Chapter 460: You Really Care About Her, Don't You

He still has time to go online for entertainment?

Yu Dazhang figured that someone like Li Mingzhao, a national security leader, had to be busy from the moment he opened his eyes until lights out every day, and wouldn't have any personal entertainment time at all.

Even he, a criminal police officer, rarely had free time—whenever he finally got a day off, he used it to catch up on sleep.

Now that he thought about it, he really had done Seeing Qu Tuotuo wrong.

Apart from personally cooking her a few meals, he really hadn't done anything for her.

Ever since they met, it seemed it had always been her putting in all the effort one-sidedly.

This time, he'd made her misunderstand him even more.

If he'd known Ye Lin only had minor injuries, he wouldn't have come.

The more Yu Dazhang thought about it, the angrier he got, and finally he couldn't help saying to Li Mingzhao, who was driving beside him:

"Leader, I need to go back to Songhai."

"No way." Li Mingzhao refused without even thinking:

"You just got here—you can't give up halfway through a job."

Yu Dazhang had just arrived and already captured one of the enemy's live prisoners—how could he possibly let him go back?

From such a great distance, the other party had been spotted even while wearing a ghillie suit—this fatty's eyesight was practically the equal of an 8x scope.

He'd already made up his mind: until this matter was finished, he absolutely could not let Yu Dazhang leave.

"Then let me make a phone call."

Yu Dazhang settled for the next best thing and pleaded:

"To help you guys, my girlfriend even misunderstood me—I need to explain things to her."

The two of them had had a little tiff last night.

Yu Dazhang had been keeping this matter on his mind the whole time. He'd originally planned to call Seeing Qu Tuotuo the moment he reached his destination and explain everything properly.

But who could have guessed this godforsaken place didn't even have signal.

This kind of thing has to be handled while it's still fresh—especially relationship issues, the sooner you settle them the better.

He didn't want to return to Songhai just in time to attend Seeing Qu Tuotuo's wedding to someone else.

"That request isn't unreasonable."

Li Mingzhao immediately nodded in agreement:

"Just make the call in the car—use my satellite phone and dial directly."

As he spoke, he pulled a handheld phone with an antenna out of the storage compartment.

Yu Dazhang reached out and took it, weighing it in his hand:

"This is what you used to contact me before, right?"

Looking at the phone, he suddenly recalled something his police academy instructor once told him: in this day and age, the more primitive the means of communication, the safer it actually is.

If Li Mingzhao hadn't said it was a satellite phone, he would have thought it was just an old-fashioned brick phone.

"That's right." Li Mingzhao answered honestly:

"This phone is encrypted—here, only this kind of satellite phone can communicate with the outside."

Hearing his explanation, Yu Dazhang felt a little uneasy.

He wasn't sure if Seeing Qu Tuotuo would reject the call when she saw the caller ID was just a "P."

Soon, he dialed the number.

Fortunately, the call was picked up quickly.

"Hello?"

Hearing that familiar voice on the other end, Yu Dazhang breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said:

"Tuotuo, it's me—listen to my explanation first…"

Before he could go on, Seeing Qu Tuotuo cut in directly:

"Where are you?"

"Well, about that…" Yu Dazhang got a little evasive, because he didn't even know where he was himself.

After hesitating for two seconds, he still chose to tell the truth:

"I don't actually know where this place is right now."

Even if he knew, he couldn't say.

Li Mingzhao having him make the call in the car was really just a way to monitor the content of his conversation.

Not spelling it out openly was already considered giving him face.

"So, you've already left Songhai?"

Seeing Qu Tuotuo's voice had always been as clear and pleasant as a girl-next-door, but at this moment it carried a hint of coldness.

"Yes." At a time like this, Yu Dazhang naturally didn't dare lie:

"I left last night."

"You've already met Ye Lin?" Seeing Qu Tuotuo asked again.

This was a fatal question… Yu Dazhang didn't want to answer, but he also knew that only telling the truth could earn forgiveness now.

"I have." The moment he finished speaking, he immediately explained:

"We're really just colleagues—you have to believe me, this time you really are misunderstanding me." The other end of the line went silent.

Yu Dazhang nervously swallowed and waited for the response on the other end—he knew Seeing Qu Tuotuo was hesitating.

After a while, Seeing Qu Tuotuo spoke again:

"Then can you come back today?"

Her tone had softened considerably, and there was even a hint of anticipation in it.

Yu Dazhang felt a little more at ease, but he hadn't fully relaxed yet.

"I can't go back today." He answered carefully:

"I need to wait a while before I can return to Songhai, this place needs me here…"

The words "investigate the case" were right at the tip of his tongue, when Seeing Qu Tuotuo on the other end suddenly cut him off:

"Since you can't come back, why did you even bother calling me? Yu Dazhang, what do you take me for!"

After saying that, she hung up the phone directly.

"Hey, no, that's not…"

Listening to the busy tone coming from the phone, Yu Dazhang was momentarily dumbfounded.

How did she suddenly fly off the handle?

Thinking it over, he finally understood—Seeing Qu Tuotuo must have assumed he was planning to stay here and keep Ye Lin company.

What a miscarriage of justice!

He immediately tried to call back, but just as he was about to press the dial button, the phone was snatched away by Li Mingzhao.

"You can't call anymore."

Li Mingzhao said with a solemn face:

"This kind of encrypted phone can't be used too frequently, or there's a risk of exposure, and besides, your call just now already exceeded the preset standard."

Isn't that just perfect… Yu Dazhang's heart gave a sudden lurch.

Originally he had only wanted to give a simple explanation, but now things were even worse—the more he tried to wipe it clean, the blacker it got.

"Looks like you care about her quite a bit." Li Mingzhao said with a smile.

Yu Dazhang was already feeling depressed; hearing this, he shot him a look:

"Where did you get that from?"

He had spent almost the entire call explaining himself, barely getting a few words in—how on earth did that turn into caring about the other person?

"I'd have thought you were a pretty sharp person, but when it comes to courting someone, you're tongue-tied as anything, can't even get your words out straight."

Li Mingzhao looked very experienced as he said:

"You're not usually like this—doesn't that already prove you care about her?"

Yu Dazhang wanted to argue back, but he opened his mouth and found he simply had no strength to defend himself.

The car suddenly fell silent.

After a long while, Yu Dazhang finally asked in a low voice:

"Are you married?"

"No."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

So he's an old bachelor… Yu Dazhang had wanted to mock him, but after thinking it over, he finally just sighed:

"We're both in the same boat."

In his previous life, Yu Dazhang had lived just like this—he never married, even until his death.

Back at the living quarters.

Yu Dazhang followed Li Mingzhao to the front of a two-story small building.

"Do you have any psychological squeamishness?"

Before going in, Li Mingzhao stopped and, looking at him, said:

"I mean on the moral side."

So this is going to get ugly… Yu Dazhang thought it over, then answered:

"Strictly speaking, my moral standards are about the same as an ordinary person's, and my psychological endurance is also fairly weak."

He had already guessed what this Team Leader Li was about to do, so he had prepared his answer in advance.

No country in the world shows any mercy when dealing with enemy agents.

To prevent state secrets from leaking, when they capture agents and spies, they often resort to extreme measures.

That is a completely different matter from handling a case.

The police will talk evidence and human rights with a suspect.

State Security doesn't treat spies that mercifully—they usually have another, more direct and Effective method.

Sure enough, after hearing Yu Dazhang's answer, Li Mingzhao nodded:

"Then for the upcoming interrogation, you can sit this one out. Once it's over, I'll have someone notify you to come over."

Watching him walk into the building, Yu Dazhang couldn't help but shiver.

He was genuinely curious how State Security dealt with spies, but also afraid he wouldn't be able to take it psychologically.

At that moment, he suddenly felt the two-story building before him emanating an eerie, sinister air.

(End of chapter)