The Criminal Police Brigade.

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A deep black pickup truck was quietly parked at the main entrance of the compound.

Huang Qiangming stood on the steps, a few meters away from the pickup truck, smoking and admiring it.

The instructor had no luck and was caught, so he had to accompany Huang Qiangming in his admiration.

Soon, he felt bored and said, "Captain Huang, I've seen enough. Let's go back."

Instructor Pei Xiang was a modest gentleman, educated and with a degree. Even when oppressed by Huang Qiangming, he remained patient, like a resilient little grass.

Huang Qiangming laughed and said, "Go back for what? Hurry to write a report? Let's not worry about that for now. Look at this car, the muscular feel, it's really amazing!"

Pei Xiang, still unperturbed, said, "You guys solve cases, but someone has to write the reports. And the various data required from above, week after week, has to be organized."

"Let the young people help you with that."

"They don't have the access to my computer."

"Anyway, let's look at the car first. I personally picked it from the parking lot at Qinghe Bureau..." Huang Qiangming gestured with his hands in the air, like an old lecher, saying, "2.0t power, diesel engine, a first-hand new car from four years ago, perfect, right?"

Pei Xiang responded with an "Oh" and asked, "So it's a second-hand car that's been running for four years? How many kilometers?"

"About ten, twenty-something."

"So it's over twenty thousand kilometers? Twenty-something?"

"Twenty-five, not quite twenty-six." Huang Qiangming paused and said, "I know, this car is not suitable for your personal use, but it's for our team. And I've tested it on the road, no problems even when overtaking with the air conditioning on."

Pei Xiang sighed, "It's better than nothing."

"It's much better than nothing. This car can handle rough roads. We can load two bodies in the back and drive to the wilderness, the atmosphere will be just right." Huang Qiangming thought of the vast and desolate scene that day, and it made people yearn for it.

Pei Xiang said, "I already find it too much to have two bodies a year. Are you not planning to settle down? This year's case handling funds will be mostly used up by you."

"How could that be? We have Jiang Yuan now, right? When there are no local cases, we can just drive wherever with this car and solve a couple of cases, whatever we want." Huang Qiangming thought of the impressive part and put his hands on his hips.

Pei Xiang said firmly, "Criminals also think the same way."

Huang Qiangming laughed heartily and said, "This time they've added more funds for us."

"How much?" Pei Xiang finally showed some interest. The criminal police force, as a purely expenditure-based organization, relied on funds as its lifeline.

A few years ago, in order to secure funds, everyone had to find ways to crack down on gambling and prostitution, wasting time and energy, and the team's attitudes were prone to change.

It's different now. With the public security brigade, the criminal police force no longer had the qualifications to crack down on gambling and prostitution.

Looking around, Huang Qiangming said in a low voice, "They've added 600,000."

"Wow!" Pei Xiang was delighted. "You guys did a great job this time."

Huang Qiangming proudly raised his chin and said, "I don't need to explain... I used to spend thirty to fifty thousand and make seventy to eighty thousand back. It sounds like I've made double, but in reality, it's not even enough to cover personnel wages. This time, we've really made money."

Huang Qiangming was happy to be praised and didn't nitpick. "This time, we've brought the entire team along."

"It's just a matter of a few thousand. Accommodation and meals are still paid for by the municipal bureau." Pei Xiang said again, "In short, you did a good job. Keep up the good work and continue to excel."

"Alright, alright." Huang Qiangming waved his hand, not dwelling on it.

Expenditure and funds are two different concepts. The bulk of the expenditure is personnel wages and benefits. With police officers' social security and housing fund contributions, the average annual expenditure per person easily reaches over 200,000. In addition to the maintenance of various equipment and instruments, equipment procurement, fuel, and vehicle maintenance, the total expenditure of a criminal police force is very high.

For example, a DNA laboratory costs at least 3 million a year.

Expenditure was something Huang Qiangming couldn't control, nor was he interested in controlling it.

What he really cared about was the operational funds that could be used for case handling, the liquid cash in hand.

The amount of this money varied. A more basic method was to allocate funds per person, for example, in a relatively poor county, the per capita fund was set at 15,000, which was the amount a police officer could use for case solving in a year. In wealthier cities like Changyang, the per capita fund could reach 30,000 or even 40,000, but their expenses were also high.

If calculated per person, the annual average fund for the criminal police force in Ningtai County was just over 20,000, totaling around 3 million for the entire team.

With this money, they could solve over a hundred theft cases.

So, every time the county or city bureau issued tasks or inspections, they often brought some funds down as a subsidy to grassroots units.

Huang Qiangming was already quite comfortable with an additional 600,000.

In addition, there was a four-year-old brand new Great Wall Cannon, two brand new survey boxes, a set of miscellaneous gadgets, and an almost new Indanedione fingerprint fuming cabinet.

The latter few items were prepared for Jiang Yuan.

Huang Qiangming pointed to the brand new second-hand pickup truck and said confidently, "As long as this fund is received, even if Qinghe City has two homicide cases, I won't be afraid!"If it weren't for years of staunch materialism, Pei Xiang would have spat blood on Huang Qiangming's face right then and there.

...

Jiang Yuan settled into his office, and within half a day, people started seeking him out.

A technician with exceptional skills is never truly idle.

It's like a highly skilled beauty with a very short period of being single; as soon as one relationship ends, another begins.

Sometimes, when it's particularly busy, one job starts before the last has even finished.

The first two to seek out Jiang Yuan brought with them fingerprints and footprints.

Currently, Jiang Yuan's most renowned for his work with fingerprints, footprints, bloodstains, and crime scene investigations.

Ordinary detectives feel embarrassed to ask Jiang Yuan to inspect a crime scene.

The several hours of work involved are not something one would casually trouble a forensic expert with.

By comparison, dealing with fingerprints and footprints seems easier.

Jiang Yuan provided answers to each query, saw his visitors out, took a couple of sips of tea, and then Wei Zhenguo came up.

"Wei Captain, long time no see." Jiang Yuan immediately greeted him and invited Wei Zhenguo to sit down.

Wei Zhenguo's face was always dark and tanned.

But his beard and hair were so neatly groomed that one might wonder if he lived outdoors all year round.

Upon seeing Jiang Yuan, Wei Zhenguo was visibly pleased, sat down, drank two cups of tea, and after some small talk, he said, "Lately, our sixth team has been catching nothing but petty thieves. Those stealing electric bikes, mobile phones, and one who robbed a shop..."

"It's not easy to catch them, though." Jiang Yuan himself had once caught someone stealing electric bikes. Despite the primitive methods of theft, they were not easy to apprehend.

Wei Zhenguo nodded and said, "That's why I've been thinking, with the current situation, there's been quite a significant change in society."

"Mhm."

"Actually, we should reorganize the surveillance videos, update the outdated ones, upgrade where necessary, and maybe establish a photo investigation squad. That way, it would be easier for us to catch thieves and improve public security." Wei Zhenguo looked at Jiang Yuan and suggested, "You should mention it to Captain Huang and the others."

"Surveillance systems are too expensive, my word won't make a difference."

"Let Captain Huang bring it up to the higher-ups. Who knows, they might just be looking for ways to spend money." Wei Zhenguo wasn't there just to discuss this matter; changing the subject, he said, "I have a favor to ask, it's about a case."

"Oh, tell me."

"I have a friend..." Seeing Jiang Yuan's skeptical look, Wei Zhenguo quickly added, "It's true, I have a friend."

"And this friend?"

"He's a zoologist. He has some photos and videos that are quite blurry and wants someone to enhance the images. Yes, it's a paid job, but it seems too difficult for ordinary companies..."

"Sure, just bring them over. I'll work on it at home, the computers at the station are a bit outdated." Jiang Yuan agreed without hesitation.

Tooth decay, huh, unexpected...