Chapter 274: Chapter 267: Call the Police Chapter 274: Chapter 267: Call the Police Since they had confirmed that there was indeed something inside, the five of them pondered over what to do next.

Zheng Tan listened to their discussions about methods of retaliation and broke out in cold sweat. He felt that these kids, whom he had watched grow up, were way more ruthless than he had been in his younger days. Back then, even though he had always considered himself the Demon Lord of Mayhem, compared to these guys, he was practically a joke.

“Should we tell our parents about this?” Xiong Xiong asked uncertainly.

“No! If we tell them, forget about going out to have fun ever again,” Su An objected.

Jiao Yuan and the others nodded in agreement.

“Not even call the police?” Xiong Xiong asked.

“If we call the police, you think we can keep it a secret? Only if it’s anonymous. If it’s anonymous, do you want to do it? I still have a voice changer,” Su An suggested.

Zheng Tan: “…” A voice changer! What on earth were these guys up to in their free time?!

“Let’s just handle it privately then,” Xiong Xiong shook his head. He was somewhat resistant to the idea of calling the police; having called them too frequently as a child, he had developed a bit of a psychological shadow from being made to kneel and wash clothes on a washboard. Usually, he wouldn’t easily call the police over what he considered minor issues.

“What about if they go on to harm other people later? And those who provide them with those things?” Jiao Yuan asked.

The group fell silent and after a while, they all sighed heavily.

“First, we teach them a lesson, then we’ll plan the rest thoroughly,” Lan Tianzhu scratched his head. They were still just teenagers after all; many things were not easy to handle comprehensively.

Not telling parents and teachers, and not planning to inform the police either, they even drafted a “plan,” leaving Zheng Tan at a loss for words about these young lads. However, while they were making their revenge “plan,” Zheng Tan thought that since it was inconvenient for these guys to call the police, it was more feasible for him. Like Jiao Yuan said, they couldn’t allow those spreading this stuff to continue harming other students.

To be honest, Zheng Tan didn’t usually care much about others, but this time, since Jiao Yuan and his friends were involved, it ignited his anger.

“Hey, Su An, I have a few boxes of milk at my place; my dad got them from a supermarket discount, do you think we need to bring them here for some quality testing or something?” Fu Lei asked before leaving.

“Did you drink it?” Su An asked.

“Been drinking it for half a month.”

“No issues?”

“Not a single issue.”

“Then there’s no need for testing,” Su An responded. “If you’re worried, you can bring a bottle over, and we will set up an experimental plan first. Testing for bacteria and such needs an incubator, which I don’t have access to. You could ask Jiao Yuan for help with that, and for testing those substances, you can just go to the laboratory directly, no need to do it here.”

This place is, after all, a residence, meant for convenience and emergency use only; it is not commonly used. If possible, Su An would not conduct tests at home, but this time it was unavoidable; they had to keep it secret and thus had to perform the testing at home.

“Right, I can help with that, I have tested tap water and cafeteria soy milk for bacteria a few times; I’m quite familiar with it,” Jiao Yuan said, nodding. Doing these things probably wouldn’t bother his dad.

After leaving Su An’s house, Zheng Tan didn’t go back with Jiao Yuan immediately; instead, he ran towards the small grove at the edge of the campus to send a text message with his phone.

Having not used his phone for several days, he opened it to find several messages and missed call alerts, all from Little Luo. After checking them, Zheng Tan was frustrated. Originally, he just wanted to trap Zhang Dong once, regardless of whether Zhang Dong had stolen that 28,000-yuan phone. As long as Zhang Dong was closely watched, any issues would surface, and a lesson would suffice. Unexpectedly, it turned out that he really did steal the phone. From Little Luo’s messages, Zheng Tan also realized that Zhang Dong had somewhat dragged him into a mess. Fortunately, due to his unique circumstances and stealthy actions, there wasn’t too much trouble.

Regarding the questions from Little Luo, Zheng Tan didn’t feel like replying. After thinking about the batch of milk tea powder and tonight’s testing results at Su An’s, Zheng Tan composed a message. He simply mentioned the connection between the milk tea powder and the cleansing operation before the New Year, discussed the testing results from Su An’s, and even named the few junior high third-grade students that Jiao Yuan and his friends had mentioned. Zheng Tan wrote everything he could remember, believing that the more details he provided, the faster the case would be solved. Without resolving this matter, Zheng Tan just couldn’t feel at ease.

After drafting the message, Zheng Tan hesitated.

Ideally, notifying Senior Hetao would have been best; Zheng Tan knew Senior Hetao well and trusted that he would thoroughly investigate and clear the matter, which would put Zheng Tan’s mind at ease. However, after thinking it over, Zheng Tan couldn’t remember Senior Hetao’s phone number.

Since he couldn’t contact Senior Hetao, the next best option was Little Luo. Although Zheng Tan had a good impression of Little Luo, as a junior police officer, his capabilities were far inferior to Senior Hetao’s. It was uncertain how effectively he could handle the situation. If nothing else, Zheng Tan would just wait until he got Senior Hetao’s phone number and send it again.

Just as Little Luo got home and was about to take a shower after being asked by an elderly lady upstairs to help move furniture up and down to the fifth floor, completely exhausted and drenched in sweat, he stepped into the bathroom and heard the sound of his phone receiving a text message.

Ever since the number ending in four “6”s sent him a text, Little Luo had changed his message tone on his phone, setting it to a louder ding-ding sound during non-working hours. These past few days that number had been switched off, and Little Luo and his colleagues thought the person probably had changed their number and wouldn’t use this one anymore. Still, whenever he heard the message tone, Little Luo immediately pulled his foot back and hurried to the bedroom to check his phone.

The number displayed on the screen made Little Luo’s heart leap with joy, but upon opening the text, his face immediately turned serious. The issue mentioned in the message was far more serious than just phone theft. Given his previous experience, Little Luo intuitively knew this matter was real.

In his years on the job, Little Luo could guess the complexities involved in such cases. It was difficult for a lowly district officer like him to handle it alone. There’s a saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

If he couldn’t handle it himself, he could still pull in some help. Besides, he knew a few people in the Criminal Investigation Division and had kept in touch with them. A while ago, in an effort to strengthen grassroots infrastructure for the prevention and combating of various crimes effectively, he had interacted with the people from the Criminal Investigation Division. Because of a few friends, he had become quite familiar with two individuals from there, but since everyone was busy, there had been little contact recently.

Having thought it through, Little Luo scrolled through his contacts to make a call.

After sending the text, Zheng Tan turned off his phone again and went home to sleep, so when Little Luo called back after discussing the matter, he found that the phone was off yet again.

A few days later, Zheng Tan was lounging on the sofa, reading some old newspapers he had dug out that he hadn’t read before when he noticed a piece about Zhang Dong, though it didn’t mention his name directly, using “Zhang Someone” instead.

While he was reading, Jiao Yuan and the others came back.

Today, Jiao Yuan seemed excited, and while Jiao Ma was cooking, he ran to start the computer to log into the chat software to continue the unfinished conversation with a few buddies.

Zheng Tan jumped onto the desk and noticed that the kids in their chat group were discussing the issue with adulterated milk tea powder.

There was no need for a five-man plan now; the police had directly approached them, raided several dens, and found the leaked batch of goods. The junior high school students involved had been asked to take a few days off, but most students at the school didn’t pay much attention. Jiao Yuan and the others seemed to have heard through some channels of their own, and now they were excitedly chatting in the small group.

Zheng Tan nodded to himself; Little Luo’s side was quite efficient.

Not wanting to continue watching Jiao Yuan and the other kids chat, Zheng Tan prepared to jump off the desk to continue reading the newspaper in the living room when he suddenly caught sight of the phone book next to the landline.

He glanced at Jiao Yuan, who was busy typing, and then walked over to the phone book. With his back to Jiao Yuan, he casually bent his paw to flip open the little book.

It contained many phone numbers, including those of Ermao, Wei Leng, and Zhao Le, and even Senior Hetao’s private cell number.

“Heitan, what are you doing?” Jiao Yuan asked, turning his head.

Zheng Tan closed the phone book and looked at Jiao Yuan.

Jiao Yuan suddenly realized, “You’re waiting for a call, huh?” Then, with a mix of grief, envy, and resentment, he said, “You want to go out and play again, don’t you? God, even cats have a better life than people!” Jiao Yuan had always been envious of Zheng Tan getting to go out and play with Ermao and Wei Leng.

Zheng Tan: “…” Silly kid. But indeed, it had been a long time since he last went out for fun. Ermao was occasionally seized by his family for matchmaking, and Wei Leng was at home playing the good husband.

When Zheng Tan turned on his phone again, he found many messages, most of which were from Little Luo, with the rest being junk messages or those sent by the carrier. From Little Luo’s initial questions to later thanks, Zheng Tan could sense the changes in Little Luo’s mood. It seemed Little Luo had been doing quite well these past few days.

Little Luo was indeed doing well. This time, he had made a significant contribution. Coincidentally, the authorities had been planning to present some positive examples to improve public attitudes toward them. Little Luo had become a perfect case in point. Besides writing reports and summaries, he had to coordinate with the station and the department on publicity efforts, handle reporters, attend meetings, and receive accolades and bonuses. He was busy, but happily so.

This case might not have caught much public attention, but it had significantly changed Little Luo’s life. Before long, he was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Division and became a detective. The local CID was short-staffed, and this incident had caught some people’s attention. The lad seemed naive but was not without brains; he was also a good man, with both theoretical knowledge and rich practical experience at the grassroots level. Plus, a few words from the right people in the department had gotten him the transfer.

The developments were too sudden and the change too rapid, far beyond Little Luo’s expectations. Just a while ago, he was still listening to reprimands at the food stalls, and now he had been transferred to the CID. Little Luo had always wanted to be a detective, and although it might be more dangerous, he was up for it—it was indeed a wish fulfilled.

Meanwhile, Zheng Tan saw the incoming call display on his phone, which was neither from Little Luo nor Teacher Xiao Bai but from the telecom carrier.

Driven by curiosity, Zheng Tan answered the call, and then a pleasant female voice came through.

Just from the voice, Zheng Tan would give a good rating, but the topic the voice discussed made Zheng Tan want to swear.

VIP customer?

Sounds so high-end, but damn, it asks for ID information! Could he even send them a cat card?

People without IDs can’t bear this—it’s just too much! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on QiDian (qidian.com), subscribe, or leave your comments. Your support is greatly appreciated. Phone users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep