Chapter 92
Strange things happen every year, but these past two months seem to have seen an unusually large number. Just the day before, Iris had mentioned the bizarre case involving the Yau Tsim Mong gangs, and the very next night, the SDU encountered a case that was utterly perplexing.
That night, EU colleagues on patrol received a loud alarm from the finance company's alarm system on the seventh floor of a nearby building. Upon investigation, they found that three armed officers had lost contact with control center after going upstairs. The captain urgently called for reinforcements from the Flying Tigers. The Flying Tigers had practiced nighttime operations countless times and should have been foolproof, but they didn't know what kind of opponent they had encountered this time. This opponent knew how to spy on the SDU's night vision goggles, walked close to the team members, and even used high-frequency noise to confuse their hearing.
"The strangest case was mine. I clearly shot him in the foot, but he was completely fine and managed to run away. Afterwards, my colleagues examined the scene and couldn't find a single trace of blood. Tell me, who can be shot by a bullet and not bleed?"
When Zhuang Zhuoyuan got home, he told him about the strange things that happened that night. He had been on a mission late at night, and when he got home, he found the living room lights on and his whole family sitting on the sofa waiting for him. Two elders and a pregnant woman were not people who could stay up late. Zhuang Zhuoyuan originally wanted to urge them to go back to their rooms, but the three of them were already wide awake and simply sat down to listen to him recount the case from the previous night. Jennie loved these strange and unusual things, and when she heard him talk about being shot without bleeding, she immediately treated it like an IQ question, hoping to guess the answer that very night. However, Iris, nestled in Zhuang Zhuoyuan's arms, felt reassured and became sleepy again after hearing the story. Edward, hearing that Zhuang Zhuoyuan and his team had to voluntarily train early the next morning because of the mission failure, sent everyone back to their rooms to sleep. It was only about two hours until dawn, so everyone stopped talking and went their separate ways.
Pan Zilong's first mission as a team ended in failure, and everyone was prepared to be reprimanded. Unexpectedly, seeing them arriving early at the training ground for weighted runs, Pan Sir expressed his disapproval. He praised Team A's performance that night, encouraged them to do better next time, and told them not to put too much pressure on themselves, suggesting they relax during happy hour after work. This gesture greatly won them over. That evening at the Flying Tigers bar, everyone couldn't help but praise him.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan had informed Iris of his plans for the evening, and his family was very supportive of him going out for drinks with his colleagues to chat. Edward and Jennie could both tell that this soon-to-be father had been incredibly stressed lately. While they were undoubtedly concerned for their daughter, they certainly wouldn't neglect their son-in-law. This thoughtfulness was palpable to Zhuang Zhuoyuan, even without being spoken aloud. What he didn't know was that Jennie had been pondering his question all day. When the topic of this strange incident came up again over drinks, Zhuang Zhuoyuan received Jennie's eager reply: "Zhuoyuan, Mommy has thought about it. Being shot but not bleeding can only mean that the injured area isn't flesh and blood, which means that person is very likely wearing a prosthetic leg!!!"
Zhuang Zhuoyuan's heart skipped a beat, just like those three exclamation marks. His upturned lips curved into a wider smile after confirming the answer was irrefutable. "I think my mother-in-law was right. The sniper I shot that night was a disabled person with a prosthetic left leg!" Unable to contain his excitement, he immediately called Inspector Tan, who was in charge of the investigation. He believed that with the CIB's information network, following the lead of the prosthetic repair, they should be able to quickly apprehend the culprit.
The members of Team A, who listened to the whole thing, were amazed. They never imagined that a difficult problem could be solved by someone who was not an expert. They started talking all at once, saying all sorts of things.
"Those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly!"
“Ah Yuan, your mother-in-law is actually a heroine.”
"Iris's personality seems to be inherited from her mother."
"The whole family worked together to solve the case, Ah Yuan, you should be awarded a Good Citizen Family Award!"
"Ah Yuan made a good 'marriage' this time!"
Amidst laughter and chatter, the conversation gradually veered off course. Zhuang Zhuoyuan felt relaxed and content, simply waiting to encounter this group of criminals again. Since joining the police force, none of his subordinates had ever escaped capture, and he looked forward to the day he could bring this criminal gang to justice.
As the party was ending, Tiger stopped A-Yuan and handed him a paper bag. Zhuang Zhuoyuan peeked through the gap and saw that it contained some snacks. He smiled slightly and said, "Tiger, if Iris knew how much you dote on her, she would be overjoyed."
“Your wife is a good girl, very lovable,” Tiger reminded her. “Giving birth is a life-or-death ordeal for women, so you need to take good care of her during this period. If you need any help, just let us know. We’re not strangers.”
Zhuang Zhuoyuan certainly didn't treat Tiger as an outsider, but Iris really didn't need any more help. Jennie had arranged everything perfectly, from the hospital to home, from adults to children, with dedicated people taking care of every step. Zhuang Zhuoyuan himself felt that on the day Iris gave birth, he could only stand by and be a cheering mascot.
Tiger didn't stand on ceremony with Zhuang Zhuoyuan. He kept him there not only to check on Iris, but also because he needed their help with something. "One of the two children I was taking care of has fallen ill. I mentioned it to Iris before, and she said she could help if a doctor was needed. I've recently heard that there are some reputable doctors for the child in England, so..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhuang Zhuoyuan agreed: "Finding a doctor is just a small favor. If medical expenses are needed, we can also help."
"Okay, okay, I'll contact you again if I need anything." Tiger agreed verbally, but waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "I've prepared the medical expenses and I can handle them. The most important thing right now is the doctor. Ah Yuan, I feel much more at ease knowing that you said that. I've also brought the child's medical records. I'll trouble you to take them to the doctors in England to see if they can treat the child and how."
Jennie could easily find a doctor with a few phone calls. While her mother was on the phone, Iris glanced at the medical record and saw the patient's name, "TIN, TINGTING," which reminded her of the little girl Dingding that Tiger had been holding. She felt even more sorry for the two children; Dingding had a serious illness, and she'd heard that Lele had autism. Flipping through the other documents, Iris's curious gaze followed the "children's parents/guardians/close relatives" section of a discharge statement, finally revealing that Tiger had been caring for the children, and that a person named "Tian Xinxi" was in charge. It seemed this person was Dingding and Lele's father.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan thought he might be biased, but he simply didn't have a good impression of Tian Xinxi. He had seen and heard about Tiger taking care of children, but in his memory, Tian Xinxi had never appeared. Now, even something as simple as finding a doctor was being handled by Tiger, which made it seem like he didn't care about the two children at all.
Iris pronounced the name "Tian Xinxi" in Cantonese, repeating it several times without stopping. Zhuang Zhuoyuan was puzzled. Iris said, "I feel like this name is very familiar, but I just can't remember where I've seen it before." She thought to herself, if Elaine were here, if she had seen this name with Elaine, then with the latter's exceptional memory, she would definitely be able to immediately recall all the information about this person's name.
Elaine didn't know this person at all, but coincidentally, she was able to help Iris. She and her new boyfriend, Oliver, had recently been playing a game of revisiting the past, and had just come across the name. She simply felt that Iris shouldn't be asking about this person at such an important time, her tone dripping with disdain: "You should be showing your baby something beautiful, not carrying him around looking for a criminal."
"A criminal?!" After a moment of silence, Iris's memory slowly returned. She remembered seeing this name in the newspaper, just like Elaine. At the time, she and Ella were planning to create some new content, so they were looking for inspiration in various newspapers and magazines. She remembered what she saw—"sexual assault of a minor," "theft and fraud," "sentenced to prison." Jesus, she thought, could it be such a coincidence that the despicable criminal who had been hanging around Chinatown for years in the newspaper was actually the friend Tiger had been helping all along? She hesitated whether to tell her husband, but ultimately couldn't get past her own conscience. After all, Tiger had told her last time that her friend had also returned from England. Good heavens, if he had just returned from prison in England, how would he have had time to have two children? Iris hurriedly went to the bathroom door and knocked on her husband's door: "Baby, something terrible has happened! I think Tiger has been deceived by a man!"
The bathroom water was running loudly, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan wondered if he had misheard: "What? What did you say? What happened to Tiger? Who tricked him?"
This matter was extremely important; neither of them had ever seen Tian Xinxi's face. Judging from Tiger's demeanor, it was clear he harbored feelings for Tian Xinxi that weren't ordinary. The couple discussed it and decided to split up. Zhuang Zhuoyuan would personally follow Tiger to confirm the identity of the Tian Xinxi in Hong Kong; Iris would have someone investigate the background of the British criminal, Tian Xinxi. Ideally, everything would be just a coincidence; if not, they would have to quickly inform Tiger of their findings so he would reconsider and minimize the damage.
What was originally a simple favor has suddenly escalated into a whole host of problems, giving Iris a real headache. He thinks it's best not to overthink things lately, otherwise, the more he thinks, the more trouble he'll create. He just wants everyone to relax and have a peaceful Winter Solstice, Christmas, and New Year's Day. This time, she'll pray for something different: that these bad people in Hong Kong will have some holiday spirit and not cause trouble during these joyous days, or create any problems during such a long period.
But the turf war between Yi Feng and Jin Xing wasn't over yet. So, less than a week later, Zhuang Zhuoyuan was assigned another mission. This mission was connected to the previous one. According to media reports, Yi Feng's Sha Pi Chao kidnapped three disabled girls, and these three girls, along with the masked robbers who robbed the armored truck in the morning, were very likely the same criminal gang that had previously committed theft at the finance company.
Iris exclaimed "Good heavens!" again. So this was all a double-cross. That Shar-Pei Chao had kidnapped three girls, probably to blackmail people into robbing a bank. She was speechless for a moment, unsure what to say, and just kept watching the news to see when the Flying Tigers would rescue the hostages.
Larine's phone rang again, sending another video link. She and Yu Xueli had recently done good deeds at a health center and learned that the center was holding a charity fundraising performance. She enthusiastically used her PR firm to take on the job, ingeniously organizing an online fundraising event. Iris figured Larine was trying to get her to do good, so she didn't resist. She only clicked the link to donate after the reporters reported the Flying Tigers' safe evacuation. The next day was the Winter Solstice. The members of the health center had carefully selected their performances. Although the performances weren't perfect, they were all warm and joyful, perfectly suited to the upcoming family reunion.
However, as Iris watched, she realized something was wrong. Zhan Hantao had appeared in the frame, albeit briefly, but she was certain it was Zhan Sir, who had just finished a mission. Iris couldn't believe Zhan Sir would be so eager to help others that he would neglect his work. She calculated the time; the SDU was probably still on their way to escort a prisoner. Her shocked gaze then shifted to the woman playing the violin on stage. Iris recognized her as Ann, the girl Zhan Hantao had been frequently dating, whom Zhuang Zhuoyuan had mentioned. She knew Ann had lost her voice due to childhood illness and that she owned a sporting goods store with three friends. She also knew that Guo Dewei from Zhuang Zhuoyuan's team was pursuing a disabled girl in the store, a girl they had met during their shooting training session. Now everything connected. These four were the gang that robbed the finance company, and the girl named Huihui was the sniper Zhuang Zhuoyuan had shot that night without bleeding, using only rubber bullets.
Good heavens! Iris never expected that the final revelation would be this. She also guessed that Zhan Hantao's frequent dates with Ann were probably to help Ann rekindle her love for the violin and regain her confidence in life. After all, how could a girl who plays the violin so well only use her hands for manual labor?
But as Iris listened, she sensed something was amiss—
Tangyuan was acting very strangely today; the way her stomach hurt was also different from the previous two days. She couldn't wait to finish enjoying the violin and piano duet. Touching her belly, Iris cried out loudly, "Mommy!"
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