Chapter Ten: Obstacles at Every Turn

Luo Ming’s losses were not insignificant. True to their word, the police station called before the end of the workday. Judging by the voice, it was someone different this time—a person who introduced himself as the colleague of the young officer Luo Ming had met earlier, and the community officer specifically responsible for the jurisdiction of Luoshui Village. The tone was noticeably more seasoned than that of the previous officer.

Luo Ming didn’t grasp the nuances of their internal divisions—he simply recognized them all as police officers, and that was enough for him.

The news, however, was far from good. The caller explained that Su Qi had a criminal record, though most offenses were minor and only resulted in short-term detentions. Given this history, the police would pay special attention and try to locate Su Qi as quickly as possible.

By rights, this was already a strong response; with so many cases each day, getting special attention was no small matter. But Luo Ming didn’t see it that way. He couldn’t afford to wait; frantic and overwhelmed, he wished he could lead the officers straight to Su Qi and have him arrested immediately.

“Officer, please, wait, don’t hang up,” Luo Ming pleaded.

There was a long silence before the community officer responded, “Go ahead.”

Luo Ming expressed his urgent wish, “Officer, could you send someone out to arrest him?”

The officer chuckled, “Do you know where he is?”

Luo Ming was momentarily speechless. “No… not exactly.” He sensed that, although the officer spoke formally, there was a hint of goodwill. Clinging to this lifeline, Luo Ming was reluctant to lose contact—understandable, given he’d never dealt with government agencies before.

“So… so how will I know how the case is going? Officer, I really can't wait—I’ve lost such a large sum of money, what am I supposed to do?” Luo Ming’s words poured out, but the line fell silent. Fearing the officer would hang up, Luo Ming frantically called out.

The officer’s voice finally returned, “Cases like this, your anxiety won't help. We follow procedure. If you’re really worried, you can visit the station daily, but that won’t do much good. I advise you not to waste your effort. These cases take time, and you haven’t given us much information, understand?”

Luo Ming replied helplessly, “So you mean I should go to the station every day to find you?”

The officer sounded exasperated, “I understand how you feel, but I’m taking two days off. I’ll hand the case over to a colleague—it’ll be handled the same. If there’s nothing else, let's leave it at that. I’m off-duty now…”

“Officer, may I ask your surname?” Luo Ming refused to let go of any hope.

For some reason, besides Su Qi, Luo Ming felt he’d gained another acquaintance in the city.

The officer hesitated. “My surname’s Qiu. Solving cases takes time. Your anxiety won’t help, but we’ll do our best.” The feeling of being visited by a desperate relative seemed to make Officer Qiu a bit hesitant; he’d dealt with situations like this more than once.

This time, the call really ended, with the dial tone sounding. Luo Ming held the phone, at a loss.

His greatest worry was whether the station was genuinely taking his case seriously. He’d heard at the gambling table that nowadays, even scams involving millions might not be recovered. A sum in the hundreds of thousands was barely a drop in the bucket in the city.

Restless and anxious, Luo Ming made another trip to the station, only to find an unfamiliar officer on duty, whose attitude was clearly less cordial than the previous two. After hearing him out, the officer bluntly stated that every case had a designated person in charge and couldn’t be recorded twice. Luo Ming left dejectedly, his hopes dashed.

Not knowing where to catch the bus, he ended up walking back to the small inn.

The road ahead was long; every penny saved mattered.

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Early the next morning, he headed for the police station again, but it hadn’t officially opened yet. After waiting more than two hours, the young officer from yesterday hadn’t arrived. Instead, at the entrance, Luo Ming encountered a man in casual clothes with a cropped haircut, who noticed Luo Ming lurking and took the initiative to ask,

“Hey, are you Luo Ming?” he inquired.

Luo Ming nodded in confusion. “Yes, and you are…?”

“You sure have a short memory. I’m the community officer for Luoshui Village—my surname’s Qiu. I called you yesterday, didn’t I ask you to wait for news?” The officer seemed somewhat displeased; he’d seen plenty of cases where people reported crimes and then visited the station every day. With so many cases, how could he possibly handle them all?

“It’s not that, Officer Qiu. That hundred thousand is my lifeblood. If I don’t get it back, I really can’t go on. You have to help me hurry,” Luo Ming pleaded.

Officer Qiu rolled a motorcycle out from the nearby shed; it appeared to be his own, as after hours he couldn’t use official vehicles.

“I understand how you feel, but you also have to appreciate the difficulty of our work.” Seeing that Luo Ming was a bit rough around the edges, he switched to a more direct manner. “A hundred thousand is a lot for you, but there’s a process to handling cases. At the very least, we have to find the scammer first, and then verify everything. That takes time, doesn’t it?”

“I… I know, but I just can’t wait…” Luo Ming stammered.

“You’ll have to be patient, even if you can’t wait.” Qiu spoke frankly. “Do you want your money back or not?”

“Of course! That’s my lifeline—I have to get it back,” Luo Ming said urgently.

“Then that’s settled. If you want your money back smoothly, you need to let us work calmly to investigate. With modern technology, do you really think we can’t track down a living person?” Qiu said, exasperated.

“Well, not really…” Luo Ming knew the officer made sense, but anxiety still gnawed at him. “I’m just afraid… afraid Su Qi will spend all my money. What then?”

Qiu laughed. “Even if he spends it, he’ll have to pay you back. If it’s confirmed as fraud and he doesn’t return the money, he’ll go to jail—do you think Su Qi is that foolish? Besides, even if he’s imprisoned, he’ll still be required to compensate you for your losses. What else is there to worry about?”

“That’s true…” Luo Ming found himself at a loss for words. He didn’t know how to express his urgency; the damage was done, and he knew recovery wouldn’t be easy.

But people are like this—when trouble strikes, unrealistic hopes spring up.

Qiu looked at his tangled expression and sighed, “Alright, after these two days off, I’ll prioritize your case and give you an answer as soon as possible. Is that enough?”

Luo Ming was overjoyed, nodding frantically. “That’s wonderful, really wonderful!”

“These two days, I’ll have someone keep an eye on things for you, so you don’t need to come here every day,” Qiu said sympathetically. “Travel isn’t cheap, and it wastes time.”

“It’s fine. I’ll stay in town these few days and wait. When there’s news, I’ll return to the village…” Luo Ming insisted.

“That’s up to you,” Qiu said, starting up the motorcycle.

Luo Ming, still grateful, said, “Officer Qiu, thank you for your trouble. You’re all so busy.”

Qiu smiled, “It’s part of the job. Besides, I have feelings for Luoshui Village myself. Alright, I’m off.”

“Take care, Officer Qiu,” Luo Ming said politely.

Watching the community officer ride away, Luo Ming finally felt a bit more at ease. As long as people were working on his case, and he’d managed to get it prioritized, he was satisfied.