"The special agents responsible for external surveillance immediately rushed to the hotel, within just three minutes, yet it was already empty. The plainclothes officer assigned to watch Ma Yelin also disappeared along with them. Three days later, their bodies were found dumped at Yellow Sand Beach, the cause of death was homicide, with multiple blunt force and stab wounds on their bodies. They were likely tortured for information before their deaths."

"Someone died? Forget it, forget it, I'm not going!"

When Li Xiang heard this, he realized that someone had already died during this mission, and they had been tortured for information. He suddenly woke up to the reality that this was a trap waiting for him to fall into.

Being a drug enforcement officer is inherently one of the most dangerous jobs. Now, someone has already sacrificed their life due to the failure of the operation, indirectly illustrating the unimaginable danger of this case.

Drug traffickers are already desperate criminals; they will do anything for money, and they themselves know that once caught, they are basically facing the death penalty.

So when confronted with a predicament, it triggers their desperate struggle, the severity of which is self-evident.

I'm not going, I'm not going.

I'm just an auxiliary police officer; with the advantages I have, taking solid steps forward, I can still grow. Going all out recklessly is truly not worth it.

"Actually, you don't need to be afraid. The failure of that operation was because the police were worried about alerting the other side, so they used an external surveillance method. Only one plainclothes officer was beside the informant, and it's very likely that the identity of that plainclothes officer was discovered by the criminals in advance. This case has now been reported to the provincial office, and I will personally take charge. I will be responsible for your personal safety."

"Deputy Chief Yan, honestly, I'm just an auxiliary officer. I'm afraid I'll mess up such an important mission. How about you find someone more capable?"

Li Xiang made up his mind not to participate in such a dangerous mission. His future had just started showing some promise, and he didn't want to lose it all before he could enjoy it for even two days.

"I thought that kid who had no hesitation about jumping off a building to catch a criminal was a heroic figure, but it turns out he's just a coward afraid of dying."

Yan Xiong, being straightforward and without ulterior motives, was taken aback by Li Xiang's stubbornness, which was different from the others who accepted orders without hesitation. So he had to use a motivational tactic again.

However, Li Xiang remained unmoved, standing there with his eyes cast down, staying silent and not responding.

"All right, I'm not going to beat around the bush with you. Just tell me, do you lack money, or is it the task you object to?"

"I value my life."

"..." Yan Xiong was momentarily stunned, then laughed and cursed, "You kid, you are my type, but sadly..."

He shook his head, having found a suitable candidate with difficulty, but the person disagreed; he couldn't force it, could he?

Forcing a melon to ripen won't make it sweet. Although he could use an administrative order to force Li Xiang to join the Drug Enforcement Bureau, if Li Xiang harbored resentment, it would be hard to complete the mission.

"Let's end it here today. What we discussed today, you can't tell anyone else."

"Yes, rest assured, I will strictly adhere to the police team's discipline and keep my mouth shut."

Disappointed, Yan Xiong left. Director Zhao came over to inquire about the situation. Li Xiang said simply, "Deputy Chief Yan wanted to recruit me into the Drug Enforcement Bureau. Signing the contract would make me a third-level police inspector, but I refused."

"What? Such a good deal that could save you three years of struggle, and you rejected it?"

Director Zhao was visibly shocked. Although he was the director, he had never heard of this kind of exceptional recruitment directly granting the position of a third-level police inspector, yet Li Xiang refused such a great opportunity.

"Not just three years of struggle spared, more like 60 years! A direct step to martyrdom benefits."

"Uh."

Li Xiang's words left Director Zhao speechless, but thinking it over, high reward accompanies high risk, and the Drug Enforcement Bureau offering such terms certainly entailed high risk, so Li Xiang's reaction wasn't unreasonable.

"You have a point. I didn't expect anyone from our station to be noticed by the Drug Enforcement Bureau and even able to refuse them. That's quite impressive."

Director Zhao chuckled, and that was that.

Following the leaders' sudden inspection, the station bustled with activity, leaving it nearly empty. Deputy Director Cai Yongqing assigned Li Xiang some lighter duties, having him man the desk to answer calls at the station.

[Task Name: On-Duty Call Handling]

[Task Description: On duty at the Hongqiao Police Station lobby, assist citizens who come to report cases, record case information, conduct inquiries and take notes, ensure smooth communication, and report suspicious situations promptly.]

[Task Duration: 4 hours]

[Task Reward: Experience +50, Diamonds +100]

This job didn't require braving harsh weather, more comfortable than patrolling at Times Square. Now, being a known figure in the station, some cushy jobs were directed his way.

While he was contentedly daydreaming, a woman around fifty years old hurriedly entered, looking anxious, "Officer, do you have any news about my daughter?"

"Ma'am, please don't worry. Take your time and tell us what's going on," Li Xiang tried to calm her down, motioning for her to speak slowly.

"On January 28, after visiting relatives, we argued because I pressured her to get married, and the next day she ran away from home, leaving only a note. We haven't been able to contact her since then. Please help us find my daughter."

Li Xiang flipped through the police report records and found that the woman had already reported the situation a few days before. According to the records in the policing system:

The reporting person, the woman in front of him, is named Wu Qiufen. Her daughter, Wang Liping, aged 22, ran away from home on January 29, leaving a note: "I'm going to pursue happiness now."

It was classified as a family dispute, not warranting a case filing.

In such situations, police generally don't intervene, only making a record at most.

After all, the woman left home due to a family quarrel. Such situations are quite common, and since the person is not a minor, the police generally don't get involved.

Even if they wanted to, they couldn't manage all such cases; they simply document the situation and leave it at that.

Yet, she came again today.

"No contact at all for this many days?"

Today is February 6, nine days since Wang Liping left home. If it was just a quarrel, her anger should have subsided by now, and it seems unlikely she wouldn't answer a single phone call.

"The phone won't connect, it's always off. Please, you must help me. I won't pressure her for blind dates anymore if she just comes back."

The mother's tearful plea tugged at Li Xiang's heart, and he empathized with her.

Don't misunderstand, he sympathized with Wang Liping.

Urged for marriage and blind dates—he too was plagued by this, one of the reasons he decided not to go home for the New Year this year.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.