1993, Pengcheng Police Affairs

Chapter 31 Shelved

"Why?" Ling Yue looked at Gu Huai with some confusion. "When I arrived, Captain Wu's expression wasn't very good."

"Because Wang Zhi nodded."

"Support?" Ling Yue was even more confused. "What does this have to do with that?"

Seeing Ling Yue's stunned expression, Gu Huai couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth.

In terms of intelligence, Ling Yue was far superior to him, but in terms of social skills, she was truly no match for him.

The reasoning behind this is actually quite simple.

In a team, once the top leader makes a decision, the subordinates have no say in it.

Even if the top leader is not on the front line for a long time and makes decisions that are somewhat out of touch with reality, the people below can at most secretly make improvements behind the scenes, but no one would dare to openly disagree with the top leader.

Therefore, as long as Wang Weiguo does not pursue the matter of him reporting to a higher level without authorization, Wu Feilin will not express any opinion on this matter.

On the contrary, Wu Feilin would only treat him like a revered figure.

This is what is commonly referred to as "putting it on a shelf".

Apart from that, I won't say a harsh word to him.

Of course, Gu Huai didn't intend to tell Ling Yue all these intricacies.

With her abilities, she doesn't need to learn these things at all.

Knowing too much about such sordid things will actually do her a disservice.

So Gu Huai simply shook his head slightly and smiled without saying a word.

Seeing that he refused to talk, Lingyue was not the kind of person who would pester him relentlessly.

She pursed her lips and walked out on her own.

Gu Huai followed Ling Yue to the entrance of Yinhu Village.

The village entrance was filled with fire trucks and police cars.

The large-scale open flames have been largely contained, but firefighters are pumping water from the river and continuously spraying it onto the fire site to prevent reignition.

When Gu Huai saw Wu Feilin, he was pacing back and forth in front of the police car.

"Team Leader Wu, you wanted to see me?"

Wu Feilin glanced at him and said coldly, "What did Branch Chief Wang say?"

"Wang Zhi means to proceed according to the results we discussed earlier," Gu Huai replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Wu Feilin's expression softened slightly, but his tone remained icy: "I just heard from A-Yue that you've found some more clues?"

"Yes, a diary. Wang Zhi has already asked his colleagues in the technical department to handle it."

"Very good, you did a great job." Wu Feilin looked at him with a forced smile. "I really didn't know you knew anything about firefighting. It's a waste of your talent to be a policeman..."

"Captain Wu, you flatter me." Gu Huai said calmly, "My family used to own a clothing factory, so I have a little bit of knowledge about it, just the basics."

"Hmm..." Wu Feilin nodded slowly. "Alright, Xiao Gu, you go ahead and get busy. I still have a lot of things to do here."

"Okay, Captain Wu." Gu Huai nodded, then asked one more question before leaving, "So, Captain Wu, what's next for this case...?"

"Investigate however you want." Wu Feilin waved his hand. "You can handle whatever you want with it."

Wu Feilin's meaning was crystal clear, and Gu Huai also knew that staying any longer would only be pointless.

"Understood. Captain Wu, you can continue with your work."

After saying that, Gu Huai walked into the village.

After walking only a few steps, he sensed someone chasing after him. Turning around, he saw Ling Yue hurrying towards him.

"Ah Huai, wait for me a moment." Ling Yue said, panting. "Don't be angry. That's just how Captain Wu is—tough on the outside but soft on the inside."

Gu Huai shook his head: "I'm not angry."

"You said you weren't angry." Ling Yue rolled her eyes at him. "If you weren't angry, why were you walking so fast?"

"I'm really not angry." Gu Huai shrugged helplessly. "I walked faster because I wanted to go over to the fire and see if there was anything I could do to help."

Ling Yue's worries were completely unnecessary.

Gu Huai has seen at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, leaders like Wu Feilin.

Compared to those leaders who are heavily pregnant, only know how to give orders blindly with their hands behind their backs, speak official jargon to your face, play dirty tricks behind your back, are completely detached from practical matters, and are professional sycophants, Wu Feilin is actually quite normal.

The kind of leader who cares about you in everything, fully respects your wishes, and helps you selflessly only exists in fantasy.

Of course, the fact that things have come to this point is also related to his decision to live a second life and not want to get involved in those superficial things.

The only thing that made Gu Huai a little uncomfortable was that it was Ling Yue, not Hou Hao, who came to explain for Wu Feilin.

[They were comrades-in-arms working on the same case, so there should be some revolutionary camaraderie between them, right?]

He kept glancing back, and the quick-witted Lingyue saw right through his thoughts.

"Stop looking, Mouse's busy with his master."

"Oh." Gu Huai nodded slightly.

"Don't blame Haozi, that's just his personality. His master's words are like imperial edicts to him."

"That's true." Gu Huai nodded seriously. "Sister Ling, I've always had a question: why does everyone call Brother Hou 'Monkey,' but you call him 'Rat'?"

"I knew you'd ask that," Ling Yue blinked, then countered, "Don't you think my nickname suits his personality better?"

Gu Huai nodded.

Indeed, there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names.

He had always thought that Hou Hao was only being obedient and docile in front of him because he was afraid of Wu Feilin.

In real life, he'll definitely be just like his nickname "Monkey"—shrewd and cunning.

That's why he hoped Hou Hao would come looking for him.

But after spending the last few days with him, he discovered that Hou Hao's personality was not exactly the same as a monkey's; in fact, they were completely unrelated.

Instead, he's more like the "mouse" Ling Yue described, while Wu Feilin is the cat.

"Actually, the mouse wasn't like this before," Ling Yue sighed.

"Oh?" Gu Huai looked at her curiously; there was clearly a story behind this.

"When Haozi first joined the police station, he was very lively, but after that incident, he became completely listless."

"What is it?"

Ling Yue glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping before lowering her voice and saying, "You should know that Rat's dad used to be a policeman, right?"

"Yes, I know." Gu Huai nodded.

He learned about this on his first day at the police station and remarked that it was truly a case of father and son fighting side by side.

"There's something you definitely don't know," Ling Yue said, her tone like that of a gossipy old lady, "His dad went in not long after Haozi went to the police station."

"They went in? How could that be?"

These three words filled Gu Huai with doubt.

Judging from the attitudes of other people in the bureau towards Hou Hao, his father's position must be quite high.

For someone of this rank to be "incarcerated," the offense must have been serious.

Looking at Gu Huai's blank expression, Ling Yue rubbed her forehead. "I forgot you were transferred from another province."

As she spoke, her expression turned serious, and she looked at Gu Huai with a solemn expression.

"Not only is Rat's father in jail, but he committed a serious crime."

"He killed his own wife, who was also the baby's biological mother."

"ah?!"