Chapter 53: The Public Security Bureau Comes to Poach Talent!

At 4:00 AM, in the conference room of the District Public Security Bureau.

Director Zhang Guofu sat at the head of the table, surrounded by all the key personnel of the police department.

A deputy director reported to Zhang Guofu, "Director Zhang, last night I led the members of the Party committee leadership team to the front lines, taking command on-site and supervising the implementation. Institutional police forces carried out high-frequency and high-density patrols and controls in key areas under our jurisdiction. We conducted nighttime sweeps of key industry venues such as bars, KTVs, and hotels, using a surprise, blanket, and dragnet-style cleanup approach to clear blind spots and eliminate safety hazards.

In this operation, a total of 385 police personnel were deployed, along with 81 civilian volunteers assisting in crime prevention and control. We mobilized 62 vehicles, questioned 3,824 individuals, filed and solved 3 criminal cases, arrested 37 criminal suspects, handled 3 administrative cases, detained 21 violators, and confiscated 71 controlled knives..."

"Comrades, everyone has worked hard! Publish the results of this operation on our official Douyin account!"

An exhausted Zhang Guofu let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Although the operation was grueling, the harvest was substantial.

Subsequently, Zhang Guofu dismissed the meeting, telling the officers who had stayed up all night to go back and rest.

However, Qi Wei, the captain of the criminal police, did not leave.

"Qi Wei, do you still have something on your mind?"

Zhang Guofu perked up and looked toward Qi Wei.

"Director Zhang, the way we're doing things right now isn't sustainable!"

Qi Wei hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Let's hear your thoughts."

Zhang Guofu nodded.

"Director Zhang, I suggest we transfer Tan Ping to our police bureau!"

Qi Wei put forward his proposal.

Last night's sudden operation was triggered because Tan Ping, during his livestream, managed to capture 12 pickpockets in a mere half-hour. The resulting online fermentation caused the general public to question the public security situation in Chengdu.

Although this operation could be considered a complete success, it still failed to silence all the netizens.

It inevitably lowered the public credibility of the police bureau to a certain extent.

After all, if a traffic cop can catch a dozen pickpockets in an hour or so, yet your public security bureau with hundreds of officers fails to do so, doesn't that imply something fishy is going on?

The best solution is to poach Tan Ping.

If his identity were that of a public security police officer, this problem would be easily solved.

By then, no matter how many criminals he captures, it would all be credited as achievements, rather than facing criticism like this time.

"That makes sense!"

Hearing this, Zhang Guofu also felt a surge of energy.

The events of last night made him realize that when it came to catching thieves, Tan Ping was a professional. All by himself, he could practically do the work of an entire anti-pickpocketing squad.

Otherwise, as long as this unstable factor named Tan Ping remained where he was, who knew when he might suddenly capture another large batch of criminal suspects during a livestream and have it blown out of proportion by netizens again? When the superiors came down to assign blame, Zhang Guofu would once again have to mobilize massive forces and search the entire jurisdiction inside out.

Transportation Administration Bureau.

Director Xu Gang holding his insulated thermos just stepped into his office when he spotted Zhang Guofu. Unable to hide his confusion, he asked, "Old Zhang, why are you here so early in the morning?"

"Old Xu, I wouldn't visit you without a reason. For the sake of our years as old classmates, you've got to help me out!"

Seeing someone enter, Zhang Guofu immediately stood up and said.

"That won't do! I cannot do anything that violates principles!"

Xu Gang's smile vanished, and he spoke in a serious tone.

He assumed Zhang Guofu had come to clear traffic violations or something similar.

"Old Xu, I haven't even told you what the matter is yet, and you're already turning me down?"

Zhang Guofu grew somewhat anxious.

"Look at you, you've got dark circles under your eyes. You didn't sleep a wink last night, did you?"

Xu Gang noticed Zhang Guofu's dark circles and asked.

"With the situation last night, could I possibly sleep?"

Hearing this, Zhang Guofu couldn't help but retort.

Not just him, but last night, not a single person at the District Public Security Bureau managed to catch some sleep.

Originally, his shift had already ended, and Zhang Guofu had been thinking about how they had been trying to conceive for so long and wanted to discuss having a second child with his wife.

Instead, emergency call after emergency call came pouring in, forcing him to rush back to the bureau to take charge.

"If you couldn't even sleep, it sounds like this matter is huge!"

Xu Gang's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.

He became even more convinced that he should not get involved in this!

"Huge? It's earth-shattering! In a single night, I received calls from multiple superiors telling me that if I couldn't handle the job, I should just quit! Your old classmate here almost got stripped of his post!"

Zhang Guofu said bitterly.

Given the scale of last night's chaos, once it fully fermented online, it was genuinely beyond the ability of a mere district public security bureau director to suppress.

"Old Zhang, why don't you drink a cup of tea and then go back to get some rest?"

Xu Gang raised his teacup, tactfully choosing not to inquire further.

"Old Xu, do you really have no idea what happened last night?"

Seeing Xu Gang's reaction, Zhang Guofu couldn't help asking.

"I have no clue! Nobody notified me. I woke up, washed up, ate breakfast, and came straight to work!"

Xu Gang shook his head.

"I truly envy you for being able to sleep soundly. If this issue isn't resolved, I can forget about ever sleeping peacefully again!"

Zhang Guofu blurted out.

The hurdle of last night had been cleared, but only at the cost of everyone running around frantically until the early hours of the morning.

What if that kid Tan Ping caught another wave of pickpockets, and people on the internet took it out of context again? They would have another round of chaos on their hands.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Zhang Guofu concluded that remaining passive was not a viable strategy; he had to tackle the source of the problem!

Hence, at the very break of dawn, he came to stake out the Transportation Bureau.

Xu Gang sat firmly in his commanding seat and simply refused to take the bait.

Left with no other choice, Zhang Guofu said, "Old Xu, the reason I'm here this time is that I want to request a person from you!"

"Request a person from me?"

Xu Gang was stunned upon hearing this.

"Who do you want?"

"Tan Ping. This kid is naturally cut out for criminal investigation work. Look at how many criminal suspects he's captured lately—leaving him at the Transportation Bureau is wasting his talent! I appreciate genuine talent, which is why I've come to ask you for him."

Zhang Guofu finally revealed his true purpose.

"I agree that Tan Ping has strong capabilities, but who says staying at the Transportation Bureau is a waste of his talent? Look at how well he's doing in the propaganda department! In less than a month, his program *Tan Reviews Traffic* grew from zero followers to nearly half a million!"

Hearing this, Xu Gang immediately became displeased.

Zhang Guofu desperately wanted to say that it was precisely because the kid was *too* capable!

Someone this capable would be a treasure at the Public Security Bureau too, but unfortunately, the kid happened to be stationed at the Transportation Bureau.

A traffic policeman catching pickpockets and criminals every single day, while livestreaming it live, and generating massive influence to boot—

Doesn't that make their Public Security Bureau look utterly incompetent?

Once Zhang Guofu explained the situation in detail, Xu Gang was dumbfounded: "Such a big thing happened last night? And nobody told me?!"

"I'm the one taking the flak from the superiors, of course it has nothing to do with you!"

Zhang Guofu felt deeply depressed.

"Old Zhang, I don't have the final say on this. He used to be under our jurisdiction, but now he's been reassigned upward; this program was actually requested by higher-level authorities!"

Xu Gang spread his hands in helplessness.

"How about this, Old Zhang? Why don't you dispatch a team of officers to follow the production crew and assist them on-site?"

Xu Gang thought for a moment and suggested.

"That would be too obvious! However, I can arrange a team to be on standby at all times so that the moment they need assistance, we can deploy immediately!"

Zhang Guofu pondered and replied.

That way, it would also highlight the police's fast response time!

Watching Zhang Guofu leave, Xu Gang still decided to make a phone call to Tan Ping, gently reminding him to focus primarily on traffic legal education and not to neglect his main duties. If he encountered relevant incidents, he should contact the police to handle them.

After all, making such a huge commotion like last night was indeed detrimental to solidarity.

After reading the news circulating online, Xu Gang himself broke out in a cold sweat.

Just because Tan Ping caught 12 pickpockets at a concert site, the internet had already renamed Chengdu the "City of Thieves"!

Actually, Tan Ping hadn't done anything wrong; traffic police are still police officers, and stepping in to stop illegal and criminal acts falls squarely within their duties.

The problem lay in the fact that his work capability was simply too exceptional, and all of this was happening during a livestream.

Once the incident fermented through the internet and netizens generalized the situation, the impact turned negative!

In reality, did Chengdu truly have more pickpockets than anywhere else?

Of course not. It was simply because Tan Ping possessed extraordinary perception, uncovering pickpockets that others missed and exposing them through the livestream.

However, the netizens on the internet refused to think that way.

"Director Xu, don't worry! I will definitely keep my focus primarily on traffic legal education!"

Tan Ping acknowledged immediately upon receiving the call.