Chapter 34: CH 34

On Monday, a senior police superintendent arrived at the C City Police Station. As the new boss, he called the whole team for a routine greeting.

Chen Yao’s face fell when he saw who had come.

It was the man Jiang Chi had stared at the day before.

After combining the information he had received earlier, Chen Yao admitted that he was really strong.

The man had a very good track record in various projects, had solved several big cases, and had a resume that could make anyone jealous, especially as he was young and stood out from the crowd of middle-aged superintendents with round bellies and balding hair.

But Chen Yao still didn’t like him.

So what if he was better than him? There was no way he would bow down to such a potential rival!

After the greetings, they had a small meeting as usual, and Su Fu briefly introduced himself.

The rest of them also introduced themselves one by one.

Su Fu’s expressionless face showed he wasn’t a chatty person, and after memorizing the names and faces of everyone, he said briefly, “I’m here with an assignment, it’s on a transnational crime syndicate of child abduction, molestation, and sexual assault. You heard it right, it’s a syndicate ……”

Next, Su Fu briefly gave several cases about this syndicate; Chen Yao kept listening with a tight frown, and the rest of the police officers also had serious faces.

The viciousness and social impact of such cases were even greater than ordinary murder cases, but the rate of this type of crime in China has been increasing every year.

Chen Yao stayed behind when the meeting was over. He extended his right hand towards Su Fu with a casual smile on his face: “Superintendent Su Fu, I’m Chen Yao. We met this weekend.”

Su Fu also extended his right hand and gave him a brief, unenthusiastic shake: “Yes, I remember.”

Chen Yao rolled his eyes at him inwardly, but smiled and said a few polite words to him.

Su Fu looked as if he was getting impatient, so Chen Yao stopped talking. He stroked his short hair, which was a bit tangled, and said he had to go back to work.

However, just as he turned around, his boss suddenly asked, “Officer Chen, what is the name of the gentleman you were with over the weekend?”

Chen Yao raised one eyebrow as he clasped his hands together and lifted his chin: “Superintendent, I think your question is rather personal, and as a friend, I think I have the right and obligation not to disclose his information to strangers.”

He used the word “strangers” with great emphasis.

Su Fu replied flatly, “I’m sorry for being rude.”

Chen Yao cursed after leaving the office. “Heh, just one look, and you’re asking for his name! Shit!”

One of his team members saw him look agitated, so he came up to gossip. “What’s the situation, Chief Chen? What did the Big Head do to make you so angry? Did he steal your wife?”

“No!” Although he hadn’t been robbed yet, it was obvious that he was already going to do so.

Instead of sympathizing with him, the crowd laughed and gloated, “It’s over; look at that body and that face… tsk, although you’re not bad either, Chief Chen, you are several notches below him.”

Chen Yao was very unconvinced: “What’s the difference?!”

“The temperament!!!”

“You look like an old rascal!”

“Fuck!” Chen Yao ground his teeth; he couldn’t refute this; he couldn’t fake that kind of guy that looked so high class.

The week passed quickly, and at the end of the week, Jiang Yingying took the initiative to tell You Ning that she wanted to go to the orphanage to see the children there.

You Ning naturally agreed.

Today he drove the car with Jiang Yingying sitting in the passenger seat and several large boxes of all her old toys, clothes, and school supplies in the back. She was not wasteful, so most of them were still semi-new.

She had written about the trip to the orphanage in her weekly journal and was praised by her teacher, and her classmates were even told to learn from her.

Although she was happy to be praised, Jiang Yingying didn’t want to continue going to the orphanage for that little praise. When they went back home last time, she searched for some videos on the internet and realized how pitiful they really are.

The teacher said that helping people is fun, so she told her dad she wanted to donate old things, and he agreed.

She felt her dad should be the one to be praised, and she planned to write about him in her weekly report this week. That way, her classmates and teachers will know how good her dad is.

The director personally came to pick up You Ning this time.

You Ning stood by and watched for a while before being invited by the director to look around the orphanage. Jiang Chi had made regular donations before, so the dean took You Ning to see how much this had helped their orphanage.

When You Ning returned from his round, he found Jiang Yingying isolated, her eyes were red, and she was crying just like last time, but You Ning knew it was definitely not for the same reason.

When the little girl saw him coming back, she jumped into his arms and hugged him for a while, not saying anything. You Ning also didn’t ask what was wrong and remained hugging her like that.

The director guessed what had happened and apologized to You Ning, saying that it was only natural that the children would be jealous of those with happy families.

You Ning nodded in understanding but didn’t say anything.

Just as You Ning was about to leave, she bumped into Chen Yao once again.

Chen Yao’s expression showed surprise, but he was overjoyed inwardly. Sure enough, it was a good idea to come to the orphanage.

“What a coincidence!” Chen Yao extinguished his cigarette and threw it into the bin. He looked at You Ning and Jiang Yingying and said, “You brought your daughter again?”

You Ning first glanced at Bai Xiaoshu following behind Chen Yao, then looked at Chen Yao and said, “It’s quite a coincidence.”

Chen Yao cleared his throat and touched his nose; he suddenly had the illusion that he had been seen through. He turned his head to Bai Xiaoshu and assigned him some tasks before making small talk with You Ning.

“We have a new superintendent in the bureau.” Chen Yao glanced at You Ning’s expression and added, “The management for incidents concerning minors has been strengthened, so we are here to give safety precautions. That new superintendent said that he came specifically to handle children …… ”

At this time, Bai Xiaoshu came over, he glanced at You Ning, and said to Chen Yao, “Captain, aren’t you revealing too much? You even asked him to assist the last time we came, it’s not like he’s someone… ”

Chen Yao glared at him with extreme displeasure.

You Ning chuckled and pulled Jiang Yingying, walking away without any scruples: “I’ll leave first.”

Chen Yao was speechless, he could not find any excuse to keep You Ning and was now full of regret and disappointment.

After leaving the orphanage, Chen Yao took the cigarette out of his ear and put it in his mouth, lighting it. After taking a sharp puff of the cigarette, he laughed contemptuously and said to Bai Xiaoshu, “How dare you say that he is not someone? I’m telling you, he was once a captain of my unit and has won several medals!”

–He’s incomparable to a weakling like you!

Bai Xiaoshu read between the lines and gritted his teeth. He suddenly remembered that, according to the timeline of the book, Jiang Chi’s life was about to change drastically, and he gloated.

Chen Yao looked at the fool’s inexplicable smile, and his disgust increased by another degree. He remembered You Ning’s words, “I thought I would never see him again,” and his doubts about this newcomer gradually grew.

……

You Ning buckled Jiang Yingying’s seatbelt, looked at her quiet little face, and asked softly, “Tell dad, what did they say?”

Jiang Yingying glanced at You Ning before lowering her head and picking at her fingers. “They said that people like me, who have a mother and father, come here just to laugh at them. They also said that I was treating them like trash by giving them unwanted scraps. They only accepted them because the director said that the people who visit are kind, and if they don’t accept them, they are impolite and disobedient. No one wants to adopt a child who doesn’t know how to behave and doesn’t listen.”

“But I liked many of those toys and clothes, and I thought they would be happy.…” Jiang Yingying sniffed and added, “Besides, mom hasn’t called me in a long time. Dad, does she not want me anymore?”

Looking at her teary eyes, You Ning was silent for two seconds and said, “Ying Ying, Dad wants to tell you something.”

As if she had guessed what he would say, the little girl hastily covered her ears, looking like she didn’t want to listen.

You Ning took her hands down, and said honestly, “Your mother and I got divorced.”

“Wuu!”

You Ning drew a tissue to wipe her tears and continued, “Your mother and I don’t have feelings for each other, so it was only a matter of time before we divorced.”

Jiang Yingying sobbed as she asked, “Then, then, why did mom and dad have me? Don’t you adults say that children are the fruit of parents’ love?”

You Ning was silent for another moment, “That is something that Dad will tell you when you grow up.”

Jiang Yingying looked at her father’s face for a few seconds and asked, “Did Mom do something wrong?”

You Ning nodded, and she quickly added, “Then can I ask her to apologise? Then Dad can forgive her and not have to divorce, right?”

“She has made so many mistakes. I can’t forgive her.” You Ning stroked her head and said, “You will understand one day.”

“Dad hopes you learn to grow up.” You Ning had integrated well into his father role, and he said in a serious voice, “Do you know why Dad brought you to the orphanage? The first time was to learn compassion and kindness; the second time was to show you that excessive compassion and kindness will not always end in gratitude but with malice.”

With tears hanging on her eyelashes, Jiang Yingying nodded her head in confusion.

Finally, You Ning said, “I will slowly teach you all these.”

Jiang Chi always thought of protecting his daughter, but he couldn’t protect her for the rest of her life. People had to learn to grow up on their own, she couldn’t just be a weak flower forever.

She had to learn to grow thorns so that those who tried to hurt her would be pierced by the hard, sharp thorns.