Chapter 55: Keep the Writing a Secret for Me

While Lin Junsheng was immersed in remorse, a familiar voice broke the silence.

Lin Junsheng looked up and saw that it was his second cousin, Liu Zhiyu, walking in.

Liu Zhiyu was wearing a crisp military-green police uniform, looking masculine and handsome, with the police badge on his chest gleaming in the sunlight.

"Second Cousin, why are you here?"

Lin Junsheng asked in pleasant surprise, as if he had just seen his savior.

Liu Zhiyu smiled and said, "I work here. I didn't expect to run into you. What's the matter? You look so troubled."

Then, a thought struck him, and he continued, "By the way, what are you doing at the police station? Siyao just said you were coming over for dinner tonight."

Lin Junsheng sighed and gave a bitter smile. "Ah, don't mention it. I was near the post office, and my money was stolen."

"What? How much was stolen?"

Hearing this, Liu Zhiyu's expression turned serious instantly, a flash of sharp light crossing his eyes.

"One thousand yuan!"

Lin Junsheng said with a heartache. That was the manuscript fee he had earned through so much hard work writing articles.

Hearing this, Liu Zhiyu furrowed his brow even deeper. He asked suspiciously, "Where did you get that much money? Don't tell me you went gambling?"

Public morals were poor nowadays, and some hooligans ran underground dens of gambling.

Lin Junsheng hurriedly waved his hands and smiled bitterly, "Second Cousin, what are you thinking? This is the manuscript fee I earned from writing. I've been submitting articles to several magazines lately and finally managed to save up this little bit of money."

With that, he leaned closer to Liu Zhiyu and whispered, "Second Cousin, you must keep this a secret for me. I plan to use this money to pay back the relatives and neighbors in the village. As you know, I borrowed a lot of money from everyone before for my medical treatments. If this money can't be found, I'll be in big trouble. People's spit alone could drown me."

Hearing this, Liu Zhiyu's expression softened.

He hadn't expected his country cousin to be able to write novels and make money, and the key point was that the manuscript fee was a thousand yuan.

As a police officer, his monthly salary was sixty-eight yuan.

This was equivalent to a year and a half of his salary!

Liu Zhiyu grew somewhat anxious as well.

He patted Lin Junsheng on the shoulder and comforted him, "Don't worry, Xiaosheng. I will definitely help you get this money back. Anyone daring to rob people on my turf simply doesn't take Liu Zhiyu seriously. Just wait; I'll go check who has the guts to do this."

Lin Junsheng sighed and recounted everything about the robbery near the post office to Liu Zhiyu from beginning to end.

Liu Zhiyu listened and comforted him, "Don't worry, I'm here. Tell me first, what did the robbers look like? Did they leave any clues?"

Lin Junsheng shook his head and said dejectedly, "I was too nervous at the time. I only remember someone wearing a duck-tongue cap with his face tightly covered; I couldn't see his appearance at all. Besides, they vanished into thin air right after grabbing the money, and I couldn't even catch up."

He looked down at his own legs, cursing them for being so useless.

Liu Zhiyu pondered for a moment before speaking slowly, "I'll go investigate right now. You go home first. Once I catch those robbers, I'll call home."

With that, he turned and strode briskly toward the direction of the police station, leaving Lin Junsheng standing there in a daze.

Lin Junsheng nodded. Although his heart was filled with frustration, he forced himself to pull it together and walked slowly toward his aunt's house.

Along the way, the scene of the robbery kept replaying in his mind.

In this day and age, who would dare to commit robbery in broad daylight? Wasn't that a capital offense?

A crime punishable by a firing squad—those perpetrators were truly audacious.

Judging by Liu Zhiyu's reaction, this probably wasn't their first time robbing someone.

Catching them would likely prove somewhat troublesome.

Returning to his aunt's house, Lin Junsheng slumped onto the sofa with a lonely expression.

Seeing this, Liu Siyao hurried over and asked with concern, "Junsheng, why were you out for so long? Did something happen?"

Lin Junsheng sighed and told Liu Siyao the whole story, though he omitted the detail about the one thousand yuan, merely mentioning lightly that his money had been stolen.

He did not want too many people to know about his writing.

Lowering his head, he spoke in a slightly hoarse voice, "They ran too fast, and I couldn't catch them."

Upon hearing this, Liu Siyao widened her eyes in utter surprise. "Ah? What's going on? Someone actually robbed you in broad daylight! Were you hurt?"

As she spoke, she looked Lin Junsheng up and down, fearing he might have sustained injuries somewhere.

Lin Junsheng shook his head and comforted her, "I'm fine, Sister. Second Cousin has already gone to investigate the case. He said he would call me once he catches the culprit, so he might not be able to have dinner with us tonight."

Hearing this, Liu Siyao breathed a slight sigh of relief, though she still felt uneasy. "Junsheng, you must be careful when you go out from now on. With so many bad people around nowadays, don't give me cause to worry."

"We'll talk about it tonight. Let's go have something good to eat this evening. Thieves this bold probably won't be caught overnight."

Lin Junsheng nodded, silently vowing to never be so careless again.

Liu Zhiyu walked with hurried steps through the bustling streets, finally coming to a stop in an inconspicuous corner.

There, an old, ragged beggar was curled up, a trace of imperceptible shrewdness gleaming in his eyes.

"Old Wang, I heard there are three robbers active around here recently. You couldn't possibly have missed them again, right?" Liu Zhiyu asked half-jokingly, half-seriously.

Old Wang shook his head with an innocent look on his face. "No way, Officer Liu. With my failing eyesight, how could I see that clearly?"

Liu Zhiyu smiled and patted Old Wang on the shoulder. "Still as tight-lipped as ever. But I know you definitely know something."

With that, he took a ten-yuan bill from his pocket and handed it to Old Wang.

Old Wang took the money, a satisfied smile blooming across his face.

"Is this enough? Can you talk now?" Liu Zhiyu urged.

Old Wang nodded and began to narrate in detail: "Those three guys... one is about one hundred and seventy-five centimeters tall, around thirty-five years old, wearing a white short-sleeve shirt, with a small cigarette scar on his right hand, and he wears a duck-tongue cap. As for the other two, one is tall and thin, always squinting his eyes; the other is short, walking with a swaying gait..."

Liu Zhiyu listened carefully, forming a rough mental profile in his mind.

After thanking Old Wang, he immediately turned and sprinted back to the police station.

Back at the station, he immediately threw himself into making sketches.

The tip of his pen danced across the paper, and soon, three lifelike portraits of the robbers were presented to everyone.

This was his special skill.

As a third-class superintendent at the police station, he possessed the authority to dispatch personnel to handle cases.

He quickly summoned several police officers.

"So it's these three fellows!" One officer recognized the men in the portraits. "They committed thefts a few days ago, and we chased them for a long time without catching them. Now they actually dare to rob on our turf—this is outright provocation!"

Liu Zhiyu frowned and said in a deep voice, "Cut the chatter and hurry up and find out where these three are right now. We cannot let them run wild on our turf for long. This time, we must catch them all in one net!"

The officers sprang into action immediately, launching a manhunt based on the portraits and the clues provided by Old Wang.

Meanwhile, Liu Zhiyu sat at his desk, staring intently at the map as he silently plotted his next move.