Chapter 10

Wang Xuejiao dropped off the chimney, tossed out a quick "I'm off to work overtime," and hurried away.

"Be careful and thorough; don't be clumsy and cause trouble for others," Wang Jianguo called after her. In his mind, his daughter had never known hardship, and having only started work a few days ago, "overtime" surely meant nothing more than moving boxes or filing papers. The biggest mistake she could possibly make, he figured, would be knocking over a water glass and smudging some documents.

When she arrived at the police station, there were only four officers on duty, busy playing cards.

Seeing her walk in, He Li joked, "Here to report a crime? You'll have to write your own statement."

"No... have you seen Captain Fang?"

"Nope."

Wang Xuejiao scratched her head. Why would he tell her to go to the municipal bureau? Was he joking? With her status, she had no business showing up at the city headquarters.

Suddenly, the phone in the duty room rang, and the room fell silent.

Oh no, something must have happened somewhere.

He Li answered with a somber expression. He had barely managed a "Hello" when the voice of Deputy Director Sun Yuanchao boomed from the other end: "Is Wang Xuejiao at the station?"

He Li looked at her. "Yes."

"Get her to the third-floor conference room at the municipal bureau immediately! Everyone is waiting for her—what is going on!"

"Right, right... she's already on her way."

After hanging up, seeing Wang Xuejiao standing by the wall instead of heading for the door, He Li urged, "What are you waiting for? Go! If Captain Fang gets impatient, he really will start yelling!"

"I have to check where the municipal bureau is first..." Wang Xuejiao looked up at the city map pinned to the wall.

She had only transmigrated a few days ago! She’d gone straight to work, and she hadn't even had the chance to walk through her own precinct's jurisdiction, let alone navigate the city without digital GPS. She knew the address, but not the way.

"Oh, you little ancestor, fine, I’ll take you." He Li stood up.

"No, no, I've got it." Wang Xuejiao found the bureau on the map, mapped out the route in her head, and sprinted home.

As she entered, she asked, "Is the bike ready?"

"Yes! I just took it for a spin..." Before Wang Jianguo could finish, Wang Xuejiao interrupted, "Give me the keys, I have to go to the municipal bureau for a meeting."

Wang Jianguo handed them over, muttering, "What kind of business could you possibly have at the municipal bureau?"

Wang Xuejiao didn't have time to answer; she bolted out like a gust of wind. Zheng Yuezhen watched her daughter’s frantic back, feeling quite proud, and chided her husband, "What's wrong with the municipal bureau? Our Jiao is smart; she can handle anything..."

Before she could finish, a shout echoed from the stairwell: "Dad!!! How do you start this bike?!"

***

Wang Xuejiao tore toward the municipal bureau, sparks flying. She didn't even get off her bike at the gate, charging straight inside until an old man on security duty blocked her path. "Hey, get off! Who are you? Who are you looking for?"

"I'm here for a meeting, I'm going to be late!" Wang Xuejiao pointed toward the third floor.

"Oh, a meeting. Fill out a visitor's slip first. State who you're meeting. You can't just barge in!" The old man handed her a form.

It required the name of the person and the department. Wang Xuejiao only knew him as "Captain Liu," so she did a little guesswork and wrote "Captain Liu, Criminal Investigation Unit."

"You don't even know his full name?" The old man looked at her suspiciously, as if she were a criminal trying to infiltrate the bureau for an assassination.

"I'm Wang Xuejiao, a household registration officer from the Tianjin Precinct. I'm new, so I'm not familiar with the bureau yet. If you don't believe me, give them a call. I’m a good person!"

The old man made a call and finally let her through, though he grumbled, "You're supposed to get off your bike at the gate! Don't you know the rules?"

"Sorry, I'm sorry..." Wang Xuejiao apologized repeatedly, kicked the kickstand, and prepared to hop on.

*Clink.* She looked down. Just her luck—the kickstand had fallen off.

"Ah!!!" she shrieked.

The old man, who had already retreated to his booth, turned back. Seeing her trying to reattach the kickstand with her bare hands in a total mess, he couldn't bear it anymore. "Just go to your meeting, leave the bike here."

Wang Xuejiao didn't waste another second, leaned the bike against the wall, and sprinted toward the office building.

As she entered the conference room, Zhao Yuanchao and Fang Jiang were both there. Fang Jiang glared at her and roared, "Did you go home to sleep?"

"No, I thought you meant for me to go to the precinct, and there was no one there..."

"Who told you to go to the precinct? I said the bureau! Didn't you hear me?"

Captain Liu had indeed said the bureau, but Wang Xuejiao didn't know him, and she didn't think she was important enough to be summoned to the municipal headquarters, so she assumed it was a joke. It was her own fault for making assumptions without asking.

Feeling she was in the wrong, she lowered her head obediently. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

The brief episode passed, and they got down to business. The meeting was chaired by Liu Zhiyong of the Municipal Criminal Investigation Division. He explained that the bureau was taking the counterfeit currency case very seriously. Investigations suggested the source was within the city, and three printing plants had been identified. They needed to set up surveillance and wait for concrete evidence before moving in to avoid tipping off the suspects.

The bureau was short-handed, and most of their officers were veterans who were already "known" on the streets. As soon as they showed up, local thugs would either scatter or try to butter them up, blowing their cover instantly.

Not every "new face" would work, either. Some new recruits had a "police look"—a natural, upright, and intimidating aura that made criminals uneasy even if they hadn't done anything wrong.

The municipal bureau had few truly fresh faces, and other precincts were fully staffed with no one retiring, meaning even the "newest" recruits had at least three years of experience. After searching, Wang Xuejiao from the Tianjin Precinct was the only truly brand-new officer.

Her task was simple: "watch." If she saw anything suspicious—even if the suspects were trading in broad daylight—she wasn't to intervene, just report it immediately.

She was assigned to one of the three printing plants, located near two universities and a middle school. The plant was busy twenty-four hours a day printing study materials. Liu Zhiyong deduced that the counterfeiting couldn't happen during the day and likely involved only a few key members working at night.

Their plan was to contact the buyer mentioned by the woman in the woolen hat, pretend to place an order, and observe the three locations for any anomalies. They would work in twelve-hour shifts.

Liu Zhiyong told the six "chosen ones," "This mission is just to sit outside and keep watch. There’s no danger, but you cannot lose focus or abandon your post. Can you do it?!"

Amidst the deep, synchronized chorus of "Guaranteed to complete the mission," Wang Xuejiao's high-pitched "Yes!" stood out. Someone chuckled.

***

Wang Xuejiao blinked. *Wait, is there a scripted response for this? Nobody told me!*

After the meeting, she felt she should explain to Fang Jiang why she had gone to the precinct first, lest she seem like an idiot who couldn't find the right office.

"Captain Fang, I'm sorry. I really didn't think you meant the municipal bureau; I thought you were joking."

Fang Jiang kept a straight face and said nothing. Wang Xuejiao cast a look of help toward the Deputy Director.

Zhao Yuanchao, seeing her distress, comforted her: "It's fine. Fang Jiang was just saying so many good things about you to the people here. Everyone was waiting to see what you were like, and they waited a long time."

Fang Jiang had been very satisfied with her performance. He thought this mission would be safe and a great way for her to show off in front of the municipal bureau. He had bragged to the municipal team about how she had successfully integrated into the market, gathered key leads, and never once blown her cover—an impressive feat for a rookie.

When she didn't show up for over half an hour, people began to joke that she had forgotten or gotten lost. Forgetting suggested a memory deficit; getting lost suggested a lack of investigative ability. Neither made her suitable for the mission. That was why Fang Jiang had been so irritable.

Once the air was cleared, Wang Xuejiao explained her thought process, and Fang Jiang softened. "Alright, don't put the municipal bureau on a pedestal. There's nothing 'unworthy' about you. If you like it here, I'll make sure you're included in future training sessions."

"No, no, thank you!" Wang Xuejiao waved her hands frantically.

Zhao Yuanchao and Fang Jiang had another meeting to attend, so Wang Xuejiao headed home. At the gate, she saw her bike was gone and gasped, "No way! Can you get your bike stolen right in front of the police bureau?"

The old man strolled out and pointed to the bike shed. "It's over there. The gate isn't a parking lot!"

Wang Xuejiao rushed over, finding her bike safe and sound under the shelter—and the kickstand had been fixed.

She pushed it over. "May I ask which kind soul fixed my bike? I'd like to thank them."

"I did."

"Thank you so much!" Wang Xuejiao bowed slightly. The old man just waved his hand, said nothing, and walked inside.

The bureau had assigned her to run a snack stall. With evening study sessions and night-shift taxi drivers looking for late-night snacks, she would fit right in. She planned to sell braised food and rice, but with the weather getting colder, she wanted to stay near a warm stove. She decided to add a specialty: noodle soup.

Whether anyone ordered or not, she would keep the water at a steady simmer—a perfectly reasonable excuse to keep the fire going.

The problem? Liquefied gas tanks were heavy and dangerous. Wang Xuejiao had seen several winter explosions caused by hoses becoming brittle in the cold. She wanted to be an undercover cop, not a headline in the social news.

She made a brilliant decision: use a coal stove!

Four honeycomb coal briquettes could burn on low heat all night. If she brought a few more, she could keep it on medium heat all night.

Another problem: what if the stove went out? She didn't know how to light one.

*I'll just learn,* she thought. Her family was planning to light the stove that day anyway.

Wang Xuejiao pedaled home with the intensity of a whirlwind. Finding Zheng Yuezhen walking out of the stairwell with newspaper and matches, she shouted, "Leave it to me!"