Chapter 173 — Genuine Through and Through

"Huh? To your place this weekend?" Wei Zhao blinked. "What for?"

"I don't know!" Tang Zhi answered without thinking, then, afraid that Wei Zhao might come to her class to press her for details, added, "My mom wants you two to come over for a barbecue."

With that, Tang Zhi turned and trotted off toward the school without a backward glance, leaving behind a thoroughly bewildered Wei Zhao: and where exactly do you live?

Wei Zhao knew more or less where Tang Zhi's home was, somewhere in the shantytown, but the shantytown was vast, so who knew which corner of it her family occupied?

As for this invitation for him and Kang Xiaofeng to a barbecue, he guessed it must be because of yesterday's recipe. Mother Tang had evidently tried it out, found it worked, and now meant to treat him and Kang Xiaofeng to a meal by way of thanks.

"Heh..." Wei Zhao shook his head, reached out and shut the car door, then waited for Qiu Lingshan.

He had waited perhaps half an hour when Qiu Lingshan called him again. "Wei Zhao, your school's Director Wang was quite agreeable, actually. He gave you the leave just like that? Where are you? I'll come to you."

"The snack street behind the school," Wei Zhao said. Wang Zhifeng had a hold over him to hold, so how could he refuse him the leave? Besides, Qiu Lingshan had probably told him she was looking for Wei Zhao on official business, and naturally Wang Zhifeng would not stand in the way of such matters.

"Then wait for me, I'll be right there." Qiu Lingshan hung up. Some ten minutes later, Wei Zhao saw in the rearview mirror a civilian-plated Liebao SUV with a Song G plate pull up. Song G was a civilian plate series the police had created for convenience in handling cases, but the series was by now common knowledge, making it no different from a police car; many of the powerful and well connected even pulled strings to have this plate issued for their own cars, the better to enjoy their privileges on the road.

Arriving at the snack street, Qiu Lingshan did not see Wei Zhao, only a yellow Beetle parked at the curb. She was frowning in puzzlement and about to call him when the Beetle's door opened and Wei Zhao got out and walked toward her.

"Your car?" Qiu Lingshan stared at his Beetle in surprise. Her investigation had shown that Wei Zhao was brought in by Gu Pengzhan to protect Gu Mengyao. They might well have assigned him a car, but surely not a car like this? It hardly fit the image of a close protection bodyguard.

"Shen Yushu's. She's lending it to me for a few days," Wei Zhao said without concealing it. There was a plate on the car anyway; if Qiu Lingshan wanted to look into it, all she had to do was check the owner.

"I see. Get in, then," Qiu Lingshan said, pointing to the passenger seat.

Wei Zhao opened the door and got in. Qiu Lingshan started the car and drove off toward the police station.

After they had driven for a while, Qiu Lingshan noticed that Wei Zhao said nothing at all. She frowned. "Aren't you going to say something?"

"Say what?" Wei Zhao turned his head and glanced at Song Ling—no, at Qiu Lingshan—giving her a once-over. "You're the one who came looking for me, so why should I be the one talking? Oh, I know what I wanted to say: the wound on my leg has healed. This time I'm not afraid of you. You can pinch it all you like."

"You!" Qiu Lingshan was choking with anger. She truly did not know what Captain Yang had seen in Wei Zhao to recommend such a man to her. Hearing such shameless words, she at once remembered that scene in the hospital and cursed through her teeth, "Scoundrel!"

"Genuine through and through," Wei Zhao said mildly, leaning back comfortably against the seat and closing his eyes.

"..." Qiu Lingshan did not know what to say. Wei Zhao had left her speechless with a single sentence, and after a long moment she managed, "Can you help me find the bank robbers from that day?"

"You're the one who asked me here, and now you're asking whether I can?" Wei Zhao curled his lip. "I really don't know how you ever got promoted. Aside from being reckless as a tiger, have you no brains at all?"

Qiu Lingshan nearly drove the car into a wall to kill them both. This Wei Zhao was really too vicious with his words. What did he mean, reckless as a tiger and no brains? True, she was a little impulsive, always charging to the very front whenever she went after a suspect, but you could hardly call that being a tiger. That was just being brave... Though Captain Yang had criticized her for the same failing: she was the team leader, yet every time she rushed ahead without regard for her teammates—was that not glorifying the individual hero? In truth, Qiu Lingshan really had never thought about it that way.

It was like two armies meeting on a battlefield: if the commander charged out first, and he happened to be valiant, well and good, for it could lift the morale of the whole army; but if by some mischance he was ambushed by the enemy, or wounded, or even killed, then the entire army would fall into disarray.

Qiu Lingshan understood this well enough afterward, and luckily nothing serious had ever come of it, which gave her time to correct herself slowly.

As it happened, Qiu Lingshan had misread him. What Wei Zhao meant by reckless as a tiger had nothing to do with her bravery in carrying out missions. In Wei Zhao's view, if he had the ability and full confidence to take out an enemy himself, then he would do it, rather than bringing his teammates up with him—for if he was sure of himself, there was no need for sacrifices that might prove pointless.

What Wei Zhao meant by calling Qiu Lingshan a tiger was that she was careless and heedless—for instance, the wound on his leg, which she had failed to notice, or again, knowing perfectly well his leg was injured, insisting on pressing it anyway. If that was not being a tiger, what was?

"Fine, then. Let us hope that with the help of you, Young Master Lin, we can catch those bank robbers who got away the other day!" Qiu Lingshan gritted her teeth and spoke with venom. Inwardly, though, she thought: If we don't catch them, we'll settle accounts then!

"Hah, we'll give it a try." Wei Zhao nodded. "No guarantees."

"..." Qiu Lingshan truly wanted to kick Wei Zhao out of the car. No guarantees? Then why were you putting on such an act of competence just now?

"Where are you driving to?" Wei Zhao asked when they were halfway there.

"To the police station, and then we'll discuss how to capture the suspects," Qiu Lingshan explained.

"No need to go there. Just drive straight to the area you've been searching." Wei Zhao shook his head. He knew his own abilities best; talk alone would accomplish nothing. If those people really were within this area, he would naturally be able to sense them.

And if they were not, then discussion would be useless anyway.

"What?!" Song Ling was stunned. "Just the two of us?"

"You don't dare?" Wei Zhao looked at Qiu Lingshan with a half-smile. Naturally, Wei Zhao did not want too many people to know of his particular gifts. Helping Qiu Lingshan was partly because of Yang Huaijun; there was no need to elaborate on his relationship with Yang Huaijun. Since Yang Huaijun trusted Qiu Lingshan and had introduced him to her, Wei Zhao would naturally say nothing more and would not refuse. But on the other hand, Wei Zhao himself wanted to drag these people out into the open. Since he had already crossed Li Cihua, there was no point in sparing anyone's face or leaving any room.