Unfathomable

Wednesday, July 13. Cloudy, clearing later.

The moment Zhou Yi arrived at the bureau, Zhang Liping called him in.

At the bureau Party committee meeting held the previous afternoon, some adjustments had been made to the division of responsibilities among the leadership. Newly appointed Deputy Director Zhang Liping was primarily responsible for the Public Security Management Brigade and the Patrol Brigade.

In other words, Zhang Liping was still Zhou Yi's immediate superior.

At that moment, Deputy Director Zhang was sizing up Brigade Commander Zhou with a look that said, Does your family know what a badass you are?

Ever since receiving Zhou Yi's call the night before, he had barely slept.

What exactly had the kid said?

"Reporting to you, Director Zhang. During a routine inspection tonight, we discovered Xie Zhaolong and several others picking quarrels and provoking trouble outside the Golden Years Entertainment City, so we intervened in accordance with the law. Not only did they refuse to stop, they even dared to violently obstruct law enforcement. After our patient persuasion and education, Xie Zhaolong and the others recognized their mistakes and voluntarily accepted punishment..."

At first, it sounded perfectly reasonable. On closer consideration, it was full of holes.

Patient persuasion?

Physical persuasion, more like!

And "voluntarily accepted"?

More like they were forced to volunteer!

More outrageous still, who was Xie Zhaolong?

He was one of Dongji County's local tyrants.

In underworld circles, he was known as Brother Long.

He had connections on both sides of the law and was arrogant beyond belief.

Apart from a few of the county's top leaders, he showed no one any respect.

Never mind anything further back-just last month, at a dinner, Xie Zhaolong had flown into a rage because Forestry Bureau Director Deng Ke hadn't offered him the first toast. He hurled a wineglass at Director Deng, leaving his head split open and bleeding.

That very evening, Deng Ke had gone to Xie Zhaolong's home with gifts to apologize, his head still wrapped in bandages.

And now, that vicious, overbearing wolf had somehow become a meek, obedient sheep. Who would believe it?

But whether anyone believed it or not, Xie Zhaolong's ten-day administrative detention for picking quarrels and provoking trouble was an undeniable fact.

Zhou Yi had arrested him the night before.

Executive Deputy Director Song Chengquan had signed the paperwork that morning.

Xie Zhaolong had just been delivered to the Detention Center.

And from beginning to end, Xie Zhaolong had shown no intention of requesting administrative reconsideration. He looked utterly sincere and willing to accept his punishment.

Zhang Liping couldn't make sense of it.

Yes, Zhou Yi was an exemplary police officer whom the city had singled out for special development. But that alone was nowhere near enough to make Xie Zhaolong so wary-or scare him into backing down this completely.

Could the kid's family have some powerful connections no one knew about?

At the Detention Center, Sun Mei, who was visiting Xie Zhaolong, was equally puzzled.

She studied Brother Long, whose calm expression seemed no different from usual, and couldn't help asking, "Zhaolong, what's going on with you?"

"Nothing. I'm just doing Zhou Yi a favor!" Xie Zhaolong looked completely unruffled, his tone supremely casual.

That answer left Sun Mei stunned. Her beautiful eyes fixed on him suspiciously as she thought, You bastard, when you lose your temper, you won't even do me a favor. And you'd fucking do one for some lowly public security brigade commander?

Why don't I believe a word of it?

Xie Zhaolong, blink if someone's threatening you.

Then again, who in Dongji County could possibly threaten Xie Zhaolong?

Xie Zhaolong was torn inside.

Yes, someone really had threatened him.

But he would never tell anyone that.

After all his years dominating Dongji, throwing his weight around and bowing to no one, he had never imagined he would suffer such a crushing defeat last night. He had lost every shred of face and dignity.

Even more humiliating, not only did he dare not retaliate and have to swallow every bit of his suffering, he was fucking terrified that the other man hadn't found slapping his face satisfying enough-and had willingly offered him the other cheek.

As for what his brothers in the underworld would think from now on?

What would his underlings think?

What would the girlfriends he'd slept with think?

Whatever they thought, it mattered less than his life.

"What is it about Zhou Yi that makes him worth doing a favor for?" Sun Mei asked with a frown.

"His connections, of course." Xie Zhaolong smiled faintly and offered the explanation he had spent the entire night devising.

His life mattered more than his pride, of course. But provided he could stay alive, Brother Long remained determined to salvage as much of his reputation as possible.

That was his last stubborn stand.

"What connections does he have?" Sun Mei pressed, her eyes intent.

"Mei, I'd advise you not to ask. All I can tell you is that his connections are unfathomable." Xie Zhaolong wept silently inside, but wore an inscrutable expression. Adding an air of mystery, he raised his index finger and pointed upward twice.

"Seriously?" Sun Mei was shocked, her foxlike eyes instantly widening.

"My cousin confirmed it. What do you think?" Brother Long countered with a cold smile.

To make his humiliation the night before seem reasonable, justified, inevitable, and even something he had been duty-bound to accept, he had painstakingly invented a powerful background for Zhou Yi, even dragging his cousin in to vouch for it.

Now Sun Mei believed him completely.

Because Xie Zhaolong's real backer was his cousin-Xie Bingkun, a Provincial People's Congress Representative, celebrated entrepreneur, and chairman of the Kunning Group.

Unless Xie Zhaolong had lost his mind, he had no reason to invent a lie like that to deceive her.

"Can you tell me more?" Sun Mei was burning with curiosity. She desperately wanted to know just what mighty figure stood behind Zhou Yi.

"This isn't the place. We'll talk when I get out." Xie Zhaolong shook his head, gave Sun Mei a long look, then got up and left.

Tell you more, my ass! I haven't figured out what to make up yet!

Luckily, his ten-day detention gave him plenty of time to flesh out the details.

After leaving Deputy Director Zhang's office, Zhou Yi was summoned by Executive Deputy Director Song Chengquan. Then, after leaving Deputy Director Song's office, he went into the bureau director's office.

Every one of the bureau's leaders wore a rather odd expression.

It was only his second day in the post, and their Brigade Commander Zhou had already put Xie Zhaolong in the Detention Center.

Was this a case of a newborn calf having no fear of the tiger?

Or was he bold because he knew exactly what he was doing?

They couldn't help wanting to ask, but couldn't conveniently be too direct. When they tried probing indirectly, they failed to get the answers they wanted.

They were hopelessly torn.

After dealing with the bureau's leaders, Zhou Yi returned to his own office.

Perhaps he was imagining it, but every officer in the Public Security Management Brigade-including Political Instructor Wang Jian, Deputy Brigade Commander Zhu Jianping, Cai Xiaobo, and Shao Mingbao-seemed noticeably more respectful when they saw him.

And that was exactly what he wanted.

Ever since taking charge of the Public Security Management Brigade, he had been considering how to carry out his work smoothly in Dongji County, a place rife with organized crime and murky, treacherous undercurrents.

First, he had to ensure that the entire brigade obeyed his orders without question and followed his lead.

Second, he had to secure the support of the bureau's leadership-or at least that of the leader overseeing his brigade and the bureau's top man.

Finally, he had to find the right opportunity to make an example of someone, using concrete action to create a widespread deterrent effect.

Meeting all three requirements would be no easy task, and certainly not something he could accomplish overnight.

Yet the previous night's events had vividly illustrated what it meant to have someone deliver a beautiful woman just as you were getting sleepy-no, wait, a pillow.

Xie Zhaolong's appearance had given Zhou Yi the chance to unlock all three achievements in one go.

So...

What kind of god-tier opening was this?