[12/06, 15:00, Haijing City Public Security Bureau, Criminal Investigation Division]
Today, Yu Xue and Yi Shi were once again late for the meeting. Two familiar seats were left empty in the meeting room. Yuan Kang twirled a pen in his hand and asked, “Li Changsheng, where are Captain Yu and Yi Shi?”
“Captain Yu sent a message earlier saying they’d be five minutes late and asked us to start the meeting without them,” Li Changsheng replied.
Upon hearing that, Yuan Kang thought, “Five minutes, huh? Then we’ll wait a bit; there’s still time.”
Everyone pulled themselves out of the tense and serious meeting atmosphere, chatting a bit among themselves. Only Liu Chenyi was particularly displeased with the lack of punctuality, impatiently expressing his frustration: “Yesterday’s tardiness could be excused, but what were they doing today?”
Li Changsheng and the others kept their responses uniform and their expressions identical: “We don’t know.”
This left Liu Chenyi speechless: “…What’s wrong with you guys? You don’t even know your captain’s daily plans?”
The straightforward Ding Ju looked both innocent and aggrieved: “We really don’t know; Captain Yu didn’t tell us anything.”
Li Changsheng added gloomily: “There’s no rule in Nanyi that says the captain has to report to his team.”
“We don’t have that rule either,” Zhang Rui interjected, “It’s the captain who gives orders to subordinates. How can we control what the captain does?”
Song Ping rested her chin on her hand: “Captain Yu and Yi Shi must be dealing with something important, right?”
“Definitely. When those two are out together, they can take on an entire team.” Shao Shiqing said, “And Captain Yu is always punctual; he’d never be late to a meeting unless something came up.”
“I think so too. They always bring back surprises.”
Liu Chenyi’s expression twisted, what was this? That wasn’t his point at all, but now everyone was praising them. Those two had only been here a short while, yet they were already turning Haijing’s internal team against each other. What kind of charm did they have?
Yuan Kang was standing by the water dispenser, filling his teacup with water. He absentmindedly looked up, and his expression subtly changed. He waved to Li Changsheng, who walked over and heard Yuan Kang ask, “Is that Captain Yu downstairs?”
Li Changsheng lowered his head and looked down through the glass. Who else could the man walking from the parking lot towards the office building be, if not Yu Xue? And following behind him was a… a woman?!
The woman had medium-length, ash blonde hair, but her face was unclear from a distance. She was slender, dressed boldly and fashionably. It was December, yet she dared to bare her long legs under a mid-length woolen skirt. She was following behind Yu Xue, her steps clearly reluctant. The closer they got to the entrance, the further she lagged behind.
Yu Xue stopped, turned back, and spoke to her, seemingly trying to persuade her to come over. She occasionally shook her head, and she even turned to leave. When persuasion failed, Yu Xue simply grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. However, the beauty was evidently unwilling, as she grabbed the railing firmly and refused to move an inch. Yu Xue seemed helpless, stopping again to coax her with kind words. The two of them were separated only by a shoulder; the distance between them was rather intimate.
“This, this, this—” Li Changsheng was dumbfounded. Yuan Kang clearly misunderstood and teased in a low voice, “No wonder Captain Yu is late today; he was meeting his lover! Is that his girlfriend?”
“She… shouldn’t be…” Li Changsheng stammered. Yuan Kang thought he was afraid of gossiping and quickly covered his mouth with his hand, lowering his voice even more, “What’s the big deal? Having a girlfriend is a good thing! There are too many bachelors in the police force, and the leaders are eager to organize matchmaking events. Solving one case is one less problem! Don’t worry, as long as it doesn’t affect the case, I won’t mind.”
Li Changsheng forced a dry smile. How was he supposed to tell Yuan Kang that the issue wasn’t here, but rather—how could their Captain Yu possibly have a girlfriend?!
He had long heard from Shao Shiqing about Forensic Pathologist Qi’s heroic deeds, even being jealous of corpses. If Captain Yu had a “girlfriend” behind his back, it wouldn’t just bring trouble to the little family; it would shake the entire place.
So Li Changsheng returned to his seat, full of concern. Shao Shiqing, noticing, asked with concern, “What’s wrong? What did Captain Yuan say?”
“Something very puzzling.” Li Changsheng was conflicted and quietly asked, “Is Captain Yu still with that person?”
Shao Shiqing gave him a sidelong glance. What kind of question was that? The couple was doing very well. If you dared to curse their breakup, beware of Forensic Pathologist Qi showing up at your door in the middle of the night with a scalpel.
Li Changsheng was worried until someone opened the door and came in. It was the gentle and smiling Yu Xue. In his eyes, Captain Yu was glowing with happiness, truly a picture of “a man who meets joy, his spirit soars, and a red apricot branch leans over the wall (?).”
“Sorry, I had some personal matters to attend to.” Yu Xue sat down at his seat, winked at his team members, and said, “I’ll give you all a surprise later.”
“…” Li Changsheng covered his face. This isn’t a surprise, Captain, this is a shock! Forensic Pathologist Qi is going to start a revolt with a scalpel!
Today’s meeting was mainly to discuss the deployment for the operation on the 10th. Since they couldn’t take proactive action, they had to use the old method of luring the snake out of its hole. Yu Xue simplified the case of Lin Heyu World and made a corresponding deployment plan, circling “school bus” with a whiteboard marker: “This is the most advantageous vehicle for the criminals. A school bus isn’t like a cash transport van with armed SWAT officers; it’s easy to drive away a bus full of women and children. So, our main focus will be on the route from the school to the botanical garden, and the Baige Road, Xinmin Road, and Tanshan Road leading to Southern Cheng’an Mountain. These three routes must be blocked.”
This was exactly how Tu Laogui and his gang operated. They hijacked the school bus at the zoo, threatened the teachers and the principal to lie, and by the time the school realized something was wrong, the kidnappers had already taken the people into Cheng’an Mountain.
One of the Haijing team members raised his hand and said, “Captain Yu, Captain Yuan, is there really no other way? With a group of kids, we can’t protect them all. The risk is too high.”
“Of course I know. High risk, high reward, and this is currently the only way to catch the main culprit.” Yu Xue adjusted his glasses. “Besides, they may take the school bus on the way there, but who says they have to on the way back? Who says the school bus has to be full of real kids?”
Everyone suddenly understood, and Ding Ju was delighted, “Yes! We could place some child mannequins on the bus. From a distance, you can’t tell the difference. By the time they realize, it’s too late!”
“Is that really possible?” Zhang Rui was still skeptical, “What if it doesn’t go according to plan? What if they can’t wait and ambush us on the way?”
“Captain Yu’s information includes a specific time,” Song Ping nudged his arm, “Have you forgotten how Xu Shang was rescued?”
“But plans can’t keep up with changes…”
Yu Xue understood their concerns. After all, the usual thinking was that if the criminals knew their accomplices had been caught, they would worry about what they might reveal and change their original plan. But the information Yi Shi obtained was different. It was an established fact that had already happened. Based on experience, the time and place they received would be the most accurate.
On the other hand, the timing of the crime on the 10th might already be the result of modifications by Pang Daozi and his gang. What they hadn’t anticipated was that the police also had an “informant” from the opposite world, so if they followed the script, they were bound to fall into this trap.
Unfortunately, these principles couldn’t be explained to the people present. However, in terms of safety, Yu Xue had already made arrangements. Crossing his arms, Yu Xue smiled and said, “Your concern is valid. Therefore, to ensure the children’s safety, we’ll plant an undercover agent in the kindergarten to add an extra layer of protection to this operation.”
Sending someone into the kindergarten? That probably means… Zhang Rui glanced at Song Ping beside him and quickly spoke up, “Captain Yu, let me go. Song Ping can’t do it; she doesn’t have enough strength, her fighting skills aren’t good, and she can’t take on the criminals.”
Song Ping was surprised and grabbed his arm, “Hey! Who said that?! How did I get into the first team if I wasn’t qualified in those skills?”
Zhang Rui became anxious. What was wrong with this girl? Why did she insist on rushing toward danger? Of course, he knew how painful it was when Song Ping hit people, but wasn’t he just… afraid that something might happen to her?
These were not ordinary criminals—they were extremely dangerous outlaws that had been difficult to capture for a long time. They not only had guns but also explosives. If they encountered such powerful weapons, even someone with three heads and six arms couldn’t escape unscathed.
With his beloved’s safety at stake, Zhang Rui showed an unusual persistence at this moment. He simply stood up, saluted Yuan Kang, and with a fearless spirit, said, “Captain Yuan! I want to go undercover, please approve my request!”
“What’s gotten into you?!” Song Ping was so angry that she pinched his arm. “Can’t you just follow the captain’s arrangements?”
Everyone in the meeting room was watching them like they were watching a play. Ding Ju whispered to Shao Shiqing, “I’m thinking that Captain Yu didn’t say he was going to let the young lady take this risk, did he? Zhang Rui just exposed himself with those few actions.”
“He doesn’t know our Captain Yu well. How could Captain Yu possibly let a female officer charge ahead in such an operation?”
Li Changsheng felt a jolt in his heart, recalling the woman Yu Xue had brought earlier, and his thoughts began to take a wild turn: No way, no way—did Captain Yu really lure a beautiful woman over just to perfect this plan?!
Yu Xue was also baffled and asked Yuan Kang, “Did I say anything?”
Yuan Kang laughed, “He’s predicting your next instruction.”
Yu Xue looked at Song Ping and spread his hands helplessly, “But I wasn’t planning to have her go undercover.”
Zhang Rui was stunned. Most of the teachers in the kindergarten were women, and the only female officer here was Song Ping. If she wasn’t used, then who would be? Or was there another option for the undercover role besides a teacher, like a driver or a security guard?
Thinking of this, Zhang Rui immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Concern leads to confusion—how had he not thought of this possibility before? If it were a security guard or driver, there were plenty of options, like Yi Shi, who hadn’t arrived yet. He had seen with his own eyes how capable Yi Shi was in a fight; despite his slender frame, he could definitely take on five opponents at once.
Song Ping, thinking the captain was influenced by Zhang Rui’s words and had altered the decision, quickly stood up and said, “Reporting, Captain! Don’t listen to Zhang Rui’s nonsense. Please don’t hold any stereotypical views about female officers. I’m fully capable of handling this mission!”
“Rest assured, I absolutely trust in the capabilities of our female officers; they are every bit as good as the men.” Yu Xue put down the whiteboard marker and smiled warmly. “But I do have a more suitable candidate in mind; your assignment will be elsewhere.”
“Who is it?” Song Ping looked at the empty seat across from her. “Is it Yi Shi?”
“No, it’s not him.” Yu Xue pointed towards the office, “The person has already arrived; go take a look, and you’ll know.”
