“Sergeant Xu, Meng Chengjun asked for you,” Xiao Zhang stood by the door and said.

“Alright, I’ll be on my way.” Xu Lan waved, hinting for Xiao Zhang to leave. “Wang Hao, how could Meng Chengjun not know about such an important lead?”

“Oh yes, he knew about it alright. However, the retirees from the mine have never heard of anything special in there. In the early stage of the case, only two of the deceased were related to the mine. Director General Chen decided to put it on hold and to focus our efforts on capturing the person who spread the information.”

Wang Hao rolled his eyes and snickered. “He ended up alerting them and not capturing anyone. Things have taken a turn for the worse and the people are panicking.”

“Nonsense! Director General Chen must’ve considered the case as a whole. He definitely wanted to crack the case as soon as possible! It is our job to investigate further now! You… ”

Xu Lan threw the files at Wang Hao. He was angered by Wang Hao’s version of the story.

“How many retirees are there?”

“There are around nine hundred of them who are currently living in the city of Whitehorse. I’m not sure about everywhere else,” Wang Hao whispered.

“Whew. That’s great, over nine hundred of them!” Xu Lan snickered and shook his head as he picked up the files.

“I’m going over to Meng Chengjun’s. Think about what you’ve done over the past few months! You’ve been with me for five, six years, no? Haven’t I taught you to stay by what you believe in, especially when you’re convicted that you’re right?”

Wang Hao picked up the files and listened quietly. This was the kind of person Xu Lan was. He was all nice and approachable until the moment someone crossed his boundaries.

This was why everyone held Xu Lan in such high regard. As much as they feared him, they respected him greatly.

Xu Lan left for Meng Chengjun’s office with the files in his hands. Officer Xiao, Xiao Feng, from the task force was in the room too.

“Sergeant Xu, you’re here! Please, have a seat. This is Officer Xiao, Xiao Feng from the task force.” Meng Chengjun immediately introduced Xu Lan to Xiao Feng.

“Officer Xiao, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

After exchanging greetings, Xiao Feng raised the main topic immediately.

“I heard that Sergeant Xu used to be in charge of the case?” Xiao Feng pushed the files toward Xu Lan, gesturing at Xu Lan’s signatures on the documents.

“That’s right. I have limited capabilities, which is why we really needed Group Leader Meng’s help,” Xu Lan said as he scratched his head.

“On the contrary, I think the results from your investigations are of great value. I can’t find any follow-ups after the case is passed to Group Leader Meng. This is why I got Group Leader Meng to arrange for us to meet.” Xiao Feng raised his brows – he seemed to see what was going on.

“Not at all, not at all,” he smiled happily as he said. Although this wasn’t the first time he was commended for his efforts, it was the first time his leads and investigations received affirmation.

“I agree that Sergeant Xu should be put in charge of this case too. If it’s not for his temporary suspension, I wouldn’t have taken over and the perpetrator would’ve been caught by now.”

Meng Chengjun felt bad. If it was not for his brother-in-law, the case might have been cracked by now.

“Oh? Suspension? Care to elaborate?”