Two hours later, in the Bureau Director’s office at the Police Department.
Bureau Director Li pounded the table, his face contorted in rage as he roared, “What the hell are you doing, Yuan Ke? A coordinated raid, and how did it end up like this? Damn it, look down at this report—how many bandits were there? Are your team members made of paper? Huh?! A fully equipped assault, and you managed to get four of our men killed? How am I supposed to report this to the Police Headquarters?”
Yuan Ke kept his head down. “Bureau Director, I was handling another case, this matter… forget it. I won’t make excuses. In short, with such a major failure, I’m willing to take responsibility.”
“Take responsibility? Then stop being a Team Leader and let someone competent take over,” Bureau Director Li barked, his face stern.
Yuan Ke suddenly looked up, staring at Bureau Director Li without saying a word.
“Damn it.” Bureau Director Li paced in a circle with his hands behind his back, still furious as he continued cursing. “I read the report. This Qi Lin isn’t just useless; he has problems. Put him under supervision immediately. He might have a deal with the bandits, otherwise why didn’t he fire a single shot? We need to investigate this thoroughly.”
Yuan Ke straightened up and responded without hesitation, “He’s already under control. Qin Yu and Lao Mao are interrogating the arrested suspects and taking their statements.”
Bureau Director Li’s face was grim. He paced around the room again, then suddenly turned back to look at Yuan Ke. “I’ll be straight with you. In today’s environment, everyone has their own little schemes. People wanting to make money, wanting promotions, wanting to find a patron—the Police Department is full of them, and I’m no exception. But your little schemes must never touch others’ interests, and you must never use the Police Department or certain people to do your dirty work. Otherwise, when things blow up, no one will look good.”
Hearing this, Yuan Ke was taken aback, then immediately straightened up and responded, “Bureau Director Li, the rumors outside might not have anything to do with me. I think you might be misunderstanding me.”
“Whether it’s a misunderstanding or not, you can’t hide it, and I’m not blind. We’ll see.” Bureau Director Li walked to the window, looking frustrated. “You draft the report for the Police Headquarters. Make it detailed… As for the aftermath, you handle it personally. Submit the required funds, and I’ll consider signing off.”
“Yes!” Yuan Ke saluted.
…
Late that night, Yuan Ke hosted a gathering at Sister Er’s Restaurant, inviting twenty to thirty prominent underworld figures from Black Street and other districts.
In the second-floor hall, Yuan Ke smiled and toasted everyone three times before speaking up. “All you elders and brothers have probably heard about our team’s operation on Third Ring Road tonight. The bandits killed four of our brothers. The higher-ups are furious, haha, they almost stripped me of my uniform. Since there are no outsiders here, I’ll speak plainly… I am definitely taking down these drug dealers. If everyone could give me some leeway and make things easy, I, Yuan Ke, will definitely repay the favor in the future. But if anyone wants to protect them, or secretly helps them evade arrest, then you’re going against me and the Police Department. For the next year, I won’t do anything else—I’ll focus entirely on hitting whoever does that.”
“Team Leader Yuan, what are you saying? You’ve asked us. Who would refuse you?”
“Ah, this is such a small matter. Just a few drug dealers, right? We’ll ask around and quickly dig them out for you.”
“…”
Hearing Yuan Ke’s words, the crowd wasn’t offended and voiced their agreement one by one.
Yuan Ke bowed and poured more drinks, smiling at the crowd. “Thank you all for the respect. Thank you.”
A while later, after the serious business concluded, the banquet dispersed. A burly man got into his car, looked down, and returned a phone call.
“Hello? Old Man Ma!”
“I need a favor. Help me move a few people out of the special zone,” Old Man Ma’s voice rang out.
The burly man chuckled. “I won’t ask who they are, but I can’t help with this.”
“Not enough money?”
“Yuan Ke from the Police Department is seeing red. He invited us to dinner as if he had a machine gun trained on us. Doesn’t that sound intimidating?” the burly man said in a low voice. “Old Man Ma, it’s not that I’m afraid of him, but there’s no need to offend the authorities, you know?”
“Alright, pretend I never made this call.”
“Yeah, later.”
With that, the two ended the call.
…
8:30 in the morning.
A special-grade arrest warrant for A Long was issued from the Police Headquarters to the six major districts of Songjiang City. After receiving the order, the various branch Police Departments immediately directed their subordinate public security units to assist in the investigation.
The previously unknown A Long suddenly became notorious throughout Songjiang and made a name for himself across the underworld. Everyone now knew that the Police Headquarters had personally issued the order to take this man down.
When Qin Yu first took over this case from Yuan Ke, he thought it wasn’t a big deal. But he never expected it to reach this point. The situation seemed to have spiraled out of control and grown severe, and he inexplicably felt as though he was constantly being pushed forward by someone.
In the Team Leader’s office.
Qin Yu frowned at Yuan Ke and said, “I underestimated the raid.”
“I know what the problem is.” Yuan Ke waved his hand. “You have your responsibilities, but we also have our limitations. That lead drug dealer knew he would die if caught, so he had to fight desperately. But some of our officers think that even if they don’t catch anyone, they’ll still collect a salary at the end of the month. Their motivations are different, so their mindsets are definitely different. That’s the reality we’re dealing with. I know that.”
Qin Yu didn’t respond to this.
“Whether you get punished depends on if the case can be cracked, to what extent, and whether the higher-ups are satisfied.” Yuan Ke spoke pragmatically. “This isn’t over yet. Put some effort into it; I have high hopes for you, Qin Yu.”
“Thank you, Team Leader.” Since returning last night, Qin Yu’s heart had been in his throat. He thought that because he botched the job, the higher-ups would definitely skin him alive and punish him severely. He hadn’t expected Yuan Ke to actually shoulder some of the blame for Group Three and Lao Mao, explicitly telling Qin Yu to focus his main energy on breaking the case.
“Knock knock!”
While the two were talking, a knock sounded at the door.
“Come in!” Yuan Ke called out.
The office door opened. A young man in a standard uniform saluted and said, “The statements are out. The arrested thugs confessed. They didn’t have an inside man and didn’t receive any tip-offs…”
Yuan Ke frowned and asked, “Are you sure?”
“The two thugs gave identical statements; it doesn’t seem like they’re lying.”
“Then release Qi Lin from supervision.” Yuan Ke considered it before replying.
The young man hesitated before asking, “And his punishment…?”
Yuan Ke responded without hesitation, “The facts show he’s not suited for frontline fieldwork. Transfer him to the Logistics Department first, and notify him once the disciplinary decision is made.”
“Yes!” The young man saluted and left.
Hearing this, Qin Yu sighed inwardly but didn’t speak up for Qi Lin. When it came to surviving in a frontline unit, no one could really help anyone else.
…
A few minutes later.
Qin Yu walked out of the office. He was just about to grab breakfast before coming back to handle Lao Hei’s line-of-duty death when he heard Lao Mao and Qi Lin arguing fiercely in the stairwell.
At the same time, downstairs.
Lin Nianlei, wearing a woolen coat and a cute pink scarf around her neck, her hair messy, shouted at the duty officer, “I want to report a crime.”
Author’s Note: All three of today’s chapters have now been posted.