Jiang Si wasn't surprised by this result at all.
In her previous life, she had graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and besides, she had just observed that person's face up close.
If her drawing didn't look like him, wouldn't all those years of art studies have been wasted?
At this moment, no one was happier than the two police officers from earlier.
After gathering the other officers and arranging the arrest operation, the older officer made sure to give Jiang Si one more instruction.
"Young comrade, it's going to get chaotic in the train cars soon. Please wait in the dining car for a while."
Jiang Si understood his meaning and nodded to show she understood.
However, the arrest operation didn't go as smoothly as expected.
Since the train was severely overcrowded, and passengers were constantly moving about, the police officers had to split into two teams and check passengers who resembled the portrait one by one, using ticket inspection as an excuse.
Strangely, even after searching the train cars thoroughly, they couldn't find this person.
Director Li from the Public Security Bureau stared at the portrait again and again: "Could the problem be with this portrait?"
He'd heard the young lady who drew it had conversed with the suspect for less than a minute.
In such a short time, who knew how closely the drawing resembled the actual person?
The Criminal Investigation Brigade's Captain Wang, who was the older officer from earlier, shook his head at this suggestion.
"I've already asked the team members who encountered 'West Wind.' They all identified him—it's definitely him!"
This was truly bizarre. If the portrait wasn't the issue, how could they not find someone in just a dozen or so train cars?
"Is it possible he jumped off the train during the commotion?"
Captain Wang shook his head again. This was an express train with a minimum speed of 60 kilometers per hour. Unless the man had a death wish, he wouldn't jump off.
Besides, all the hard-seat carriages were overcrowded today. If he had really jumped, other passengers would have noticed immediately.
Captain Wang was certain: "He must still be on the train."
"But the train will arrive in Hangcheng in forty minutes. If he escapes this time, catching him in the future will be much more difficult."
"I know," Captain Wang sighed. This was exactly what worried him most.
The officers had already checked the entire train once using the ticket inspection excuse.
If they used the same excuse again, passengers would likely cause trouble.
At this moment, Jiang Si suddenly opened the dining car door.
"Captain Wang, why don't you let me try?"
She had overheard fragments of their conversation from inside.
Since this person had managed to hide in mainland China for nearly ten years, his counter-surveillance awareness must be extremely strong, so he had likely disguised himself by now.
But even if he had changed his clothes, hairstyle, and skin tone, with current technology, he couldn't change his eye shape, the distance between his eyes, or the color and size of his pupils in such a short time.
Jiang Si said: "I drew the portrait, and nobody knows his facial features better than I do. As long as he's still on the train, I'm confident I can find him."
"As for safety concerns, you don't need to worry."
"I'll only be responsible for finding him. The actual arrest will still be up to you."
In other words, even if Jiang Si found him, she wouldn't alert him.
With time running short, Director Li and Captain Wang briefly considered her proposal and agreed.
"Young comrade, what should we do now?"
Jiang Si didn't hesitate. She asked the dining car staff to find her a work uniform.
She pulled down some of her bangs that had been pinned up, creating a thin layer that just covered her eyebrows.
Next, she took out a box of bright-colored foundation from her bag and lightened her skin tone by one shade.
Finally, she applied a small amount of lip color to her cheeks and gently patted it to blend, instantly giving her face a rosy glow.
Of course, she wasn't doing this to look pretty.
She mainly wanted to prevent the suspect from recognizing her, which could cause him to panic and affect the arrest operation.
When Jiang Si emerged in her work uniform, Director Li and Captain Wang almost didn't recognize her.
Was this really the same dusty-faced young girl from before?
How had she gone in for less than five minutes and come out looking at least five years younger?
Jiang Si had no time to explain. She quickly put on a sanitary mask.
After clearing her throat, she pushed the food cart toward the hard-seat carriages.
In this era, there was no concept of "overcrowding." The hard-seat carriages were especially packed, with passengers carrying large and small bags sitting in the aisles, and some even sleeping on newspapers under the seats.
"Please pull in your legs a bit~"
"Comrade, please move in a little more. Ah~ Good, thank you."
"Peanuts, sunflower seeds, soda, boxed meals! If you need anything, please have your change ready."
Jiang Si called out her wares in a lowered voice while scanning the passengers on both sides.
However, after going through several carriages, she still hadn't found her target. Instead, she encountered many passengers wanting to buy boxed meals.
Train boxed meals didn't require food coupons. Each box contained a bowl packed full of rice.
The meat dishes were also generous, so most people chose to buy one meat and one vegetable dish.
By the time she reached the eighth carriage, the boxed meals with meat dishes were almost gone.
"Service comrade, how much are the boxed meals?"
"One meat and one vegetable dish is 35 fen, two vegetable dishes is 20 fen."
"Alright, give me one with meat and vegetable."
"I want one too, the same as him."
Both passengers eagerly handed over their money. Jiang Si efficiently took the money from the one who spoke first, then turned to the elderly woman waiting in line behind them.
"Auntie, I'm sorry, but this is the last box with meat. Once it's sold, there won't be any more."
Hearing that the meat dishes were sold out, the elderly woman immediately became unhappy and started berating the passenger in front of her.
"Young people these days really have no manners! They don't even understand the basic principle of respecting the elderly and caring for the young!"
The young man was about to walk away when he heard the elderly woman's sarcastic tone. He immediately stopped in his tracks.
"Auntie, that's an interesting thing to say. I didn't steal or rob anyone—I bought this meal while waiting in line. How does that make me someone without manners?"
"By your logic, whenever we go to the supply and marketing cooperative, nobody should queue up. Every family should just send their oldest living relative instead."
"Pfft—"
Someone couldn't hold back their laughter and suddenly burst out.
The elderly woman's face instantly turned the color of pig liver. In her anger, she lunged at the young man.
The young man hadn't even reacted when his meal box was suddenly flipped onto the ground with a "splat."
Now the young man's family members became angry too, grabbing the elderly woman and demanding compensation.
How could the elderly woman possibly pay!
As the two sides went back and forth, the cursing quickly attracted passengers from other carriages.
Jiang Si pretended to mediate but kept her eyes fixed on the passengers around her.
Suddenly—
A familiar face appeared in her line of sight. It was just for an instant before the person adjusted their braided pigtails and buried their head, pretending to "sleep" again.
Jiang Si: "..."
No wonder the police officers couldn't find this person after searching for so long. Not only had he changed his clothes, but he had also changed his "gender"!
"Alright, alright, stop arguing."
Jiang Si pulled the people apart at the right moment. "If you continue, I'll call the train police!"
Hearing this, the people who had been quarreling so intensely finally stopped.
Jiang Si didn't linger any longer and pushed her food cart to continue her next round of sales.
Ten minutes later, she returned to the dining car.
"How did it go? Did you find them?" The police officers all gathered around her.
Jiang Si nodded and told them the carriage number and seat of the person in question.
What happened next was no longer Jiang Si's concern.
Different jobs require different expertise; professional matters should be handled by professionals.
After a busy morning, she needed to go back and catch up on some sleep.
Unexpectedly, shortly after lying down, train police came looking for her. One helped carry her luggage while the other led the way.
When they reached the soft sleeper compartment, the officer smiled and said, "Comrade Jiang, you can stay in this room. This was specially arranged by Director Li and his team."
"Also, would you mind leaving your contact information—"
