Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 1624 - 774: A Single Stone Provokes a Thousand Ripples

Chapter 1624: Chapter 774: A Single Stone Provokes a Thousand Ripples

A single stone stirs up a thousand ripples.

The somewhat monotonous blue screen with a few lines of white text, added with the four big yellow characters saying "Bounty Notice," and the rewards mentioned afterwards—fifty thousand for providing clues, and two hundred thousand for capturing the person—instantly set off a storm in half of the Provincial City.

It wasn’t long after the bounty notice was announced that the streets, which were gradually becoming quiet, as well as some of the quieter, more remote roads, began to see groups of people wandering around...

It’s no exaggeration; the number of people watching TV these days is just that high.

Although life is getting better, computers are still considered a luxury. With prices ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands, compared to a few hundred in wages, they are indeed a bit intimidating.

Without the entertainment of computers and networks, what can people do after dinner and before bed?

Don’t even talk about going to fitness or dancing; there aren’t that many idle people around at this time. Those who’ve been working all day long and have returned home to a full meal mostly just want to sit or lie down and watch TV.

Everyone watches, old and young alike.

Just think about last year when a palace drama was all the rage; in the cities’ streets and alleys, out in the rural fields, both adults and children would hum a tune from "Little Yanzi" so you know how many people watch TV.

People who were just watching TV might take a break for an advertisement to go to the bathroom, pour some tea, or fetch water to soak their feet and were standing at the bathroom door, stopped in their tracks when they saw the bounty notice, the ones pouring tea were spilling it all over the table, and lots who were carrying foot-soaking water just stood there, dazed...

In an era when even a good house costs just over a thousand, two hundred thousand is indeed a lot of money. Even if you can’t earn the two hundred thousand, there’s still fifty thousand for providing clues!

Fifty thousand yuan—if calculated by the current average salary, it would take several years of saving to accumulate that much.

So it’s not surprising to see people out and about on the streets. There were even those who thought they were sneaking out, turned a corner and saw a bunch of acquaintances; that kind of embarrassment was both amusing and made things lively on the spot...

The funniest were those young people who took to the streets carrying sticks, greeting each other, "You’re out too, huh? Two hundred thousand, man!"

"Yeah, yeah!" came the eager reply. "What if by bad luck those two guys come down our road, and a whack with a stick brings them down, delivering them to the police station, that’s two hundred thousand. Who would stay home then?"

"Let’s go, all together. That small path over there is less crowded; maybe they’ll go that way. Let’s check it out..."

"Let’s go, let’s go..."

...

The police patrolling the streets all had a headache, not understanding why suddenly there were so many people on the streets, and there were even young people carrying sticks. It was truly a mess.

They were on patrol duty and didn’t have time to watch TV, so they had no clue about the bounty notice that had recently been on. Now, seeing these groups of aimless wanderers, they started to stop people and ask: "Comrade, can I ask if there’s something going on tonight?"

The questions, of course, had to be polite; these people looked like they were out here for a reason, but they were extremely calm even in front of the police, which surely meant they weren’t afraid to be asked. If you’re not polite, what if they don’t respond?

"Didn’t you see... oh, you wouldn’t know since you’re outside, right? There was a bounty notice just now. Someone’s offering a reward: two guys on a motorcycle beat up someone. Providing a clue is worth fifty thousand, catching them, two hundred thousand. We’re out here trying our luck..."

The police were astonished: "A bounty? Who issued it?"

"Don’t know!" answered the man, who didn’t know anything. "Anyway, they said there’s money, and the TV station even said they’d pay on the spot. As long as we catch them, how could they not pay up?"

Right now, people still trust TV a fair bit, and this answer basically represented the thoughts of most people.

After a short while, phones at various police substations started ringing non-stop, with those patrolling outside asking what was going on. Once everything was made clear, everyone buckled down and became all the more vigilant...

In fact, the impact of this bounty went far beyond that, with nearly the entire province seeing it. With the prevalence of the internet and the rise of smartphones, fewer people are watching TV, but in this era, the power of TV trumps everything.

It’s not just the citizens who were shocked, even the leaders of the province were moved. Due to the TV station’s ’efficiency’, the police system was suddenly put on the hot seat. Even Director Xu of the TV station was regretting his decision, annoyed that he let his greed get the better of him and announced the bounty without going through the proper approvals.

But now it was too late for regrets, the whole city was hoping those two people would be caught soon. In addition to the few citizens with a strong sense of justice who, upon learning that the victim was a teacher who had taught their entire life, were indignantly eager to lend a hand; many more were purely motivated by the bounty. The leaders, meanwhile, hoped to catch the criminals quickly and put an end to the case, as its further fermentation would have outsize consequences.

Yan Fei also wished to catch the two bastards as soon as possible; in fact, he now somewhat regretted issuing the bounty. It was not the reward he regretted, but rather leaving his mobile number on it.

Ever since the broadcast, their phones had been ringing non-stop, not just with calls from the curious asking if they would really pay for catching the person. Others provided a mishmash of ’clues’—there were even calls from people not in the Provincial City, speculating that maybe the criminals had run to their places, and they called with brazen confidence.