Chapter 22

The Place Filled with Sadness

Jing Ling Ling went up to the kid and untied him from the chair, who immediately dived into her arms and started crying, "Sister Ling Ling, you finally came"

"Is he the vice-captain's son?" asked Pang Jing Dong.

Jing Ling Ling nodded her head, "We should call the cops now!"

The truth was, there was no need for Jing Ling Ling to inform her colleagues about the incident. The gunshot had alerted the neighbors who had discovered the dead body in front of the door and called the police.

After calming the vice-captain's son, Jing Ling Ling asked, "Why did you kill the criminal?"

"If he didn't die, what the vice-captain had done would be discovered! You will be accused of keeping crucial information to yourself, how would you explain yourself?"

"But, it's even harder to explain the situation now!"

"It's not that complicated! You just have to tell them that you were just visiting the vice-captain's son to tell him about his dad's sacrifice. It was only a coincidence that you bumped into the culprit. They would assume the culprit was here to avenge his gang."

"But how about the vice-captain's son? He witnessed the whole thing!"

"He wouldn't be entirely sure of what's going on! Most importantly, if he is smart enough, he will keep his mouth shut!"

Pang Jing Dong found a piece of towel in the bathroom, and carefully wiped his fingerprint off the gun, before giving it back to Jing Ling Ling.

"I should go now." He paused for a while and asked Jing Ling Ling with a smile, "Will you let me go?"

"Go now!" Jing Ling Ling turned her head sideway, staring at the ground.

"Remember, you didn't see me today, and I wasn't involved in all of these; Everything here was solely done by you!"

"Got it!" After a brief silence, Jing Ling Ling gathered her courage and asked Pang Jing Dong, "But I'm still curious to know your real identity!"

"I'm just an ordinary employee; I didn't lie to you!"

"But how come you're so good at shooting? It seems like you are quite experienced in gunfights too. You were so calm and steady when facing the ruthless criminals!"

Pang Jing Dong told Jing Ling Ling, "You were right. I was a mercenary for a long time in South America's rainforests. I fought against many elite special forces! Hence, these amateur culprits were nothing for me."

"You" Jing Ling Ling relocated her gaze at Pang Jing Dong, who gave her a feeling that he had experienced vicissitudes of life.

"The culprits in our country were less skillful. For example, when we were trapped in the building, they had various ways to capture us, but either they didn't know how to do it, or they were not brave enough to do it! It would be a different case if this happened overseas!"

"Let's hope our country's criminals will not go international then!" Jing Ling Ling laughed, who continued to ask, "I still don't understand. How did you know there was only one guy in the house?"

"Generally, the garbage is collected once early in the morning every day. I checked the rubbish bag outside the house. There were only two unfinished takeaway boxes, and it's still too early to eat lunch. This means the two boxes were breakfast for two people inside the house. After excluding the hostage, the remaining one will be the criminal!"

The answer from Pang Jing Dong did not eliminate Jing Ling Ling's doubt. Instead, it confused her even more, "How could you be so good at being a detective when you are a mercenary? Is it because you are good at solving mysteries? But how come you know how to open handcuffs? Don't tell me you are born with the skill?"

This time, Pang Jing Dong did not answer Jing Ling Ling. He stared at her with a blank expression, with his eyes losing focus. The expression of experiencing vicissitudes of life reappeared on his face.

In the meantime, the sound of police siren was heard. Pang Jing Dong instantly said, "I can't stay any longer!"

"See you!" Jing Ling Ling nodded her head.

A lot of things had happened in a morning's time. When Pang Jing Dong arrived back at the company, it was lunch time. Of course, Pang Jing Dong reported what happened to Shen Jia Yao immediately, instead of going straight to lunch.

Shen Jia Yao was close to not believing what Pang Jing Dong said. She knew Pang Jing Dong made different kinds of excuses for being late to work before. Thus, it was her first reaction to assume Pang Jing Dong was coming up with some bullshit as an excuse for crashing the company's car.

"Either way, you must compensate the cost of the car!" said Shen Jia Yao firmly.

However, she received a call from the police station, which validated what Pang Jing Dong was telling her, giving her a bigger surprise.

The caller described briefly what happened in the morning, telling her that Pang Jing Dong was accidentally involved in a criminal incident and promised the police would compensate the cost to repair the car.

Pang Jing Dong knew the call was arranged by Jing Ling Ling. He found himself to be amusing as he totally forgot about the aftermath.

"Never know that she is quite considerate!" thought Pang Jing Dong.

"Are you alright?" After getting rid of her doubt, Shen Jia Yao began to worry if Pang Jing Dong was hurt.

"I'm fine, but the cops aren't so lucky!"

"I really don't understand. How come you would be involved in such matter which is as scarce as hen's teeth?"

Pang Jing Dong answered helplessly, "I don't understand either!"

"I think you are under a curse!" The initial icy-cold expression reappeared on Shen Jia Yao's face, who said in a mocking tone, "Maybe if you stop going to those 'dirty' places, you won't be having these problems!"

"I'm currently having such bad luck. You must think of a way to help me overcome this problem!"

"What can I even do?!"

"Give me something to get rid of the curse!"

"How would I have such a thing?"

"You do!"

"What is it?"

"Saddle stitch!"

"What is a saddle stitch?"

Pang Jing Dong answered in a serious tone, "A used sanitary pad. Something that you produce a lot every month. Large quantity, low cost"

"Get out!" Shen Jia Yao yelled while pointing at the door.

After going back home after work, the first thing that Pang Jing Dong did was turning on the TV to watch the news. The incident in the morning was a hot topic as expected. Jing Ling Ling was referred to as the heroine who defeated the criminals, while Pang Jing Dong was regarded as a random passerby and completely ignored by the media.

It was exactly the outcome that Pang Jing Dong hoped for.

There was a total of six policemen who sacrificed in the incident, who were all being listed as martyrs, including the vice-captain. Jing Ling Ling who had done a great feat was given a first-class merit. The honor was granted in such a short time, although the reason was not hard to guess.

Even from the TV screen, Pang Jing Dong could tell the Secretary, Mr. Jing's face was filled with happiness as he attended the press conference. Although a few police enforcers sacrificed, Mr. Jing had plenty of reasons to be happy, as her daughter had made him proud.

There was no doubt that Jing Ling Ling had done a great job this time. This allowed her dad to give her a reasonable promotion, which would not be regarded as an act of cronyism. Of course, her dad did not have to worry about it, as a lot of his subordinates were waiting for a chance to do him a favor, including the captain of the criminal department.

After the incident in the morning, the first thing that the captain did was announcing Jing Ling Ling as a role model to the others, instead of investigating the incident thoroughly.

This year, the criminal department would have a few nominees for awards such as 8th of March's Red Flag Carrier and 1st of May's Hardworking Award. Normally, there would be intense competitions for these awards, as these were widely acknowledged in the society and would be recorded into the database. Not only it would be a recognition of a person's hard works, it wouldalso be helpful for promotions. As a result, these awards were only given after thorough considerations from the leaders. Generally, there were two types of people who were relatively easier to receive such awards; the ones who were about to retire and reserve cadres.

As the leaders who were given authorities would act as role models, these awards were seldom to be given to them. However, the awards specifically given by the higher-level authorities were different.

This time, there was no doubt toward the candidate of receiving the awards from the criminal department. The captain had given all of them to Jing Ling Ling, without discussing with other leading members. Of course, there was no need for a discussion because no one would disagree.

It was initially a mistake from the captain's carelessness, but he had managed to turn it into a chance of earning a favor from the Secretary. The captain had managed to recreate the story of 'A Blessing in Disguise'.

After watching the TV for a while, Pang Jing Dong turned on his computer and scrolled his Weibo.

'Last Night's Sorrow' and Pang Jing Dong were each other's follower. They knew each other on the Internet, but they had never met before or knew each other's real identity.

She had been online for quite a while, and upon seeing Pang Jing Dong came online, 'Last Night's Sorrow' immediately sent him a message, "Took you long enough!"

"Yeah! Lots of things happened today, quite a busy day!"

"You didn't finish the story from last time. What happened after at 'The Third Highland'?"

"After" Pang Jing Dong stared at the word on his screen, falling into a recollection of his past. After quite a while, Pang Jing Dong replied, "The mercenaries paid a huge price, to make the place to become a place filled with sorrow for the Delta Troops. In that operation, Delta Troops lost twenty-three men altogether. It was the most tragic loss Delta Troops had experienced in a non-warfare operation. As the Delta Troops was Country M's best special force, it never admitted the occurrence of the operation to protect the Country's honor. Since then, Country M had never taken part in any military action in South America."

"Superb!" After a brief pause, 'Last Night's Sorrow' asked, "When will your novel be published?"

"I'm not planning to publish it. I'm just keeping the story to myself!"

"If you change your mind, remember to gift me a copy!"

"Sure!" Pang Jing Dong eyes turned gloomy.

'The Third Highland' was also a place filled with sorrow for Pang Jing Dong.

When Pang Jing Dong was first recruited by the mercenaries, he was given an important role due to his outstanding military skills. However, after the battle of 'The Third Highland', Pang Jing Dong's name was widely spread across South America, with his courage and wisdom being a hot topic among the people. The cost he paid was two third of his comrades, with their remaining filling the trenches.

The mercenaries returned to the Opposition's army and continued to work for them. The betrayal at 'The Third Highland' was never mentioned. Everyone was purposely avoiding the topic, only Pang Jing Dong had decided secretly, to avenge his comrades who sacrificed their lives.