BTTC Chapter 101

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Editor: Joyy

Chapter 101

“This is an official letter to check the monitoring records of Vice-Captain Yan’s crash.”

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After knocking on the office door twice, Yan Xie walked in.

Chief Lu seemed to just finish a phone call and was drinking tea with his head down. He pointed to the chair behind the desk without raising his head, motioning him to sit down.

However, Yan Xie did not sit down. He stood there with a tall and straight figure of nearly 1.9 meters, and asked solemnly: “You were looking for me, Chief Lu?”

Knowing the type of person Chief Lu was, he most likely understood the attitude Yan Xie implied based on that small detail. He put down the thermos cup after a while and asked, “You already know about Captain Fang right?”

Yan Xie asked lightly, “Captain Fang?

“Yes, Captain Fang Zhenghong was mixed up in the case related to your poisoning, haven’t you heard of it?”

Yan Xie said, “I just returned to the city bureau, I still don’t know anything about it.”

Chief Lu was not at all surprised by Yan Xie’s impeccable response and described both Qin Chuan’s inquiry and Fang Zhenghong’s investigation. There was almost no difference from what Gao Panqing had told him before — this proved that Gao Panqing was indeed the backbone of the Criminal Investigation Division. He was very meticulous and even mimicked Chief Lu’s original tone to about eighty to ninety percent accuracy.

“So now that Captain Zhenghong has been suspended from work, he can be regarded as cooperating with the investigation of the city bureau.” Chief Lu said slowly: “If there’s a result, the city bureau will notify you immediately. But to get a clear result, it will probably be more difficult for the time being, so you’ll have to be mentally prepared.” 

The office fell into silence again. Yan Xie’s clear and deep eyes seemed to have a dark and unpredictable expression, and after a long time he suddenly smiled:

“Since it is difficult now, then let’s talk about it later.”

—Talk about it later?

In the face of a poisoner who was waiting for the opportunity to take his life in the dark, how could Yan Xie take it so calmly?

Chief Lu raised his eyes unexpectedly, only to see Yan Xie smiling with a faint hint of arrogance on his handsome and tough face: “I heard that Director Gou went to Jiangyang County to perform a second autopsy on the killer named Xian Shengrong. I don’t know about the results, but I heard that the time of death has been determined?”

Chief Lu was startled.

“In that case, check the captain’s alibi at the time of the crime, wouldn’t that prove his innocence?”

Chief Lu looked at Yan Xie for a long time, but the toughness in the latter’s eyes did not change in the slightest. After a while, Chief Lu finally exhaled and said, “Do you know that you are accusing a person who has been a criminal police officer for 30 years, with the rank of a division captain, of committing murder, Yan Xie?”

Yan Xie was unmoved by his answer: “No, Chief Lu, I’m just providing an investigation idea.”

“But your investigation idea…”

“It’s not a presumption of guilt, but reasonable speculation.”

Yan Xie was like this, what he usually showed was natural, casual, down-to-earth, and could be called a very gentle side. But if he got really angry, or if someone challenged his bottom line, he could become very tough and even rude.

That kind of confidence in his bones couldn’t be shaken by anyone.

“…Since you’re so sure, then I will dispatch people to investigate Captain Fang’s alibi that night.” After being silent for a while, Chief Lu finally said, “However, since you are the direct victim, you should avoid the place where you should avoid, otherwise any errors or omissions in the procedure may also affect the final investigation result.”

Yan Xie said calmly, “I understand.”

“You can leave” Chief Lu waved his hand.

Yan Xie turned around and walked toward the door, stopped abruptly after a few steps, and looked back at Chief Lu. The large office had old-fashioned decoration, with landscape paintings on the walls, party flags on the cabinets, and a row of bookcases against the wall neatly stacked with various professional books, party newspapers, and periodicals. Chief Lu sat behind his large desk, where he had sat for more than ten years, looking like a round and solid statue.

“……” Yan Xie finally asked the question: “Why do you trust Fang Zhenghong so much?”

Chief Lu’s eyes behind his reading glasses stared deeply at him, “Because Fang Zhenghong is not the kind of person you think you know.” 

Yan Xie had nothing to say; he could only nod his head, turn around, and walk out.

Chief Lu leaned back into the chair. His stomach was sticking out, his hair was gray, and he sighed for a long time. He took off his reading glasses and wiped them carefully until he was sure that the lenses were clean and there was not even a trace of dust left that was invisible to the naked eye. Then he put it back on carefully, blinking his eyes hard as if using this action to see everything around him more clearly than before.

The door was knocked again, and the secretary asked from outside, “Chief Lu?”

Chief Lu adjusted his glasses and said, “Come in.”

Secretary Zhang walked into the office with a stack of materials and put down a few letters waiting to be stamped. When Chief Lu held it in his hand, he saw the title on it: Security Surveillance Video Data Access Notice.

“Oh, it was about Vice-Captain Yan’s car crash on the Panshan Highway.” Secretary Zhang said with a smile: “Isn’t it under investigation? Our bureau needs to see the surveillance video of the crash, so we have to send an official letter before we can go check the security monitoring in the Jiangyang County area; this is going to be sent to the Jiangyang County Police Station. You have to stamp it so that I can send it away. The investigators are still waiting to continue the investigation.”

Chief Lu’s hand that was stretching forward suddenly paused in mid-air.

“You leave it here,” he said, motioning to the table. “I’ll think about it again.” 

The secretary was stunned. What does he mean by think again?

Chief Lu turned a blind eye to the secretary’s undisguised doubts and had no intention of explaining. Suddenly, he changed his words: “I just remembered something. Fang Zhenghong was suspended from work to recover from his illness, so during that time, all the work of the anti-drug division was presided over by Vice-Captain Qin, right?”

“That’s right, you are…”

“Captain Yu of the criminal investigation is on sick leave, and Yan Xie was appointed as the acting leader. This appointment was officially issued by our bureau. However, although Qin Chuan has been temporarily undertaking the work on the anti-drug side, there is a lack of a formal appointment. There are many documents and materials on which his signature won’t be valid, which will bring a lot of inconvenience to the daily management of the anti-drug division. I think since Fang Zhenghong has been suspended from his job this time, let’s just put down the appointment documents for Qin Chuan.” 

Qin Chuan was managing the anti-drug division as Vice-Captain, and Yan Xie, as Vice-Captain, was managing the criminal investigation division. Both of them were acting as the main leaders during this special period, so there wasn’t any difference in any practical sense. But if you leave the gate of the Jianning Municipal Bureau, the difference between whether there was an official document or not would become obvious. For example, when Yan Xie went to see Qi Sihao in Gongzhou, Gao Panqing could directly introduce him, “This is our brother Yan, the current leader in charge of the work of the division,”  but if Qin Chuan went out to handle the case, he couldn’t be introduced like this.

Therefore, issuing this appointment letter was actually a good thing for Qin Chuan. Secretary Zhang immediately agreed: “Okay, okay, that’s simple; I will do it right away!”

Chief Lu nodded and seemed to remember something, carefully instructing him: “Although Qin Chuan has been acting on the captain’s behalf for a period of time, according to the regulations, he will officially be in charge of the work of the anti-drug division only if an appointment letter is issued. He may not be familiar with many management tasks, so tell him that he can ask me if he has any problems.”

Secretary Zhang wrote everything down, one by one. Seeing that Chief Lu had no other orders, he pointed to the official letter about retrieving monitoring data on the table and asked for instructions again: “That, Chief Lu, this stamp…”

He didn’t know if it was because of the dim light in the office, but after a few seconds, he suddenly felt that Chief Lu’s expression was a little bit different.

The difference was indescribable, but it was very different from the usual smiling expression of Chief Lu such that Secretary Zhang’s first reaction was that he had read it wrong.

“This,” Chief Lu’s thick and round five fingers pressed on the official letter, “we’ll talk about it again,” he said calmly.

Talk about it again? meaning you won’t mention it from now on?

How will they investigate the poisoning of Vice Captain Yan? Skip it just like this?

Secretary Zhang was a little stunned, but for some reason, he was so pressed that he didn’t dare to say more and subconsciously replied with a smile.

Chief Lu’s eyelids drooped behind his reading glasses as if he didn’t see the secretary’s doubts. It wasn’t until Secretary Zhang disappeared outside the door, and he was the only one left in the office again, that he slowly picked up the official letter, opened the drawer, and threw it in.

Bang!

The office returned to silence.

………

The spoon in Jiang Ting’s hand was in mid-air: “That’s what Chief Lu said to you?”

Although Yan Xie wanted to take Jiang Ting to eat delicious food at night, the two of them went home in the end. The big bone soup boiled on the stove, the bone marrow rich in collagen made the soup white, and the soft tofu kept rolling up and down, exuding a warm smell in the kitchen on a late autumn night.

Yan Xie moved a small bench and stood beside the soup pot to pick the shallots. Hearing this, he said solemnly, “Officer Lu still believes in Fang Zhenghong.”

Jiang Ting said, “Your Chief Lu used to be…”

Yan Xie keenly noticed the hesitation in his tone of voice, and asked, “Why, have you dealt with each other before?”

“We met during an operation and only exchanged a few words at the celebration party, but we didn’t have a deep friendship.” However, Chief Lu was quite famous in the public security system in the southwest region. They say that he was very powerful when he was young and is an old fox when he is old.” Jiang Ting smiled as he turned the large bone simmering in the soup, “He must be a very smart person, but sometimes he is so enclosed, making people feel uncomfortable.”

Yan Xie subconsciously hummed, and then the final voice raised abruptly: “What?”

“What What?” Jiang Ting glanced at him casually.

Both people, one standing and one sitting, had their eyes meet in mid-air, and a similar conversation emerged in Yan Xie’s mind, which was after the end of Hu Weisheng’s drug trafficking case. In the spacious and empty office of the Chief of Jianning city bureau——

“What kind of person do you think Captain Jiang was, Chief Lu?”

“Young, courageous, with a high IQ… terrifyingly high.”

“That makes me personally feel very uncomfortable.”

……….

Almost the same dialogue was repeated so coincidentally; only the roles were reversed. A trace of indescribable strangeness and absurdity was transmitted from Yan Xie’s nerve endings into his brain, leaving him speechless for a moment.

“Yan Xie?”

“Oh, nothing.” Yan Xie calmed down, “I just feel that you don’t think highly of Chief Lu.” 

Jiang Ting disagreed: “That’s not true. It’s just, he is a widely respected senior; do you need me to judge him?”

Under the steam of the hot soup, his face seemed to be flushed. Because the temperature at home was high, Jiang Ting, who rarely wore short-sleeved shirts, had rolled the cuffs of his long-sleeved home shirt to his elbows. Yan Xie pondered for a moment beside him, pressed down the subtle strangeness in his heart, and stopped mentioning it. As soon as he looked up, he saw that Jiang Ting was sprinkling salt into the soup, and when he raised his hand, there were white tooth marks on the inside of his right wrist.

“Let’s go for scar removal someday,” Yan Xie said casually.

“Ah?”

Yan Xie raised his chin, and Jiang Ting followed his gaze to see his wrist, paused for a moment, and immediately lowered his sleeve: “Let’s talk about it later.”

“Why talk later? Modern medicine is so advanced. Maybe by the time dinner is over, it will be finished. Why don’t you try it?”

Jiang Ting pulled down his cuff again, but Yan Xie got up and caught him, trying to pull his little hand. They twisted and turned in front of the boiling bone soup, one wanting to kiss and the other refusing. In the end, Jiang Ting won. He put his right hand behind his back and said with a smile on his face: “There’s no coriander at home! Why don’t you hurry up and buy it!”

“What should I do so that you can go for scar removal?” Yan Xie was not without regrets: “Why don’t you go for it? How about your husband paying for it and giving you a bag as a reward when you’re finished?”

Jiang Ting didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Half leaning on the kitchen, he took a few coins from the change bowl on the shoe cabinet and stuffed them into Yan Xie’s arms: “Buy the coriander first, don’t beep here.”

Division Vice-Captain Yan, handsome and rich, almighty and powerful, who was bragging to buy a Chanel bag for his wife, counted the money, wiped his hand on his apron in dissatisfaction, and said, “It’s only five yuan, it’s not enough, give me more.”

“Just buying two roots is enough, we didn’t make that much to make soup.”

“Who sells two roots? In the supermarket downstairs, they were in small hardcover boxes refrigerated for sale. Do you know how much a box is?”

Jiang Ting raised his eyebrows suspiciously.

“Why, what’s with that expression? People’s supermarkets are opening here, and it’s clear that they are killing the stupid and rich owners in this community.” Yan Xie sighed: “Is it easy to support a family these days? Middle-aged people like us, with no good temper, go to work from 9 to 5 all day long, and their wife is still not obedient when they come home…”

Jiang Ting said with a smile: “If you can’t afford it, then you can secretly pick two roots and come back, then the system will take care of you.”

Yan Xie muttered something, grabbed another handful from the change bowl, and decided to buy two packs of potato chips alongside the coriander. Fortunately, a new supermarket opened at the entrance of the community, which was only a few minutes’ walk away. Before leaving, he accepted the task of “taking down the garbage bag and throwing it away”.

Yan Xie, who felt that he was already a middle-aged man, took off his apron, put on his home clothes and flip-flops, and got out of the elevator with coins in one hand and a garbage bag in the other. It was already past seven o’clock in the evening. Vehicles came and went on the road in the distance. The beautiful trees in the community swayed slightly under the light of the brass-colored street lamps, making rustling noises. Yan Xie hummed a little tune while walking toward the gate of the community in his slippers when suddenly he heard a faint click behind him.

“?” Yan Xie turned around.

If it was someone else, it would be impossible for them to hear this voice, or it would only be regarded as a misconception. But Yan Xie’s listening ability, which he had trained over the years, was different from that of ordinary people who have not received training, and he stopped almost instantly.

The path behind was deserted, and over the bushes in the distance, there seemed to be a few young people running at night in the public garden.

…was it a kitten?

Yan Xie didn’t think much about it and continued to walk forward. After walking for a while, he suddenly remembered something and thought it was not right. Because of the accident of stray cats and dogs attacking children in this community, the property management was afraid of offending the rich and powerful owners, so they concentrated on cleaning up a wave of stray animals. A kitten showed up here so soon?

He stood still involuntarily, thinking that there should be leftover ribs in the garbage bag that had just been dumped from the refrigerator. At this moment, the green sign not far ahead suddenly flashed, fleetingly and too fast to capture. 

“……!”

Yan Xie’s pupils shrank, and he suddenly realized what it was—

Flash reflection.

Someone was following him.

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