Chapter 628 — Reporting In

"Yes, Captain Song!" The squadron leaders had likewise been tormented of late by the kidney-harvesting case—the most vicious criminal case to strike Songshan City in years. Provincial and municipal leaders had already issued their directives: the Songshan City Criminal Investigation Brigade must crack the case as quickly as possible, so as to reduce to the greatest extent the poison this gang was spreading.

Otherwise—well, the city was already in a state of panic. Children no longer dared walk to school alone; the very words "kidney-harvesting gang" had become a name of terror. If a child cried, a parent had only to invoke the gang, and the child would fall silent on the spot.

The damage had grown to such a degree that every officer in the brigade was working overtime, analyzing the case and combing through leads, yet progress was pitifully slow. This was not the work of a lone offender, after all, but a criminal gang with strict organization and its own sales channels.

Such gangs were also the hardest to trace or pin down with evidence, because they struck only when they were hunting a kidney source: they seized their victim, then performed the surgery to cut out the organ entirely on their own turf, and sold it through their own channels besides. At no point in the process did they touch any third party, so there was simply no trail to follow.

"Captain Song, you've found a lead?" Liu Wangli was the closest of Qiu Lingshan's confidants, so when he saw the stern look on her face his heart gave an inexplicable lurch. Could there truly have been a breakthrough?

"Mm, you could call them leads." Qiu Lingshan felt rather pleased with herself as she said it; seeing the respect and adoration in everyone's eyes, she was all the more convinced that playing the coquette had not been for nothing.

"You've got leads?" The others had half guessed it, but they could not be certain—the case was simply too tangled. They expected great things of Qiu Lingshan and looked up to her, but the notion that she had merely shut herself in the office a while and come out with leads was frankly hard to credit.

At the meeting that very afternoon, after all, Qiu Lingshan had still been at a complete loss, and had been dressed down by several bureau leaders; had Yang Huaijun not been there to smooth things over, the entire criminal investigation brigade would have been named and criticized.

"I received a tip and learned in advance where the gang will strike next." Qiu Lingshan would not disclose the exact location before the operation. Her subordinates had all been trained by Yang Huaijun himself and could be trusted, but one could never be too careful—if someone let a word slip and the criminals got wind of it, heaven knew when another lead would come. "Now let's go over the operational plan and pool our ideas. If we simply move in to make arrests, we may end up as we did last time, with nothing but small fry in the net—no help to the case at all."

The others nodded, and each began to offer his own views on the plan.

Wei Zhao had barely hung up when he heard footsteps at the door drawing nearer—whoever it was was plainly coming toward the restroom. Wei Zhao wondered who else would come in here. He had assumed it was a waiter, but the person who appeared made him pause slightly.

It was Chen Yutian who walked in. Wei Zhao smiled wryly. He had known Chen Yutian must be looking for him; otherwise he would never have sought him out in a public restroom.

"Instructor, Special Training Brigade 0197 reporting to you!" Chen Yutian drew himself up straight at attention and gave Wei Zhao a solemn, grave military salute, then spoke in crisp, clipped tones.

"Heh..." Wei Zhao smiled faintly, but made no reply, only shrugged. "I'm just a hanger-on, not your instructor."

Wei Zhao had not returned the salute, which meant he had cast off his former identity—Chen Yutian's salute had been given in vain. His expression faltered, yet there was not a trace of disrespect in it. "Instructor, after you left, word was that you had gone off on a special assignment. So how is it that..."

"I came back long ago." Wei Zhao's tone was as placid as ever. "I've told you before—I'm not your instructor now. I'm Gu Mengyao's hanger-on, and your sister's hanger-on too, I suppose. She calls me Arrow Brother, and you may call me that as well. Or, since you're older than I am, you can call me Arrow Brother Junior, or simply Wei Zhao."

"Wei Zhao... so the instructor's name is Wei Zhao!" This was the first time Chen Yutian had ever heard Wei Zhao's real name. Back in the special training unit, Wei Zhao's codename had been "Eagle," and every member of the team had addressed him as "Instructor," or "Instructor Eagle."

"All right, I should be getting back." Wei Zhao had little wish to dredge up the past; he waved Chen Yutian off and turned out of the restroom.

"How did the instructor end up as my sister's hanger-on?" Chen Yutian could not make sense of the logic no matter how he turned it over, but if Wei Zhao would not speak of it, there was nothing he could do. He had dreamed of meeting his instructor again one day and asking for a bit more guidance; yet now that they had met, Wei Zhao shied away from all talk of his former identity, leaving Chen Yutian no way to voice his request.

Wei Zhao returned to the private room. An Jianwen went on drinking as though nothing had happened; when he saw Wei Zhao come in, he said nothing, for it had never once crossed his mind that Wei Zhao would tip off Qiu Lingshan.

"We've had three rounds of drinks—how about we play something fun? Drinking and nothing else is dull, isn't it?" Su Taizao said, his tongue thick with wine. "What do you all say?"

He really was a little drunk; he had not paced his drinking, and his head was muddled. Yet that was precisely what made it convincing, leaving no flaw for anyone to spot—otherwise, with Gu Mengyao's sharpness, she would surely have seen through the act, and it would not do for her to think it was all a performance.

"Play what? Let's hear it." An Jianwen glanced at Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, then said, "Any suggestions?"

"Something fun, something fun—oh, I love games!" Shen Yushu seconded with both hands. Drinking in silence was so boring; another round and she would be dragging Sister Yaoyao home.

Gu Mengyao said nothing, nor did she object. Truth be told, she did not care to play anything with An Jianwen and Su Taizao, but Xiaoshu and Wei Zhao were here, and Xiaoshu wanted to play, so a game or two would do no harm.

"I say we play Truth or Dare. How about it?" As Su Taizao spoke, Chen Yutian happened to return to the room and caught his words. Su Taizao turned to him as well. "Yutian, join us? We used to play all the time—ha, remember when you chose a dare and had to kiss Qiu Lingshan, and you got beaten up for it? Hahaha!"

Su Taizao really was a little drunk; otherwise he could never have dragged out Chen Yutian's old embarrassment. But once a man is drunk, he tends to speak without thinking.

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