There were not many people on the bus. Theo Hammond chose a seat near the back door and sat down. He took off his gloves and pinched his damp, cold, pale fingertips with his ten fingers.
The bus stopped and started, with many people getting off and few getting on. After two stops, a woman in her early forties got on. Theo Hammond watched her walk with heavy steps, looking for a foothold and sitting on the empty seat in front of him.
Theo Hammond noticed her because she looked very haggard, withered, as if she had been ill for a long time. Moreover, her face was obviously injured. His occupational disease prompted him to quickly read the woman's face. Judging from the swelling of the bruises on her eye sockets, cheekbones, and forehead, the area of subcutaneous tissue contusion, and the direction of the force applied to the wounds, he could tell that the wounds on her face were caused by the same fist, and that the new and old wounds were alternating.
Another victim of domestic violence...
Unconsciously, Theo Hammond began to observe the woman in front of him.
As soon as the woman got on the bus, she looked out the window with a numb expression. Her skin was chapped and her eyeballs were covered with a layer of turbidity. It must be the swelling of the eye sockets that caused the secretions on the eyeballs. Although she seemed to have only some flesh wounds, Theo Hammond could see that if her right eye, which was covered with a layer of turbidity, was not treated quickly, it would most likely turn into glaucoma and cause blindness.
Going out on a rainy day must have a certain purpose, but he could not see any handbags or other things on this woman. She only held an umbrella that was obviously made of shoddy materials. The umbrella was placed upside down by her on the seat. The rain collected on the umbrella cover and left the umbrella head. It flowed backwards along the uneven floor of the car and soon flowed to his feet. Theo Hammond raised his left foot that was stepping on the rain and folded his legs. He took a look at the umbrella that was still dripping with water. He only saw the words "Xu" and "Ji" vaguely in the gap between the umbrella cover.
A woman who suffered domestic violence was not enough to attract his excessive attention. Theo Hammond quickly shifted his attention away from her, looking out the window thoughtfully, and only glanced at her again when the woman got off the car.
The road was slippery due to rain, so the bus slowed down and the journey that should have taken more than ten minutes took more than twenty minutes.
Theo Hammond got off the bus and stood at the platform. He glanced at the Public Security Bureau diagonally across the street, then tore open the cigarette box and lit a cigarette.
The smoke ring burned out unknowingly, he threw away the cigarette B*tt and walked out of the platform.
When crossing the road, he raised his hand and pulled off a hairband tied behind his head. His slightly curly black hair immediately fell down, neither too long nor too short, to the base of his neck, covering part of his cheekbones and the slender lines on both sides of his neck.
An old lady was lying in front of the window of the security room at the entrance of the police station, speaking with a southern accent. Perhaps because she was hard of hearing, she was afraid that others could not hear her clearly, so she raised her voice very high.
As Theo Hammond walked over, he had already heard the old lady's purpose. The old lady said that there were a large number of women soliciting customers and engaging in prostitution on the West Street of the Railway Station, and she wanted the police to intervene.
The security guard was loudly persuading the old lady to go to the police station in the railway station area, and he didn't notice when a tall and thin man stood behind the old lady. The man didn't hold an umbrella, and he looked calm, standing behind the old lady in the rain.
At first glance at his cold white face and long hair that reached his neck, the security guard mistook him for a woman. However, after taking a closer look at his features, he discovered that he was actually a very handsome man.
"What's up?"
The security guard asked him over the old lady.
Theo Hammond handed him his ID and said, "I'm looking for Director Liu."
"Wait a minute, I'll check."
The security guard picked up the internal phone and called the director's office, but the old lady kept pestering him and pulled his arm excitedly to pull him out of the security room, causing him to fail to successfully talk to the director. Just when he was in a state of panic, a woman holding a green umbrella saved him from embarrassment.
The person who came was a beautiful woman with short, neat hair. She walked very quietly, and Theo Hammond did not realize that the woman was standing next to him until an umbrella was raised over her head.
The woman was carrying several packed lunch boxes and said to the security guard, "No need to verify, I'll take him in."
This woman was slender and tall, and when she stood next to Theo Hammond, she was not much shorter than him. The aura between her eyebrows and eyes was a little cold and inhuman, the type that men would not dare to look at again after the first glance.
Theo Hammond thanked her, then took the umbrella from her hand and walked towards the police station building with her.
On the way, the woman only glanced at him calmly, then stretched out her left hand to him and said in a voice that was even colder than his: "Shen Qinglan."
Theo Hammond held her fingertips, then quickly let go and said, "Theo Hammond."
"Are you Professor Chen's teaching assistant?"
"yes."
The topic ended there, and neither of them wanted to know the other's intentions any further, and the two of them walked into the building in silence.
Shen Qinglan told him that the director's office was on the sixth floor, and then disappeared around the corner of the stairs.
Theo Hammond went up to the sixth floor alone. On the way, police officers kept passing him. Two or three of them glanced at him to show their curiosity. Most of them simply ignored him. The police station office building was busy and orderly, and the long-running pace was not disrupted by an outsider.
The door of the director's office was half open. Theo Hammond stood at the door and met Director Liu Qingbai for the first time.
Liu Qingbai was a burly, strong man with a broad square face. There was not a single wrinkle on his forehead, which looked smooth and hard as if it had been roasted over a slow fire. Being over fifty years old made him look like a veteran who had fought in the battlefield.
When Theo Hammond knocked on the office door, he was standing behind his desk reading a document. He had a cigarette in one hand and a document in the other, with a pair of reading glasses on his nose. Although the years had made his appearance stronger, he could not stand the torture of presbyopia.
Theo Hammond smiled and said, "Director Liu."
Liu Qingbai turned around and saw the young man standing at the door. He spent only a few seconds pondering his identity, then took off his glasses and said with a smile, "Come in, I'm just looking at your information."
All the employment matters had been negotiated before he came. The conversation between Theo Hammond and Liu Qingbai was smooth and short. Director Liu only talked about Professor Chen, talked about his trust in the people recommended by Professor Chen, and then talked about his salary of a few cents, then waved his hand and asked him to go downstairs to report on his work.
Just as Shen Qinglan passed by the door, he called Shen Qinglan: "Xiao Shen, take Xiao Wei to get familiar with the environment and meet his colleagues."
Shen Qinglan still looked indifferent when she saw the leader. She stood at the door and said, "Then I'll take him on a tour. Captain Xing hasn't come back yet."
"Well, Langston Xing is back. Let him come up to see me."
So Shen Qinglan led the new colleagues from the first floor to the fourth floor, and walked around every department office. When they came to the captain's office on the fourth floor, he stood in the corridor and said, "This is our captain's office. The one downstairs is the deputy captain's office. The deputy captain basically doesn't take care of things. You will spend more time dealing with the captain in the future. Captain Xing hasn't come back yet, so I'll take you to your office first. When he comes back, you can come to see him."
Theo Hammond looked up at the sign on the door frame that read "Captain's Office", nodded, and was about to follow her when he heard a noisy sound of footsteps and voices coming from downstairs.
Although the police officers were busy, no one dared to speak loudly since they arrived. Everyone was busy with their own work and kept their voices normal when talking to colleagues. They were serious and disciplined as law enforcement agencies. But at this time, the sound coming from downstairs smashed the transparent shell of the outer frame of the office building to pieces.
The corridors on both floors suddenly became noisy, and the atmosphere changed drastically in an instant. Everyone except him was used to this change, and their faces showed that they were used to it. Shen Qinglan listened attentively to the voices of several men downstairs, leaned lazily against the wall, and said, "I'm back, wait here."
As if anticipating that this corridor would soon be crowded with people, Theo Hammond stepped aside and stood against the wall, looking towards the staircase in front of him.
Soon, several men wearing the same style of black raincoats came up from the third floor, bringing the noise downstairs to the upper floors. The man walking in front was tall and slender, and he was talking to the person on the channel with a walkie-talkie.
"What's wrong with the provincial road? Okay, okay, okay, I'll send two cars over to clear the way for you and take the person to the hospital as soon as possible... Find a quiet place to talk to me! Can't hear me? Ask your technicians to set up another line, genius!"
The leading man lowered his head slightly. Theo Hammond could not see his face clearly. He only saw his two tightly furrowed brows and the fierce intent in his dark eyes that was bursting with impatience and forcing people to retreat.
When this man showed up, the originally quiet corridor became busy. The doors of several offices opened at the same time, and the criminal police shouted at him one after another.
"Captain Xing, the construction site on Xihuan Road illegally occupied land, and the frame collapsed and killed someone. The procuratorate asked us to investigate as soon as possible."
Langston Xing stopped, shook off the water droplets on his walkie-talkie, looked back at the police officer, frowned and said impatiently: "What else are you investigating? How many drinks did the contractor and the project manager have, what dishes did they order? What did they say and how many girls did they call? If the prosecutor thinks the evidence is not enough, he can take action himself. As long as he can save that life, who the hell dares to say anything?"
This side was calm, and the other side said: "Boss, the section of Highway 103 was washed away by heavy rain and caused a landslide. A series of car accidents occurred. The security team asked us to transfer a few people to the scene to help."
"Don't worry about it. I'm negotiating with the armed police."
Langston Xing took off his wet raincoat and walked towards the office. He picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "I said put up another line! Put up a single line, a single line! I hear it's more lively there than a concert!"
As he walked closer, Theo Hammond smelled the unique smell of gasoline and smoke, which even his raincoat could not cover up, which was caused by sitting in a closed car for a long time.
Langston Xing seemed to be surrounded by a gust of cold wind. He walked past Theo Hammond as if no one was there and entered the office.
Shen Qinglan walked to the door and knocked on it. Just as she was about to speak, the man inside spoke first.
"Take Xiao Li to the court."
Langston Xing hung his raincoat on the hanger, walked to the water dispenser and filled a cup of hot water. He blew away the white mist floating on the cup mouth and said, "The court called just now. Mr. Wu suddenly refused to plead guilty in court and changed his confession. You can go and take a look."
Shen Qinglan frowned and said coldly: "Everyone knows exactly what evil intentions this old B@st@ard has. Since he was able to change his confession in court, he must have worshipped that Buddha."
Langston Xing took a sip of hot tea. The hot tea flowed down his throat, making him frown. He said in a deeper voice, "Are there any difficulties? If not, I will send someone else."
Shen Qinglan snorted with extreme contempt and said, "No, since he doesn't want to pay for financial fraud, let him die in court next time, so that he will know the benefits of being a fraudster!"
Theo Hammond glanced at her secretly, realizing that she was preparing to dig deeper into this man's crimes, intending to kick him into the abyss where no one could rescue him.
Langston Xing was used to her way of doing things. He waved his hand to signal her to leave quickly, then put the cup of water on the coffee table to cool it down and moved to the filing cabinet by the window.
Shen Qinglan didn't leave, looking at his gloomy face, she asked, "Didn't you get enough rest?"
Langston Xing took out a cigarette from his pants pocket, knocked out a cigarette, lit it and put it in his mouth, opened the filing cabinet and looked for documents while saying: "During the rainstorm, all flights were cancelled. Xiao Xu and I had to drive back from Yinjiang. Before we even got home, they dragged us to the highway collapse site. We didn't even close our eyes, we were still drunk."
"Xiao Xu also drank?"
"No, I let him go home and rest."
"Who are you drinking with?"
"Who else could it be, Chu Xingyun's material."
When Shen Qinglan was about to leave, he remembered Theo Hammond who had been standing at the door for a long time. He patted his forehead and said, "I almost forgot." Then he turned inside and said, "Captain Xing, this is the consultant hired by Director Liu."
With a "bang", a large pile of documents was thrown to the ground with a dull thud.
Langston Xing was about to squat down to pick up the documents when he heard Shen Qinglan talking about the "consultant" that Director Liu had mentioned to him two days ago. The exhaustion from the days of running around made him stand lazily and casually, facing the dim skylight coming in from the window behind him, with his hands habitually pinched on his waist, and raised his deep and heavy eyes to look towards the door.
Theo Hammond stood at the door, met his gaze, and smiled slightly: "Hello, Captain Xing."
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