Chereads / Prequel to the Seven Deadly Sins / Chapter 7 - Chapter 7: Thieves also have their ways

Chapter 7 - Chapter 7: Thieves also have their ways

 There is a small railway station called Caijiazhuang, where passing trains only stay for five minutes. There were few passengers, and there was only one policeman at the police station at this small railway station. The policeman's name is Lao Luo. He is in his 60s and has a smile. He should be the oldest policeman in China and also the one with the best temper.

 The walls of the police station are covered with banners and various awards, all of which are the result of a dog. One cold morning, while patrolling the route, Lao Luo found a puppy lying next to the railway track, almost freezing to death. Lao Luo took it back and raised it like a child. This dog is not a drug-detection dog in the true sense. According to local words in Caijiapo, it is a "local dog." But this local dog's magical sense of smell is amazing. It can smell all kinds of criminal smells. Explosives, sulfuric acid, alcohol and other prohibited items on the train cannot escape its nose. Even obscene CDs and restricted items cannot escape its nose. Knives can also be found. What's even more amazing is that it is naturally sensitive to drugs. It can distinguish heroin, methamphetamine, ecstasy, cocaine, and pethidine one by one. From 1998 to 2000, 11 drug dealers were arrested at Caijiapo Station, and there were countless other criminals.

 This dog has a glorious name: Lei Zi.

 On January 7, 2000, Lao Luo discovered four suspicious people at the exit of the station. They were Kuban, Xiao Youchui, Gu Li, and Balang. This was their first drug trafficking since they cooperated. Cuban and Guli dressed up Balang as a primary school student. Balang put on his schoolbag for the first time. What was inside was not stationery and textbooks, but K powder and cocaine. He was wearing a red scarf and a sun hat, which made him feel very awkward.

 Lei Zi sniffed each of their luggage, and finally yelled at Balang and bit his schoolbag. Balang was afraid of the big dog, broke away from his schoolbag, and ran away. Xiao Youchui, Kuban, and Guli also fled in all directions. Lao Luo didn't chase after him. He was an old man in his seventies after all. He pulled his schoolbag out of Lei Zi's mouth, opened it, sighed, and said, "These guys."

 That night, four people were talking quietly in the shadow of a wall near the station.

 Little Oil Hammer said: "I told you earlier, it's better to keep it in your stomach to be safe."

 Gu Li said: "Unfortunately, I failed the first time."

 Balang said: "That big dog is so powerful."

 "I have a solution," Cuban said.

 Little Oil Hammer said: "Tell me about it."

 "Let's go steal it back," Cuban said.

 Gu Li said: "Stolen from the police station?"

 Cuban said, "Yes."

 Balang said: "There is an old man there, that's the one."

 The little oil hammer said: "Haha, okay, it's worth doing."

 "We have to prepare," Cuban said.

 Little Oil Hammer said: "Let this old idiot policeman see what a snitch with special skills is."

 The police station wall is not high and it is easy to climb over the wall and enter. There is a dog tied under the grape trellis in the courtyard. There are two cement huts with two signs hanging at the door. One says "Caijiapo Railway Police Station" and the other says "Freight Inspection Station."

 Lao Luo put the intercepted drugs into the safe, and the city bureau personnel would not take the drugs away until the next morning. Before going to bed, he did not forget to reward Lei Zi with a sausage. In the middle of the night, when the wind picked up, he locked the door. He slept until 10 a.m. the next day and missed checking a shuttle bus, which was strange because he had a habit of getting up early. He didn't feel anything strange except a headache. When people from the city bureau arrived, they discovered that the drugs were missing. The windows were closed, and there was an iron fence outside. The door and safe were in good condition, with no signs of prying. There were no traces of theft left at the scene.

 How on earth were the drugs stolen? Lao Luo thought hard and couldn't figure it out.

 Some thieves target police stations and substations, not because they are bold, but because these places are less guarded and it is easier to succeed.

 Let's go back to that night and take a closer look at the entire theft.

 When a train passed by, Cuban and Xiao Youhui climbed over the wall and entered. The dog in the yard started barking. The barking of the dog was masked by the rumbling sound of the train. After the train passed by, the dog would keep barking, so let's let the dog bark. Dog shut up.

 There are several ways to silence a dog during a burglary, including killing it with a gun or crossbow, feeding it poisonous food, or using a flash, such as an ordinary camera, removing the diffused glass and flashing several times at the dog. Under strong light, the dog will be unable to open its eyes for a few minutes, causing a brief dizziness, and then kill it. It is said that the corpse exterminators in western Hunan know a "mute dog technique". They throw a few painted talismans to the dogs and the dogs will stop barking. In fact, this is caused by a special herbal medicine.

 Cuban and Xiao Youhui used anesthetic injections. They put the anesthetic at one end of the plastic tube and blew hard from the other end to the dog. After a while, it would be unconscious. Keepers in zoos often deal with ferocious animals in this way, and there are also cases of criminals using flying needles to rob in Hwaseong.

 The key to the success of this theft is to make the dog unconscious first, and then the person.

 The little oil hammer stepped on Cuban's shoulder and sprayed a drug into the house through the gap above the window. There are many types of drugs, and modern burglaries often use triazolam and ether. There have been cases where thieves have used small gas cans as tools for burglaries. Rare ones include shoulder-slapping drugs and Ecstasy cigarettes. Thieves during the Ming and Qing Dynasties often used a secret incense made from herbs such as Datura flowers and Naoyang flowers. The small oil hammer uses a spray-type anesthetic, which consists of methoxyflurane, cyclopropane, and isoflurane. This kind of drug can make people unconscious within one minute. The doors and windows in Lao Luo's house are closed tightly, so the effect of the drug evaporates faster.

 After Lao Luo fell into coma, he had to solve the window problem. Each steel bar of the iron fence is so thick that only a giant can bend it. Cuban and Little Oil Hammer wrapped towels soaked in water around two steel bars, and then used wooden sticks to twist and rotate them, and the steel bars slowly bent. This is a simple yet effective labor-saving trick. Any driver in the field army knows how to pull out a truck stuck in the mud. The foreman of a hotel used this method to rescue a dozen people and save them from a fire. Twisting and bending steel bars is sometimes particularly necessary.

 Balang got in through the gap in the window grille, covered his mouth with a wet towel, found the key to the safe, took out the drugs, put the key back in its place, and climbed out of the window.

 It is worth mentioning that Cuban and Xiao Youhui deliberately covered up the traces of theft. They restored the window grilles to their original shape, removed the anesthetic injection from the dog, and even removed the footprints. This was not done out of prank, but because they consciously wanted to do it flawlessly. In the robbery case in Hegang, Heilongjiang, criminals shot and picked up bullet casings at the same time. Bai Baoshan shot and killed an innocent old sheepherder before the robbery just to exercise his courage and marksmanship.

 For criminals, crime is an art.

 On February 3, 2000, the day before the Spring Festival, a fire broke out on the 6th floor of the residential complex for Xingshi Railway employees. The mother and son were trapped on the balcony. The woman was so anxious that she shouted for help. She was also holding a child. The child was about 4 years old. The child was so frightened that his cries changed. Thick smoke mixed with flames poured out from the balcony. .

 Before dawn, the neighbors who woke up from their sleep immediately called the police and quickly organized rescue. Some people tried to open the security door of the house but failed because the living room was blocked by the fierce fire.

 The people watching downstairs were helpless. Someone suggested tying a rope from the balcony to rescue the mother and son. The rope was immediately found, but how to send it up?

 The woman on the balcony had her hair burned. She took off her clothes and covered her head. The child's cries became hoarse. The situation was extremely critical. The firetruck took a long time to arrive, and if we waited for a while, the woman would probably be unable to resist and jump down from the building.

 At this time, a man stepped forward silently. He picked up the rope, bit it in his mouth, and climbed up the sewer pipe on the wall. His agility stunned the onlookers. He climbed to the sixth floor, adjusted his posture, stepped on the bolts that fixed the sewer pipe, and jumped lightly like a gecko to the balcony.

 He quickly tied the rope, and under the illumination of the flashlights of the people downstairs, he held the child in one hand and grasped the rope with the other hand and descended slowly. When he descended to the third floor, he paused for a few seconds. To those watching below, those few seconds seemed like centuries. People held their breath, and they could clearly see that his hand was torn by the rope and bleeding. He frowned, then gritted his teeth to hold back the pain, and slipped down in one breath.

 The audience cheered in unison, a neighbor took the child, and some elderly people shed tears. Then the firetruck arrived and the scene was chaotic. The young man who risked his life to save others never said a word, and people didn't even notice when he left quietly.

 Afterwards, the woman and her husband searched for the savior. They published news on radio and newspapers and asked witnesses. Some people reported that the young man had long hair and tattoos on his arms. He might be a migrant worker renting a house nearby. . The couple went to the local police station to search for temporary residents. After hearing their description, an experienced policeman said:

 "There are only two types of people who can climb the sixth floor with bare hands. One is a well-trained SWAT soldier..."

 The couple asked: "What about the other one?"

 The old policeman hesitated and replied: "That person is probably a thief."

 This thief is a little oil hammer.

 People who do evil also have a good side. Education director Ma Jueming, who embezzled 730,000 yuan, has supported several poor college students for many years. Human trafficker Zhao Guiqin saved a child who fell into the water. Murderer Bao Jinlong built a bridge in the village, and rapist Zhen Hong planted trees in the countryside.

 Xiao Youhui walked into a residential area and saw a fire breaking out in a house. At first, he wanted to see the excitement, and even felt a little gloating about the misfortune. Later, he heard clearly what the child on the balcony was shouting. The child shouted: Dad, Dad... He suddenly remembered that when he left home, the child was only 10 months old. He had been on the run for 3 years. My son should be over 3 years old, and he can call him daddy. He felt sad and was about to leave, but the shouts struck his heart again and again. The moment he turned around and picked up the rope, he was no longer a thief, no longer a wanted criminal - he was a father.

 After rescuing people, where did Little Oil Hammer go?

 He got on the train.

 From the train, he could see his home, a small yard on the plains of northern Hebei, with a pond in front of the door and several poplar trees planted there.

 His memories of home began with that pond.

 As a child, he used to sit under a tree by the pond and watch the trains pass by. He followed his mother in stealing coal and tied a long bamboo pole with a homemade scratching claw. This simple tool was invented by the locals. Later, he used this claw to hook passengers' luggage. No matter how fast the train was traveling, as long as the window was open and he stretched out his hand, the passengers' bags on the table would disappear. He worked as a laborer on a construction site, drove a tractor, and also studied home appliance repair for a period of time, but he soon gave up on these. As he said, "My arms also wanted to work, but my head didn't agree." He steals not because he is poor, but because he cannot change his poor life.

 Later, he got engaged to a woman named Hong.

 He sat with her on a haystack.

 She said: "When my neighbor Xiaoxiu got married, her husband gave her three pieces of gold and one wood as a gift."

 "What are three gold and one wood?"

 "Gold ring, gold necklace, gold earrings, and Mulan scooter."

 "I'll also give you three pieces of gold, one piece of wood, and a gold ring, no," said Little Oil Hammer. "I'll give you a diamond ring, a big diamond."

 "When will you send me off and where will you be?"

 "Look there." He pointed to a shining star in the sky.

 She smiled: "What about the motorcycle?"

 "You close your eyes and I'll conjure it up for you. I know magic."

 She closed her eyes.

 He kissed her.

 After getting married, Xiao Youchui and his wife ate pickles for three months in a row. The pickles were called Jerusalem artichokes, an underground fruit that bloomed with yellow flowers in summer. After the birth of my son, life became even worse. He began to steal bicycles and resell them. His lockpicking skills were not very good. Sometimes he would walk down the street holding a bicycle. Once, he was caught stealing and the man wanted to send him to the police station. He stabbed the man hard with a screwdriver and fled home.

 That night, it was snowing heavily, and a chicken was simmering on the stove at his house. His wife and son were sitting on the bed watching TV.

 As soon as he entered the house, the police followed him. He resisted arrest but was arrested. He was thrown into jail and soon escaped. He began to commit crimes across the country, stealing, robbing, and selling drugs. He met Cuban on the train and introduced Cuban to his drug dealer. The police who were waiting in ambush near his home left one after another. The police from Henan left, and the police from Jilin came again. Wanted posters were posted at stations, docks, squares, and even on the telephone poles in front of his house.

 Xiao Youhui was almost caught several times. For example, in the summer of 1999, he hid in the twenty-first wheat stack on the wheat field. The police who were chasing him gave up after searching only twenty wheat stacks. Xiao Youhui listened to the footsteps gradually walking away, and a terrible thought flashed in his mind: Surrender!

 During the years of being wanted, Xiao Youhui initially lived in fear, and finally lived in longing. He felt that sooner or later he would be caught, and he even looked forward to that day coming soon.

 Every once in a while, he would sit on the train and take a look at his home. He could only get close in this way, although the moment of closeness was fleeting.

 Now he was staring out the window in trance. In half an hour, he would be able to see the small yard of his house. He thought of the night he left home, with snowflakes falling, a fire simmering in the fire, and a chicken stewed, while his wife made his son giggle. He couldn't forget this scene for a long time. During the days when he was on the run, he could smell the aroma of stewed chicken when he took a deep breath. The chicken had been stewed for many years. The house should still be the same as before, and nothing had changed.

 Opposite the little oil hammer sat an old man in military uniform. The old man had been observing him for a long time.

 "What happened to your hand?" the old man asked.

 "It's okay," Little Oil Hammer's hand was wrapped with a bandage. He raised his hand and said, "It was scratched by the glass."

 "It looks like I'm going to spend New Year's Eve on the train. I'm going to see my son. What about you? Who's at home?"

 "I have a wife," Xiao Youhui replied, "and a son who is 4 years old."

 Perhaps in order to kill the loneliness of the journey, the old man began to talk endlessly about the New Year customs in his hometown, andWe often encounter this kind of respectable but annoying old people when it comes to trivial things about their children. Xiao Youhui was initially willing to be a listener, but then he became impatient. The old man had no intention of shutting up, and started talking about his early days as a soldier. Finally, he asked Xiao Youhui: "What do you do?"

 "I said I was a wanted criminal, do you believe it?" Xiao Youhui said in a joking tone, "He commits murder, arson, and commits all kinds of evil."

 The old man was taken aback, and his attitude changed immediately. He looked at the long-haired young man in front of him and said, "I don't think you are a good person, you are not a murderer. To be honest, I can knock you down with one punch. I I'm not afraid of you. I'm not old yet. I'm only 73. I'll grab you by the collar like a chicken and throw you to the police. But I won't do that because I look down on you. Really, you probably are. Have you done any bad things? You should surrender yourself. Of course, before surrendering, you can go home and have a look. After all, the Chinese New Year is coming soon. Look at your wife and children. Your wife is the first one to wake up in the village every morning, and she is the first one to wake up at night. The last one to go to bed, to be out in the field all day, unable to carry a sack of corn but still having to carry it. Your son wanders around unnoticed and unquestioned."

 Little Oil Hammer stopped talking. This was probably the first time in his life that he was thinking.

 The old man continued to ramble: "It is not easy for a woman to raise a child. Your son eats better than a cat and worse than a dog. This is because of the price. Spare ribs are more expensive than fish. As for you, I look down on you. Seriously, you are a coward. When you walked through a kindergarten, you heard many children laughing and playing games. What was your son doing at that time? He was crying. Children are all little birds, but Your son never sings. Other children have toys, stuffed bears or cartoons, but your son can only use urine and mud, or Collection of Books Network piles of sand, and leaves in the smelly ditch Watch them float away. Now, other people are eating dumplings stuffed with pork and celery, or mutton and carrots, but your wife, I bet you, she is eating dumplings stuffed with cabbage and maybe chopped ham. Put it in, it's the kind of ham sausage that costs one dollar a piece. Where is your son, sucking his fingers next to him, very greedy, you said you are a wanted criminal, are you kidding me? "

 Little Oil Hammer turned his head towards the window and saw his home. The courtyard was still peaceful. A child was playing under the poplar tree in front of the door. Tears immediately burst out and blurred his vision - he recognized that it was his son.

 He quickly wiped away his tears and stood up to pack his luggage.

 "Why, should you get off the car at the front?" the old man asked.

 "No, I'm going down now, I can't wait another minute." After saying this, Xiao Youhui climbed on the table and squatted at the window. Because there was a small station in front of him, the train was not moving very fast. He first observed the terrain, and then jumped. He wanted to jump to a pond next to the railway track. There were withered reeds and lotus leaves beside the pond, but when he jumped, his clothes got caught on the hook on the window. After a while, he fell on the stones laying the railway track, broke his leg, broke several ribs during the roll, and then rolled into the pond.

 He crawled forward, using all his strength, and finally died on the way home.