Chapter 58: Exceptional Promotion

In this life, Yu Dazhang finally understood what it meant to die of social embarrassment.

Why didn't he black out?

He actually remembered everything crystal clear!

Before he knew it, he'd drunk too much. That place's draft beer was strange.

He'd planned to pin the blame on the draft beer, but the moment he recalled that Seeing Qu Tuotuo had drunk no less than he had, Yu Dazhang gave up struggling.

He'd let his guard down, damn it.

He'd predicted stocks, named someone's banner, and even said something about "robbery with a 'bi' in it"…

He wanted to slap himself again… The more Yu Dazhang thought about it, the redder his face got.

In the end, it was Seeing Qu Tuotuo who paid the bill.

So he'd gotten dead drunk, held court like he owned the world, and even mooched a meal off her.

Fatal!

Yu Dazhang writhed around on the bed, not even having the courage to get up.

This absolutely must not get out!

He arrived at the squad.

Lu Zhongxin pulled him aside and said quietly:

"Zhou Zizhe provided a statement, detailing what happened when he was kidnapped and sold."

"How old was he back then?" Yu Dazhang asked.

"Five." Lu Zhongxin answered with certainty—he'd clearly read that statement.

"It's already impressive for a five-year-old to remember, but he not only remembered, he gave a detailed account?" Yu Dazhang was skeptical.

He'd had some exposure to this area of knowledge before.

Children generally start forming memories after age three.

At five, long-term memory is possible, but remembering clearly after more than ten years—that's a bit of a stretch.

Try recalling what happened when you were five and see for yourself.

"He said that in his entire life, that one stretch of memory is the most deeply etched." Lu Zhongxin looked at Yu Dazhang and said:

"He also guaranteed it absolutely won't be wrong."

That was a fair point… Yu Dazhang recalled that his old man had first beaten him when he was six, and he still remembered it to this day.

He'd always been able to recall the details of that beating—really clearly, in fact.

He'd even fantasized about stomping on his dad's oxygen tube when the old man was hospitalized.

"Then this shouldn't count as a statement, it should count as a report." Yu Dazhang corrected him.

If they believed Zhou Zizhe wasn't lying, then this was equivalent to him, as a victim, providing evidence and leads to the police.

Yu Dazhang recalled the last time he'd seen Zhou Zizhe at the detention center.

Although the other man looked haggard and wretched, his eyes were shining with a gaze of hatred that wished he could tear his kidnapper into a thousand pieces.

It made one's heart skip a beat.

"You mean…" Lu Zhongxin frowned and asked:

"Take this case on?"

"Just report it normally." Yu Dazhang realized his master still hadn't caught on—the task force had been disbanded, and now his own identity was simply that of his master's apprentice.

The leads Zhou Zizhe provided actually concerned a separate case, with no direct connection to the substitution case.

In this kind of situation, they should just report it straight up to the leadership—no need to overthink it.

As for how the leadership arranged things, they just had to follow orders.

"Right." Lu Zhongxin added:

"Zhou Zizhe also proposed going to his adoptive father Zhou Hongfu's place to collect evidence."

"Then let's go. He's reporting a case and providing leads—we just follow normal procedure, it's not against any rules." Yu Dazhang felt his master was being overly cautious these days.

This was probably related to his upcoming promotion to squad captain.

The biggest beneficiary of cracking the substitution case was actually Lu Zhongxin.

This was hugely significant for his impending promotion.

Now, promotion to squad captain was a done deal for him.

But the more crucial the moment, the less room for error—after all, more than one person had their eye on the captain's seat.

Yu Dazhang had been enjoying a few peaceful days.

His main job at the station now was taking reports and recording case details.

Then he'd conduct a preliminary investigation, and afterward hand the case off to the squad, where the formal officers would review it and decide whether to file it.

He was only responsible for the very first steps of a case.

A probationary officer, after all. Just like being an apprentice cook—first wash the ingredients and set them aside, waiting for the chef to fire up the wok.

Of course, Lu Zhongxin would also bring him along when going out on assignments.

Having such a treasure of an apprentice, a master would naturally pay extra attention.

Just six days after the substitution case wrapped up, Yu Dazhang's formal appointment notice reached the criminal investigation squad.

Not only had he become a full-fledged officer, he'd been bumped up a rank directly.

He'd skipped Grade Two entirely and become a Grade One officer.

Such cases were rare—at least in the Hongkou Sub-bureau, it was a first.

Outstanding performance, outstanding contribution—naturally, an exceptional promotion.

Lu Zhongxin also privately hinted to his apprentice that the sub-bureau leadership had already applied upward to secure a collective Third-class merit for the task force.

Yu Dazhang knew his master's character — if he didn't have confidence in something, he wouldn't bring it up, especially when honor was on the line.

In other words, this collective Third-class merit was basically a done deal.

Please... bookmark... 6... 9... book........!

The news spread quickly.

A newcomer who had only just joined the criminal investigation unit not long ago had been converted to full status so fast, and had even been promoted a rank above the usual.

This was bound to rouse the envy of some people, especially the newcomers who had come in the same batch as Yu Dazhang.

Once, Yu Dazhang ran into Zhao Hang from the Third Brigade in the corridor.

The two brigades were next to each other to begin with, so running into each other was nothing unusual — but he noticed the look Zhao Hang gave him was off.

There was contempt, there was resentment, and something else mixed in that he couldn't quite name.

In short, it made Yu Dazhang very uncomfortable.

He'd already had a disliking for the guy — there was no way he was going to indulge him.

"Little Zhao, come here."

Little Zhao? Zhao Hang found that form of address very grating.

But, cowed by that fatty's overbearing presence, he still didn't dare say anything and shuffled over.

"You got a problem with it?" Yu Dazhang glared at him as he spoke.

This was just looking for a fight, plain and simple.

"No way." Zhao Hang denied it:

"We came here together. The fact that you got converted to full status so fast — I'm happy for you, how could I possibly have any other thoughts?"

"Keep putting on that act!" Yu Dazhang chopped a hand-knife down on the back of his neck.

The blow sent Zhao Hang staggering, nearly falling over.

Before he could even react, Yu Dazhang grabbed him and locked his neck under his arm in a headlock.

"You know what bugs me most about you?"

"What? Let go of me first!" Zhao Hang was struggling to breathe, both hands prying desperately at the arm, but it only tightened.

"You little punk always love sticking out a leg to trip people from behind — in my last life I took plenty of losses from you."

The more Yu Dazhang spoke, the angrier he got. Finally, with Zhao Hang's head clamped under his arm, he gave him a vicious shaking:

"Die for me!"

Dealing with someone like this doesn't take brains.

Just brute force and you're done!

In his past life, it was because he was afraid of how it would look that even though he knew Zhao Hang was filing reports behind his back, Yu Dazhang never confronted him.

That's what led Zhao Hang to grow more and more outrageous later, to the point where he'd openly badmouth Yu Dazhang right to his face.

In this life, Yu Dazhang had thought it through — screw the damn fallout, do it first and talk later.

Your old man doesn't bother playing dirty — he's gonna take you on head-on.

Come on then, hurt each other!

"What last life! You've got the wrong guy…" Zhao Hang had given up struggling and could only loudly protest his innocence.

But he only managed to shout once before going still.

Yu Dazhang was in the middle of enjoying the shaking when he suddenly noticed Zhao Hang's limbs had gone limp.

He got a fright, quickly released his arm, and laid Zhao Hang flat on the ground.

Dead?

(End of chapter)