In Fengcheng, outsiders who drift from place to place are generally called “Er Mao.” This young man’s full name is William Smith, which everyone at the Jinxiu Police Station knows, but they’ve long gotten used to calling William Smith by Eric Smith. In fact, Eric Smith is so well-known that many people know the name Eric Smith, but hardly anyone knows his real name, William Smith. Most people just assume his name is Eric Smith.

“Hey! Wait, that’s not right!” The young man called Eric Smith suddenly realized, cursing himself in his heart. He’d been arrested so many times, he was damn near used to wearing handcuffs. The police hadn’t even said anything yet, and he’d already put them on himself—wasn’t that just asking for it?

“Deputy Johnson, no, I didn’t do anything today! I’m the damn victim! These vegetable sellers bullied me!” Eric Smith shouted at the leading police officer.

“Eric Smith, don’t I know what kind of troublemaker you are!” The officer called Deputy Johnson relaxed when he saw it was him—at least it wasn’t a serious case. Lighting a cigarette, he said, “You say they bullied you, but who’s going to believe that? Let the people see what kind of person you are, and then we’ll see who’s the bad guy and who’s the good guy!” He looked at Eric Smith with a mocking expression.

Only then did Eric Smith come to his senses and look around. Besides the old man still lying on the ground, everyone else nearby was either a middle-aged man or woman, with a few younger people who clearly showed the marks of years of sun and wind—obviously honest farmers. Compared to the handcuffed Eric Smith, with his big bull-like eyes, tied-up hair, tomato juice and egg yolk dripping from his hair, and a half-visible tattoo on his sleeve, no one would believe he wasn’t a thug, a hooligan, or a bad guy, no matter how much he protested.

“Damn it… why am I so unlucky!” Seeing the police had witnessed his earlier behavior, Eric Smith figured he was definitely going to take the blame this time. Weakly, he said, “Deputy Johnson, I really am innocent this time.”

“Save it. When have you ever not claimed to be innocent? Take him away. …Everyone else, disperse! You there, a few of you, come with us to make a statement… What do you mean you don’t want to go? You have to—assisting an investigation is a citizen’s duty… Everyone else, disperse!”

Deputy Johnson did some crowd control and got the onlookers to leave. A police officer opened the trunk of the police car, and Eric Smith cooperatively got in by himself. The officer took the opportunity to kick him in the butt, and Eric Smith, already fuming, cursed, “Who the hell are you kicking!”

“Hey, keep mouthing off and see what happens. I’ll deal with you later… Can’t even get a moment’s peace in the morning!” The officer didn’t seem angry, as if he was very familiar with Eric Smith, and didn’t mind at all, jokingly slamming the trunk shut.

Chapter 02: Frequent Guests Are Like Friends

The car stopped in the courtyard of the Jinxiu Police Station. When the door opened, William Smith jumped out directly. This courtyard with its whitewashed walls was more familiar to him than his own home. He held out his hands to the police officer, who, just like always, unlocked his cuffs with a mischievous grin and said, “Same old rules, go to your private room!”

William Smith took the key and walked himself into what the police station called a “private room”—actually just a holding cell. As usual, he knew he’d be the last one to have his statement taken. In the past, whenever he came in, he’d be locked up for at least a day, only released when someone came to pay the fine. Over time, everyone at the station, big and small, got to know this character. They all knew he’d show up a few times every month to “donate” money, and his attitude was always extremely cooperative—calling the male officers “brother” and the female ones “sister,” shameless and unfazed by beatings or scoldings, always grinning like a true rascal. No one could do anything about him. So, unless it was a matter of principle, everyone was actually pretty polite to this “God of Wealth.”

William Smith walked into the holding cell and lay down on the concrete floor. Here, he didn’t expect any better treatment. In fact, not being cuffed in the cell was already a huge favor. Still hungover from last night, he felt a bit sleepy, and with all the chaos earlier, he couldn’t make sense of things. Last night, a friend named George Clark, whom he’d met a year ago and who was a regular at Jinxiu Karaoke, came to ask for help, bringing along another guy who seemed to be in the medicine business—looked like a fake medicine peddler. They drank a bit too much—not William Smith, but George Clark and his friend. The three of them just chatted nonsense in the private room for half the night, barely slept, and William Smith was planning to go home and sleep after his morning exercise, but then ran into this mess on the way.

Thinking about it, William Smith wasn’t good at figuring things out, and soon drifted off to sleep.

……

A little after nine in the morning, Officer Paul Harris, the one who’d kicked William Smith earlier, finished taking statements and walked to the chief’s office with a stack of documents. He knocked on the door, and someone inside called, “Come in.”

“Deputy Chief, something seems off about today’s case!” Paul Harris said as he entered, addressing Deputy Johnson, who was cleaning his gun. After the previous chief retired, Edward Johnson, the deputy chief, had been in charge, but since the official appointment hadn’t come down yet, Edward Johnson insisted everyone still call him “Deputy Chief.”

“What’s going on? Tell me,” Edward Johnson looked up, then continued cleaning his gun.