Shen Xin reached out and patted the wolfdog's head.
The dog narrowed its eyes and nuzzled against him, a look of pure enjoyment on its face.
"Good boy. Lie down."
Shen Xin called out softly, and the wolfdog actually obeyed, flopping down onto the ground. Its big tail swept back and forth.
Yao Wensheng and the others exchanged a glance, shock reflected in each other's eyes.
"Shen Xin, do you know this dog?" Zhang Jian asked blankly.
"Nope."
Shen Xin shook his head.
Zhang Jian asked in surprise, "Then why does it listen to you so well?"
It came over with just a few clicks of your tongue, and it's even wagging its tail?
Shen Xin shrugged. "I don't know. Cats and dogs have just always liked me, ever since I was a kid. No matter how vicious a dog is, it'll come when I call."
Da Mei is just like that—vicious to everyone else, but treats me differently.
He thought back to the mysterious icon. 'It really must be some kind of talent.'
"Maybe the dog is just obedient," one of the officers behind them said, a little skeptical. He subconsciously reached out, wanting to pet it too.
But before his hand could even make contact, the wolfdog on the ground whipped its head around and let out a low growl from its throat.
Startled, he quickly pulled his hand back, his face a picture of embarrassment.
"Amazing." Yao Wensheng gave a thumbs-up. "Never mind why. The point is, Xiaoshen has been a huge help. Let's go. Move out."
With a wave of his hand, he led the way to the roll-up door.
Shen Xin followed.
The wolfdog obediently trotted alongside him, not making a sound.
Yao Wensheng peered through a window and then described the situation inside.
They'd found the right place. He could see a number of electric bikes.
Without a doubt, now that the culprits had figured out a reliable and safe method of theft, they wouldn't have stopped at just a dozen or so bikes.
The warehouse wasn't large. Besides the electric bikes, there were numerous tools and miscellaneous items, with an overhead crane above.
It had probably been a small processing plant before.
Deeper inside was a raised second floor. Yao Wensheng guessed someone might be up there and warned everyone to be careful.
Right now, he could see three men huddled together playing cards, their attention focused away from the door.
"Let's move," Yao Wensheng said, glancing at his team. They had the advantage in numbers.
Zhang Jian stepped forward and took out his tool kit to pick the lock.
The roll-up door was electric and could only be opened from the inside, but there was a small access door next to it for people to pass through, which was currently locked.
This was the door Zhang Jian was working on.
It was hard to see what he was doing, but after just a few seconds, there was a CLICK, and the door opened.
Shen Xin nodded to himself. 'That's a real skill.'
Yao Wensheng finished notifying the others on his walkie-talkie, then gave a hand signal. Zhang Jian shoved the door open, and everyone filed inside.
Shen Xin was the last one in.
By the time he rushed in, the three men who had been playing cards were already pinned to the ground.
Zhang Jian had already charged up to the second floor. He scanned the area, then came out and shook his head at Yao Wensheng.
"Speak! Which one of you is Fan Jie?" Yao Wensheng demanded harshly, pressing his collapsible baton against a suspect's head.
According to Tian Yongjun's confession, the man in charge of this den was named Fan Jie.
"Not me."
The three young men were clearly terrified and shook their heads in panic.
Just then, as Zhang Jian was coming downstairs, his gaze shifted and he noticed a small partitioned room in the corner of the warehouse.
It looked like a restroom.
He approached, baton in hand.
At that exact moment, the door to the room was suddenly thrown open. A figure shot out from inside, shoved Zhang Jian hard, who was right in the way, and then bolted for the back door deeper in the warehouse.
"Stop!"
Beside them, Li Dongsheng shouted and gave chase.
Meanwhile, the push sent Zhang Jian stumbling back into a storage rack behind him.
CRASH! With a muffled groan, he collapsed painfully to the floor.
The impact was powerful. The tall rack was top-heavy, and his collision made it topple forward.
It was a large, three-meter-tall iron rack with things still stacked on it. If that came down on someone, it would be serious.
Shen Xin happened to be standing right next to him. Seeing the rack about to fall, he acted with lightning speed, yanking Zhang Jian out of the way.
With a tremendous CRASH, the iron rack slammed onto the ground, sending dust flying everywhere.
"Captain Zhang, are you alright?" Shen Xin asked anxiously.
Zhang Jian's face was pale. Still shaken, he shook his head.
He stared fixedly at the iron rack in front of him. If Shen Xin hadn't pulled him away, he'd be crushed underneath it right now.
Everyone else present was badly frightened as well.
Yao Wensheng hurried over, his face tense with worry.
"I'm fine."
Zhang Jian fumbled to his feet, rubbing the small of his back. He didn't forget to gesture for the others to hurry and chase the man who had escaped.
But there was no need to chase him.
Li Dongsheng had the man's arm twisted behind his back and was dragging him over.
The remaining officers confirmed there was no one else in the warehouse before they could finally relax.
"Zhang Jian, you really owe Shen Xin big time for this. This rack is no joke. If it had hit you, you'd be in for a world of hurt." Yao Wensheng kicked the iron rack but couldn't even budge it. A wave of fear washed over him after the fact.
No one wanted to see a colleague get injured.
Zhang Jian's expression was a little awkward.
Not long ago, he had been picking fault with Shen Xin.
"Yao Suo, what are you talking about? I was right there, of course I was going to help." Shen Xin, however, didn't think it was a big deal and spoke up first.
Shen Xin's words only made Zhang Jian feel more embarrassed.
"Shen Xin... thanks," he said, forcing a smile as he voiced his gratitude.
He wasn't a particularly sociable person. He was usually serious and often wore a stern expression. After saying thank you, he didn't say anything more.
Shen Xin quickly said it was nothing. Seeing how awkward Zhang Jian was, he proactively walked away to help the others.
Yao Wensheng clapped Zhang Jian on the shoulder and sighed. "You, you need to take it easy. You're not getting any younger, after all. How's your back? Is it really okay?"
Zhang Jian shook his head, his gaze on Shen Xin complex.
"Xiaoshen is a good kid." Yao Wensheng saw Zhang Jian's reaction and praised the younger man with a smile. He added, "It's not every day we get a new guy at the station. You should look out for him. I remember Xiaoshen saying he wants to be a criminal detective someday. You're an old hand at this; you should mentor him a little."
Zhang Jian didn't reply. He thought for a moment, then got back to work.
The man who had tried to flee was Fan Jie.
He squatted on the ground, defiant and silent.
Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of him, Yao Wensheng waved a hand and had Zhang Jian take the man back to the station for a proper interrogation.
Shen Xin, meanwhile, stayed behind to help secure the evidence at the scene.
"Damn, I think we've landed a big fish this time." Yao Wensheng had found a ledger on the second floor.
The records inside were very clear. A quick count by Yao Wensheng revealed that this crew had handled over a hundred electric bikes.
They weren't just stealing in Yunlin Street; they'd made a round of the entire city before finally returning to Yunlin Street.
"In that case, this case must be worth several hundred thousand yuan," Li Dongsheng said, stunned.
Yao Wensheng nodded, then pointed at the ledger, beaming. "Look, the earliest entry is from May 7th. That means they've been at this for over a month. For that long, none of the other brother units caught them, but we did. Doesn't that mean the credit falls to us?"
"Xiaoshen, you're our lucky charm!"
Yao Wensheng's eyes crinkled into crescents as he smiled.
If Shen Xin hadn't accidentally discovered that truck while looking for a cat, the Yunlin Police Station would probably have ended up like all the other departments—with nothing to show for their investigation.
"A commendation! We have to put you in for a commendation!"