Animal Detective

Chapter 365: Chapter 301: Tian Kui Earns a Merit Right After Arriving

Shen Xin could tell that Guo Jin was a good, kind-hearted man, but when it came to Li Xingping’s situation, there was little he could do.

After sitting for a while, Guo Jin got up and left.

Li Xingping shoved Li Shi toward the door, telling him to go back to school and sleep.

He muttered in a local dialect about how he was killing himself working, and yet Li Shi still wouldn’t focus on his studies.

Since he hadn’t gotten any help from Guo Jin, he must have been resentful. His voice was loud, and he smacked Li Shi on the head a few times.

Li Yao followed behind, watching timidly.

From deep within the house, an old woman craned her neck, staring intently as well.

Li Shi didn’t talk back, just shot his father a furious look before grabbing his bicycle and leaving.

A whirring sound quickly faded into the distance.

Guo Jin knew Li Xingping was sour with him, but he wasn’t angry. He just sighed softly, started his motorcycle, and left.

Shen Xin turned his head. He could still faintly hear Li Xingping’s curses coming from the yard.

It wasn’t until they were out of the village that Guo Jin seemed to compose himself. He changed the subject and started talking about Tian Kui.

"How can this Tian Kui be so incredible?"

With a smile on his face, he mentioned to Li Shi, who was pedaling his bike beside them, how Tian Kui had found Zhou Er’feng effortlessly.

Li Shi ignored him.

Guo Jin didn’t mind and kept talking, finally remarking that having an incredible dog like Tian Kui stationed in Ma Chang Town with him was a bit of a waste.

"If he were at the county or city bureau, he’d be much more useful and could even earn commendations."

Shen Xin smiled. "Not necessarily. What’s that old saying? ’A revolutionary comrade is a brick, to be moved wherever he’s needed.’ You can make outstanding contributions even in an ordinary post."

"Take child trafficking, for example. If Tian Kui can find just one child in time and save one family, then all the effort I put into training him will have been worthwhile."

’You have to look at the project’s original purpose, which was to combat child trafficking.’

’That’s why they should be sent to remote areas like this.’

As for Guo Jin’s comment about wasting Tian Kui’s abilities, Shen Xin didn’t agree.

Judging by the way Li Xiaowen looked at Tian Kui, Shen Xin was certain that if a case requiring a police dog came up anywhere in the county, they would definitely call on Tian Kui.

’They said he was assigned to Ma Chang Town, but he was really for all of Shiyao County.’

Guo Jin took one hand off the handlebars to give Shen Xin a thumbs-up, then turned to lecture Li Shi.

"Even a police dog works hard to contribute. And you? You’re a young man, but instead of studying, all you do is fool around all day."

Li Shi scoffed and pedaled harder on his bike.

By the time they got back to town, it was almost midnight.

"Hurry home and get some sleep. Your dad’s got it tough, so be good," Guo Jin added.

Li Shi clearly didn’t listen; he just rode his bicycle off into the distance.

Guo Jin then hurried off to check on Tian Kui, worried that Sun Yongjie wasn’t taking good care of him.

Shen Xin made an excuse about wanting to walk a bit and told Guo Jin not to give him a ride.

The hotel wasn’t far, just a short walk away.

He took a moment to check his phone and saw several comments on his social media post.

He’d made the post in the afternoon, struck by the sight of the vast, rolling mountains on his way here.

Ding Yuwei, Li Jiahui, Zhang Qian, Zhao Tianxing, Old Zhou—several of his friends had all commented, asking if his trip was going smoothly.

His own sister and his dear mother, however, hadn’t said a peep.

Judging by his mom’s social media, she was clearly out and about with her old friends.

He quickly replied to them.

Ding Yuwei replied almost instantly, asking what the place was like.

"It’s great. I think I’ve seen a lifetime’s worth of mountains."

Shen Xin then aimed his phone at the night sky and took a picture of the countless stars.

’A sky full of stars,’ he thought. ’Tomorrow will probably be another clear, sunny day.’

And it would be muggy. Guo Jin had mentioned over dinner how strange the weather was this year. Normally, it would only be around ten degrees Celsius this time of year.

As he was texting, Shen Xin passed by the internet cafe he’d seen that afternoon.

The lights were still on inside, a clear sign that plenty of people were pulling an all-nighter.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shen Xin spotted Li Shi’s beat-up bicycle.

’Obviously, the kid didn’t go back to school. He came here to play games all night.’

After hesitating a moment, Shen Xin pushed the door open and entered.

A thick smell hit him the moment he entered. The internet cafe wasn’t large—just a few dozen computers with about ten people scattered around.

Behind the front desk, the owner had his feet up, watching a TV show. He gave Shen Xin a lazy greeting when he walked in.

Shen Xin had already spotted Li Shi.

The kid probably didn’t have money for a computer; he was sitting next to another young man, watching him play a game.

Shen Xin walked over and dragged him outside.

Li Shi straightened his clothes, his face a mask of defiance. "I’ve noticed you cops love to meddle in other people’s business."

Shen Xin asked him why he hadn’t gone back to school.

"The dorms are locked," he said.

Shen Xin wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth. After a moment’s thought, he asked if he was hungry.

’The police station should have given him dinner.’

’But the kid had biked over forty kilometers round trip; he was probably starving by now.’

At this hour, most of the town was already asleep. But since a provincial highway passed through, some drivers would stop to eat. Seeing lights on in the distance, Shen Xin figured there had to be a place still serving food.

"Get your bike. Let’s go," Shen Xin said.

Li Shi hesitated for a moment, then pushed his bicycle and followed.

By the side of the highway, they found a beef restaurant that was still open, specializing in skin-on beef. A few truck drivers were inside having a late-night meal.

He ordered a bowl of beef noodles for Li Shi, plus an extra half-pound of sliced beef.

The boy didn’t stand on ceremony, just lowered his head and started eating.

A growing boy will eat you out of house and home. He polished off the entire large bowl of noodles and half-pound of beef.

After a moment’s hesitation, he surprisingly managed a "Thanks."

He was too embarrassed to look Shen Xin in the eye, though.

Outside, Shen Xin figured it was late enough that the school dorms really were locked. He decided to just have the boy come back to the hotel with him.

The boy wasn’t happy about it and insisted he could go back to school.

Shen Xin didn’t believe him for a second. ’He’d probably just run right back to the internet cafe the moment I turned my back.’

The hotel wasn’t very large. It was full of drivers staying the night, and when Shen Xin asked the owner, there were surprisingly no rooms left.

That meant the only option was for Li Shi to share his room.

Shen Xin was in a standard room with two beds.

Li Shi looked reluctant, but Shen Xin dragged him upstairs anyway.

Once inside the room, Li Shi got straight to the point, asking Shen Xin what he really wanted.

"Don’t think you can lecture me about studying hard just because you bought me dinner. I don’t need any of you meddling in my life."

His tone was quite aggressive.

Shen Xin pointed to the bathroom. "Relax. I’m leaving in a couple of days. Whether you do well in school or not is your business. I’m only getting involved because I don’t want you to get into trouble. That’s it."

Li Shi lowered his head and thought for a moment, then got up to take a shower.

After they both showered, Shen Xin got into bed to sleep.

Since becoming a police officer, Shen Xin had developed the ability to fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Even though he hadn’t been that busy lately, sleepiness washed over him as soon as he lay down.

Just as he was drifting off to sleep, Li Shi suddenly spoke up from the other bed.

"You’re from a big city. What are big cities really like? Are they like what you see online?"

In the darkness, Li Shi stared wide-eyed at the ceiling.

Shen Xin was already half-asleep. He replied without thinking, "If you want to know what it’s like, you should go see for yourself."

Li Shi was clearly not satisfied with this answer. He snorted softly and turned over.

Shen Xin paid him no mind. Sleep quickly overtook him, and he was soon sound asleep.

When Shen Xin woke up the next morning, he found the kid had already taken off.

Shen Xin wasn’t bothered. After washing up, he called for He Wen Yu next door, and they went to get breakfast.

People from the County Public Security Bureau were supposed to come over later that morning for some kind of ceremony.

When they got to the police station after breakfast, they ran right into Guo Jin taking Tian Kui out for a walk.

Guo Jin even asked him how many times a day it was appropriate to walk Tian Kui.

’How many walks he needs depends on who’s walking him,’ Shen Xin thought. ’You’re a station chief, you’re busy as hell. Where are you going to find the time to walk him every day?’

’Just keep an eye on him and don’t let him run off on his own.’

Zhao Helin and the others didn’t arrive until almost ten in the morning.

With them was the director of the Shiyao County Public Security Bureau, Hou Yaxin.

He was tall and thin. As the director of a bureau, his lean face held a natural air of authority that commanded respect without him having to be angry.

However, he was very courteous upon meeting Shen Xin. He immediately apologized, explaining that he had happened to be away the previous day and hadn’t been able to properly welcome Shen Xin and his colleague.

Then he enthusiastically asked where Tian Kui was.

"For a county this large, we don’t even have a single police dog. It’s quite embarrassing, to be honest."

Hou Yaxin lamented. He had been submitting reports to the city for a while, applying to build a police dog facility.

But his requests had been rejected several times.

The cost was too high, and they also needed to bring in professional handlers.

"Director Hou, over here."

Guo Jin led Hou Yaxin over to see Tian Kui with a wide grin. "Director Hou, this police dog is truly incredible. You won’t believe it, but just last night, Tian Kui already performed a great service."

"Oh?"

Hou Yaxin hurriedly asked what happened.

Guo Jin explained how Zhou Er’feng had gone missing. "In the middle of the night, she wandered off into the mountains. Tell me, who could have possibly found her? But Tian Kui, he just took one sniff of her scent—hours after the fact, mind you—and somehow managed to find her. Isn’t that incredible?"

Guo Jin was still in awe just thinking about Tian Kui’s performance the previous night.

Hou Yaxin and the others were equally astonished.

Tian Kui had just arrived, and he’d already performed a great service.

Li Xiaowen, in particular, who was standing with them, had eyes that were practically shining.