Chapter 114 — Wavering Between Gain and Loss

Clearly, Wei Zhao was capable of protecting her. She had no real connection to him yet—he was merely a man her father had hired with money—and even so he had stepped forward and shielded her when danger came. If he became her... boyfriend, would he not guard her with even greater care?

At this thought Gu Mengyao's face flushed deeper still. She had never had any experience of love, and now her heart was beginning to stir... She had not felt much of anything before, but after Shen Yushu's teasing just now, she had started to fret over this question, weighing every gain and loss...

But the most infuriating thing about Wei Zhao was that he seemed to be something of a flirt—or else she simply held no attraction for him. Why else would he have taken up with Qiu Lingshan the moment they met? And there was that tall girl she had seen yesterday...

Could it be... that she herself was too green and childish? At this thought Gu Mengyao felt a pang of sorrow... She glanced at Shen Yushu beside her, whose figure was far more full than her own. No wonder Wei Zhao seemed to treat Shen Yushu better than her... The lecher must have taken one look at Xiaoshu's fuller chest and been smitten...

Gu Mengyao brooded resentfully... Hmph, if this fellow ended up sitting beside her, she would have to teach him a lesson. Best of all, when Uncle Qing braked, she would pretend it was accidental and step on him or give him a shove, just to show him what came of slighting her...

But Wei Zhao glanced her way, then instead of coming to open her door, went around to Shen Yushu's side, pulled the door open, and climbed in. At that, Gu Mengyao's expression darkened!

What did he mean by that? He had been hired by her father to be her shield, so he ought to be sitting beside her. What was he doing sitting next to Xiaoshu?

Gu Mengyao frowned and wanted to shout, "Wei Zhao, get over here..." But with her father and Uncle Qing sitting up front, she hesitated, and in the end the words never left her mouth—though her face wore a sulky, joyless look.

The car rolled slowly forward. Gu Pengzhan took out his phone and dialed a number, his expression somewhat grim: "Director Chen? This is Gu Pengzhan..."

"Mr. Gu, good day to you!" Director Chen of the Songshan City Police Bureau picked up the call, and on hearing that the caller was Gu Pengzhan, his tone warmed at once... Gu Pengzhan was not only the largest private entrepreneur in the region but also held a post in the provincial people's congress, and above all he was a family friend of the Chen family in the military... Director Chen, a distant relative of the Chen family, naturally understood the weight of such connections.

"Director Chen, I'd like to ask how the bank robbery case is coming along. Have you caught the suspect who tried to kidnap my daughter?" Gu Pengzhan was truly furious now—so much so that he dialed the number without even stepping away from his daughter and Shen Yushu. The other side had gone too far: just days ago they had tried to abduct his daughter, and now these past two days they had come after him...

"Well... there's no news as yet..." Director Chen said with some helplessness. "The suspect is cunning. The license plate was fake, and for now we have no valuable leads..."

"All right, then. If anything turns up, please let me know, Director Chen." Gu Pengzhan remained quite courteous to Director Chen—after all, the man was a relative of Shen Yushu's family... though whether Shen Yushu acknowledged the relation was another matter.

"Of course, of course. I'll have my people hurry it along!" Director Chen hung up and immediately called Qiu Lingshan's office: "Xiao Song? This is Chen Dafei. Come to my office."

"Yes..." Qiu Lingshan caught the displeasure in Director Chen's tone, hastily set aside what she was doing, gave a few instructions to her subordinates, and went to the director's office.

She knocked, and from within came the director's "Come in." Only then did Qiu Lingshan push the door open: "Director, you wanted to see me?"

"Xiao Song, there you are." Chen Dafei adjusted his glasses and set down the documents in his hand. "Have a seat. Tell me how the bank robbery case stands. Any progress?"

"Director, our criminal investigation team has already set up Task Force 313. We've sent people out to sketch the suspect and conduct door-to-door inquiries, but so far there's no news..." Qiu Lingshan reported cautiously.

This case was hers to handle. Yang Huaijun had recently been seconded to the provincial department to deal with a case in a neighboring city, and word had it he would be promoted to deputy director afterward, so everything in the criminal investigation team had fallen on Qiu Lingshan's shoulders.

Yet only now, bereft of Yang Huaijun's protection, did Qiu Lingshan realize how crushing the pressure of leading a task force could be. In the past, Yang Huaijun had made the decisions and she had simply led the men to carry them out; she had never imagined the pressure that came from every direction... Now that she was in charge, Qiu Lingshan found it grueling.

But however grueling, she had to grit her teeth and push through. The Song family had no weaklings. If she gave up now and slunk back to the Song household, the rest of the family would look down on her...

"Get a move on, then. I needn't dwell on how important this case is—it involves Gu Pengzhan's daughter, and it must be solved quickly! The suspects must be brought to justice!" Chen Dafei said. "How about this: give me a time limit. How long until the case is cracked?"

"That..." Qiu Lingshan hesitated for a moment. In the past it had always been Captain Yang Huaijun who stood in the director's office and pledged himself to a deadline; this time it was her turn... Though Qiu Lingshan had no confidence whatsoever, now that the burden had fallen on her shoulders, she said, "Director, I guarantee that within half a month... no, within ten days, the suspects will be caught and brought to justice!"

When she said "half a month," she saw Chen Dafei's brow twitch slightly, and she hurriedly amended it to ten days!

"Mm, so be it then. Ten days. I'll await your good news!" Chen Dafei nodded in satisfaction.

Qiu Lingshan returned to her own office, her dark brows knitted tight as she painstakingly retraced the ground, wondering from which angle Yang Huaijun would have approached the case... Yet after pondering for the longest time, Qiu Lingshan could only massage her temples in frustration, unable to find any thread to grasp.

Every case differed in its circumstances, and the methods of cracking one could not be applied wholesale to another... Just as Qiu Lingshan stood at an impasse, the telephone on her desk suddenly rang out, jarringly loud. Qiu Lingshan hurried to pick it up: "Hello, Criminal Investigation Unit, Qiu Lingshan speaking."

"Captain Song, this is Lou Liqiang of the Outer City Sub-bureau..." Lou Liqiang was the captain of the criminal investigation unit at the Outer City Sub-bureau. "Captain Song, we have received a report. Two male corpses have been discovered in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. From our preliminary identification, one should be Lü Jieyan, the ringleader of the suspects in the 313 bank robbery case, nicknamed Baldy... There is another corpse as well, presumably one of his men; the identity is still pending verification..."