Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Meeting with Team Leader Yuan

Though Qin Yu had gotten a taste of success on the Matsushita case and earned praise from Director Li, his standing within the team hadn’t improved one bit. In fact, among the forty-five people in the first unit, the vast majority of his colleagues treated him like he didn’t exist. Aside from Qi Lin, Old Cat, and a few other marginalized colleagues who were friendlier toward him, most of the core members of the first unit met him with cold faces.

If it were only outsiders treating Qin Yu that way, he could have put up with it. But the roommates he had to live with day and night were giving him the silent treatment too. These guys never picked fights with him, but they wouldn’t talk to him either. The moment Qin Yu walked in, everyone would either go instantly quiet or head out together, and the second he left, they’d all come back — playing cards, chatting, carrying on as usual.

The reason everyone treated Qin Yu this way was simple: he had crossed Old Three, came across like a troublemaker, and on top of that had snatched up credit the moment he arrived, which naturally made some people jealous.

Anyone else might have regretted crossing Old Three, but Qin Yu didn’t feel that way at all. He had always been a bit cold by nature — not just anyone could get close to him. On top of that, he didn’t believe that sucking up to people and bowing and scraping was any way to fit into a circle. Deep down, he felt that if a person was too weak in an environment like this, it would only encourage others to make endless demands. If Old Three could push him around once, he could do it a hundred times. If Qin Yu stayed quiet about working three extra days on the schedule today, Old Three might just make it four days next time. And further down the line, it might come to cleaning the dorm, washing other people’s clothes — things Qin Yu absolutely could not accept.

Facing his colleagues’ cold treatment, Qin Yu told himself he didn’t care, but staying in the dorm was genuinely uncomfortable. After all, they were all living under the same roof, and when nobody could stand anybody else and everyone was giving each other the cold shoulder every single day, it was bound to affect your mood.

The Matsushita case had earned Qin Yu a bonus of 3,000 yuan — money he hadn’t budgeted for — so the moment it came in, he decided to go out and rent a place of his own. Since they couldn’t get along, better to keep out of sight and out of mind. But Qin Yu didn’t know the local area, so he had no choice but to ask Old Cat to help him find a place. His requirements were simple: not too expensive, with electricity, and livable.

Old Cat thought Qin Yu was tough and straightforward, and the two of them got along well, so he agreed without hesitation.

……

The next day.

Qin Yu had just walked into the office to arrange a handover and officially start his shift when someone suddenly called out from outside: “Qin Yu, Captain Yuan wants you in the cafeteria.”

Qin Yu turned at the sound, and was just about to ask the person who had called out, but found they had already left — clearly with no intention of continuing the conversation.

“Heh.” Qin Yu gave a small laugh, grabbed his jacket, and walked out of the office.

In the bureau’s cafeteria.

After asking one of the staff, Qin Yu looked up and spotted Captain Yuan sitting by the window.

Yuan Ke was roughly 178 or 179 centimeters tall, on the lean side, but fair-skinned and good-looking. He also had a pair of peach-blossom eyes — the inner corners curved slightly downward like a crescent moon, the outer corners tilted gently upward — giving the impression that his eyes were always smiling. He made a good first impression right away.

“Hello, Captain Yuan? I’m Qin Yu.”

“Ha, hello, hello.” Yuan Ke smiled and stood up to shake Qin Yu’s hand. “I should have been the one to meet you when you first arrived at the unit the day before yesterday, but the timing was off — I wasn’t in Songjiang those past few days. Just got back today.”

“I heard. I know you were up in Fengbei for a meeting.”

“All settled in?” Yuan Ke gestured for Qin Yu to sit down.

“Yes, all the paperwork’s been taken care of.” Qin Yu sat down across from Yuan Ke.

“Good.” Yuan Ke personally poured Qin Yu a glass of water and said with a warm smile, “Ha, I heard about the kidnapping case. You did the first unit proud.”

“I just happened to be in the right place — there was a bit of luck involved.” Qin Yu grinned.

“First thing this morning I had a chat with Director Li, and he filled me in on your situation.” Yuan Ke folded his hands and naturally steered toward the point. “Normally, when a criminal like Matsushita gets caught, the key people who broke the case would be put in for commendation — everyone below inspector rank would move up at least one step. So Director Li’s idea was to promote you directly to squad leader and bump you up to second-rank officer. But you’d barely been here a day when this all happened, which looks a bit too convenient. If we push the promotion through now, it might give people something to talk about. So after thinking it over, Director Li and I decided it’s better to have you wait a bit longer — don’t rush, we’ve got plenty of time ahead.”

“Yes, Director Li mentioned that to me. Ha, I’m not in a hurry.” Qin Yu went along with what the other man was saying. “I just got here — better to get used to the environment first.”

“Don’t worry, whatever you’re owed, I’ll make sure to fight for it.”

“……”

As the two of them were exchanging pleasantries, the cafeteria staff brought out two plates of hot dishes and two cold ones — not just beef, but also greens that were quite pricey. This made Qin Yu feel that Yuan Ke was a generous sort of person, at least someone who seemed open and straightforward.

“We can’t drink on duty, so let’s just have a simple meal.” Yuan Ke refilled Qin Yu’s glass again.

“This is already great.”

“Stop looking around, eat while it’s hot.”

“Will do.”

As they talked, the two of them picked up their chopsticks, and Yuan Ke was quietly sizing Qin Yu up out of the corner of his eye. He noticed that this young man who had come out of the unplanned zone wasn’t the least bit intimidated — he didn’t wolf down his food, but there was no sign of awkwardness either.

“Xiao Qin,” Yuan Ke said after a long pause, suddenly speaking up, “how about you go to the third squad. The squad’s regular leader was dealt with internally for dereliction of duty and corruption, and there’s no one managing it right now. You can go in as acting squad leader.”

Qin Yu was taken aback. “Is that alright? Director Li said I’d be taking a deputy squad position.”

“Acting squad leader is essentially the same level as deputy squad, and Director Li’s original intention was to promote you to second-rank officer anyway. Once your rank comes through, we’ll drop the ‘acting’ part.” Yuan Ke replied with a smile. “It’s our own unit — easy to arrange.”

“Then thank you for the opportunity, Captain Yuan.”

“Xiao Qin, this bureau isn’t my personal property, but this team was built up by everyone together. Without the forty or fifty brothers in the first unit working their hardest on cases behind me, what would I, Yuan Ke, have to talk to Director Li about?” Yuan Ke spoke concisely, with a natural frankness and sense of loyalty. “Now that you’re here, you’re one of my people. You support me, I look after you — that’s how it should be, no need to stand on ceremony. Going forward, if you need anything, come to me directly. Whatever you’re entitled to, I’ll do my best to get it for you. We’re all eating from the same pot, just in different roles — but at the core it’s the same: trying to live a little better in this messy world.”

Qin Yu had assumed that since he’d crossed Old Three, he’d come across as a troublemaker in Yuan Ke’s eyes, and that even if the man didn’t openly deal with him, he’d at least find some way to make things difficult and cut him down to size.

But to his surprise, everything Yuan Ke said today was completely straightforward — not a trace of official airs, not a hint of roundabout maneuvering. It genuinely warmed him.

“Captain Yuan, since you’ve put it that way, let me raise a glass to you — water standing in for wine.” Qin Yu wasn’t someone who didn’t know a good thing when he saw it. He lifted his cup and said quite sincerely, “From here on in the first unit, I’ll do my best to get the job done.”

With that, the two of them drained their cups.

Setting his cup down, Yuan Ke wiped his mouth, looked up at Qin Yu and said, “Alright, the friendly talk is done. Let’s get to business.”

“Go ahead.”

“This morning, a wanted notice came in from the precinct — a few major criminals from the unplanned zone may be showing up on Black Street. The bureau handed this to the first unit, and I came back specifically to organize people and set up surveillance on them.” Yuan Ke frowned as he spoke to Qin Yu. “But I’ve also got an important case on my hands that needs people to work it. You just got here, and you don’t have the experience yet to go straight into a major criminal case, so I want you to take the third squad and handle this one first.”

“What kind of case is it?” Qin Yu asked.

“A drug trafficking case.” Yuan Ke took a sip of water and explained. “Lately a large batch of smuggled drugs has been showing up on Black Street — some counterfeit, some from unofficial channels. Normally nobody would bother with this, because wherever there’s demand there’s a market, and with major cases already piling up, there’s no manpower to deal with something like this. But two big pharmaceutical companies from the Fengbei capital jointly pressured the government, saying it was hurting their market. You know how it is — the more chaotic things get, the more leverage the medical trade has. The higher-ups had no choice but to push it down the chain, which has the leadership at the Songjiang Pharmaceutical Bureau calling the precinct every day, and the precinct leaning on Director Li, because the main area where the black-market drugs are flooding in is Black Street. Director Li is nearly losing his mind over it — at a meeting he made it clear: three months, deadline, the first unit must sweep all the drug dealers off Black Street.”

“Is this a real sweep, or just something said for the meeting…?” Qin Yu blinked and asked in a carefully understated way.

Yuan Ke paused, looking mildly surprised. “It’s a real crackdown — not just talk. A full clean sweep.”

“Does the third squad have enough people?”

“Start working it, track down the main leads, and then the whole first unit will concentrate its firepower to close it out.” Yuan Ke replied quietly. “But until we have the main leads, we’re still going after those major criminals.”

“Understood.” Qin Yu knew perfectly well that the moment he put on this uniform, he had to follow orders here — that was an iron rule, and right now he had no say in the matter.

“You’re also aware that the coalition government’s crackdown on counterfeit drugs is unprecedented — it’s meant to protect the interests of pharmaceutical companies still doing research, as well as the interests of countless patients. So trafficking smuggled drugs, real or fake, if it’s over 5 kilograms, that’s a death sentence.” Yuan Ke frowned as he reminded him. “So you have to be careful. The case must be solved, but the safety of your squad members and yourself has to be guaranteed.”

“Understood.”

“The files will be sent to the third squad this afternoon. Get up to speed on them as quickly as you can, and get to know your squad members soon too. If all else fails, spend a little money and take everyone out for a meal — build some rapport. Ha, they’re all young people, easy to get along with.” Yuan Ke stood up and was about to go pay the bill when he suddenly turned back to Qin Yu. “Oh, almost forgot — Old Three is just like that, sometimes he acts and talks without thinking. Don’t hold it against him. I’ll get the two of you together sometime, and we’ll put the past behind us.”

Qin Yu was momentarily caught off guard. “That’s very kind of you.”

“Ha, I’ll go settle the bill — we’ll be back on duty soon.” Yuan Ke gave Qin Yu a smile and headed toward the register.

Qin Yu watched Yuan Ke’s retreating figure and murmured softly, “Ha, quite a big-hearted man.”

……

That afternoon.

Qin Yu was just about to head back to the third squad when Old Cat sent word for him to make a quick trip to No. 88 Tongbai Road in the Black Street district — the new place had been found.

Qin Yu checked his phone, figured he still had a bit of time before he needed to be back at work, and headed out right away.

After about fifteen minutes on foot, Qin Yu hurried up to the entrance of No. 88 Tongbai Road. Old Cat was nowhere to be seen, but he heard someone call out from behind him: “Can’t tell men from women? Is that you?”

Qin Yu turned at the sound and saw Lin Nianlei standing at the bottom of the steps in a fitted woolen coat, smiling like a flower in bloom. The look of terror from the other day was gone from her face. With the brilliant sun at her back, she was beautiful — like a woman who had stepped right out of a painting.