The ultimate blue sea

Chapter 41-Lying Low

Qin Luo looked at the bulging kraft paper pouch, looked at the little boy in front of her blinking his big eyes, stared blankly, then said in a whisper, "For...for me?"

This young lady was one of the RZ Unit's core field agents. She was tall and wore her hair in a high ponytail. When it came time to pull a gun, she seemed capable and dashing, like one of Charlie's Angels. But when she was speaking with others, she always seemed lacking in self-confidence. Her voice was weak, and she had trouble communicating with strangers. Lu Qingbai said she had social anxiety. The symptoms were especially obvious when faced with the opposite sex—even if the member of the opposite sex in front of her wasn't tall enough to reach her chest.

The little boy had his cap on crooked and was dressed up like a little punk. He was chewing a piece of gum. Like a little grown-up, he said, "I don't know, a guy gave it to me. It must be a love letter."

Qin Luo's face flushed red at once. Her skin was pale. Like this, she looked as though she had been boiled. However, while social anxiety was an impediment, Qin Luo knew perfectly well that she was on duty now, and this was likely to be important evidence, so she took it. The little boy extended a hand and gave her a look that said "you get me."

Qin Luo looked back at him. When they had been staring at each other for an age, the little boy finally realized that this woman had grown up under a rock. Her thoughts were on a completely different wavelength from his. So he puffed out his chest and said, "Sister, I'm tired from running errands. Where's my service fee?"

Only then did Qin Luo see the light. Flustered and sweating, she rummaged around for her purse. Just then, a hand reached over and put twenty yuan into the little boy's outstretched hand. The little devil clicked his tongue and thought, What, are you sending off a beggar? But when he looked up, he saw the strapping Captain Hu Bugui standing there looking grave. So he stuck out his tongue, dejectedly took the money, and went, thinking, Good grief, is he catching her cheating?

Hu Bugui took the pouch and put it to his ear, listening to a moment. He got out a detector and performed a simple inspection through the pouch. He found that it didn't seem to contain any dangerous articles, then tore it open. When he had heard what there was to hear and read what there was to read, his expression changed.

"It's him!"

Qin Luo watched in bewilderment as their captain suddenly said this sentence, then turned and left, quickly ordering, "Tell everyone to withdraw from this street. Contact Cheng Weizhi, ASAP! Block communications, say it's a routine safety check, find a..."

At this point, Hu Bugui paused. Even though Qin Luo couldn't be considered especially good at reading expressions, she could still tell he wasn't in a very good mood. After a long moment, she heard him say, "Forget it, no need, if he gave you these things, he's definitely gone on ahead."

His steps were long. Qin Luo had to trot to keep up. Hu Bugui had his head slightly lowered, his eyes watching the ground. He seemed to be clenching his teeth. His profile had a tense, fierce arc. Then Qin Luo heard Hu Bugui suddenly sigh. She nearly thought she had heard wrong. She turned her head in astonishment, then heard him almost inaudibly say, "I've actually already seen him..."

Though Su Qing's performance in the restaurant had been flawless, with Hu Bugui's principle of it being better to get the wrong person than to miss a chance, after he had left, he had sent two RZ Unit members to follow him. But that night, Hu Bugui had received a report saying that they had lost him. Then he had realized that something was wrong.

In his mind, Hu Bugui again and again reviewed the whole course of encountering that person, then letting him slip out right from under his nose again. He thought of that "middle-aged man"'s every look, every movement, but he couldn't think of how Su Qing had done it. He also couldn't think of where Su Qing had gone during these three short years and what he had experienced.