Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 32

There were certain things that could be said to someone but not to others. This wasn’t hypocrisy. The key lay in the timing of when it was to be said and the person it was being said to.

Lin Chen and Xing Conglian had a short conversation. When they went upstairs again, Wang Chao was by himself in a corner, controlling two computers. The young technician nodded to them, indicating the tracking software was fine and the kidnapper could be called.

The leather sofa in the office was very bright, complementing the picture behind the table. Mrs. Xing’s face seemed to glow, and she was as beautiful as ever.

The chairman, the assistant, and even the manager of the transportation company all looked at them with burning eyes, as if they couldn’t wait for the phone to be dialed and the negotiations for the hostage to begin.

However, Xing Conglian didn’t mean to act immediately. He sat down next to Wang Chao and patiently said something to the young man.

Those in the office suddenly felt a twinge of disappointment, as if a raging fire that had just been ignored was blown out by a breeze.

Lin Chen looked around the office. He first walked to the window and opened it, then turned around and took a paper cup from the water dispenser and consciously filled it with hot water.

Five minutes passed, yet Xing Conglian was still whispering to Wang Chao while Lin Chen was sipping tea.

With the window open, fresh air breezed in, but the three people in the office didn’t feel refreshed. Finally, the owner of the office couldn’t stand it. The chairman, who was over 40 years old, cleared his throat and asked, “What is Captain Xing waiting for?”

Also unable to bear it, Inspector Huang, who was hundreds of kilometers away, was facing the cameras of more than dozens of media outlets.

The reporters had already set up cameras and radio equipment, and then waited like this for nearly ten minutes. Standing in front of the camera, Jiang Zhe felt that the original tension and excitement of facing the kidnapper was about to disappear.

Jiang Zhe looked at the crowd again seeing Huang Ze, whose face was still grim, still standing aloof. Jiang Zhe thought for a while, then put his cellphone into his pocket, and after apologizing to the media, he walked up to Huang Ze and whispered, “Inspector Huang, the reporters are getting impatient. In case there’s a problem in the process of rescuing the hostages because of the delay in execution by Captain Xing, it’ll be only you who’ll be accused of being inept.”

Jiang Zhe might have been ridiculed by Lin Chen for not being able to memorize the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic manual, but he had a thorough understanding of the mentality of the officials. Therefore, after he aggravated the word “Captain Xing”, Huang Ze finally reacted.

As if he had telepathy, Xing Conglian looked at the time in the lower right corner of the computer, and just ten minutes later, his phone rang.

“Inspector Huang.”

“Captain Xing.”

After the meaningless greeting, the two of them fell silent again, as if in tacit understanding.

“Inspector Huang, what’s the matter?” Xing Conglian asked casually. Since he spoke so casually, it made his voice sound harsh in Huang Ze’s ears.

Huang Ze replied coldly, “I just called to inform Captain Xing, since this case has been upgraded from a simple robbery to a hostage-taking situation, the crime scene is not within the scope of Hongjing. To be precise, Captain Xing can only assist in this investigation but you have no leadership.”

“I know, Inspector Huang. Didn’t you stop me from participating in this case a while ago? It’s just that I happened to be in the surveillance center, so I can help a bit.” Xing Conglian switched the cellphone to his right hand and patted Wang Chao on the shoulder. “The technician in our bureau also happened to be here. He’s setting up the tracking system. First, you should find a laptop. Then I’ll have him teach you how to track the kidnapper’s location.”

At the moment when Xing Conglian patted Wang Chao’s shoulders, it seemed he had received some kind of signal. He immediately refreshed the current page. If Huang Ze was present, he would be shocked to find that the page wasn’t the tracking platform, but a common email app.

When the page refreshed, a new email had appeared.

“Ah, hello Inspector Huang. I have heard about you. I don’t know if you play Warcraft or not. Is your chosen faction Alliance or Horde?” Wang Chao took over the line and opened the email.

“Right now, the kidnapper has 28 innocent lives in their hands. Do you think your current words and actions are worthy of the badge you carry?” As Huang Ze was neither Xing Conglian nor Lin Chen, when he heard Wang Chao’s ramblings, he immediately reprimanded him mercilessly.

“Oh, I guess you must play dwarves then…” Wang Chao replied to Huang Ze nonchalantly while he scanned the email. When he read half of it, he was stunned and pointed to his lips as he mouthed to Xing Conglian, “Shit.”

Xing Conglian only glanced at the email and then retracted his gaze. As if he wasn’t surprised by the result, he knocked on the table and motioned for Wang Chao to not leave Huang Ze hanging too long.

“Oh yes, Inspector Huang, the steps are very simple. I’ll teach you how to hack into the Telecomm Bureau servers. I left a backdoor on their servers just for you. First, open the DOS command editor, and I’ll teach you to type a few lines of code…”

“Wang Chao, police officers do not break the law!” Huang Ze roared. “Give the phone to Xing Conglian!”

“Xing Conglian, what’s the matter with you? I didn’t give you time so you can find someone to hack into the servers of the Telecomm Bureau!”

“But Inspector Huang, if we want to rescue the hostages now, wouldn’t it be better to act as quickly as possible? If we communicate with the staff of the Telecomm Bureau, it will take too much time as then there’ll be three places that need to jointly locate and track…” Xing Conglian said innocently.

“Xing Conglian, what do you want?” At this moment, Huang Ze seemed to have a premonition of Xing Conglian’s intention. “You don’t mean to ask Lin Chen to do the negotiating with the kidnapper and then let your technician who opened the back door to the servers of the Telecomm Bureau be responsible for locating and tracking the kidnapper’s call?”

Xing Conglian stopped playing dumb and no longer continued to argue. A slight smile appeared on his lips as he said, “Inspector Huang, I would like to trouble you to check an email.”

Xing Conglian hung up the phone, and only a dial tone was left coming from Huang Ze’s earpiece, which only made him feel more incredulous.

At the same time, a notification popped up on his cellphone and flickered slightly, notifying him that he had received an email.

Even though Huang Ze was livid, he still opened it. The email was short and brief but extremely informative.

The full text was an investigation report of someone’s personal information. It was from Cohen May, one of the most famous independent investigation companies.

The subject of the investigation was Jiang Zhe, a psychology expert who had returned from studying abroad and was currently serving as a consultant for the police force.

Huang Zhe glanced at Jiang Zhe’s messy, curly hair, turned his phone aside as his finger swiped the screen, and made an extremely ugly face.

The investigation report showed that Jiang Zhe’s so-called study experience from an Ivy League University in the School of Psychology in Country X was actually something else. In fact, during the three years abroad, he was actually studying at a community college on the outskirts of the capital of Country X.

After Jiang Zhe returned to China, he worked as a commentator for an emotional program on a famous TV station, getting the job using his connections. Because of his sharp and humorous words and because he was good at making fun of himself, everyone’s attention was always on the hot topics he created. The reason why no one had doubted whether he truly studied at an Ivy League University was because he once confessed that he dropped out of school halfway because he had a disagreement with the professor, so he didn’t get his college degree.

He was such a bold and careful liar who used simple lies against the media, reporters, and even Huang Ze himself. He was playing them all like they were in the palm of his hands.

Next to the sofa, Lin Chen was holding his cup of tea. He also found it unbelievable. “You found someone to investigate Jiang Zhe?”

“That’s right.”

“In such a short time?”

“Professional investigation agencies are always more efficient.” Xing Conglian gave a helpless look. “Moreover, I can’t always call on the resources of the police station to investigate him.”

“How do you know that Jiang Zhe has problems with his background?”

Xing Conglian lowered his eyes slightly and looked at Lin Chen before saying gently, “If you have seen the real deal, of course you can tell those who are fake.”

Lin Chen sighed helplessly. Few people could parry the innate skills of the captain of the police criminal division with a strange bloodline.

Not long after, Inspector Huang, who had finished reading the report, quickly called again.

“Xing Conglian, what do you want?”

Xing Conglian breathed a sigh of relief. He was silent for a moment, then his tone suddenly became solemn. “Huang Ze, in fact, you know very well who is suited to communicate with the kidnapper in this situation, so put away your personal grievances and those hypocritical rules and regulations. Our purpose is to get those children back to their parents safely.”

On the other end of the line, Huang Ze fell silent. He couldn’t give a negative response to this.

Lin Chen and Xing Conglian had dug a pit for him. What was buried in Lin Chen’s pit was duty, and in Xing Conglian’s was morality.

But comparing the two, Xing Conglian’s pit was deeper and more treacherous. He first secretly investigated Jiang Zhe, and then used Huang Ze’s lack of tracking technology. Finally, he positioned himself in a righteous manner, in a very gentle and imperceptible way, slowly pushing Huang Ze into this pit, so that he must hand over control of the negotiation.

Huang Ze took a deep breath and calmed himself. He found that he really had to raise his hand and surrender. “Captain Xing, can you provide me with a solution?” he asked.

“You’re now approving a special position for a psychology consultant, so wouldn’t that be in line with regulations?”

Hearing Xing Conglian’s response, Huang Ze suddenly realized, ‘Oh, it turns out to be so simple.’ Xing Conglian made these arrangements so that Lin Chen could have a reasonable identity. He also realized that the matter with Jiang Zhe wasn’t so much a slap in the face, but more of guiding his steps. The reason Xing Conglian went in such a big circle seemed to be because he was respecting Huang Ze’s own opinions and judgement as an Inspector of the police force.

Such a person using such means to do these kinds of things made Huang Ze truly speechless. Then, the conversation from here could only proceed with “Yes”.

Quick and simple.

“Fuck, you’re really conniving.”

After listening to the whole process, Wang Chao couldn’t help but get goosebumps all over. He curled up in the corner of the sofa and refused to approach the captain of the police criminal division.

At this moment, Lin Chen put down his paper cup, raised his head, and looked at his friend. He opened his mouth but found he was unable to say a word.

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Kinky Thoughts:

For all this talk about competency, who hires a psychologist with no degree and doesn’t even run a background check on the guy? And you’re the freaking police force!

SMH. The curse of these police dramas… The police are always incompetent.

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