Animal Detective

Chapter 362: Chapter 298: The Ma Chang Station is a K-9 Station Now

Guo Jin’s eyes widened. He barked, "Shiwaizi, what do you think you’re doing? Are you trying to hit me?"

Shiwaizi struggled with all his might, yelling for him to let go.

But Shen Xin was young and strong. There was no way the boy could break free.

After disarming him, Shen Xin finally looked at the kid in his grasp.

He wasn’t tall, probably just over four and a half feet.

Dark-skinned and skinny.

His hair was a mess, like he’d just randomly chopped it himself.

He wore a frayed, striped long-sleeved shirt. It was originally gray but had been worn so much it was almost black.

He was quite fashionable, though. His shiny, greasy jeans were ripped, revealing his bare thighs underneath.

But it wasn’t cold in Huaiyi.

It was only early April, but daytime temperatures were already pushing the high seventies, and it was oppressively humid.

Shiwaizi pointed at the young man in Guo Jin’s grasp and tried to kick him, yelling, "They hit me first!"

Shen Xin immediately yanked him back.

The kid’s mouth was bleeding, yet he was still this ferocious.

The other guys were at least a few years older than him, but here he was, taking on three of them without a hint of fear.

Guo Jin looked at the young man he was holding down. He clearly knew him. "Zhang Xi, what’s this all about? Why were you fighting?"

This Zhang Xi was about eighteen or nineteen, with a delinquent air about him. His hair had something of a retro emo style.

Pinned down, he looked completely unfazed. He flicked his bangs and sneered, "What do you mean, why were we fighting? I didn’t like the look of him, so I hit him."

Then he lazily asked if he could go.

"Go?"

Guo Jin glared. "Go where? It’s been a few days since I’ve had to discipline you, and you’re already causing trouble for me again. Come back with me."

He started walking, dragging Zhang Xi along.

Zhang Xi followed with a look of complete indifference.

Shen Xin grabbed Shiwaizi, who had the same expression on his face. He clearly didn’t care either.

But after taking two steps, he backed up again, his monolid eyes glaring. "My bike."

Shen Xin glanced at the bicycle—its paint was peeling, it was rusted, the fenders and chain guard were both missing, and it was in such poor condition it could only be sold for scrap. "Relax," he said, "nobody wants your bike."

In this condition, even a thief wouldn’t bother with it.

The boy stared, unmoving.

Guo Jin turned his head. "Shen Xin, just wheel it along for him. Don’t mind that it’s a wreck; he treasures that thing."

Just then, He Wen Yu caught up and started pushing the bike.

When they reached the truck, Guo Jin slapped his forehead. He’d just remembered it was broken.

He tossed the bicycle into the truck bed and told Zhang Xi and Shiwaizi to help push.

He must have known them well enough not to worry about them running off.

With the four of them pushing together, they finally got the truck started.

Tian Kui was also in the cab, so there was no room. Guo Jin told the two kids to sit in the truck bed.

But they hadn’t driven fifty meters before the two started trying to throttle each other again.

Guo Jin had to lean out and shout at them a couple of times before they stopped.

The police station wasn’t large. The front was a service hall, and behind it was a courtyard with offices.

The courtyard wasn’t very big; a vegetable patch took up a third of the space. A young man with his sleeves rolled up was tinkering with a motorcycle.

Seeing the pickup truck pull in, he immediately came over to greet them.

Guo Jin slapped the hood of the truck. "Xiaohong, this truck is no good. It died on me right as we were getting back and I had to get help pushing it. See if you can figure out a way to fix it."

The young man was blunt. He held out his hand. "Director Guo, give me the money and I’ll get it fixed right away."

Guo Jin grunted and quickly gestured to Shen Xin and He Wen Yu to make introductions.

The young man’s name was He Xiangcai. He quickly wiped his hands on his pant legs and shook hands with Shen Xin and He Wen Yu.

Then his attention fell on Tian Kui, his eyes lighting up. "So this is the police dog! He’s really something else, way more handsome than a regular dog."

Guo Jin raised a hand to stop him, chiding, "You can’t call him a dog. He’s a police dog, our close comrade-in-arms. He has a name: Tian Kui."

With that, he squatted down with a grin and greeted Tian Kui.

"Tian Kui, you just wait. I’ll go get you something good to eat. I put it on to stew for you this morning before I left."

He said, then hurried toward the office area.

As he ran, he shouted back, asking if He Xiangcai and the others had snuck a taste.

He Xiangcai called back that they wouldn’t dare, then reached out to greet Tian Kui.

Tian Kui grudgingly allowed him a few pats.

He Xiangcai then noticed Shiwaizi and Zhang Xi in the truck bed and chuckled. "Zhang Xi, did you start this? And Li Shi, what time is it? You skipped class again, didn’t you."

’So the kid’s name is Li Shi,’ Shen Xin realized.

Li Shi turned his head away, pretending not to hear.

Zhang Xi had probably been lectured so many times that he had the same reaction; he couldn’t care less.

Shen Xin squatted down, gesturing around them, and said to Tian Kui, "This will be your workplace from now on." He asked if he wanted to go familiarize himself with it.

Tian Kui looked around, his gaze scrutinizing everything.

He was smart enough. Having come this far, he probably knew the situation was irreversible.

He wasn’t acting up, which meant he was at least starting to accept reality.

’So, where’s my kennel?’

As if to elaborate, he turned his head toward the courtyard gate, his gaze seeming to say, ’You’re not just going to tie me up there, are you?’

Just then, Guo Jin came out carrying a large basin of stewed chicken, calling for Tian Kui to eat. "Have a taste! This is authentic free-range chicken. I stewed it all morning, so it’s perfectly tender."

It was fragrant, too. A layer of chicken fat floated on top, and even Shen Xin could smell the aroma.

But he’d had food-refusal training, after all. Tian Kui’s nose twitched, and he looked up at Shen Xin.

Shen Xin pointed at Guo Jin and said with a serious expression, "Tian Kui, from now on, you’ll listen to him."

At this point, it was important to let Tian Kui know who to obey.

Tian Kui sized up the beaming Guo Jin.

’Hmph.’

Clearly, he wasn’t convinced.

But he was still going to eat.

Guo Jin’s smile widened. He remembered something else and quickly said, "Tian Kui, it’s sunny out here. Don’t get too hot. Come eat inside. I’ve already cleaned a room for you."

With that, he picked up the basin and gestured for Tian Kui to follow him and take a look.

Shen Xin followed.

It was the first room on the right after entering the courtyard gate.

The room had been emptied out, with only a bed inside.

He Xiangcai followed them in, explaining that it used to be their on-duty dorm but had now been cleared out especially for Tian Kui.

Tian Kui didn’t stand on ceremony. He jumped onto the bed, looked around, seemed reasonably satisfied, then hopped back down to continue eating his chicken.

Shen Xin nodded to himself.

’They’re even letting Tian Kui sleep on a bed. That’s proof enough of how well Guo Jin will treat him.’

In that case, Shen Xin could truly be at ease leaving Tian Kui here.

Guo Jin watched Tian Kui eat with a grin, then pointed outside and said to He Xiangcai, "Have those two go write self-criticisms. And ladle out a bowl of chicken soup for Shiwaizi. The kid probably didn’t even eat lunch."

He had barely finished speaking when there was a THUD from outside. The two boys were wrestling again and had fallen to the ground.

Li Shi was several years younger, after all, and not as strong. He was pinned underneath.

Panicked, he rammed his head straight into Zhang Xi’s face.

BANG. Zhang Xi cried out in pain and flew into a rage. He grabbed Li Shi’s head and was about to smash it into the concrete floor.

If that had connected, it would have been serious.

He Xiangcai lunged forward and dragged Zhang Xi away.

Shen Xin also rushed forward and held Li Shi down.

Guo Jin came out, furious. He pointed at the two and scolded them, "You’re both from the same village! What do you think you’re doing? And look where you are! Are you looking for real trouble?"

Zhang Xi’s nose was bleeding from the headbutt. He wiped it away, a vicious look on his face.

He didn’t say any threats, just glared daggers at Li Shi.

Li Shi wasn’t scared, staring back defiantly.

Shen Xin was surprised. ’So they’re from the same village.’

Guo Jin waved his hand, telling He Xiangcai to take them both away for a proper talking-to. He sighed, "Those two are nothing but trouble. Sorry to bother you with this."

Shen Xin said it was no problem, then hesitated before asking about the situation. Why were two kids from the same village fighting so viciously?

Especially that Li Shi kid. He didn’t look old, but he was ruthless.

It seemed like he was the one starting things.

"Who knows."

Guo Jin shook his head slightly, went back into the room to watch Tian Kui eat his chicken, and then said, "Anyway, both kids are trouble. That Zhang Xi, he dropped out of school years ago. Spends his days running around with a gang of other youths. His dad doesn’t care. As for Shiwaizi..."

Mentioning Li Shi, Guo Jin sighed. "His mom died young. She was sick, and it left the family with a huge debt. His dad works as a migrant laborer and doesn’t come back for years at a time, so there’s no one to look after the kid."

"But I know he’s not a bad kid at heart. I’m a good judge of character."

He pointed to his own eyes and chuckled.

Shen Xin understood and didn’t ask any more questions.

Later that evening, the rest of the station’s officers gradually returned.

The deputy director was named Sun Yongjie. He was in his forties and looked like a seasoned veteran, the kind of guy who walked with a swagger.

The station was too small to have a dedicated political instructor, so Guo Jin filled that role as well.

Sun Yongjie was just as enthusiastic as Guo Jin about Tian Kui’s arrival, welcoming him with open arms.

He was still talking about it during dinner that night.

He said they had gone down to a village to bust a gambling ring that day, but someone had tipped them off, and everyone had fled.

"If we’d had a police dog, we could have tracked them, right? Not a single one would have gotten away."

Shen Xin nodded.

Tian Kui did have that ability, but gambling busts usually relied on catching them in the act. Even if a police dog tracked them down later, it would be difficult to secure a conviction.

As they were eating, the officer on duty at the station called.

"What? Someone’s missing!"

Guo Jin exclaimed.

Shen Xin, who was in the middle of eating donkey meat, felt a jolt of alarm. ’Someone’s missing. A child?’

The Ma Chang Town Police Station had been chosen to receive a police dog after a screening process. Internal documents showed that in ’16 and ’17, there had been three and a half child trafficking cases in Ma Chang Town.

The "half" case was an attempted abduction that was discovered and stopped by bystanders on the spot.

But losing three children in two years was actually a very high rate.

’To think I’d run into a case right after arriving.’

Sun Yongjie quickly put down his chopsticks and asked what was wrong.

Guo Jin covered the phone’s receiver. "Don’t ask. Xu Erlengzi’s wife has wandered off again."

Sun Yongjie let out an "Oh," suddenly much calmer.

Surprised, Shen Xin also breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

’I thought a child had gone missing, but it was just a wife.’

Guo Jin hung up the phone. "So what’s the plan? I’ll take some men and drive around to look for her."

Sun Yongjie stood up. "I’ll go. You stay and look after Xiaoshen and his colleague."

Shen Xin quickly said, "Director Guo, we have Tian Kui, don’t we? This is perfect. Let Tian Kui help with the search."

Sun Yongjie paused, then it hit him.

That’s right. The Ma Chang Town station was now a police station with a K-9 unit.

Someone was missing. What could be more suitable than using a police dog to find them?

He nodded. "Alright."

Guo Jin, however, hesitated. "But Tian Kui just got here. He must be tired from the journey. You should let him rest. Besides, Xu Erlengzi’s wife walks slowly; she can’t have gone far. We just need to search along the national highway."

He was actually worried about overworking Tian Kui.

Shen Xin said, "Director Guo, Tian Kui is here to work. Finding a person is nothing for him. It’s no trouble at all."

With Tian Kui’s abilities, this was child’s play.