Volume 1, Chapter 14: The Delinquent Girl Comes Knocking

Forget it, I will deal with that later.

My goodness, this first day of reporting for duty has been so exhausting.

Upon returning to the station, Ye Lin, drained from a day of battle, collapsed and fell fast asleep. Poor Lin Xianfeng, having just arrived on his first day, was dragged away by Zhang Degen to record statements from some petty thugs; by the time he returned to the dormitory, it was already well past midnight. Watching his teammate sleeping like a log, Lin Xianfeng could only lie down slowly. After all, the guy had made a significant contribution today—he could only hope that he, too, would capture some major thieves tomorrow.

...

A new day began.

He Xinmin was still lingering in the hospital, taking advantage of the public medical benefits. Although they were short-handed, Director Xie was full of energy. Thanks to that monster Ye Lin, they had managed to catch an arsonist, a wanted criminal, and a whole group of small-time punks yesterday. They hadn't even finished interrogating everyone last night, so they had just shoved them all into the detention cells.

Bright and early, Director Xie led a group of people to start taking statements and organizing files—these were all valuable accomplishments for his record. Ye Lin also followed a few senior officers to learn how to take statements. Although he had studied this in school, it was...

Just past nine o'clock, a father and daughter walked in.

"Officer, I want to report a case. My wife is missing."

Ye Lin took a look and realized it was an old acquaintance—Old Zhang from the Baiyun Third District. The person with him appeared to be his daughter.

"Missing?"

This was a case for the criminal police. Zhang Degen gestured for Lin Xianfeng to step forward and take the report. Missing person cases were the hardest to investigate. Generally, they rarely yielded results; either the person had gone off somewhere and would return on their own after a couple of days, or they had vanished completely. Regardless, Zhang Degen found missing person cases to be a massive headache—they were just too difficult.

Once Lin Xianfeng finished the registration, Old Zhang left with his daughter. Zhang Degen took the form and read it over in detail.

"She's been missing for three days, and they're only reporting it now?" Zhang Degen muttered.

Ye Lin leaned in, "Captain Zhang, my master mentioned that this Old Zhang's wife has quite a few female friends and likes to go out. It’s possible she’s just off having fun somewhere."

"Hmm. I see." Zhang Degen wasn't particularly impressed by the information Ye Lin provided. There was no helping it; Ye Lin’s performance yesterday had been too outstanding, overshadowing all the criminal police officers. As the captain, he felt a bit of a loss of face.

"Xiao Lin, you come with me to Old Zhang’s house. Let's learn more about his wife’s social network."

"Xiao Xu and Stone, you two go to the vicinity of the Baiyun Third District to check the surveillance footage and interview the local residents. See if you can find anything."

"Although she has been missing for three days, as long as she appeared somewhere, there must be a lead. Let’s move out."

Zhang Degen decisively assigned the tasks, and the team set off in a grand procession. Ye Lin, however, didn't hold high hopes for them. Surveillance systems here were not yet sophisticated. Unlike future generations, where cameras were everywhere, forming a "sky net" from which nothing could escape, there was no such thing now. Without surveillance, they had to rely entirely on manual investigation.

He hoped they would have some success.

Throughout the morning, Ye Lin helped Sister He from the household registration office with her work, running errands back and forth. The diligent Sister He’s impression of him changed drastically.

As noon approached, a thin, small figure appeared at the door. Ye Lin glanced over and found her somewhat familiar. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the young punk girl who had lured him into that trap before.

This time, the girl was wearing jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt. Her signature "non-mainstream" frizzy hair was neatly tied back, and looking closely, she appeared much clearer. Although she wasn't particularly stunning, she at least looked like a decent person now.

Ye Lin walked out with a cold face, "What is it? Last time, out of consideration for the fact that you pulled me back at the end, I didn't tell the director about you. Are you here to turn yourself in today?"

The girl looked at Ye Lin, seemingly engaged in an intense internal struggle, before a flicker of determination crossed her eyes.

*Thud!*

In one swift motion, she knelt down, grabbed Ye Lin’s leg, and looked up, pleading, "Brother Officer, please help me. Save my younger brother."

*What the hell!*

Ye Lin was startled. *Good grief, what is she doing?*

This was in public! With this posture, people would think he was forcing himself upon a young woman. Coupled with his own ruffian-like face, this was exactly like the classic scene of a villain strong-arming a helpless girl. The colleagues in the hall were all watching. Terrified, Ye Lin quickly pulled the girl up and said sternly, "Stand up! Stand up! If you have something to say, say it, but don't pull this stunt!"

The girl had wanted to stay kneeling, but her frail frame was no match for Ye Lin. After struggling for a moment, she gave up. Ye Lin hurriedly dragged her to a secluded corner, looked around like a thief, and breathed a sigh of relief only after confirming no one was watching.

"Listen, little sister, it’s already generous of me not to arrest you. Are you trying to get me into trouble?" Ye Lin said irritably. *I let you off the hook, and you pull this on me? If someone took a picture and posted it online, I wouldn't even know how I died.*

"Officer... brother, I really have something to ask of you. I know I was wrong to you before, but I had no choice. I had to come to you. I hope you can help me."

"I’ll give you whatever you want. I can even be your girlfriend."

The girl was desperate; she would say anything.

"Don't! Just tell me what's wrong, okay? Don't start with the ‘offering yourself’ nonsense." Ye Lin quickly interrupted her. This girl spoke even more aggressively than he did.

The girl pursed her lips, and her eyes began to moisten, "Brother Officer."

"Don't call me brother, call me uncle."

"Uncle."

"Officer Uncle!!!"

"Oh, Officer Uncle, I didn't intend to harm you last time. It was that Yellow-Hair and the others who forced me. I had no choice," the girl explained.

"Alright, stop. I don't want to pursue what happened last time. What is the problem this time?"

"I... I want to ask you to heal my brother's leg," the girl whispered.

"..."

"Heal him? I'm a police officer, little sister. Did you find the wrong person?" Ye Lin was speechless. Although he came from a family with profound learning, he hadn't finished medical school and didn't consider himself qualified to practice medicine. This girl seemed to have something wrong with her brain.

"I saw it! I saw you treat a little girl's dislocation at the People's Hospital. Everyone there called you a miracle doctor!" The girl became anxious when she saw Ye Lin wasn't agreeing.

"That was just bone setting, not treating an illness."

"My brother's leg is broken; it's a bone problem!" she said excitedly.

"Officer Uncle, Miracle Doctor Uncle, please help me. My brother and I are very pitiful. We don't have the money to go to the hospital. My brother's leg has been like this for two years. I heard people say that if it goes on like this, his life will be ruined—he'll never be able to get out of bed again."

"Please help me, I can give you anything."

"I can help you earn money, I can help you clean your house, I can do anything."

The girl grew more emotional as she spoke, and *thud*, she knelt down again.