“You said Xu Shijin stole your plan,” Ji Xun repeated. “That means this plan wasn’t just a thought; you even simulated or practiced it. Otherwise, how could Xu Shijin steal a plan that should have only existed in your mind? How far did your plan go? Xu Shijin’s drugs didn’t just appear out of thin air. You believe she was able to buy them because of you, which is why you used the word ‘stole’? Zhou Zhaonan, you didn’t write the murder plan down on paper, or get followed by her, did you?”
“I’m not stupid enough to write it down.”
“Then you were followed. Followed to the place where drugs are sold? Wow, Zhou Zhaonan, that means you know where to trade drugs. That’s quite something. In that case, tell me the details of the drug den. There should be new clues there.”
Zhou Zhaonan looked at Ji Xun, his eyes growing darker than usual. The little light in his pupils was obscured by clouds, then a fierce wind gathered, and a torrential downpour began…
“You want to be a police officer… Shouldn’t you be trying to stop my murderous thoughts?”
“You may want to kill someone, but you haven’t killed anyone yet, Zhou Zhaonan.”
“But right now, you only care about Xu Shijin.”
“Zhou Zhaonan, are you jealous?” Ji Xun teased. “I’m not ignoring you. If you killed someone, I would definitely arrest you and throw you in prison. However, an ordinary police officer solves cases with all their might, an excellent police officer solves every case they encounter, but the best police officer—prevents crime before it happens, nipping it in the bud. Since you’ve met the best kind of police officer like me, how could you still want to kill someone? This is the highest level of intelligence: prevention without form.”
“…”
“I’ll take your silence as agreement.”
“…” Zhou Zhaonan was speechless. “You’re always saying how smart you are. If I have a riddle I can’t figure out, will you help me find the answer?”
“Not everyone can ask for my help, but for the sake of our revolutionary friendship, I’ll help you.”
Ji Xun smiled. He lowered his head, and his sharp gaze, upon meeting Zhou Zhaonan’s, was like a refreshing breeze.
“And I’ll definitely find the answer for you. So, what’s the riddle? Let’s hear it.”
“…Let’s wait until Xu Shijin’s case is over.” Zhou Zhaonan’s hands clasped together slightly. After a few dozen seconds, he stood up, patted his pants, and suddenly started talking about Xu Shijin again.
“I can tell you my plan. But since going through the police won’t work, let’s go with my previous suggestion: follow Yu Xiaoyu to confirm Xu Shijin’s location.”
“Who said going through the police won’t work?”
Zhou Zhaonan looked at him, puzzled.
“Zhou Zhaonan, you still have some misconceptions about the police. Although we ran into a dumb… a naive senior, I told you, he doesn’t represent all police. At all times, the police should do what is within their duties—and right now, Xu Shijin is within their duties.”
“Of course,” Ji Xun rubbed his nose again, “that’s the theoretical principle. In practice, we always encounter various difficulties. As you said, you have to be flexible, so we need to take a slightly roundabout approach to save the day…”
“Such as?”
“For example, we first need to wash away the label on us. And the most effective way to wash away a label is to stick on a new one.”
Zhou Zhaonan waited quietly for Ji Xun to speak.
Ji Xun said it all in one breath: “Replace ‘paranoid kid who talks nonsense’ with ‘student who provided an accurate tip leading to the discovery of a drug trafficking den.’ What do you think? And for that, Zhou Zhaonan, I’ll have to trouble you to bring out your murder plan—”
Ji Xun entered the police station once again. This time he brought Zhou Zhaonan with him, and as expected, he saw Officer Qin again.
It was the midday break, and Officer Qin was very relaxed, joking and laughing with his colleagues. When he saw Ji Xun walk back into the police station, the smile was still on his face, but his brow was already deeply furrowed. Half his face was smiling, the other half was pained, giving him a comical look.
“Why are you here again!”
Officer Qin didn’t have time to say more to his colleagues and hurriedly grabbed Ji Xun’s arm.
“I told you not to make a big deal out of nothing. I won’t harm you, junior…”
“Little Qin, you know them?” a voice interjected from the side. A burly police officer in a camouflage long-sleeved shirt, who looked as imposing as a tank walking toward them, came out of an office.
“Uh…” Officer Qin said, “Captain Zhong?”
Captain Zhong, Zhong Youdao, the captain of the Qin City anti-drug squad. After reporting that they had information about drug dealers at the front desk, Ji Xun and Zhou Zhaonan had been directed here to give their intelligence to Captain Zhong.
He gave Officer Qin a fake smile. “Sorry, senior, I’m not here to see you this time. Please move.”
Officer Qin gave him a murderous look: You’ve got guts, junior! Filing a false report with the anti-drug squad!
Ji Xun paid him no mind and followed Captain Zhong directly into the office.
Perhaps it was a case of like attracts like, or maybe the leader set the tone. Captain Zhong looked like a muscle man, and his subordinates, one by one, looked like veteran fitness coaches who had been training in a gym for ten years, with rosy complexions and well-developed muscles. If you met them in an alley, one of them could probably take on three people.
Although… these people looked very reassuring.
But as Ji Xun looked around, for some reason, an inexplicable sense of unease rose in his heart…
Zhou Zhaonan remained silent. He seemed to be silent most of the time unless it was necessary. And since Captain Zhong started questioning them right away, Ji Xun had to temporarily set aside his feelings and abandon the emotion he couldn’t figure out, starting to relay the information he had heard from Zhou Zhaonan to the captain.
Although Captain Zhong’s name and appearance were very masculine, his attitude was very amiable. He listened to Ji Xun’s words with great patience and focus.
The drug trafficking method Zhou Zhaonan had investigated involved making an appointment through a secret code in an online game, followed by an impromptu transaction on-site. This online transaction method was very covert and highly fluid, a model the anti-drug squad had not dealt with before. But fortunately, it didn’t seem to require much preparation. They just had to follow the model, bring enough manpower, have one officer pretend to be a buyer and arrange the secret code at an internet cafe, while the others were positioned around to make the arrest.
As for Ji Xun and Zhou Zhaonan, who provided the tip, they certainly couldn’t go to the dangerous scene. They were left behind and told they would be notified of the results.
Zhou Zhaonan still had class, so he went back to school when the time was right. As for Ji Xun, since he had nothing else to do, he simply stayed at the police station to wait for the results.
He waited the entire afternoon. By the time Zhou Zhaonan, who had finished his afternoon classes, returned to the police station, Ji Xun was still sitting idly in the waiting area, his phone almost dead from playing with it.
“No results yet?” Zhou Zhaonan asked.
“I guess not. Captain Zhong isn’t back yet…” Just as Ji Xun answered, speak of the devil, Captain Zhong walked into the police station. But his expression was not bright, and there were no handcuffed criminals beside him.
They didn’t catch anyone. Ji Xun’s heart sank. Why?
Officer Qin appeared out of nowhere again, his face very ugly as he shouted at Ji Xun, “I told you before, don’t listen to rumors and act rashly! You’ve filed a false police report again and again! Do you know what law you’ve broken? Stop fooling around and go back to school to study—”
“Alright,” Captain Zhong stopped Officer Qin. Although it was a wasted trip, he still treated Ji Xun with a pleasant expression. In anti-drug work, if you don’t have some composure and patience, you can’t get results. “Not seeing anyone on the first try doesn’t mean anything. We will try again later. Besides, today isn’t over yet. The people around the scene will wait until two in the morning before pulling out.”
“…” Ji Xun.
This course of action was completely correct for the police, but for Ji Xun at this moment, it was not good news… it was the worst news imaginable.
He had skipped class to come to Qin City, which meant he couldn’t stay for too long. Besides, if time dragged on, who knew what else Xu Shijin would do? Was he really going to have to do as Zhou Zhaonan said, follow Yu Xiaoyu and bet on the chance that she would go see Xu Shijin…?
All sorts of thoughts swirled in Ji Xun’s mind.
At this moment, Zhou Zhaonan suddenly stood up and walked directly out of the police station.
“Zhou Zhaonan!” Ji Xun called out to him, but Zhou Zhaonan walked out of the police station without turning his head.
Ji Xun quickly chased after him. Only when they were both outside did Zhou Zhaonan speak.
“Why do you think the police failed?”
He didn’t doubt his intelligence at all—except for very occasional moments and very special circumstances, he was always very confident in himself. He always said Ji Xun was confident, but the confidence he sometimes inadvertently revealed was in no way inferior to Ji Xun’s.
Ji Xun didn’t doubt it either. His IQ was normal. He said slowly, “I’m afraid there were lookouts for the drug dealers at the scene. They saw the undercover anti-drug police officer who was tall, well-built, and had an unfamiliar face, so they weren’t willing to do business.”
“So,” Zhou Zhaonan said, “someone like me, with both arms broken, should be able to go to the internet cafe and successfully arrange a meet-up.”
“…?!”
To be honest, Ji Xun had always thought his thinking was meticulous, his actions decisive, and his courage great—a natural-born police officer. But this time, he was a bit dazed, feeling that he was actually no match for someone three years his junior. He even had second thoughts right at the door of the internet cafe, the transaction location.
He pulled Zhou Zhaonan back. “I think your previous plan was good. We follow Yu Xiaoyu…”
Zhou Zhaonan said, “I think my current plan is better.”
Ji Xun struggled again. “This plan is still flawed. There are obviously police ambushing the area, but we couldn’t find them just now. To get a ‘no backup’ result when there is backup feels a bit stupid. It’s like having a million troops and a hundred thousand in reserve but insisting on charging through Changbanpo alone…”
“Are you scared?” Zhou Zhaonan hit the nail on the head.
Could the future’s most awesome police officer admit he was scared? Ji Xun said, “What scared? It’s caution! Time doesn’t go backward, and life doesn’t start over. Zhou Zhaonan, let’s cherish our useful bodies to help more people! Besides, is it fair for a Paralympian to compete against an Olympian?”
“…” Zhou Zhaonan gave him a long look. “The police have already been here once. They won’t agree to our plan for fear of alerting the target. And even if they do catch the person, do you think they’ll let you question them about whether Xu Shijin bought drugs, or even if they did, would they tell you the result?”
Ji Xun… Ji Xun was persuaded by Zhou Zhaonan.
He followed Zhou Zhaonan into the internet cafe, sent out the secret signal, and then waited patiently.
They waited for about an hour. It was already past the bell for Zhou Zhaonan’s evening self-study class when a man slowly approached. He was of average height and build, with no moles or beard on his face—an ordinary man who would disappear in a crowd.
Even with Ji Xun’s excellent memory, he had to stare at the man for a full minute to commit him to memory.
The man beckoned to them and led them to a secluded private booth.
“Call me A’Gong,” he said, sitting down casually, his eyes slightly narrowed, looking at Ji Xun. “What are you staring at me for? Is there a flower on my face?”
Ji Xun didn’t back down. He met the other’s gaze and gave him a thumbs-up. “Being born with a face like that is truly a gift. You were born for this line of work. You’ve never been caught by the police, have you?”
A’Gong smiled smugly but didn’t answer Ji Xun. His gaze slid over to Zhou Zhaonan.
“Aren’t you the student who came to our boss with a mineral water bottle last time?” He looked Zhou Zhaonan up and down with snake-like eyes, a gaze that made his ordinary face look dangerous. “Last time you said you had goods to sell to us. What, it’s only been a few days, and now you’re coming to us to buy?”
Ji Xun’s body tensed slightly, but he didn’t show it on his face, still maintaining a relaxed smile.
There must be lookouts in the internet cafe. Their every move had been observed from the moment they entered. Since the dealer chose to meet them, it meant they were still unsure if they were legitimate buyers and were somewhat willing to make a deal.
He couldn’t lose his composure.
He glanced at Zhou Zhaonan out of the corner of his eye. Zhou Zhaonan looked even more relaxed than he did.
Zhou Zhaonan just lowered his head slightly. “Both of my hands are broken. How could I possibly have any goods?”
“Oh…” A’Gong was slightly suspicious. “Is the competition that fierce where you’re from? There’s no need for that. Harmony brings wealth. Those who only know how to fight are just thugs, crazy in the head.”
“Brother, your insight is truly profound,” Ji Xun said with admiration. Well, well, even drug dealing has its own hierarchy of contempt. Impressive.
“Mmm,” Zhou Zhaonan also agreed. “I came this time because my hands hurt. I plan to get something for the pain.”
A’Gong still seemed to have doubts. His eyes darted back and forth between Zhou Zhaonan and Ji Xun. But he couldn’t find any flaws for the moment, so the fingers that were on the table finally reached into his pocket and slowly took something out…
Ji Xun had sharp eyes and had already seen the small transparent plastic bag and the white powder inside.
This simple?
He suppressed his excitement and held his breath for a few seconds, waiting for A’Gong’s hand to come out completely.
Three…
Two…
One…
A’Gong’s hand was completely out of his pocket. He flipped his hand over, palm up, with the small bag in the center.
A glint appeared in Zhou Zhaonan’s eyes, and he reached for it.
But at that moment, A’Gong suddenly closed his palm, clenching the bag of powder.
“What’s wrong?” Ji Xun asked.
“Don’t be hasty,” A’Gong said. He opened the bag and poured the white powder onto Zhou Zhaonan’s outstretched palm. “You need something for the pain, right? Here, try a taste on the spot.”
The white powder on his palm suddenly flashed with a hallucinatory light, the glow like a flame, scorching his palm.
“What…?”
