Beauty and the Bodyguard

Song Lingshan thought about it- it was true, there was that case where the culprit was on the loose for a couple of months before they’d apprehended him.

“So captain, what you’re trying to say is……” Lingshan asked, still a little confused.

“Don’t rush the case- you can wait a bit for the suspect to let his guard down.” Huaijun explained. “It’s no use just rushing it, right.”

“Um…… But captain, I told Director Chen that I’d have the suspect in ten days……” Lingshan said, regretting what she’d done- she’d never have said something like that to the director if she’d considered the complications in the case.

“Ah, is that so……” Huaijun said, a little speechless. Song Lingshan was quite brave- even Huaijun himself wouldn’t have claimed something like that…… After all, the case this time around was more complicated than just a typical bank robbery: there was more to it than met the eye.

After all, who was Chu Pengzhan?

A provincial CCPCC member, a celebrity entrepreneur in the state…… He had connections spread far and wide, with intimate ties to the Chen House from the military- the mastermind behind the kidnapping had to have quite a background to dare touch that man’s daughter! People avoided crossing Chu Pengzhan, meaning that those directly targeting him had to be of a higher level, a level where even Huaijun’s own Yang family would think twice so as to avoid confrontation. The case was simply a difficult one……

“Song, maybe you shouldn’t have said that; it might’ve been a bit rushed……” Huaijun said. He didn’t want to rub it in her face or anything, but he had to make the situation clear to Lingshan, so as to prepare her for what was to come. “You should know yourself what kind of people we’re dealing with here- they dared to touch Chu Pengzhan’s daughter, you know. Those suspects we’re after are just a couple of pawns, they’re not the problem; the problem here is the people backing them up! It’ll be really hard to get ahold of the suspects, at least until they lose the support the higher ups are giving them. Wait for things to blow over- they’ll be easy to locate after that happens.”

Lingshan was a bit of a reckless woman, but she was no idiot- the sense in Huaijun’s words was clear to her, and she understood the grave mistake of her declaration. The director would’ve most likely understood the circumstances if she’d just explained them to him.

But it wasn’t quite appropriate for her to just go back and renounce her claim- there was no turning back now.

“Captain, so what do I do now……?” Lingshan didn’t want to stop midway. The director wouldn’t do anything too drastic to her for breaking her word, but it was a certainty that she’d suffer a hit to her reputation in the department……

“Listen to me if you want the case solved- ask Lin Yi about it. You might get something you weren’t expecting.” Huaijun advised. Whether Lin Yi was willing to help Lingshan out, however, was not up for Huaijun to decide.

“Lin Yi? He’ll be able to help me?” Lingshan asked. She’d heard the captain the first time, but she didn’t think much of it…… she had no choice but to take the captain’s words seriously the second time he’d said it- Huaijun wouldn’t say stuff like that without proper reasoning.

“Probably, but it’s not for certain.” Huaijun laughed. “Well, all that depends on whether he actually helps you.”

“I understand. Thanks, captain.” Huaijun had made things clear enough, and there was no point for Lingshan to say anything else. She hung the phone up with a frown on her forehead.

Who was this Lin Yi? According to Li Fu, he was just a follower Chu Pengzhan had hired for his daughter, for the purpose of protecting and playing with her. It was clear that Lin Yi was quite something to have brought Chu Mengyao out of the van completely unscathed, but was he so capable that he’d be able to help solve the case?

Why did the captain heap so much praise on the man? What were his abilities? How capable could Lin Yi be, to have earned the captain’s acknowledgement like that?

Lingshan suddenly recalled the scene from back when she brought Lin Yi to the station, where Huaijun couldn’t stop calling Lin Yi ‘Eagle’, all excited and emotional…… Lin Yi didn’t say anything about that, other than mocking Huaijun’s passion coldly…… The two then spent quite some time alone in the office, and Huaijun didn’t reveal anything significant to her when she’d asked him about it later, only stating that he’d let Lin Yi go already……

Lingshan didn’t dwell on that too much, but Huaijun’s attitude had indeed been abnormal that time, now that she thought about it. Huaijun was a calm and collected man, so who exactly did he think Lin Yi was for him to react so violently, right in front of Lingshan, even?

There was something wrong with this Lin Yi person, that was for sure. Huaijun hadn’t told her anything about him yet, only suggesting Lin Yi to her when she needed help for the case…

Lingshan’s heart went bitter as she thought about the notion- was she really going to beg _Lin Yi_ for something?

With the kind of relationship they had, she’d be fortunate for Lin Yi to just reject her without adding a smug comment to mock her with! She started regretting what she’d done to him- the guy turned out to be a really useful asset!

Lingshan hesitated for a while longer before deciding to continue intensifying the search- it’d be like committing suicide for Lingshan to ask Lin Yi for something. She could already imagine the type of face he’d make as he laughed at her……

Lin Yi hadn’t said one nice thing to her since the first day they’d met, even mocking her by asking if she got her position through connections…… Wouldn’t she just be proving his point if she went to him for help now? It’d be telling him how useless she was, of how she couldn’t even solve a case on her own.

That thing back in the hospital only made things worse between the two- she’d just wanted to teach him a lesson, but who’d have thought it turned into a romantic comedy for other people to enjoy? The regret was really starting to get to her at that point.

Lingshan sighed as she contemplated on how unlucky she was- an absolute special ops trainer, ended by the hands of some asshole guy! Her warmates and students would be laughing at her if they found out about this!

That wasn’t even the worst of it- after all, Lingshan was a beauty who had men fawning over her as she grew older; she’d never had to suffer the way she was now! Asking Lin Yi for help was no different from begging the man with her head lowered… It was something she’d never done for anyone before!

Lingshan was troubled, very troubled indeed. She decided to vent that frustration on her subordinates, telling them to continue searching day and night until they’d found the culprit!!

The subordinates, on the other hand, were aware of the claim Lingshan had made to the director, and they went through with the orders through gritted teeth as they toughed it out. After all, it wasn’t just Lingshan’s reputation at stake here- the entirety of the criminal police department was.

*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes

*[12.47 to 13.07]: don't ask me about the tree sap