That evening, Tong Meng was summoned by Sixth Master.
That slap sent her sprawling to the ground, unable to get up.
"I never thought you were this stupid!"
"Sixth Master, I truly didn't expect Lü Qingqing to set a trap for me."
"How could you have? You have such a sharp mind."
Tong Meng hated Tong Hua to death. The events that transpired in the office that evening reached Sixth Master's ears within an hour.
Tong Meng genuinely dared not look at the burned corpse, and the smell was unforgettable.
"Tomorrow, if you embarrass me again tomorrow, forget about the position of Section Two leader, you'll have to hand over 'the one who wields the knife' as well."
Sixth Master pointed at Tong Meng and yelled. "Furthermore, I'll assign two people to help you. Tong Meng, you have some skills in investigation."
Tong Meng rejoiced at this, as she was indeed not very good at case investigation.
"Sixth Master, you can rest assured, I will definitely secure the Section Two leader position." With assistance from others, Tong Meng was truly confident.
After a cordial conversation with Sixth Master, Tong Meng sent for Tong Hua. Seeing his seemingly indifferent expression but the mockery in his eyes, Tong Meng was infuriated.
"If I fall, do you think you can take my place?" Tong Meng asked him.
Tong Hua smiled, "I don't know if I can take your place, but I know that even if you were in that position, you wouldn't help me."
"So you're eager to bring me down? Don't think that a little gossip to Sixth Master will do anything to me. Let me tell you, Sixth Master doesn't lack me, nor does he lack you. What he lacks is someone who can control the Criminal Investigation Team. And you, you'll never be that person."
Tong Hua's face darkened. He knew Tong Meng was speaking the truth. "But you can't control the Criminal Investigation Team either, even if you become Section Two leader."
"So what? I still have an advantage over you. I might not be able to control the Criminal Investigation Team myself, but I can learn about certain situations from those around me. Can you?" As she spoke, Tong Meng touched her face, her meaning conveyed very clearly.
Her body was her weapon.
Sixth Master had just given her a secret order to win over the male members of the Criminal Investigation Team. This was because Sixth Master knew well that Tong Meng's promotion had encountered difficulties precisely due to her poor interpersonal relationships.
No one had stepped forward to speak for her!
But in such a short time, how could she improve her relationships with everyone?
Sixth Master had pointed her in a direction.
A transaction!
A transactional exchange of flesh.
When Tong Meng first heard this, she was a bit shocked. She thought that she was, to some extent, Sixth Master's woman, but she never imagined she was even less than a dog by his side.
And the one who pushed her into this abyss was her own brother, and the one who made her path increasingly difficult was Lü Qingqing and Hu Jia.
These three were all her enemies.
"Starting tomorrow, you will investigate the family information of all direct relatives of everyone in the Criminal Investigation Team and their personnel files."
"What are you going to do?"
Tong Hua was very wary. Information like these people's home addresses was public, but clearly, Tong Meng wanted more than that.
"You don't need to know. Just do as I say!" Tong Meng spoke to Tong Hua with no pleasantries. Sixth Master had ordered him to win over those people, and she didn't want to truly sacrifice herself.
If the direct path was blocked, she would take a detour. Either way, she would reach the top.
The news of Tong Meng being tricked by Lü Qingqing quickly spread within a small circle. Zhan Ruoxuan and the others pestered Lü Qingqing to describe Tong Meng's expression at the time.
Lü Qingqing refused. Instead, Hu Jia, uncharacteristically, became gossipy.
He recounted the events so vividly that Li Yang was stunned. Was this still the aloof team leader they knew?
"How was it? Isn't our Qingqing amazing?" After he finished, Hu Jia looked at everyone with anticipation. Everyone suddenly understood; he was showing off.
"Amazing!"
"Domineering!"
"Spectacular!"
There could never be too many compliments! As long as you enjoyed listening.
Soon, the conversation shifted to the arson case itself. Lü Qingqing hastily cut in, "No discussion, no discussion."
"What are you afraid of? Do you think we can offer you any professional advice?" Zhou Fengjiu teased.
"Since it's a competition, I want to win fair and square, gloriously. You all have sharp minds, and perhaps a few words from you might point me in a direction," Lü Qingqing said with a smile.
"With you being so by-the-book, perhaps Tong Meng is busy holding a war council right now."
"She has a strategist?"
"Well… as the saying goes, three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang!"
"That depends on the person. Give her ten and they still wouldn't be any good." The others burst into laughter. Although they were joking, no one dared to slack off, including Lü Qingqing. They knew that behind Tong Meng stood Sixth Master, and the Daodao organization was a mix of dragons and snakes. Who knew if there wasn't one or two people with rigorous logic and meticulous minds?
"The team will assign two errand runners to you. Who do you want?" Hu Jia remembered the main task. After all, when investigating cases, one couldn't do everything personally. There were many small, meticulous tasks, like finding people, where help was indispensable.
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up.
"Qingqing…" Zhan Ruoxuan deliberately gave her a flirtatious look. Hu Jia, seeing this, had already disqualified him in his mind.
"Are we good sisters?" Zhou Fengjiu grabbed Lü Qingqing's hand and shook it.
"Hmph, don't compete with me for this. I was born in the Year of the Tiger, see my tiger teeth?" Li Yang even playfully bared his teeth with a growl.
The first two primarily wanted to gain some experience and show off, while Li Yang purely wanted to help.
"You can forget it," Lü Qingqing directly refused Li Yang. "They're already saying I'm not skilled enough. If I drag you along as a subordinate, the credit might end up all yours in the end."
Li Yang was dejected. Lü Qingqing's reasoning was sound, and he couldn't refute it.
Looking at the remaining few people, Lü Qingqing thought for a moment. "Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you want to?"
She looked at Guan Jinsong!
"Huh?" Guan Jinsong was surprised. Although he had a good relationship with Lü Qingqing, it wasn't as close as Zhan Ruoxuan's or Zhou Fengjiu's same-sex intimacy.
Therefore, he hadn't expected Lü Qingqing to choose him.
"Do you want to?" Lü Qingqing asked.
"Me?" Guan Jinsong blinked, then nodded frantically.
This was his first case since joining the municipal police, and it was a major one. How could he not want to? httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"If you want it, you have to fight for it." Before Guan Jinsong could speak, Lü Qingqing decisively settled it. "It's you. Let's work together!"
Zhan Ruoxuan's flirtatious gaze turned into a glare out of anger. Zhou Fengjiu flung Lü Qingqing's arm away. "Fine, if you don't treat me to a good meal tonight, I'll never talk to you again."
Hahaha…
Lü Qingqing knew that these people wouldn't be angry with her over this.
Guan Jinsong had always wanted to integrate into everyone's lives, but he was a quiet person. Even though he was with them, he rarely spoke.
However, this did not affect everyone's recognition of him.
If they were to be honest, he was indeed the best choice among the three. His ability was superior to Zhan Ruoxuan's, and his stamina was better than Zhou Fengjiu's.
Hu Jia, seeing that the choice was made, said no more. "Let's go! We're treating tonight. Order whatever you want!"
"You guys?" Zhou Fengjiu looked at Hu Jia.
"Didn't Qingqing say she'd treat? What's the difference between him treating and me treating?"
Everyone: "..."
"Wow…"