James Brooks said something, looking at his four companions—almost all of them were half-grown boys with no stable livelihood, some even worse off than himself. Henry Brooks's family was in the countryside, Jack Brooks had only graduated from middle school a few years ago and used to be a small-time street punk; George Brooks's father sold tofu, and though the auxiliary police salary was low, at least it was a job for them.

The three boys looked at James Brooks with a hint of gratitude in their eyes, patted each other's shoulders, smacked their lips, shook their heads silently, and turned to leave!

“Damn it, what kind of world is this? Why does all the responsibility always fall on the auxiliary police!?”

Charles said sullenly, glancing back at the three stunned boys. He snapped at them, “What are you staring at? Get lost! Usually you call me ‘brother锅’ this and ‘brother锅’ that, but when something happens, you let me take the blame alone? No loyalty at all!”

……

……

After dealing with the five troublemakers, Instructor Smith answered a call, hurried out of the station, and rushed, panting, up to the director’s office on the fourth floor of the county bureau. As soon as he entered, he was scolded harshly by the deputy director: “What’s going on? Director Brooks just left two days ago, and now you’ve messed up. The five people intercepted at Wulongzhikou, how could they all abandon the car and escape?”

“Director, were all five of them auxiliary police?” Grace Smith was full of regret, worried that these guys wouldn’t take responsibility. He had deliberately placed them somewhere inconspicuous, but that spot turned out to be crucial. The more he tried to avoid trouble, the more trouble happened.

The director was surprised: “All of them!? Didn’t I tell you to mix one regular with four auxiliaries? How could you put all the auxiliary police on the front line and let them carry out the task alone? What kind of instructor are you?”

Grace Smith spoke with some trepidation: “Sorry, Director Mao, it was my mistake. We really don’t have enough officers at the station, and our jurisdiction is huge. I’ve stationed all our best men at the key checkpoints, all armed; Wulongzhikou is just a rural road, it doesn’t even leave the county—thirty kilometers out and it’s all mountain roads. Even the city bureau thinks this checkpoint is dispensable. I was careless and sent five auxiliary police there just to show a presence. Who knew the suspects would escape from there? I…”

“What do you mean, ‘you’? Huh! … You can take credit for achievements, but you can’t shirk responsibility. So what if they’re auxiliary police? They should still act like police, have a sense of honor and responsibility. How do you usually train them? You are fully responsible for this and must write a thorough self-criticism!”

The director said something thought-provoking, making it seem like the responsibility, after all the twists and turns, wasn’t the auxiliary police’s, but the instructor’s.

Grace Smith nodded repeatedly: “Yes… yes, I will write a thorough self-criticism.”

“What about those five? Who are they?”

“One is called James Brooks, Director Brooks’s nephew; one is Charles Thompson, nephew of Section Chief Zhang from the city bureau’s Legal Department; the other three, Edward Johnson, Richard Clark, and Andrew Thompson, are all new recruits this year… Director Mao, I’ve already suspended them and had them write self-criticisms.”

When Instructor Smith mentioned these five, he couldn’t help but find it a bit funny—Charlie Thompson, George Brooks, Jack Brooks, Henry Brooks, and the scapegoat James Brooks—these nicknames were all spot on.

“Of course they have to write them. Not only them, but you even more so. Your momentary negligence caused such a big impact on the arrest operation and the bureau’s reputation. Of all people, you put a bunch of auxiliary police at a key position! … Go, go, don’t add to my headache. If the suspects aren’t caught, I’ll discipline you first…”

The phone rang, interrupting Director Mao’s scolding. He answered and started arranging for several SWAT teams to search the mountains, too busy to bother with the station’s mess. He waved Grace Smith away, meaning: get lost!

Grace Smith left the office disgruntled. Walking down the road, he felt quite bitter. Over twenty officers at the station, a jurisdiction of over ten thousand people, with household registration, security, and joint defense all piling up—he was busy and frazzled all day. Except for the station chief Matthew Brooks, who was a former soldier, there were hardly any who could handle a gun steadily. When did serious crimes become the station’s responsibility? So many armed police and SWAT couldn’t stop the suspects, and now the blame might really fall on the station! Let alone auxiliary police—even if the regular officers had gone, the suspects would have escaped all the same…

What kind of world is this? Why does all the responsibility always fall on the grassroots?

Grace Smith actually felt he was even more wronged than James Brooks and his group! For no reason, after all the twists and turns, the responsibility landed back on his head. Was he really supposed to take the blame for this!?

Chapter 07: Bittersweet Freedom

The bickering continued as usual, and the work that needed to be done still had to be done!

That’s always how it is in the workplace. With Director Brooks not back yet, the Instructor was in a bit of a bind. Of the five, one—James Brooks—was the chief’s nephew; another, Charles Thompson, had an uncle who was the city bureau’s Legal Department chief. Neither were people he could just dismiss. The other three were all just kids, and of the five, some he didn’t dare fire, others he couldn’t bear to. The city bureau’s criminal investigation team knew they were auxiliary police and said nothing; the county bureau couldn’t do anything either. Everyone knew what this bunch was like—if they hadn’t run at the sound of gunfire, that would have been the real surprise!

Director Mao didn’t pursue the matter much, only saying to await further instructions. It was an awkward thing to say—when it comes to subordinates or relatives of colleagues, no one wants to lose face.

When Instructor Smith reported, he only said all five were suspended and writing thorough self-criticisms, without going into further detail.