As soon as Luo Fei returned to the office, he was greeted by a wave of congratulations.
Only Wu Wei, Zhao Le, and Jiang Xiaoxiao didn't seem particularly happy.
Their feelings perfectly matched a popular saying on the internet:
People fear their friends' hardships, but they fear even more when their friends start driving luxury cars.
Watching Luo Fei, who had joined the station at the same time as them, get promoted ahead of schedule naturally left them feeling somewhat disappointed and discouraged.
That morning, the police station received three emergency calls from the public.
One involved a child who had been missing for over twenty-four hours.
Another concerned a domestic violence incident.
The third came from a long-distance bus traveling from Guangyuan County. A passenger had attempted to seize the steering wheel, prompting the driver to call the police.
Luo Fei followed Zhang Haiyang to handle the bus incident.
Guangtong Bridge
Luo Fei, Zhang Haiyang, and two auxiliary officers arrived at Guangtong Bridge within ten minutes of receiving the report.
The two parties involved were:
Zheng Xian, a man in his sixties and the passenger.
Wang Xiaodong, a bus driver in his thirties.
The sequence of events was straightforward.
Zheng Xian lived not far from Guangtong Bridge and asked the driver to stop on the bridge so he could get off there. According to him, other buses had always allowed passengers to disembark at that location.
However, Wang Xiaodong refused.
Traffic on the bridge was heavy, vehicles moved quickly, and stopping there would be dangerous. He planned to pull over after crossing the bridge instead.
When the driver continued driving without stopping, Zheng Xian became furious.
He had already endured a long bus ride and was eager to get off. Seeing the driver ignore his request only made him angrier.
'Other drivers stop here all the time. Why won't you? Are you deliberately making things difficult for me?' he thought.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
In a burst of rage, he lunged forward and grabbed the steering wheel, attempting to force the driver to stop.
That was the entire incident.
There was no question that the old man was at fault.
His actions had interfered with the normal operation of public transportation and endangered public safety.
If Luo Fei remembered correctly, forcibly grabbing a public transport driver's steering wheel constituted the crime of Endangering Safe Driving, punishable by up to one year of imprisonment, criminal detention, or public surveillance.
Unfortunately, the old man neither understood nor cared about the law.
When Zhang Haiyang explained that his actions were illegal, Zheng Xian began shouting angrily instead.
“You police officers are working together with the driver!” he yelled.
He even threatened to file complaints against Luo Fei and the others, leaving Zhang Haiyang thoroughly exasperated.
Naturally, refusal to cooperate earned him a pair of shining silver handcuffs.
Only when Zhang Haiyang locked the cuffs around his wrists did Zheng Xian finally seem to realize that he had truly committed a crime.
Perhaps he had believed all along that he had merely grabbed the wheel for a moment and done nothing serious.
By the time he fully understood the gravity of his actions, however, it was already too late.
He repeatedly asked for leniency, insisting that he had only acted impulsively.
But the law showed no favoritism.
A mistake was a mistake.
Everyone had to bear responsibility for their own actions.
The bus was driven directly to the police station.
Zheng Xian was placed in detention, while Luo Fei and Zhang Haiyang took statements from the passengers and collected evidence.
By the time they finished organizing all the case materials, it was nearly eight o'clock that evening.
Given the circumstances, Zheng Xian's offense was unlikely to result in a full year of imprisonment.
More realistically, he would face ten to fifteen days of detention along with a monetary fine.
The next morning, Luo Fei immediately noticed that something felt different in the office.
The atmosphere was unusually lively, and everyone seemed noticeably excited.
At first, he couldn't understand why.
It didn't take long for him to find out.
Today was payday.
“I wonder how much we'll get for our first month's salary,” Wu Wei said eagerly.
“If it's enough, I can finally buy a new phone.”
Jiang Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes.
“Don't get your hopes up. I asked my mentor. After deductions for insurance and housing funds, she only takes home around four thousand yuan a month. Since we're newcomers, we'll probably get around three thousand at most.”
Wu Wei's expression immediately fell.
“Three thousand? That's ridiculous! My dad works as a security guard in Hongxing and makes over twenty-five hundred a month. Everyone I know says civil servants earn great salaries—around a hundred thousand yuan a year. They can't all be lying to me, can they?”
Luo Fei felt obligated to explain.
“I think the hundred thousand yuan they're talking about is pre-tax income,” he said.
“If it's pre-tax, then the numbers make sense.”
He continued:
“Let's use your mentor's salary as an example. If she takes home around 4,500 yuan per month, then before deductions she's probably earning between 5,500 and 6,000 yuan. Over a year, that's roughly seventy thousand yuan. Add year-end bonuses, meal subsidies, transportation allowances, phone reimbursements, and other benefits, and you're pretty close to a hundred thousand yuan annually before taxes.”
Wu Wei stared blankly.
“So that's how they calculate it?”
“I thought they meant one hundred thousand yuan in actual take-home pay.”
“I'm going to lose my mind.”
His excitement about payday vanished instantly.
Jiang Xiaoxiao couldn't help mocking him.
“What were you expecting? One hundred thousand yuan in your pocket every year? Keep dreaming.”
At noon, after an anxious morning of waiting, the salaries finally arrived.
Wu Wei was the first to notice.
The moment he received the bank notification, he quietly hurried over to Luo Fei.
“Luo Fei, my salary just came in,” he whispered.
“I got 3,090 yuan this month. How much did you get?”
Luo Fei had been absorbed in his reading and hadn't checked his phone.
After Wu Wei mentioned it, he immediately pulled it out.
Sure enough, a text message from the bank had arrived.
Account Deposit: 4,500 YuanCurrent Balance: 4,523 Yuan
“How much?” Wu Wei asked impatiently.
Luo Fei glanced at him before replying calmly.
“About the same as yours.”
He didn't tell the full truth.
Being honest wouldn't benefit either of them.
When money was involved, Luo Fei believed it was best to keep certain things private unless the other person was a very close friend.
“Oh.”
Wu Wei visibly relaxed.
“I thought yours would be higher.”
Afterward, he ran over to Jiang Xiaoxiao to ask about her salary as well.
Meanwhile, Luo Fei began considering whether he should buy an electric scooter.
His new home wasn't particularly far from the police station, but it wasn't exactly close either.
Walking took over twenty minutes.
With an electric scooter, the trip would take only five or six minutes.
It would certainly be much more convenient.
However, he quickly abandoned the idea.
His family still owed nearly thirty thousand yuan to his uncle and second aunt.
As long as those debts remained unpaid, his mother, Wu Yan, would never feel at ease.
For that reason, Luo Fei decided to pay back the money first before considering any personal purchases.
In the end, the problem was simple.
He still didn't have enough money.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have to choose between repaying debt and improving his daily life.
Thinking about money reminded him of something else.
Captain Zhao Donglai from the Criminal Investigation Unit had once mentioned that he and Zhang Haiyang would receive some additional compensation.
Luo Fei wondered whether Zhao Donglai still remembered.
Criminal Investigation Brigade
“Ah-choo!”
Zhao Donglai rubbed his nose and frowned.
“Is someone talking about me behind my back?” he muttered while continuing to study the case files on his desk.
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