Reporting for duty

When Huang Guifa saw Zhou Yi smile, he smiled too.

But he soon realized he had smiled too soon.

"I appreciate the thought, but there's no need for a gift." Zhou Yi reached out and firmly pushed the gift box back.

"Captain Zhou, it really is just a 'little' token of appreciation." Huang Guifa blinked furiously, trying to drop a hint. He mistakenly thought Zhou Yi considered the gift too small.

"Whatever is in here, and however much there is, please take it back. I think you understand what I mean." Zhou Yi's smile vanished, and he narrowed his eyes, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"Captain Zhou..." Huang Guifa still wanted to salvage the situation, but when he met Zhou Yi's increasingly sharp gaze, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.

"Well, sorry for disturbing you, Captain Zhou."

Huang Guifa could only turn and leave with the gift box, looking crestfallen.

Zhou Yi closed the door and came back. Before he could speak, his father gently patted his shoulder and voiced his approval of how he had handled it. "That's right. Never take anything you shouldn't."

Zhou Yi smiled and nodded. He wasn't putting on airs of moral superiority; he simply had no need to take money that would burn his fingers.

The years from 2005 to 2007 saw a once-in-a-century, frenzied bull market.

As someone who had been reborn, he might not remember every soaring stock, but Chihong Zinc and Germanium and Guangzhou Shipyard International had left a deep impression on him.

Just how spectacular were their gains? Take Guangzhou Shipyard International: buying at 2.21 yuan and selling at 130.67 yuan meant a full fifty-eightfold increase.

Yes, he had already put his entire twenty-thousand-yuan bonus into stocks.

Ding-dong, ding-dong...

Before they had even finished their meal, the doorbell rang again.

Yao Qingyan peered through the peephole at the apartment opposite while straining her ears to listen.

After a while, she returned to the living room and said sourly, "Another one bringing gifts to the Zhou family. That's the third."

Fu Zhengrong looked up at his wife and said with some feeling, "Well, old Zhou has a son who's made something of himself!"

"My son's doing well too. He earns several thousand a month. How much could Zhou Yi possibly make?" Yao Qingyan said indignantly.

Fu Zhengrong smiled without replying, then turned back to the television.

Their son, Fu Ning, worked at a foreign-owned company in Shanhai City and certainly earned a handsome income. But no matter how much money he made, it couldn't compare to one thing.

That thing was called-power!

Golden Years Entertainment City.

Sun Mei reclined against the sofa, a slim cigarette held between fingers tipped with bright red nail polish. She brought it to her red lips and took a gentle drag.

Huang Guifa stood respectfully across from her, patiently waiting for the big boss to speak.

"Tell me, was he pretending to be above it all, or did he think we offered too little?" Sun Mei blew a smoke ring and asked languidly.

Huang Guifa considered it carefully, then replied with certainty, "I think he genuinely didn't want it!"

My eyes have always been the best judge of people.

Captain Zhou was clearly only in his twenties, yet he exuded the maturity and composure of a middle-aged man. His manner alone suggested a man of substance and lofty ambitions.

Given time, his future would surely be limitless.

Of course, there was no point telling the big boss any of that. If he told her, she wouldn't listen; if she listened, she wouldn't understand; if she understood, she wouldn't act; if she acted, she would get it wrong; and if she got it wrong, she wouldn't admit it.

Yes, in Huang Guifa's mind, the big boss was nothing but a busty, brainless ornament.

"Hmph. Stay out of this. I'll find time to arrange a dinner with his superior." Sun Mei waved a hand, signaling for Huang Guifa to leave.

To be honest, she didn't think much of a mere public security squad captain.

She had only intended to grease his palm as a precaution-after all, the little underlings could be harder to deal with than the big bosses. She hadn't expected him to refuse.

Zhou Yi, I'm offering you some money. You'd better not throw my goodwill back in my face.

Meanwhile, Zhou "ungrateful" Yi had already taken several phone calls, mostly from colleagues who had joined the county public security bureau in the same recruitment intake.

They included old Dong, Zheng Yifan, Gao Jun, and even Jiang Xinting, who had already been seconded to the municipal bureau's general office.

Every congratulation and every pleasantry carried a whiff of self-interest.

But that was officialdom. That was reality.

Monday, July 11, 2005. Clear skies.

After breakfast, Zhou Yi left home and took the No. 11 bus from the bus stop. Six stops later, he got off at the Supplies Bureau intersection, then switched to his own two legs for roughly five hundred meters until the county public security bureau's solemn gray office building came into view.

Stepping into the compound where he had worked for nearly ten years in his previous life, he looked at the familiar plants and trees from his memories. It truly felt as though he had been here only yesterday.

Old Zhang, the guard in the first-floor security office, happened to look up and catch sight of the young man who had just entered. He immediately stirred, hurried over, and greeted him with a broad smile. "Morning, Captain Zhou!"

Zhou Yi paused briefly, then smiled and nodded. "Morning, Zhang."

That absolutely delighted Zhang Dajiang.

It was hardly surprising that he recognized Zhou Yi. For one thing, word had long since spread through the bureau; for another, he had personally seen Zhou Yi ride with Director Lei to a meeting in the city.

But for Zhou Yi to recognize him, and even know his surname, was something else entirely.

What did that mean? It meant Captain Zhou knew that he, Zhang Dajiang, existed.

"You're here to report to Director Lei, Captain Zhou? He just arrived, so he should be in his office." As Zhang Dajiang spoke warmly, he hurried a few steps ahead and attentively pressed the elevator button for Zhou Yi.

"Thanks, Zhang."

"No need to thank me. Just doing my job, haha."

As the elevator doors slowly closed, Zhou Yi saw an attractive figure walking briskly toward them.

He quickly held down the door-open button and waited for the female officer, who was also wearing a short-sleeved police uniform, to step inside.

"Zhou Yi! What a coincidence!"

Surprise and delight appeared on the female officer's pretty face as she spoke first.

Zhou Yi was a little surprised too.

This celebrated beauty of the Dongji police force should have been at the municipal bureau, not the county bureau. Running into her here really was quite remarkable.

"Comrade Jiang Xinting, have you been sent back down here? What for? Corruption?" Zhou Yi smiled as he shook her hand, slipping naturally into a harmless joke.

"Oh, get lost. You're the corrupt one." Jiang Xinting gave him a playfully reproachful look, then couldn't help smiling. "I'm here to see Political Commissar Gao about something, and to check on you while I'm at it."

Zhou Yi smiled and nodded. "'While you're at it'-nicely put. That tells me exactly where I stand."

"You're picking apart my wording now? You have no idea how busy I am these days..." As Jiang Xinting spoke, she reached up to smooth the hair beside her ear, her movements naturally revealing a soft, captivating charm.

"Yes, yes. My deepest thanks to you, Jiang, for taking time out of your busy schedule to humor me," Zhou Yi said with apparent sincerity.

"You... why are you such a smart mouth? You're asking for it!" Jiang Xinting's eyes curved with laughter. She instinctively raised her arm, only to lower it again at once.

If they hadn't been in the wrong setting, she would definitely have given him a punch.

The director's office was on the seventh floor, while the political commissar's office was on the sixth.

Jiang Xinting smiled, told Zhou Yi she would see him later, and got out first.

Inside the elevator, the smile on Zhou Yi's face gradually faded.

He and Jiang Xinting hadn't actually been all that close. So why had they been able to joke and chat so happily today, like old friends?

The reason was simple-

Jiang Xinting was still Jiang Xinting, the celebrated beauty of the Dongji police force. But he was no longer that low-ranking cop tucked away in the countryside!