Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Climbing Up by Stepping on India

Police headquarters building, interrogation room one.

Qin Yu twirled his pen in his right hand and asked the girl in front of him softly, “Feeling any better?”

“Yeah.”

The girl smoothed the ends of her hair. Her eyes looked a little dazed, and her face still carried the look of someone who hadn’t quite recovered from a shock. She hesitated for a long moment before nodding.

Qin Yu glanced at her condition, got up and walked over to the water dispenser to pour her a cup of hot water, then set it on the table. “Have some water. If you feel unwell anywhere, you can go get checked at the hospital.”

“Thank you, I… I don’t need to go to the hospital. I don’t have any external injuries.” The girl picked up the cup, politely thanked him, then took a deep breath. “Go ahead and ask.”

“Alright, I’ll start then.” Qin Yu sat back down, picked up the interrogation notebook, and began taking notes. “Name?”

“Lin Nianlei.”

“Age.”

“20.”

“Gender.”

“??” Lin Nianlei was a bit thrown off. “Can’t you tell?”

“There’s a body camera recording. I have to ask.” Qin Yu smiled and explained.

“Female.”

“Place of registered residence.”

“……!” Lin Nianlei visibly hesitated when she heard that. “Fengbei City.”

“You’re from the special zone capital?”

“Yes.”

“……So what brings you here? Work, or a residence transfer?” Although Qin Yu had never done an interrogation before, the notebook had simple and easy-to-understand form categories that were self-explanatory. And since he was worried about making a mistake on his first interrogation, he was being very thorough.

“Work.”

“……!”

Once the basic information was confirmed, Qin Yu began preparing to ask about the case. “You were kidnapped — where did it happen? Do you know who the people were?”

“I’m not sure either. I had just come from……” Just as Lin Nianlei was about to answer the questions about the case, the office door was suddenly pushed open, and Director Li walked in with Old Cat and the others.

Qin Yu glanced back and immediately stood up to greet him. “Director Li.”

“In the middle of questioning?” Director Li asked, hands clasped behind his back.

“Yes, just verifying the basic details.”

“Hello, Miss Lin.” After nodding to Qin Yu, Director Li extended his hand and greeted Lin Nianlei politely. “I’m the head of the police division. My surname is Li.”

“Hello.” Lin Nianlei nodded and shook his hand.

“Someone from the streaming network is here to pick you up. You can head out.” Director Li weighed his words for a moment, then said with a cheerful smile, “Leave the case to us. The other two suspects won’t get away either.”

Hearing this, Qin Yu felt a little curious, because Director Li hadn’t been in the room just now, yet he already knew the girl’s name, and from the looks of it, he seemed ready to let her go without continuing the interrogation. Qin Yu took a few more glances at the girl. She was about 1.7 meters tall, with a slender figure. Although her face had some dirt on it and her hair was quite disheveled, it did nothing to hide her delicate and pretty features.

Old Cat said Lin Nianlei looked a bit like the once very popular Jun Ji-hyun, but Qin Yu thought she was more captivating than Jun Ji-hyun. Her eyes were bigger and more expressive, and her proportions were better too. Most importantly, this girl had very fair skin — clear and luminous, like a porcelain doll. And in this day and age, what kind of family’s child could be kept in such condition? Someone who never had to do a lick of work?

It was obvious that Director Li’s sudden visit, and his intention to release her without even completing the basic interrogation, had to have a very good reason behind it.

After Lin Nianlei exchanged a few brief words with Director Li, everyone headed downstairs together.

Five minutes later, downstairs. A few middle-aged men stepped out of a pure electric sedan, exchanged a few cheerful pleasantries with Director Li, then took Lin Nianlei and left in a hurry. Qin Yu glanced at the pass on the car’s windshield and saw it was a vehicle from the Songjiang City Propaganda Division.

After everyone watched Lin Nianlei leave, Director Li stepped aside to make a few phone calls, then turned and called out, “You two, come to my office.”

“What’s going on?” Qin Yu turned and asked Old Cat.

Old Cat scratched his nose and replied in a low voice, “You lucky bastard, you just got here and you’ve already caught the eye of the higher-ups. Damn. But then again, it makes sense — a capable person can’t go wrong no matter where they go.”

Hearing that, Qin Yu immediately felt reassured.

……

A few minutes later.

In the office, Director Li patted Qin Yu on the shoulder and sighed, “I said you had something special about you, but I didn’t expect you to make such an impression this fast.”

“It was just luck.” Qin Yu grinned.

“What a credit, a real credit!” Director Li couldn’t hide his delight as he clasped his hands behind his back and paced around the room, laughing as he said, “That Matsushita had a string of major cases on him — he was someone the General Bureau had specifically called for. But he ran off to the unplanned zones a couple of years ago, and there was nothing anyone could do. Then the moment he comes back, he goes down at your hands. Tomorrow at the meeting, I’ll have something to brag about at headquarters. You just got here and you’ve already given me a boost — that deserves recognition.”

Qin Yu listened quietly without responding.

“Ah!” Director Li bent down and sat in his chair, lowered his head and lit one of the Zhonghua cigarettes Qin Yu had given him, then continued with a somewhat regretful expression. “If this had happened to someone else, they could jump straight from third-rank officer to first-rank. Once the corresponding grade comes through, there’d be no problem making them a team leader. But your situation is a bit tricky — you just got here, your records have been in the system for less than twenty-four hours… If I push for your promotion by force, there might be talk.”

Old Cat heard that and immediately spoke up on Qin Yu’s behalf. “Credit isn’t something that gets handed to you — it’s something you fight for with your life. Who chased Matsushita down? Who killed him? Who rescued the hostage? It’s all right there in plain sight. What are you afraid of? If you let other people’s blabbering stop you, you can’t even take a shit anymore — how are you supposed to run a division?”

“Watch how you talk to me.” The usually composed Director Li looked at Qin Yu with an awkward expression, then snapped at Old Cat.

Old Cat blinked and said nothing more.

“Xiao Qin, the credit is yours — no one can take that away. But things inside the division are a bit complicated. You just got here, and if I push you up by force, it really won’t look good.” Director Li looked at Qin Yu with a neutral expression. “But we’ve got time. We’ll take it step by step.”

“Director, you’ve already done a lot for me. I’m grateful.” Qin Yu smiled. “It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Within one month, I’ll first get you converted from probationary officer to third-rank. Tomorrow I’ll have someone write up the case report and send it to the police bureau — getting you a personal third-class merit citation shouldn’t be a problem. Once the commendation comes through, moving you up to second-rank by year’s end will be a natural progression.” Director Li deliberated for a moment, then continued with a wave of his hand. “As for right now, making you a team leader isn’t feasible — you haven’t been here long enough, you don’t know anyone in the unit, and if you suddenly became team leader, no one would respect you. How about this: I’ll have a word with Yuan Ke and have you made deputy team leader. This appointment is decided internally and won’t go into the system or carry an official title, but once you’ve settled in, I’ll find an opening and make it official. On top of that, this case comes with a separate bonus of 3,000 for you, and at the end-of-month review, I’ll give you an individual outstanding performance award.”

“Thank you, Director.” Qin Yu was actually already very pleased with this outcome and immediately saluted in thanks.

“Alright then, that’s that.” Director Li waved his hand. “You two can head out.”

“Get some rest.”

“Let’s go.”

With that, Qin Yu and Old Cat left together. Director Li took a sip of water and was just about to get up and head home when his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Director Li, I wanted to ask — in the case report, how should we write up the part about Lao San’s situation? Should we factor in Team Leader Yuan……?”

Director Li thought for a moment. “I’ve heard a bit about what happened with him. That guy didn’t go to the restaurant to make an arrest. Here’s what you do — put the emphasis on……”

……

The following day at noon, inside the hospital.

“What did the higher-ups say?” Lao San lay in his hospital bed and asked a colleague.

“The division will cover all medical expenses for the injured, and they’ll also apply to the police bureau to get our team a collective third-class merit citation. As for financial rewards — excluding Qin Yu — seriously injured personnel will each receive 5,000, and those not seriously injured will each receive 3,000.” The colleague replied with a downcast look.

Lao San stared blankly after hearing that. “What about Qin Yu and Old Cat?”

“Not sure about Old Cat.” The colleague shook his head. “But I heard Director Li has already promised Qin Yu that he’ll definitely move him up to second-rank officer by year’s end, and will apply for a personal third-class merit citation for him. Ha, and the office has already notified the unit that he’s going to be made deputy team leader.”

Hearing this, Lao San’s head started buzzing. “Is there any justice left? Is there any fairness? Is this Qin Yu Li’s illegitimate son or something?! I put in the most people, I took the worst beating, a grenade came flying at us and I thought we were all going to be meeting each other at the martyrs’ cemetery — and in the end, the one who reaps the rewards is some greenhorn who just showed up? On what grounds? On what grounds does the division apply for a personal merit citation for him but a collective one for me? Look at this bullet wound on my ass — if I hadn’t dodged fast enough, that bullet would’ve gone straight through my rectum. And in the end the division gives me 5,000…… What does that mean? I’m asking you, what does that mean?”

“What’s the point of asking me.” The colleague rolled his eyes. “Someone in the unit did speak up for you, but Director Li shut it down in one sentence. Matsushita was a hard target — whoever takes him down gets the credit. Not to mention Qin Yu didn’t even kill him on the spot, he chased him down and killed him himself. And the higher-ups also know full well what we went to that restaurant to do……”

“Stop talking.” Lao San couldn’t be bothered to listen anymore. He lay in bed with a look of exhaustion and muttered, “My mom always said ever since I was little…… that I have bad luck……”

……

Lao San was furious. He felt that Qin Yu had stolen the credit that was rightfully his. But in truth, Qin Yu was also a bit wronged, because the biggest beneficiary of this whole affair wasn’t him either — it was Old Cat, who Director Li hadn’t even mentioned.

First-rank officer straight to third-rank sergeant.

At the same time, with an internal position adjustment, he quietly became deputy captain of the third team, and his personal third-class merit citation was approved within a single day.

Not many people in the division knew about this, but everyone who did hear about it was privately speculating about the relationship between Old Cat and Director Li — and that included Qin Yu. They also couldn’t help but reflect: those who work their hardest can’t beat those with good fortune, and those with good fortune can’t beat those who control their own destiny……

The day after the small storm died down, Lao San’s backer Yuan Ke boarded a train back to Songjiang City.