CH 51

lu ye had indeed mentioned the phrase ” perfect match,” but he had said it casually during a chat with lu wenyu. he couldn’t recall mentioning it to qi yanbai.

did lu wenyu tell him? lu ye wondered.

he sensed a subtle change in the situation, but before he could think about it further, the office door was pushed open with a loud bang. li zhiwen, looking disheveled, stood at the doorway with a furrowed brow that could have crushed a fly.

li zhiwen said concisely, “second unit, follow me to the conference room.”

li zhiwen’s sudden appearance interrupted lu ye’s wandering thoughts. on the other end of the phone, it seemed that qi yanbai had heard the commotion as well, so he ended the call, telling lu ye to get back to work, and hung up.

with business at hand, lu ye didn’t dwell on idle chatter. he quickly grabbed his meeting notebook from the desk, and hurriedly followed li zhiwen out of the office and into the conference room.

“the reason the city bureau had called me for a meeting is because there’s a case that requires assistance from us,” li zhiwen got straight to the point, saying, “the city bureau has been tracking a drug trafficking route connected to our city for a while. according to recent confessions from a suspected criminal they arrested, his superiors plan to conduct a transaction during the music carnival. the city bureau wants to use this opportunity to catch the big fish, so they need our assistance.”

this was different from the usual drug busts and required lu ye’s full attention.

“they plan to traffic drugs during the carnival?” lu ye furrowed his brows, puzzled, “isn’t that too risky?”

while criminals usually preferred to meet in deserted corners or crowded places, they often chose locations like underground bars or nightclubs. even though the carnival had a large and chaotic crowd, it had its own security, including both security personnel and police officers to maintain order, which increased the risk.

“moreover, if i recall correctly, isn’t this event ticketed and requires real-name registration?” lu ye continued, “given the high risk involved, is the intelligence really accurate?”

“the intelligence is accurate,” li zhiwen didn’t reveal the source of the information but said, “also, the criminal involved is extremely cunning. the city bureau has been tracking him for over a month, and they still haven’t located his whereabouts. this carnival is a crucial opportunity to apprehend him. the city bureau doesn’t want to miss it.”

“the carnival is an open-air event, and there will be a lot of people. civilians might get hurt.” lu ye said, “why hasn’t the city bureau tried to convince the informant to change the location?”

“the suspect is very alert and refuses to change the location. after the initial rejection, the city bureau didn’t dare to ask a second time, fearing that it might alert him,” li zhiwen explained, “the carnival is divided into different zones, and the city bureau’s plan is to have a backup. if they can’t persuade the suspect to change the location, they’ll clear the area assigned to the meeting point and send our officers in.”

that’s why they needed to call in personnel from various sub-bureaus. lu ye understood that this was going to be a significant operation.

the music carnival was the first major event in the city that year, catering to adults aged 18 and above. it featured rock music, outdoor dancing, and performances by popular underground bands. it attracted energetic young people. li zhiwen’s headache grew as he thought about controlling the situation in such a place.

“for the specific details, our bureau chief will return after the meeting at the city bureau to give us the assignments,” li zhiwen took a sip of water from his thermos, then continued, “i’ll go back first to brief him. because the operation will take place at the carnival, the majority of the personnel involved will be young officers. lu ye, you’ve only recently returned, and you’re a fresh face. the bureau chief intends for you to lead the perimeter security team.”

“understood,” lu ye, with his years of experience, didn’t need li zhiwen to elaborate further. he nodded to signify his understanding.

the carnival would take place over three days, around the time of the lantern festival. considering the schedule, they didn’t have much time to prepare their operation plans.

after a sleepless night of work, the second unit had to continue attending meetings and help with basic inspection at the carnival venue. as a result, they were working tirelessly, and the days flew by. lu ye had barely had a moment’s rest, and he was beginning to feel the strain.

he had initially made plans to have hotpot with qi yanbai on the evening of the lantern festival, but now it seemed like he would have to cancel. he was busy from dawn till dusk, and his phone frequently ran out of battery or had to be switched off during meetings, leaving his communication with qi yanbai hanging by a thread. whether he received messages in time depended on fate.

qi yanbai knew that lu ye was busy, but his sudden and prolonged disappearance was a first.

another notification of lu ye’s phone being switched off sounded from the phone on the other end. qi yanbai furrowed his brows, suppressing the inexplicable restlessness in his heart.

since morning, the weather outside had been gloomy, and it had started drizzling around noon. the rain was still falling steadily, and it showed no signs of stopping.

where had lu ye gone, qi yanbai wondered. what was he so busy with that he couldn’t even spare time to come back to the city bureau?

over the past ten days, lu ye had only spoken to him twice on the phone, but each time, the conversation had been vague and he had either changed the subject or been evasive.

qi yanbai knew that lu ye was not the type to play hard-to-get or engage in hot-and-cold behavior. however, the sudden and prolonged absence made it seem as though lu ye had cooled down abruptly, like molten lava rapidly cooling and becoming incomprehensible.

qi yanbai hated this feeling of uncertainty, loathed all the unknown factors. he didn’t like that lu ye might be hiding something from him, and he despised that lu ye was out of his sight.

this aversion gradually fermented into anxiety and restlessness as time passed. qi yanbai tightened his brows, clutching his phone even more tightly.

his extraordinary imagination now became a burden. qi yanbai couldn’t help but speculate about lu ye’s situation and guess his whereabouts.

his rational self told him not to overthink. lu ye’s job nature meant that he couldn’t afford to be concerned about other things when he was busy. however, emotionally, qi yanbai found it challenging to resist the growing sense of unease slipping through his fingers like quicksand.

his thoughts were aimlessly drifting when, after an unknown amount of time, he suddenly felt his phone vibrate and heard it ringing.

qi yanbai snapped back to reality, almost pressing the answer button urgently. he then took a deep breath and answered casually, “hello.”

“i saw that you called me over twenty times. what’s the emergency?” lu ye’s voice came from the other end of the line.

“nothing, my apartment had a power outage just now, so i wanted to ask you which circuit controls our electricity,” qi yanbai made up a random excuse, saying, “but it’s fine now; the property management already came and helped.”

on the other end of the phone, lu ye audibly sighed with relief and said, “that’s good. my phone just ran out of battery, and i just connected it to a power bank.”

“it’s okay,” qi yanbai smiled and, after carefully listening tolu ye’s breathing for a moment, tentatively asked, “by the way, it’s a festival today. are you coming home for dinner tonight?”

he said it as if to avoid making his intentions too obvious and added, “if you won’t make it back, i’ll just eat out after work.”

the training center where qi yanbai worked had resumed classes on the eighth day of the lunar new year. he had also started going back to work recently. lu ye hesitated for a moment and then subtly declined, saying, “tonight, i might… not be able to come back. take care of yourself, and don’t worry about me.”

“are you working overtime tonight too?” qi yanbai listened to the faint and noisy background sounds on lu ye’s end and asked as if it was just casual conversation, “where are you?”

due to the nature of their undercover operation, lu ye couldn’t disclose the details to qi yanbai. he responded vaguely with a brief “i can’t reveal much” and mentioned that there were some matters at the bureau, and they needed to keep watch for two more days.

qi yanbai furrowed his brows slightly.

the chaotic background noise on the phone was accompanied by the rhythmic beats of music, even though lu ye was trying to conceal it, qi yanbai still heard the indistinct and noisy voices on the other end.

he wasn’t at the bureau, qi yanbai thought. he was somewhere else.

he was in a very lively place.

this realization intensified the restlessness in qi yanbai’s heart to its peak. but he didn’t say much. he simply told lu ye to take care of his health and not to overwork himself.

“understood.”

it seemed like lu ye indeed had something urgent to attend to. after only a few sentences, he hastily hung up the phone. qi yanbai wiped the already darkened screen of his phone and fell into silence for a moment. then, he reached for his keys and wallet, picked up his coat from the back of the chair, and left the building.

“sorry,” when he passed by the front desk, qi yanbai gently tapped on the desk. he apologized, “i have something urgent, and i need to take a leave. can you please ask teacher liu to cover my class this evening? i’ve already talked to her about it.”