Liu Shenghao hummed a little tune, his heart blossoming with joy as he thought of the benefits Han Enci had promised him.
He had never expected to gain so much just for dealing with such a minor character. For a moment, Liu Shenghao thought pies were falling from the sky.
"Captain Liu, I think something's wrong with this. Those people were clearly gangsters. We can't just take their side of the story." A young police officer finally could not hold back as he filled out the paperwork.
Liu Shenghao's face darkened instantly, and he snapped, "Are you questioning my decision? If I say he's a criminal, then he's a criminal!"
"Defending him like this-are you trying to shield a criminal?"
The young officer's expression changed, and he lowered his head, his eyes full of resentment. He thought Captain Liu was being far too domineering, practically like a bandit, but he did not dare say anything more.
Liu Shenghao smiled contemptuously. He was just about to leave the office when someone kicked the door open with a bang.
Liu Shenghao flew into a towering rage. "Who the fuck has a death wish-"
The instant he turned his head, the rest of his words stuck in his throat, and his face filled with terror.
"Who did you say has a death wish?" Jiang Tianling sneered, his voice carrying a chilling edge.
"Director Jiang..." Liu Shenghao swallowed and spoke at the same time as the young officer.
"Director Jiang, please sit." With a shameless smile, Liu Shenghao respectfully brought over a chair. "What brings you here, Director Jiang?"
Jiang Tianling gave him a cold sidelong glance. Rather than sit, he asked pointedly, his words full of warning, "Don't you know what you've done?"
At Director Jiang's meaningful expression, Liu Shenghao's heart lurched, and an absurd suspicion rose unbidden.
Fuck, could that Lin Fei have some connection to Director Jiang? Liu Shenghao startled even himself with the thought.
Recalling how Lin Fei had remained as unshakably calm as Mount Tai earlier, he broke into a cold sweat down his back.
Despite that thought, Liu Shenghao still clung to the hope of getting lucky and forced himself to say, "Director Jiang, what you're saying... I really don't quite understand."
Jiang Tianling immediately roared, "Liu Shenghao, you're still playing dumb with me!"
His long years in high office had already given him an imposing presence, and his anger made him even more intimidating. With a guilty conscience to boot, Liu Shenghao was frightened into a shudder.
"You think I don't know what you've done? Shielding gangland criminals, then turning around and framing a law-abiding citizen-what are you playing at?" Jiang Tianling's face was furious, his voice like a thunderclap.
The young officer stared, dumbfounded. He had never expected this matter to attract even Director Jiang's attention. Then secret delight washed over him. With Director Jiang personally taking action, he knew that scumbag Liu Shenghao would not get away this time.
He had already made up his mind: if black was passed off as white in this case, he would not stand idly by. He would report Liu Shenghao to the inspectorate. In fact, quite a few other officers shared his thoughts.
Seeing that Jiang Tianling had already uncovered the truth, Liu Shenghao hurriedly said, "Director Jiang, it's a misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding! I never intended to shield criminals or frame a citizen. I just had a momentary lapse in judgment and got the case wrong!"
Hearing him still dare to make excuses, Jiang Tianling burned with even greater anger. "Is this how you serve as a people's police officer? Are you worthy of that uniform?"
"Someone take his gun and strip off his uniform! Investigate this matter thoroughly, immediately! I want results as soon as possible. The police are the people's guardians, not bandits and thugs!"
Two officers immediately rushed forward, restrained Liu Shenghao, and stripped off his uniform and removed his gun on the spot.
Seeing Director Jiang resort to such thunderous measures, Liu Shenghao panicked and struggled desperately.
Like a drowning man, he made one last desperate struggle. "Director Jiang, you can't do this! I only got the case wrong! I didn't twist black into white!"
Jiang Tianling could not be bothered with him at all. He immediately told the dumbfounded young officer to lead the way, saying he wanted to see the victim, Lin Fei.
Hearing the words and seeing Jiang Tianling's anxious expression as he said them, Liu Shenghao's face turned ashen, and his heart went ice-cold.
Director Jiang had not only mentioned his name, but seemed afraid something might have happened to him. What... did that mean?
A shudder ran through Liu Shenghao as he finally, belatedly, understood.
Normally, even if something went wrong with this affair, it should have been the inspectorate coming after him. Yet Lin Fei had only been locked up for a little while, and Director Jiang had already come in person...
This Lin Fei was not merely some bodyguard with no connections or influence, as Han Enci had claimed. On the contrary, his fucking backing reached all the way to the heavens!
His face full of hatred, Liu Shenghao glared at the ceiling through gritted teeth, roaring inwardly in grief and fury:
That bastard Han Enci screwed me!
The young officer walked quickly, afraid that if he arrived too late, he would find Lin Fei in a terrible state.
Yet when he opened the cell door, the sight inside left him stunned!
The young officer had assumed that once Lin Fei was locked up, he would inevitably take a vicious beating. Yet there he was, lying comfortably on the best bunk without even taking his shoes off. Brother Hai was beside him offering him a cigarette, while another lackey brought over a lighter.
There was not a single visible injury on Lin Fei. Instead, it was the vicious criminals whose faces were bruised and swollen. Each of them looked so cautious, like servants attending to an old patriarch, terrified of making the slightest mistake.
The entire cell was astonishingly quiet, more like a study room full of students preparing for the college entrance exam.
The young officer had personally seen Lin Fei being cuffed, yet now his hands and feet were completely unrestrained. Seeing the broken cuffs on the floor, the young officer felt close to petrifying, his gaze full of shock as he looked at Lin Fei.
Holy shit, what the fuck happened in here?!
By contrast, Director Jiang showed no surprise at all, as though he had expected this to happen.
Lin Fei pushed aside the cigarette and lighter with one hand, stood, and gave Jiang Tianling a faint smile. "Little Jiang, long time no see."
At that moment, both the young officer and Xiao Zhang nearly turned to stone.
Although they had concluded that Lin Fei had quite a background, they had never dreamed he would actually call Director Jiang "Little Jiang"!
Not only that, Director Jiang was not surprised in the slightest. Instead, his face filled with emotion as he said, "Yes, long time no see."
The first time he had met Lin Fei had been more than twenty years ago, when he was still captain of the bureau's criminal investigation team. As the subordinate the old chief thought most highly of, he had dealt with Lin Fei back then.
Now he had grown old, yet Lin Fei had not changed in the slightest.
Jiang Tianling composed himself and said, "This isn't the place to talk. Let's go."
Lin Fei nodded lightly and walked out of the cell, perfectly at ease.
Only the vicious criminals remained, exchanging looks, their hearts full of shock and uncertainty.