No. 78 North Station Road, the milk tea shop opposite the Half Past Eight Supermarket.

Yang Lin had already changed out of his delivery uniform and was sitting with Lu Chuan by the window, observing the Half Past Eight Supermarket across the street.

"You're wasted at the police station, kid."

Today, Lu Chuan definitely saw Yang Lin in a new light.

First, he called the City Gate Police Station in Taicang County, then he tricked Wu Degui's address, and now he's doing a delivery.

Just now, Yang Lin really found a package, filled it with some snacks, and packaged it like a delivery.

Then, dressed in a SF Express delivery boy's outfit, he delivered it to the Half Past Eight Supermarket across the street.

Such meticulousness and caution are not easy.

This is something Lu Chuan needs to learn and improve on.

"Well, I've learned from past experiences. Last October, I was following a thief with my mentor. My outfit was fine, but my leather shoes were a giveaway."

"You don't understand, the police station deals with all sorts of people every day, each kind has its own characteristics."

"An outsider can't see it, but someone experienced can spot it at a glance."

"We're pretending to be from Taicang County sending him a package. He might call home and find out if there's something fishy in it."

"So, who knows, the other side might be watching us from somewhere."

Lu Chuan nodded, very much enlightened by Yang Lin's words.

"Are we just going to wait here?"

"Yeah, no other choice, just have to wait."

Handing Lu Chuan a cigarette, Yang Lin started talking about the past: "By the way, have you heard about Song Yaoyao?"

"Song Yaoyao? What happened?"

Lu Chuan was actually quite grateful to Song Yaoyao. If it weren't for her, how would he have earned a second-class merit?

"She got scammed," Yang Lin said with a hint of regret.

"She was tricked by some guy, lost everything, and now she's a waitress."

What?

"She got conned by a guy? It's more likely she'd scam someone else, right?"

Lu Chuan really didn't expect Song Yaoyao to get conned and lose everything.

"Really, after her old man was taken in, part of the family assets were confiscated, and the rest went to her."

Yang Lin took a sip of milk tea: "The old guy wasn't in for a few days before Song Yaoyao found herself another boyfriend."

"And then, before the end of the year, she said she was scammed, didn't have a penny left, and was even in debt for a few hundred thousand."

"How did you know?"

"I received the report."

Lu Chuan: "..."

"That guy was a professional scammer, very skilled, left no evidence, and all his ID information was fake."

"Cases like this, most can't be solved."

"So where is Song Yaoyao now?"

"Heard she's working as a waitress at the Water Cloud Pavilion."

"Waitress... or a masseuse?"

Yang Lin glanced at Lu Chuan: "I've never been there, how would I know..."

Rolling his eyes, Lu Chuan took a sip of milk tea: "Want to go check it out?"

"I don't have money."

"It's on me!"

Some kind of plant...

"Is he ever going to show up? It's already dark."

As they chatted, the sky dimmed. It was clear Lu Chuan lacked experience with this kind of stakeout.

"The Half Past Eight Supermarket is open 24 hours, let's just wait."

"Alright, but shouldn't we move somewhere else soon, the milk tea shop is about to close."

"There's a foot massage place next door, you treat, we can go for a foot massage."

Lu Chuan thought for a moment, then nodded affirmatively: "Is it safe?"

Yang Lin: "... It's legitimate."

"Oh, then I'm not going."

Yang Lin: "..."

9:36 PM.

"Lin, he's here!"

A foot massage was out of the question, but luckily Lu Chuan had his own Cayenne and the two kept watch from the car.

"Where?"

Yang Lin, who had just dozed off for a moment, was startled awake by Lu Chuan.

"Just went in... now he's out!"

Yang Lin perked up, spotting the person Lu Chuan mentioned in no time.

Wu Degui, still wearing the blue down jacket he wore on the day he stole the electric bike, with half the hood covering his face.

"What do we do?"

The car was running, ready to charge forward and ram him if needed.

"Hold on, don't rush, let's see where he goes first."

Yang Lin was alert, his eyes gleaming.

"Our police station is a small place. When a major case occurs, we can only maintain order, we can't really handle big cases."

Actually, Yang Lin was both right and wrong.

When a serious case happens, at least the local Criminal Investigation Team will take over, or the Criminal Investigation Division will handle it.

In this regard, the police station indeed plays little role.

But, in case investigations, the role of grassroots police stations is substantial.

Yang Lin pointed forward: "It's okay to follow closely, we're driving a Cayenne. This guy won't be suspicious."

Petty theft cases, the police station has seen plenty of those.

Dealing with these people, Yang Lin was a pro.

At this moment, Lu Chuan demonstrated the excellent qualities of a dependable driver, focusing on driving and tailing Wu Degui.

"Why don't we just arrest him? We should be enough."

With Basic Fighting skills, Lu Chuan was eager to test his ideas in practice.

"No, no," Yang Lin shook his head, "these roaming thieves usually don't act alone."

"Firstly, handling stolen goods is a hassle. A stolen electric bike usually isn't sold directly to a dealer, in case they're caught, it would be over."

"So, when these roaming thieves arrive somewhere new, they don't work alone."

"Catching Wu Degui is easy, but if we can lure out his accomplices too, that'd be better."

Lu Chuan nodded, he got it.

Catching one means catching a thief.

Two, and it's just catching an accomplice.

But three or more, then it's a gang operation.

Every police station under Haizhou City's jurisdiction has an annual performance evaluation.

Collaborating on cases with higher authorities and self-handled case numbers are key evaluation criteria.

Moreover, the size of self-handled cases is crucial in determining the assessment score.

A gang operation scores higher than ten petty theft cases in evaluations.

However, ten minutes later, looking at the community in front of him, Lu Chuan began to doubt Yang Lin's previous judgments.

"Yang Lin, are you sure... this is a gang hideout?"

Pine Forest Villa is a well-known high-end residential area in Haizhou City.

Although not as prestigious as Chenguang District, in terms of price, it's among the top tier in Haizhou City.

The villa district is near the North Train Station, less than two kilometers from the city's cancer hospital, and the surrounding elementary and middle schools rank among the top three educational resources in Haizhou City.

Such a place is beyond the reach of the average middle class.

A thief making a living stealing electric bikes, living here?

Or perhaps, his accomplices rented or bought a house here?

"No wonder we've been struggling to find them, they've been hiding here all along."

Yang Lin was evidently very firm on his earlier judgment.

Who would have thought an electric bike thief would live in such a high-end villa area?

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