Binhai City, Yi'an District Police Station.
Qi Tongwei rushed back to the district police station that afternoon, only to be greeted by a wave of taunts.
"Well, well! Look who it is! If it isn't Qi Tongwei. How come you're back again?"
"Little Qi, couldn't manage to cling to a high branch and get transferred, huh? Haha!"
Pretty much everyone in the police station knew why Qi Tongwei had gone to Jingzhou City. Seeing him return empty-handed, they naturally weren't going to be very polite.
"Shut your traps, all of you! Got nothing better to do than flap your gums?At that moment, a heavy Northeastern accent rang out as Li Hongflag strode out and scolded the officers in the lobby.
"Brother Jiu!"
"Brother Jiu, Qi Tongwei's back again!"
...
"I see him. Do you take me for blind?"
With a stern expression, Li Hongqi snapped back at them. Then, he looked Qi Tongwei up and down and said softly, "Let's go, Tongwei! Since you're back, let's get down to business first!"
Qi Tongwei didn't say anything, following Li Hongqi straight toward the Narcotics Division. He couldn't be bothered to argue with the people outside; arguing with them served no purpose anyway!
As the captain of the district police station's detachment and head of the Narcotics Division, Li Hongqi was effectively Qi Tongwei's direct superior.
"Tongwei, transfer or no transfer, let's finish this case first!"
"I'm not leaving!" A resolute look appeared on Qi Tongwei's face as he said solemnly to Li Hongqi, "Brother Jiu, until this case is closed, I'm not going anywhere!"
He was still counting on earning merits through this assignment to secure his future; how could he just pack up and leave? Liang Qunfeng might marginalize and suppress him, but as long as he racked up achievements, so-called suppression would be completely useless!
"That's my boy!" Li Hongqi patted Qi Tongwei on the shoulder with a gratified smile, and the two of them walked into the Narcotics Division office together.
"Lads, Tongwei is back—uh, Station Chief, why are you here too?"
The district station chief, Zhang Li, ignored Li Hongqi. Instead, he looked at Qi Tongwei and said earnestly, "Tongwei, this current case is of the utmost importance! The station is short-handed right now. Once this case is wrapped up, I'll throw away whatever old face I have left and personally recommend you to Director Zhang in Binhai City!"
Believing that Qi Tongwei had returned to hand over his work, Zhang Li spoke up to urge him to stay. After all, besides Li Hongqi, the only one in the district station who could actually handle themselves was young Qi Tongwei; the rest were pretty much useless in a pinch. Now that such a massive case had broken in the district, Li Hongqi was handling it practically single-handedly, and Zhang Li was terrified things would spiral out of control.
Hearing this, Qi Tongwei snapped to attention, saluted, and declared loudly and steadily, "Station Chief! I'm not leaving! I've returned to report for duty!"
Zhang Li was momentarily stunned, then nodded in relief, letting out a long breath. "Then you carry on with your work. Do your best to catch this gang of drug lords as soon as possible, and ideally unearth their backers behind the scenes. I'll put in a request to get you all commended!"
"Yes, sir!"
Once the station chief had left, Qi Tongwei casually found a seat, nodded to the colleagues around him, and listened as Li Hongqi began breaking down the case.
"While Tongwei was gone these past two days, we've already figured out most of their setup!"
On the wall hung several photographs, connected by marked relationship lines.
"This man is Ma Qiang, the leader of the drug trafficking syndicate. He likely has a major backer behind him, and his identity is extremely mysterious!"
"This man is Zhen Sanjiang, who manages several bars and dance halls, with thugs like Qin Liang and Shi Ba under him..."
When he reached Shi Ba, Li Hongqi paused noticeably before continuing, "This woman is Qi Dawei, suspected of running prostitution rings..."
...
Li Hongqi mainly focused on briefing Qi Tongwei. Once he finished, Qi Tongwei asked with a puzzled frown, "Brother Jiu, since we already know the locations of their dens, why haven't we made the arrests?"Li Hongqi said helplessly:
"Without evidence, we can't make any arrests! At the very least, we need human witnesses. For now, we don't dare contact the girls working there for fear of alerting the enemy!"
"What does Brother Jiu plan to do?"
"Stakeout!"
Li Hongqi explained his plan to Qi Tongwei in detail.
"You and I will each lead a team to stake out several bars and dance halls to look for a breakthrough! Remember, don't act rashly and avoid unnecessary casualties. Based on our observations over the last two days, this gang of drug dealers likely has firearms!"
Armed with guns?
They weren't small-time criminals, then!
Li Hongqi quickly assigned the tasks.
He and Qi Tongwei, the two toughest officers, would each lead a team to stake out suspicious locations and gather evidence.
At that moment, Qi Tongwei looked down at the photograph Li Hongqi handed him.
It showed a KTV in a remote location.
"Let's move out!"
At Li Hongqi's command, the six officers from the Narcotics Division armed themselves, changed into plainclothes, and drove away from the police station.
...
Evening.
Qi Tongwei sat in the passenger seat facing a gloomy alley, at the end of which stood that KTV.
"Master, freshly made jianbing guozi, nice and hot—have a bite!"
The speaker was Qi Tongwei's young apprentice, who had joined the force just a few days ago and was currently holding two jianbing guozi.
Although Qi Tongwei had only been on the job for a few months, he was already quite famous in the station.
A top university graduate with extraordinary combat skills, he also had significant connections with the Chen Family.
All of this had allowed Qi Tongwei to become a narcotics officer straight away, complete with a young apprentice under his wing.
Qi Tongwei took the jianbing guozi, took a bite, and found it genuinely delicious. He said to his apprentice Wang Zhan:
"Take this fifty yuan and go buy me ten more!"
He possessed Innate Tier physical conditioning and had a massive appetite.
A single jianbing guozi wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.
"T-ten?"
The young apprentice was instantly dumbfounded, his face full of disbelief.
Wang Zhan would be stuffed after eating just one, yet his master, Qi Tongwei, wanted to eat ten?
"Just go when I tell you to. Stop talking so much nonsense!"
"Oh, oh!"
Wang Zhan scurried off like a wisp of smoke, returning shortly with a bag full of jianbing guozi.
Wang Zhan was reasonably observant; he was now sitting in the driver's seat, holding a camera and secretly taking pictures so Qi Tongwei wouldn't have to exert himself.
Suddenly, young apprentice Wang Zhan let out an exclamation.
"Master, someone just ran out from over there!"
Naturally, Qi Tongwei had seen it too. With his exceptional eyesight, he spotted a young woman dressed in revealing clothes running out.
"I'll go check it out!"
"Wait! Master, you're still wearing your police uniform underneath!"
"Tch, what a damn hassle!"
Qi Tongwei quickly stripped off his handgun and outer jacket, and bolted out of the car wearing only a undershirt.
...
"Run! Why aren't you running anymore?"
At the mouth of the alley, Qin Liang, reeking of banditry with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, caught up to Xiaoyou, grabbed her by the hair, and slapped her across the face.
This scene quickly drew the attention of passersby, and a crowd gathered, pointing and murmuring at Qin Liang.
"Why are you hitting that girl?"
"He doesn't look like a good guy to me!"
"Hurry up and call the police, let them handle it!"
...
Qin Liang wasn't afraid in the least. He backhanded Xiaoyou with another slap.
Then, pointing at the surrounding crowd, he roared arrogantly and aggressively:
"Looking for a death wish? It's none of your damn business, get the hell out of here!"