Chapter 39 — You Got In Through the Back Door, Didn't You?

"Captain Song, Mr. Lin means that his leg was wounded by a bullet. If you don't believe him, he can show you," Qing Bo said, seeing Qiu Lingshan's expression and knowing she had misunderstood, and he hurried to explain on Wei Zhao's behalf.

Only then did Qiu Lingshan notice the bloodstains on Wei Zhao's trousers, and she grew a little embarrassed. "Is that so? Then you'd better get to the hospital first..." Yet inwardly she felt a strong distaste for this man Wei Zhao. If you're injured, say you're injured — why go and take off your trousers? She might be a police officer, but she was still a young woman, after all. Was that any way for him to behave?

"A qualified police officer must first of all have sharp powers of observation. There's a large patch of blood on my trousers, and you didn't even notice it. I really don't understand how you ever became captain. Did you get in through the back door?" Wei Zhao had caught that flicker of disgust in Qiu Lingshan's eyes and spoke coolly.

"You—" Qiu Lingshan's lack of investigative experience was her greatest weakness, a constant source of anxiety to her. But anyone who knew her record understood that although her family had connections, she had certainly not become deputy captain through the back door.

She had previously been a combat instructor in the special forces, holding the rank of major. When she transferred to civilian service and took up the post of deputy captain of the criminal investigation squad at the police bureau, there was no question about her rank being appropriate, and her skills in the squad were second to none. Apart from Captain Yang Huaijun, whom she could not beat, no one else was her match.

But Wei Zhao's single remark had struck her where it hurt. True enough, she was formidable in a fight, but that did not mean she was formidable in other respects. Having only recently transferred, what she lacked most was precisely the careful observation required in investigating cases.

And the reason the squad deferred to her was entirely a deference to her fighting skill, not to any ability at solving cases. So Qiu Lingshan was always learning, and whenever Yang Huaijun went out on a call she would quietly tag along at his side. She understood her own shortcomings well enough.

It was just that Yang Huaijun, who had transferred two years before her, possessed rich investigative experience, which filled Qiu Lingshan with admiration and, at the same time, a touch of envy.

But today Captain Yang Huaijun was away on business, and there was no help for it — Qiu Lingshan had to go into the field alone. In the end she had been thoroughly needled by this fellow Wei Zhao, and her anger surged at once. The trouble was that everything Wei Zhao said was true, leaving her unable to refute him. So Qiu Lingshan could only grind her teeth, utterly without recourse.

In truth, it was only a bullet wound, and Wei Zhao could perfectly well have dealt with it himself. Out there in war-torn North Africa, who would go to a hospital when shot? Most likely you would be killed by the enemy before you ever reached one.

But with a woman like Qiu Lingshan following him around, Wei Zhao had no wish to display too many of his extraordinary qualities. What he had not expected was that Qiu Lingshan would truly lock horns with him, actually following him to the hospital to take his statement. Well, let her do as she pleased — there was nothing Wei Zhao needed to hide from her.

As for Gu Mengyao, the little princess of the Gu Pengzhan family, Qiu Lingshan did not dare to put on airs, nor did she insist on taking her to the police station. She took her statement right there in Qing Bo's car.

"Xiaoshu, how is your brother doing?" Qiu Lingshan had known Shen Yushu for a long time, and toward Shen Yushu's brother she actually felt a good deal of guilt.

"Hmph. What business is it of yours?" Shen Yushu gave a cold laugh, turned her head away, and did not give Qiu Lingshan so much as a civil look.

Qiu Lingshan smiled wryly, turned, and said to Gu Mengyao, "Miss Gu, shall we take your statement now?"

As Gu Mengyao recounted what had happened earlier, Shen Yushu kept exclaiming in amazement: "Wow, Wei Zhao is that impressive? No way! Yaoyao, didn't I tell you? Making him your shield was absolutely the right call. I guarantee he'll settle any man who bothers you."

"Hmph, who wants him?" Gu Mengyao thought again of that cocky look Wei Zhao had worn earlier, and a wave of irritation rose in her heart.

Listening from the side, Qiu Lingshan grew rather curious. From the sound of it, this man called Wei Zhao was not merely a man of talk and fighting skill. Though Qiu Lingshan was deeply unhappy at being called a back-door appointee, she was not an unreasonable person. From Gu Mengyao's account, this Wei Zhao seemed both brave and resourceful, and even after taking a bullet he had managed to keep circling the robbers. Such spirit was truly admirable.

It was only Wei Zhao's line — "I'm not a cop, do they pay me a salary?" — that Qiu Lingshan found utterly contemptible. Couldn't you just play the good citizen who steps forward for justice? Yet later, after hearing Gu Mengyao's account of why Wei Zhao had said it, Qiu Lingshan understood: Wei Zhao had not been wrong. Had they truly provoked those robbers at that moment, the two of them might well have both failed to escape.

But the fact that the robbers had been specifically after Gu Mengyao puzzled her greatly. These men had gone to such elaborate lengths merely to kidnap Gu Mengyao? It was possible, though, that they had done so to disguise their true purpose and avoid arousing the Gu family's suspicions. There might also be some other aim, but for now there was no way of knowing. They could only wait until Baldy and his gang were caught and then decide.

"Miss, I think Mr. Lin is very suitable. Mr. Gu's judgment was not wrong. With him at your side, I can finally set my mind at ease," Qing Bo said, still shaken. But at this moment he also truly understood Mr. Gu's intent. This Wei Zhao was indeed no ordinary man.

Gu Mengyao moved her lips, wanting to say something to refute Qing Bo, but somehow the scene in the bank — Wei Zhao stepping forward to shield her — kept circling in her mind...

Because Qiu Lingshan was present, the hospital did not ask many questions about Wei Zhao's gunshot wound. For a patient treated for a gunshot wound in the name of the police, the hospital bore no responsibility whatsoever.

Wei Zhao was wheeled into the operating room, and the surgeon said to the nurse, "Prepare the anesthetic. I'm going to remove the bullet."

"There's no need." Wei Zhao had little use for Western drugs like anesthetics. He was not fond of such things. Once or twice would do no great harm, but used too often they brought certain side effects to the body.

The surgeon blinked, thinking to himself: the men who had brought the boy in hardly looked like paupers — surely they could afford anesthesia? To do without it would hurt terribly. The base of the thigh was thick with nerves, and though this was about the simplest procedure there was, the pain of it surpassed that of many a major operation.

"Young man, it will hurt a great deal without anesthesia." The surgeon was a veteran expert in his forties, and so, to him, Wei Zhao was still a lad.