Unexpected

Tong Haojing and the other three returned to Tangdu, to the city Public Security Bureau.

Tangdu had a permanent population of three hundred thousand and was currently carrying out large-scale old city redevelopment. One corner of the city glittered with neon lights, mottled prosperity, and intoxicating haze. Looking at the countless lights in homes, Tong Haojing felt waves of emotion. Perhaps this city would one day have a place for him, and his dream would set sail from here!

Tangdu's streets looked somewhat hazy and disorderly by day, yet remained beautiful beneath the streetlights at night.

Standing beside the steps in the middle of the street, Tong Haojing envisioned a bright future as several fashionable young men and women walked past him, laughing and chatting. This was the feeling he wanted. Perhaps this would be his future battlefield.

It was past eleven at night. After sleeping groggily through the day, Tong Haojing, Su Feiya, Long Xing, and Wang Chongyang strolled beneath the hazy streetlights. Tong Haojing suggested they have a few drinks, and the other three readily agreed. Su Feiya said there was a small restaurant called "Good Again" across from the central garden. Its owner was a middle-aged woman she knew well, and it stayed open late. In fact, at this hour, it was the only restaurant still open.

As the four walked in, the proprietress spotted Su Feiya and welcomed her with a smile, gesturing for them to sit. She warmly handed the menu to Su Feiya. After looking it over, Su Feiya said each person should order one dish to go with the drinks. Tong Haojing and the others did not stand on ceremony. They ordered a plate of peanuts, dried beef, and braised goose, while Tong Haojing ordered his favorite pickled chili peppers. Four dishes filled the table without looking shabby. The proprietress brought over a case of Tsingtao beer from behind a screen, one bottle each. Before the food even arrived, they had already drunk more than half a bottle apiece. After several drinks, the four became much more talkative. The topic shifted from studying hard to get into college to finishing their training. Su Feiya, Wang Chongyang, and Long Xing grew animated, each bringing up their specialties—computers, drug enforcement, acting, and the like—and eagerly displaying their lofty ambitions to accomplish great things on the public security front.

Tong Haojing said nothing and merely drank. As a career soldier who had come from the army, he felt that everything had to start anew. Only his experience studying psychology allowed him to see through what the others were trying to say—they were dissatisfied that, as soon as he arrived from the army, he had already made such a deep impression and become a memorable, impressive young man in the director's eyes.

The four played another round of finger-guessing drinking games, and there was little left from the case of twenty-four beers. Su Feiya sighed with pent-up grievance. "Once you enter society, it isn't your specialty that matters. It's connections! If you have good connections, things go smoothly, you have more avenues open to you, and your thinking broadens..."

"Right! Right! Handling people and relationships is crucial. Emotional intelligence is far more important than IQ. Where did you get all these social theories? You have to share some secrets with us!" Wang Chongyang chimed in.

"You're afraid of picking the wrong path? There are plenty of cases where elementary school graduates become bosses and college graduates become employees. Take the Li'an Department Store next door. Do you know who the owner is? Brother Hua, who never even finished elementary school. He has more than two hundred employees, and college graduates working as white-collar staff in his company are everywhere. People who get the short end of the stick are right beside us..." Long Xing's words carried a clear implication, and everyone burst out laughing.

Everyone's eyes turned toward Tong Haojing, who was still focused only on drinking, and the conversation unknowingly shifted back to him.

"Right. As for where you'll be assigned this time, I'm afraid everyone has already figured it out, haven't you?" Su Feiya spoke mysteriously, like someone who knew everything about the bureau. He suddenly realized he had let something slip. Perhaps the excitement of alcohol had lowered his guard, and he spoke without restraint.

"No way. Do you have inside information?" Wang Chongyang looked astonished, slightly drunk as he tried to pry some news out of Su Feiya.

"How about this? Let's lay everything out. If any of us has relatives or acquaintances, don't hold back. Could they put in a good word for all of us? What do you say?" Su Feiya was quite drunk and talking nonsense. In truth, he was digging a pit for everyone.

"You can think of something like that? Is it even possible?" Long Xing narrowed his eyes, looking half-drunk and half-sober as he immediately voiced his doubts.

Tong Haojing was straightforward by nature. He had no relatives or acquaintances, so he was not afraid to tell the truth. "I agree too!" Tong Haojing had the highest tolerance among the four. He saw through Su Feiya's fake expression, but since they were classmates, he had no intention of exposing her.

"Then I'll go first. I have a relative in the Public Security Bureau. He went to see a certain leader!" Long Xing really was drunk. He had lost all caution and blurted everything out. "N-next, it's your turn," he said, looking at Wang Chongyang with a glow of pride on his face.

"As for me, my parents asked someone they knew for help. I don't know who it was either!" Wang Chongyang clearly held something back and did not name the person.

Su Feiya looked at Tong Haojing with confidence. "You don't need to say anything. Director Gao must definitely be related to you!" It should have been her turn to speak about herself, but she abruptly redirected the conversation at him.

Even if Tong Haojing said no, the others would not believe him. He remained silent. Perhaps that was the best answer—let them guess. Tong Haojing despised such crooked methods. Saying one had powerful relatives was nothing more than showing off and not worth mentioning.

When it was Su Feiya's turn to speak, she was the first to slump over the table, pretending to vomit nonstop. It was really just an act, but she made it look convincing.

Wang Chongyang and Long Xing vaguely realized that Su Feiya and Tong Haojing had not revealed anything. Angrily, they cursed those sly bastards a couple of times, then collapsed helplessly onto the table and began snoring.

It was late. There were hardly any people left on the streets, and all the traffic lights at the intersection had turned yellow. Tong Haojing hailed a taxi and sent the other three back to the Public Security Bureau.

The next day, sunlight streamed onto the windowsill, and the four gradually got up. Wang Chongyang and Long Xing knew they had gotten drunk the night before and fallen for Tong Haojing's trick. They grumbled indignantly, "Kind people get bullied, and gentle horses get ridden! If you're too honest, people will take advantage of you!"

In truth, they had it wrong. The real schemer was Su Feiya. Only then did she pretend to wake up groggily and ask, "What happened?"

Tong Haojing no longer covered for Su Feiya and exposed the truth about their drunken talk that night. "Only you saw through it!" Su Feiya said with an easy, smug smile.

Tong Haojing stood by the windowsill, looking outside as he murmured, "I hope everything the three of them said was just drunken talk."

One evening several days later, the conference room of the Tangdu City Public Security Bureau Party Committee was brightly lit.

Director Gao Weimin sat in the middle of the conference table. Beside him sat Director Hu, the political commissar, and three other members of the bureau Party committee. Across from Director Gao Weimin sat Director Wu, who had prepared a thick stack of briefing materials.

Wu Dean introduced the basic information and police-entry training performance of Tong Haojing, Su Feiya, Wang Chongyang, and Long Xing one by one to the bureau Party committee. He then presented the proposed assignments—Tong Haojing to the Economic Crime Investigation Brigade, Wang Chongyang to the Anti-drug Brigade, Long Xing to the Criminal Investigation Brigade, and Su Feiya to the city bureau office.

Director Hu, seated beside Director Gao Weimin, wore a grim expression. He immediately realized that Director Wu's "refusal" must have meant Director Gao Weimin had other plans. Several days earlier, someone had asked Deputy Director Hu to inquire about Long Xing's assignment. Deputy Director Hu had made his preference clear to Director Wu, but Director Wu had flatly rejected the position he had picked out for Long Xing. Director Wu had only promised that Long Xing would not be assigned to a police station. Now that Director Wu had announced the assignment plan, Long Xing not being sent to a police station could be considered the fulfillment of his intention. It seemed the other bureau leaders had no major objections, yet Director Gao Weimin alone put forward his own view. That came as a surprise to everyone present.

Director Wu was highly skilled at handling people. He had noticed that Director Gao Weimin particularly appreciated Tong Haojing, and Tong Haojing himself had performed well, so he deliberately arranged for him to join the Economic Crime Investigation Brigade—a place many officers coveted—in order to cater to the director's wishes. For that reason, he had even rejected Director Hu's suggestion to place Long Xing in economic crime investigation. But who could have expected Director Gao Weimin to spring such a shocker on them, leaving everyone dumbfounded?

He did not agree to assign Tong Haojing to economic crime investigation. Instead, he wanted him sent to the West City Police Station, where public order was at its most complicated. Director Gao Weimin said, "I've said many times that young people should, in principle, be trained on the front lines at the grassroots level. Some people say this Tong Haojing is related to me. Then I'll let everyone see whether he is or not!" Director Gao Weimin's face had turned livid. He was clearly furious.

Director Wu had not expected this either. He had failed to understand Director Gao Weimin's intentions and had turned good intentions into a mistake. Fortunately, the other assignments were all considered "front line" enough.

In the end, the group held a democratic vote. Other than Tong Haojing's reassignment, everything else passed unanimously. As soon as the meeting ended, Director Gao Weimin summoned Wu Dean, Director of Political Department, to his office. Director Wu felt uneasy, unsure what criticism awaited him. He forced himself to knock on the door. "Director Gao, I'm here!"

"Dean, last time I asked you to visit Old Tang at the West City Police Station. How was the situation?" Director Gao's words carried another meaning. Wu Dean had not expected Director Gao Weimin to avoid criticizing today's matter and suddenly bring up Director Tang. His eyes lit up, and he began to understand. Could it be... He recalled how, some time ago, Director Wu had specifically visited Officer Lan on Director Gao Weimin's behalf after he was injured while arresting Scarface. Tang Changan had vented to him then—"Why did the Criminal Investigation Team take Scarface away immediately without letting the station officers conduct an initial interrogation? The police station was at least an assisting unit. They don't even take us seriously."

"Old Tang is doing well. His work has improved significantly recently, especially his crackdown on drug use within the district. He has also launched a severe campaign against social evils around Minsheng Market, arresting a number of drug users, pickpockets, and fraudsters. Public order around Minsheng Market has greatly improved, and the public's sense of security has clearly increased!" Director Wu's words made Gao Weimin pause. "Really?!"

"Yes!"

"Then I'm relieved! This afternoon, go take Tong Haojing over there. He may have some thoughts about it. You handle the ideological work!"

"Yes, I guarantee I'll complete the task!"

After Director Wu left the office, Gao Weimin read through the public security incident analysis materials Qiao Xi had delivered. One item about a brawl in West City caught his attention, and he summoned Qiao Xi.

"What's going on? West City again! Was the West City police station the one that reported this brawl?"

"No. We found something worth reporting in the incident analysis materials from the Command Center, so we raised it. We called Director Tang, and he said the matter had already been resolved."

"How was it resolved?" Director Gao Weimin asked urgently, visibly concerned.

"They didn't say. We checked the public security network, and there was no record. But the report handling section noted that the case had been resolved through mediation."

"Absolute nonsense! How can this be mediated?" Director Gao Weimin was a professionally trained graduate of the Public Security University. He knew cases involving intentional injury by drug users and similar matters inside and out.

Director Gao Weimin thought of the members at a recent Political Consultative Conference meeting who had been deeply dissatisfied with public order in West City. Connecting that with today's incident materials and Deputy Director Hu's reports on the West City station, which always highlighted only the good, he perhaps had a clear answer in his mind.

"There's a problem with public order in West City. I think this is the reason!" Director Gao Weimin forcibly suppressed his anger and nearly lost his composure.

At the same time, Deputy Director Hu received the public security incident analysis materials sent over by the office. The information about the West City brawl made his face change drastically. Grinding his teeth in rage, he grabbed the office phone from his desk and heavily dialed Tang Changan's number.

"Tang Changan, look at the fine job you've done. How did a fight involving several drug-addicted punks in West City get reported to the bureau? Didn't I tell you that small matters could be handled at the station?" His stern, accusatory tone and uneasy heavy breathing seemed to reveal the terrifying face of Deputy Director Hu. Cautious lines crossed Tang Changan's face. He had long expected Deputy Director Hu to angrily blame him, because with such an oversight, every officer at the police station would know it had been deliberate.

This time, Director Tang did not evade responsibility. Instead, he took it all upon himself. Officer Lan in the neighboring office heard everything clearly, and a feeling of admiration rose within him.

"My fault. I failed to properly control the reporting and feedback on incident handling. Punish only me!"

"What use is punishment? Director Gao must know about this by now!" Deputy Director Hu's heavy breathing could be heard clearly through the phone.

A muffled bang came from the receiver. Director Tang concluded that Deputy Director Hu must have been furious enough to smash a cup.

"Ah, Director Gao knows? Then what do we do? Why don't you just say the full responsibility lies with me!"

There was no more sound from the other end.

Director Tang had sensed how sensitive this matter was before the bureau leadership. What awaited him might be serious accountability, yet he showed a calm ease.

That afternoon, Tong Haojing sat silently in Director Wu's car, his eyes