manynovel Chapter 35: Winning Hearts and Minds - What's the Name?
Chapter 35: Winning Hearts and Minds - What's the Name?
next day
Shen Lang got up early and went straight to the police station to report for duty.
Although I've kept my job, I still need to maintain my relationships with my colleagues.
Therefore, clocking in on time and gradually changing people's impressions is especially important.
Even just having a cigarette and a few words of conversation in the office every morning can enhance your friendship.
Having good relationships with colleagues makes things much easier in the future.
"Come on everyone, breakfast is ready!"
Shen Lang stepped into the office, holding up a bag of fried dough sticks in both hands as a gesture.
There were only three fried dough sticks in the paper package, which was obviously not enough for the whole team.
However, following him in were two boys who were about eleven or twelve years old.
The two boys, each carrying a food box, carefully placed it on the table.
These two are the stall owner's sons, who helped out at the stall this morning.
When someone needs food delivery, these two kids run the errand.
At only eleven or twelve years old, he should be studying in the classroom, but because of his family's poverty, he can only help his parents run errands at their stall.
Instantly, everyone else in the office gathered around, their faces full of curiosity and doubt.
I'm curious about what's inside the box.
What's puzzling is that this guy, who always freeloads and only knows how to take advantage of others, suddenly decided to treat everyone to breakfast today?
Shen Lang helped the two boys take out the food one by one.
Smiling, he introduced, "I bought four kinds of delicious food for everyone, so there's plenty to go around. If you can't finish them, just pack them up and take them home! I've been so grateful for everyone's kindness in the past, so it's my turn to reciprocate today."
The Four Heavenly Kings are flatbread, fried dough sticks, glutinous rice balls, and soy milk.
For an ordinary police officer, this is already a pretty good breakfast.
Especially for those who have parents, wives, and children to support, the pressure of life is immense. If they can bring the rest of the money back with them, their families will definitely be very happy.
Shen Lang bought a lot of fried dough sticks, flatbreads, and glutinous rice balls, but each person only got one bowl of soy milk.
It's not that he's unwilling to spend money, it's just that it's hard to get the money.
With money in their pockets, they became more extravagant when buying things.
The two children arranged the things and gave him 2 cents as a tip.
They will come to collect the dishes around noon.
Big Mouth unceremoniously picked up the fried dough stick and took a bite, a look of ecstasy on his face.
Curious, he asked, "Brother Lang, why are you suddenly treating everyone to breakfast? Did you strike it rich?"
The others also picked up their food and started eating, all of them curiously pricking up their ears.
Although he spent ten yuan to treat everyone to a meal, strictly speaking, it was embezzled money, and he couldn't hide it.
Inviting everyone to a banquet is just considered hush money.
But today is different. Inviting everyone to breakfast out of the blue is like a young woman getting married for the first time.
Big Mouth's casual remark happened to perfectly capture the truth.
Shen Lang smiled and nodded, saying, "There was a big upset at the dog racing track last night, so I made a small profit."
His voice sounded nonchalant, but the corners of his mouth, which were practically turned up in a smile, clearly showed that he had made a considerable amount of money.
The others exchanged glances, their faces lighting up with sudden realization.
According to their speculation, a first-level police officer's monthly salary plus allowances (gray income) amounted to more than 20 yuan per month.
He proudly called it making a profit, which was at least several hundred yuan, and it was indeed a big profit.
Inviting someone to breakfast is just a drop in the ocean.
Knowing that the other party had made a fortune, everyone ate without any restraint.
When someone is treating, you don't hold back and eat until you're stuffed, with a little bit left over.
The group wrapped it up in paper and took it home; it would be enough for another meal.
The saying goes, "He who takes a man's gift is bound to be grateful," meaning that once you've accepted someone's gift, the relationship naturally becomes closer.
Xu Dongyang stubbed out his cigarette, stood up, and said, "Now that we're all full, let's get to work!"
With the patrol leader's words, everyone quickly finished their cigarettes in a few puffs.
They put on their hats, grabbed their batons, greeted each other, and went out on patrol in twos and threes.
The police's job is to patrol and maintain order on the streets, and to arrest petty thieves if they encounter them.
Shen Lang picked up his baton and went downstairs with everyone else.
However, after stepping out of the police station, everyone else patrolled in groups of two or three, while he was all alone.
The main reason is that his predecessor had such a bad reputation that no one wanted to patrol with him.
Even the least senior member of the patrol team, Big Mouth, refused to continue after being tricked a few times while patrolling with him.
So everyone else has a companion on patrol, and they can help each other if they encounter any problems.
He was all alone, and he had to face any unexpected situation by himself.
But that's fine too; it's more convenient to act alone.
Shen Lang wasn't in a hurry. He tapped his leg lightly with his baton and swayed as he walked towards the square.
In one corner of the square, a few people were watching the excitement, and bursts of applause and cheers could be heard from time to time.
Because it was so early, there were fewer than ten people watching. From a distance, you could see a muscular young man with bare arms performing martial arts.
Shen Lang did not approach, but stood at a distance and watched.
As I passed a roasted nuts and seeds stall, I grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds.
They leisurely watched the spectacle while casually spitting sunflower seed shells onto the ground.
No need to worry about being criticized by others for being unhygienic; suddenly, I feel that being an uncivilized person isn't so bad.
It must be said that the young man's muscular physique exuded explosive power.
Coupled with his wide-ranging and powerful moves, even a layman like him thought he looked very impressive.
Just as I was getting into the show, a teasing voice came from beside me: "You're interested in martial arts too?"
Shen Lang spat out a sunflower seed shell and laughed, "Men, they all have a martial arts dream."
Gu Yichen smiled and took out a cigarette to offer.
He asked in a low voice, "Did you find anything?"
The reason we met so early in the morning was to see if we had any intelligence.
Previously, he had accurately provided the hiding place of the Japanese spies and even found out the license plate number of the corresponding vehicle, which made him look at them with new eyes.
They also paid more attention to this informant.
Shen Lang lit a cigarette and said calmly, "I'm starting to see some progress, but I need to confirm it before I can give you a definite answer."
The intelligence provided by the system last night did mention a Japanese man who had died, and also mentioned a trading company.
However, there were at least 8,000 to 10,000 Japanese in the French Concession, and many Japanese women were willing to sell their bodies in exchange for military funding to continue the invasion.
There are also dozens of large and small trading companies run by Japanese.
We can't just assume a place is a spy base just because it's run by Japanese people, can we?
Therefore, we cannot draw conclusions before confirming the information.
Intelligence gathering must be rigorous; otherwise, a single piece of erroneous intelligence could kill many people or even lead to the failure of a battle.
After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Do you know the name of the driver you shot down?"
Gu Yichen hesitated for a moment, quickly weighing the options in his mind.
In the past, such secrets would have been kept strictly confidential.
However, considering the other party's abilities, perhaps we can find some clues.
He replied in a low voice, "We found an ID on the driver; the name is Inoue Yuichi."