Chapter 30

Chapter 30 Once You’re Out, I’ll Find Someone to Take Care of You

Qin Yu wolfed down a quick meal in the cafeteria, then rushed straight to the interrogation room. Meanwhile, Yuan Ke had already picked up Director Li by car and was on the way to the station.

In the dim interrogation room, A-Long sat slouched in the iron chair, idly playing with the shackles on his wrists.

“Want to warm up first?” Qin Yu took a sip of water and clipped his work badge to his chest. “My name is Qin Yu. I’m the leader of Group 3, Criminal Investigation Team 1, and I’m directly in charge of your case.”

A-Long squinted at Qin Yu. “I know you.”

“You know me?” Qin Yu was caught off guard. “How come I don’t know that.”

“I got to know you through a friend.” A-Long replied with a smile. “But you probably haven’t seen me before.”

A-Long wasn’t talking nonsense. He had actually seen Qin Yu before, because before leaving he had wanted to check on his home and had secretly kept an eye on Qi Lin a few times, noticing that Qin Yu had dealings with his younger brother and that they seemed to be on pretty good terms.

“Man, the key point of your case isn’t about who you know. It’s that the value of your testimony will directly determine the outcome.” Qin Yu changed the subject and said bluntly, “Right now, you’re the biggest fish among everyone we’ve caught. If you don’t give up someone more important, you’ll definitely be pinned as the main culprit… At that point, even if you were a relative of the mayor, nobody could help you.”

“Heh.” A-Long looked at Qin Yu and smiled. “Come on, pull up a chair and sit next to me.”

Qin Yu was taken aback.

“Aren’t we here to talk? Then get closer and let’s have a real conversation.” A-Long rattled his iron shackles and waved Qin Yu over.

“Sure, let’s talk then.” Qin Yu didn’t hesitate. He dragged a chair over next to A-Long, bent down and sat. “Let’s get started.”

“Actually, even if I hadn’t seen you through that friend, I still would’ve known your name.” A-Long wore a smile on his face. “You’re Qin Yu, right?”

Qin Yu frowned and paused for two seconds. “Old Ma told you, didn’t he?”

“No.” A-Long raised his hand slightly and pointed at Qin Yu, his expression mocking. “It’s the drug dealers who buy from my network. They’ve all heard your name by now. They talk about you in my ear every single day.”

“Talk about me?” Qin Yu raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah. You know what they talk about?” A-Long asked with a grin.

“What?”

“Ha, they’re telling me all the ways they could take you out fast.”

“…!” Qin Yu froze at those words.

A-Long glanced at the security camera out of the corner of his eye, lowered his voice a few notches, and patted Qin Yu’s arm with the back of his hand. “Brother! You don’t actually think Yuan Ke put you on this case, gave you room to move up, just because he likes you and thinks highly of you, do you?”

Qin Yu scoffed. “Look at you, sitting in that chair and still trying to stir things up.”

“Tsk tsk, you’re really as naive as a kid.” A-Long lowered his head and shook it. “Yuan Ke has so many loyalists in Team 1. Which one of them doesn’t have more seniority than you? So why did he give you a case this loaded with credit? Are you two blood relatives or something?”

“Then you tell me, why did he specifically put me on this case?” Qin Yu asked.

“Because you’re reckless, because you’re still hungry, because you need to prove yourself here and that means going all out for results! Because you’re new, because you have no connections behind you, because you don’t owe anyone a favor while working a case and you won’t be weighed down by personal obligations!” A-Long smiled at the corner of his mouth. “Why the sudden crackdown on us dealers? And why is Yuan Ke so fixated on the Ma family’s network?”

Qin Yu fell silent again at those words.

“There’s another group of dealers on Black Street lately, quietly moving very small quantities at twice our price. Have you heard about that?” A-Long asked.

Qin Yu was startled, and instantly thought of what Lin Nianlei had gone through that day, and the “broad-minded” Tiger.

“Little brother, there’s no such thing as unconditional love these days. From where you’re standing, he treats you really well. But from another angle, you’re just a gun being pointed in the dark…!” A-Long tilted his head and looked at Qin Yu. “Throughout history, what’s always happened to the gun? Do you know?”

Qin Yu held back for a long moment, then gave a thumbs up. “Well-reasoned, well-supported provocation. Very convincing.”

“Heh, you know best what’s going through your own head right now.” A-Long lowered his head and added quietly, “The reason I’m telling you all this isn’t out of unconditional kindness either. It’s only because you helped a friend of mine.”

Qin Yu only half-absorbed what A-Long said, because deep down he had already known. There had to be a reason Yuan Ke was building him up so much within the station. But Qin Yu figured that whether Yuan Ke wanted to exploit his hunger, or use the advantage of him being a stranger in Songjiang who didn’t know anyone, treating him like a loaded gun ready to fire, it didn’t really matter. Qin Yu wasn’t a kid. He understood that with no background and no backing, if he wanted to live with any dignity in this messy environment, the only thing he had to trade was this one quality: the guts to put his life on the line when it counted.

What Qin Yu hadn’t expected was how deep the drug trade ran. While he was going after the Ma family operation, another group had been quietly pushing product, and these people very likely had ties to Yuan Ke.

If what A-Long said was true, then things might not be as straightforward as he’d thought…

“I’m a dead man walking. There’s no point in lying to you.” A-Long lowered his head and said quietly, “I don’t know much about your background, but I heard you clawed your way out of the pending development zone… Brother, it wasn’t easy for either of us to get here with nothing to our names. Don’t go down in history for your own glory only to build someone else’s empire.”

Qin Yu looked at A-Long and suddenly asked, “Before, you and the Ma family practically monopolized Songjiang’s underground drug market. But what I don’t get is, why did you price it so low? What for? Trying to move the whole world?”

“Heh, it was only after I had enough to eat myself that I started thinking about those people on Black Street who could barely survive.” A-Long smiled and replied softly, “My dad died because he couldn’t afford treatment. My mom might go the same way. When I first came to District 9, I was just a drifter, living off whoever would feed me. Now that I have some ability, I want to make money and help them out at the same time. Nobody in this line of work lives to old age. I make some money today, I have enough for today, that’s good enough… How much is ever really enough?”

At this point, there was no meaning left in lying. Qin Yu looked at A-Long’s face, which had once worn a look of vicious desperation, and suddenly found him not so hateful anymore.

The two fell silent. Qin Yu’s mind was a little unsettled. He felt that despite all his caution, he still hadn’t managed to see through the complexity of Songjiang.

“Bang!”

Just as the two sat in brief silence, the interrogation room door was suddenly pushed open.

Qi Lin stood in the doorway, smiling as he asked, “Interrogating?”

In the iron chair, A-Long immediately looked up at the sound of Qi Lin’s voice. The carefree expression on his face gave way to one of shock.

“What are you doing here?” Qin Yu turned and asked.

“I came to ask whether the equipment we issued you can be returned to storage. How much was damaged?” Qi Lin replied in a steady tone. “You’re pulling another all-nighter, but I’m switching shifts tomorrow morning and I need to write a report!”

“Oh!” Qin Yu nodded and stood up. “There’s quite a bit of damage. I’ll have someone draw up a list for you in a bit!”

“Alright!” Qi Lin acknowledged, then turned to look at A-Long and cursed, “You son of a bitch, you finally got caught.”

A-Long froze, fine beads of sweat already forming on his forehead.

“He’ll be transferred to Heavy Security Block 3, right?” Qi Lin asked Qin Yu.

“Yeah, transfer him after the interrogation.” Qin Yu nodded.

“Damn it, I almost got stripped of my badge because of you!” Qi Lin pointed at A-Long with a grin. “Don’t worry, once you walk out that door, I’ll have someone take good care of you inside!”

Qin Yu felt something was off hearing that.

A-Long took a moment to collect himself, then shot back in a fierce tone, “Who the hell do you think you are! I’m in here, but not all my brothers are. You try anything funny, and who’s going to take care of your family?”

“Heh, just wait.” Qi Lin let out a cold laugh, then turned to Qin Yu. “You keep at it with him. I’m heading out.”

Qin Yu stared at Qi Lin for a long moment and said, “I’ll walk you out and get you that list while I’m at it.”

“Sure, let’s go then!” Qi Lin stepped aside, his expression unchanged.

The two walked out of the interrogation room. Four armed officers on duty immediately came over to guard the door and locked the iron gate behind them.

In the long narrow corridor, Qi Lin walked with his hands behind his back and said with a smile, “You could’ve just had someone bring me the list. You’re a team leader now, do you really need to handle something like this yourself?”

“You came to case the place?” Qin Yu suddenly spun around and demanded.

Qi Lin froze on the spot, his expression stiffening as he shot back, “What? What do you mean, case the place?”

“You know A-Long?” Qin Yu asked, his face dark.

“That’s… that’s nonsense. How would I know him?”

“A-Long said he knows me through a friend of mine. But at this station, the only people I’m close to are you and Old Mao. Everyone else is just a colleague at best!” Qin Yu fixed Qi Lin with a sharp gaze. “Your reaction at the cafeteria entrance was already off. And just now in that room, you said a bit too much to A-Long!”

“Have you lost your mind from working too many cases?” Qi Lin gave an exasperated laugh. “What does any of that have to do with anything?”

“You want to save him. You didn’t come to the interrogation room for a damage list. You came to case the place, didn’t you?”

“Xiao Yu, I think you…!”

“Smack!”

Before he could finish, Qin Yu suddenly reached toward Qi Lin’s waist. Qi Lin instinctively pulled back, his face drained of color as he stared at Qin Yu. “What the hell are you doing?”

“You lock your gun in the cabinet when you’re on duty. Why is it in your holster right now?” Qin Yu grabbed Qi Lin’s arm and lowered his voice to a sharp demand. “Are you out of your mind? He’s a dead man. If you have any other ideas, you’ll die too!”

Qi Lin’s expression flickered with panic as he glanced around, then looked at Qin Yu with reddened eyes. “If you consider me a friend, just pretend you don’t know anything, alright?!”

“If it were anyone else I wouldn’t even bother! You just got married, do you understand? What’s your connection to A-Long? Is it really worth going down this road!” Qin Yu was getting anxious. He grabbed Qi Lin and pulled him into the stairwell. “Whatever you’re hiding, I don’t need to know. But I’m telling you straight, even ten of you combined couldn’t walk him out of here. The moment you make a move, you’re dead for sure!”

……

Inside the interrogation room.

A-Long’s mind was carefully replaying Qi Lin’s words.

“Don’t worry, once you walk out that door, I’ll have someone take good care of you inside.”

What did that mean? It was already pretty clear. Qi Lin was trying to find a way to save him.

But he had no powerful connections that could make this go away. So what method would he use? That much went without saying.

Once you walk out that door… make a move?

The thought made A-Long’s head buzz. “Damn it, this reckless idiot isn’t actually going to do something crazy, is he…”

……

In the station lobby, a burst of hurried footsteps rang out as Yuan Ke and Director Li walked in through the main entrance.

“Captain Yuan, you’re back. I’ve been looking for you!” Ang Su came striding over quickly.

“What is it?” Yuan Ke asked.

“Something very important…!” Ang Su said breathlessly, his voice low as he spoke to Yuan Ke and Director Li. “We accidentally turned up something unexpected from one of the foot soldiers. Before A-Long left, he had contact with one of our officers here at the station…!”