Animal Detective

Chapter 163: Poaching? Dream On

Even in a provincial capital, police dogs were still a huge headache.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have designated the Nanjiang K-9 base as a provincial partner unit and requested dogs from them.

So, being able to train police dogs was another impressive skill.

"Isn’t he on your narcotics team? Why is he training police dogs?" Lin Weinian pressed.

His interest surged like a tide, growing stronger with each wave.

"Director Lin, you may not know this, but Xiaoshen isn’t from narcotics. He’s from criminal investigation. And even though he just joined the force, he’s already solved several major cases in a row."

Chen Guanglin had heard about Shen Xin’s situation from Jiang Wengang.

"Oh?"

Lin Weinian’s eyes lit up again.

’This is a cross-disciplinary talent.’

Just as Chen Guanglin was about to speak, Jiang Wengang, who was beside him, secretly tugged his sleeve.

’That’s enough. Can’t you see the guy’s eyes are practically glowing?’

’What if he sets his sights on Shen Xin?’

’You’re from the city bureau, so you don’t care. You can just brag in front of the director.’

’You’ll have your fun bragging, but what about me?’

Although an inter-city transfer was a difficult thing to arrange.

It was difficult, not impossible.

If Lin Weinian took an interest in Shen Xin and had him transferred to Ningshan, and he himself returned empty-handed, Lv Youwei would have his hide and bust him down to street patrol.

That tug brought Chen Guanglin back to his senses.

He immediately changed the subject. "Director Lin, are there any results on Gong Baocun’s end?"

Lin Weinian thought to himself, ’Forget Gong Baocun. He’s already a fish in a barrel; we can deal with him anytime.’

But Shen Xin... now *he* was truly interesting.

With Da Mei’s reconnaissance abilities, it would be a perfect fit for criminal investigations.

’He can train police dogs and solve cases. How can a young talent like him develop in a small place like Nanjiang?’

’It’s a waste of talent.’

"Captain Chen, you said Xiaoshen solved some major cases. How major were they?"

For a division captain like Chen Guanglin to call them "major," they probably weren’t small.

Chen Guanglin was in an awkward position. He didn’t know whether to speak or stay silent.

Fortunately, a colleague came over just then to report on Gong Baocun’s situation, saving Chen Guanglin from his predicament.

Gong Baocun’s address had been confirmed.

He had a legal identity in Anzhou and had opened a dozen or so chain car washes in Ningshan.

However, no large amounts of cash were found in his villa.

His bank transactions also appeared relatively normal.

So where did the drug money go?

He produced over a ton, had a little over half a ton left, and sold more than six hundred kilograms.

The total value of the case exceeded two hundred million.

Where did all that cash go?

"Director Lin, could the money have been smuggled out of the country?" Tang Youkun asked with a frown.

Opening car washes is a fairly common method of money laundering.

But that only works for small amounts.

There’s no way a few car washes could launder over two hundred million.

So, after thinking it over, Tang Youkun could only come up with one possibility: smuggle the cash out directly.

Then, in foreign countries that don’t have cash transaction reporting requirements, deposit the money to turn it into legal income.

It was the most primitive method of money laundering.

It was simple and crude with minimal loss, but the risk was also extremely high because of strict regulations.

An ordinary person certainly wouldn’t have those kinds of channels.

But Gong Baocun probably did.

Six years ago, when he was with his previous drug cartel, he was responsible for smuggling drugs in from abroad.

He must have also managed to smuggle in the large quantities of raw materials and firearms for this operation, so he would have the channels to smuggle the cash out.

Lin Weinian pursed his lips. He thought so, too.

After all these years, drug traffickers were still using the same old tricks.

"Immediately begin intensive interrogations of all the drug traffickers. Find the rest of the hidden drugs as soon as possible," Lin Weinian ordered.

Wang Hang had said that all the drugs he produced were hidden by Gong Baocun, and no one else knew where.

But now that the man was in custody, the rest wasn’t really a problem.

Most importantly, no one was injured during the operation, and the mission was a complete success.

So, Lin Weinian’s interest immediately shifted back to Shen Xin.

’Talent!’

’Talent is always the most important thing.’

He probably wasn’t going to get anything more out of Chen Guanglin, so Lin Weinian called Tang Youkun over and had him ask his old contacts in Nanjiang about Shen Xin.

Also, there was no need for them to rush back.

"It’s not often they come to Ningshan, and they just helped crack such a huge case. We have to show them proper hospitality."

Lin Weinian instructed.

Tang Youkun understood in a second. He immediately called a subordinate over to arrange for Shen Xin and the others to get some rest.

It was late at night, and they had been running around for so long. Even if the people weren’t tired, the cat had to be.

He couldn’t help but glance a few more times at Da Mei, who was by Shen Xin’s feet.

’What a great cat.’

Shen Xin and the others took a car to downtown Ningshan City.

"Xiaoshen, are you tired?" Chen Guanglin asked with a grin, turning his head from the front passenger seat.

The provincial department had arranged for the Ningshan team to lead the operation. He couldn’t do anything about it but cooperate.

But even though they were just cooperating, Shen Xin had unexpectedly stolen the show.

If it weren’t for Shen Xin’s cat, would they have caught Gong Baocun so easily? Would they have dismantled the den so safely?

The main credit had to go to Shen Xin, to Da Mei, and to Nanjiang.

"Not tired."

Shen Xin quickly shook his head.

’The boss hasn’t said he’s tired, so how could you dare say you are?’

Chen Guanglin said, "It’s alright. How about this: once we get to the city bureau, you and Li Teng can go back to the guesthouse to rest. Now that everyone’s been caught, the rest of the work will be much easier. Captain Jiang and I can keep an eye on things."

"You young people need to get more rest. You can only be at your best when you’re well-rested."

As he spoke, he couldn’t resist reaching out to pat Da Mei on the head.

’What a good cat!’

’In the future, if we run into a similar situation and need to recon a drug den, can’t Da Mei help out?’

At this thought, Chen Guanglin immediately said, "Xiaoshen, it’s been a while. Do you think Da Mei is hungry? When we get to the city, we should see if there are any pet stores still open and buy some cat food or something."

"Oh, and cat litter. We don’t want her to hold it in and get sick."

The overly concerned Chen Guanglin was even worrying about Da Mei’s bathroom needs.

Li Teng, who was driving, shot him a sideways glance.

He’d interacted with Chen Guanglin a few times and knew him to be a very serious person. He had never seen him so friendly and pleasant.

Shen Xin said, "It’s fine. Captain Zhang mentioned earlier that he has a litter box, canned food, and everything at his place. He said he’d arrange for someone to bring it over to me in a bit."

’Where would you find a pet store open this late at night anyway?’

Besides, Shen Xin had already let Da Mei use the bathroom while they were outside.

Cats have excellent endurance, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Chen Guanglin nodded, then added a reminder, "Xiaoshen, we’re not from the same city as the Ningshan folks, after all. You shouldn’t get too close to them, you hear?"

Shen Xin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

’I get what you’re saying, but there’s no need to be *that* on guard, is there?’

But his superior had spoken, so Shen Xin felt it would be inappropriate to refuse.

He could be selfless himself, but he couldn’t be generous at Li Teng’s expense.

Meanwhile, Lin Weinian, who had also returned to the Ningshan City Bureau, quickly received information about Shen Xin.

Tang Youkun had asked his old friends in Nanjiang and gotten all the details.

"Whoa. He’s only been a full officer for half a year after his internship, but during that internship at the local station, he cracked a seven-year-old cold case. And he did it with a dog, no less."

Lin Weinian was left speechless.

He found it even more incredible after hearing Tang Youkun’s detailed report.

In Lin Weinian’s opinion, the Wu Jiawang case would have been a cold case anywhere, the kind that might not be solved for many years.

"And that’s not all. There was another one, a cold case several years old, where six people conspired to commit murder. If you gave that case to Lao Luo, even he would be at a complete loss."

Hearing about the Liu Laibin case made Tang Youkun’s scalp tingle.

Six people conspired and even fabricated a murderer for the police.

It was almost unimaginable that a case like that could be solved.

The Lao Luo he mentioned was the captain of Ningshan’s criminal investigation division.

"And he cracked it with a parrot! Seriously, it’s unbelievable. That kid must have been an animal in a past life."

Cracking a cold case involving a six-person conspiracy was one thing, but to do it with a parrot... it sounded like something out of a storybook.

Then there was the Zhang Qingpeng case and the Xiao Hong case.

Especially the Xiao Hong case.

For that Xiao Hong case, there were absolutely no leads to go on, but he managed to crack it using two online bounties.

"I followed their account. This kid really has a knack for training police dogs."

He took out his phone and showed Lin Weinian the Nanjiang precinct’s short video account.

"This dog here, her name is Dou Dou. She’s the one who tracked down Fang Pinzhang, outperforming actual police dogs."

"And the key thing is, she’s just a stray he picked up off the street. How amazing is that?!"

The dogs at the K-9 base are all prized possessions, with pedigrees, specific breeds, and all that.

But look at Shen Xin—he just picks up a random stray off the street and trains it into a police dog.

Lin Weinian swiped through a few short videos, seeing Dou Dou and, of course, Da Mei.

Of course, he was also envious of their several hundred thousand followers.

Ningshan had long since followed the trend and started its own short video account.

They even hired a dedicated person to manage it.

And the result? They only had a little over twenty thousand followers to this day.

Meanwhile, this little precinct had somehow become a major internet sensation, with tons of people begging for updates and asking how Dou Dou was doing.

Some even said they were forming groups to go feed Dou Dou.

You really couldn’t compare.

Handing the phone back, Lin Weinian had already formed a rough image of Shen Xin in his mind.

Young, driven, and tenacious.

Without these qualities, how could he possibly crack cold cases?

In his mind, these were the most important qualities a police officer should have.

And he was creative enough to think of using animals to solve cases—he was definitely the first to do so.

On top of that, he had a natural affinity for animals.

This definitely qualified him as a special talent.

After a moment of thought, he picked up his phone and called Zhao Hongjie.

He figured that at this hour, Zhao Hongjie would still be awake, waiting for the results of the operation.

"Lao Zhao, good news!"

After sharing a string of good news that made Zhao Hongjie chuckle happily on the other end, Lin Weinian’s tone suddenly shifted. "Lao Zhao, you have a young officer who came over this time, named Shen... something-or-other."

"This young man is quite good, I like him a lot. How about we make a deal? Transfer him over to me in Ningshan."

On the other end of the line, the laughter stopped abruptly.

"Who?"

Zhao Hongjie’s tone instantly became wary. "Lin Weinian, are you trying to poach my people right from under my nose? Let me tell you, anyone else might be negotiable, but this Xiaoshen..."

"No way!"

With that, he hung up the phone decisively.

’What "Xiaoshen"? Stop playing dumb. Does he really think I don’t know about Shen Xin?’

’You want to poach a talent like that? Dream on!’