"Evacuate businesses and residents within a 500-meter radius! Now!"
"Where's the SWAT team? I need three sniper groups. See these three buildings!"
"Bomb disposal experts? First, neutralize the danger around those two people, then conduct a thorough sweep!"
"Sports Avenue and Energy Avenue outside the park are temporarily closed. Notify traffic police for diversion."
"Gao Xiaofei! Gao Xiaofei, where the hell are you!"
...
Yan Qing, who had spent the entire morning drinking tea with the supervisor, was now on-site, commanding a team of hundreds to handle this bombing case.
Gao Xiaofei, wearing only a bulletproof vest, had, at some point, crawled along the path that Ping An and Mei Qian had taken, slowly reaching their side.
"Get lost!" Ping An, utterly exhausted, glanced at Gao Xiaofei and managed to utter a single word.
"Have some water! Don't worry, I guarantee I can get both of you out of here alive and intact," Gao Xiaofei said seriously.
"How's my sister?" Ping An asked.
"Don't worry, she's in the police car, with Lai Xiang accompanying her!" Gao Xiaofei replied.
Hearing this news, Mei Qian also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mei Qian! Are you really that Jack?" Ping An suddenly asked.
"Yes, and I didn't know you were Ruth's brother," Mei Qian said with a pained expression.
"Holy cow! What's going on!" Gao Xiaofei looked at the two of them in astonishment.
"Her name is An Jing! Not Ruth! Did you come to Hecuan for my sister?" Ping An continued to ask.
"An Jing and I, An Jing and I have been in love for five years, we have a true connection!" Mei Qian said.
"Holy cow! A melodramatic plot!" Gao Xiaofei exclaimed excitedly.
"What true connection! It's just online dating!" Ping An insisted stubbornly.
"We meet at least once every two months. Either I come to Hecuan, or she goes to Sulu!" Mei Qian said. "I came to Hecuan for An Jing, otherwise, how can we live if we get married and live separately!"
"You still want to get married, you bastard?" Ping An exploded, turning his head to look at Mei Qian, who was still on him.
"I left my life back home, came to this damn place to drink that cursed lamb soup, and it wasn't for An Jing! I love her! I want to marry her!" Mei Qian, perhaps having held back for too long, growled.
"I don't agree!" Ping An also growled.
"Even if you don't agree, I'm marrying her!" Mei Qian had given up all pretense.
"Alright! Let's stop talking about this. You two grown men, in this state, what else matters? It's just a girl, just a woman. You've gone through life and death, it's not worth it!" Gao Xiaofei tried to mediate.
"Get lost!"
"Get lost!"
Ping An and Mei Qian said in unison.
After searching the crowd for a long time, Yan Qing finally found Gao Xiaofei crawling on the ground.
"Gao Xiaofei, get back here! Oh no, just stay put! You scoundrel, the three of you get together, and you're having a slumber party? How about I give you a deck of cards and you play landlord?" Yan Qing stood aside, on the verge of tears.
"Report, the area around Captain Mei has been cleared. No danger! They can leave now," the bomb disposal expert reported.
"Did you hear that? The three of you, now, get your asses over here!" Yan Qing roared, emphasizing each word.
Jianzi Park was once a garbage dump. Ten years ago, Hecuan transformed this garbage dump into a community park during its campaign to become a "Sanitary City." At that time, a craze for "jianzi" (shuttlecock kicking) swept through the city. The park, with its numerous small hills and slopes formed by unevenly buried garbage, became a favorite spot for citizens to play jianzi.
Now, this park had become the "front line" for counter-terrorism operations in the city, with no less than seven or eight police units, including SWAT, bomb disposal experts, and technical investigators. A helicopter labeled "Police Three" hovered continuously in the airspace. A hazardous materials disposal team, clad in exaggerated radiation suits, officially entered the park as Mei Qian and Ping An retreated from the "front line" to the "rear," due to the discovery of unknown gas by a team from the health system. "The pit in the ground is fine. It's just a smell emitted by some kind of food corrosion. It's non-toxic!" Less than five minutes later, the following message came through Gao Xiaofei's police radio.
Tossing the walkie-talkie aside, Gao Xiaofei squatted on the ground, watching Ping An and Mei Qian sitting with their backs to each other. These two, ever since they withdrew from the park, and after a simple check found no physical problems, had been sitting like this, back to back, not speaking a word. Perhaps they didn't want to talk about the explosion, or perhaps they didn't want to talk about An Jing.
"Brother! Jack!" a soft call came.
An Jing, accompanied by Lin Dang, stood outside the cordon.
"You scared me to death!" Seeing her brother and Jack sitting together unharmed, the anxious An Jing zipped through the cordon and ran in front of the two.
"Brother!" An Jing, with tears streaming down her face, looked deeply at Ping An with a gaze that was both reproachful and concerned. At this moment, Ping An could genuinely feel the warmth of family. He suppressed his tears, stood up, opened his arms, and prepared to embrace his loved one after his battle with death.
Then, he saw An Jing, who had only called out to him once, obediently throw herself into Mei Qian's arms.
An Kang, growing more beautiful by the day, rushed into Mei Qian's pig-like embrace like a fresh head of cabbage. Ping An felt as if a piece of his own flesh had been ripped away.
"Teacher Ping An! Are you okay!" After Ping An and An Jing separated from Liu Kedou and Wang Kaixuan respectively, these two police officers felt a bad premonition and rushed to Ping An's home to find him. Just as they entered, they received Ping An's urgent call about the danger. Lin Dang, who was home alone, also came to the scene, encountering An Jing crying outside. Now, she had accompanied An Jing, and seeing her boss looking like a gambler who had lost everything, with red eyes and a runny nose, she felt very uncomfortable and hesitantly called out.
From the very beginning, Mei Qian had been in a daze. From Ping An's punch, to Wu An's death under his nose, to the current "back-to-back" situation, he couldn't fathom how such a virtuous and gentle girl like An Jing could have such a scoundrel of a brother.
When An Jing ran towards him, crying, his heart shattered. Five years ago, as an instructor, he had first met An Jing at a women's self-defense instructor training class. She was just a young girl then. Yet, this seemingly frail girl, when sparring with him, threw him down 27 times...
Defeated, Mei Qian inexplicably fell in love with the woman who conquered him. A long-distance relationship began. For An Jing, he waited patiently, waiting for her to graduate from university, waiting for her to reach an age where marriage was possible. Finally, by chance, he gave up his political capital as a county bureau chief, traveled thousands of miles, from south to north, across half of China, to her city.
For the past week, due to the seriousness of the case, he hadn't had a chance to see An Jing. Today, they finally met. He had many things to tell her, he wanted to buy property in Hecuan, he wanted to marry her and have children, and live a happy life.
Until Ping An's punch.
At this moment, Mei Qian looked at An Jing in his arms, then awkwardly at Ping An, noticing that his future "brother-in-law" seemed on the verge of "berserk."
"How about you hold her first?" Mei Qian, who was never good at socializing, forced a smile that was uglier than crying, and in the manner of urging someone to drink at a table, pointed to An Jing in his arms and said to Ping An, "I can hold her later."
"Pfft! Hahaha, you'd give that away too!" Gao Xiaofei, who was drinking water, couldn't hold back any longer. He sprayed out the water in his mouth and burst into laughter on the ground.
As expected, Ping An, who had remained silent, pulled An Jing out of Mei Qian's arms and punched him in the stomach.
"Stay away from my sister. We have a family ancestral rule: men don't marry bosses, women don't marry police officers. You want to marry my sister? Impossible," Ping An said fiercely.
The scene processing was nearing its end when Yan Qing, with a murderous expression, walked up to Ping An and Mei Qian. "You two, come with me. Gao Xiaofei, you too. An Jing, go home. Your brother is a monkey, he won't die!" Yan Qing said loudly.
Inside a coffee shop temporarily requisitioned by the police, the digital clock chimed "11 AM." This bright early autumn weekend had only just passed its morning.
"Ping An, you speak first!" Yan Qing was completely without a pleasant expression. Taking advantage of the fact that he had watched Ping An grow up, he lectured for a long time before allowing him to speak.
"That's how it happened. It's not Comrade Liu Kedou's fault, I deliberately shook him off." Ping An glanced at Liu Kedou, who was standing at the very back, and saw that the burly man was almost in tears. He quickly took the blame upon himself.
"My girlfriend and I were having coffee in this cafe. Ping An happened to pass by, so I followed him." After Ping An finished speaking, without Yan Qing needing to emphasize it, Mei Qian felt compelled to explain his situation as well.
"Audacious! Truly audacious! Hecuan City has not had a bombing case since its liberation. Do you know that, according to military technical experts, the explosive device used a landmine structure? Fortunately, the criminals did not add nails, ball bearings, or other shrapnel to the vicinity of the explosives. Otherwise, the two of you...哼哼, you'd be waiting for wheelchairs even if you didn't die!" Yan Qing said.
"Landmine? A military landmine with a pressure-sensitive trigger?" Mei Qian asked in surprise.
"Yes, based on the physical evidence found at the scene, the explosive device was homemade, but the craftsmanship was very fine. Apart from being two-thirds smaller than military equipment and having one-fifth less explosive, and lacking shrapnel, it was a standard anti-personnel triggered landmine," Yan Qing said, holding a document. "The second one had a similar structure, but for some reason, it detonated on the grass."
"What about Wu An?" Ping An asked.
"Completely dead. Strange to say, the detonation point was near his stomach. The explosion tore a large hole in his stomach, and all his internal organs were blown out. His limbs and head were not significantly harmed," Yan Qing said. "Furthermore, during preliminary examination, we found an old mobile phone in Wu An's pocket. The phone was destroyed, and the technical department is trying to repair it. There's nothing else."
According to Yan Qing's description, the bomb that attacked Wu An was an anti-personnel landmine. But wasn't that thing buried in the ground? Wouldn't it trigger when stepped on? Wouldn't the explosion be directed outwards first? Why did it blow open his stomach? Ping An, who had completely calmed down, took a cigarette from Yan Qing's pack, lit it slowly, and took a deep puff.
Wu An leading him to Jianzi Park clearly had something to say. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered calling another police officer to die with him. Moreover, based on his guess, Wu An didn't have the resolve to die with him. How did the explosion happen? Pre-planted? No, how could the criminals accurately predict that Wu An would step on it? It was the weekend, and there were quite a few people in the park. Could it be...
"Could it be that the criminal controlled Wu An and strapped the explosives to him, using it to control him?" After deep thought, Ping An asked.
"That's a good theory! Initially, our technical investigators made that judgment based on the victim's injuries. However, after reviewing the surveillance footage, we found that Wu An's front was empty when he went to find you, with no sign of carrying anything. Additionally, according to the preliminary forensic examination, there were no traces of ropes or tape on the victim's ribs, back, or other areas," Yan Qing said after taking a sip of water. "If both of these theories are unreliable, then listen to what the military personnel say. Although this explosive device was well-constructed, it was still handmade and couldn't withstand repeated bumps. If Wu An had been running and dodging like that, it would have exploded midway, not even reaching the park."
After hearing Yan Qing's words, Ping An fell into deep thought again. What did Wu An want to tell him? Such persistence must mean it wasn't a minor matter. What about the landmine? Was it automated? Did it attack people on its own? Why would the criminals use such a complex killing method? They had already controlled or found Wu An. Wouldn't a car crash be simpler? Unless, like the Niu Jian case, something was being covered up? What were they trying to hide? Right, why did Wu An lead him to this park? What was the purpose? Had he already shaken off the police. Wasn't the coffee shop hidden enough?
Wait! Jianzi Park? What was the exit in front of Jianzi Park? It was a supermarket! No, it was the back door of the supermarket, the loading channel for the supermarket. The supermarket often received shipments of things like fish and seafood that emitted strong odors, severely affecting the residents' lives. He had investigated this matter half a year ago based on reader calls.
Right! Receiving goods? Seafood? Cold storage? Could it be?
Thinking of a possible location, Ping An suddenly took out his phone. Ignoring the surprised looks of everyone around, he earnestly searched his contacts.
"Hecuan Third Supermarket Manager Han Yong 190xxxxxxxx! Found it!" Ping An exclaimed excitedly as he dialed.
"Found what? What did you think of?" Yan Qing asked anxiously.
"Manager Han, hello, this is Ping An! We met before, remember? I need your help with something!" When the call connected, Ping An chatted amicably with the person on the other end. Everyone around was stunned, not knowing what this great reporter was doing.
"Reporter Ping An, we have a cold storage facility here, and a chainsaw too. How can I help you?" On the other end of the phone, Manager Han offered unconditional cooperation to Ping An's "request."
"I'll be there immediately. If it's at your place, I'll explain what's going on. If not, don't ask. It's not good news," Ping An said, then hung up and turned to Yan Qing, "Director Yan, if I said I think I've found the first crime scene of Niu Jian's murder, would you believe me?"
Hecuan Third Supermarket, also known as Hecuan Third State-Owned Supermarket, was adjacent to Jianzi Park. It was once the local livestock trading market and slaughterhouse. Later, the market was demolished, and this supermarket, touted as the largest in the Shanhe region at the time, Hecuan Third Supermarket, was built on its site.
This supermarket primarily dealt in various meats, fish, shrimp, and seafood, so it definitely had a cold storage facility. And the destination Wu An insisted on taking him to was most likely here. What was here? What was related to Wu An? It was the Niu Jian case, wasn't it?
After a brief explanation, Yan Qing and his team immediately arranged for a police unit to cooperate with Ping An to go to the supermarket.
Manager Han, 45 years old, had worked his way up from a small counter clerk for most of his life to become the manager of a large supermarket. Speaking of Ping An, he was extremely reluctant to see him. Previously, due to an article by this great reporter, he had been fined tens of thousands of yuan by the environmental protection department and had to beg and grovel to pacify the public just to keep the cold storage access, a crucial artery for the supermarket's development. Although he was reluctant to see him, who dared to ignore reporter Ping An's call? As a result, with just one call, he found himself surrounded by a group of armed special police in the supermarket's basement cold storage.
"Our supermarket's large meat products are transported from suburban slaughterhouses. To preserve freshness, we perform secondary cutting in a closed workshop after the meat arrives, cutting it into sizes convenient for consumers, before it's transferred to the counters or the cold storage. The workshop and the cold storage are connected, and one must enter the workshop before entering the cold storage," Manager Han explained nervously to the special police outside the cold storage door.
"Mei Qian, Xiaofei, the search is your responsibility. I won't participate. You're both experienced, rely on you." Seeing Mei Qian and Gao Xiaofei putting on cotton clothes to enter the cold storage, Ping An suddenly felt unwell and cautioned them.
"Just wait and see!" Gao Xiaofei said confidently.
Watching the group enter the cold storage with various equipment and instruments, Ping An's anxiety temporarily eased. At this moment, he suddenly felt a sweetness in his throat and a sharp pain in his chest. Before he could cry out for help, he fell heavily to the ground.
Outside the emergency resuscitation room of the Hecuan City Second Hospital, a police car with flashing lights screeched to a halt before the steps. Mei Qian was driving, Gao Xiaofei was in the passenger seat, and Ping An lay sprawled in the back seat.
As the car door opened, Gao Xiaofei loudly called for a doctor to help. Mei Qian had already climbed into the back seat, trying to pull Ping An out.
"Slowly, slowly! Be careful of chest injuries!" The experienced emergency doctor, with just a glance, diagnosed the initial symptoms of chest bleeding in Ping An. Several people rushed to lift Ping An out of the car, onto a gurney, and into the emergency room.
"The patient was previously bombed, but not directly hit. He was fine just now, what's going on?" Mei Qian briefly explained the situation to the doctor.
"Most likely internal bleeding in the chest, injured by the shockwave of the explosion," the doctor said casually, one foot already stepping into the emergency room.
The emergency room door was closed, and the red "resuscitation" light above the door lit up. Gao Xiaofei paced nervously, unable to sit still. Mei Qian took out his phone and briefly informed Yan Qing. Then, he looked at "Lover" in his contacts and hesitated for a long time before pressing the call button.
"Captain, we've found Niu Jian's head!" Lai Xiang's excited voice suddenly came from the walkie-talkie.
"Bring the head back, surveillance footage, scene evidence, do whatever needs to be done!" Gao Xiaofei glanced at Mei Qian and then issued an order to continue the search.
"Someone needs to guard that place. You go, or I go!" Mei Qian asked Gao Xiaofei after putting down the walkie-talkie.
"I..." Mei Qian didn't know what to say.
"Forget it, I'll go! Take care of my brother. After all, he's your future brother-in-law. And, finding Niu Jian's head is inseparable from Ping An's sacrifice," Gao Xiaofei said decisively.
In peacetime, any explosion in a city would be a major event.
Following the Jianzi Park explosion, the Hecuan Municipal Government responded swiftly. Vice Mayor, Municipal Public Security Bureau Party Secretary, and Director Wang Jianshe personally led the team, with Yan Qing, Deputy Director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, as the on-site commander, dispatching and directing various forces to conduct an in-depth investigation into the case.
While Ping An lay in the emergency room, the first case analysis meeting for the Jianzi Park explosion was held in the conference room of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. Yan Qing, as the on-site commander, did not attend in person but participated via video. Provincial counter-terrorism experts also participated via video.
"Old Yan, are you implying that this bombing case is a continuation of the Niu Jian case?" Vice Mayor Wang asked after listening to Yan Qing's report.
"Yes. Through this bombing case, we found Niu Jian's head and officially discovered the first crime scene. This is a major breakthrough for the Niu Jian case, so we believe this bombing case is a continuation of the Niu Jian case," Yan Qing said.
"The Niu Jian case occurred nearly a week ago, and now there's a bombing case. The story behind it must not be simple. They even used landmines as weapons, indicating that the enemy has been pushed to a desperate situation," Vice Mayor Wang pondered and continued, "In the next step, the criminal investigation forces must further investigate based on the existing intelligence. Facing such rampant enemies, it is imperative to solve the case as soon as possible!"
"Vice Mayor Wang, the Supervisory Bureau is still pursuing the举报 issue relentlessly, which has affected the progress of the case. I am not afraid of organizational scrutiny, but is it more important to cooperate with the supervisor to verify the举报 situation, or to concentrate our efforts on solving the case? Please instruct us, leaders!" Yan Qing said, seemingly with some emotion.
"Of course, it's to solve the case first!" Vice Mayor Wang paused, then said earnestly, "Although there's a举报 situation in this series of cases, we all agree that in solving this case, our police force has shown courage and made breakthroughs. The incident was sudden and strange. This is not an ordinary criminal case, but an organized and premeditated major case. A big fish must be hidden behind it. Here, I hope that our investigating officers can devote themselves wholeheartedly to the case and repay the trust of the Party and the people with achievements."
After the meeting, Yan Qing rushed to the hospital without delay.
"Alas, this is quite a mess," Yan Qing muttered to himself.
Ping An's emergency treatment lasted from noon until 4 PM. When Yan Qing arrived at the hospital, the emergency room door finally opened.
"We finally found the bleeding point and treated it promptly. However, this injury is not minor. The shockwave also caused a displacement of one of the patient's ribs. In short, he won't be able to get out of bed for at least a month," the emergency doctor, who often dealt with criminal investigators, said to the worried Yan Qing.
"Brother!" An Jing, notified by Mei Qian, had rushed to the hospital. Seeing her brother being pushed out groggily, she burst into tears again.
"Don't worry, Ping An will be fine," Mei Qian said gently, supporting An Jing's shoulder. He turned and saw Yan Qing's murderous gaze.
"You, come with me!" Yan Qing said.
Watching An Jing accompany Ping An slowly drive towards the ward, Mei Qian, standing in the corridor, let out a light sigh.
"No wonder you were so eager when I mentioned transferring you here, treating me to meals and tea. If you weren't half my student, I would have almost suspected I was taking bribes," Yan Qing said, narrowing his eyes at Mei Qian. "I thought you wanted to do some real work under me. Yes, you have the ability, and I believe you are material for handling major cases. But what about An Jing?"
"We've been in love for five years!" Mei Qian said, tilting his head.
"Then why didn't you tell me beforehand? An Jing's father is an old friend of mine, and also an old friend of your master, so he's like an old instructor to both of us. I treat An Jing like my own daughter. Did you go to Hecuan with all your effort just to pursue her?" Yan Qing gritted his teeth and asked.
"When a man is of age, he marries. When a woman is of age, she marries. We are in love freely, there's nothing wrong with that," Mei Qian mumbled.
"Do you understand Ping An's family situation? Do you know why that kid Ping An always rushes to cases? Do you really think he just wants to play detective?" Yan Qing said.
"Then why? No, what Ping An does, what does that have to do with me dating An Jing?" Mei Qian asked, confused.
"Kid, An Jing is a good girl, and you're barely good enough for her. Old Yan here actually likes you quite a bit and would be happy to see you two together. However, you're seven years older than An Jing, and Ping An won't let his sister marry a policeman. You'd better be careful. Ping An can be crazier than a dog when he loses his temper. Be careful he doesn't bite you to death."
After saying this, Yan Qing looked at Mei Qian and found that the kid didn't seem to care. He thought carefully and realized that besides the age difference, this couple was actually quite compatible. If they got together, it would be a good thing for Ping An's family and might even change some of Ping An's ideas. So, he softened his tone and said, "Take some time in the next few days to accompany your future brother-in-law. Whether you can impress him and become his family's son-in-law is a good opportunity now. Here, this bunch of daisies is for him, brought by me. You can give it to him later."
Mei Qian's eyes lit up. His usual sharpness in solving cases vanished without a trace. He looked gratefully at Yan Qing and nodded earnestly.