The Strange Accident

Seeing Zhuang Kangchi stop flipping through the files, Lian Chi asked again, "Is there a problem with this file, sir?"

Zhuang Kangchi: "..."

Was this really an attempt to show off on the first day?

But Zhuang Kangchi could only reply, "It's very good."

Lian Chi asked, "Is there anything else you need me to do?"

Zhuang Kangchi glanced at his desk, finally determining that the documents backlogged for over half a month had all been transferred to Lian Chi.

He thought for a moment and then turned to the young man opposite him. "Xiao Cao, do you have any unfinished cases? Pass them to Lian Zhi to practice with."

"If you encounter any petty theft or robbery cases this afternoon, take him along to broaden his horizons."

Hearing this, Cao Dinghua was stunned.

Did Zhuang Kangchi want to groom Lian Chi, so he arranged for him to learn from small cases, or did he just want to avoid dealing with him and push Lian Chi onto him?

Whatever.

Previously, chores like opening the office door, changing the water bottles, and receiving mail all fell to Cao Dinghua.

Because among the seven or eight people here, he was the one with the least seniority.

Since Lian Zhi arrived, hadn't Zhuang Kangchi assigned all these tasks to him?

For the past few days, Cao Dinghua had been sleeping until 8:30 AM every morning.

After two years, he was finally enjoying the pleasure of sleeping in.

Before he could even thank Zhuang Kangchi, Zhuang Kangchi had already pushed Lian Chi onto him.

"Alright."

Cao Dinghua gathered a pile of documents from his desk and handed them to Lian Chi. "Save my phone number then; I'll call you if a case comes up."

Lian Chi replied, "Yes."

After saving Cao Dinghua's number, he made a quick call.

Cao Dinghua also quickly saved his number.

Lian Chi took the pile of documents back to his desk and began to work.

Near closing time, he received a call from his father.

"Today is your Maternal Grandfather Lu's birthday; come home early."

He was referring to the father of his successor wife.

Lian Chi remained silent for a moment. "Yes."

After work, Lian Chi went straight down to the parking lot to the Volkswagen Touareg he usually drove.

It was a reward from his paternal grandparents after he passed the exam for the Lecheng Police Bureau.

Previously, he didn't want to accept it, but the house his mother left him was a bit far from the Police Bureau, and his old car had been confiscated by his father after his last fight.

Lian Chi started the car and left the Lecheng Police Bureau.

The Police Bureau was located in the New District, while the Lian family villa was in the Old District. Taking the main road would take nearly forty minutes, so Lian Chi turned onto a small side road.

Taking this path would only take about twenty minutes to get home.

However, there was a market every few stretches, and the crowds were heavy.

Lian Chi was forced to maintain high concentration.

But he didn't expect that while passing through an intersection, a small child suddenly dashed out from in front of a car.

Lian Chi slammed on the brakes immediately, but he still hit the child.

His expression changed instantly; he quickly turned off the engine and ran to the child lying on the ground, who was clutching a twisted arm and crying.

He noticed the child was thin and had many scratches on his body.

But before he could speak, five or six men and women rushed out, pushing him aside.

"Xiao Bao!"

"Xiao Bao, are you alright?"

Three men rushed in front of Lian Chi, surrounding him. "Are you blind? You're so big, yet you didn't see him?"

"The road is narrow and crowded, yet you were driving so fast?"

"Tell us, how are you going to settle this?"

Their spit flew directly into Lian Chi's face.

Hearing the commotion, passersby also gathered around.

Lian Chi tried to stay calm. "I wasn't even going over 30."

Therefore, this accident was primarily the fault of the child and the family.

But the child was injured.

Lian Chi said, "My car has a dashcam. How about this: I'll call the police, take the child to the hospital, and then call the traffic police and the insurance company to settle it, alright?"

A middle-aged man glanced at the flag hanging on his car and said, "Looking at you, you probably work for a government agency. We won't make things difficult for you today; let's settle this ourselves."

Lian Chi frowned.

If so, he could avoid quite a bit of trouble.

But before he could answer, the middle-aged man hurriedly said, "So, how much compensation are you going to pay?"

Lian Chi went silent and then said, "Five thousand?"

The middle-aged man immediately started cursing. "Five thousand? Do you take us for beggars?"

The others also pointed at the crying child. "Everyone, look at this! He's so rich, driving a car worth six or seven hundred thousand, yet he hits my child like this and only offers five thousand?"

Hearing this, the crowd immediately began to criticize Lian Chi.

Clearly, they were siding with the middle-aged man.

Lian Chi asked, "Then how much do you want?"

The middle-aged man replied, "At least 10,000."

The others added, "Otherwise, I'll find your agency and ask your leader to mediate."

"By the way, you're so young, your position can't be high. How can you afford such an expensive car? Is there some corruption going on?"

Hearing the word "corruption," the surrounding crowd gasped, the murmurs grew louder, and the looks directed at Lian Chi became even more hostile.

Lian Chi looked the middle-aged man straight in the eye, finally determining that there was only greed in his eyes, without a hint of pity for the child.

The middle-aged man felt a bit guilty.

But before he could say anything, he heard Lian Chi say, "Looking at your clothes, you must be from the countryside."

The middle-aged man didn't understand but still said, "Yes, do you look down on country folk?"

Lian Chi looked at the middle-aged man's clothes and then at the child. "No, it's just that I've never seen someone who can tell my car is worth six or seven hundred thousand just by looking at the front."

The middle-aged man's expression stiffened.

Lian Chi pointed at the child. "Furthermore, do you know what brand that drab gray jacket is? Le Gui, a small brand in Lecheng that only does custom tailoring. That jacket is worth at least five thousand. It's probably not something you people could afford, right?"

Before his words even finished, Lian Chi struck the middle-aged man's shoulder, then immediately delivered a kick to the stomach of a young man beside him, before spinning around to kick another away.

Everything happened in a mere three seconds.

Three miserable cries echoed through the market.

Everyone was stunned.

Then they saw Lian Chi open the car door, rummage for a few seconds, and pull out a police cap to put on his head. "Police!"

The crowd was completely dumbfounded.

The middle-aged man was the first to snap out of it.

Seeing Lian Chi walking toward him, he scrambled up and screamed, "The police are bullying innocent people!"

"The police hit someone, won't pay, and are beating people up!"

But he forgot that the area was already full of people, most of whom he had called over himself.

Before he could run two steps, he was blocked by the crowd.

Before he could push through, Lian Chi caught up and delivered another kick to his waist.

The middle-aged man felt the world spinning.

By the time he regained clarity, he was pinned to the ground by Lian Chi.

Lian Chi asked, "You said this child is yours? I'm asking you, how old is he?"

The middle-aged man was stunned again.

Lian Chi slapped him. "Speak!"

The middle-aged man looked at the child's thin frame. "Four years old, he's four."

Lian Chi slapped him again. "Four years old?"

"Didn't you see he's already lost two baby teeth?"

"He's at least six years old."

Hearing this, the surrounding people immediately understood.

"They don't even know their own child's age; they are human traffickers!"

"They're using children to stage accidents for extortion!"

Those who had just heard the middle-aged man's words rolled up their sleeves, turned to grab his accomplices who were trying to flee, and quickly pinned them to the ground.

"Quick, call the police!"

Lian Chi said, "Call an ambulance first."