I Fell In Love With The Fruit Stand Proprietress At First Sight - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Arrest – The Decisive Director Song

After speaking, Song Nianxi turned and saw Xie Lin still with a starry-eyed look. She guessed the young man was already mentally running through the entire process from setting up a fruit stall to opening a fruit shop and making a fortune. She clicked her tongue, picked up a bottle of mineral water, and gently tapped him on the forehead: “Snap out of it!”

Xie Lin yelped in pain, clutching his head, and immediately came back to his senses. He gave Song Nianxi an embarrassed smile: “Director Song, I just think selling fruit is too profitable.”

“Stop thinking about things that aren’t necessary,” Song Nianxi twisted the bottle cap and took a sip of water: “With your dull wits, who knows how much money you’d be able to make running a stall.”

Watching Song Nianxi tilt her head to drink the water, her ponytail falling down, her beautiful profile looked even more exquisite from that angle. Even Xie Lin, who was used to seeing her every day at work, was briefly distracted.

True, he thought. With Director Song’s face and aura, simply standing next to the fruit stall is a walking advertisement. If I were a passerby, I’d have to buy something just to get a chance to talk to a beautiful woman.

If he tried it, he’d be lucky not to lose his shirt.

Song Nianxi had been transferred to their Hongyun Street Police Station a month ago. She was under thirty and was directly appointed as the Deputy Director. It was said she was a top student who graduated from the Central Police Academy and had previously worked at the Municipal Bureau.

Xie Lin and the others didn’t know much about Director Song’s background, and they were completely confused as to why she was transferred to a small county police station like theirs.

However, when Song Nianxi first arrived, a few of the officers were a little unconvinced about being managed by such a young woman. But when it came to grappling, shooting, or any skill, she completely outclassed every single one of the men. Furthermore, shortly after she arrived, she led the station in solving a serial theft case.

This serial theft case, which involved the theft of motorcycle batteries, had plagued the station for nearly a year. It wasn’t a major case; the thief specifically targeted areas without surveillance and even possessed some anti-surveillance skills.

To be fair, the case could be solved if they absolutely had to, but with the batteries only costing a hundred or two hundred yuan, it wasn’t worth the effort to call in forensics from the Municipal Bureau. No one had the time to bother with a case where the total amount involved was less than a thousand yuan. Therefore, after checking the surveillance and finding no one, the case was just shelved.

The difficulty in working as a grassroots police officer is precisely this: the cases aren’t major; they are all petty thefts and disputes. Dreaming of catching a murderer with one hand and solving a kidnapping case with the other, like in the movies, is just that—a dream.

For these minor cases, if you want to solve them, does a small police station have the ability to mobilize resources to swat a fly with a cannon? Just filing the reports would be a headache. If you don’t solve them, you have no achievements for the year-end assessment, and the community’s problems aren’t resolved.

Yet, when Director Song arrived, she started with criminal profiling, using small details like the location and time of the incidents to deduce and outline a rough profile of the suspect. Finally, by waiting patiently, she actually cracked the case.

The thief turned out to be a rich second generation, stealing batteries simply for the thrill—a form of kleptomania.

When Xie Lin learned the outcome of the case, he was speechless: “…” If Director Song hadn’t solved the case, who would have ever guessed this!

In short, from then on, everyone at the police station completely respected Song Nianxi.

“Still spacing out?” Song Nianxi finished her water and, seeing Xie Lin still staring at her blankly, frowned slightly in discomfort. She slapped his forehead again: “Drive!”

“Oh, oh, oh—” Xie Lin quickly started the car, groaning internally: It’s all because Director Song is too good-looking! I shouldn’t have been distracted by my boss!

Song Nianxi turned to look out the window. Xie Lin’s moment of distraction reminded her of the delivery girl from earlier.

She had also stared blankly, but the girl’s eyes were clear and bright. When her gaze was on Song Nianxi, it didn’t bother her.

Xie Lin turned the steering wheel: “Director Song, how much longer do we have to stake out here?”

Staking out was exhausting and incredibly boring, and there was no guarantee of results. Spending a day or two doing this could very well yield nothing. The higher-ups probably thought their police station was idle since they didn’t have major cases, so they were forced to take on this assignment.

But just because they didn’t have major cases didn’t mean they were idle! Neighborhood disputes, domestic quarrels, petty theft, fights—while none of them were major crimes, the police station still had to deal with every single one!

“The rest of you don’t need to stake out tomorrow,” Song Nianxi said: “I’ll do it for a few more days.”

How could he not stake out when his leader was still doing it? Xie Lin quickly said: “How can we let you do it alone, Sister? We’ll join you.”

“If all of you are staking out, who will handle the other work at the station?” Song Nianxi rolled down the car window, her gaze fixed on the bustling farmers market not far away: “That’s an order. Just carry it out.”

Xie Lin could only comply.

In fact, besides her work, Director Song didn’t talk much in her free time and was a solitary person. The colleagues at the station often invited each other for late-night snacks after work, but she rarely joined them.

However, Xie Lin understood. After all, the station was mostly made up of older men. It was normal for Director Song, a young woman, not to socialize much with them.

But even if she wasn’t talkative, the leader’s orders were absolute, and no one dared to disobey.

Besides, Director Song was good-looking. It was always better to have a beautiful and pleasant-looking leader while working than a pot-bellied, middle-aged man with a receding hairline.

“Then, Director Song, we…” Xie Lin was about to say something else when Song Nianxi suddenly slapped the dashboard: “Stop the car!”

Xie Lin slammed on the brakes: “???”

“A pickpocket.” Song Nianxi unlatched her seatbelt, opened the car door, and dashed out like a gust of wind.

With the Dragon Boat Festival approaching, residents nearby were all coming to the farmers market to buy ingredients. It was extremely busy these days. Shouts, bargaining, and casual talk mixed together in the commotion. People often brushed shoulders as they passed each other, and because of the crowds, no one paid much attention.

A short man, under 1.7 meters tall, adjusted his glasses and cautiously glanced around. He spotted an older woman who was haggling with a vendor, and he quickly walked past her.

The woman was completely unaware, still pointing at a basket of salted duck eggs and asking the vendor for a lower price. The short man discreetly tucked the cloth wallet into his chest pocket, happily thinking he had succeeded.

But before he could celebrate, someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned back cautiously, and his eyes met the face of a very beautiful woman. He relaxed, even whistling flirtatiously: “What is it, pretty lady—ah, ow, ow, ow—”

Song Nianxi was swift. With a single move of self-defense, she grabbed his arm, expertly tripped him with her leg, and quickly pinned his shoulders, pressing his face flat against the ground.

She then pulled the handcuffs hidden on her waist and cuffed the man’s hands.

The entire process, from start to finish, took less than ten seconds.

The people nearby were startled by the sudden scene. Song Nianxi pulled the wallet out of the man’s pocket and said to the older woman: “Madam, this is your wallet.”

The woman felt her pocket, and sure enough, the wallet was gone. She walked over, exclaiming in shock, took the wallet, and said with lingering fear: “It’s mine, it’s mine! Thank you so much, Officer! Otherwise, all the money I just withdrew would be gone.”

She had just withdrawn one thousand yuan from the ATM and put it in the cloth wallet. She thought she’d stop by the farmers market to buy some vegetables, but she hadn’t expected to be pickpocketed.

This was nearly half of her monthly pension!

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. The woman spat and lunged forward to grab the pickpocket’s hair: “You damn thief! I’ll teach you to steal, I’ll teach you to steal!”

The man yelled in pain. Song Nianxi watched from the side with a raised eyebrow, not interfering. Xie Lin quickly rushed over to mediate: “Alright, alright, Madam, calm down. He’s committed a crime, and we police will deal with him. We need to take him to the station.”

He grabbed the man and gave him a push: “Behave yourself!”

He then addressed the onlookers: “Disperse, disperse! Everyone, don’t block the area; you’re interfering with the shopkeepers’ business.”

Seeing that the matter was mostly resolved and there was no more excitement to watch, the onlookers cursed the pickpocket and scattered like birds.

As for the subsequent processing of the arrest, Song Nianxi couldn’t be bothered. She took out ten yuan from her pocket, walked to a convenience store nearby, placed it on the counter, and took out a can of beer from the fridge.

Her fair fingertips deftly twisted the can’s tab, making a hissing sound. Song Nianxi raised it to her lips and took a sip. The crisp, cool liquid slid down her throat, and her expression relaxed slightly.

She lifted her chin, signaling to Xie Lin: “Back to the station.”

Xie Lin involuntarily swallowed.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say that it was best not to drink while on duty, but then he thought that the rules in their small area weren’t strictly enforced. Even the police chief turned a blind eye to Director Song, so what was the harm in drinking a can of beer?

He actually wanted a drink too, but he didn’t have the courage.

Seeing Xie Lin’s look, Song Nianxi took out another can from the fridge: “Want one?”

“No, no, no,” Xie Lin quickly shook his head: “I have to drive.”

He grabbed the man, shoved him into the car, and got in. Song Nianxi leaned against the utility pole, slowly finishing the can of beer. She looked up at the sun in the sky.

After the delay, the time began to move towards evening, and the horizon was starting to turn a little red. Xie Lin waited patiently in the driver’s seat for her.

She poured the last drop of beer into her mouth, then used her fingers to crush the empty can flat. With an easy toss, she accurately threw it into the trash can three meters away.

The image of the delivery girl from earlier inexplicably popped into her mind.

She wondered if she was late in the end?

If she was late, she must have been scolded.

Thinking of the distressed look on the girl’s face when she took out the six hundred yuan, Song Nianxi smiled, then turned and walked towards the car.