Chapter 173 - Yep

Tang Yin turned her head back at Lin Yi helplessly. "My mom asked you to bring your friend to our house this weekend."

"Uh… your house?" Lin Yi blinked. "For what?"

"I don't know, okay!" Tang Yin blurted. She then remembered that Lin Yi might come to her cla.s.s asking for details, and decided to explain herself. "My mom wants to treat you two to barbeque."

With that, she darted off to school without so much as looking back at the confused Lin Yi. Dude, where's your house?

Lin Yi knew the slums Tang Yin lived in, but it was a large area- who would know where her house was?

Lin Yi had a guess as to why her mother wanted to treat Xiaobo and him to barbeque, though- the recipe he'd given her was probably a success, and she wanted to thank him for it.

"Hah……" Lin Yi shook his head before closing the door to wait for Song Lingshan to arrive.

It was around half an hour later before Lingshan contacted him. "Lin Yi, your dean's pretty easy going- he gave you a leave without asking anything? Where are you?"

"The food street behind the school." Lin Yi said, thinking that it was only natural for w.a.n.g Zhifeng to be so easy going when he had his secret in his hands. Lingshan probably told him why she was looking for Lin Yi in the first place, too.

"Alright, be right there." Lingshan said before hanging up. It was another ten minutes before Lin Yi saw a Liebro with 'SG' at the beginning of the licence plate- it was a header police personnel used for civilian vehicles, albeit a method widely known by the public. As such, there wasn't really a difference between a police car and a car with SG on their licence plates. A lot of the authorities who registered for such a licence plate even found themselves receiving special treatment.

(SG for Song (Songshan) G)

Lingshan couldn't see Lin Yi anywhere, save for a yellow Beetle parked on the side of the road. She was just about to call him when Lin Yi stepped out of his car, heading her way.

"Your car?" Lingshan asked, surprised. From what she'd investigated, Lin Yi was a bodyguard Chu Pengzhan hired for protecting Chu Mengyao- it was likely that he'd have a car a.s.signed to him, but it wasn't very possible that it'd be a car like that… It didn't match Lin Yi's ident.i.ty as a bodyguard, after all.

"It's Chen Yushu's. She's lending it to me for a few days." Lin Yi said candidly. Lingshan could just check who the owner was if she really wanted to, after all.

"I see. Get in then." Lingshan said, pointing to the front seat.

Lin Yi got in Lingshan's car, and the two made their way to the police station.

Lingshan noticed Lin Yi's silence after driving a while, and frowned. "Aren't you planning on saying anything?"

"Say what?" Lin Yi asked, turning around as he sized the girl's body up while he was at it. "Weren't you the one who asked for me? How come I'm the one who's supposed to talk? Oh… I mean, that wound on my leg's healed up, so I'm not afraid anymore- you can squeeze my thigh all you want."

"You-!!" Lingshan couldn't believe it! Why did the captain even recommend this guy, did he not know how shameless he was? Lingshan couldn't help but curse at Lin Yi after he went and reminded her of that scene in the hospital. "You gangster!!"

"Yep." Lin Yi said faintly, closing his eyes as he eased his back into the seat.

"....." Lingshan didn't know what to say to the guy anymore- he'd made her absolutely speechless. It was a while before she spoke up again. "You can find the suspects from the robbery for me?"

"You're asking me if I can after I'm in your car already?" Lin Yi said, curling his lips. "I don't get how you went through all those promotions with that brain of yours? You're such a numbskull."

(lin yi uses a term here that has different interpretations)

Lingshan was that much away from ramming the car into a wall- this Lin Yi was so insulting! It was true that she was a bit reckless from time to time, always throwing herself in the front lines every time they were pursuing suspects, but… didn't that count as a heroic characteristic? Although, Captain Yang did mention her problem to her before, that the leader of the squad shouldn't be charging to the front without consideration for her teammates and playing hero… Lingshan simply wasn't one to think about stuff like that.

It was the same as a medieval war- the general couldn't just charge to the front like that… It was different if the general was so epic it'd boost the morale of the entire army, but they'd basically be done for should the general meet a sudden end because of the exposure he put himself in.

Lingshan understood that, and fortunately for her, nothing too bad had happened to them because of her heroism, and that gave her time to correct her ways.

Yet Lingshan had misunderstood what Lin Yi meant- he wasn't talking about her heroism during operations. The way he saw it, it'd made more sense for him to take the enemies out on his own if he were confident enough to handle all of that solo. After all, there was no need for pointless sacrifices to take place if he could prevent that.

He was talking about how Lingshan wasn't very good with details, like how she failed to notice his leg injury the first time they'd met… She even went and pressed on his wound after learning about it, too!

"Okay then…… I hope we'll be able to apprehend those suspects under the guidance of Master Lin……" Lingshan said through gritted teeth, thinking that she'd deal with Lin Yi if he failed to deliver.

"Yeah… I'll try." Lin Yi nodded. "I can't guarantee anything though."

"......" Lingshan wanted to kick Lin Yi out of the car at that point. What was he showing off for if he couldn't guarantee anything?

"Where are we headed?" Lin Yi asked suddenly.

"Police station, to discuss our approach." Lingshan explained.

"No need for that. Let's go to your search area." Lin Yi said, shaking his head. He knew his abilities best himself- it'd make no difference if they talked about it not not; he'd be able to sense their presence if the suspects really were in that area. After all, discussions would be a waste of time if they weren't there in the first place.

"Huh?!!" Lingshan exclaimed, stunned. "Just the two of us?"

"Are you scared?" Lin Yi asked as he looked at Lingshan, not wanting too many people to know about his abilities. The only reason he was helping Lingshan in the first place, after all, was because of Huaijun's involvement. He didn't need to explain his relations.h.i.+p with Huaijun to Lingshan, but he wouldn't reject the girl if Huaijun was the one who'd recommended Lin Yi to her. On the other hand, Lin Yi himself was looking to dig the suspects out- there was no reason to hold back now that things had gone south with Li Cihua.

Chapter 174 - Sister and Sis-In-Law

"Scared?!! Of course not!!!" Lingshan announced, taking the bait even when she knew Lin Yi said it for the sake of goading her, simply because of how irritating his words were!

Lingshan had been a special ops instructor, and it was only natural that she was unafraid. After all, she'd be able to get herself out of a tight spot no matter how bad it was. As for Lin Yi…… Heh heh… if you insist!

As far as Lingshan was concerned, Lin Yi still had quite some distance to go before he reached her level- the guy had some good moves, but he'd never been through professional training, nor had he had any life-or-death experiences in the past! It went without saying that Lin Yi should be the one worrying instead of Lingshan.

"Kay. Let's go then." Lin Yi said, ignoring Lingshan's violent reaction to his taunt.

Lingshan, on the other hand, wasn't expecting the lack of reaction from Lin Yi, feeling her words weren't really getting to him at all. Couldn't the guy have at least acknowledged her proclamation or something? Couldn't he have praised her courage a little bit?

"According to the footage we got from central city management, we've enough grounds to confirm that the suspects have hidden themselves in that mountain forest." Lingshan explained as she pressed her anger down. "We've also located their vehicle nearby, and discovered the corpses of Baldy and Ma Laoliu in that abandoned warehouse over there… the suspects have a large amount of cash with them, meaning that they'll get discovered by the inspection stops if they attempt to leave the area. We came to a conclusion that they'd remain in their hiding spots if the money is of great importance to them."

"Okay, so you're saying they'll be able to get away if they throw the money away?" Lin Yi asked with a nod.

"...... Yes, you can put it that way." Lingshan said. "Although, if we do manage to retrieve the cash they leave behind, the case would be more or less half-solved, and it'd be easier on the burdens my side is shouldering."

"I can look for the people if they're still here, but the cash…… You're not expecting me to find it for you, are you? You think I'm a police hound?" Lin Yi said, rolling his eyes. "Ah, your captain calls himself a hound right? You can ask him to give that a try-"

The car screeched into a violent stop on the roadside, and both Lin Yi and Lingshan's body lunged forward from the sudden stop.

"What's wrong with you?" Lin Yi frowned, not expecting Lingshan to react that violently.

"Do not insult the captain!! Do it again, and I'll have to ask you to get off!!" Lingshan ordered, her eyes burning as she glared right at Lin Yi as if she wanted to pounce on him for lunch. Quite fitting for the 'lioness' description Lin Yi had had for her.

That's what this is? Lin Yi wasn't sure what to say- he hadn't expected her to be this protective of Huaijun! Could she perhaps be in love with him?

"Do you like Yang Huaijun?" Lin Yi asked.

"Please don't taint the purity of our relations.h.i.+p- we think of each other as brother and sister!!" Lingshan corrected solemnly. "Don't use your filthy imagination on this- I'm protective because of my respect and admiration towards him, alright? He's like my mentor, he cared for me, supported me, taught me… he watched me grow……"

"Ah……" Lin Yi smiled faintly. "Then would you get mad if Huaijun called you a hound?"

"Ah? Me?" Lingshan blinked in surprise, not expecting that question out of nowhere. She shook her head in response, answering honestly. "Why would I? Huaijun's practically my teacher- it's perfectly natural for him to joke with me like that."

"Ah……" Lin Yi left it at that- it'd been the same when Huaijun first joined his special ops team, too: their relations.h.i.+p had that same purity Lingshan was talking about. He'd watched the guy grow, and his bond with Huaijun went far deeper than even the one Lingshan had formed with him. The type of friends.h.i.+p formed in a setting like that was irreplaceable.

As a result, Huaijun would take Lin Yi's scolding with a smile even if he pointed at his nose while doing so. While Lin Yi stood up for his teammates in front of outsiders, he hadn't been one to go easy on them when lecturing or scolding. He even remembered the bada.s.s Yang Huaijun getting scolded into crying by his new captain, a boy younger than he was…

Naturally, this wasn't something Lin Yi could reveal to Lingshan.

"Alright, I get it- I won't say something like that again." Lin Yi nodded. "But you can ask Huaijun later if you want… He doesn't...mind."

"?" Lingshan blinked, not quite understanding what Lin Yi was trying to say. Her profession had made her more sensitive, and had long had suspicions regarding the relations.h.i.+p between Huaijun and Lin Yi… It seemed that there was some sort of unspeakable secret bonding the two, but she didn't think it was her place to investigate or ask about that- after all, Huaijun was the man she respected the most. She also had absolute faith in Huaijun's character- he'd never a.s.sociate himself with bad people.

Yet it seemed to her that there really was something between Lin Yi and the captain, something she didn't understand. It intrigued her, and while she couldn't just ask the captain, it'd be fine if she asked Lin Yi about it… She was quite confident that she'd be able to get something out of Lin Yi…

"I might've overreacted." Lingshan said as she started the car again, her face warming up from the coldness she'd displayed earlier. "So Lin Yi… Do you and the captain know each other?" Lingshan prodded.

"I guess, but it's been so long… I don't really remember it anymore. I probably wouldn't have recognized him if he hadn't called me out that day." Lin Yi was explaining the situation really calmly, but it was an explanation Lingshan would never believe.

'Don't remember'? Lingshan remembered the captain to be happier than when breaking a tough case the moment he'd recognized Lin Yi!! Lin Yi's explanation simply made no sense- the captain's joy came directly from his heart, and it was evidently intense enough for incoherent sentences to be coming out from his mouth!

"Is that so? How did the two of you meet?" Lingshan asked, continuing her questioning.

"Didn't your superiors teach you not to ask questions you shouldn't be asking? I heard you used to be a special ops instructor- where are your manners, you know?" Lin Yi said, sealing off all of Lingshan's questions instantly. "Confidentiality, right?"

"......" Lingshan was speechless- what confidentiality? The guy wasn't even part of the police force, nor was he part of the army! What was there to keep confidential about? It wasn't that serious to just talk about how he'd met Huaijun, even if he did turn out to be a police force captain, was it?

"Fine, if you don't wanna talk about it!!" Lingshan said, playing into Lin Yi's hands again. "It's not even an operation or anything, I don't know what you're being so secretive over."

"Well, I'll tell you if you become my sis-in-law, or Huaijun's sister." Lin Yi said, smiling as he looked at Lingshan.

(in case u dont remember the chinese call the wife or gf of their bros (close-friends) sis-in-law)

"???" Lingshan didn't know what was going on anymore. Sis-in-law? Sister?? What the h.e.l.l was Lin Yi saying, who was he even talking about?!