Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Jing was a real beauty. When Zhao Yu first saw her in the conference room of Feng Ping City’s police station, he was taken aback by her looks. She had a model-like figure, delicate skin, and distinctive facial features. Wherever she went, there was probably an 80% chance people would take a second look.
Even though she was pretty and polite, Zhao Yu felt nothing for her. One of the reasons was because of her current position. After all, she had stolen his title away from him. Secondly, from her gestures, it was clear she was a weak person who didn’t have the aura of a policewoman. In his eyes, she seemed more like a poised young lady, and to work with someone like this made him feel awkward.
Everyone was present at the conference including Li Jing. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yu knew the two remaining team members that had been sent by the criminal office. One was Liu Zhanbing, and the other was Xu Hai. Both of them were Wu Fangfang’s underlings.
They had been sent because they had fulfilled some necessary criteria. Both of them had taken part in investigating the Treasure case with Wu Fangfang before, so they both knew people in the industry. It made sense to assign them to help Zhao Yu. Zhao Yu was friendlier to these two than he was to Li Jing. After the Gao Lanqi case where Zhao Yu had helped clear Wu Fangfang’s reputation, the two were thankful to Zhao Yu and were willing to put in their best work for him.
Around the same time, Zhao Yu’s own selections had arrived. The higherups had assigned him two slots so he chose to bring in Zhang Jingfeng and Li Beini. Zhang Jingfeng could help find people while Li Beini could do the paperwork. They were two of the people Zhao Yu was closest to and would certainly be of help to him.
Zhao Yu felt much more at ease. It seemed as though Chief Jiao really did treat him well. This new special team was made with Zhao Yu at the center. The leader, Li Jing, was in an awkward position and her authority had been usurped by Zhao Yu. No matter what her background was, she was basically only here for show.
“I hope everyone takes care of me!” Li Jing said enthusiastically, her mood seemingly unaffected. Aware of her position as a figurehead, the rest of the team acted in a friendly manner towards her too.
Li Jing, who had always worked in Foreign Affairs, had been stationed in both Japan and Korea. Her main task was working with the local government to ensure cooperation with the Criminal Department while conducting investigations on foreign fugitives related to the country’s citizens. This meant she had no experience on the frontlines and her position as leader was merely a formality. With Li Jing’s status, Chief Jiao had intended for her to help Zhao Yu with foreign affair matters.
The Feng Ping police officers were still preparing the office for the team, so they could only use the conference room at the moment. After a brief introduction, Zhao Yu began explaining the case to the others. From Tao Xiang’s notes to the traitor’s records and the list of names, he made sure to give them the latest updates on the case.
“Currently, our first priority is to confirm whether or not the four other deceased on the list of names were murdered the same way as Yuan Juncheng,” Zhao Yu said. “They lived in different cities, so we have to apply for investigation permits alongside the respective local police departments!”
“Beini,” he continued, “you will be responsible for the joint investigations. Remember, you are no longer a small-fry from Tai Shan. When speaking to the local police, you should sound tough and give them firm deadlines to adhere to so we can find the information we need as soon as possible!”
“Noted!” Li Beini said. Although this was her first time on such a high-level case, she was not frightened. Picking up her laptop, she began to prepare.
“Old Zhang!” Zhao Yu said facing Zhang Jingfeng. “Your job is still to find any more intelligence on the case that you can. Besides these five people, I need information about everyone on the list. Like Beini, I’ve already applied for special permissions for you, so if you encounter any roadblocks just get the local police to assist you!”
“Understood!” Zhang Jingfeng said. Although he had more experience, he was visibly nervous and his reply was not as loud.
“Zhanbing and Xu Hai!” Zhao Yu said, turning to the other two colleagues. “You have some connections with people who know a thing or two about treasures, so I hope you can focus more on the treasure. I need you two to find out more about this great treasure, whatever it may be. Anything! Whether it’s a small or a big lead, as long as it’s related, I want you to investigate it!”
“No problem!” The two of them saluted.
“Also, I need the two of you to find out more about Tao Xiang’s history. See if you can find out how Tao Xiang got the traitor’s notes and the list of names. Although the people on the list could be related to the treasure, we still don’t know what it is or what their relationship to it was.”
“Okay!” Liu Zhanbing said. “Because the previous treasure theft was solved by Tao Xiang, we have quite a lot of information on him, which could be of great help!”
“Alright Leader Zhao!” Xu Hai said. “What about Tao Xiang’s daughter? I think in order to check out Tao Xiang’s history, his daughter is an important lead!”
“Of course!” Zhao Yu said. When he turned his head, he realized Cui Lizhu was nowhere to be seen. “I’ve asked Cui Lizhu before, Tao Xiang never spoke about any of this to her. Ah, this girl…” After speaking, Zhao Yu realized that Cui Lizhu had yet to return! He had spoken to her before this, but…
“L… Leader Zhao!” Li Jing said weakly. “Excuse me, but could I be of some help? If there’s anything you need, anything at all, please let me know!”
“Well, in that case…” Zhao Yu had momentarily forgotten about Li Jing and had not even thought about assigning anything to her.
“How about this? I have quite a few friends in Japan. Do you need me to go ask them about it?” Li Jing asked.
“Uhm…” Zhao Yu, who had never been involved with foreign affairs, frowned. “I don’t think there’s a need. We don’t need to involve them yet. If the Japanese know about it, it actually would make the situation worse!”
“Uhm, I have other means! Rest assured, my friend isn’t Japanese!” Li Jing continued weakly. Her words reminded Zhao Yu that she was from foreign affairs and probably had many international police and special agents under her. Her friend was most likely someone of status! Even though she looked weak, she could be of some help. Zhao Yu couldn’t help but respect Chief Jiao’s foresight, as she had clearly already considered this!
Zhao Yu thought about it seriously for a moment. It didn’t seem like a bad idea. “Alright, then I’ll trouble you to do that. But remember to keep it a secret!”
“That’s great! Rest assured!” Li Jing said. She seemed happy as long as she could be of some help.
Zhao Yu furrowed his brows. It was not far from Yuan Juncheng’s house to the Feng Ping police station, Cui Lizhu should not have taken this long to return. Could it be there had been a major breakthrough? He quickly took out his phone and gave her a call, but her phone was off.
That can’t be right… The Special Investigations Team had a rule that when carrying out missions, switching off their phones was strictly forbidden. Zhao Yu quickly opened the tracker to check Cui Lizhu’s position. The team’s phones had all been specially made so even when switched off they could be tracked. But after switching on the tracker, Zhao Yu sighed.
Sh*t! Cui Lizhu’s signal had gone missing!
