go on and repeatedly earn merits, becoming a merit dog, was even more of a long shot.

To draw an analogy with the criminal investigation department, it was like starting out at a local police station and then accumulating so many incredible achievements that you end up in a white shirt. It was that insane.

’After all, that’s a First-Class Merit.’

Li Jiahui said, "Number One is truly legendary. He’s a tracking dog and has been in service for almost four years. He’s helped solve over forty criminal cases and assisted in capturing more than ten suspects. He’s just incredible."

Shen Xin nodded to himself. Just assisting in over forty cases was daunting enough. ’I haven’t even solved that many cases myself.’

At this thought, Shen Xin patted Tian Kui on the head and instructed him, "You hear that, Tian Kui? You need to work hard too, so you can earn a First-Class Merit and become a glorious merit dog."

Tian Kui probably didn’t understand what a "merit dog" was.

’I don’t wanna. I wanna be lazy.’

’He must have learned these bad habits from Tiger Stripes.’

Once everyone was settled in, the police dogs, weary from the journey, also needed to rest well.

At the welcoming banquet in the hotel that night, the news must have already gotten out.

It was obvious, as hardly anyone came over to offer Li Yinjiang a toast.

"Looks like we’re the public enemy now," Xiaoba’s handler, Chen Ran, whispered.

While other tables were lively with toasts, the ones for Nanjiang and Peng An were strikingly desolate.

It was understandable for Peng An’s team to be the public enemy.

But Nanjiang had never received this kind of treatment in past years.

Li Yinjiang snorted. "They’re just jealous we got a wild card. Pay them no mind. Let’s eat."

With that, he took a vicious bite of roast duck and complained that the hotel chef’s standards had dropped.

Shen Xin couldn’t care less. He just kept his head down and focused on eating and drinking.

The next day, the teams assembled and headed to the police dog base to get familiar with the grounds. Afterward, there was a meeting to go over the competition’s arrangements.

This was usually just a matter for the dozen or so team leaders, but things were different this year. A special meeting was held in the small auditorium at the base, and all competing handlers were required to attend.

A genuine "white shirt" even showed up.

Wang Peidong, Chief of the Provincial Criminal Investigation Department and Director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau.

The "small" auditorium wasn’t small at all; it seated the hundred-odd people in attendance with plenty of room to spare.

Aware that the Nanjiang team was currently being given the cold shoulder, they were the last to arrive.

As they entered and looked for seats, Shi Xianbo surprisingly waved them over, signaling for them to sit near his team.

Li Yinjiang was already seated over there.

The team made their way over.

Shen Xin glanced around and noticed the seating arrangement was clearly divided. Meng Fuqiang’s group had been ostracized, forced into the seats on the far right.

And Fang Weijie’s group, surprisingly, was surrounded in the center.

"What’s going on?" Shen Xin whispered.

At the banquet last night, Nanjiang and Peng An had been the ones getting the cold shoulder.

As for the Ningshan team, they were the hosts, so plenty of people had gone over to toast them.

’How did the winds change so much overnight?’

Just then, Li Yinjiang, who was in the front row, waved Shen Xin over, motioning for him to come sit in the second row.

The team leaders were all in the first row.

The moment Shen Xin sat down next to Yang Lichuan, Li Yinjiang immediately pointed at him and announced to the other team leaders, "Everyone, trust me on this. When it comes to training police dogs, Xiaoshen is top-notch."

He proudly gave a thumbs-up. "I truly believe the dogs he’s trained are no less capable than Number One. So this year, when it comes to taking on Ningshan, Xiaoshen can be a big help."

All the team leaders turned in unison to stare at Shen Xin.

Shen Xin was completely bewildered. ’What is going on?’ he thought.

’What’s all this about "taking on Ningshan"? Are you guys trying to start something?’

Yang Lichuan, sitting beside him, explained briefly, and Shen Xin finally understood.

Originally, Peng An’s team was so strong that they were the public enemy for all the other competitors.

Everyone had banded together, with Ningshan leading the charge, to focus all their efforts on taking down Peng An.

But as it turned out, Ningshan pulled a dirty move this year. They somehow found out the competition events ahead of time and did targeted training.