7 Resign, Now!
"Clear the way, clear the way!"
Folks inside the dock were suddenly shocked when an assembly of cars flocked to the gates. Their awe magnified when they noticed the words lettered on the cars, 'Customs Intelligence'
"Sir, may we see your permit?" The security manager of the Port Authority, a man dressed in army-like clothing, came up to the car leading the others and demanded with a stern face.
A pretty, but equally delicate hand slipped out through the jeep's window and handed the man a letter. After seeing through the letter the man's face paled.
"A-ah, yes, ma'am, please enter. Hey, open the gates!"
The jeep and the other cars entered slowly, but every time the distance between the entourage and the dock decreased the manager suffered a minor heart attack.
"There's...there's...fuck!"
The manager's pale face started to shed salty sweat as he waited in anticipation.
...
The sounds of cars flocking to his location sobered Shi Xiaofei as he jumped up from his quick nap and looked towards the entrance.
A silver jeep stopped in the distance along with a few cars, after a few moments officers of both genders stepped out of their cars and walked towards him.
Shi Xiaofei's heart thawed as he saw two legs, then an entire lady descend from the jeep. A dominating and bitter aura swept through him as he saw her delicate and regal face.
The lady's exquisite blue eyes focused on him intently. Her lipstick was faint but had the color of blood. It was Shi Xiaofei's favorite color. Her clothes were formal — a black suit.
She was beautiful. Like a delicate flower enduring the pains of a storm. She was too familiar for him to ignore.
But unfortunately women weren't Shi Xiaofei's weakness.
"Good morning, Sergeant Shi. It's been a while."
A chilling coldness was evident in her eyes. She didn't smile nor did she show any emotions while talking — it was as if Shi Xiaofei was talking with a doll.
"...Yeah, I haven't seen you after high school. I didn't really think I'd meet someone from my high school in this situation, haha!"
Duan Yufei, the delicate and frail-looking lady officer, willingly ignored Shi Xiaofei's enthusiasm and looked at the bunch of people tied together on the ground and the container. She had a slightly amused smirk on her lips.
" Sergeant Shi, this isn't something I would expect from someone on his first day at the job. Excellent job."
Shi Xiaofei wasn't amused by her authoritative behavior. At least he was taller than her by a head and could look down on her...figuratively.
"What if I tell you this isn't my first time at sniffing drugs?"
Duan Yufei ignored him and gestured at a man faithfully standing beside her. He nodded and stormed into the container with half of the entourage.
"This better not be a false alarm. I've had enough of those this year, hmph."
The lady sneered and looked at the tied-up goons again, and remained quiet.
"I'll be taking them to the police station. So, don't take them away." Shi Xiaofei coughed and evaded Duan Yufei's nonchalant stare.
She didn't say anything. Short after, the men came back with a bag of powder and a serious expression.
"Ma'am, it's contraband."
"I see. Lock the dock and seal it. Keep it under surveillance for a day and check each and every container."
Shi Xiaofei's eyes intently stared at her as he snidely smirked. Half of the cargo he was supposed to smuggle was thrown into the water, as he didn't want himself to be caught.
As for the rewards, he didn't care. It wasn't like his character would immediately change if someone tried to bribe him with power.
"Thank you for informing us, Sergeant Shi. The Customs Department is very satisfied with your service. We'll handle this from here, thank you."
Duan Yufei nodded her head at something invisible and turned towards the container. However the very moment she turned around the thunderous sounds of cars flooding the dock startled her.
She looked at the gates with a frown. Her fears came true as dozens of vans belonging to local news companies!
"You're on your own."
But she couldn't even step one foot further before the hounds, aka reporters, came and surrounded her. The customs agents hurriedly came over and formed a barricade around her.
"Officer, officer, is it true?! Is the Taixing City Customs raiding this port because there's illegal contraband here?!"
"Ma'am, are you the one who—"
"Stop."
Duan Yufei's hands crackled as she softly spat out. Yet that single word had such power that they sealed the reporter's mouths shut.
"Whatever you want to ask — ask Sergeant Shi Xiaofei. He's the person who uncovered the drugs and caught the people trying to smuggle it. Don't you...dare ask me another question again!"
The lady officer grunted and walked over to the container with her agents a few moments later, leaving Shi Xiaofei alone among the wolves.
" Sergeant Shi, are you the one who reported this illegal shipment? "
Shi Xiaofei stepped forward, and looked at the cameras so that they'd get clear footage and charmingly smiled. "Indeed, I was the one who reported the shipment. Earlier in the day, a man came to our station to report a suspicious incident at the dock. So I came over here."
The reporter questioning him nodded, and frowned. "If that's the case, can we talk to your superior? You aren't really...worthy of our time."
Shi Xiaofei sneered, "I might not be worth it, but I have information you might need. No one came here with me, I'm the only one here."
The reporter exposed an interested expression, "You're the only one here? What?!"
"It's true," like a true camera-whore Shi Xiaofei looked at the camera and showed a face full of justice and rigor, "none of my colleagues dared to come here because they're afraid. It's shameful, really."
He willingly didn't take the gang's name as he knew the entire footage would be scrapped or cut off later on if he did so. If the gang had enough power to make the police powerless then what could the news channels do?
" Sergeant Shi, this is a very shocking matter! Did the superiors behave the same way?"
"Well, that's a complex question. My superiors don't even know I'm here, because I didn't tell them before coming here."
Suddenly, a man from the peanut gallery gasped, "Sir, so you came here yourself! That takes courage!"
The street-savvy citizens of Deng city knew well-enough that their police was worthless. So it was kind of refreshing for them to see someone actually do something.
The reporters continued on after capturing the face of the man, "Sergeant Shi, who are those men tied-up together? Which organization do they come from?"
The entire area went quiet, but Shi Xiaofei's smile brightened inside as he kept talking.
"I believe that they belong to one of the infamous gangs around here. But I'll have to check that. I still haven't gotten around to questioning them yet."
"Sorry, but no more questions. I need to report at the station!"
"Sir sir, wait!"
Shi Xiaofei waved his hands behind him and ignored the reporters questioning him. Yet when the ordinary citizens stared at him in awe his heart started to beat faster.
'You are very...shallow.'
The whisper in his head made him frown, but he thought nothing of it. When he was at the gates he didn't forget to give a flying kiss to the security guards.
"Ah, shit. Now I have to catch a taxi again. I should buy a bike or something..."
' Fool, you could've had unimaginable rewards! You...'
Shi Xiaofei turned back towards the dock and caught a brief glimpse of that lady customs officer, Duan Yufei. He shook his head and briskly walked away.
Shi Xiaofei got his reward — what more could he possibly want?
...
...
...
Shi Xiaofei grunted as he pushed a tied-up team of goons into the police station. The entrance staff immediately paled as they saw him.
A lady officer with a scar, Sergeant Li, came running from the end of the lobby. As soon as she closed in on him, anger started d flushing her face.
"S-sergeant Shi!! What the hell is happening?! How dare you go there, are you an idiot?! You'll get kicked out of the force!"
Cool as a cucumber, Shi Xiaofei grabbed one of Sergeant Li's hands and put it on the rope tying the goons together.
"You take these guys to the jail. I'll go and deal with whoever has a problem with me here. Good day, Sergeant Shi."
"I can't believe you're being this carele—"
Officer Li stopped screaming after she saw Shi Xiaofei ignore her and approach Inspector Fei's office nonchalantly. Her lips curled up in fury, "What an arrogant man! He deserves what's coming to him!"
As soon as he went near the Inspector's office his ears turned numbed because an old landline inside kept ringing. Inspector Fei didn't seem like he'd pick it up soon either.
Shi Xiaofei knocked on the door and laughingly said, "Inspector Fei, this is Sergeant Shi. Do I have the permission to come inside?"
After a few moments of silence, Shi Xiaofei shook his head and entered the posh office. Immediately he saw Inspector Fei sitting on his chair and sighing.
Regret and uneasiness were both visible on his oily brown face. Both of his hands were on the back of his shiny head as he reclined on the chair.
Inspector Fei didn't even move his eyes when he saw Shi Xiaofei enter. He instead kept quiet.
"Sergeant Shi, I have a family — a wife and two children. My wife loves me, I don't think she'll be able to smile again if anything happens to me. Oh, but you don't have a family. So I don't think you'll understand."
The inspector sighed and opened one of his drawers and calmly searched for something he wanted.
" Just because I don't have one doesn't mean I don't know what it's like to have one, Inspector Fei. " Shi Xiaofei smirked and sat down on a chair like none of it was his business.
"Interesting. Do or did you have a wife and two kids? If you did, you wouldn't have the balls to go to the docks!" Inspector Fei's red face displayed his unstoppable anger as he yelled.
"Just because someone has baggage attached to his feet doesn't mean he can't run. This country would've been ruined if everyone in-charge was busy worrying about their wives!"
"Shut up! I don't need your worthless moral platitudes. I used to be just like you — all upright and honest! But what happened? I became stuck in this fucking shithole, in this meagre position, while all of my colleagues became Superintendent!"
Shi Xiaofei's laugh brightened with each word coming from Inspector Fei's mouth.
" If you were so honest and upright, I don't think a promotion being halted would be your only...grievance."
However something he didn't expect happened, Inspector Fei pulled out his revolver and aimed it at his head.
"You, shut up! I don't need another fuck-up in this bureau! Resign, now! I don't want to see your fucking face!"
