Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“You’re still in the mood for jokes?” Miao Kun asked. After Zhao Yu explained the situation to his father-in-law, Miao Kun was angry. “You! You took on a whole team of special agents by yourself!? You must be kidding! Did you drug them or something? Don’t you know? Any agent could take on Thorngrove and beat him to a pulp. Don’t you remember what you had to resort to in order to defeat Thorngrove?”
“I’m telling the truth! Really! Why would I lie to you?” Zhao Yu said, trying to convince his father-in-law while he hid in a corner of the office. “I was raging just now, so I leveled up in a fit of fury!”
“Don’t bullsh*t me! The only reason I slipped up at the hotpot shop the other time is because of my age! Stop boasting!” Miao Kun said seriously. “I can’t have my daughter engaged to a liar…”
“Alright, alright! Believe it or don’t!” Zhao Yu had no time for this. “Well, that’s that then! That woman wants to report what happened to the higher-ups right now! She wants me out of the Special Investigation Group and subjected to disciplinary action! What do you think I should do?”
“Hmm…” Miao Kun said awkwardly. “Don’t worry, don’t worry! You’re my son-in-law, of course I’d have your back! I’ll go find someone to intercede on your behalf right now!”
“I say,” Zhao Yu said, frowning. “Why does it sound like there’s a hidden meaning behind your words? What do you mean by tsundere woman? Is there something between you and this woman? Is she taking it out on me because you guys have fallen out? You and I are both honest and upstanding people, you can’t implicate me like this!”
“Tsk tsk tsk…” Miao Kun scolded. “Am I that kind of person? It’s just that… ermm…” he coughed. “Don’t you worry about this! Just remember not to make things any worse! I’ll go intercede for you right now, just wait…” With that, Miao Kun ended the call.
“Wait, what! What did you say!?” Zhao Yu exclaimed. As the call with Miao Kun ended, Zhao Yu heard Li Jing say into her phone, “What? Why? I don’t understand how you could side with him like this? All he’s done is crack a couple of cases. Did you seriously think he could find something that we’ve failed to find over the past 80 years? You, you all…”
Hm? Zhao Yu moved closer to eavesdrop on Li Jing. Li Jing glared at Zhao Yu, her eyes revealing complicated emotions; fury, surprise, doubt, bewilderment, and even a tinge of fear! The person at the other end of the call must have said something upsetting, because Li Jing was getting increasingly disheartened. After the call finally ended, it was apparent that she was not in a good state.
Just then, Xiao Hang, who had fully awakened from his coma, stood up and shouted at Zhao Yu with clenched fists. “Zhao! We have yet to determine the winner! If you have the gall, let’s start over again!”
“Don’t… please don’t…” the agents beside Xiao Hang rushed over to stop him.
“Xiao Hang! Stop!” Li Jing finally let out. She turned around and glared at Zhao Yu, staring at him for a good five minutes. Grinding her teeth, Li Jing stamped her feet and flung her arms up. “Pass the USB drive containing the data to them! We… we’ll leave!!” she said begrudgingly to Xiao Hang.
“What!?” Xiao Hang was dumbfounded. “Ah Jing, what do you mean by this?”
“Yeah, that’s right; leaving is fine but the drive… it contains classified information….” an agent next to Xiao Hang said. The agent trailed off as he made eye contact with Li Jing. Another agent took out the metal USB drive uncertainly.
“Why?” Xiao Hang asked as he stared in bewilderment. “Ah Jing, who called you on your cellphone? What did they say? Why is this happening?”
“Yeah! Why is this happening?” Zhao Yu mimicked Xiao Hang. “Ah Jing! Ah Jing Jing? Quick, tell me, what is this?”
“Grrr…” Despite the distance, Zhao Yu could hear Li Jing gnashing her teeth. “I’m going to repeat this just once! Pass the USB drive to them!” Li Jing strode toward the agent, snatched the USB drive, and threw it angrily on the ground. She then turned toward Zhao Yu and said, “Zhao Yu! Don’t think this is over! I’ve passed you the data, let’s see whether you’re capable of finding the treasure! Humph!”
“Erm… regarding this…” Zhao Yu stroked his chin. He had yet to recover from the sudden turn of events. He didn’t understand. What kind of call had Li Jing received? Judging by her demeanor, it was obvious that the caller was someone who could give orders to Li Jing, probably her superior. But… why would Li Jing’s superior side with Zhao Yu? Zhao Yu could not figure it out. Who else in the Secret Service Agency could it be, other than his father-in-law? He was not acquainted with anyone else.
This is… Although Zhao Yu was baffled, he refused to let Li Jing realize it. He answered her right away, saying, “Alright, Team Leader Li! Since you don’t think much of the Special Investigation Group, let me show you how it’s done! I’ll show you how I crack cases! Humph!”
“Sure! Let’s place a wager then!” Li Jing said through clenched teeth. “If you manage to find the treasure, we’ll write off all our differences! I won’t pursue them anymore! But… what if you’re unable to find it?”
“Wahaha… stop kidding! There is no enmity between us, what’s there to write off?” Zhao Yu smirked, acting like a hooligan. He gestured toward Li Jing’s chest and said, “How about this? I touched it just now and it felt pretty good. If we were to recover the treasure, how about letting me touch it ten times? If I fail to find it, then I’ll let you grope me ten times instead. Or even a hundred times, if you like! Wahaha…”
“You!? Hooligan!” Li Jing spat at Zhao Yu, leaving the office in a fit.
“You… you’re good! You’ve got guts!” Xiao Hang said as he stood up. He threatened Zhao Yu while backing away. “Zhao, just you wait! This isn’t over!” Xiao Hang hastened his footsteps and chased after Li Jing. The other agents, seeing that their superiors had left, helped each other up. They cut a sorry figure as they too disappeared from sight.
“Ha!” Zhao Yu rolled his eyes at them, mumbling under his breath, “Do they think I’m a fool? They couldn’t find the treasure after 80 years, and they expect me to find it? And they even want to place a wager on that? F*ck off! Don’t they realize that whoever searches for the treasure is a dumba**?”
“What… what’s going on?” Li Beini was puzzled. She carefully retrieved the USB drive from the ground, and asked, “Didn’t they say that they would be preparing a report about what happened? Why did they suddenly sneak away? And… the USB drive? What data are they talking about?”
“It goes without saying…” Zhang Jingfeng said, “that it must have something to do with the treasure, right?”
“That’s right…” Cui Lizhu was also a little confused. “Team leader, what was it that did this? Was it your call or hers?” she asked Zhao Yu.
“I suppose… I suppose it was hers?” Zhao Yu responded.
“That means…” Cui Lizhu continued, “the chief of the Secret Service Agency not only rebuffed Li Jing’s complaints about us, but also forced her to share the information regarding the treasure so that we could work on it? Oh my god!” She stared at Zhao Yu in wide-eyed astonishment, saying, “Wow, boss. You must have a really powerful backer, huh? Even the Secret Service Agency has your back!”
“Sh*t!” Upon hearing what Cui Lizhu said, Zhao Yu took a deep breath. He suddenly realized that things might not be as simple as they seemed. The fact that they had both answered their calls at the same time meant that it could not have been Miao Kun that helped Zhao Yu out. Zhao Yu knew that he had no one else to back him in the Secret Service Agency, so if it wasn’t his father-in-law… then there might be more than meets the eye.
The phone rang again while Zhao Yu was lost in thought. This time it was the phone in the Criminal Division office. “Hello?” Zhao Yu answered the phone quickly.
“Ah, Zhao Yu! You didn’t do anything stupid, did you? I’m about to go nuts!” Division Chief Jiao’s voice came from the other end of the phone. “Do you have any idea how many calls I’ve received from the higher-ups? What exactly did you do?”
“Er… ermm…” Zhao Yu sighed, a scowl on his face. “It’s complicated!”
“Aiyo!” Division Chief Jiao sighed deeply. “I was just informed that the Secret Service Agency wants the Special Investigation Group to take over the Golden Treasure case! Listen carefully! This time around, it’s not as simple as investigating the victims or finding the killer! You’re managing the entire case! The higher-ups have given you all a deadline, you have to find the lost treasure – the national treasure – within two months!!!”
