Memory Lost

Monday of next week.

Su Mian walks into the office and sees that Xiao Zhuan and the others have already arrived. It's not time for work yet. Xiao Zhuan's mouth is stuffed with a pork bun; Cold Face is standing by his desk expressionlessly while pouring himself a cup of scented tea; Chatterbox is flipping through his newspapers noisily.

It has only been a few days that they haven't seen each other, yet this ordinary scene makes her feel warm and familiar. It's actually not just Han Chen that she has.

She still has them. She still has everybody from Guanhu station and her fellow buddies from her current criminal investigation team.

She walks over feeling a bit depressed. But what's there to be sad about!?

She flings a couple of bags of roasted duck onto Xiao Zhuan's table and says aloud, "Oh, what are these goodies?"

All three of them raise their heads and smile seeing her. Xiao Zhuan picks up the roasted duck with his eyes gleaming, "Xiao Bai! You're awesome! You even remembered to bring us snacks when you were on a honeymoon!" Chatterbox lets out a laugh, "Hehheh," and quickly snatches a pack while praising, "Not bad! They're from Quanjude (restaurant) too! Old man here can finally get a taste of Quanjude, ha, ha, ha, ha! Xiao Bai, thanks! And thank Leader for me too!"

They're already teasing her directly like this now. Su Mian feels a bit embarrassed yet happy at the same time. She sits down feeling pleased as she watches the three smiling faces. Her gaze changes slowly.

They become gentle yet still.

_____

The moment Han Chen enters the station, he heads directly to the top floor and into the office at the farthest end.

The decorations here are very simple yet elegant. The civil police emblem is shining quietly on the wall.

The receptionist at the entrance asks, "Team Leader Han, do you have an appointment?"

Han Chen nods, "I called the chief last night and he told me to come see him first thing in the morning today."

The receptionist walks over, knocks on the door and goes inside.

The hallway is quiet. After a while, the receptionist comes out and smiles at him, "Team Leader Han, please go inside. The Chief is waiting for you."

The office room's decor is simple yet impressive as always. Beside the marble desk, a middle-aged man is sitting on the couch with some files in his hand. Hearing Han Chen come in, he looks up; his slightly square-shaped face looks at Han Chen with his sharp yet calm eyes.

And above his head is a framed cursive script of Lu Xun's (writer) famous words, "I shall offer my blood up for Xuan Yuan, our progenitor."

Han Chen stares at the line of words silently for a moment before sitting down in front of him.

"Chief, I want to continue investigating the case from five years ago, which has been deemed as a classified massive serial killing case by Beijing."

The middle-aged man is startled upon hearing his request. He puts the files down, picks up the blue and white porcelain pot from the coffee table and pours him a cup, "Have a drink first, and let's chat for a bit."

_____

Half an hour later.

"I've heard of the case before. It's been closed. They also caught a bunch of criminals at the time," the middle-aged man stares at Han Chen, "Based on what you're saying, there are still some perpetrators on the loose and are roaming the city freely?"

Han Chen nods. He repeats what Xin Jia said to him but doesn't mention anything about Su Mian.

"I believe that Xin Jia's words can be trusted: around me, people who I've come in contact with, the murderer from back then is among them," he says, "Considering this, I think that the Beijing department is not suitable to handle the case. The criminal organization is very cunning. Once people from Beijing arrive, they'll be alerted, and then we won't be able to find anything. Therefore, I hope that you, Chief, can let me investigate the case."

The middle-aged man picks up his teacup and takes a sip slowly, "I know that you were a victim of the incident back then. You've said this much to me today to fight for the rights to investigate the case, is it because you still hold a grudge for what happened back then?"

Han Chen keeps quiet for a few seconds before answering, "They've killed numerous people, inverting right and wrong, and are guilty of the most terrible crime. So what's wrong if I want to take revenge and catch them with my own hands?"

His stubbornness makes the Chief laugh. He waves his hand up and down, "Let me think about it. You can leave now."

Han Chen doesn't say any more. He responds, "Okay," turns around and walks toward the door. Just as he approaches the exit, the Chief calls him again, "Wait."

Han Chen turns around and smiles at him, "You're done thinking?"

The Chief laughs helplessly, "I want to criticize you! How long has the Black Shield Team been established? It's the key project group of the station and you're already dating the little girl? And everyone already knows about it. I thought you were a boring and untalkative person."

Han Chen stuffs both hands into his pockets and smiles.

"Employees working in the same team needs to avoid dating. This sure has gone well. Do you know how many headaches you're causing the supervisors of the criminal investigation department? There aren't that many who come out of criminal psychology to begin with, so where are they going to find another young and energetic talent like Bai Jin Xi?" the Chief continues to scold.

Han Chen shakes his head, "There's no need to find another one. Once this case has been solved, just transfer me to the archives department and leave her in the Black Shield Team. She's more ambitious than I am."

The Chief is speechless, "You fellow! Go, go! I'll ask for you again."

After Han Chen leaves, this middle-aged man thinks deeply for a moment. He walks to sit at his desk, picks up the phone and dials a Beijing number. 𝐟r𝒆ℯ𝘄𝑒𝒃𝚗𝒐𝘃e𝗹.c𝘰𝐦

The call connects through. He smiles before speaking to the person on the other end, "Boss, it's me. I'm Old Xue of Province K. There's an important matter that I must speak to you about." f𝒓𝑒e𝙬𝒆𝚋𝘯૦𝘷𝐞𝑙.c𝑜𝐦

……

Han Chen returns to his office. He greets the others briefly and then sees Su Mian lifting her head and looking at him. Their eyes meet. He nods his head very slightly.

When it's afternoon and almost time to leave work, Han Chen receives a call from the receptionist. He's been summoned to the top floor again.

But this time, the Chief cuts to the chase. He places a stack of files on the table in front of him, "I've told them about it briefly. There is some minor evidence showing that there may be some perpetrators uncaught in Province K. But these are all speculations, so they're not confident enough to reopen the case. Nevertheless, they've agreed to let us do some investigating work to confirm, but it must be done in secret. Furthermore, they can only give us this much detail on the case from back then. There is other information about the case that is rather sensitive, so they cannot give it to us."

Han Chen takes the files and says calmly, "If they want to give us anything, they should just give it all to us. What is the meaning of this?"

Old Xue says, "Stop the nonsense. The heaven is high and the emperor is far away (idiom: an area beyond the control of a central government), and you've already been given the imperial sword, so what more do you want? Moreover, although the case is in our hands right now, the higher-ups may also take some measures to monitor our actions. Keep your pride inside and focus on investigating the case."

Han Chen nods.

Old Xue keeps quiet for a moment. He looks up at the frame holding the cursive script and his gaze becomes solemn, "Han Chen, I'm officially leaving this in your hands. If there is really a criminal among our team……do as you see fit. You must pick him out! The civil police team must protect fairness, justice, moral and the truth. We are the starting point of civilians' peaceful life. We are the sharp knife that fights against the criminals. If there is a stain on this sharp knife, even if we have to hold the blade in our hands, we must remove it!" he looks directly at Han Chen and says earnestly, "Ten years to sharpen a sword, yet never has it been yield. A criminal investigator who doesn't want to catch a criminal is not a good policeman. I hope that the Black Shield Team, this imperial sword, won't let me down."

Han Chen keeps quiet for a moment and then holds up his hand to salute, "Yes, Sir!"

Old Xue smiles and asks, "Do you have a suspect in mind right now?"

"There is one indeed."

_____

Han Chen comes down from the top floor. The instant he steps into the office, he is met by Zhao Xiao Zhuan with a stack of papers in his hands, "Leader, a new case has appeared." Su Mian and the others all raise their heads.

Han Chen takes the documents and flips through them. Xiao Zhuan narrates, "At an apartment in the West City District, a murder incident happened today in the morning. The deceased victim is a mistress of a publicly well-known businessman. Although it's not a big case, it's still not a good influence, so it's not suitable to make it a big deal on the investigation. Therefore, Captain Qin's side sent us the documents, asking if we would like to take over?"

Han Chen doesn't answer right away. He lets Xiao Zhuan go back to his seat first. He, on the other hand, takes the documents with him and sits behind his desk. He puts one hand on the armrest while flipping through the documents again with his other. His expression is indifferent.

Since it affects the arrangement of their work to come, the rest of them are naturally observing his expression to see if he intends to accept the case. Su Mian watches him silently. This man's aura is always imposing when he's immersed in his thoughts.

After a while, he puts down the documents, raises his head to look at everybody. His dark brown eyes are calm and unreadable.

"We'll take the case. Since the case is important, Xiao Zhuan, request Captain Qin to form a special investigation team. Invite Forensic Investigator Xu and Professor Xu Nan Bai to join, and help me pick a few more members from the criminal investigation and forensic teams."