The next morning, after breakfast, the group watched Wang Xin and Yao Yuling playfully bicker before boarding the train from Hacheng to Ningyang.
Naturally, the trio had not bought tickets—they just freeloaded. They sat in the dining car during the day and mooched off sleeper berths at night. Their investigation budget was truly tight, so they saved where they could and spent where they had to.
On the train, Wang Yan lived up to expectations and caught another thief.
No one knew who had spread the word that he had transferred to the criminal police division, but only a few days had passed before the trains became chaotic again.
Reform and opening up had now been confirmed, and the economy was being developed. Even Northeast China, slow as it was, had felt a hint of the spring breeze.
Speculation, transporting southern goods northward—new things were beginning to emerge. There was even more wealth on the trains. No matter how formidable Wang Yan was, he could not stamp out people's greedy willingness to take risks.
Forget catching them—even when he had been emperor, he had killed them, confiscating entire households and exterminating whole clans at the drop of a hat. It had never stopped others from chasing money.
Thieves naturally suffered just the same. Such fat meat was sitting right there before them, yet they could only look and not eat. It was enough to drive them mad.
There had been people stealing on the trains even when Wang Yan was around, let alone now that he had been transferred away.
So on the journey back to Ningyang, Wang Yan caught quite a few petty thieves.
In truth, Wang Yan and the others had never been detached from anti-theft work on trains and at stations. During holidays, when passenger traffic was