Animal Detective

Chapter 552: Chapter 455: Yulin

During the video call, Yang Zeran curiously sized up Nan Ji in the background.

"Can you ride that elephant?"

"Shen Xin, you’ve been a donkey cavalryman and a regular cavalryman. Now you can be an elephant cavalryman! Next, you should get a tiger and be a tiger cavalryman. That’d be awesome."

Beside him, Zhao Tianxing was already chuckling and nodding incessantly.

Shen Xin raised an eyebrow. "Yang Zeran, if you have time to joke around with me, why don’t you focus on your case? A home invasion robbery, and it’s been how many days? You still haven’t figured it out."

Yang Zeran threw his hands up in a what-the-hell gesture. "You’re the expert. I bow to your greatness. You do it."

Shen Xin flipped off the camera, then said, "Alright, seriously now. Hurry up and give me some ideas."

Shen Xin had no leads on the baby elephant being smuggled out of the country for now. He could only wait for Wang Feng to conduct further investigations.

But the matter of several hundred police dogs was an immediate pressure.

So, during his regular check-in with Yang Zeran, he had asked him for ideas.

On the screen, Zhao Tianxing smacked his lips. "Shen Xin, this is on you. You talked too big and bit off more than you can chew. Yuwei, you were right there with him. You didn’t even try to stop him?"

Ding Yuwei shot Shen Xin a glare. "How do you know I didn’t? The problem is, he never discusses these things with me."

A few steps away, Jiang Wengang, who was leisurely cracking melon seeds, turned his head and nodded in agreement.

Yang Zeran was definitely the quiet-but-wild type. Back at the detachment, he had been a model of propriety.

But after following Shen Xin, his mouth had become incredibly sharp. He chuckled, "Now that’s not right of you guys. We can’t hold Shen Xin back from making progress. If he actually pulls this off, a First-Class Merit won’t be enough. He’ll deserve a First-Class Hero Model award, at least."

"I’m not exaggerating, am I, Shen Xin?"

The criteria for a First-Class Hero Model were outstanding achievements, special contributions, and significant influence, making one an exemplary model.

If Shen Xin doubling the nation’s police dog population didn’t qualify, then no one did.

"Are you guys done? I asked you for ideas."

Shen Xin glared. ’Believe it or not, I’ll make your life difficult.’

Yang Zeran raised his hands in surrender. "Look at you, can’t even take a joke."

After a moment of thought, Yang Zeran said, "Shen Xin, since the provincial department promised their full support, just go all out. It’s only 400 police dogs, right? Just have them buy them for you from all over the country. What’s the big deal?"

Shen Xin just kept glaring at him. He had just said that he had only one selection criterion: he had to personally inspect them himself.

If it were just a matter of buying dogs, it would be simple.

If they spent good money on dogs, only to have them sent over and found unsuitable, wouldn’t that be a waste?

A few would be fine, but with hundreds or even a thousand, the whole endeavor would be a failure.

Yang Zeran continued, "Why don’t you buy on credit? Just offer to cover their travel expenses. Have them send dogs from all over the country. Keep the suitable ones and send back the rest. If you’re only paying for transport, it shouldn’t cost that much, right?"

Shen Xin crossed his arms.

’Now that sounds more like it. A proper idea.’

But upon closer inspection, the problem remained.

Professional kennels mostly sell puppies, keeping the adult dogs for breeding.

And Shen Xin didn’t want puppies.

Ordinary households had plenty of adult dogs, but people usually doted on them like their own children. Would they be willing to sell them?

Yang Zeran wasn’t stupid; he understood Shen Xin’s concerns. "Shen Xin, your situation is unique, so this is the only way. Just pick the ones left over at kennels—the ones that are hard to sell and were forced to grow up there. A single city might not have many, but across the whole country, there’ll be a lot. It shouldn’t be hard to gather a few hundred."

"If that doesn’t work, then fall back on your old method: find strays. There are rescue shelters all over the country. You could easily pick a few hundred."

Beyond that, Yang Zeran didn’t have many other ideas.

It was a matter of hundreds, even thousands of dogs, not a small number.

After he finished, Yang Zeran asked when Shen Xin was coming back.

Beside him, Zhao Tianxing nodded nonstop, regretting not tagging along as a hanger-on.

Coming to Dian Nan to eat, drink, and have fun, all while getting paid? That was the life.

"It should be soon."

There was still no news from the department, and the provincial team hadn’t arrived, which meant there were no new developments.

But it would be soon. They had said when they arrived that this matter had to be resolved before June 26th, the International Day Against Drug Abuse.

After hanging up, Ding Yuwei saw Shen Xin’s troubled expression and said, "Shen Xin, if it’s not working out, just go with strays. From shelters, or just catch them off the streets. It would be like cleaning up the city environment, too."

At this, she paused, took out her phone, and searched for something.

"Oh, right. Why don’t you take this opportunity to do a good deed?" Ding Yuwei showed her phone to Shen Xin.

Shen Xin looked closely. The Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat Festival.

Ding Yuwei said, "Look, it’s next week, and it’s not too far from here, right? Won’t a huge number of dogs be sent there then?"

"As for eating meat, I respect their personal customs and can’t really demand anything. But since you need a large number of adult dogs, and this opportunity is here, why not just pick a batch? It would be a good deed, too."

"There’ll be hundreds, maybe thousands. Saving some is better than saving none."

Shen Xin thought for a moment and nodded.

’This could work.’

Just as Ding Yuwei said, saving some was better than saving none.

Besides, one had to be close to death to understand how precious life was.

Just like Celestial Skill back then; she truly cherished the chance to live.

"The key is... what do I do about this one?"

Shen Xin glanced at Nan Ji in the distance.

The elephant had contracted a disease—the kind where she would get anxious if she couldn’t see Shen Xin for even a moment.

Just like Teddy back in the day, she wanted to follow him even to the bathroom.

That night, when he was alone with Nan Ji, Shen Xin had a long talk with her.

He told her this wasn’t right.

"I already promised you. Go ask around. In the animal kingdom, my reputation is pretty solid."

"Besides, if I don’t go out, how can I help you find your baby?"

For every sentence Shen Xin spoke, she would trumpet once.

He had no idea if she was actually taking any of it in.

Despite his meticulous care for the past few days, her affinity level hadn’t changed at all. It was still at six bars.

’It’s probably because her sense of self is too strong.’

After talking for ages, Shen Xin truly felt like a chicken talking to a duck.

"I’m just going to assume you agree," Shen Xin said finally.

Nan Ji trumpeted once more.

「The next day, the 16th」

Shen Xin prepared to leave for Yulin.

He had already reported to Lu Chunze and the others.

They didn’t ask why; they offered unconditional support regardless.

If Shen Xin thought this was a good idea, then that’s what they would do.

He contacted the Yulin police to ask for their cooperation. At the same time, a few people from his side would be going with him.

Once the dogs were selected, they would need to arrange for vehicles to transport them back.

An accountant was also traveling with them to make on-the-spot purchases and payments.

Ding Yuwei would go, but Jiang Wengang would stay behind.

They were going inland, so no protection was needed.

He had another responsibility: to feed the bird well.

They set off early in the morning, taking a flight from Simao.

"Don’t worry, Shen Xin. We’ll take good care of Nan Ji." He Jinglin waved his hand, signaling for Shen Xin to hurry up and leave.

With Shen Xin here, it always felt like their enthusiastic efforts were being wasted.

He had originally planned to return to Mengle. After all, he was a deputy director of the center, a leader.

But when he learned that Nan Ji had given birth to a white elephant, he immediately decided to stay.

He planned to stay and study it thoroughly.

Shen Xin thought, ’I’m not worried you won’t take care of her. I’m worried she won’t let me leave.’

Gritting his teeth, Shen Xin turned and walked away.

Nan Ji immediately chased after him.

’Great, now I can’t leave.’

Shen Xin stopped. Just as he was about to lecture her again, he saw Nan Ji stop at the garage entrance and trumpet at him twice.

Shen Xin was taken aback.

’She knows. She understood what I said last night.’

She wasn’t stopping him. Her two calls seemed to be just a reminder for Shen Xin not to forget his promise.

A wave of emotion washed over Shen Xin. He could feel the delicate feelings of this giant creature before him.

"Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon."

Shen Xin smiled, waved, and ducked into the car.

Nan Ji didn’t chase him. She just trumpeted one more time and watched Shen Xin from a distance, like a pining wife turned to stone, waiting for her husband’s return.

「A few hours later」

The group arrived in Yulin.

They left the airport and headed straight for the Yulin City Bureau.

The people in Yulin took this quite seriously; their bureau chief personally received Shen Xin and his group.

’On second thought, it makes sense.’

After all, if he succeeded, Yulin, and even the entire Changxi Province, would benefit.

Shen Xin’s group consisted of four people.

After lunch, besides the female accountant, the other man in their group left to coordinate transportation.

They still needed to prepare a large amount of equipment.

Seeing that it was still early, Shen Xin suggested they go check out the market.

The Yulin side had assigned a deputy director from their office named Wang Donghai to liaise with them.

The man was in his forties. Working in an office, he was naturally a smooth operator—eloquent, pleasant, and always smiling.

When he heard Shen Xin wanted to set out, he shook his head, saying the timing was wrong.

He explained why.

He said that in previous years, the dog meat festival had caused a huge uproar.

So the city had made some regulations and adjustments.

For example, live dogs were not allowed in the city center.

Shen Xin had suggested going to restaurants.

In Shen Xin’s memory, some restaurants would display live dogs to be slaughtered on the spot.

That was no longer the case.

The restaurants all bought dog meat that had already been butchered from markets within the city.

And there were no large-scale live dog trades within the city itself.

"But with the summer solstice approaching, there are still some, but the trading all happens in the early morning," Wang Donghai explained.

He added that the main trading spots for live dogs were in the suburbs.

He knew where those places were and said he would take Shen Xin there later.

He also mentioned the scale, estimating that on the day of the summer solstice, the entire city might consume over ten thousand dogs.

It was currently the peak period, with possibly several hundred to a thousand dogs being transported into the city every day.

The scale was huge, definitely large enough to meet Shen Xin’s selection needs.

The female accountant, Ms. Lin, hesitated before asking, "Director Wang, I read online that most of the dogs are now farm-raised for meat. Is that true?"

Wang Donghai paused for a moment. "Well, how should I put this... Let me run the numbers for you, and you’ll understand."

He said that to raise a dog, factoring in labor, rent, utilities, and food, a cost of one hundred yuan a month wasn’t much.

If they were ready for slaughter in eight months, adding in the cost of vaccinations, the total cost would be at least a thousand yuan.

"And the market price for a live dog is only about ten yuan per pound."

"A thirty-to-forty-pound dog is far from enough to cover the costs."

He ended with a sigh. "It’s a complicated issue. But if you can really pick out a batch of live dogs and take them away, that would be a good thing."

Shen Xin nodded.

He had just happened to arrive at the right time. Given the opportunity, saving some was better than saving none.

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