Courtyard House: Railway Police at the Start

Chapter 10: Eyesight

While they were talking, passengers entered the station and began to have their tickets checked and board the train.

Two officers from the Public Security Bureau's railway station police station also came to maintain order.

Huo Chong put away his usual playful demeanor and even helped the passengers put their luggage up.

Lu Zhang's eyes were like knives as he scanned each person boarding the train. If someone seemed guilty or wavering, their movements would be unnatural. He would make a note of such people and check their letters of introduction carefully when patrolling the carriages.

Tang Zhenghong was young and couldn't learn his master's dignified demeanor. As a newcomer, he had to be quick and efficient, helping the attendants in carriage number 2 guide passengers onto the train.

"Hey, line up properly, don't push. Hey buddy, don't try to shove your kid through the window, don't you care if he gets hurt?"

"Comrade, how do I get to carriage number 5?"

"Son, hold on tight to my clothes, don't get lost!"

There were quite a few people at the starting station, jostling and pushing, as bustling as a vegetable market.

"Waaah... Father, Mother..."

When most of the passengers had boarded, Tang Zhenghong suddenly saw a little girl in the distance wearing a headscarf and holding half a cornbread she had left over. She was wiping her eyes and shedding tears.

When she saw Tang Zhenghong coming over, the little girl timidly stopped crying, because her parents often said that if she didn't behave, they would let the police arrest her.

"Little friend, where are your parents?"

Perhaps thinking of her parents, the little girl broke down in tears again, crying pitifully, "Waaah... my parents... they're gone."

"What's your name? Uncle will take you to find your family, okay? Uncle is a policeman, don't be afraid."

But to his surprise, the little girl cried even harder and completely ignored Tang Zhenghong.

"What happened?"

Just then, the master heard the commotion and came over.

"This child got separated from his family and won't say anything, he just keeps crying."

As soon as Tang Zhenghong finished speaking, the little girl stretched out her hands and hugged Lu Zhang's legs, pleading, "Grandpa, Nini can't find her dad and mom."

Master picked up Nini and looked around. He saw the woman who had run down from carriage number 5 and walked over to her.

"Ni'er, my Ni'er, you naughty child, I told you not to run around, you almost got lost."

As she spoke, the woman took her daughter from Lu Zhang's arms and angrily slapped her bottom twice.

"Mom, I... I can't keep up with you and Dad. Someone bumped into me and I can't find you anymore, boohoo..."

"Why are you hitting the child? She's so young. You adults didn't take good care of her and you're blaming the child."

"Comrades, thank you so much. There are so many children and so much luggage. She was holding onto my clothes the whole time, but we ended up getting separated in the crowd."

The woman, scolded, didn't dare to reply, but her husband, carrying two little ones, got out of the car and politely thanked him.

"Even with many children, you can't do this. You must be more careful in the future, especially when getting on and off the bus. If you can't free your hands, just wait a little longer. There's still time before departure, so what's the rush?"

The train slowly pulled out of the Beijing Station amidst the sound of its whistle, seemingly enjoying a leisurely stroll.

Tang Zhenghong followed his master on his first patrol. Although this train was an international transport, there were no international friends invited to return. Only the items in carriage number 1 were destined for Pyongyang.

"Our first patrol mainly focuses on reminding passengers to keep their valuables safe and checking for potential safety hazards. If we encounter any troublemakers who refuse to listen to our advice, we'll arrest them first. If someone manages to jump off the train after a successful theft, we won't chase them. Just contact the railway police."

As the train started moving and many windows were opened, the smell in the carriage dissipated considerably.

It was as noisy as a vegetable market. After my master randomly checked a few letters of introduction, nothing unusual happened.

"We've gone around once. Let me test you. Who is the person in seat 115 of carriage 5?"

At this time, the seat number was called the seat type, such as the hard-seat carriage, and people habitually referred to it as seat number so-and-so.

Back in carriage number nine, Tang Zhenghong picked up an enamel mug and made tea for his master. Hearing his master's question, he paused for a moment, but fortunately, his memory was good. Seat 115 was by the window, next to the toilet. He recalled, "It was an elderly man, probably in his fifties or sixties, hmm... probably an intellectual, maybe an office worker. He was wearing glasses and reading a newspaper, and his clothes were a bit old. Oh, and he was quite helpful; he switched seats with someone else because he said his nose was stuffy and he couldn't smell the odor coming from the toilet."

Lu Zhang nodded. His apprentice did have some talent. The two of them hadn't spent much time in carriage number five, so it was already quite an achievement that he could recall all of this.

"Have you ever seen an office worker whose sleeves are completely unworn? Think again, look at his hands holding the newspaper, and are they even really reading it?"

With his master's prompting, Tang Zhenghong tried to recall and replied, "Master, you're right. His hands don't look like an elderly person's, nor do they look like someone who holds a pen or does manual labor. Also, he furtively glanced at the person diagonally opposite several times. Master, this person is suspicious, we..."

"What's the rush? He can't run away on the bus. Think again, who's sitting diagonally opposite him? And who switched seats with him?"

Tang Zhenghong admired his master's keen eye; he understood everything after just a quick glance.

"He was looking across at seat 134, which was by the aisle. It was a slightly overweight young man wearing a watch. He was probably a logistics staff member from some organization. Everyone else was chatting and smoking in a relaxed manner, but he looked very nervous. I guessed it was his first time traveling so far. He switched seats with a middle-aged woman who was busy sewing shoe soles on the train and was very talkative."

Lu Zhang was surprised by Tang Zhenghong's talent; he seemed born for this. He said with satisfaction, "Very good. Keep an eye on this middle-aged woman and the one in seat number 115."

Tang Zhenghong nodded in agreement: "Master, you're amazing. I didn't even realize you had been observing them."

"Observation doesn't necessarily have to be done with your eyes. I recognized the area when I got in the car, so I had a general idea of ​​what to expect. After another round of inspections, I had a pretty good grasp of the situation."

"Master, shouldn't we just not arrest them?"

"To catch a thief red-handed, we can't just follow him the whole way. Don't worry, he can't get away. Think about it, if you were that couple, which stop would you get off at after you succeeded?"

Tang Zhenghong adopted the senior's way of thinking, thought for a moment, and then understood: "Lutai."

"Why not when we're leaving the pass?"

"Since we don't know when the goods will be unloaded, it's safest to act before they clear customs. Lutai Station is a small station with few staff in the train section, making it easy to get the goods off the train. Also, after the initial wariness when the goods board the train, they've relaxed their guard and are ready to be stolen."

However, Tang Zhenghong also had doubts. In his opinion, if the "goods" could take the intermodal transport so early in the morning, it must not be getting off at the nearest few stations, otherwise the company car could have arranged it.

But Master Rong believed that only what he ate was truly his; if anything went wrong, he would have wasted his train ticket money.

Lu Zhang reminded him, "Think again about why he changed seats?"

"They plan to make their move near the station, getting off at the toilet and walking around to exit the station."

Lu Zhang took a satisfied sip of tea, closed his eyes to rest, and said, "Go on, don't disturb them."

Tang Zhenghong rolled his eyes and replied, "Master, I'm going to have a smoke."

An older man who had been listening for a while immediately recognized his master as an acquaintance: "Old Lu, your apprentice is quite something. Your question-and-answer session is like looking at a picture book."

Lu Zhang glanced at his apprentice who had gone to "smoke" and said arrogantly, "He's still a long way from it."