Animal Detective

Chapter 123: You Can’t Take the Man

With Tiger Stripes watching his every move, Shen Xin unwrapped two sausage sticks and stuffed them both into Black Panther’s mouth.

Tiger Stripes grew frantic, barking at Shen Xin and then at Black Panther.

His barks were so pitiful they could bring a tear to anyone’s eye.

Even Chen Guo couldn’t stand it. The police dogs back at the K-9 base—the ones in heat, desperate and frustrated—didn’t sound this miserable.

Just then, Black Panther opened his mouth and spat out half a sausage stick. He kept his head held high, glancing at Tiger Stripes from the corner of his eye as if to say, ’That good enough for you?’

Not caring if it was dirty, Tiger Stripes pounced and gulped it down, though he continued to whimper.

Tang Changhong shook his head vigorously, feeling as if he’d just woken up into a dream.

"What about professional training? Have you given them any?" he asked urgently.

Shen Xin understood what he meant. After a quick glance at Lv Youwei, who showed no reaction, he went inside and brought out Dou Dou on her leash.

"Director, that’s her," Chen Guo said quickly.

Tang Changhong’s eyes lit up.

It was another search and retrieval test. Shen Xin arranged the suitcases.

He placed a piece of beef jerky into a plastic test tube, sealed it, then put the tube inside a makeup bag. He handed the bag to Tang Changhong and told him to pick a suitcase to hide it in.

He’d been using beef jerky for training; they hadn’t moved on to the drug detection phase yet.

"Very professional," Tang Changhong remarked, nodding in approval as he looked at the makeup bag.

The bag was full of cosmetics—all chemical concoctions, many with added fragrances—which would serve as excellent scent-masking agents.

Putting the beef jerky in a sealed test tube was also standard procedure.

Drug traffickers would wrap their contraband in layer after layer, so this kind of test was necessary to simulate real-world conditions.

After a moment’s hesitation, he tucked it into suitcase number 9.

He likely wanted to make Dou Dou sniff a few more suitcases to test her consistency.

Once he was done hiding it, Shen Xin led Dou Dou over.

"Director Tang, I’ll begin then."

Tang Changhong nodded and stepped back a bit. He turned to Chen Guo and asked, "What’s Nannan’s current training time?"

Nannan was an active-duty drug detection dog at the K-9 base, a Springer Spaniel.

Chen Guo thought for a moment. "Under these conditions, I’d say it would take five to ten seconds per suitcase."

There are two general approaches to this kind of training.

The first is speed.

You lay out several suitcases and hide a simply packaged drug sample in one of them.

For instance, something just sealed in a plastic bag.

The goal is for the detection dog to find the target in the shortest time possible.

The suitcases are placed close together, allowing the dog to move back and forth, searching for the scent’s origin within a limited area.

It might only take a few seconds to locate the target.

The second approach is precision.

This simulates how traffickers use elaborate packaging and clever concealment.

Honestly, just wrapping it in layer after layer isn’t the half of it. Some traffickers soak it in liquid or hide it inside the belly of a salted fish. The point is to use excessive packaging and overpowering, distracting odors.

Under these circumstances, finding the contraband takes time.

It could take ten seconds, maybe even longer, to get a scent.

It’s even possible that the dog won’t find it at all.

The current test leaned more toward the second scenario, which was why Chen Guo estimated a time of five to ten seconds.

The detection dogs on duty at Nanjiang Airport typically take about that long to check a piece of luggage during their daily routine.

Tang Changhong nodded. That number sounded reasonable.

As they were talking, Shen Xin began the test.

He let Dou Dou sniff them one by one, allowing her to set her own pace.

Based on her previous training, she typically took about five seconds to confirm a suitcase.

She moved down the line, sniffing quickly and without hesitation. She soon arrived at suitcase number 9, sniffed for a few seconds, and immediately let out a bark.

’She found it!’

Tang Changhong and Chen Guo exchanged a look, their eyes filled with shock.

Her accuracy was high and her speed was incredible. You could say she was on par with the active-duty police dogs at the K-9 base.

The thing was, how long ago had Dou Dou been rescued?

And how long had the dogs at the K-9 base been in training?

"Director Tang, was that satisfactory?" Shen Xin asked.

Tang Changhong snapped out of it and stared intently at Dou Dou and Shen Xin.

He stared so long that Shen Xin was starting to feel unnerved. Then, a huge smile spread across his face. "Xiaoshen."

The way he said "Xiaoshen" made Shen Xin involuntarily shiver.

But before he could say anything else, Lv Youwei suddenly interjected with a smile. "Old Tang, you’ve seen enough, haven’t you? Why don’t you come to my office for a bit? I know you like black tea, and a friend gave me a nice box of it. I’m not a fan myself, so it’s just been sitting there. Come on, let’s go try it."

With that, he grabbed Tang Changhong and started pulling him away, refusing to take no for an answer.

He also called over his shoulder to Shen Xin, "Xiaoshen, Director Wang was looking for you. You should go find him."

Shen Xin acknowledged with a quick "Oh!" and, without leashing Black Panther and the other two dogs, hurried toward the administration building.

Only when Shen Xin was far in the distance did Tang Changhong angrily shake off Lv Youwei’s arm. "Old Lv, that was a low blow. What was I even going to say? You’re just going to stonewall me like that? Not even let me get a word in?"

Lv Youwei shot back, "And what were you planning to say? You’re not taking the man, and you’re not taking his dogs. Period."

’We’re all old foxes here; don’t think I don’t know what you’re scheming.’

"When did I say I was going to take him?!" Tang Changhong glared, lying through his teeth. "I just wanted to discuss Xiaoshen’s career prospects with you. Look at you, so petty. What are you letting your imagination run wild for?"

’Career prospects?’

Lv Youwei couldn’t help but laugh. "Alright, Old Tang. I’ll say it again: you are not taking him. And let me be clear, this dog training thing is just a side project for Xiaoshen. He’s a real detective. His ambition is to solve crimes, not spend all day chasing after dogs."

Before Tang Changhong could retort, he added, "And don’t even try to talk about salary. His family owns a factory; he’s not hurting for cash."

"Hey!"

Tang Changhong’s eyes bulged. ’Who are you calling someone who just chases after dogs all day?’

But a moment later, his tone softened. "Old Lv, don’t you see? This is a colossal waste!"

"Think about it. How many detectives are there in the whole country? If we lose one Shen Xin, will cases suddenly stop being solved? But K-9s? You know better than anyone how big the nationwide shortage is. With his talent, Shen Xin is a born K-9 handler."

"If he could train a whole batch of police dogs, or figure out a method for rapid K-9 training, wouldn’t that be a greater contribution than just solving a few cases?"

"So, Old Lv, you can’t be this selfish."

Tang Changhong went straight for the guilt trip, patting Lv Youwei’s shoulder and speaking with grave importance.

"Bullshit!"

Lv Youwei wasn’t falling for that. "Old Tang, you should be grateful I let you see him at all. Don’t push your luck. I’m telling you right now, Shen Xin is not going with you."

With that, he turned and walked away.

’Drink black tea? He could go drink the wind for all I care.’

Tang Changhong was so furious he put his hands on his hips.

"Director, what do we do now?" Chen Guo stepped forward and asked. He glanced over at the three dogs playing by themselves in the distance, a renewed sense of disbelief washing over him.

Tiger Stripes, in particular, had absolutely stunned him.

"What do you mean, ’what do we do’?" Tang Changhong huffed.

’Now that I know where to find him, there’s no way I’m letting Shen Xin get away.’

In Tang Changhong’s eyes, Shen Xin possessed some kind of sacred constitution for dog training. For him not to come to the K-9 base and put his talent to use would be a monumental waste.

Chen Guo gave a wry smile. He agreed that Shen Xin was incredible—practically a modern-day Druid.

"But Director, Director Lv said he won’t let the man go," Chen Guo pointed out.

Besides, Shen Xin’s family was wealthy, so trying to entice him with a higher salary was out of the question.

Tang Changhong gestured for Chen Guo to be quiet. ’I know all that, you don’t have to repeat it.’

He crossed his arms, his brow furrowed as he tried to come up with a plan.

After a long moment, he suddenly lowered his voice. "By the way, Chen Guo, do you know if Jiahui is actually single?"

Chen Guo’s eyes flew wide open. He almost blurted out, ’Holy shit!’

Li Jiahui had joined the K-9 base two years ago after graduating. She was a top student from Ningjiang Agricultural University’s veterinary medicine program who also worked as a handler. Most importantly, she was beautiful, had a great figure, and was considered the belle of the K-9 base.

"Director, what century are we in? You can’t be seriously considering a honey trap," Chen Guo retorted, his tone sour.

Tang Changhong’s face flushed. "What honey trap? Don’t be ridiculous."

’Am I that kind of person?’

"Fine, fine, I was just thinking out loud." Seeing Chen Guo still staring at him resentfully, Tang Changhong quickly backtracked, then added admonishingly, "Besides, it’s you guys who are useless. You can’t manage to win her over, and now you’re blaming me?"

At the mention of this, Chen Guo grew even more sullen.