Chapter 504: Even Suicide Needs a Reason

"As long as you're fine, that's all that matters."

Lu Zhongxin immediately stepped forward, looked his disciple up and down, his face full of concern.

The rest of the squad crowded around as well, peppering him with questions.

"Where did you go for so long?"

"I heard you went abroad to handle a big case."

"Some people over in Squad Two were even saying you cooperated with the narcotics team and went undercover in the Golden Triangle—don't know if that's true or not."

They really dare to imagine things… At this moment Yu Dazhang truly felt what it meant that rumor is a terrible thing.

After disappearing for over a month, there had actually been so many versions going around.

Why didn't the branch bureau step in and explain things?

On second thought, he knew exactly where the problem lay.

It was obvious the bureau didn't know what he'd been doing either, including Li Jun and Director Wu.

The Ministry of State Security naturally wouldn't reveal the details of this mission to the branch bureau, so everyone—including the bureau's leadership—could only speculate.

"Why aren't you using your phone?"

A note of reproach crept into Lu Zhongxin's tone:

"I called you several times and it kept saying you were out of service area. If you changed your number, why didn't you tell me?"

It was precisely because they couldn't reach him by phone that the people at the bureau had come up with all kinds of unpleasant guesses.

In their view, an active-duty police officer going out of contact only meant two possibilities:

One, he was on an undercover mission and had to change his phone number for safety reasons.

Two, he'd run into an accident and something had happened to him.

Therefore, the speculation about Yu Dazhang also revolved around these two points.

"I didn't change my phone number."

Yu Dazhang explained:

"It's that wherever I was, there was no signal."

The moment they heard there was no signal, everyone wore curious expressions, yet not a single person opened their mouth to ask about it.

In this era of highly developed information, even remote mountain regions already have base station coverage—it's hard to imagine what kind of place would still have no signal.

The answer was obvious: deliberate signal jamming.

They were all criminal investigators; they knew some things weren't to be casually inquired about.

After another round of small talk, the crowd dispersed, each returning to their own post to continue their busy work.

There wasn't that much spare time here for gossiping. When it came to workload intensity, Squad One was undoubtedly the highest.

Yu Dazhang also returned to Lu Zhongxin's group, continuing to handle cases alongside his master.

Li Jun had originally wanted him back at the detachment, but to be on the safe side, they decided to let him stay in Squad One for a while longer.

Most importantly, Yu Dazhang himself had requested to remain in Squad One.

Once it was just the two of them, master and disciple, Lu Zhongxin asked in a low voice:

"I heard they sent you to the Ministry of Public Security to attend a commendation ceremony. You were gone for over a month—did you miss it?"

"Not for a while yet," Yu Dazhang replied:

"The exact date hasn't been set. It'll definitely be after the New Year."

Then, shifting the topic, he asked about Squad One's recent work:

"How are things here? Any big cases?"

For Squad One, any homicide was considered a big case—life and death were at stake, and wherever it happened, it would be taken seriously.

"No," Lu Zhongxin shook his head:

"Believe it or not, since you left, things have actually been pretty quiet lately. The group I'm leading only handled one aggravated assault and one robbery, and all the suspects have been caught."

What's that supposed to mean… Yu Dazhang felt his master was subtly taking a jab at him.

Made it sound like as long as he was in the squad, cases would multiply.

After all, the homicide case a month ago had been cracked under his lead.

Just as he was about to voice his displeasure, Lu Zhongxin suddenly seemed to remember something, and without any warning, gave his thigh a hard slap:

"There was one suicide case, though—happened about a week ago. But it's already been closed."

Yu Dazhang silently shifted his body, moving his thigh to a different spot.