A story shared by A-list blogger-journalist Huang Tingzi (黄亭子) about an engineering student recruited by Chinese cops on his campus who—along with four colleagues—one day finds himself quite a bit in over his head:
读大学时，庄警官念的是无线电专业，毕业前,本打算去IT界发展。结果，正好遇上公安局招干，陪同学一块去顺利也报了个名，没想到很快就被录取了。
In university, officer Zhuang majored in wireless communications. Before graduation, he was planning to go into IT, but in the end he happened to pass by a police recruiter and along with one of his classmates decided to sign up. Little did he think that he would quickly be recruited so quickly.
进了公安，庄警官明白，原来公安局正忙着”科技强警”，到处招揽科技人才，只要是理工科专业的大学生，没什么生理缺陷的，一般都会录取。没有经过任何训练，庄警官就这样穿上了警服，每天跟老同志和其他新来的同事们一起，忙着给架设通信线路、检查机器设备。
Getting into the police force, as officer Zhuang understood it, was because the police department was busy looking to strengthen the police force through technology, searching all over for people with tech skills. As long as you were a science and technology major, had no physical handicaps, you were pretty much in. And just like that, without having received any training, officer Zhuang was wearing a police uniform, spending every day with old comrades and new coworkers, busy setting up communication lines and inspecting equipment.
一个秋天的午后，庄警官来到玉皇山上检查对讲机的发射塔。
One fall afternoon, officer Zhuang went to Yuhuang Mountain to inspect the walkie-talkie transmitter.
拨开蒿草，沿着小路走进去，他惊奇的发现，发射塔下居然有人搭了个棚子，挑开棚子的布帘一看，里面躺着一个中年男子，十分邋遢。
Poking through the brush, following a little path in, he was shocked to see that someone had built a shed below the transmitter. He pulled back the shed drapes to see a middle-aged man lying inside, totally messy.
“喂，你怎么会在这里的？躺在这里做啥？”
“Hey, what are you doing here lying on the ground like that?”
男子白了他一眼，没说话。
The man gave him a blank look, didn't speak.
“听见没有，我问你话呢！”
“Did you hear me? I'm talking to you!”
男子翻了个身，管自己继续呼呼大睡。
The man turned over and went back to sleep.
庄警官不敢造次，打了个电话给上司，请求增援。半个小时后，通讯科长带了一个同事赶到。庄警官顿生豪情，上前叫醒了仍在熟睡中的中年汉子。汉子显然很不高兴，睡眼朦胧中坐了起来，打了个哈欠，茫然地看着眼前的一众人。
Officer Zhuang didn't dare do anything rash. He phoned his superior and asked for backup. Half an hour later, the communications section chief and another colleague showed up. Officer Zhuang worked up his nerve and tried waking up the still-sleeping middle-aged man. The man didn't looking very happy and, still half asleep, sat up, yawned and perplexedly looked at the crowd in front of him.
“喂，这个地方是公安局的，你在这里做什么？”
“Hey, this is police area, what are you doing here?”
这汉子盯着眼前的三位看了一会儿，又躺了下去。
The man started at the three people in front of him for a bit, then laid back down.
“你耳朵聋的啊？”庄警官觉得很没面子，大吼了一声。
“You deaf?” Officer Zhuang felt a big loss of face and roared loudly.
鼾声迅速响起，仿佛在嘲笑他的无能。
The sound of snoring quickly arose, as if mocking his incompetence.
庄警官大怒，顾不上眼前的男子衣着肮脏，一把抓住他胸口的衣襟，将男子揪了起来。
Unable to take care of the filthy man in front of him, officer Zhuang became furious and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, yanking him up.
这时，庄警官发现男子的眼神有些不对劲，他意识到自己碰上精神病了，而且是个武疯子。
At this point, officer Zhuang noticed something a little off about the look in the man's eyes, and realized that he had come across a lunatic, and a violent one at that.
为时已晚。
By this time, it was too late.
庄警官很快被掀翻在地，这名男子力大无穷，格斗中几乎扭断了庄警官的脖子。庄警官只是一个白面书生，手无缚鸡之力，面对强敌，只能俯首称臣。
Officer Zhuang was quickly thrown onto the ground; this man had boundless strength. In the wrestle he quite nearly pulled officer Zhuang's head off. Officer Zhuang is just a pale-faced bookworm, about as strong as a chicken. Facing down such a strong opponent, he could only bow his head and back down.
“弄翻他，扣起来！”科长发话了。
“Flip him over, cuff him!” the section chief yelled.
科长和另一位同事没有穿警服，一个瘦瘦高高，一个戴着深度近视眼镜，俩人看上去更像是实验室里的研究员。
The section chief and another out-of-uniform colleague, one tall and skinny, the other deeply near-sighted and wearing glasses, the two of them looking like labratory researchers.
第一轮的较量占了上风后，中年汉子的斗志完全被激发出来，目露凶光，脸上写满了兴奋的表情，并摆出随时准备攻击的架势。
After gaining the upper hand from the first round, the man got worked up, with a nasty look in his eyes, face full of expressions of excitement, and got into a fight-ready pose.
“哎哟！”就在犹豫间，同事的眼镜被打飞了。
“Damn!” In the instant he hesitated, the colleague's glasses were sent flying.
科长瞅准空子，疾步上前一把抱住了汉子的腰部及双手，汉子死命挣扎，科长的体力渐渐不支，明显有点扛不住这个男子。
The section chief jumped at the opening and wrapped both arms around the man's waist. The man struggled like his life depended on it but the section chief's strength slowly began to give out andit looked like he wouldn't be able to hold the man.
“你们站在旁边看热闹啊？还不快动手？”
“You standing over there watching the fun? Hurry up and give me a hand!”
庄警官和两人反应过来，急急忙忙冲了上去，一左一右扭住汉子的胳膊。这汉子说了一句：”人多有用吗？嗨！”一发力，就把抓他的手全给挣脱了。他随即捡起一根木棍一通乱打。
Officer Zhuang and two others rushed over, each grabbing an arm. The man said, “more people isn't going to help. Hey!” and with one big push, shook his hands free. He grabbed a club and started swinging.
三名警官且战且退，最后退到了草丛外，三个人的身上，沾上了不少泥土，个个神情狼狈、苦不堪言。
The three police backed off, and ran out of the brush, the three of them covered in dirt, all looking rather flustered, pissed right off.
“我们报110吧。”庄警官说。
“Let's call 911,” officer Zhuang said.
“不行，现在被弄成这副鬼样，叫了110来让他们看笑话？”科长否决了这个提案。
“No way, with things this screwed up, you want to call them over to laugh at us?” The section chief vetoed this proposal.
半个小时后，另外两名同事赶到，同时带来了手铐和警绳。
Half an hour late, another two colleagues showed up, at the same time bringing with them handcuffs and police rope.
“弟兄们，一起上！”
“Boys, let's get in there!”
五个警察一拥面上，在汉子的顽强抵抗下，经过长达十几分钟的拉锯战，最终七手八脚将此人按倒在地难以动弹。
The police moved in spent almost twenty minutes in a game of tug of war against the stubbornly-resisting man. Finally all seven arms and eight legs got him pinned down on the ground.
“上铐。” 科长下令，庄警官立即扑了上去，把手铐套在了汉子手腕上。
“Cuff him,” the section chief ordered. Officer Zhuang rushed over and put the cuffs on the man's wrists.
“OK了。”庄警官起来拍了拍手，这是他第一次给人戴手铐，很兴奋。
“Okay.” Officer Zhuang stood up and clapped his hands; this was his first time to handcuff somebody, he was very excited.
汉子站立起来，手铐很轻巧的从手间滑落。
The man stood up and the handcuffs slid right off his hands.
手铐坏了。
The handcuffs were broken.
“马上绑起来。”在场的警官几乎都说了这句话。
“Tie him up right away.” was pretty much what the police on the scene said.
一阵短暂的混战后，五个警官再次将疯子按倒在地。周围，已经聚集了一些围观的人群。
After a short skirmish, the five police once again had the madman pinned on the ground. A group of people had already gathered around them.
捆绑时，几个警察发现没有一个人会使用警绳。每次绑得差不多时，疯子总能轻松的挣脱，如此再三，疯子趴在地上哈哈大笑，围观的市民也乐不可支。
As they were tying him up, the police noticed that not a single one among them knew how to use the police rope. Every time they almost had him roped, the madman could always easily break loose. Three tries later, the madman fell on the ground laughing loudly. The locals standing around watching were laughing too.
科长示意脱下疯子的裤子，抽出疯子的皮带反绑胳膊。
The section chief said to pull off the madman's pants, pull out the belt and use that to tie his arms behind his back.
庄警官又自告奋勇，褪下疯子的长裤后，露出了里面的花短裤，结果发现疯子没有系皮带。这种滑稽的场面令在场的人，包括警官们自己都忍俊不禁。
Officer Zhuang once again volunteered. After pulling off the madman's pants, they saw his colored underwear, and noticed that the madman didn't have a belt on. Thecomedy of the scene was too much, neither the people watching or the police themselves could help but laugh.
一位好市民站了出来，他把疯子脚上的一根鞋带抽了出来，在得到警官们允许后，把疯子的两个大拇指绑在了一起。
One good citizen stood up and pulled out the shoelace on one of the madman's feet. After getting permission from the police, tied the madman's two thumbs together.
“起来，走。”
“Get up. Move.”
警车就停在百米之外。
The police car was parked a hundred meters away.
快走到警车时，疯子举起了一只手，呵呵直乐。鞋带松了。
Just as they were almost to the police car, the madman lifted one arm and laughed. The shoelace had come loose.
庄警官几乎条件反射般要将疯子按倒，但发现他的力气太小，根本不足以对付这个家伙。其他几个同事见状再次发力，四五个人又扭成了一团。
Officer Zhuang's automatic reflex was to push the madman down, but found he wasn't nearly strong enough to take on this guy. The other few coworkers there had recovered their strength and formed a group of four or five.
鏖战良久，不分胜负。疯子没法逃跑，几个警察也不能完全制服他。只有一帮闲人帮旁边看热闹指点江山。
After a long struggle they found themselves matched. The madman had no way to escape, and the several police had no way to subdue him. There were only the passersby on the side watching the excitement and making comments.
僵局。
Deadlock.
这时，出人意料的情况发生了，疯子说：”你们把车门打开，我自己进去，烦都烦死了！”
Then, the unexpected happened. The madman said, “you open the door, I'll go in myself. Bloody fed up with all this!”
警车开到半山腰时，庄警官向科长要了一根烟。吐了一口烟之后，叹了口气：”我们，不是抓人的料。”
Halfway down the mountain, officer Zhuang asked the section leader for a cigarette. He blew out a mouth of smoke, then sighed, “us, we're not cut out for arresting people.”
From cops in the bushes to thought cops in the bookstores, a post from Tianya blogger Self Made So Clear about the closure of a prominent bookstore in the capitol of Eastern China's Zhejiang province, and some background on the not-so-clear reasons it's gone:
顾先生10月19日说：”今天的《都市快报》第46版有署名'湖'的报道：《杭州从此无三联》。报道说：上周最意外的，当是杭州三联书店的歇业。在关掉杭州文化商城的批发部一个月后，三联书店杭大路门市，也落下了卷闸门。三联书店的危机始于6月，我那时在新疆参加全国书市，听到了杭州发来的消息：三联书店有麻烦了。据说，事起翻印非法出版物。此后有关三联书店的传言很多，8月份，我在上海书市，遇见几家北京的出版社市场部负责人，他们在书市结束后就直奔杭州，运走了各自在三联书店架子上的书——据称，这是为了降低风险，免得一朝三联关门，结不到书款。过去的两三个月中，三联基本上没进新书，销售渐淡。有关书店即将关门的消息，也在业界盛传。不过三联选择在上周'自行了断'，退货关门，还是令人始料不及。此前，还在猜测三联也许能渡过难关，继续开下去，毕竟这是杭州图书的一大品牌。……我去三联书店的那天，他们正在处理最后的几件退货，书店空空如也，一片萧瑟——仿佛秋天先来了。所有员工都脸色凝重，呆呆地或站或坐，好像不敢相信眼下的事实。据称，作为公司的杭州三联书店将在近期注销，'三联书店'的品牌由北京三联书店收回——杭州从此无三联了。三联书店原址，有可能变成杭州文史书店——原来在文三路的文史书店，刚刚拆迁，正在到处寻找店面。”
On October 19, Mr. Gu said, “On page 46 of today's Metropolis Daily’ was the report ‘Hangzhou Will No Longer Have
Sanlian‘. The report says: last week was the biggest surprise when Hangzhou's Sanlian bookstore closed shop. A month after the closure of the wholesale department of Hangzhou's Cultural Shopping Mall, Sanlian bookstore on Hangda Road has also been swept away. Sanlian's crisis began in June. At the time I was in
Xinjiang taking part in the national book trade fair. I heard the news from Hangzhou, that Sanlian bookstore was having some troubles. Reportedly, the problems started with pirated and illegally-published books. Following this, there were any rumours about Sanlian. In August I was at the Shanghai book trade fair and met some heads of marketing departments for Beijing publishing houses. After the book trade fair ended they went straight to Hangzhou and took their own books off the shelves at Sanlian.
Purportedly, this was to reduce the risk, to keep Sanlian from being shut down and ending up unable to settle accounts. For the last two to three months, no new books have been brought into Sanlian and sales are dying off. News about the bookstore and it's coming closure spread through the industry. But last week Sanlian decided to shut itself down, return the stock and shut its doors, to many people's surprise. Prior to this, people were thinking that Sanlian might be able to pull through and keep going, after all this is a big name in Hangzhou's book business……the day I went to Sanlian, they were just taking care of the last few items of stock; the bookstore was completely empty, not a sound in the air, as though autumn had already come. All the staff looked dignified, gazing around or standing or sitting, like they didn't believe what they were seeing. Purportedly, as the company's Sanlian Hangzhou is about to be written off, the brand ‘Sanlian’ has been taken back by Sanlian Beijing—Sanlian Hangzhou is no more. Sanlian's former address might become Hangzhou's Literature and History Bookstore. The old Literature and History Bookstore which used to be on Wensan road, has just been demolished and is now searching for a new space.
江先生9月6日从网上发来一份《稽查快报》（杭州市文化市场行政执法总队办公室编）其中一段这样写道：”三是以查处大要案件为突破点整治出版物市场。6 月21日至23日，总队积极配合市公安局经济文化保卫支队，联合查处了杭州生活?读书?新知三联书店违法经营政治性非法出版物案件，共收缴《晚年周恩来》（高文谦）、《党史笔记》（何方）、《邓力群自述：十二个春秋》（邓力群）、《毛泽东私人医生回忆录》（李志绥）等非法政治性书刊4种426本。目前总队与公安机关已就此案成立专案组展开全面调查，追踪来源，全力追缴已流向社会的部分政治性非法出版物。”江先生说：”最后一段很有意思：'下一阶段，我们将继续保持高压态势，围绕网吧、出版物、娱乐场所等重点积极开展各项整治工作，加大对违法经营活动的查处力度，在实践中进一步探讨和尝试创新监管方式，为解决文化市场存在问题做出应有的贡献。'”
On September 6, Mr. Jiang e-mailed a section of an article from one newspaper regarding the squad responsible for executive administration of the cultural marketplace in Hangzhou, which reads, “3. By way of investigating and punishing major crimes, break up and repair the publication market. From June 21 to 23, the squad's active collaboration with the municipal public security detachment responsible for economic and cultural safeguarding led a joint investigation into the Hangzhou Life/Reader/New Knowledge Sanlian Bookstore's illegal sales of political and illegally-published publication, capturing 426 copies in total of such books as
Gao Wenqian‘s ‘
Zhou Enlai‘s Later Years‘, He Fang's ‘
Notes on The Party History‘,
Deng Liqun‘s ‘
Deng Liqun's Own Account: Twelve Springs and Autumns‘,
Li Zhisui‘s ‘
Memoirs from Mao Zedong's Private Physician‘ and other such illegal political publications. At present a special investigations group has been set up between the squad and police forces to carry out a full-scale investigation to track down the sources and work to retrieve the share of political illegal publications which have already leaked into society with the best of our abilities.
“Mr. Jiang says, ‘the last segment is very interesting: ‘in the next phase we will continue to maintain a high-pressure state, revolving around internet bars, publications, entertainment venues and other such focal points in actively carrying out each item of regulation work, increasing the investigative force against illegal business operations, carrying out further investigations and trying innovative supervision methods and make the appropriate dedications to resolving the problems that exist in the cultural marketplace.””
