Animal Detective

Chapter 525: Chapter 429: A Ministry-Supervised Case

When a guest comes from so far away, you have to treat them right.

Doniya specifically requested to eat Nanjiang’s local specialties again. Shen Xin knew a few places, but some were downtown or in Xinbei District, which was too far.

He did know of a closer place, though, over on Binhu Commercial Street.

Shen Haolin went there often, which was how Shen Xin knew about it.

"Is it sweet?"

Shen Xin asked from across the table in their private room.

Doniya, sitting opposite him, rolled her large eyes in thought before shaking her head. "It’s fine. Not as sweet as I expected. It’s more of a sweet-and-savory flavor. It’s quite good."

Shen Xin explained, "What you read online is a bit of an exaggeration. Maybe some people from the older generation eat that way, but they’re in the minority."

"Young people these days prefer stronger flavors, like spicy food, so the recipes were modified a long time ago. Anyway, what matters is that you like it."

With that, he urged her to eat up.

They also had a little something to drink.

They were off the clock, after all.

And now that he was at the Municipal Bureau, it was much more relaxed than his time at the branch or the local station. Back in operations, a call could come in at any moment, sending him out on a case.

Shen Xin was technically a "leader" himself. As long as he reported it, having a little to drink after hours wasn’t a huge deal.

They weren’t drinking hard liquor, just some traditional rice wine.

Doniya handled it without any problem at all.

Shen Xin knew that girls from the grasslands could hold their liquor. Back on the plains, the local girls would drink fermented mare’s milk wine like it was regular milk.

He hadn’t invited anyone else, just the members of his small team.

Song Xiangli was there too. Like two peas in a pod, Yang Zeran brought his wife everywhere.

Doniya wasn’t the shy type. Outgoing and uninhibited, she quickly hit it off with everyone, enthusiastically chatting about life on the grasslands.

All in all, the meal was a great success, with both the hosts and guest enjoying themselves thoroughly.

But as the group was leaving the private room, they unexpectedly ran into someone...

"Dad?"

Shen Xin called out, his expression strange.

From a private room up ahead, several middle-aged men were walking out with their arms slung over each other’s shoulders. Among them was Shen Haolin.

Shen Haolin clearly froze for a second when he saw Shen Xin.

Shen Xin quickly greeted two of the other men; he’d met them before and knew they were good friends of his father’s.

There were others he didn’t recognize; his father must have been treating some friends.

"Hello, Uncle Shen."

Zhao Tianxing and the others chimed in with their greetings.

Doniya, in particular, stepped forward and formally greeted Shen Haolin, warmly calling him "Uncle."

"Hello, hello."

Shen Haolin looked Doniya up and down, a little stunned. He’d never met her before. He then returned the greetings to Ding Yuwei and the others.

Before Shen Xin could even make introductions, Doniya was already introducing herself, explaining that she was a friend of Shen Xin’s from Suihar.

She added that Shen Xin had helped her out and that she would be sure to pay a formal visit to their home to express her gratitude.

Shen Haolin just kept nodding and saying, "Oh, oh," likely not having processed the situation at all.

Just then, one of the middle-aged men beside him said, "President Shen, is this your son? Why don’t you all come along? We can get two rooms. They can have their fun, and we can have ours."

The suggestion made Shen Haolin jump.

A friend of Shen Haolin’s, a Mr. Ma, quickly tugged at his arm and said to Shen Xin in embarrassment, "Shen Xin, don’t get the wrong idea. The places we’re going to are completely aboveboard."

With that, he quickly dragged the man away.

Shen Haolin was also incredibly embarrassed.

Shen Xin silently rolled his eyes. He knew this commercial street was full of KTVs and private clubs.

As for whether they were "aboveboard," well, that was a matter of opinion.

Shen Xin shot his father a meaningful look.

Shen Haolin caught his meaning and quickly said, "Uh, you young people go have your own fun. I’ll take care of your bill."

With that, he hurried away.

Just before he reached the end of the hall, he turned his head for another couple of glances at Doniya.

He had no idea his son knew a girl like that from Suihar.

But the young woman was quite pretty and very vivacious.

It’s just...

Now that they had reached middle age, the thing Shen Haolin and Zeng Wenxi worried about most was the future marriages of their son and daughter.

Shen Shuang had tons of friends but had never been in a single serious relationship.

And Shen Xin?

Shen Haolin had brought it up with Shen Xin before, prodding him about it.

Shen Xin’s response was that he was still young—only twenty-six—and didn’t want to worry about it. He just wanted to use his prime years to focus on his career.

It wouldn’t be too late to get married once he’d made it to a leadership position and had more time.

If he got married now, he’d be busy with cases all day and unable to care for his family, which would be irresponsible to whomever he married.

Doniya’s face flashed through his mind. Shen Haolin muttered, "She’s a bit far away," and then pushed the thought aside.

They finished dinner just after seven, so it was still early.

Doniya suggested they go for a walk along South Chang Street in the city proper.

It was an old town, a popular tourist destination.

Yang Zeran and his wife promptly made their escape.

Zhao Tianxing let out a sly laugh and claimed he had other plans.

That just left Ding Yuwei.

Shen Xin shot her a pleading look.

But either Ding Yuwei didn’t catch his meaning or she chose to ignore it. She said she was a bit tired after a long day and wouldn’t be going, telling Shen Xin to show Doniya a good time before coolly hailing a cab and departing.

"So, shall we go?" Doniya sidled up to him, asking with a beaming smile.

Shen Xin smiled, nodded, and pulled out his phone to hail a ride.

They just browsed around for a bit. They didn’t stay out too long, as Doniya pointed out that Shen Xin had work the next day, so they headed back to her hotel early.

It probably wasn’t very fun, anyway. The atmosphere was too commercialized, and other than taking a boat ride, there wasn’t much to do.

Doniya’s plan was to spend a couple of days in Nanjiang and then visit the surrounding cities.

It was her first time away from the grasslands, so she was determined to see the sights of the Jiangnan region.

Once she’d had her fill of sightseeing, she would try to chase her dreams.

All Shen Xin could do was stay in touch and try to squeeze in some time to show her around.

But he was incredibly busy.

Zhao Hongjie had told him to prepare a budget, and anything involving money was a serious matter, so it had to be done right.

He also had to continue training Yifan and the others.

The recent drill had exposed some problems, so he needed to put more effort into their operational capabilities.

Especially Dashun. The magpie had a rebellious streak; he was like the honey badger of the bird world.

「A few days passed in a flash, and soon it was June.」

On the first of the month, Shen Xin was on the training field with Dashun and the others when someone called his name from behind.

"Chen Zhi!"

It was Chen Guanglin.

After they exchanged greetings and a bit of small talk, Shen Xin noticed that Chen Guanglin wasn’t hemming and hawing like he had at the K-9 base.

Clearly, after a couple of days of thought, he had come to a decision.

"Shen Xin, I’ll be direct. There’s a case, and I’d like to ask for your help."

Even as he said it, Chen Guanglin’s expression remained conflicted.

The last time he had "borrowed" Shen Xin, back when he was still at the Tingyang Branch, the Huibei Village shootout had occurred.

Although it had been an accident, the incident still left a bad taste in Chen Guanglin’s mouth.

After all, he was only borrowing him. Shen Xin wasn’t part of the narcotics division.

If he had been one of their own, there would be no question—when trouble arises, you have to step up.

If no one else steps up, you step up yourself.

But if something happened to a borrowed officer, Zhang Hancheng would have his hide.

Shen Xin saw Chen Guanglin’s dilemma and said quickly, "Chen Zhi, please, just say it. Whatever you need, I’ll definitely help."

As always, Shen Xin had the utmost respect for those in the narcotics division.

If he could help, he absolutely would.

Of course, a narcotics case was guaranteed to be risky.

But was a criminal investigation any less risky?

Besides, if a police officer was afraid of danger, they shouldn’t be in this line of work at all.

Chen Guanglin clapped Shen Xin on the shoulder and led him on a walk around the training field, explaining the situation as they went.

He asked, "Shen Xin, do you remember when you were representing the K-9 base at the competition in Ningshan? You found half a kilo of Number Four heroin at a private club."

Shen Xin paused for a moment, then nodded quickly.

He furrowed his brow in thought. "I remember that club... it was called Meigao, right?"

Chen Guanglin smiled, nodded, and praised Shen Xin for his good memory.

Shen Xin asked curiously, "Chen Zhi, wasn’t that a Ningshan case? Did the investigation lead back to us here in Nanjiang?"

Shen Xin remembered the incident.

Although he was acquainted with Tang Youkun, the captain of the Ningshan Narcotics Division, he had been there for a competition, so he hadn’t followed up on the subsequent investigation.

But now that Chen Guanglin was bringing it up, it most likely meant the case had been traced back to Nanjiang.

Drug traffickers naturally cast a wide net; they never operate in just one city.

Chen Guanglin nodded. "We’ve been investigating this case for three months. We can basically confirm that here in our Ningjiang Province, there’s a distribution network that covers all thirteen of its cities."

"Furthermore, this trafficking network isn’t limited to Ningjiang; it’s just one of the provinces involved. They have a presence in several other southeastern provinces as well."

"That’s why this case is now being supervised at the ministry level."

Shen Xin was taken aback. He hadn’t expected it to be a case big enough for the Ministry to get involved.

But on second thought, it made sense.

Ministry-level supervision didn’t necessarily mean it was some earth-shattering case.

The Ministry supervised countless cases every year.

And since this was a drug case spanning multiple provinces, it was only natural for the Ministry to step in and coordinate the efforts.

Chen Guanglin continued, "And the drugs involved this time are also unusual."

"You probably know that the prevalence of Number Four heroin in the country has been declining year after year. The mainstream now is synthetic drugs, as well as those with milder addictive properties."

Shen Xin nodded.

Compared to synthetic drugs, Number Four was practically an antique.

Crackdowns on it were severe, and with production sites in the Southwest region being repeatedly dismantled, most producers had switched to synthetics. That’s why the prevalence of Number Four had gradually declined.

"But this time, based on the scale we’ve tallied and the intelligence we’ve gathered, we believe a completely new production syndicate has emerged over in Mianguang."

The Mianguang he mentioned is a country bordering China’s Southwest.

Mianguang, Siam, and Laos.

The lawless border region where the four countries meet was once a major drug-producing area.

Chen Guanglin added some background information.

He explained that this region had originally been a primary producer of Number Four heroin.

"Back in 2005, there was a concentrated crackdown. They also implemented crop substitution programs, which significantly reduced the scale of drug cultivation."

Over the following decade, with the emergence and proliferation of synthetic drugs, the region shifted its focus to producing those instead.

As for traditional drugs like Number Four, production had become very small and sporadic.

But now, based on the sheer scale of the recent seizures, Chen Guanglin’s analysis suggested a resurgence. A new, large-scale production syndicate had likely emerged in the area.

"And they’ve definitely established a mature smuggling route into our country."

"We suspect the route runs through the mountainous border regions."

The border in that region is nothing but mountain ranges, and the borderline itself is vast.

The difficulty of policing that border was the very reason drugs were so rampant there in the past.

Endless mountains covered in primeval forests, crisscrossed with countless hidden trails, made illegal border crossings impossible to completely stop.

"So, Shen Xin, I’ve discussed it with the provincial command. We want to rely on these birds of yours."

He pointed to Plane and the others flying overhead. "To help us figure out this smuggling route."

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