Chapter 10: Chief? Kick Him to the Curb!
Chief? Kick Him to the Curb!
Long Bing’s appearance was moving yet shocking at once to Xia Lei. She kicked a Police Team Leader to the ground immediately – before even speaking a word!
Li Qing-Hua stared blankly, then snapped back to himself, flustered and shouting in exasperation “Is this a revolt? Cuff her!”
Police officers ran at Long Bing.
Long Bing swiftly lifted the skirt of her dress. A flash of her snow-white thighs could be seen as a handgun she had strapped to her thigh fell easily into her hand. She had it pointed at Li Qing-Hua’s head in the next second.
The police officers froze in their tracks. Li Qing-Hua’s face looked drained of blood.
Long Bing spoke with ice in her voice, “Cuff me? You’re not qualified.” Her voice grew harsh and commanding, “Move back, all of you! Release him!”
“You… If I may ask… Who are you?” Li Qing-Hua was no fool. A woman who could brazenly point a gun at the police was not an ordinary person – she must be someone with backing. He dared not make any false moves before figuring out her background. Li Qing-Hua’s attitude took a 180 degree turn.
Long Bing was unmoved. “You’re not qualified to know my identity.”
“Well then, we have a problem. This guy here has been arrested for extortion, and this is a serious crime. Even if he has some backing, he still has to answer to the law, doesn’t he? Do you mean to just take a criminal out of the police station with no explanation?” said Li Qing-Hua.
Long Bing looked at Xia Lei. “Did you really do it?”
“He’s lying. I didn’t.” Xia Lei pointed at Li Qing-Hua. “But he used his position and authority to extort sexual favours. He also enables his nephew, Chen Chuan-Hu to commit crimes. He has a monopoly on projects and does illegal demolitions, which are economic crimes.”
“Rubbish!” Li Qing-Hua was overcome by anger and he grabbed a chair and made to smash it on Xia Lei’s head.
“Stop!” Jiang Ru-Yi suddenly shouted, “What Xia Lei said is true! I saw the video of you and that woman!”
Li Qing-Hua froze. The chair he held stopped mid-swing above his head.
Xia Lei looked at Jiang Ru-Yi in astonishment. He knew that she had just thrown her career and future away by doing that.
A faint, strange smile appeared on Long Bing’s lips. “No wonder you arrested him. Was it to get your hands on that video?”
“Nonsense!” Li Qing-Hua fought down the rising despair and panic. He glared at Jiang Ru-Yi. “Jiang Ru-Yi, do you know what rubbish you’re spouting? Where did you see this video?”
“I…” She had spoken in a rush when she saw Li Qing-Hua try to bash Xia Lei’s head in with a chair. Now, faced with Li Qing-Hua’s wrath, her courage shrivelled and the words she wanted to say stuck in her throat.
Li Qing-Hua put the chair down and continued to put pressure on Jiang Ru-Yi. “Think about it, Jiang Ru-Yi. You are an officer of the North Police Station. Are you taking the side of a criminal?”
“I…” Jiang Ru-Yi lowered her head, too afraid to meet Li Qing-Hua’s fierce gaze.
Long Bing patted Jiang Ru-Yi on the shoulder. “Is what you said true, miss officer? Don’t be afraid, if what you say is true I can guarantee that he won’t be your Chief anymore in five minutes. You have no need to fear him.”
All eyes turned to look at Long Bing. Dismiss a Police Chief in five minutes? What sort of outrageous claim was that?!
Jiang Ru-Yi looked at Xia Lei and seemed to gain courage. “I watched the video on Xia Lei’s Baidu Cloud Drive. Xia Lei has been unfairly accused,” she said.
“Jiang Ru-Yi!” Li Qing-Hua’s humiliation fuelled his anger. He charged forward, his hand outstretched in a slap intended for her cheek.
Long Bing moved her arm and the gun in her hand pressed against Li Qing-Hua’s forehead. “Try moving again and we’ll see what happens.”
Li Qing-Hua dared not move and he broke out in cold sweat. In his head, his mind raced, trying to guess the identity of this woman but he could find no answers.
Long Bing opened her black clutch and took out her phone, then dialled a number. “Hello, Uncle Li? Could you call the Anti-Corruption Department of Hai-Zhu City and ask them to take care of the matter of North Police Station’s…” She covered the phone microphone, looked over at Xia Lei and asked, “Right, what’s this guy’s name?”
“Li Qing-Hua. He’s the Police Chief of Hai-Zhu North Police Station,” supplied Xia Lei.
Long Bing uncovered her microphone and continued, “His name’s Li Qing-Hua. Sexual favours, corruption, bribery and some work-related offences. There’s proof.” There was a pause and she spoke again, “Mm. Tell them to be quick, I’m in a hurry.”
The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. “Who the hell is she? She just called like that to make the Anti-Corruption Department in Hai-Zhu City do her bidding? She’s so young! She doesn’t look like she could be high-ranking,” thought Xia Lei.
Long Bing put her mobile phone back into her clutch and looked at Xia Lei. “Five minutes. Five minutes and you leave with me.”
“Okay.” Xia Lei replied, his heart full of gratitude.
“Hahaha…” Li Qing-Hua guffawed. “What are you trying to pull? Five minutes? The Anti-Corruption Department you spoke of is at least half an hour’s drive away from here! You’ve revealed yourself, huh! You’re pretending to be some big shot because you want to rescue Xia Lei, aren’t you? Ha! You’re just here to stir up trouble!”
Long Bing said nothing. She looked at her watch.
“What are you standing around for? Cuff the three of them!” roared Li Qing-Hua.
The police officers looked at each other but did not move.
Li Qing-Hua targeted Jiang Ru-Yi again, shouting, “Jiang Ru-Yi, I command you to delete the video! Right now!”
Jiang Ru-Yi did not move either.
Everyone could see that though Li Qing-Hua looked normal on the surface, he was panicky and terrified inside.
Li Qing-Hua pointed at Long Bing. “You said I’d be removed in five minutes, didn’t you? Fine. How many minutes have passed? If nothing happens to me after five minutes, I’ll be sure to make you suffer!”
The words had just left his lips when a female police officer appeared in the doorway with a fax in her hand and the situation in the interrogation room gave her a shock. She paused, then shoved the fax into Jiang Ru-Yi’s hands and spoke nervously, “Ru-Yi, this… this came from your fax machine. You… You take care of it.”
Jiang Ru-Yi scanned the fax and a smile bloomed on her face. She spoke excitedly, “This is from the Anti-Corruption Department! It allows us… allows us…” She pointed at Li Qing-Hua and said, “The Anti-Corruption Department wants us to have him arrested. This is a warrant for his arrest.” She raised the fax in her hand.
It was indeed an arrest warrant, written in black and white with the Anti-Corruption Department seal.
Li Qing-Hua suddenly made a run for it.
Xia Lei raised his leg and kicked Li Qing-Hua in the back, throwing him off balance and making him crash to the floor.
Li Qing-Hua glared at Xia Lei. “You motherf-”
Long Bing kicked Li Qing-Hua in the head and cut him off mid-curse.
The police officers pretended not to see Li Qing-Hua getting knocked out. None came forward to get him off the ground either. When Li Qing-Hua was Chief, they had all danced to his beat. Now that he had fallen from Police Chief to criminal, they immediately cut ties with him.
“What’s your name?” Long Bing asked Jiang Ru-Yi.
Jiang Ru-Yi hesitated. “Jiang Ru-Yi. And you are…?” As she spoke, she shot a look at Xia Lei from the corner of her eye. In her head, she thought, “When did this guy get to know such a weird woman?”
“Who I am is not important. You’re not bad – a person like you shouldn’t just be a clerk,” said Long Bing.
Jiang Ru-Yi quietly tried to decode the meaning of Long Bing’s words.
Long Bing looked at her watch again. “Five minutes are up. Xia Lei – come with me.”
Xia Lei smiled wryly and left the interrogation room with Long Bing, then walked out of the building. Outside the police station, the sun’s rays warmed his face and he felt his body relax as he regained his freedom.
“Thank you.” Xia Lei looked at Long Bing with eyes full of sincere gratitude.
“You helped me and I helped you. We’re even now,” said Long Bing.
Xia Lei laughed. “Okay, we’re even. But really, thank you for just now.”
“Long Bing’s brows wrinkled slightly. “You like to say ‘thank you’ a lot, don’t you?”
Xia Lei shrugged, embarrassed. He did not know how to speak to her. To him, Long Bing was strange and not easy to get along with.
“I looked into you. You have a younger sister preparing to attend university and you have no steady job. Do you need help getting a job? I can introduce you to one much better than what you get at construction sites.”
Xia Lei made no outward reaction but he was surprised. He had not expected her to investigate him so thoroughly. He completely believed in her ability to make good on her word when she said she could help him get a job but he had his own plans. “No thanks.”
“Are you going to earn money in Macau? You can’t win every time.”
Xia Lei smiled, “That was my first time in Macau, and most likely my last. I have no intention of gambling for a living.”
“What are you plans, then?”
“To do what I want,” said Xia Lei. He was not worried about his future at all. He was sure to carve a paradise for himself with the power of his left eye!
Long Bing was silent, as though thinking of something, then she spoke. “I’m going back to Jing-Du in the afternoon. You know how to contact me. Call me if you need help.”
Xia Lei nodded. “Yes, I’ll call.”
“And if I need your help?” Long Bing suddenly asked.
Xia Lei was struck dumb for a bit, then laughed. “Call me, then! Haha… If it’s within my capability to help, I’ll help for sure. But you’re so well connected that you’d probably not need my help much, right? What the heck do you do?”
“That night in Macau – How did you see the sniper on the roof?” Long Bing did not answer his question but asked one of her own instead.
Xia Lei grew quiet and Long Bing refused to talk about her identity or job. The two of them had questions, and they wanted answers but neither of them would speak. It was like a cycle of mystery between the two of them.
At that moment, Jiang Ru-Yi ran out of the police station, calling as she came closer, “Lei, come here for a bit. I need you to explain some things.”
Xia Lei grunted a reply, “Yeah, I’ll be right there.” He looked at Long Bing. “Let’s chat next time. Goodbye.”
Long Bing’s lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but no words came.
Long Bing’s dress : Google ‘traditional chinese dress black’