Arriving at the police station, Wang An walked straight toward the general office.
The last time Shi Suo had invited Wang An home for dinner, he had mentioned that he worked out of the general office.
The so-called general office was essentially an oversized shared workspace used by a large group of police officers who held no specific administrative titles.
There was no other way; although Shi Suo had become a permanent officer, he was still just an ordinary policeman, meaning he didn't have an independent office of his own.
The vast office was mostly empty, likely because many were out on assignments. Fortunately, Shi Suo was there, saving Wang An the trouble of searching for him.
At the moment, Shi Suo looked as though he had just returned from a mission. He was sitting in front of a stove warming his hands while summarizing the lessons learned from the mission with two of his colleagues.
It was evident that these two colleagues were auxiliary police, or local defense personnel.
After listening to them talk for a short while, Wang An greeted them with a smile
"What are you busy with, Brother Shi? Sounds like a lively discussion, hahahaha!"
Shi Suo and his two colleagues looked toward the voice. Upon seeing it was Wang An, Shi Suo immediately stood up and said with great surprise
"Oh! Brother Xiao An is here, hahahaha!"
Wang An smiled and replied, "Yeah, just thought I'd drop by and see what you're up to."
After a brief exchange of greetings, Shi Suo introduced his two colleagues to Wang An.
From Shi Suo, Wang An learned that these two were local defense personnel under his leadership, both of whom had joined after the competition ended. One was named Yang Jinsong, and the other was Yu Qingguo.
When Shi Suo mentioned Wang An's marksmanship and record during the two-county competition, Yang Jinsong and Yu Qingguo were incredibly shocked, instantly viewing Wang An as an all-around expert.
After chatting for a bit longer, Wang An finally stated his purpose
"About that, Brother Shi, I didn't come for anything major. I was thinking of asking you to help me deal with a few little thugs."
Hearing this, the three of them were stunned into silence. The main reason was that Shi Suo had just been bragging to Yang Jinsong and Yu Qingguo about how incredible Wang An's shooting was and how formidable his skills were in combat.
Yet, in the blink of an eye, Wang An was asking for help with something as trivial as dealing with a few thugs.
Wasn't this a complete contradiction?
Seeing their shocked expressions, Wang An immediately understood what they were thinking and smiled helplessly
"You guys just need to help me find where they are. Once I've dealt with them, you can haul them away for interrogation and then give them the maximum penalty. Got it?"
Only then did Shi Suo laugh and say
"So after all that, it's just a little thing like this, hahahaha! In that case, you don't even need to show your face. Just tell me their names, and I'll handle this little matter for you."
Wang An glanced back at Wang Yi and shook his head.
"That won't do. I need my younger brother to see with his own eyes how they get arrested."
Shi Suo asked curiously, "Not to be pry, Brother Xiao An, but what exactly happened?"
Wang An looked at Wang Yi again and said
"My brother here goes to the First County Middle School, and some damn thugs actually dared to extort money from him. I'm fucking livid."
Patting Wang Yi on the shoulder, Wang An added
"This is my own flesh and blood; how could I let this slide? I'm definitely going to make sure they get charged with extortion and robbery."
Hearing this, Shi Suo immediately became indignant.
"Holy shit, they actually dare to bully our brother? They must have some nerve! The area around the First County Middle School falls under our station's jurisdiction. Right, what are those little brats called?"
Wang An hesitated, frowning.
"Called Bao... Bao-something..."
Unfortunately, Wang An couldn't be bothered to remember the names of such low-life thugs, so he had already forgotten. He turned to Wang Yi and asked
"Xiao Yi, what was that kid's name? Bao-what?"
Wang Yi said with a face full of helplessness, "Bao Zhijun."
Ignoring Wang Yi's helplessness, Wang An turned back to Shi Suo.
"The leader's name is Bao Zhijun."
Shi Suo said, somewhat speechless, "Yeah, I heard you the first time..."
Wang An wasn't embarrassed and said with a smile
"Then let's go. Let's go deal with that bastard."
And so, with Wang An leading Wang Yi and Shi Suo leading Yang Jinsong and Yu Qingguo, the group of five walked out of the office.
Seeing the GAZ parked in the station yard, Shi Suo asked Yang Jinsong and Yu Qingguo with a puzzled look
"Who parked their car in our yard? I didn't hear anything earlier."
Just as Yang Jinsong and Yu Qingguo were wondering the same thing, Wang An opened the car door and said to the three of them
"Get in. It'll be faster if we drive."
Hearing this, Shi Suo said in shock
"Xiao An, this car is yours? Holy crap! You're something else, you're already driving a car! You're too impressive!"
Wang An waved his hand, acting indifferent.
"What's so impressive about driving a car? Get in, let's go."
Under the shocked and envious gazes of the three, Shi Suo and his colleagues sat in the back.
Once inside, Shi Suo said with a bit of exaggeration
"Our boss only rides a Xingshu 250, but here you are, already driving a car."
Wang An smiled faintly.
"This is an old one. I had someone help me buy it."
Shi Suo looked at the interior, which had been converted to a hardtop, and frowned.
"Brother Xiao An, this isn't one of those experimental cars, is it? I remember a while back, several cars like this suddenly appeared in our county. I recall those were the ones with hardtops; the originals were soft-tops."
Wang An nodded.
"Yeah, it's from that batch. A friend helped me buy it."
As they chatted, Wang An soon drove the car to the vicinity of the First County Middle School.
Everyone got out of the car, and Shi Suo said with some emotion
"Driving really is better. It would be great if we could drive cars when we go on missions."
Hearing this, Wang An smiled and said
"Hey, it'll happen soon. Probably in three to five years, the South and North stations will definitely be equipped with cars."
Wang An wasn't speaking blindly. He clearly remembered that after he went south in his previous life—specifically after 1985—the police stations in DJ County and many other units were all equipped with cars, specifically the uniform green soft-top jeeps.
The reason for this was that throughout the 1980s, the overall economic development of the various banners, counties, and districts in Heilongjiang Province was quite good.
After Wang An spoke, Shi Suo said in surprise
"Really? They'll all have cars in three to five years?"
Wang An said with absolute certainty
"Absolutely. Haven't you noticed how much our county town has changed? It's practically different every single day."
Shi Suo looked around and nodded.
"That's true. I heard there are quite a few more infrastructure projects starting next year!"
(End of Chapter)