Animal Detective

Chapter 361: Chapter 297: Ma Chang Town

It was lunchtime. It just wouldn’t be right not to have a meal together.

Regulations were strict these days, so going to a fancy place for an extravagant meal was out of the question.

They settled on an ordinary restaurant near the Public Security Bureau.

The Director couldn’t make it; he was at a meeting in the city and wouldn’t be back in time.

But he had instructed Zhao Helin to make sure their guests were well taken care of.

They were having the local specialty, a griddle-cooked meal.

Zhao Helin enthusiastically explained, "Here in Ju Province, the griddles are different everywhere you go. Some are convex, some are concave. But here in Huaiyi, we have a special name for it: ’living oil griddle.’ You can see the difference just by looking at the pot."

He pointed to the cast-iron pot in the center of the table.

In the middle of this cast-iron griddle, there was a raised center with a bowl resting on top.

Zhao Helin continued, "The secret is this bowl of dipping sauce. Every restaurant has its own recipe, but one ingredient is essential: lard."

"The lard is what makes it so fragrant. Combined with chili peppers and a fermented vegetable brine, it’s sour, spicy, and carries the rich aroma of the fat. It’s a delicious appetizer, for sure."

"Then there’s the matter of what you actually cook on it. There’s a saying that goes, ’Anything and everything can be griddled,’ and that’s no exaggeration."

"Thinly sliced pork belly, marinated beef, konjac, dried tofu, and our local specialty, potato cakes. Add some pickled vegetables... the longer you cook them, the more fragrant they become. The more you eat, the more you want."

Shen Xin, ever the one to make others feel good, smiled and said, "Director Zhao, you could be a food critic! After that description, I’m starving."

He Wen Yu had a technical background, but after spending so much time in a government office, he was no slouch when it came to social graces. He mentioned to Zhao Helin that there were food bloggers online these days.

And Zhao Helin’s spiel was better than any of them.

He even took out his camera, saying he had to get a shot of the magnificent spread to edit into their documentary later, to give Huaiyi’s cuisine a proper feature.

And you had to admit, it tasted incredible.

Sour and spicy, it was the perfect appetizer.

Even though Shen Xin was from Nanjiang, nicknamed the "City of Sweets," he was like most young people these days—he loved spicy food, so he had no trouble with it.

They had some liquor as well.

The rules weren’t as strict in a remote county like this.

Zhao Helin was such a gracious host that Shen Xin felt it would be rude to refuse.

They were drinking a local specialty called Shuihua liquor.

They didn’t drink much. As Zhao Helin put it, the stuff would "knock you down if a breeze blew," so it was best not to overindulge.

In contrast to Zhao Helin’s sociability, Li Xiaowen was much quieter. You could tell he wasn’t one for schmoozing.

Guo Jin was even more out of his element. He said little, just trying his best to keep a smile plastered on his face.

They drank sparingly, so no one was knocked over by any breezes.

After the meal, Zhao Helin invited Shen Xin to stay in Shiyao for another day.

Shen Xin, however, thought it best to head straight to Ma Chang Town.

The main reason was that Guo Jin had made a special trip to meet them. If they stayed, he’d have to make the same trip again tomorrow.

Ma Chang Town was nearly seventy kilometers from the county seat, and the entire route consisted of winding mountain roads. It was a hassle to make the trip.

Zhao Helin readily agreed. He said that once the Director was back, they would all go to Ma Chang Town together the next day for a proper handover ceremony.

It was official business, after all—an inter-provincial partnership.

"Director Zhao, thank you for your hospitality. We’ll get going now," Shen Xin said his goodbyes, then got into Guo Jin’s police car to head for Ma Chang Town.

Zhao Helin waved from afar.

The slightly drunken look he’d been wearing vanished the moment the car was out of sight, his eyes instantly clearing.

Zhao Helin glanced at Li Xiaowen and grumbled, "Xiaowen, honestly. I told you to have a couple of drinks with them at the table, but you refused, muttering something about being on duty."

The rules are the rules, sure, but all you had to do was report it.

With me, the Deputy Director, right there, you could have even skipped that step entirely.

You’re just too rigid. You didn’t handle the social side of things properly.

Zhao Helin continued his lecture, "Don’t think I didn’t see you. The way you were staring at that police dog, your eyes were practically glued to it."

A remote place like Shiyao County doesn’t have any professional K-9 units.

To get a police dog, you have to file a request with Huaiyi City.

But Huaiyi only has a small K-9 base with a grand total of five dogs. With several counties in the city, how could that possibly be enough?

Li Xiaowen awkwardly mumbled, "I wasn’t," while thinking, ’I couldn’t have been *that* obvious, could I?’

Zhao Helin clapped him on the shoulder and said earnestly, "I know. You must think it’s a waste giving the dog to Lao Guo, and you’re holding a grudge over it. But who gets the dog isn’t up to us."

The recipient unit was carefully selected.

They chose Ma Chang Town because it’s so remote and has had multiple child abduction cases, which aligns with the original purpose of Shen Xin’s project.

Li Xiaowen quickly denied it. "That’s not what I was thinking at all."

Zhao Helin shook his head slightly and continued to coach him, "You’re being dense. We don’t have the resources to train K-9s here. They’re from the big city; an investment like this is nothing to them."

"Since they’re willing to run this program, and since this Shen Xin fellow is in charge, you should have buttered him up a little, built a connection. That way, if they send another dog our way in the future, you might just get it."

It wasn’t that Li Xiaowen didn’t understand the logic. "But he’s already left," he said.

It’s too late for another drink.

Zhao Helin said, "There’s still tomorrow, isn’t there? And setting that aside, they came all this way to see us. The least you can do is be a good host. I’m always telling you, it pays to be a bit more tactful. There’s no harm in it."

Li Xiaowen nodded, taking the advice to heart.

Meanwhile, Shen Xin’s party was already driving on the winding mountain road.

Mountains flanked them on both sides. It was April, and the landscape was a vibrant spring tapestry of long grass and fluttering warblers. The lush greenery was a refreshing sight for the soul.

With Zhao Helin gone, Guo Jin visibly relaxed. He started by thanking them, saying he never expected the police dog would be assigned to them.

"To be honest, we’re really short-staffed. Our entire station has just eleven people. And now we have the ’officer-per-village’ initiative, which means there should be an officer in every village, making monthly visits."

"The problem is, we don’t have enough officers. Ma Chang Town has 54 natural villages. We’re completely overwhelmed. So having an extra police dog will genuinely lighten our load."

He glanced back at Tian Kui, who was lying down in the back seat, an undisguised look of joy on his face.

The town had its fair share of cases, especially petty theft. With a K-9, investigations would be so much easier.

Having worked at a local police station himself, Shen Xin could empathize.

And with the Ma Chang Town station having only nine people in total—two of whom were auxiliary officers—they were definitely a bit short-handed.

Between daily household registration, basic legal awareness campaigns, and all the various cases, just as Guo Jin had said, they were completely swamped.

Taking advantage of the conversation, Shen Xin gave him a rundown on Tian Kui.

"He’s incredibly capable, no doubt about it, but he has a strong personality. He doesn’t defer to just anyone. Once he respects you, though, he’s extremely obedient."

Shen Xin’s biggest worry was that Tian Kui wouldn’t listen to anyone else.

Guo Jin let out an "oh," and nervously asked Shen Xin what he should do.

Shen Xin couldn’t exactly suggest he get into a fight with Tian Kui, so he could only advise him to spend a lot of time with the dog and show him plenty of goodwill. Tian Kui would be able to sense it.

Of course, he still needed to be strict when the situation called for it.

Tian Kui’s personality was similar to Tiger Stripes’; you couldn’t be too soft on him.

Guo Jin took mental notes of everything.

The mountain road was rough and narrow, so the truck couldn’t go fast.

Besides, his Isuzu pickup was ancient. Shen Xin glanced at the odometer and saw it was maxed out at six nines.

Nearly two hours later, they arrived at the town, nestled among the mountains.

As far as the eye could see, there wasn’t a single high-rise building.

Guo Jin explained that Ma Chang Town had a population of just under thirty thousand. The town was laid out along a southeast-to-northwest axis. The mountains to the west were higher, while the road to the east led back to Shiyao County.

To the east of town, Provincial Road 326 ran alongside it.

"We’re called Ma Chang Town, but the ’horse field’ part is from a long, long time ago. Nowadays, we mostly raise donkeys. There’s a donkey meat hot pot place in town that’s pretty good. We’ll go there for dinner tonight."

Guo Jin was incredibly hospitable.

Shen Xin didn’t refuse. Honestly, training a specialized police dog typically costs between one and two hundred thousand.

Getting a police dog for free certainly earned them a couple of good meals.

The county road from the seat ran east to west, intersecting with the north-south Provincial Road 326.

At this intersection was the town’s one and only traffic light.

Past the crossroads lay the town’s main street.

At the far end of the street were the town hall and the police station.

It was a little after two in the afternoon, and the town streets were mostly empty.

He Wen Yu took out his camera and started filming some B-roll.

But they hadn’t gone far past the intersection when the old pickup truck shuddered violently a couple of times, the engine making an ominous noise.

Then it died right in the middle of the road.

Guo Jin frantically tried the ignition, but it wouldn’t catch. He explained hurriedly, "This truck’s more than a decade old. The starter’s a bit finicky—it’s an old problem. Pumping the gas a couple of times usually does the trick."

Evidently, pumping the gas a couple of times was not going to fix it.

Guo Jin glanced at the police station in the distance. It was still several hundred meters away.

"Here, you get behind the wheel, and I’ll get out and push. We can get it started that way."

He rushed to get out of the truck.

Shen Xin quickly stopped him and motioned for He Wen Yu to get out with him to push.

Guo Jin was fifty-one years old; there was no way Shen Xin was going to sit in the truck while the older man pushed.

"I can’t let you do that! You’re our guests." Guo Jin got out to stop them, insisting he’d call the station for help.

Shen Xin held him back. "Why go to all that trouble?"

He might be a guest, but he wasn’t that pampered.

He told Guo Jin to get back in the truck, and he and He Wen Yu started pushing.

The west side of town was higher, and it felt like they were on an incline, making the pushing quite strenuous.

Still, two young guys had enough muscle to get it moving.

The engine sputtered twice but still wouldn’t turn over.

"It’s okay, let’s go again."

Shen Xin put his back into it, pushing a little faster.

Just then, Guo Jin suddenly threw the door open, jumped out with a WHOOSH, and sprinted across the road.

Shen Xin watched him go, completely baffled.

’Did he just abandon the truck?’

Beside him, He Wen Yu was still pushing with his head down, sending the truck veering off course.

Shen Xin scrambled to the driver’s side and pulled the handbrake.

When he looked across the street, he finally understood what was happening. Outside an internet cafe, a few young guys were brawling.

It was three against one.

The one getting beaten up wasn’t very tall, probably only a teenager, middle-school-aged.

The other three were obviously much older, nearly adults.

Outnumbered, the younger boy was surprisingly fierce. He grabbed a nearby bicycle and swung it wildly, as if trying to sweep away an army.

"What do you think you’re doing? All of you, stop!"

Guo Jin wasn’t young, but he ran surprisingly fast, shouting as he went.

He was still in his police uniform, and the moment the three attackers saw him, they turned and fled.

Guo Jin was quick, lunging forward and grabbing one of them before he could get away.

But the kid who was being beaten, now in a frenzy, charged forward with the bicycle.

Just as he was about to bring it down on Guo Jin, Shen Xin appeared and grabbed the little punk.