CYCGS 11

Chapter – 11

Explosion

The cleaning uncle Sun Lei had mentioned—Bai Yiyi had seen him too. But precisely because he’d seen him, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about the man. He was nothing like the swift, thorough style of Auntie Huang before.

This man had graying hair, was thin and gaunt, and the deep wrinkles on his face seemed etched with the very word “sorrow.”

Once he was inside the office with the door closed, instead of thinking about cleaning, he started rummaging through the bookshelves, and even tried to pull open the desk drawers—but they were locked, so he failed.

Later, he pulled out that stack of sketches of the suspect in the serial murder case and stared at them for a long, long time.

This really didn’t seem like an ordinary cleaner—more like one of those undercover agents with ulterior motives you’d see on TV.

Bai Yiyi grew suspicious. Seizing the chance when the man left without closing the door, he intended to follow him and see what he was really up to. But the man wove around a couple of times, slipped into the supply closet, and never came back out.

Bai Yiyi hid in a dark corner of the main hall, lying in wait. But he couldn’t resist—and before he knew it, he’d been lured out by Sun Lei’s crispy noodle snack.

Speaking of crispy noodles, they smelled *so* freaking good.

How long had it been since he’d eaten any normal human food? The snacks the female colleagues had offered up—his owner had never opened a single pack for him. They just sat piled up beside the cage like offerings, visible but untouchable, driving him crazy with frustration.

Sure, he’d flown a bit farther for a good reason this time, but at least he hadn’t left the bureau! His owner was making way too big a deal out of it. This bird felt a little wronged.

After giving his bird a scolding and seeing that the little guy stayed quiet—seeming to accept the lecture with his head bowed—Yan Tuo magnanimously forgave him. He carried the cage to and from work as usual, until it almost became a landmark sight at the bureau.

One morning, right after work started, Cao Yiman dropped by and had barely sat down on the sofa when someone else knocked on the office door: “Deputy Captain Yan.”

Yan Tuo didn’t even need to look up to know who it was.

In the entire bureau, the only person who addressed him so formally with his full title was his former rival—Zhao Guangren, the captain of the Second Squad, in charge of smuggling and drug enforcement.

To be fair, this guy was only a year older than him. By normal promotion standards, being a 31-year-old captain of the Criminal Investigation Squad in a first-tier city’s municipal bureau was more than enough to qualify as an outstanding young talent—one in a thousand, really.

But things couldn’t be compared. Compared to him, Yan Tuo was younger, had shorter tenure, yet held a higher rank and higher police insignia.

Back when Yan Tuo was captain of the First Squad, the two were equals and got along decently. But ever since Yan Tuo got promoted to deputy captain and edged ahead, this guy had clearly turned sour—like he’d been eating too many lemons. In front of others, he was overly polite and deferential, but he practically ground the word “deputy” between his teeth, laying it on extra thick.

Yan Tuo didn’t even need to investigate to know that, more than half a year ago, it was this very man who’d spread the news about Yan Tuo’s family connection to Captain Li throughout the entire bureau behind his back.

Still, appearances had to be maintained. Yan Tuo said politely, “Back? Good work.”

Zhao Guangren unconsciously tightened his collar, gave a nod to Cao Yiman beside him, and replied, “It’s my duty. After this trip to G Province, I’m ready to close in on the 4/20 major smuggling case.”

Yan Tuo asked, “Is the chain of evidence complete?”

Zhao Guangren hesitated. “It’s not exactly flawless, but it’s more or less there. As long as we catch the guy and get his confession, it’ll be fine.”

Yan Tuo’s brow furrowed slightly, and he spoke bluntly: “You can’t count on the suspect to fill in your gaps. Especially in major smuggling cases like this—the mastermind’s intelligence and network are far from ordinary. Once the operation starts, enormous pressure will come from all directions. If the target is composed and stubborn enough that you can’t find a breakthrough, failure could be just around the corner.”

Even Cao Yiman, watching from the sidelines, felt secondhand embarrassment for Zhao Guangren’s face after that dressing-down. But Zhao Guangren showed no reaction, nodding formally: “Deputy Captain Yan is right. I’ll do my best to prepare thoroughly.”

“Mm, good.”

“Then I’ll get back to work.” Zhao Guangren gave Yan Tuo a smile and turned to leave.

Cao Yiman lounged half-reclined on the sofa and leaned closer to Yan Tuo, muttering in a low voice: “Tsk, you… You know what kind of guy he is. Why be so blunt? Doesn’t that just deepen the conflict? When we investigate cases, if we have seventy or eighty percent certainty, we go for it too.”

Yan Tuo shot him a look: “So I should hold back the truth just because I’m afraid of conflict? Tactics are tactics, attitude is attitude. Words like ‘more or less’—are those fit for a criminal investigator to say? It’s normal for evidence chains to never be 100%, but you can’t gamble on luck because of that. In your attitude, you have to operate as if it must reach 100%.”

He paused and took the chance to knock Cao Yiman with a warning too: “If you start getting sloppy in your attitude from the get-go, that’s a fatal flaw in our line of work.”

Cao Yiman, thick-skinned as ever, grinned: “Yes, yes, you’re right. You know, you should double as the political instructor too—that ideological level of yours, just now, was top-notch.”

Yan Tuo didn’t know whether he’d really taken it in. This was an old subordinate of many years; they’d worked together on countless cases. He had his careless tendencies, but he was also passionate, diligent, and full of drive.

Oh well—no one’s perfect. He’d just have to keep an eye on him himself.

Yan Tuo didn’t press further and turned to discuss a newly assigned case.

Bai Yiyi, who’d been perched on the bookshelf eavesdropping the whole time, felt like he was drooling with infatuation. The serious, stern look on his dream man was just devastatingly handsome.

In his view, such a thunderously wake-up call—this warning for the ages—a subordinate should be moved to tears, copy it into a book of quotes, and chant it over and over. But that burly “Old Cao” on the sofa, laughing it off like it went in one ear and out the other—he was utterly wasting the power of his dream man’s face… er, his good intentions.

Ah, if only he’d been braver back then—instead of studying art, he could have applied to the police academy. Then one day he might have been transferred under his dream man’s command, working side by side day and night, following him in and out, with orders and conquests… What a beautiful dream, hehehe.

Lost in his fantasies, Bai Yiyi didn’t even notice the people coming and going in the office. But suddenly, a sharp, unpleasant smell snapped him back to reality—a scent he’d never encountered before, deeply unsettling.

He looked around, inched closer, and traced the source to a steaming cup of coffee on the desk.

After careful identification, it smelled somewhat like almonds. Had the dimpled girl switched coffee brands for her dream man today? Was it almond-flavored?

Turning his head to look out through the open office door, beside the nearest workstation, a male colleague stood at the water dispenser, asking Sun Lei: “The water dispenser used to be in the east corner—who moved it here? I had a hard time finding it.”

Sun Lei: “No idea. The cleaning uncle moved it this morning, I think. Maybe… to make it more convenient for the leadership?”

The male colleague scoffed: “Ha, so good at sucking up. What a waste for a cleaner.”

The cleaning uncle?

Bai Yiyi shot out quickly, landed at the water dispenser’s spout, and sniffed. The same sharp, pungent odor.

This was purified water—not something that could be explained away as almond-flavored coffee.

He looked back. Yan Tuo was staring at his monitor while raising the coffee cup to his lips, about to take a sip.

A flash of lightning struck Bai Yiyi’s brain. Every feather on his body stood on end. With all his strength, he pushed off with both claws, launched into the air, flapped his wings with the greatest effort of his life, and shot forward like an arrow—crashing into Yan Tuo’s wrist like a cannonball.

Bang. The cup tipped over onto the keyboard, and a pool of thick coffee splattered across the desk.

“…Tangyuan!”

Bai Yiyi tumbled onto the desk, dizzy and dazed from the impact, his feathers stained with coffee. But his mind was still on the image of that male colleague about to get water. Ignoring his owner’s roar, he spun around and flew straight back to the water dispenser.

Sure enough, the male colleague was staring in astonishment at the commotion from the deputy captain’s office, but that didn’t stop him from getting water. Water gushed from the spout, and the black mug below was already more than half full.

Too drained to ram again, Bai Yiyi landed directly on the man’s hand, dipped his head, and started hammering with his sharp beak like a woodpecker. Caught off guard, the man yelped in pain and dropped the mug.

Yan Tuo chased after him. His face had been carrying a hint of suppressed anger, but when he saw the scene outside, he froze.

Even if the little white ball was being spoiled and playing tricks on him, there was no excuse for attacking someone else unprovoked…

The male colleague, seeing his boss’s coffee-stained clothes, asked awkwardly: “Captain Yan, has… has your Tangyuan gone crazy?”

Yan Tuo stood still for a moment, staring at his beloved pet standing guard under the water dispenser, looking ready to fight anyone who tried to get water. He asked the same question the colleague had asked earlier: “Why is the water dispenser here? Who moved it?”

It was Sun Lei who answered again: “…The cleaning uncle, I think. I believe his surname is Qin?”

Yan Tuo instructed: “Use a disposable cup to get a sample of the water and send it to the tech team. Have Fang Ping test the composition. Until the results come back, no one drinks from this barrel.”

Sun Lei was completely baffled, totally at a loss: “…Yes, but… but Tangyuan is standing right there…”

Before she could finish, the little tyrant who’d claimed the water dispenser as his territory had already backed down. Even the ruffled feathers on his head smoothed out in an instant. He flew onto his owner’s shoulder, wrapped his wing loosely around Yan Tuo’s neck, pressed his little head close, and let out soft little “chirps.”

Did he know he’d done something wrong and was begging for forgiveness?

Even though she knew she shouldn’t make excuses for the little troublemaker, Sun Lei couldn’t help but be charmed—and she cast a worried glance his way.

Captain Yan treated him like a treasure, carrying him to and from work, unwilling to lock him up and letting him fly around freely. Now that he’d caused trouble, would he end up confined to the cage from now on? That would be so sad…

But what was the deal with sending water for testing? Surely no one would dare poison the police station, right?

Whatever the policewoman was muttering to herself, when the boss gives an order, it must be carried out immediately.

She filled a cup with water and carefully carried it over to the next building. Before she left, she thoughtfully stuck a note on the water dispenser: “This water is temporarily not for drinking.”

Twenty minutes later, the entire J City Municipal Bureau erupted.