Chapter 482: Compared to a Genius, You're More Like a Freak

The number of suspects Yu Dazhang had personally caught was so great even he couldn't count them, yet it was rare to see one who could remain composed at the moment of capture.

A woman who could do so — he had never seen one at all.

Usually, the greater the fall, the more bitterly they wept.

But the Ying Xuelian before him was the opposite extreme.

"Should I start calling you Officer Yu now?"

She was calm to an eerie degree, as if she had already seen through life and death.

"Whatever you prefer." Yu Dazhang, for his part, acted indifferent:

"You can keep calling me Little Yu."

Ying Xuelian glanced around, then finally fixed her gaze on him and asked slowly:

"Where is the person who came to take me away?"

"Before that, I want to talk with you alone." Yu Dazhang stared at her and said seriously:

"To be honest with you, there are still some things I haven't figured out. Handing you over now would be irresponsible — to you and to the Ministry of State Security alike."

Until he sorted out the whole story from beginning to end, he truly feared Ying Xuelian might pull some trick again.

The most crucial point: he had to determine whether there were still moles inside the research team.

Evil must be rooted out completely; if any fish slipped through the net, all the efforts of these past days would be wasted.

Thinking that a unit requiring vetting before entry wouldn't harbor spies?

Words alone won't convince — better to give an example.

As everyone knows, getting a job at CCTV also requires layer upon layer of vetting.

It's the nation's mainstream media, representing the country's image, so relatively speaking, the vetting is even stricter.

Especially for hosts — every word and deed is watched, so the vetting of them is even stricter still.

Now here's the amazing part.

Just among host-spy cases that have been exposed, there are already three.

The worst one hid inside CCTV in secret for nearly twenty years, leaking massive amounts of state secrets.

The Ministry of State Security only discovered her because she let something slip on the program she hosted.

Put bluntly, she didn't even take the Ministry of State Security seriously.

Precisely because she'd hidden so long without being caught, she grew so utterly reckless.

For the sake of a harmonious society, let's just cite this one example.

In short, spy warfare has never stopped from ancient times to the present, and the peacetime era is no exception.

Layer upon layer of vetting?

When the Dao rises one foot, the demon rises ten; a thief who steals is less feared than a thief who covets.

Besides, in this world, is there any wall without a crack?

Back to the living quarters.

Yu Dazhang followed Ying Xuelian to her room.

Before going in, he instructed the guard to notify his colleagues at the Ministry of State Security to come over.

"Want some water?" Ying Xuelian asked.

"No need to trouble yourself." Yu Dazhang waved his hand:

"I wouldn't dare drink your water."

The reason he chose this place for the talk was to get Ying Xuelian to cooperate better in her account.

A familiar environment gives a person a sense of security and helps her concentrate.

Where conditions allowed, Yu Dazhang still hoped to give her some preferential treatment.

After the two sat down, Ying Xuelian picked up a glass of water, took a small sip, then looked up at Yu Dazhang:

"Can I ask one question first?"

"Go ahead." Yu Dazhang agreed readily.

Since this wasn't a formal interrogation, he was happy to satisfy her curiosity.

He didn't think he had anything too shameful to speak of.

"Are you really a PhD?"

Ying Xuelian stared into his eyes and said:

"When you first arrived, I noticed you were clueless about many things — you didn't even understand some of the most basic professional knowledge. That made me suspect you were a fake."

After a pause, she suddenly shifted her line of talk:

"But strangely, every time I taught you something, you could always grasp and master it quickly, and immediately put it to use in actual work."

"Without solid professional knowledge as a foundation, achieving what you do would be almost impossible."

"That's where I find the contradiction."

Ying Xuelian's brow furrowed slightly as she continued:

"What strikes me as even stranger is that in just a few days, you were able to work independently. 'Even a real PhD student coming in probably couldn't reach your level in such a short time.'"

Finally, Ying Xuelian couldn't help asking:

"I'm truly curious — how exactly did you do it?"

I refuse to answer that question… Yu Dazhang hadn't expected her to ask that.

Not only did she ask, she analyzed it so thoroughly.

How is he supposed to answer that?

Tell the truth?

I attended a police academy, but in my eyes, the knowledge you people have is simple and easy to understand — there's no difficulty to speak of.

If he really answered it that way, Ying Xuelian wouldn't believe him either.

"Um…" Yu Dazhang said hesitantly:

"Is it possible that I'm a genius?"

"A genius?" Ying Xuelian gave a contemptuous snort:

"Do you even know what you're saying? Anyone who can make it to a doctorate has been screened layer after layer, climbing up step by step."

"The geniuses eliminated along the way are too many to count — talking about genius in academic circles is simply laughable."

Not necessarily — no matter which circle it is, there are always plenty of frauds who cheat the world and steal fame… Yu Dazhang muttered back in his heart.

"Then I can't explain it clearly."

Yu Dazhang simply laid his cards on the table, meeting Ying Xuelian's gaze:

"I never felt that the so-called professional knowledge you people have was all that hard. I just learned as I went, and before I knew it, I'd mastered everything."

He said it quite casually, but it startled Ying Xuelian.

Learned as he went and mastered everything?

Is that even something a human would say?

If it were really that easy, why bother distinguishing academic credentials at all? Just let elementary school students take university courses and be done with it.

But the facts were right in front of her, leaving her no choice but to believe.

"Compared to a genius, you're more like a monster."

Ying Xuelian no longer knew how to describe this fatty in front of her. She said with a hint of regret:

"You shouldn't have become a police officer. Given how fast you grasp knowledge, not going into research would be a waste of your talent."

Doing research isn't out of the question, but I just like the police profession more… Yu Dazhang had no plans to change careers.

"I've answered your question too."

Yu Dazhang said in a deep voice:

"So can we get started now?"

Ying Xuelian nodded:

"Of course, ask away. I promise I'll tell you everything I know."

Her attitude was pretty proper… Yu Dazhang thought for a moment, then asked his first question:

"It was you who leaked Researcher Zhang's information, wasn't it?"

This was the trigger for the entire incident.

Without Researcher Zhang's disappearance, none of the subsequent chain of events would have happened.

"That's right." Ying Xuelian didn't even hesitate for a second before admitting outright:

"I didn't just leak his identity information — his death was because of me too."

Found the right person this time… Yu Dazhang rejoiced inwardly.

If Ying Xuelian had denied it too, that would mean there was still a mole inside the research team.

If that were really the case, there'd be no need to keep investigating — the Ministry of State Security would really have to roll up their sleeves and get to work on every single one of them.

"The reason?" Yu Dazhang pressed.

He'd had a guess about this before, believing Researcher Zhang's death was meant to cover the true mole's identity.

But now Yu Dazhang had changed his view — Researcher Zhang's death wasn't that simple.

Because of his death, both Liu Hai and Ying Xuelian were exposed — the price was far too steep.

"He discovered my true identity."

Ying Xuelian's expression suddenly turned ferocious, and she said viciously:

"That damned pervert had to die!"

(End of chapter)