100: Chapter 100 Frequent Thefts

Qi Tongwei did not answer immediately; he walked to the window, gazed at the undulating mountains in the distance, and fell into deep thought.

In the morning light, his profile was sharply defined, and the eyes beneath his thick brows flashed with a sharp brilliance.

As the station's expert at solving cases, Qi Tongwei certainly knew the difficulty of this case, but seeing the villagers' desperate expressions, he could not bear to give up.

"Let's wait for Director He to arrive before we discuss it further."

Qi Tongwei finally said, rubbing his temples.

"I need to catch up on some sleep. I spent the whole night interrogating a gambling case, and my brain feels numb now."

...

At 8:30 in the morning, Director He Guodong arrived at the office on time.

As he listened to Xiao Zhao's report, he tapped his fingers lightly on the desk, his brows gradually furrowing.

Although Director He Guodong did not graduate from a formal police academy, his years of grinding in the grassroots Police Station had allowed him to accumulate rich experience in handling cases.

Director He Guodong was very clear about how thorny these types of cases were. Throughout his police career, theft cases were the most headache-inducing; the criminal suspects often chose targets randomly, used seasoned methods, and left behind very few clues at the scene.

In this era where surveillance equipment was scarce and criminal investigation technology was backward, solving such cases was like finding a needle in a haystack.

"Three cows... This is a major case."

Director He Guodong rubbed the stubble on his chin and said to Xiao Zhao, "Where is Deputy Director Gan? Call him in."

Before long, Deputy Director Gan hurried over.

After listening to the briefing on the case, his brows immediately knotted: "Director He, this case..."

He hesitated, stopping mid-sentence.

"What is it? Are there difficulties?" Director He Guodong's sharp gaze swept over.

Deputy Director Gan smiled bitterly: "Director He, you also know our station's situation. We lack manpower and have outdated equipment; these types of theft cases are the hardest to investigate."

"Not to mention that the crimes were committed on the mountain, and there are pitifully few clues..."

Upon hearing this, Director He Guodong walked to the window in silence.

As the director, he certainly knew the difficulties of the station: counting the auxiliary police and Joint Defense Team Members, the entire station only had a dozen people. The only motorized vehicle was a sidecar motorcycle that was nearly ready to be scrapped, and the other officers relied entirely on bicycles to respond to calls.

But thinking of those villagers' desperate expressions, Director He Guodong could not bring himself to give up.

"Old Gan, I understand your difficulties."

Director He Guodong turned around: "But this case must be investigated. Three cows, six or seven thousand yuan—to those villagers, that is a matter of the utmost importance!"

Deputy Director Gan wanted to say something else, but seeing Director He Guodong's determined expression, he had to nod: "Then I will take some people to the scene to take a look."

Spring in Guantian Township always arrived exceptionally early. The warm March sun had already baked the fields until they were toasty, but this warmth could not dispel the gloom in the villagers' hearts.

Days passed one by one, and the investigation team led by Deputy Director Gan had yet to make any substantial progress. Even more worrying was that the thieves were becoming increasingly rampant, and their methods were becoming more and more unscrupulous.

At first, they only took advantage of the busy farming season to steal unattended plow oxen on remote hillsides. Gradually, their courage grew, and they dared to sneak into villages in the dead of night, climbing over walls to enter courtyards and plunder the livestock kept by the villagers.

From valuable cows to pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks—any living creature that could be exchanged for money was hard-pressed to escape.

Old Man Li from Lijiagou Village squatted at his courtyard gate, gazing at the empty pigsty, his rough fingers continuously rubbing his worn-out straw hat: "The two pigs I fed well just last night were gone when I got up this morning..."

Tears welled up in Old Man Li's cloudy eyes, and his voice choked with sobs.

These two pigs were bought with money he and his wife had saved by scrimping and saving, intending to raise them until the end of the year to sell and pay for their grandson's tuition.

Similar scenes played out repeatedly in the various villages of Guantian Township: Wang Dafa, a chicken farming specialist in Wangjia Village, lost over fifty laying hens in a single night;

Sister-in-law Xu from Xujiawa had the three goats she had worked hard to raise vanish into thin air;

Even in Guantian Village, where the Township Government was located, some villagers said their guard dogs had mysteriously gone missing.

The series of thefts caused an uproar in Guantian Township. The villagers were in a state of panic, and some even dared not raise livestock anymore, fearing that their hard work would only benefit the thieves.

The township's nascent breeding industry suffered a blow from this, and its momentum of development slowed down significantly.

...

That morning, Li Dakang was in his office reviewing the planning blueprints for the Vegetable Base.

Sunlight streamed through the window onto the desk, making the lines on the blueprints exceptionally clear. Li Dakang focused on marking key points with a red pen, pausing now and then to ponder for a moment.

"Secretary, your tea."

Zheng Shijun walked in softly and placed a steaming cup of green tea beside Li Dakang's hand.

As the deputy director of the Party and Government Office and a correspondent, this young man did things reliably and was now highly trusted by Li Dakang.

Li Dakang responded without raising his head and continued to busy himself with his work; the only sound left in the office was the rustling of the pen tip across the paper.

Zheng Shijun stood to the side, hesitating to speak. After a moment of hesitation, he opened his mouth softly: "Secretary, a major incident has occurred in the township recently. I wonder if you are aware of it?"

"What incident?"

Li Dakang finally looked up, his brows slightly furrowed.

He put down his pen, picked up the teacup, took a sip, and his gaze carried a questioning look.

Although his energy had been mainly focused on the school renovation and the Vegetable Base during this period, he was not entirely unaware of other matters in the township. With his current prestige in Guantian Township, logically speaking, if there were really any major incident, someone should have reported it long ago.