Chapter 48: Where’s Your Manners?

“Aofeng, let’s go.”

Song Changfeng took a deep breath and led Aofeng inside. Aofeng followed close behind, constantly reminding himself to stay focused and make every second count.

The current event was the Blood Trail Search. Aofeng’s task was to locate a mere 0.05ml of blood—just a single drop—left behind by a suspect in a training room of over a hundred square meters. This was a serious test of a police dog’s sense of smell, given how minuscule the amount was.

Aofeng felt a bit nervous, but not because he doubted his ability to find the blood. After all, he had undergone extensive training in blood trail detection back at the base. It was a fundamental skill for any qualified Criminal Investigation Dog.

Speaking of blood trail training, Aofeng knew Song Changfeng had made quite a sacrifice. Every time, it was Song Changfeng’s own blood used for practice. He had bought a diabetic’s lancet and, before each session, would prick his finger and hide a drop somewhere in the training room for Aofeng to find. After so many sessions, Aofeng had become intimately familiar with the scent of blood—especially Song Changfeng’s. It was practically etched into his DNA.

So what was Aofeng nervous about? He had come to realize that the National Police Dog Competition was far more intense than he had imagined. Still, he was determined to give it everything he had and earn a top score.

Last night, just after 9 p.m., the results of the Explosives Detection event were released. When Song Changfeng checked, he saw they had only scored 6 points, placing them ninth. It couldn’t be helped—most of the dogs competing in that event had real-world experience. Two of them had even earned third-class merits¹ for outstanding bomb disposal work. In that kind of field, Duo Duo securing ninth place was already quite an achievement.

But that meant their base had only earned a total of 13.5 points from two events. Then came this morning’s Outdoor Tracking competition. Xiao Qi had a rough start. After picking up the suspect’s scent and giving chase, he ran too fast and took a tumble. His front paw was swollen and painful, making it hard for him to keep up. Even though he tried his best to catch up, he still lagged behind the others. Fortunately, his initial tracking had been quick, and he ended up with a score of 4.5 points.

That brought their total to 18 points. Among all the competing units, they barely clung to tenth place—just half a point ahead of the next team.

When this news reached Director Li, he was silent for a long time before finally replying, “Just do your best.”

Director Li had high hopes for this year’s competition. He had originally planned to lead the team in person, but a few puppies at the breeding center had fallen ill, and he had to rush over to handle it. In the end, he couldn’t make the trip. The current score was disappointing. Their base had already fallen out of the top ten in the last competition, and it looked like this time wouldn’t be any better.

Everyone was feeling a bit down. They had arrived full of confidence, only to be hit hard by reality. Even Xiao Qi seemed to understand. He sat motionless with his head hanging low, letting out soft whimpers now and then. Pan Zi squatted down and gently stroked his head, offering comfort. Once Xiao Qi had calmed down a bit, Pan Zi took him to the vet for treatment.

Aofeng thought to himself, if they were going to lift everyone’s spirits, they had to score big in the next event. According to the schedule released that morning, aside from Outdoor Tracking, the other event today was Blood Trail Search.

Ding!

The timer beeped right on cue. The moment Aofeng heard it, he stepped into the room. Instead of wandering around sniffing aimlessly, he stood still and focused all his senses on detecting the lingering scent in the air. A flood of mixed smells rushed into his nose, and his brain began analyzing at lightning speed. Soon, a faint trace of blood was picked up.

Straight ahead! The moment his brain sent the signal, Aofeng dashed forward without hesitation. Closer, closer… it was right around here! He cleared his mind of all distractions and zeroed in on that faint metallic scent.

This was it! Aofeng reached out a paw and swiped a key out from under a desk. A dried red speck of blood on it stood out clearly.

The crowd watching the live feed on the big screen outside gasped in shock.

“No way, he found it just like that?! That’s gotta be cheating!” one spectator blurted out.

“Yeah! He didn’t even sniff around!” another agreed, equally stunned.

“What about the time? What time was it? I forgot to check! How many seconds was that?” someone nearby frantically looked around, hoping someone had been timing it.

Everyone looked utterly incredulous. Aofeng had completed the task in an unbelievably short amount of time. Even the staff member operating the timer hadn’t reacted fast enough. There was a four- or five-second gap between when Aofeng found the blood and when the timer was stopped. Thankfully, a high-speed camera had been recording the whole thing. They could just review the footage for an accurate time.

Soon, the staff and Song Changfeng watched the footage together. After confirming the result, a time quietly appeared on the big screen.

00:52:45!

Fifty-two point four five seconds! The crowd around the screen erupted again. Before Aofeng, the fastest dog in this event had clocked in at 1:02.39, which was already an impressive record. Everyone had assumed that dog would be the champion of the Blood Trail Search. But Aofeng had shattered that record, beating it by nearly ten full seconds.

Ten seconds might not sound like much, just a few blinks of an eye, but beating it was nearly impossible.

When Aofeng heard the result, he let out a barely noticeable sigh of relief. He had been worried he might mess up. He’d watched the videos of the previous dogs and knew they were incredibly fast. He figured the only reason he had an edge was because he came in with a clear objective. He knew exactly what he was looking for. The other dogs had to first detect a scent, then realize it was blood, and only then begin searching. Of course, being a German Shepherd with naturally superior olfactory abilities was also a key advantage, though Aofeng wasn’t fully aware of that just yet.

In addition, some police dogs specialize in Blood Trail Search. They are extremely sensitive to the scent of blood. If they had the same level of awareness as Aofeng, their speed might be even faster.

After Song Changfeng signed the paperwork and walked out with Aofeng, the instructors immediately gathered around, showering Aofeng with praise. Smiles lit up everyone’s faces, and the earlier gloom and disappointment seemed to vanish without a trace.

With these 10 points, their base’s total score now stood at 28, while the current top score was only 24.5. Since the competition wasn’t over yet, they had no idea how many points others might still earn, but their 10 points were rock solid.

“I’m calling Director Li to tell him the good news!” Pan Zi excitedly pulled out his phone. The earlier drop in total score had been partly his and Xiao Qi’s fault, so now that the tide had turned, he finally felt a bit better.

Song Changfeng stopped him, saying, “Let’s wait until the results are officially announced.”

Pan Zi thought about it and agreed. Even though they were confident no dog could beat Aofeng’s time, there was always a slim chance. Who’s to say another base didn’t have a dog like Aofeng? He stuffed the phone back into his pocket and tilted his head up, staring intently at the big screen.

Luckily, no other base had a dog like Aofeng. Among the remaining police dogs, the fastest time was 1 minute 3.46 seconds, even slower than the previous top dog, let alone Aofeng.

When the dust finally settled and Aofeng’s name stood proudly at the top of the leaderboard, Pan Zi confidently pulled out his phone, ready to share the good news with Director Li as soon as the call connected.

“Ring ring ring…”

A pleasant ringtone chimed from Song Changfeng’s pocket. He took out his phone and said, “It’s Director Li calling.”

“Pick up, pick up! Hey, that’s uncanny. Do you think Director Li sensed something and called at just the right time?” Zhou Xiaoyong guessed.

As soon as Song Changfeng answered, a barrage of questions came through the line. “Changfeng, did Aofeng perform really well in the competition this afternoon? What was his time? How many points did he get?”

“Director, how did you know?” Pan Zi leaned in and shouted.

Director Li said, “About twenty minutes ago, I started getting calls from branches all over, asking to apply for Aofeng to join them after graduation. I knew something was up, so I called to check. Quick, tell me, what place did Aofeng get?”

“Director, Aofeng did great! He took first place!” Zhou Xiaoyong chimed in, beaming with joy.

No wonder! Director Li thought. Blood Trail Search is crucial for solving all kinds of criminal cases. With a powerful DNA database as backup, once blood traces are found during an investigation, the case is already eighty percent solved. But sometimes, those traces are so faint they’re invisible to the naked eye. In murder scenes, it can be hard to tell the victim’s blood from the suspect’s. Extracting and comparing everything would be a huge waste of time. But police dogs can use their keen sense of smell to distinguish between different blood trails.

If Aofeng took first place in this event, it’s no surprise the criminal investigation teams are drooling over him. After all, besides training bases, many branches and police stations also sent teams to compete. Who wouldn’t want strong support like this for future cases?

After the call ended, the group took their police dogs to the Police Dog Canteen. True to its reputation as a well-funded base, the food here was leagues above what they had at the Anyang Training Base. Still, Aofeng privately felt that Old Zhang’s cooking suited his taste better. After all, he’d been eating it since he was a pup.

Once the dogs were fed, the group headed to the neighboring staff cafeteria. While Song Changfeng and the others lined up for food, Aofeng sat by their table, waiting.

Suddenly, a strange scent drifted into his nose. Aofeng perked up, alert. He’d smelled this before, and recently too. It had a faintly rotten undertone, but not strong enough to be obvious.

He turned his head and scanned the area. Sure enough, not far away stood the same elderly man he’d seen yesterday – Sheng Changlin, the CEO of Shengda Shipping.

Aofeng’s interest was piqued. He hadn’t expected a billionaire CEO to eat in the cafeteria. The man must really love dogs. Sheng Changlin sat on a bench with a tray in front of him, piled high with meat and barely a trace of vegetables. Bold choice, Aofeng thought. Most people his age are watching their blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol. Can his body even handle that much meat?

Maybe Aofeng’s gaze was too intense, because Sheng Changlin suddenly turned and locked eyes with him. The old man looked surprised. He had just felt someone staring at him and hadn’t expected it to be a police dog.

Aofeng was a bit surprised too. Huh, the old guy’s pretty sharp. That look in his eyes actually fits the image of a billionaire CEO more than his appearance does.

But before Aofeng could continue sizing him up, Sheng Changlin did something that instantly lowered Aofeng’s opinion of him.

He… he actually picked up a plump chicken drumstick with his chopsticks and waved it at Aofeng. When he saw Aofeng freeze in surprise, he shook it up and down a few times, eyes filled with anticipation, as if inviting Aofeng to come beg for food.

Hah!

Aofeng was speechless. He turned his head away, refusing to look at him.

Sheng Changlin was first taken aback, then burst out laughing. This dog had quite the temper, and such expressive reactions. It was clearly annoyed.

Hearing his unrestrained laughter, Aofeng couldn’t help but roll his eyes. And this guy’s supposed to be a CEO? Flirting with a future civil servant in public like this – where’s your dignity?

Translator’s Notes