Chapter 329: Chapter 328

The child didn’t react this time, still holding tightly to her neck, as if only by doing so could he find his parents.

Fu Qiang, who followed, said, “Captain, let me hold him.”

Ling Chengyan shook her head, “No need.”

At this moment, the child was frightened, very sensitive and fearful. She saved him and said she would take him to find his parents. Changing someone might cause the child to break down again.

Half an hour later, when Ling Chengyan and her team met the child’s parents at the police station, and officially handed the child over to his tearful mother, Ling Chengyan finally let out a long breath of relief.

Fu Qiang quickly moved forward to check Ling Chengyan’s neck, only to find that because the child had hugged her too tightly, her neck was red.

Ling Chengyan waved her hand, indicating she was fine. She handed the matter over to the police officers at the station, and after completing the procedures, she left hastily without allowing the child’s parents to thank her.

On the way back in the car, Fu Qiang finally asked, “Captain, did you already suspect that couple?”

Ling Chengyan nodded, “I noticed some discrepancies; the couple was dressed very plainly, but the child was dressed neatly, as if they didn’t belong to the same family.”

Fu Qiang’s eyes lit up as she continued to ask, “How did you confirm in such a short time that they had hidden in that household?”

Ling Chengyan glanced at her, and Fu Qiang immediately fell silent, sitting upright.

Today, they were in a police car driven, of course, by a police officer.

The officer had been listening attentively but was caught off guard when they stopped at the most crucial part, leaving him stuck, unable to express his curiosity like a cat patiently waiting. It was quite uncomfortable.

Back at the station, Ling Chengyan took out a small bottle and handed it to Fu Qiang, “I’ve only done this much, be careful.”

It turns out Ling Chengyan had spent a long time procuring herbs to create a tracking scent. A small sprinkle of it on the target would allow a trained person to follow a unique scent to locate the target.

The next day was the Lantern Festival on January 15th.

Ling Chengyan was off duty, fulfilling her promise to take her children out to see the lanterns.

On this day, she wore a camel-brown plaid coat, with a set of light beige wool scarf and knitted hat. At first glance, apart from her overly straight posture, it was hard to recognize her identity.

Ling Chengyan had visited the lantern market before, but taking her children had a different atmosphere.

They strolled around slowly, watching the children excitedly point out various lanterns, stand on tiptoe reading the riddles on the lanterns, jumping with excitement when guessing correctly, or furrowing their brows in thought when unable to guess… Of course, there were also bustling little toys and snack stalls… They spent over two hours enjoying themselves before heading home, still wanting more.

In the blink of an eye, the Lantern Festival passed, and the children returned to school. The special task force completed its mission of jointly maintaining public stability and safety, returning to routine preparations for the upcoming spring training.

Preparing training supplies, negotiating training venues, and more—simple to discuss but ensuring the needs for living and training for over a hundred people for over a month was complex and tedious work. During this time, Zhang Yuanhong, who was responsible for logistics, was incredibly busy.

During this period, the cook Liu approached with a request to build a small pig farm in the corner of the courtyard, providing a very solid reason: “Although the soldiers are disciplined and hardly anyone wastes food, each meal still leaves leftovers, and pouring away slop is such a waste. If we could raise some pigs, not only would it consume these kitchen scraps, but during holidays, slaughtering pigs for meat could supplement the soldiers’ meals.”

The cook undertaking pig farming was a good tradition in many units. They had ample space at the facility, and building a pig farm at the courtyard’s edge, far from offices, quarters, and training areas, would not interfere with normal work and life.

Ling Chengyan didn’t object, consenting immediately.

Liu, however, didn’t leave. He grinned, saying: “Captain, could you also assign a vehicle for me to buy some piglets and hire a few workers to build the pigpen?”

Ling Chengyan took one look at the advantageous Liu, and before he could retreat, she stood up, grabbed a set of car keys, and said, “Let’s go!”

Liu was stunned, not reacting for a while: “No, Captain… I just asked you to assign a car.”

Ling Chengyan personally drove, taking Fu Qiang along to accompany Liu to hire workers.

Since there’s no pigpen, bringing back piglets beforehand is impractical; hiring workers to build the pigpen comes first.

With the economy activated and markets opened, more and more farmers came to the city during the off-farming season to find work.

Rural people came to the city with varying literacy, and what they’re best at, farming, was useless here. What they could offer was physical labor.

Each city had several labor gathering sites, large and small, where daily many workers awaited recruitment to be taken on for jobs.

Among them, most offered sheer muscle power, while some had skills like masonry, carpentry, and a few had some water and electricity repair skills.

Ling Chengyan and her team went to a labor gathering site next to the building material market in the eastern city, where most laborers had some building experience.

Ling Chengyan parked the car, with Liu leading the way, she and Fu Qiang followed leisurely, observing the vehicles entering and leaving the materials market, as well as the workers waiting outside for jobs.

As they walked, a commotion suddenly erupted ahead, with someone shouting, “A fight broke out, a fight!”

Fu Qiang turned her head to look at Ling Chengyan, who nodded, and the two quickly moved along the crowd, arriving ahead of most people at the scene, pushing into the crowd, seeing four or five people surrounding one person in a fight. That person initially retaliated but was soon knocked to the ground by the others, as four or five young men dressed scrappily surrounded and punched and kicked him, leaving the person unable to stand, forced to protect his head with his hands, curling up to minimize the impact of the blows.

Ling Chengyan immediately noticed the person was wearing old military pants, which weren’t unusual since military clothing was durable and comfortable, with many workers wearing semi-worn military attire and shoes.

However, what caught Ling Chengyan’s attention was the exposure of a small sock—also military-issued—from the person’s curled-up legs.

Plenty of military uniforms and pants were circulating in society, but those wearing military-issued socks were mostly veterans.

Ling Chengyan squeezed her way through, quickly detaining the attackers, “Stop!”

“Oh, where did you come from? A female soldier, huh!”

“A piece of advice, don’t meddle in others’ business and avoid causing trouble for yourself!”

Fu Qiang flexed her wrists, eyes coldly fixed on the group, guarding behind Ling Chengyan.

Ling Chengyan stepped forward, bending down to inquire, “Comrade, how are you feeling? Can you stand?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep