Chapter 131: Come Home Early Tonight
If it had been anyone else, Cheng Yuan would have hung up without a second thought. But Wu Mengyao was Wu Fei’s sister, after all, and Wu Fei had helped him out quite a bit recently. He had to at least give her the courtesy of answering.
Cheng Yuan gave Lin Ruoxi an apologetic look. "Honey, I need to take this call."
With that, Cheng Yuan answered the call. "Captain Wu, I’m a bit busy right now. If it’s not urgent, please contact me this afternoon."
"It’s extremely urgent! The situation is critical!"
Any trace of passion in Cheng Yuan vanished in an instant. His face grew grim. "What happened?"
"The suspect in the trafficking case escaped! Director Dai is pinning the whole thing on me! I’m not afraid of taking the blame, but I’m worried the suspect will strike again. The children are in danger!"
Cheng Yuan shot bolt upright.
"The suspect escaped? What on earth happened? Captain Wu, I handed him over to you because I trusted you. Are you telling me you couldn’t handle it?"
"Cheng Yuan, you’re misunderstanding. This is what happened..."
After hearing Wu Mengyao’s explanation, Cheng Yuan’s expression turned exceedingly grim.
’This was absolutely a setup!’
But a moment later, Cheng Yuan’s eyes lit up.
’This is the perfect opportunity for revenge!’
’Wiping out Jin Pengfei’s family was only half of it. There are still all those powerful figures who colluded with the Jin Family!’
’And I was just struggling to find a way in!’
’If I just went to Shen Jiangnan out of the blue, I wouldn’t know where he stands.’
’Assassination would be letting them off too easy. It’s far better to see them publicly disgraced and ruined, to face the judgment of law and justice.’
’Now, I have my way in!’
’Wu Mengyao is Wu Fei’s sister. An attack on her is a slap in the face to Shen Jiangnan!’
’Shen Jiangnan must be furious right now. He needs an outlet—or rather, an opportunity to assert his authority.’
’If I give him the evidence of the powerful figures colluding with the Jin Family at a time like this, Shen Jiangnan will definitely take them down without mercy. He’ll make an example of them to secure his complete control over Luocheng!’
Cheng Yuan said in a low voice, "Captain Wu, you should take this to the City Lord. He should be able to help."
"I’ve already gone to the City Lord. He got me a few days’ extension on the case, but I spent all last night reviewing surveillance footage and came up with nothing. I had no choice but to ask you for help."
Cheng Yuan was overjoyed. ’Wu Mengyao is practically my lucky star,’ he thought. ’She’s already handled the first two steps for me. Now I just need to find the right time to give the evidence to Shen Jiangnan.’
"Alright, Captain Wu, I’ll help you!"
"I won’t waste time with thanks! From this day forward, whether it’s through hell or high water, if you, Cheng Yuan, ever need anything, I, Wu Mengyao, won’t hesitate for a second!"
Cheng Yuan grinned. "Captain Wu, it’s not that serious. You’ve been up all night. Go find a place to get some rest. Let’s meet at the Hope Welfare Institute at noon."
"I don’t need to rest. In my line of work, it’s not uncommon to go two days without sleep on a case. Let’s meet up now."
Cheng Yuan glanced at his stunning wife, Lin Ruoxi, and hesitated, feeling very reluctant. "Well..."
Sensing that Cheng Yuan had urgent business, Lin Ruoxi rolled over, escaping his Demon Claw, and quickly got dressed.
Cheng Yuan grimaced in frustration.
So close, and yet the prize had slipped through his fingers.
Since his chance was gone, Cheng Yuan stopped agonizing over it. "Alright then," he said to Wu Mengyao, "I’ll see you at the institute in a bit."
After hanging up, Cheng Yuan hopped off the large bed and took Lin Ruoxi’s hand. "Honey, I..."
Lin Ruoxi smiled, raising a slender finger to his lips to silence him. "Cheng Yuan, don’t feel bad. We have plenty of time. Just make sure you come home early tonight!"
’Home early tonight?’
Lin Ruoxi’s words instantly set Cheng Yuan’s heart ablaze.
Cheng Yuan pulled Lin Ruoxi into a tight embrace and fiercely captured her lips with his own.
He kissed her deeply, savoring the taste.
Only when Lin Ruoxi was left breathless did Cheng Yuan finally release her. He stared at her intently. "Honey, don’t you worry. I’ll definitely be home early tonight!"
"Okay. Be careful out there, and don’t get hurt."
Cheng Yuan nodded. As he got dressed, he said, "Honey, I’ll have to trouble you to look after Youchu."
"What trouble? Youchu is my little sister. Of course I should take care of her."
Cheng Yuan nodded and turned to leave the room.
Cheng Yuan hailed a cab and arrived at the Hope Welfare Institute twenty minutes later.
Through the car window, Cheng Yuan saw the valiant and dashing figure of Wu Mengyao.
She looked a little haggard at the moment, which only added to her unique charm. Seeing her helped lift Cheng Yuan’s slightly soured mood.
’After all,’ he thought, ’working with a beautiful woman is always more pleasant.’
Wu Mengyao had been waiting at the entrance of the Hope Welfare Institute for some time. When she saw Cheng Yuan, she hurried over. "Cheng Yuan, you’re finally here! Why did you want to meet here? Do you have a lead on the suspect?"
Cheng Yuan smiled and shook his head. "No."
"Huh? Then why..."
Cheng Yuan’s tone grew serious. "My methods for solving cases are a bit... unconventional, Captain Wu. No matter what you see or hear in a little while, I need you to not question it. Can you do that?"
"Fine! But can you stop calling me Captain Wu? It’s too formal. Just call me Mengyao."
"Uh... Mengyao."
"That’s more like it. Come on, let me see these unconventional methods of yours."
Cheng Yuan nodded and led Wu Mengyao toward the main gate of the Hope Welfare Institute.
The security guard recognized Cheng Yuan and greeted him warmly. "Mr. Cheng, you’re here! The old director was just mentioning you this morning."
Cheng Yuan smiled. "Oh, really? I’ll go see her right now."
As he said this, Cheng Yuan glanced awkwardly at his empty hands. Wu Mengyao, realizing the situation, quickly returned to her SUV, opened the trunk, and pulled out two boxes of health supplements, handing them to him.
"Here, take these."
Cheng Yuan didn’t stand on ceremony with Wu Mengyao. He took the supplements and strode toward the director’s office.
The office door was open. Cheng Yuan knocked lightly and said warmly, "Grandma, I’ve come to see you."
The old director was pleasantly surprised. She quickly stood up and greeted him with great warmth. "Xiaoyuan, you’re here?"
"Grandma, here are some health supplements for you."
"Oh, Xiaoyuan, you silly child. You didn’t need to bring anything just to come see your old grandma."
’Xiaoyuan is such a filial child,’ she thought. ’Giving him the treasure was absolutely the right choice!’
"Grandma, do you remember Mengyao? She’s a police captain."
"Yes, yes, I remember her. She’s the one who took Zhu Wenhu away. A good kid!"
"We came here today partly to see you, and partly because we need to look for some of Zhu Wenhu’s belongings to use as evidence."
The old director gave a wry smile. "Xiaoyuan, that’s my fault. I felt that keeping Zhu Wenhu’s things around was bad luck, so I threw everything away."