Diary of a Criminal Investigator

One team escorted Chen Zheng back to Binzhou City, while the other—Li Donglin and Lu Chuan, plus Song Mingguang—headed straight for Dongzhou City.

"Wait a minute!"

As they were leaving, Chen Zheng made a request: "Can I at least finish my chicken leg?"

"My mom stewed it all morning for me... I might never get to eat it again..."

Hearing this, Chen Zheng’s mother, now fully sober, started beating on her son.

"Wuu wuu... you unfilial brat... wuu wuu..."

The distance from Binzhou City to Dongzhou is a bit farther, more than 700 kilometers. By the time they drove there, it was already the latter half of the night, around 1 a.m.

Lu Chuan had never been to Dengzhou City before, so he wasn’t familiar with the area, but before departure Li Donglin had already called the director of the Dongzhou City Public Security Bureau.

For now, they still didn’t have a clear picture of Zhang Xiaohu’s situation, nor could they be sure whether he was actually in Yellow Water County.

But regarding his ex‑girlfriend Chen Xiaojuan, the Dongdu City Public Security Bureau had already obtained precise information and confirmed her address.

"Director Li, welcome, welcome!"

Dongzhou City Public Security Bureau attached great importance to Li Donglin’s arrival. The bureau chief personally waited downstairs at the Public Security Bureau building for Li Dongyun.

Compared with Binzhou City or Haizhou City, Dongzhou City was only a county‑level city within the province.

Under it were two counties under its jurisdiction.

"Director Wang, we’re troubling you this time."

"Director Li, you’re too polite. Cooperating with the Provincial Department’s Major Crimes Unit is our duty. I’ll give you a detailed briefing on the situation on the way. Shall we head straight to the arrest site now?"

On the way over, Li Donglin had already drawn up the arrest plan. Once in Dongzhou City, they would go straight to the site to carry out the operation.

"Arrangements in Yellow Water County are already in place. We’ve confirmed Chen Xiaojuan’s address."

"And from the village where she lives, we’ve learned that a young man did indeed come to her home in the last few days."

"But time’s too tight, so we’re not sure if it’s Zhang Xiaohu."

After receiving the notice that afternoon, Dongzhou City quickly launched the relevant work.

However, following Li Donglin’s instructions, they hadn’t conducted close‑in surveillance or approached the suspect too much, only gathered some information from the side.

"That’s not a big problem."

Based on the comprehensive information from multiple sources so far, the unfamiliar young man at Chen Xiaojuan’s home should be Zhang Xiaohu.

"Director Li, I recommend immediate action."

On the road, Lu Chuan had already argued for cutting through the mess quickly—end the fight fast and move straight to the arrest.

Of the three robbers, one had already been taken down badly, but while Chen Zheng and Zhang Xiaohu could be reached, they still hadn’t been able to contact Li Chuan.

What did that suggest?

From what they had gotten out of Chen Zheng, it appeared that Li Chuan was the mastermind behind the robbery, and he was also the suspect that Lu Chuan and the others still couldn’t figure out how he had escaped the scene.

In Lu Chuan’s analysis, it was highly likely that Li Chuan had thrown Chen Zheng and Zhang Xiaohu out there as expendable tools, and whether he would contact them later was anyone’s guess.

So the timing was extremely tight. With Li Chuan’s whereabouts unknown, the sooner they grabbed Chen Zheng and Zhang Xiaohu and wrapped up this side of things, the better.

So even though they had already been in the car for six or seven hours and were exhausted, Lu Chuan still recommended that they go straight to Yellow Water County now.

Take down Zhang Xiaohu, interrogate him on the spot, and see if they could get any leads on Li Chuan.

Li Donglin understood exactly what Lu Chuan was worried about.

In fact, it was quite possible that Li Chuan had already prepared for the possibility of exposure.

Whether Chen Zheng or Zhang Xiaohu, they were nothing more than tools for him to use.

In truth, Li Chuan had planned this well in advance, because even before the robbery, he hadn’t told the other two how he intended to get away. That alone said a lot.

So how the other side was hiding and where he was holed up was extremely important.

Yellow Water County, Xiaogu Town, Chen Family Village.

From Dongzhou City to Yellow Water County was about 70 kilometers, and from Yellow Water County’s Xiaogu Town to Chen Family Village was another 30 kilometers.

Plus, the road from the town into the village wasn’t very good. By the time the arrest team entered the village, it was already five in the morning.

Dawn had fully broken.

"The house at the eastern end of the village—that’s Chen Xiaojuan’s home."

The local officer from the town, Chen Dong, had gotten into college and out of this very village.

So he was quite familiar with the situation in the village.

"Move!"

Once they confirmed the location, Li Donglin didn’t hesitate at all and directly gave the order to begin the operation.

But after they broke down the door, there were only two middle‑aged people in the house.

"You... who are you looking for?"

"Dongzi? What brings you here?"

Chen Dong’s face was tense. "Uncle Eight, these are leaders from the provincial level. They’re all police. It’s hard to explain clearly right now. Has someone been at your place these past two days? Xiaojuan’s boyfriend, right? Where is he?"

"He left. Early this morning, went off with Xiaojuan. Said they were going to find work."

Chen Xiaojuan’s father said.

"Left? What time did they leave? How did they go? Where to? We came through the town and didn’t see any vehicles heading out."

"The road behind Ninth Team, they caught a ride with Little Liu’s truck. They’re trying to make the 5:15 bus to the city..."

5:15?

Chen Dong froze for a second, then glanced at the quartz clock on the wall: 5:05!

"Chief! Come with me, quick—back road to the highway!"

Without time to explain, Chen Dong took off running with Lu Chuan and the others behind him!

"Hold up!"

Li Donglin stopped Song Mingguang. "Old Song, you stay here with two people. Don’t let them make any phone calls to tip anyone off. Wait for our word."

Song Mingguang caught on. "Got it, don’t worry!"

With that, he and two city detectives stayed behind at Chen Xiaojuan’s home.

The others piled into the vehicle in a rush and followed Chen Dong toward the road behind Ninth Team.

"We fall under Yellow Water County’s jurisdiction, but Shanggu Town is a bit farther from Yellow Water County. It’s actually closer to the neighboring county."

In the car, Chen Dong explained the situation to Li Donglin and the others.

"So when we go to the county seat or to the city, we usually have two options. One is to take the road we just came on to Shanggu Town, then catch a bus from the town to the county seat."

"If we don’t go through the town, we wait for the bus on the highway behind Ninth Group in our village. That bus also departs from Shanggu Town, but it heads to the neighboring county."

"Once you reach the neighboring county, you transfer to another bus to the city."

"Good thing they’re taking the 5:15 bus. That line’s earliest run is at four in the morning. If they’d taken that one, they’d already be in the neighboring county by now, and it’d be much harder to grab them."

The driver knew the situation was urgent, so even though the road was rough, he still tried to push the speed and rush to the destination.

He wasn’t very familiar with these roads, but with a local like Chen Dong directing him, the drive went relatively smoothly.

Back at Chen Xiaojuan’s house, Song Mingguang was also getting information from the two of them.