Chapter 9: Little Cheng Has Gone Mad
Chapter 9: Little Cheng Has Gone Mad
Over here, Ma Yishou held his breath, took out the photograph, grabbed the man’s chin, and carefully compared the two.
Then he happily nodded toward Jin Kemu.
At last, Jin Kemu revealed a satisfied smile and waved his hand.
“Search!”
Cheng Qianfan’s attention fell upon a bamboo slatted trash basket in the corner.
The rubbish inside had already been emptied.
His heart stirred.
At last, he had found another suspicious point.
Because citizens had been dumping garbage indiscriminately, the French Concession had issued a Garbage Disposal Ordinance.
According to the notice, public trash bins along the streets had been removed.
Every shop and household was required to provide its own garbage container and, upon hearing the garbage cart’s bell at the designated time, empty their rubbish into the cart.
Fining residents for illegal dumping was also part of a policeman’s duties.
According to Cheng Qianfan’s understanding, under normal circumstances the garbage cart would not arrive to collect trash from the Shuanglong Lane Residence area for another hour or more.
Yet the basket was empty.
Where was all the garbage from yesterday afternoon until this morning?
Nearly a full day’s worth of time.
It was impossible not to have produced even a little garbage.
Suddenly, Cheng Qianfan’s eyes flashed.
“Found it!”
Over there, Old Mo pulled a travel trunk from beneath the bed and shouted triumphantly.
Searching for things was his specialty.
While everyone’s attention was drawn to Old Mo, Cheng Qianfan swiftly pinched a thumb-sized scrap of paper from between the bamboo slats.
As he stood up, he discreetly concealed the paper in his left palm.
Then, using his right hand, he overturned the basket to inspect it.
His left hand remained clenched into a fist.
He even knocked on it a few times.
Dust billowed into the air.
He immediately began coughing repeatedly.
Hurriedly tossing aside the bamboo basket, he rose and brushed the dust from his clothes.
At the same time, the paper scrap smoothly found its way into his pocket.
Meanwhile, everyone was inventorying the contents of the travel trunk.
A Communist manifesto.
Several stacks of anti-Japanese leaflets.
Several issues of Red Flag magazine.
And two alarm clocks that had been completely dismantled.
Cheng Qianfan moved closer to take a look.
His gaze lingered on the alarm clocks as he fell into thought.
“There’s no mistake now, Boss Jin. Caught red-handed!” Ma Yishou said excitedly.
“Excellent!” Jin Kemu was delighted. “Search carefully again.”
Afterward, Cheng Qianfan continued wrestling with the desk.
He pulled out the drawer and reached one hand inside to feel around.
He found nothing.
The room was not large, and the furnishings were simple.
After searching the room thoroughly, the officers found nothing else.
Jin Kemu waved his hand.
“Withdraw!”
Cheng Qianfan dusted off his hands and stood up.
As he turned his head, he caught Old Mo glaring at him.
“Which bastard just tried to get me killed?”
Old Mo was a clever man.
He had not made a scene earlier.
Now that the suspect had been subdued, evidence obtained, and the search completed, he could no longer contain himself and finally erupted.
As he spoke, he panted heavily with rage.
His small eyes bulged from glaring at Cheng Qianfan.
Old Mo was shaking with fury.
That had been an attempt on his life.
If Zhu Yuan had possessed a gun, he might have been the one lying dead just now.
The officers all pretended not to hear or see anything.
Each busied himself with other matters.
No one answered him.
Everyone naturally knew what had happened.
Just as Boss Jin was about to issue the order to move, Cheng Qianfan had seemingly lost his balance and “instinctively” shoved He Guan.
He Guan then conveniently shoved Old Mo.
There was no question that Little Cheng had harbored ill intentions.
And He Guan had been an accomplice.
Little Cheng was generally well liked.
More importantly, however, he was the student of Political Department interpreter Xiu Gongshen.
Was the relationship between teacher and student important?
One could say it was not.
After all, a teacher had many students.
Yet one could also say there was indeed a connection.
As for how close Cheng Qianfan and Xiu Gongshen actually were, nobody knew.
Still, it never hurt to be cautious.
As for He Guan, there was even less need to discuss it.
The fellow was Sergeant Jin’s own nephew.
Heaven and earth might be vast, but an uncle was greatest of all.
Although Jin Kemu always seemed displeased with He Guan, the boy was still his blood nephew.
Since both men had backing, only a fool would offend them for the sake of someone like Old Mo.
Besides, Old Mo did not need their answers as evidence anyway.
“Cheng Qianfan, was it you?” Old Mo demanded.
“Brother Mo, what did I do?” Cheng Qianfan lowered his head and brushed dust from his uniform before looking up with apparent surprise.
“Were you trying to get me killed just now?” Old Mo asked.
“Brother Mo, what do you mean?” Cheng Qianfan shook his head and hurriedly said, “Those kinds of accusations shouldn’t be thrown around casually.”
Seeing Cheng Qianfan act this way, Old Mo became even angrier.
With a howl, he charged forward.
Cheng Qianfan stretched out one foot.
Thud!
Old Mo immediately crashed face-first to the ground.
Everyone clicked their tongues.
They had known Old Mo was useless in a fight.
They had not realized he was even worse than expected.
After getting up with a bruised face, Old Mo shouted at the crowd.
“Don’t hold me back!”
After a brief pause, he howled again and charged.
“I’m going to kill you!”
No one was holding him back.
Smack!
This time, Cheng Qianfan merely sidestepped while driving an elbow forward.
The added force sent Old Mo’s face smashing into the wall.
He immediately lost consciousness and slid down like a rag doll.
Everything had happened too suddenly.
Only now did everyone finally react.
They hurried forward to check on him and break up the fight.
Well, they had intended to break up the fight.
There was no need anymore.
“Brother Mo, wake up. Brother Mo, don’t scare us.”
Cheng Qianfan’s tone was anxious and gentle.
With his left hand, he grabbed a tuft of Old Mo’s hair.
Then his right hand swung in a full arc.
Smack! Smack!
Two resounding slaps landed.
Old Mo groaned.
“He’s awake. He’s fine.”
Cheng Qianfan smiled brightly at everyone.
As he spoke, he gently lowered Old Mo’s head to the floor.
When he stood up, he immediately saw Jin Kemu’s iron-dark expression.
He hurriedly explained himself.
“Boss Jin, you saw it. Brother Mo misunderstood me. He attacked first. I didn’t attack him.”
“Nonsense!”
Jin Kemu snorted coldly and turned away.
“Wait for your punishment.”
“Cheng Qianfan, ahhh!”
Old Mo fainted again.
Everyone stared in shock.
Cheng Qianfan’s boot was planted squarely on Old Mo’s right hand.
He ground down hard.
The pain immediately knocked Old Mo unconscious once more.
Little Cheng, have you gone mad?
Was this really the same Little Cheng?
The gentle man who always wore a smile?
The one so refined and scholarly that everyone jokingly called him the Student Policeman?
“This was just a small matter. How did it turn into this?” Big-Head Lu cried out.
A small matter?
No one truly believed that.
Why not ask Old Mo whether he agreed?
Looking at Old Mo’s mangled face and nearly crushed right hand, then remembering how Cheng Qianfan’s expression had never changed throughout the entire ordeal.
He had even been smiling.
The same gentle smile everyone had grown accustomed to over recent months.
Now it felt utterly unfamiliar.
Chilling.
“Give me a hand.”
Cheng Qianfan directly tore a bed board free and carried it over.
He shouted at the somewhat stunned He Guan.
“Old Mo charged bravely during the operation and was injured while fighting a dangerous criminal. Doesn’t he deserve for us to carry him on a stretcher?”
“He does! He absolutely does!” He Guan immediately replied after noticing Cheng Qianfan signaling him.
“Qianfan, have you gone crazy?” He Guan asked quietly.
Although everyone could tell Qin Detai did not care much about Old Mo, Old Mo’s uncle had once saved Qin Detai’s life.
Treating Old Mo like this was effectively slapping Qin Detai in the face.
How could he possibly ignore it?
“I’m in on this too,” He Guan said before Cheng Qianfan could answer.
“I pushed Old Mo. When the time comes, tell everyone beating him up was my idea too. Nobody will suspect anything.”
As he spoke, He Guan’s hand accidentally slipped.
Old Mo slid off the “stretcher.”
The freshly awakened Old Mo immediately let out a miserable scream.
Cheng Qianfan glanced at He Guan.
Warmth stirred in his heart.
He said nothing.
Instead, he stepped forward and planted a boot on Old Mo’s left hand.
The scream stopped abruptly.
“Do I look like the kind of person who acts impulsively without considering the consequences?” Cheng Qianfan asked.
He gave He Guan a reassuring look.