Chapter 89: A New Opportunity For A (1/2)
Killer Nights
Chapter 89: A New Opportunity for A-Jiao
Jiang Zhengkai and Zheng Yueshan conducted their conversation in a most peaceful and harmonious manner. Unlike Yao Tianyu, Zheng Yueshan wasn’t a quick-tempered person. Quite the opposite: he had a very mild manner. If it weren’t for the police uniform, you would probably mistake him for a soft-spoken retired college professor.
When Jiang Zhengkai got up to to leave Zheng Yueshan’s office, the Deputy Commissioner got up as well and escorted him to the door. He then patted Jiang Zhengkai on the shoulder and kindly said, “Keep up the good work, young man! Commissioner Yao and I will retire soon, so it’ll be up to younger officers like you to run the police bureau one day.”
“Hehe! Nonsense, Commissioner Zheng! Both you and Commissioner Yao are glowing examples of good health. I’m sure the two of you have many more productive years ahead of you. I’ll probably have to come and bother you about this case again,” Jiang Zhengkai said somewhat embarra.s.singly. His hands were filled with a thick stack of files. These were all the doc.u.ments related to the alley drug ring case from two years ago.
“Don’t worry! Feel free to stop by anytime,” said Zheng Yueshan as he waved his hand. However, his countenance quickly grew dim as he gravely said to Jiang Zhengkai, “But you do need to hurry up and crack this case. I won’t mince words with you. Too many of our officers are standing watch in that alley, which is an unsustainable deployment of our forces. Many of our routine operations are now being backlogged because of the alley operation. So you need to do everything you can to speed up the investigation. I’m not rus.h.i.+ng you; I’m just telling it as it is.” Afterwards, Zheng Yueshan looked intently at Jiang Zhengkai’s face.
“Understood! Don’t worry, Commissioner Zheng! I will crack this case ASAP!” Jiang Zhengkai didn’t know what else to say to him. Although Zheng Yueshan didn’t explicitly say it, Jiang Zhengkai knew criticism when heard it, even if it was said in a roundabout way. Specifically, Zheng Yueshan had always opposed deploying police officers to stand watch in the alley.
By the time Jiang Zhengkai left the munic.i.p.al police bureau headquarters building, the sun was already s.h.i.+ning in the west. He looked down at his watch and saw that it was already 5:30. If he drove straight to the preschool right now, he would be there just in time to pick up A-Jiao. This was just his number one concern every weekday afternoon.
“h.e.l.lo, Honey, what are you doing?” asked Jiang Zhengkai as he called A-Jiao over the phone. He knew that all of A-Jiao’s cla.s.ses at the preschool had already ended. Right now, she was either covering another teacher’s cla.s.s or painting in her art studio.
“Well… I guess I’m at the preschool,” A-Jiao said somewhat hesitatingly. “What’s going on? Are you not busy today?” Her voice seemed to have gotten a bit quieter.
“Not at all!” Jiang Zhengkai noticed the difference in the volume of A-Jiao’s voice, but didn’t seem to think too much of it. He thought that perhaps it was because she was in the presence of her superiors and couldn’t really talk on the phone. If that really were the case, then there was no need for him to keep the conversation going. “I’ll come pick you up after work, ok?”
“Ok!” A-Jiao said happily into the phone. Her voice then immediately grew quiet again. “So yeah, come pick me up. I’m with Cui Jing right now… d.a.m.nit! Alright, just come!” When A-Jiao said the words “Cui Jing,” her voice became unusually quiet. Perhaps there was something wrong with Cui Jing?
“Alright, I’m hanging up now!” said Jiang Zhengkai before he hung up. “Cui Jing?” he mumbled to himself, but he didn’t think any further of it. Cui Jing wasn’t A-Jiao, so her well-being wasn’t really a concern for him. If Cui Jing really were to die, then he supposed the impact would be that he would have to visit the crime scene. Cops weren’t G.o.ds, although Jiang Zhengkai had no intention of becoming a omnipresent world policeman like the Americans anyway. Therefore, he was in no mood to care about the lives of other women.