Chapter 243 - 243 233 Surveillance System

Words : 1951 Updated : Sep 27th, 2025

243: Chapter 233 Surveillance System 243: Chapter 233 Surveillance System The following day. Several criminal detectives from the Criminal Police Team went to the “usual spot” Guo Yunxia mentioned to stake out for a day, but they didn’t catch sight of the monkey thief. None of them felt disheartened, though. For those seasoned detectives, this was pretty much the norm. Heroic acts like robbing the execution ground were things of storybooks; it took a daredevil, a great thief, to show up again after an accomplice had been exposed. A man who steals monkeys and needs to deceive a woman to help him, where would he have such audacity? The team speculated that it was more likely the man had fled in the opposite direction. Of course, the biggest possibility was that he had gone to sell the monkey. Thinking with their hemorrhoids, the detectives knew that releasing it was out of the question. However, the officers involved in the case were not familiar with animal trading, so they inquired around while casting their net wider and continuing the search. Evening. At Principal Heng Wenxuan’s cordial invitation, Jiang Yuan and Wei Zhenguo went to the second floor of the Qinghe College canteen to dine together. Zeng Zhuohu also accompanied them, showing friendliness and warmth, albeit a tad nervous. One becomes somewhat attached to the place they’ve been slacking off for so long. For Zeng Zhuohu, dining and drinking with a principal, such an elusive senior leader, was a first. Wei Zhenguo also specifically reminded Jiang Yuan, whispering before taking their seats, “A university principal isn’t the same as the ones in middle or primary schools; he’s somewhat outside the ordinary. Principal Heng’s rank is on par with our county head. Be particularly mindful of what you say.” Jiang Yuan acknowledged the advice. He was indeed from Jiang Village, but he wasn’t a reckless sort. The dishes prepared by Qinghe College were also extremely delicate. For the canteen, fattening up the students by 10 pounds each was nothing compared to preparing a good meal for the principal. The chef also seemed to be working incredibly hard. Even molecular gastronomy, trendy in recent years, was on display. Though it wasn’t tasty, it certainly looked good. “How does it taste?” Heng Wenxuan, who didn’t eat much, kept raising his glass to drink. Jiang Yuan weighed his words before responding, “It’s quite unique.” Heng Wenxuan let out a laugh, but said in a low voice, “Does that mean it doesn’t taste good?” “Uh...” Jiang Yuan didn’t expect the president of Qinghe College to be so direct. He then heard Heng Wenxuan continue, “The chef here is a relative of Principal Li, truly lacking in culinary talent, although it’s said he has studied under a famous teacher. But when it comes to seasoning and such, he’s just not up to par.” Saying this, Heng Wenxuan sighed and added, “However, the chef is a very diligent, very hardworking person, and not greedy... His character does match our school’s spirit, which is how he’s made it to today.” Jiang Yuan blinked, not sure what to make of it all, and looked over at the other Qinghe College leaders at the table, wondering whether Principal Heng was drunk. Were these appropriate remarks for him to make publicly? Right then, the school leader seated to his right raised his glass with a smile, “Principal Heng is magnanimous and nurturing, especially when it comes to tolerance. I’ll drink to you.” Heng Wenxuan laughed and drank with him. Then, that school leader proposed a toast to Jiang Yuan and introduced himself, “I am Principal Li.” Jiang Yuan, not much of a drinker, couldn’t help but lift his small wine glass. Although short, the story somehow made one want to drink. Seeing Principal Heng’s small, smiling eyes, Jiang Yuan suddenly thought that if this were a drinking story, it would be quite powerful. When the post-2000 generation becomes prolific at dinner tables and turns drinking stories to tales of laying flat as victories, antinatalism, and non-maritalism, the drinking would indeed get messily intense. And without family to nag, nobody would fuss even if one got wasted. Liquor would triumph. After the third round of drinks. Principal Heng waved his hand, ordered the dishes to be cleared away, and brought up fresh fruit and nuts, along with several cold dishes. He then leaned forward on the table, turned to Jiang Yuan with a smile, and asked, “What do you think about our school’s surveillance system?” Jiang Yuan, feeling a bit lost, replied vaguely, “It seems extensive, quite involved.” “You mean it’s big but not refined,” Principal Heng caught the implication. By now, Jiang Yuan didn’t bother to mince words, “It only seems big. Having many screens in the monitoring room isn’t useful; there are too many simultaneous feeds to watch effectively, and it’s unnecessary.” Seeing Principal Heng attentive, Jiang Yuan continued, “Qinghe College’s surveillance system is actually quite good. As far as I know, not many schools or large industrial and mining enterprises have a unified surveillance system. Most have one monitoring room for each building or one for each zone.” “Compared to them, Qinghe College’s surveillance system is relatively complete.” “If the storage system could be updated, the surveillance system could reach a level of 60 points.” Heng Wenxuan nodded as he listened, lifted his glass to signal a toast, and gulped down a drink. The spiciness made him gasp for air before he said, “To expend so much effort for just a 60 percent score, I’m not satisfied.” Principal Li chimed in, “Doctor Jiang, what would it take to score a perfect mark then?” Jiang Yuan was taken aback for a moment, pondered, and swirled his drink before smiling and saying, “Actually, you want to ask how your own surveillance system falls short compared to a top-rated operating system, right?” “Putting it that way is too straightforward,” Heng Wenxuan laughed. “But that’s indeed what we mean.” The effects of drinking were now apparent. Jiang Yuan was not part of the education system, nor had he participated in the construction of the surveillance system. So even though he knew the surveillance system was a lucrative opportunity, since Jiang Yuan was neither involved in its distribution nor in utilizing it, he naturally didn’t care. Upon casually pondering, Jiang Yuan said, “First, there’s the training of personnel. It’s one thing to watch the surveillance, but being able to track it is also essential. Ultimately, to achieve full marks, one must have the capability to analyze surveillance footage.” “Second, equipment needs to be standardized. Your surveillance system appears to have been built intermittently over the years, which leads to two issues: cameras from different eras and manufacturers have different protocols and codecs, creating certain compatibility problems.” “Transmission lines actually face a similar issue. Some of the older lines might be coaxial cables or twisted pairs with too low of a configuration to meet performance standards. At least high-definition would be out of the question, and the frame rate wouldn’t be up to par either.” “Furthermore, a single line can’t support too many devices.” “There are also analog cameras in your surveillance, some of which can only be watched, not recorded, and this is related to that.” “Storage devices... the setup of a storage system is even more complicated, involving security, user-friendliness, and cost-effectiveness...” “Of course, we are talking about aiming for the perfect score. Just looking at college surveillance systems, yours has been done quite well.” Lately, Jiang Yuan had actually studied surveillance systems quite a bit, and coupled with high-level image enhancement, he inevitably touched on the entire system’s issues, hence his detailed explanation. Heng Wenxuan was completely engrossed in listening. Principal Li aside seemed somewhat unconvinced and said, “That’s quite demanding for a college...” “That’s why we’re talking about a 100 percent score,” Heng Wenxuan intercepted, adding, “The gap between us and Tsinghua is greater than that, right?” Principal Li fell silent. Heng Wenxuan took a drink by himself, pondered for a moment, and then smiled at Jiang Yuan again, “Officer Jiang, I’ve been thinking about renovating our surveillance system; could you consult for me?” Jiang Yuan was startled: “That doesn’t seem appropriate.” “You’d be consulting for me, not the college. What’s inappropriate?” Heng Wenxuan smiled naturally, then said, “Most of the professionals I know are from within the college system. Their technology and knowledge may be sound, but there are conflicts of interest, so I’ve always wanted to find an expert outside the system.” “I’m hardly an expert,” Jiang Yuan said modestly. “As a personal consultant, you wouldn’t need to be a master of all. Some advice would be enough to satisfy me,” Heng Wenxuan proposed cheerfully with a toast. Jiang Yuan joined in the drink, feeling somewhat inclined. In fact, Jiang Yuan was quite dissatisfied with Ningtai County’s surveillance system. The situation now was that local thieves had been mostly caught, but occasionally, thieves from outside tried to fill the void. Of course, such petty thieves from elsewhere, absent from murder cases, off-duty, or during free time, Jiang Yuan could sift out several to be caught in a few hours of spare time. Moreover, don’t believe the media hype about thieves being captured and released immediately. Most of the time, that happens due to insufficient evidence or the case value not reaching two or three thousand. If the case value exceeds 3000 and there is evidence, there is no reason to let go of KPIs presented on a silver platter. As for repeat offenders, under the current Criminal Law, they usually face over three years of imprisonment. With Jiang Yuan’s efficiency, the turnover rate of thieves in Ningtai County definitely couldn’t keep up. However, with Jiang Yuan’s growing reputation and more time spent on outside cases, the county’s petty thieves still required participation from his colleagues. At such times, the inadequacies of the surveillance system became evident. They couldn’t always rely on Jiang Yuan’s image enhancement. Moreover, most of the time, image enhancement isn’t as clear and direct as footage from high-definition cameras. It also simplifies the process during prosecution. For minor cases, clear evidence and a complete chain of evidence is sufficient. Extra complications would even annoy defense lawyers. However, the construction of modern surveillance systems, not to mention the high costs, has complexities worthy of a college course, and Jiang Yuan wasn’t qualified to be part of it. Qinghe College, on the other hand, being smaller in scale than Ningtai County and with simpler systems, had the advantage in funding and manpower. It was an excellent option to familiarize himself with the systems. At this point, Jiang Yuan recalled the third-class merit medal he had recently received. By rights, a newly awarded third-class merit could be used to learn a new skill. Either a level-two major category or a level-three minor category. Since he hadn’t decided yet, Jiang Yuan had put off upgrading. Now, he thought that maybe he could use it to learn a skill like Technical Defense Construction (level 3)? After all, when he received a second-class merit, he could override and reselect the skill he’d gained from the third-class merit, so there was no loss either way. “All right, I’ll be your consultant for a few months,” decided Jiang Yuan, then asked, “What should I do?” Heng Wenxuan took out his phone seriously, “Let’s add each other on WeChat. Should I scan you, or you scan me?”

Chapter 243 - 243 233 Surveillance System

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