45. Part-Time Firefighter
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Hearing that name, A Gui slowly raised his head and looked at the enemy he had dreamed of day and night—the man he had longed to kill with his own hands.
“So your name is A Gui? You’re pretty lucky, kid. Follow Young Master Zhou, and you’ll have plenty to eat and drink.”
Wei Zhe had no idea what was going on. He even patted A Gui on the shoulder, yet under Zhou Hongyi’s watchful gaze, A Gui showed no sign of losing control.
Unexpectedly, his expression remained perfectly normal. He even managed a faint smile.
“Hello, Captain Wei. I hope I’ll have the benefit of your guidance from now on.”
Although A Gui’s performance was flawless and remarkably calm, Zhou Hongyi could still see the torment and pain churning inside him from the slight twitch at the corner of his eye and the tension in his puffed cheeks.
“All right, A Gui. Come upstairs and take a look at our office.”
Zhou Hongyi patted him on the back. The two of them crossed the lobby and arrived at the independent office of the Special Operations Unit on the third floor.
When Zhou Hongyi entered again that day, he noticed several changes. Many more potted plants had been added to the office, some of them nearly as tall as a person. Decorative items had appeared on the desks and cabinets, along with a gramophone. A piece of calligraphy and a painting had also been hung on the walls.
“Hey, this office is looking almost as grand as the director’s.”
After entering his own office, Zhou Hongyi turned around and asked, “A Gui, you handled yourself well just now. I was wondering whether you might lose control and kill that bastard on the spot.”
A Gui smiled.
“Big Brother, I’ll listen to you. I won’t act recklessly. I may want nothing more than to tear him apart and devour him alive, but I can’t ruin your plans.”
When A Gui grinned, Zhou Hongyi finally noticed that his teeth were stained with blood. He must have been holding himself back so desperately that he had bitten through his gums.
“Brother, you’re here?”
Fusheng, who had been arranging the plants inside, came trotting over with a foolish grin on his face. He looked at A Gui in confusion.
“Fusheng, this is A Gui. From now on, he’s one of our own in the Special Operations Unit. As his senior, you’d better look after him.”
After making the introduction, Zhou Hongyi turned to A Gui.
“Fusheng is exactly what you see—a simple, honest, and dependable fellow. Our unit doesn’t have any assignments at the moment. Since I’m still recovering from my injuries, the two of you will basically just come here to drink tea, water the plants, and read the newspapers. Once you’ve eaten at the canteen, you can head home.”
Zhou Hongyi sat down behind his spacious desk and propped his feet on top of it. Fusheng, quick to read the situation, immediately handed him the latest edition of the newspaper.
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When Zhou Hongyi saw the advertisement for the Miss Rose beauty pageant again, he flicked it with a finger and said, “Although the Special Operations Unit hasn’t received any orders from above, we can’t simply collect our salaries without doing anything. Fusheng, A Gui, go change your clothes. We’re heading out in a little while.”
“All right, Brother.”
Zhou Hongyi tapped twice on the desktop.
“Fusheng, be more careful with that form of address when we’re on a mission. Just call me Unit Leader. A Gui, remind him if he forgets.”
“Yes, Unit Leader.”
Zhou Hongyi nodded, thinking that his Special Operations Unit had finally gained one normal person.
He went on to explain the police station’s daily routine and working hours to A Gui, then had him change into his uniform and collect his equipment. The three of them left the station and wandered out into the streets.
As before, Zhou Hongyi first familiarized A Gui with the jurisdiction and patrol routes of the Second Precinct. His main purpose was to help A Gui learn the surrounding streets as quickly as possible, along with the locations of the safe houses and the various escape routes available to them.
A Gui had vaguely guessed that Zhou Hongyi possessed another identity, but he had no need to ask. As long as Zhou Hongyi could lead him in killing the Japanese devils and traitorous collaborators, allowing him to avenge his hatred, A Gui would support and follow him without question.
As they walked, Zhou Hongyi suddenly stopped, his expression distant.
Fusheng, distracted, walked straight into his back. A Gui, meanwhile, watched the surroundings warily and asked in a low voice, “Unit Leader, what happened?”
Zhou Hongyi came back to himself.
“Nothing. I just thought of something. Come on, I’ll keep showing you around.”
The reason he had suddenly spaced out was that the system in his mind had issued another check-in mission. This one was even more outrageous than Manyu’s dressing room.
It was the boudoir of a mistress secretly kept by the wealthy merchant Gu Tianbo.
What the hell? Why was it always dressing rooms and boudoirs? What exactly was this system trying to pull?
He did not even know who Gu Tianbo was, let alone where his mistress lived. Where was he supposed to find her?
Even if he used his connections to locate Gu Tianbo, then employed the Eye of Insight to find the apartment where his mistress lived, how was he supposed to get inside? Was he expected to climb through a window? Anyone who saw him would think he was some kind of woman-stealing prowler.
Most importantly, he had yet to sort out the matters already at hand, and now the system had come along to make things even more troublesome. Zhou Hongyi was thoroughly vexed.
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At the same time, however, he was looking forward to seeing what skill he would learn if he succeeded in this check-in mission.
At present, he possessed the Eye of Insight, which allowed him to pry into other people’s secrets; Gunfire Mode, which made him invincible in a gunfight in a narrow alley; and Close-Combat Domain, a hand-to-hand fighting skill. By that measure, he had unknowingly become more and more well-rounded.
As Zhou Hongyi pondered this, a sharp whistle suddenly sounded from a nearby alley.
“Wheeet—wheeet—wheeet!”
The urgent whistle was quickly followed by startled cries from the passersby.
“What’s going on?”
Zhou Hongyi took two steps into the alley. He did not need to ask; he had already seen the cause. Thick black smoke was billowing upward from within.
A house was on fire.
Sure enough, when the three of them entered the alley, they saw numerous residents running out while coughing and covering their mouths and noses. Others were doing the opposite, heading inward with armbands around their sleeves and buckets of water in their hands, trying to put out the flames. Some had even brought rubber hoses, connected them to a faucet, and begun spraying water upward from below.
At the sight of this, an idea suddenly flashed through Zhou Hongyi’s mind.
That’s right—a fireman!
Once he found Gu Tianbo and identified where his mistress lived, all he would need was a tiny flame. Then, posing as a fireman, he could enter her boudoir openly and legitimately.
What a brilliant plan. He was practically a genius!
Earlier, Zhou Hongyi had asked Captain Xu Guodong what methods they usually used to make extra money. One of the methods Captain Xu had told him about was applying for part-time work as a fireman.
Whenever they had nothing else to do, these policemen would moonlight as firemen. Wherever a fire broke out, they would rush over. Of course, they were not genuinely interested in putting out fires. They used their status as firemen to force their way into other people’s homes and rummage through their valuables—taking advantage of the confusion to fish in troubled waters and steal whatever they could.
This time, Zhou Hongyi had a chance to put the method into practice.
Naturally, he was not planning to take advantage of the chaos or steal anyone’s property. His reason was perfectly legitimate.
This was a system check-in mission, after all.
He had not expected to find a solution so quickly. In high spirits, Zhou Hongyi waved his right hand.
“A Gui, Fusheng, hurry and help put out the fire. Protecting the lives and property of the people is one of our most important duties as police officers. Evacuate the crowd as quickly as possible!”
“Yes, Unit Leader!”
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