North America Gunman Detective

The next day, Jimmy got up early and went back, stopping by the supermarket to pick up some ginger and scallions. On returning home, he made himself a ginger soup, drank it, then wrapped himself in a blanket and continued to sleep.

Today was his day off, and even after waking up, Jimmy didn't feel like getting out of bed. So far, it seemed like his body was in good shape; it had been half a day, and there were no signs of fever or a cold.

When the urge to pee became too strong, Jimmy hurried out of bed to relieve himself and brush his teeth. Afterwards, seeing he still had some ginger and scallions left, he made another bowl of ginger soup. After drinking it, he continued to lay in bed and watch TV.

The "beep beep" of the phone rang out, and Jimmy picked it up; it was Chief James.

"Hi, Chief."

"Hi, Jimmy, you did a great job last night. Mr. Anderson has woken up. Can you come down to the station? The government has arranged an interview for you."

"Sure, Chief. Anything else?"

"That's it. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Chief."

There went his only day off. Jimmy got up, tidied himself, changed into presentable clothes, and took a taxi to the police station.

It had been several months, and Jimmy still hadn't bought a car. It wasn't because second-hand cars were too expensive; mainly, he was driving a police car for over a dozen hours every day. His own car wasn't a necessity; he only needed it for the drive to the station and back home. He knew a familiar taxi driver who would come within minutes of a phone call, which was quite convenient.

Upon arriving at the station, Jimmy noticed a man and a woman chatting with Chief James in his office. There was a large window in the office that looked directly into the lobby, and when Chief James saw Jimmy, he waved to him to come in.

"Jimmy, this is Jessica from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and Jessica, this is Jimmy—Jimmy Yang, one of the finest young members of our force."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Yang. I'm sorry to have you come to the station on your day off. Shall we start our interview now?"

"Jimmy, take good care of them, and answer their questions well. Jessica, I have to step out for a bit, so go ahead and conduct your interview here." After the introductions, the Chief stepped out.

The photographer directed Jimmy to sit on the single sofa next to them, adjusting his position and posture for about fifteen minutes. After a few satisfactory shots, he took his camera and left, leaving reporter Jessica and Jimmy to continue the interview.

"Jimmy, introduce yourself briefly."

"Sure, I was born in Little Rock, went to school, and worked various jobs after graduating high school. Three years ago, I enrolled in the police academy. After graduating, I joined the State Police Highway Patrol, and this year, I came back to Little Rock to join the Plaskey County Police."

"Tell us about what happened last night."

"Okay, I was on night shift patrolling the highway. I smelled smoke but couldn't locate the source of the fire. Following the wind, I found the burning house and after asking the neighbors, learned there was someone inside, so I rushed in and brought Mr. Anderson out. That's it, simple as that."

"Oh, we already have that information. Could you go into more detail about the rescue process?"

"Sorry, but some details might be part of the official report, so I can't provide those right now. If Chief James thinks it's okay, you can directly check my report."

"Sure, I'll apply for access through Chief James. Let's continue, are you aware that you are the first Chinese police officer in Plaskey County?"

"Really? I haven't paid attention to that. Focusing on being a cop and fighting crime has always been my goal, so I never concerned myself with such news throughout the process of attending the police academy and joining the county police."

"Yes, and not just in the county police, but Little Rock City Police doesn't have ethnic Chinese officers either. Do you think this is discrimination, considering most police officers here are white?"

Jimmy started to sweat a bit. Before his rebirth, racial movements in the United States were frequent, and topics like this were a huge trap that he definitely could not fall into.

"I am honored to be the first Chinese officer in the county police." Jimmy reached over to the Chief's office desk for two bottles of water, handed one to Jessica, and then opened his own. It was purely a stalling tactic to buy time to organize his thoughts.

"I don't believe my being the only Chinese officer is indicative of any discrimination by the police department. Actually, the main reason is that there just aren't many Chinese people in Little Rock. If you pay attention to your surroundings, you'll notice that you rarely see Chinese people in the area. Although I don't have the exact numbers, I would estimate there are no more than 1,500 Chinese residents in Little Rock, and they have not formed a community like San Francisco's Chinatown.

Many Chinese here are students, doctors, teachers, IT professionals, or legal workers. Hence, it's hard to notice Chinese people when looking at population demographics."

Jimmy paused for a moment before continuing, "I think as the total number of Chinese people increases, more will need to participate in various social roles. There will certainly be more Chinese working in the police force like me in the future. Similarly, in all sectors, you'll be able to see more Chinese people occupying different positions."

Jessica, seeing he didn't fall for the bait, simply asked a few questions about amusing incidents Jimmy encountered on duty and then ended the interview.

Truthfully, there was no need to dispatch a reporter and photographer for an interview just because someone was rescued from a fire; firefighters do this daily. The main highlight this time was actually Jimmy's identity as a person of Chinese descent.

As mentioned earlier, Jimmy is the only officer of Chinese descent in the county police, and with Little Rock being the capital of Arkansas, there's no historical record of Chinese officers there. For the person who made this record, he was the biggest draw of the event.

If the reporters so chose, they could also criticize other institutions or departments at any time. Racial issues have been a headache for society since the year 2000, with the overall image of Chinese people perceived as weak, and their crime rates are noticeably lower compared to other races.

As for the victim of last night's fire, Mr. Anderson, whom Jimmy heroically rescued, he's probably quite frazzled right now.

Why is Anderson troubled? Well, because the costs for the ambulance and fire services need to be settled by him. Since he was intoxicated at the time, he couldn't refuse the services on the scene, and those fees will give him a hard time.

Moreover, with his house burned down, anything of value inside was probably lost, too. Unless he has substantial savings or a high credit rating to get a loan from the bank, it's quite possible he might end up homeless.

The cost of deploying an ambulance and a fire truck in the United States is very high, and many people are reluctant to call for an ambulance, let alone the even more expensive fire services. Many American fire departments are privately run businesses, not public government agencies like those in China.