Liu Xin stood at the entrance without coming in right away. She raised a hand and knocked gently on the open door, her face holding a smile that was neither too warm nor too distant.
"Group Leader Yang, is now a good time?" Her voice was as steady as ever, betraying little emotion.
Yang Wenqing looked up, a professional smile appearing on his face as well. He set down his pen and gestured for her to enter. "Captain Liu, please come in."
Liu Xin walked into the office at an unhurried pace. She was dressed in crisp plainclothes, her hair meticulously tied back, looking as sharp and competent as ever.
She stopped in front of his desk, meeting Yang Wenqing’s gaze. The look in her eyes was complex and hard to read.
"Congratulations on your official appointment, Group Leader Yang," Liu Xin said, breaking the silence. Her tone was standardly congratulatory, but if one listened closely, it seemed to lack a certain warmth. "I heard about your performance in the challenge arena. Your promotion to Deputy Group Leader is well-deserved."
"You’re too kind, Captain Liu. The Major Case Team will be counting on your hard work with our cases from now on," Yang Wenqing replied formally. He then stood and gestured for her to sit down. "Please, have a seat. There’s actually some work I wanted to ask you about."
Liu Xin sat down as requested, her hands folded in her lap in a standard, slightly defensive posture.
"You’re being modest, Group Leader Yang. You’re exceptionally capable and have Vice Director Gao’s trust. You’ll surely handle the team’s affairs with ease. Why would you need to consult me?"
She started with a compliment before subtly changing her tune. "I’m just a few years your senior. If there’s any need for someone to run errands, handle coordination, or just pick up the slack, please don’t hesitate to ask, Group Leader Yang."
"Captain Liu, you are highly experienced, and your First Squad is the anchor of the team. How could I ’give orders’?" Yang Wenqing gently pushed a case file toward her. "Like this report, for instance. The logic is clear, and the progress is solid..."
He knew Liu Xin was a workaholic, so he used work as a way to close the distance between them. After some conversation, the feeling of alienation gradually receded.
After they finished discussing business, Liu Xin’s gaze swept over the simple yet significant office. She suddenly let out a soft sigh. "Seeing you sitting here, Group Leader Yang, really makes you feel how fast time flies."
Yang Wenqing smiled faintly, his reply equally profound. "Captain Liu, you are still the backbone of our team. You handle all the major and critical cases. That composure and experience are the team’s most valuable assets. I’m young and inexperienced. In the future, my judgment will inevitably be lacking at times. I hope you won’t hesitate to offer your guidance, Captain Liu."
He emphasized Liu Xin’s status as the team’s backbone and positioned himself as the one in need of guidance, giving her a graceful exit and allowing her to save face.
Liu Xin took a long, hard look at Yang Wenqing. The last vestiges of awkwardness caused by their reversed roles seemed to mostly dissolve during their exchange—one that was soft on the surface but sharp underneath, yet left both of them room to maneuver.
Then, she stood up, a more genuine smile on her face this time. "Group Leader Yang, you may be young, but you act with steady thoroughness. With you at the helm of the Major Case Team, we’ll surely reach new heights. I still have a few details to follow up on for a case, so I’ll head back to take care of it."
"Thank you for your hard work, Captain Liu." Yang Wenqing also rose and walked her to the door.
The door closed softly.
Yang Wenqing returned to his seat and suddenly chuckled. ’Power really is a wonderful thing. It creates a strange sense of pleasure in the clashes between people.’
Just as he was about to look through the documents, there was another knock on the door.
"Come in!"
As Yang Wenqing’s voice faded, a middle-aged police chief in a somewhat faded, old-style City Defense Bureau uniform appeared at the door. He wore the standard insignia of a chief on his shoulder. It was Yan Yan, the financial manager for the Major Case Team’s warehouse.
He was holding a stack of ledgers. Upon entering, he spread them out on the desk and said, "Group Leader Yang, Vice Director Gao instructed that the warehouse logistics will be under your management from now on. These are the ledgers for the past five years."
Yang Wenqing glanced at them but didn’t immediately reach out to flip through them. Instead, he said gently, "Chief Yan, these accounts can’t be sorted out in a short time. How about this: you take the ledgers back for now. I’ve just taken over and have a backlog of case files awaiting approval that I need to prioritize. Once I’ve handled these urgent matters, I’ll ask you to bring them over again. What do you think?"
Yan Yan was taken aback for a moment, then deftly restacked the ledgers and held them in his arms. He said, "Just let me know whenever you’re ready."
"Alright, thank you for your trouble."
Yang Wenqing nodded, watching Yan Yan leave.
After the door closed, Yang Wenqing let out a soft breath. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the importance of auditing the books, nor that he was so trusting as to not check them. On the contrary, he knew full well that finances were the lifeblood of the organization. But he understood even better that as a newcomer, his first priority wasn’t to rush into digging through old accounts. Instead, he needed to clear the backlog of paperwork before him and get the Major Case Team’s daily operations back on track.
More importantly, Vice Director Gao had been in charge of these accounts previously. If he started auditing them right after taking office, even someone as magnanimous as Vice Director Gao would surely hold some resentment.
For the next few days, Yang Wenqing was practically buried under a mountain of files.
Every morning and afternoon, Huanmin would punctually deliver a new batch of documents to be processed. The work ranged from approving the opening of new cases and reviewing final case reports to signing off on field agent allowances and approving equipment requests. It also included coordination memos with other sections, disseminating and implementing directives from superiors, and compiling internal meeting minutes...
These matters were tedious and complex, yet indispensable. Behind every file lay the potential to affect a case’s progress, the allocation of resources, the rewarding or punishing of personnel, or even the delicate relationships with other departments.
He sat in that brand-new high-backed chair, often for several hours at a time.
Thanks to the higher-level system access that came with his promotion, he could retrieve files and query information much faster. The powerful memory and analytical abilities granted by the Golden Core World also allowed him to handle the massive volume of information with ease. He could often spot logical loopholes or contradictions in a report at a single glance and offer sharp, insightful suggestions for revision.