Locksmith, Policeman! (Part 1)

Lu
Lin climbed the last step of the 12th floor, his hands on his knees, panting heavily.
This floor was sealed off, with police tape at the entrances and exits. The elevators were out of service. Besides the police, several firefighters were carrying equipment into room 1205. A young policeman stopped Lu Lin.
"Do you live here?"
Lu Lin shook his head, about to speak, but the young policeman interrupted him,
"Hurry up, hurry up. Can't you see this place is sealed off?"
"I'm looking for someone."
"Looking for someone? Who?"
"Gu Duoduo."
The young policeman called into room 1205,
"Duoduo, someone's looking for you."
A policewoman appeared in room 1205, petite and cute with a small nose and big eyes. Gu Duoduo glanced outside and spotted Lu Lin.
"You're here. Come in, come in."
Lu Lin smiled at the young policeman, who raised the police tape, and Lu Lin crawled inside. He followed Gu Duoduo into room 1205.
"I'm exhausted. Why did you stop the elevator? It's not a criminal case."
"Don't pretend you don't understand. If the elevator isn't blocked, too many people will talk and it will affect our work. Let me make this clear: you can look, but you can't touch anything. Avoid talking unless you're interviewing." "
Understood, Officer Gu."
Gu Duoduo rolled her eyes at Lu Lin and led him further inside.
1205 was a large apartment of over 150 square meters. The dark brown floors, light gray walls, and furniture made of stainless steel and tempered glass gave the apartment a strong European style. But at this moment, there was no simplicity to speak of; at least 15 people were moving around in several rooms, and the atmosphere was chaotic and tense. In the study, the writing desk that was originally in the center of the room had been moved, making room for an old-fashioned safe about half a person's height, with several police officers and firefighters squatting around it.
Gu Duoduo led Lu Lin to an elderly police officer by the window.
"Chief Li, the person's here. Lu Lin. Lu Lin, this is our Chief Li."
Lu Lin quickly bowed. Chief Li waved his hand impatiently.
"Little Lu, right? Your superiors told me you're welcome to stay at our station. But given the current situation, I don't have time to take care of you."
"Understood, I'll just observe. You go about your business."
"Ask Xiao Gu if you need anything."
At this moment, a policeman squatting by the safe called Chief Li over, leaving only Lu Lin and Gu Duoduo by the window.
Lu Lin pointed to the safe.
"What happened? The child is locked inside? How old is he?"
"A five-year-old boy. These parents these days are really careless. His father opened the safe, then went out to answer a phone call, forgetting to lock it. The child was playing hide-and-seek and had nowhere to hide, so he locked himself inside. When his father came back, he locked the safe without a second thought. Later, his mother discovered he was missing and searched for a long time before finding him in the safe. She frantically tried to unlock it, but the combination lock was messed up. He's been locked in there for an hour now."
"An hour? The child must be terrified."
"The key is there might be no oxygen in there."
"Where are the child's parents?"
Gu Duoduo nodded towards the living room opposite.
"They're hiding over there, too scared to come over."
At this moment, Chief Li stood up and beckoned a firefighter and a middle-aged man with short hair in a black t-shirt to the side. Lu Lin quickly moved closer.
Chief Li asked the firefighter,
"Tell me the situation." "
We can't use the spreader, so we'll have to use a chainsaw. The space is too small; we're afraid it will hurt the child."
"What about oxygen?"
"Then we'll have to use a drill to make a hole. The vibration is quite significant. Also, the child isn't cooperating; we're afraid the drill will hurt him."
Chief Li then looked at the middle-aged man with short hair,
"Hou San, your skills have deteriorated. Back in the day, you could open the locks of 48 apartments in a building in an hour. What happened to you?"
Hou San smiled awkwardly,
"Chief Li, please don't laugh at me. Every trade has its own secrets. My skills are limited to opening door locks and safes; I'm not good at that. Especially with these old-fashioned safes; the wheels inside are all messed up, and it seems stuck."
"Who can open it?"
"How about letting Da Zhou try? He's good at opening safes. It's on this street."
"Go and find him."
Hou San agreed and went out.
Chief Li then found the child's parents and explained the situation to them, giving them a heads-up. Communicating with the child's parents was difficult, mainly because their emotions fluctuated wildly, and their speech was completely illogical. One moment they said they couldn't force the lock open for fear of hurting the child, and the next they worried that there was no oxygen inside and the child would be in danger. During this time, the child's mother also received two phone calls, seemingly from elderly relatives. She cried incessantly on each call, nearly fainting.
Twenty minutes later, Hou San returned with a man. The man appeared to be nearly forty years old, with a thin, slightly dark face and fine wrinkles around his eyes. He wore a grey short-sleeved shirt from Uniqlo (one of three costing 100 yuan), and his jeans were worn faded at the knees and cuffs.
Hou San, panting heavily, introduced him to Director Li. Lu Lin knew this was from climbing the stairs.
"Director Li, this is Da Zhou."
"Thank you for your help. Da Zhou..."
"Just call me Zhou Bing," the man said somewhat reservedly.
"Do you understand the specifics?"
"Hou San told me the gist on the way. You're planning to force your way in?"
"It's the only way."
"How long has the child been locked up?"
"An hour and a half." Gu Duoduo interjected.
"Let me try first."
"Okay."
Zhou Bing squatted down in front of the safe, took out his toolbox, and opened it. He looked around again.
"Chief Li, let's clear the area, there are too many people."
Chief Li ordered the police to clear the area. Only a few people, including the child's parents, remained. Lu Lin also stayed.
"There are still too many people. Parents, you should go out too."
Chief Li nodded.
"Okay, everyone go."
People began to leave one after another. The room gradually quieted down. Lu Lin tried to walk at the back. He saw Zhou Bing lean over the safe and listen for a moment. He began to call out to the child inside.
"Little friend, can you hear me?"
"Yes." A faint voice came from inside.
“Don’t be afraid, little one, Uncle will open the door right away. Listen to Uncle, plug your ears and don’t move. Can you count?”
“…Yes.”
“How high can you count?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay, let’s see if you can count to one hundred.”
The sound of a child counting came from inside, 1, 2, 3…
Director Li closed the door from the inside. Lu Lin stood at the door, and Hou San came over and smiled at him, as if to say, you’ve been kicked out too.
“Zhou Bing unlocked it, leaving no one around. It’s lucky today, at least Chief Li is still inside.”
As the two were talking, the door opened, and Chief Li came out. The three looked at each other. Chief Li asked Hou San,
“Can Zhou Bing open it?”
“The lock is broken like this, hard to say. I certainly can’t.”
Chief Li called over the firefighters,
“You guys should prepare to force it open. Think about what tools you can use.”
The child’s parents heard this, and the mother burst into tears again. Gu Duoduo quickly went over to comfort her. Chief Li felt annoyed, took out a cigarette, and looked around, deciding it wasn’t appropriate. He walked to the window, opened it, and took out a lighter, just about to light it, when the door inside opened.
Zhou Bing appeared in the doorway.
“Opened.”
He turned and went inside.
Lu Lin, closest to the door, rushed in first. The child’s parents also rushed over. Chief Li, by the window, gripped the entire cigarette in his hand, forcefully extinguished it, and strode over. Lu Lin saw the safe door open, and inside was a little boy curled up, his hands covering his ears, mumbling numbers: 79, 80, 81…
The child's parents rushed over and pulled him out. The father held and comforted the child, while the mother cried and hit him. A group of people quickly surrounded the child, as if he were a star being fawned over. Zhou Bing, however, kept his head down, silently packed up his tools, and stood up to leave. Director Li walked up to Zhou Bing.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Zhou Bing smiled awkwardly.
“It’s nothing. You’re busy, I’ll go now.”
Zhou Bing took a piece of chewing gum from his pocket, put it in his mouth, chewed it slowly, and turned to leave.
Lu Lin watched Zhou Bing’s figure disappear through the door, still staring blankly. Gu Duoduo came over and slapped Zhou Bing hard.
"What are you looking at? Are you dumbfounded?"
"Really amazing."
"It is amazing, was it for two minutes? It's open."
Lu Lin shook his head.
"It's not about that... Who can carry a piece of unwrapped chewing gum in their pocket?"
Chapter 1: Reporter
Lu Lin knew very well that he wasn't a reporter in the strict sense. He wasn't from a professional school, hadn't received professional training, and didn't have a press card. He was just a small literary editor for the social section of Jingcheng Online. But he still enjoyed being called a reporter. Reporting wasn't just a profession, but also a social attribute. Privately, he defined himself as a writer.
After graduating from university, he took the police exam once, but failed because of poor eyesight and being underweight. Lu Lin gritted his teeth and had LASIK surgery, and was determined to exercise and gain weight. Not long after he started working out, he injured his knee. The doctor diagnosed it as overexertion and advised him to walk whenever possible, sit whenever possible, and lie down whenever possible. Lu Lin completely gave up.
During his six-month stay at home to recuperate, Lu Lin, bored, started writing articles on forums. His writing flowed freely, whimsical and spontaneous, and he gradually amassed a following. Looking at the witty and sometimes sarcastic comments, Lu Lin always thought to himself that these fans were probably even more bored than him. Yet, it was through these fans that Lu Lin found a job—an online literary editor at Jingcheng. Lu Lin's mother applauded this, saying it was a job where he could sit from morning till night. Lu Lin reluctantly accepted the job, and five years passed. During this time, he had a girlfriend and broke up with her, changed editors-in-chief twice, and the company even moved once, but he remained a literary editor for the social section. Just when he felt utterly hopeless, his current editor-in-chief strongly advocated for expanding the social news section and planned to send staff to several police stations in the city to obtain firsthand material. Lu Lin's eyes lit up, and he volunteered, choosing the Yumin Road Police Station, located in a bustling area of Jingcheng. Another reason was that Gu Duoduo, a junior from his university days, worked at the Yumin Road Police Station. Back in school, this girl idolized Lu Lin, but in Lu Lin's eyes, she was just a little girl who hadn't grown up. A few years later, at a class reunion, Lu Lin met Gu Duoduo again and couldn't help but sigh, "Girls change so much in eighteen years; the little girl—she's grown up!"
Lu Lin's first call to duty at the Yumin Road Police Station was this case of locking a child in a safe. After handling the matter, Lu Lin wrote a report overnight and sent it to the editor-in-chief's email the next morning. He then returned to his workstation and updated his article online. At this moment, Gu Duoduo sent a WeChat message:
"Senior, are you busy?"
"Not bad, what's up?"
"Nothing. But I guess you'll be very busy soon."
"?" "
Just wait."
"What do you mean?"
Gu Duoduo didn't reply.
After lunch, the editor-in-chief called Lu Lin to his office. As soon as Lu Lin entered, the editor-in-chief slammed the printed copy of Lu Lin's report on the table.
"This needs to be rewritten."
"Is it bad?"
"No, it's not bad, it needs to be rewritten."
The editor-in-chief was a woman nearing 40, and her speech was somewhat exaggerated, like she was performing in a play. Lu Lin's stomach would ache whenever she delivered a long speech. And now his stomach was aching again.
"To highlight the nature of government departments serving the people, the city launched a themed campaign of police-civilian cooperation in building a better home. On the one hand, it aims to showcase the achievements of the current leadership in building spiritual civilization; on the other hand, it aims to let the general public feel the harmonious atmosphere of police-civilian cooperation..."
"Editor-in-chief, please wait a moment. Can I have some hot water?"
Lu Lin clutched his stomach, poured himself a cup of hot water from the water dispenser in the corner, and after a few sips, his stomach felt better.
"You're so young and already have stomach problems, you need to be careful."
"Maybe the braised beef at lunch was too oily."
"What did I say?"
"Police-community cooperation."
"Right. So, we need to focus on a number of typical cases and establish a number of exemplary figures." Lu Lin vaguely understood what Gu Duoduo meant in the WeChat message.
"Did you like my report?"
"No, it wasn't me, it was the Public Security Bureau. They talked to Minister Xu, who's in charge of publicity in the city. Minister Xu just called me; the city is planning to use this as a model case. They're going to organize TV stations, newspapers, and new media to do a comprehensive report. This case is very typical: when people have difficulties, they go to the police; the police respond to the call and solve the problems; the locksmith uses his professional skills to assist the police in solving the problems; police and people are integrated, building a better society together..."
Lu Lin's stomach ached again, and he frowned, trying to endure it.
"...And you know what? Among the news media, you're the only one at the scene of the incident. Only you have firsthand information."
Hearing this, Lu Lin's stomachache subsided. He looked up at the editor-in-chief.
"What are your instructions?"
"We must do our utmost to produce a comprehensive series of reports. All resources in the station should be prioritized for this work, allocating manpower, materials, and funds. I'm the team leader for this series of reports, and you're the deputy team leader, responsible for the specific tasks, reporting directly to me. Lu, I know you have a good literary foundation and often write online novels with quite a few fans. You're capable; this time, you must do a great job."
After leaving the editor-in-chief's office, Lu Lin immediately sent a WeChat message to Gu Duoduo:
"You were right. I'm going to be busy." He added a crying emoji.
When a group with resources and power wants to push something forward, it often happens in a whirlwind.
Jingcheng Online made a comprehensive plan, including the concern of leaders, the hard work of the police, the gratitude of the parties involved, an exclusive interview with the locksmith, and praise from the public—everything imaginable was taken care of. Other news outlets were also busy. The city television station sent two reporting teams, and it was said that they were even planning to invite a CCTV reporter. The Jingcheng Daily and Evening News also sent reporting teams, with the Daily News showcasing the implementation of policies from top to bottom, and the Evening News showcasing the ordinary lives of Jingcheng residents from bottom to top. With the help of various news media, what was originally a minor rescue incident was quickly amplified. The Yumin Road Police Station's dispatches were almost always accompanied by the media, and locksmith Zhou Bing was interviewed almost every day.
Although Lu Lin had made ample preparations, he was still caught off guard by the overwhelming media frenzy and felt that he had acted too late. By the time he conducted an exclusive interview with Zhou Bing and met him face to face at the locksmith's shop, the city television station and the Jingcheng Daily had already conducted interviews.
Lu Lin looked at the several brand-new banners hanging on the wall of the locksmith's shop, carefully discerning whether the calligraphy was in regular script or clerical script. Zhou Bing brought over a glass of water and gently placed it on Lu Lin's workbench.
"Excuse me, Reporter Lu, I don't have tea here, only water."
"Water is fine, it'll quench your thirst."
"My shop is small, usually not many people, and there's not a proper place to sit. Please forgive me, Reporter Lu
." "No, no, I'm not really a reporter, just a junior editor. Just call me Xiao Lu."
Zhou Bing smiled somewhat awkwardly.
"Speaking of which, you must be older than me, how old are you this year...?"
"Me? I'll be 38 next month."
"Oh. Master Zhou, how many years have you been doing this?"
"Reporter Lu, uh, Xiao Lu, shall we begin?"
"Sort of."
Zhou Bing sat up a little straighter,
"I've been doing this for over ten years. I forget the exact number, I used to be in Dengqiao Town, then I moved here."
Lu Lin knew Dengqiao Town, it was in the old town to the east. Legend has it that during the Qing Dynasty, the wife of a prefect loved lanterns. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, she hung lanterns all over a bridge over a small river in the town. That bridge became known as Lantern Bridge, and the area became Lantern Bridge Town. Later, the river became a stinking ditch, and after liberation, it was filled in and houses were built. The river disappeared, but Lantern Bridge remained. Later still, to adapt to development and connect with the highway, Jingcheng developed a new city to the west, and Lantern Bridge Town gradually became the old town, mostly inhabited by long-time residents and low-income migrants. Now it's a peri-urban area.
"So Master Zhou is considered an old locksmith."
"Not really. Just trying to make a living."
"How did you end up in this line of work?"
"I didn't really think about it. I just like tinkering with mechanical things. When I was young, I had nothing to do, and my parents died early, so jobs were hard to find. Eventually, I ended up doing this."
"I heard you have to apprentice in this line of work."
"Not always. I didn't."
"Self-taught."
Lu Lin suddenly remembered something. Someone who became an orphan at a young age should have entered society very early. Zhou Bing only started working as a locksmith at twenty; what was he doing before that?
"What industries did you work in before becoming a locksmith?"
"Studying. Liaocheng University."
Lu Lin was surprised, his eyes widening. He never expected that a college graduate could be a locksmith.
Zhou Bing smiled.
"When I told the TV reporters, they had the same expression as you."
Lu Lin realized he had been a bit out of line, picked up his cup and took a sip of water.
"I just didn't expect locksmiths to have such high levels of education. What did you study?"
"Engineering machinery."
"A dozen years ago, it shouldn't have been too hard to find a job in engineering machinery, right?"
"It was different back then. You couldn't get into good companies, and bad companies wouldn't hire."
"Then you're really wasting your talent."
Zhou Bing didn't answer.
"Is Master Zhou married?"
"No. At first, I was poor and couldn't find a job, but later I got used to it and stopped looking."
Lu Lin noticed that Zhou Bing was being a bit silly.
"Wasn't that the question I asked earlier? Did all the reporters I interviewed ask that?"
Zhou Bing got up and took Lu Lin's water cup.
"This cup is cold, let me refill it with some hot water."
After refilling the cup, Zhou Bing gently placed it in front of Lu Lin.
“Little Lu, I’m just a locksmith, not very good with words, not much to say. These past few days, you’ve all been coming to interview me one after another, and I’m really struggling to keep up. I’ve told you all my situation.”
“Hmm, I understand.” Lu Lin knew Zhou Bing was annoyed. “Then I’ll ask something different. I saw you chewing gum the other day, but why wasn’t it wrapped?”
Zhou Bing smiled again, lowered his head, and rubbed his hands together. Lu Lin noticed that although his hands were dark, they were very smooth, like the hands of someone who writes.
“You have a keen eye. Do you know what kind of paper is used to wrap chewing gum?”
“It’s probably tin foil.”
Zhou Bing nodded.
“Right. I used tin foil to open the safe lock.”
Lu Lin suddenly realized. Zhou Bing rummaged around on his messy workbench and pulled out a piece of chewing gum, handing it to Lu Lin.
“It’s this kind of chewing gum.”
Lu Lin took it. It was a domestic brand called “Windmill,” which not many people eat anymore. Lu Lin remembered eating it when he was a child; the taste was really just so-so. In today's market, where foreign brands are attacking from all sides, it's amazing that this kind of chewing gum is still selling.
"Only this kind of chewing gum has the perfect balance of hardness and flexibility in its foil. Other chewing gum foils are too soft."
"So you've been chewing this kind of gum all this time?"
"Not really. I smoked when I was in college, and when I wanted to quit after graduation, I chewed gum. It was quite popular back then. Later, I quit smoking, but chewing this became a habit."
Lu Lin felt that the interview was getting interesting from this point on.
"You just said that you've tried other brands, but none of them were suitable. Why did you want to try this one?"
Zhou Bing picked up a transparent lock from the table. The outer shell was made of transparent hard plastic, and the lock cylinder structure inside was clearly visible.
"This is called a practice lock. You can clearly see inside, so it's used to practice your feel for the lock. This one is the same."
Zhou Bing found another practice lock. The two locks were very different in appearance, but their internal structures were clearly visible.
"Look, this looks complicated—springs, pins, reeds, brass posts… but they're all the same."
"The same?"
Lu Lin really couldn't see how the two locks were alike.
"Some locksmiths make different tools for different locks. There are catches, wires, firing pins, wrenches, and many more. This method is all to mimic the shape of the key. It's the same principle as key duplication. If you get the right key, the lock will open."
Lu Lin understood this and nodded seriously.
"But there's another way to pick a lock. Simply put, picking a lock is about pushing the mechanism open; it doesn't have to be exactly the same as a key. Look at these two locks, they're the same. Once you push open all the brass posts, the brass plates holding the lock will move, and the lock will open."
As Zhou Bing spoke, he folded a strip of tin foil and stuffed it into the lock, turning it a few times. With a soft "click," the lock opened. Lu Lin seemed to understand. Locks usually come in various shapes, but their internal mechanisms are actually quite similar.
"It's been thousands of years since locks first appeared. The nature of locks hasn't changed. Now we have combination locks, fingerprint locks, retinal locks, but ultimately, what opens doors is still a mechanical device. Because doors are physical, and locks can only be physical too."
"That makes me believe you're a college student."
"It has nothing to do with whether you're a college student or not. Many experienced locksmiths have already figured it out."
"So it's...filler?"
Zhou Bing nodded approvingly.
"Yes, filler. Many things can open locks. Aluminum foil, chewing gum, soap, cling film, yarn, banknotes..."
"Banknotes too?"
"It's said that banknotes can open handcuffs. But I haven't tried. It should work."
"I'm impressed."
"Just a small trick."
Zhou Bing's reserved, shy smile returned. Just then, Zhou Bing's phone rang.
"Excuse me, I need to take this call."
Zhou Bing stood up and walked to the windowsill to answer the phone. He casually picked up a watering can and watered the clivia on the windowsill. Looking at Zhou Bing's figure, Lu Lin suddenly felt that although this middle-aged man was introverted, timid and not good at expressing himself, he was just like a craftsman: professional, persistent and calm.
[I'll update when I have time, but I might abandon this project at any time...]

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Locksmith, Policeman! (Part 1)

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