“What’s going on?” Han Wei asked, puzzled.
Zhou Hui crooked a finger at him. “Come on, let’s find Bureau Chief Zhang. An informant tipped us off that Wu Guojiang’s involved in drug trafficking.”
Han Wei hurried after her. “Drug trafficking? Holy shit! What’s the deal with this Wu Guojiang?”
“Over ten years now, always running routes between China and Myanmar. He’s probably a big fish.”
“This Wu Guojiang’s got some nerve,” Han Wei said. “He’s been dealing drugs for more than a decade without so much as a single record.”
“The people backing him are even more formidable.” A network that massive, with all its underground drug operations—without a trace left behind. If it weren’t for Yu Bai’s intel, the police never would have linked the case to narcotics.
When they reached Zhang Yunan, Zhou Hui got straight to the point. He sat there stunned in his chair for a long moment before pulling up Wu Guojiang’s file. “Little Zhou, where’d you get this intel?”
“An informant.”
Zhang Yunan rubbed his temples, a headache brewing. His old boss, Zhou Boyan, had strong-armed his daughter onto Zhang’s team specifically to keep her away from drug cases. But Zhou Hui had been a headache since day one at the City Bureau, always charging headlong into anything that smelled like narcotics. And here he was, advanced in years, caught in the middle—fielding the old man’s concerned check-ins while figuring out how to report on Zhou Hui’s antics.
Propping his forehead in his hand, Zhang Yunan swallowed his anger. “You’ve gone and recruited an informant on the sly again. How many times have I told you to stay out of drug cases? What’s this informant’s name?”
Zhou Hui fell silent.
“Not talking? What’s that supposed to mean? You’re not to touch drug cases—got it? And hand that informant over to the Narcotics Squad, pronto.”
Zhou Hui bristled. “To the Narcotics Squad? You want me to just hand over my informant—who’s going to keep them safe?”
Zhang Yunan’s own temper ignited. “What, you think the Narcotics Squad can’t protect one informant?”
Zhou Hui jammed her hand into the pocket of her uniform pants and looked away. “I never said that.”
“You…” Zhang Yunan was too furious to continue. Han Wei nudged Zhou Hui’s arm and murmured, “Captain Zhou, maybe ease up a bit.”
Ignoring him, Zhou Hui pressed on with Bureau Chief Zhang. “Wu Guojiang’s a victim in my case. I have to see it through. You can’t yank me off every time a lead points your way.”
Zhang Yunan’s lips quivered for ages before he managed, “No matter what, you’re off this case.”
Zhou Hui: “…”
Han Wei: “…”
After that, Zhang Yunan probably realized he was being unreasonable. An awkward silence stretched on as the three of them stared each other down for a full two minutes. Finally, he sighed and gave in. “Fine, go contact the Narcotics Squad. But whatever happens, you report to me first—or I’ll pull you off it myself.”
Zhou Hui’s face lit up with a grin. “Thanks, Bureau Chief Zhang.”
She bolted downstairs to make the call, and Zhang Yunan shouted after her, “Hey—did you hear me? Zhou Hui!”
The moment they stepped out of Bureau Chief Zhang’s office, Han Wei started clucking his tongue. “Captain Zhou, any chance you could rein in that temper? And that habit you have of clamming up out of nowhere—look at the state you left our director in. If he pops a gasket, his son’ll come tear the Police Bureau down brick by brick!”
Zhou Hui paused. He had a point. Earlier that year, Zhang Yunan had suffered a sudden spike in blood pressure right there at the bureau. They’d rushed him to the hospital for an overnight stay—nothing serious in the end. The bureau sent their get-well wishes, and everyone got back to cases and paperwork. Zhou Hui had been in the thick of hunting a robber, prepping to roll out on a mission, when Bureau Chief Zhang’s son showed up at the Police Bureau gate, blocking her way and demanding answers.
“I’ll try,” she said.
Han Wei didn’t buy it for a second. He smirked. “The director’s son might be a hothead, but he cares about his old man. You? You slapped cuffs on the guy and locked him in the office. While you were out nabbing that robber, the kid wailed like a banshee all morning. Bureau Chief Zhang had to step in and drag him home himself. God knows how it would’ve ended otherwise.”
Zhou Hui shrugged. “I was in a rush to grab the perp. It was urgent.”
Han Wei shook his head, turning serious. “Point is, after this, you need to watch your step, Captain Zhou.”
“Why’s that?”
He laid it out methodically. “Bureau Chief Zhang’s just buying time to cool you off. Bet he’s on the phone with your dad right now. You think Director Zhou’ll let you anywhere near narcotics without breaking your legs?”
It hit home. Without a second thought, Zhou Hui whipped out her phone and added her father’s number to the blacklist.
Han Wei flashed her a thumbs-up. “Captain Zhou, you’re a true warrior.”
Last time, Captain Zhou had followed the case trail all the way to narcotics, but once it wrapped up, her father had dragged her straight home. She’d been completely out of touch for seven straight days—rumor had it she’d been locked in the little black room. Only after swearing up and down that she’d never touch a drug case again did she regain her freedom.
Captain Zhou let out a sigh and waved it off. “Business first. Let’s buy ourselves as much time as we can. My dad’s tied up from dawn till dusk. By the time he has a chance to come looking for me, we’ll be done here.”
Han Wei ribbed her. “I just hope you manage to stay alive by then. The team’s food budget is riding on you! If you go down in a blaze of glory, I can’t afford to feed these guys. We’d all be living on fresh air.”
Captain Zhou glanced around at her sky-high status in the squad, unsure whether to laugh or cry. She smacked Han Wei on the head. “Then we’d better crack this case fast. If we don’t, it’s instant noodles for everyone.”
Han Wei clutched his head. “And if we do crack it?”
Captain Zhou arched an eyebrow. “Seafood feast, all the way.”
By then, they’d reached the door to the criminal investigation team’s office. Han Wei shoved it open and bellowed, “Comrades, let’s go! Case cracked, and Captain Zhou’s treating us all to a seafood blowout!”
The office erupted in cheers, the noise deafening.
Sun Ye let out a piercing whistle. “Captain Zhou, for that seafood spread, I’ll crack this case if it kills me. Overtime on instant noodles every day—you can smell it coming out of the john.”
“Ew—Sun Ye, that’s disgusting!”
“Yeah, case still unsolved and you haven’t touched noodles lately?”
Captain Zhou was genuinely grossed out. She swallowed hard and sidestepped the topic. “Alright, everyone, get ready. We’re heading into the conference room… Han Wei, reach out to the narcotics control team. Little Yang, prep this file for the projector screen.”
Half an hour later.
Captain Xu Zhixin arrived from narcotics control with two team members in tow. The moment Han Wei spotted Xiao Zhao the officer trailing behind Xu Zhixin, his eyes locked on and wouldn’t budge.
Captain Zhou shot him a covert eye-roll and muttered, “Han Wei, reel it in.”
Han Wei ground the words out through gritted teeth. “That’s my first love. I’ve got unfinished business.”
Captain Zhou sneered. “Heh! Don’t know who scared the poor girl off our precinct for two whole years.”
Xiao Zhao the officer was Zhao Min—surname Zhao, given name Min. Her parents were probably huge wuxia buffs, poisoned deep by The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. They’d dreamed of their daughter growing up to be a true sword-wielding heroine, hence the name.
Her messy history with Han Wei dated back to middle school. Both their parents were cops—one family in narcotics, the other in criminal investigations—with a rock-solid friendship. Han Wei and Zhao Min even attended the same school. She was a knockout, sweet as pie, the little princess every boy crushed on. That’s how Han Wei, that shallow playboy, reeled her in with honeyed words. A few months later, he was chasing a different type altogether.
They’d parted on decent terms, but Zhao Min harbored a grudge, and Han Wei had burned that bridge for good—no contact, total radio silence. Fate being cruel, they ended up at the same college: the Provincial Police University. They kept crossing paths, and that’s when Han Wei leaned full into his scumbag mode, gunning to rekindle things with even more intensity than his original pursuit.
Zhao Min, the innocent little bunny type, was no match. She dodged him like the plague. Once she heard he’d transferred to the City Bureau, she’d take the long way around just to avoid him. Even on joint cases, she’d call ahead first to check if he was in.
Han Wei grinned. “Two years without setting foot here? That’s an exaggeration. Avoiding me for two years? Spot on.”
Captain Zhou eyed him. “And what’s there to be proud of, you scumbag?”
Han Wei: “…”
Xu Zhixin and his narcotics team took their seats. Han Wei noticed Zhao Min had ended up right across from him. While no one was looking, he flashed her a beaming smile and mouthed, Long time no see.
Zhao Min smiled back. Han Wei’s heart soared—he figured sweet words were incoming. Instead, she glanced around and mouthed right back: Scumbag.
Han Wei: “…”
Captain Zhou struggled not to crack up. She leaned in and whispered, “Scumbag confirmed.”
Han Wei mumbled weakly, “…I’m not…”
Captain Zhou opened her mouth to retort, but by then Xu Zhixin and Zhang Yunan had finished chatting. Sure enough, Zhang Yunan turned to her. “Zhou Hui, fill in Captain Xu on what we’ve got.”
Captain Zhou pointed at the screen. “Wu Guojiang, victim in the River Channel Murder Case. But according to intel from our informant, he’s tied to multiple international drug trafficking operations. He sticks to the Myanmar border year-round and rarely shows his face. Him turning up in Pingling City? Strong signs the traffickers are gearing up for a major move.”
Xu Zhixin nodded. “That’s a strong possibility. The people who handle business for big bosses like this one rarely show their faces without direct orders. Have you identified any leads yet?”
Zhou Hui switched the image on the screen to the next one—a photo of Yan Mingchang. “This man is Yan Mingchang. Surveillance footage once captured him in close contact with Wu Guojiang, and for no apparent reason, he handed over fifty thousand yuan to him.”
Xu Zhixin stared at the screen for a moment before asking, “What did you say his name was?”
“Yan Mingchang.”
Xu Zhixin turned to Zhao Min. “Take a look. Ring any bells?”
Zhao Min peered closely, her eyes lighting up with recognition. “You mean…”
Xu Zhixin nodded. “That’s right. Pull up the file for Officer Zhou.”
Zhao Min worked at her computer for a while, then transferred an image to the main screen. She pointed at it. “This is the haul we seized last May from a warehouse belonging to one of Yan Mingchang’s real estate companies—twenty kilograms of pure heroin.”
Zhou Hui waited for her to continue. Yan Mingchang was still going about his business as usual, which made no sense. Twenty kilos wasn’t pocket change in their world; if he was involved, he’d be rotting in a cell by now.
“There was no direct evidence tying Yan Mingchang to the drugs,” Zhao Min explained. “The branch manager confessed he’d bought them from his supplier upstream but hadn’t distributed them yet.”
Zhou Hui asked, “Is that branch manager in prison?”
Zhao Min’s face grew somber. “He’s dead. The day before his court date, he jammed a chopstick straight through his carotid artery while eating.”
A heavy silence fell over the conference room. Everyone felt a shiver run down their spine.
Were drug traffickers this suicidal these days? Deputy Han shot a worried glance at Zhao Min. His little princess was wading into dangers like this every single day—how could he stand for it?
But his silent fretting earned him no sympathy from Zhao Min, who ignored him completely. She turned to Zhou Hui instead. “Anything else, Officer Zhou?”
Zhou Hui met Zhao Min’s gaze and caught the faint spark of challenge in her eyes. At first, she’d assumed it was directed at Deputy Han, but no—Zhao Min wasn’t even registering him. Zhou Hui had no idea what she’d done to provoke this; their interactions had been limited to a handful of professional encounters, nothing more.
After a brief hesitation, Zhou Hui replied, “No.”
Before she could dwell on it, Xu Zhixin cut in. “We can draw a reasonable inference here. Wu Guojiang was Yan Mingchang’s upstream supplier, handling transport. Yan Mingchang managed distribution down the line. That fifty thousand he slipped to Wu? Probably a first-time deal, just dipping their toes in.”
Zhou Hui nodded. “Then we put surveillance on Yan Mingchang right away. He only learned about Wu Guojiang’s death from us yesterday, so he’ll likely reach out to his supplier to tie up loose ends. Nail him down, and we follow the trail straight to the source.”
Zhang Yunan had been listening quietly. Now he turned to Xu Zhixin. “What do you think, Captain Xu?”
Xu Zhixin grinned. “Sounds perfect, Bureau Chief Zhang. Your bureau’s brimming with talent—a sharp operator like Captain Zhou would shine in our Narcotics Squad too.”
Zhang Yunan deflected the blatant headhunting with a couple of lighthearted quips. He dragged Xu Zhixin off to sort the joint operation paperwork. On his way out, he shot Zhou Hui a stern glare that said, loud and clear: “Don’t screw this up.”
The moment Zhang Yunan and Xu Zhixin were gone, Deputy Han sidled right up to Zhao Min. “Miss me, my little princess?”
“Cut it out.” Zhao Min shut him down cold and pivoted toward Zhou Hui. “Officer Zhou.”
“Yeah?”
Zhao Min flashed her a smile loaded with subtext. “Congrats! You’ve hit on something huge here. Big fish ahead—if you reel in those traffickers, second-class merit’s the least of it!”
Zhou Hui frowned. What was with the snide tone? She racked her brain but came up empty on offenses.
Undeterred, Deputy Han leaned in with a shameless grin. “Hey, little princess, if you’ve got steam to blow off, aim it my way. Captain Zhou hasn’t done a thing to you. I love it when you snap at me.”
A chorus of whistles and teasing hoots filled the room, everyone floored by his thick skin.
“Deputy Han goes weak in the knees for a pretty face—cut him some slack!” someone from the criminal investigation team called out, half-apologizing to the other Narcotics Squad guy who’d tagged along.
Sun slung an arm around the guy’s shoulders. “Take a look around—all these starving eyes. Crim team’s basically a monastery these days, full of monks dying for some fresh faces. Officer Xiao Zhao stays with our Deputy Han. Got any more girls in Narcotics? Hook us up?”
Zhou Hui rubbed her forehead with a weary sigh. So much for upholding the city bureau flower squad’s reputation. Total embarrassment.
~~~
