The following days passed as if ti was on a speed run. Between the case, evidence and interrogation, Jia didn’t have a wink of sleep. The bureau was in uproar after Zhong Kai’s suspension and with the Commissioner position now open, a fear of instability lurked in the air. Jia and Huojin’s supervisor, Tang Haitao, was sohow holding the fort.
Jia witnessed his miserable state since all the work was now dumped onto him and he was living his own version of sleepless nights with dark circles under his eyes.
"That bastard Zhong Kai made all this ss..."
Jia coughed. To her, Tang Haitao was always the sort of level-headed person who never spoke ill about others. A cool and calm supervisor she could always rely on. Now she understood that being forced to stay awake to work on cases versus cleaning up a high-ranking officer’s ss were two very different motivations for him. The latter was finally bringing his true side.
"How long is this gonna go for?"
"You know, you could take up the open position now," her eyes glead.
"And kill myself?" Tang Haitao gasped. "How could you, Jia? I always treated you like my daughter but my own family is plotting to kill ."
A twitch raised her brow.
"When will this mountain of work end? My hair is turning grey at a faster rate than I am aging."
"Well, it depends on how quickly we find a new Commissioner."
"That’s going to take a while..." he muttered. "Especially after Zhong Kai’s ss, everybody’s eyes are on us. The superiors are already holding high-level talks, but nothing has been fruitful yet."
"In that case, I have a suggestion..."
He blinked twice. "Go on."
Jia stood straighter. "Now that Comm- Forr Commissioner Zhong’s cris are exposed, it only makes sense that the one who was truly deserving of his position all this ti steps up to it. Sobody who was betrayed by his own people and forced to spend years in jail when all he wanted to do was find a missing woman."
"...You are talking about Zhi Lingyun."
She nodded.
"Now that it’s proved that he frad him by having the Hou family’s backing and all those drug charges were false and bullshit, he must be released from his sentence. He doesn’t deserve to stay in prison for another day. Our force has betrayed him once," her gaze dimd. "It’s ti now we make it right to him. If Mr. Zhong hadn’t played those dirty tricks years ago, it would have been Mr. Lingyun in the Commissioner’s chair anyway. We are just returning to him what always rightfully belonged to him."
Tang Haitao pondered over her words. He leaned back, releasing a tired breath.
"What you are saying is right. It had also co to my mind that his case should be reopened as soon as possible to lift that sentence. But getting back to the Bureau and to the Commissioner’s position at that? That part is not so easy."
"He is innocent."
"We know that Jia and now the whole world knows that too. But his position here is altogether a different sea to sail through. Nobody will question his release, but it will be a difficult path to get him back to service. Besides...it also depends if he wants to rejoin or not. I don’t know what he thinks about the police force now, almost fourteen years later. That’s a long ti for bitterness to stifle one’s heart."
She pursed her lips. "I had t him once. Seeing him, I didn’t think that he hated the police force. We can give it a try - No - we must give it a try. We cannot give him his years back, but this much? Yes. If anybody deserves to sit on that chair, then it’s Mr. Zhi Lingyun."
He smiled. "Yeah, we will do our best."
Jia exited his office, releasing another sigh in a row. She pulled back and rotated her shoulders forward and backward.
Ah, so tired...
As soon as she stepped out of the Bureau to take a break, a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders from the back. Her fight instinct forced her elbow upward to jab at her opponent’s face, but the latter was quick to dodge it.
"Spicyyyyy, it’s eeee!! How could you ruin your handso husband’s face?" Mingshen pouted.
Her eyes widened and she turned around. "You? What were you doing sneakily grabbing like a pervert!"
"Ssshh! We got no ti. It’s ti for your appointnt."
"What appointnt?" she frowned.
Mingshen pushed Jia into his car and took the driver’s seat.
"Where are we going? Is it too far? I have to get back to work-"
"That’s enough of cheating for today."
"Huh? Cheating?" She was dumbfounded.
"What else should I call your affair with the Bureau? You keep romancing your work while completely ignoring your husband!"
"We are not married."
"Don’t get into those technicalities. Not so important."
"That effectively changes my relationship status, so no, it’s very important."
The engine rushed to life and the car swooped past the road like she was on so thriller ride.
"Hey! You are riding with a police officer and you are crossing the speed limit!" She was speechless. "Slow down."
"No ti. You need an ergency appointnt," he nodded.
Her eyes stretched wide again. "Really? Am I sick?"
Since he was a doctor, she didn’t question his dical judgent.
"It’s very severe," he nodded seriously. "But don’t worry, you will be in good hands."
It turned out that the "good hands" belonged to an expert masseuse. Jia didn’t know when or how but she laid backless on a warm, soft bed, dim lights lighting up the room with a serene atmosphere and the scent of incense floating in the air.
Deja vu?
The mory of her birthday ca flashing by where she had a similar experience of a massage and self-care. Mingshen had said it to be an ergency appointnt, not a spa appointnt.
"Umm...what are we doing here?"
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