Chapter 312: Yu Dazhang Knows How to Pick His People

On the way back.

"Have you decided who to pick?" Li Jun asked.

He was sure of one thing.

Yu Dazhang would definitely choose someone at his own rank.

It's only human nature.

If he picked someone at captain level for the task force, Yu Dazhang would definitely feel awkward commanding them — that would just be making things uncomfortable for himself.

And those two people had to be familiar to him, otherwise the right to pick his team would be wasted.

"This time my master has to come with me."

Yu Dazhang looked through the car window at the scenery flying past, his tone even:

"My master and I have spent the longest time together, and we're the most in sync."

If he had a choice, he naturally preferred to handle cases with his master.

Lu Zhongxin might be old-fashioned, but he kept public and private matters strictly separate.

When Yu Dazhang had previously led a task force, Lu Zhongxin had also followed behind him doing the work, and never slackened just because he was Yu Dazhang's master.

Working with someone like that, you don't have to worry about too many things — it's very comfortable.

The previous Top-Tier Hospital case was a perfect example.

After explaining the situation to his master, he chose to help without the slightest hesitation, completely disregarding the consequences.

Criminal investigators who want to crack cases naturally need to use their brains, but there's something even more important:

Hot blood!

To put it bluntly: you need a streak of reckless boldness.

Whether it's instructors at the police academy or leaders at the unit, they'll all tell you: stay calm and rational when things happen, exercise good judgment.

But have you ever thought about what the most rational thing to do when facing danger is?

The answer is: avoid the risk.

Yu Dazhang had no desire, at the critical moment, to turn around and find all his team members had rationally avoided the danger, leaving him standing there like a fool.

So, the first point — pick people who can charge in recklessly alongside you.

"And the other one?" Li Jun asked again.

Yu Dazhang choosing his master didn't surprise him at all.

The master and disciple were very alike in certain respects, especially in temperament and disposition.

Don't be fooled by this fatty's seemingly smooth and easygoing manner, able to get along with all his colleagues — but when it comes to bottom lines, he's just like Lu Zhongxin, absolutely unwilling to compromise one bit.

"Haven't decided yet."

Yu Dazhang kept looking out the car window, answering casually:

"Let's wait until we get back to the branch."

If he really could choose, he definitely wouldn't want to handle a case out of town.

His parents were still alive, his girlfriend was local to Songhai — too many ties.

And he had no idea how long this assignment would take.

Back at the branch, Li Jun didn't go with him, but headed to the office instead.

Yu Dazhang went straight to the First Brigade, and had barely reached the door when he ran into Captain Wei Qian.

"What are you doing back?" Wei Qian looked at him in surprise.

He could tell — Captain Wei still thought of him as one of the First Brigade's own.

That tone, that phrasing — so comfortable... Yu Dazhang unconsciously broke into a smile, feeling as if he'd come home.

"Came back to have a look." He glanced inside, then turned back:

"Captain Wei, actually I'm here to borrow someone. The higher-ups want me to set up a task force, and I'm planning to have my master come with me."

He was on good terms with Wei Qian too, so he just came straight out with it.

But even as he spoke, his hands weren't idle — a Hua cigarette was already being held out toward Wei Qian.

"Just borrowing him alone?" Wei Qian said, taking the cigarette and lighting it.

"That's right, just my master alone." Yu Dazhang added after finishing:

"Director Liu said he'd send someone else down to temporarily fill in for my master's post."

Hearing the words "Director Liu," Wei Qian's brow twitched involuntarily, a cautious look flashing through his eyes.

"What kind of case is it, that Director Liu has to personally look into it?"

The moment he finished asking, he regretted it, and immediately waved his hand:

"Forget it, forget it — since a task force is already being set up, I'd better not pry. Better not to know about cases like this."

He then turned and went inside to call Lu Zhongxin out.

When Yu Dazhang had glanced inside just now, he'd already caught his master's eye.

Just goes to show how in sync these two master and disciple are.

They didn't need words at all — a single glance between them, and they understood perfectly.

Lu Zhongxin had seen Wei Qian at the door, and held himself back from coming out, waiting until Wei Qian came to call him.

"Your apprentice is setting up another task force."

Wei Qian said to Lu Zhongxin with a solemn face, right in front of Yu Dazhang:

"This time it's not necessarily another big case — be extra careful, and definitely watch your safety."

Anyone hearing words like that would feel a warm glow inside, and Yu Dazhang and Lu Zhongxin were no exception.

"Don't worry, Captain Wei." Yu Dazhang took over with a smile:

"Even if we really run into danger, I'm the one who stands in front of Master."

After coming out of the First Brigade, master and disciple paused for a moment in the stairwell. Lu Zhongxin just stood beside him, waiting quietly, without asking what the case was.

He knew this disciple of his too well — once Yu Dazhang slipped into that absent-minded state, it meant he had started sizing people up again.

After about two minutes, Yu Dazhang finally looked at Lu Zhongxin:

"Master, this time the higher-ups gave me two extra slots. There's still one left, and I can't quite make up my mind."

Originally he had wanted to pick on his own, but no matter how he turned it over, he just couldn't settle on a choice.

At times like this, it was best to hear what suggestions his master had.

"Just tell me straight out who those two people are."

Lu Zhongxin had already guessed that his disciple had two candidates in mind. Most of the time, choosing between two was the hardest decision of all.

"Qian Cheng and Zhang Sen." Yu Dazhang didn't hide it and said it straight out.

Lu Zhongxin knew both of these men, and knew them fairly well, but Yu Dazhang still explained:

"Both of them are people I trust. Logically I should pick Qian Cheng — after all, the task force should have one technical officer."

"But considering this case out of town is fairly dangerous, and the task force is already short on numbers, adding another technical officer would make things even tougher."

"So I'm half-inclined to pick Zhang Sen, except I don't know how his leg is doing."

He hadn't seen Zhang Sen for a while now — ever since the case at the top-tier hospital, Zhang Sen had gone off to recuperate.

Later Yu Dazhang went to Province S, so the two of them had never crossed paths.

Hearing it was these two, Lu Zhongxin hesitated too.

Clearly Yu Dazhang's analysis made sense — each of the two had his own strengths, so it really wasn't easy to choose.

After a moment, Lu Zhongxin asked:

"How dangerous is this case?"

"Well, that…" Yu Dazhang thought for a moment, then answered:

"It should be about the same as the one at Guazi Village — both are organized crime, and the other side very likely has guns."

Hearing his words, Lu Zhongxin nodded, then said:

"Then stop dithering — pick Zhang Sen."

Seeing Yu Dazhang hadn't caught on, he explained further:

"Risking-your-life work — if you take a technical officer charging in at the front, that's just being rotten."

"Besides, technical officers aren't some specialty of ours, and there's no question of trusting them or not. If we really run into something technical, just get the local police to cooperate."

That was true… the more Yu Dazhang thought about it, the more sense it made. He nodded involuntarily in agreement.

Everyone has moments of indecision — having a reliable person beside you to help brainstorm saves a lot of agonizing time.

Afterwards the two of them arrived at the Second Brigade.

It happened that Zhang Sen wasn't out on assignment. Seeing the two of them appear at the door, he immediately came out to greet them.

"Looking for me?"

"That's right." Yu Dazhang looked at him with a smile:

"Brother Sen, this time we're joining forces again — strong team-up."

Seeing his eager-to-go expression, Zhang Sen couldn't help taking a step back:

"Explain it clearly first — how exactly are we joining forces?"

(End of chapter)