Chapter 109
Tian Xinxi was extremely pleased with himself, because he had everyone completely under his control. Those policemen even wanted to find the child's whereabouts through the video footage—ha! It was all in vain; he had already moved the child. Otherwise, what could he use to threaten Tiger? Brotherhood? What a joke!
Tian Xinxi was never one to be underestimated. Everyone laughed at him, a cripple who dared to dream of becoming a boss, unaware that he had endured so much humiliation and groveled before Brother Cat, all for the sake of useful clues and a single, decisive opportunity. Look, now the weapons were in his hands, and the most skilled bounty hunters in the underworld were at his command. He wasn't afraid of his plan failing. The treasures that the gang had coveted for so long would eventually fall into his hands.
"The weather's about to change." The sea breeze howled fiercely, and large, dark clouds rolled in like surging waves. The fishermen at the pier, seeing the change in weather, hurriedly packed up their gear and left one by one, leaving only Tian Xinxi and He Feihu, who had arranged to meet. Having been kept in the dark for a day and a night, He Feihu's patience was nearing its limit. He had originally hoped to glean some clues from Tian Xinxi's behavior to deduce his true intentions. However, after a whole day, the other man had merely repeated the same eating, drinking, and merrymaking routine a few times, even abandoning most of his initial act of hiding from debt collectors. Tiger couldn't help but taunt him: "Aren't you afraid your creditors will come knocking on your door with such a blatant display?"
Tian Xinxi seemed to have heard a joke, pointing at Tiger and then at himself, "Now that things are like this, do you think anyone would dare to mess with us?" That's right, he had gained a follower, but he also had gained a protective umbrella.
Tiger looked displeased, but Tian Xinxi smiled again: "Alright, I know we're different now than before. I've made it clear to you, so we can both feel at ease."
Tiger remained silent. Tian Xinxi took this as tacit agreement and conceded, "I do know who kidnapped the two children, but I need you to help me in exchange for this information."
Tiger finally nodded. In the past, when he helped Tian Xinxi, he always emphasized his principles, insisting that everything done must be legal. But this time he didn't say anything, because Dingding and Lele didn't have enough time to wait any longer. Yin Jincheng's efforts had failed, and it was unknown whether they could find any new leads. He had followed Tian Xinxi all the way, even giving him two special breaks, but he hadn't taken any action to check on the child. If the child was really in his hands, a few days without food and water probably wouldn't last long.
Tian Xinxi made his intentions clear. He leaned closer to Tiger and lowered his voice: "I recently heard that the gang is going to make a deal with drug traffickers in the Golden Triangle, using a batch of high-quality jewelry as payment. I need you to cooperate with me. You take down the drug traffickers, and I'll intercept the jewelry. How about it?"
So that's the crux of why they wouldn't accept those millions. Tiger understood, but he still couldn't completely trust Tian Xinxi's words. This man was too good at talking; he always said things that were advantageous to himself. Tiger knew that he must have a deeper purpose behind it. He tried to entice him: "My toy gun is useless against drug dealers."
"That's not difficult," Tian Xinxi patted his chest confidently. Where were the weapons the police suspected were missing? Using small fry to hide a big fish—who else but him could come up with such a brilliant plan? That simple firing action immediately made Tiger realize his hand. He wanted to tip off Yin Jincheng, but Tian Xinxi reached for his phone before he could act. He even seemed very sincere: "If needed, Dingding and Lele will use my phone to contact you."
Meanwhile, the CIB received new intelligence. An agent, holding a newly printed email, went straight into his superior's office: "Inspector Tam, we received an anonymous tip that terrorists have entered Hong Kong for a transaction. The specifics are unclear."
Earlier, his subordinates had just delivered intelligence about unusual activities within the triad. After a moment's thought, Tam Ka-chung gave the instructions: "Check the authenticity of the information first. I'll call Inspector Fong."
Ben has been incredibly busy lately. The stock incident has triggered a chain reaction, and dealing with the high-pressure debt collectors has kept his entire team extremely busy, not to mention continuing to track down the missing weapons. A phone call from Tam Ka-chung has put considerable pressure on Ben, even though the facts are still unclear. He shares Tam Sir's intuition that this incident might involve many parties, and if heavy weapons were indeed involved in the transaction, they would have to ask the SDU for help.
The Flying Tigers are always ready to deploy. However, recently they have been trying to integrate new personnel. After the new recruits passed the assessment, Teams A and B made personnel adjustments. Team A received new members, while several veterans, including Yu Xueli, were transferred to Team B.
"Ali became the captain of Team B?" Jennie was surprised when she received the news. She looked at her daughter, and of course, she didn't hold back her voice because her son-in-law wasn't there.
Iris understood her mother's unspoken message and promptly revealed Pan Zilong's plan: "Ah Yuan said that his master had spoken with him and planned to send him to CIB for a period of training before returning to his position."
What's going on? Jennie was confused by this promotion. But since her boss had said so, she could only shrug and take it as normal. Besides, given Pan Zilong's relationship with their family, he must have some control over Zhuang Zhuoyuan's career development. She thought of the current head of CIB, "His surname is Tan, right? He came to your wedding and took a picture with us."
“Hmm,” Iris was already prepared. She flipped through the photo album and pointed it out to Jennie. “That’s him. Before Ah Yuan joined Flying Tigers, he worked under him. I think they had a pretty good relationship. Master also said that Inspector Tan admires Ah Yuan.”
"Then the working environment won't be too bad." Jennie felt much more at ease. She thought that an intelligence-gathering department was better than a high-risk department like the Flying Tigers. Even if Zhuang Zhuoyuan was only transferred for a short period, they would have some time to live in peace. She tapped the table. "It's been a long time since I've seen Inspector Pan. Since you gave birth to Tangyuan, you've only practiced shooting two or three times. How about this, you ask Inspector Pan when he's free, and we'll treat him to a meal. As for Inspector Tan, once A-Yuan is officially transferred, we'll invite the whole team over for a party or something."
These are all things for later. Iris agreed, saying she would wait until she had spoken to her husband before making the invitation. Right now, she had things to do, and seeing that it was almost time, she entrusted her son to her mother again and drove herself to the hospital.
After sitting for a while outside the maternity ward, Su Wenqiang finally appeared. Iris glanced behind her and joked, "Looks like you've shaken off quite successfully. I thought Yu Sir was relentlessly pursuing you, which is why our Madam is so late."
Su Wenqiang snorted: "Yu Sir went to work early this morning. Does that mean your Zhuang Sir is on holiday today?"
Iris laughed and pulled her into the examination room, saying, "I'm just curious how you got the day off."
Ye Xiuyun had just finished examining the previous pregnant woman when she caught sight of Iris coming in. She nodded to Su Wenqiang first, then continued to joke with her: "What, you've come to me to calculate your due date?"
"No way." Iris pushed Su Wenqiang forward, indicating that he was the main character today. Ye Xiuyun looked at the two pregnancy tests Su Wenqiang took out and had a feeling about what was going on, but she still gave her a referral to do a blood test. She casually asked, "Coming directly to me means you're planning to have a baby?"
Su Wenqiang hadn't really made up her mind yet; one night wasn't enough time for her to make a decision. Iris smiled and smoothed things over, "Let's see first, Junjun. We'll come back to you later."
Ye Xiuyun's mention of the matter made Su Wenqiang even more uneasy. The reason she hadn't invited Yu Xueli today was that she wasn't ready to tell him about the possible pregnancy. The dilemma ultimately boiled down to the choice between family and career. If she decided to keep the child, Yu Xueli would inevitably be busy trying to get her married and helping her adjust her job position. She had finally joined Flying Tigers, her dream had come true less than a few months ago, was she really going to have to make an imperfect exit?
"Let's confirm first," Iris said, unsure how to comfort her best friend. From her own perspective, when faced with a similar choice, she had decisively chosen Tangyuan and Zhuang Zhuoyuan. But precisely because of her experience, she was less inclined to offer advice, as the world after childbirth is truly different. She had strong support, allowing her to return to school without much worry, and because folklore wasn't a subject requiring in-depth study, she avoided many troubles. However, Su Wenqiang's entry into the Flying Tigers wasn't a casual affair, and Yu Xueli's family wouldn't allow their daughter-in-law to act arbitrarily. Therefore, Su Wenqiang faced a much more difficult choice than Iris. She sighed inwardly, thinking for a long time before finally saying, "If you've confirmed it, tell Ali. After all, the child isn't just yours; whatever decision you make, he needs to take responsibility."
Speak up? When would she dare to say it? Su Wenqiang looked up at the sky, but her worries bounced back to her mind and heart as soon as they hit the ceiling. She had been so careless. If she hadn't talked to Iris about it that day, she probably wouldn't have noticed her period was late, let alone thought about being pregnant. And now, she dared not delay any longer…
Iris, however, had an idea. When she was struggling to make a decision, she always liked to use extreme scenarios to speculate on the importance of something in her heart. Hearing Su Wenqiang say this, she immediately encouraged her to think further: what would she do if she lost her job because of the baby?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
