Chapter 58: The SWAT Team's Troubles

  The pride that came from within made Zhang Tong force herself to hold back. She stood even straighter, her stubbornness evident. Only the slight trembling of her arm revealed the immense pressure she was under. Zeng Yan, however, had no intention of letting her off. Like a lioness on the hunt, her sharp gaze pierced through Zhang Tong, making her skin feel like it was being cut. Step by step, Zeng Yan closed in on Zhang Tong. With each step forward, Zhang Tong's resolve wavered once more. After just three steps, Zhang Tong was on the verge of collapse...

  Just as Zhang Tong was about to make a fool of himself, Zeng Yan suddenly turned around and took a few quick steps to the side: "Captain, what... I... received, executing orders." Zeng Yan covered her right ear and said a few words to someone, then looked at Zhang Tong with a hint of a smile. Her entire demeanor changed, and the overwhelming pressure that had been crushing him suddenly lifted. Zhang Tong's tightly wound body relaxed, and he almost fell forward.

  "The office in the middle of the 3rd floor. The captain wants to see you." Zeng Yan said a sentence into the air and turned away.

  Goodbye Li Xiang, let Zhang Tong have an unreal feeling.

  The familiarity during the interview was gone; the kind-hearted sister who chatted idly in the teahouse was also nowhere to be found. Behind his office desk, Li Xing was calm, solemn and awe-inspiring without being angry.

  After Zhang Tong came in, Li Xing raised his eyes and looked at her for a moment. His gaze was too terrifying. Zhang Tong had an inexplicable feeling. Li Xing glanced at her and then ignored her, lowering his head as if thinking about something. Just as Zhang Tong was about to drift away, a low, somewhat unreal voice entered her ears:

  "Do you still remember our bet?"

  Zhang Tong suddenly remembered that this was a bet made by Li Xiang on the spur of the moment when they were drinking tea at Ma Feng Tea House last time.

  Zhang Tong didn't take this matter to heart, but unexpectedly Li Xiang brought it up today. Now the matter is finally clear. It really wasn't Gong Qian who did something behind the scenes. Wow, the special police team's honorably titled "Middle Team" has a team leader. This Sister Li is too formidable!

  "Report. I remember."

  Li Xing got up and took a look at Zhang Tong's outfit, then looked at her personal belongings, shaking his head:

  "I don't think you remember anymore. You can go."

  Zhang Tong's body stiffened. He asked incredulously: "What?"

  Li Xing got up and picked up the thermos cup, saying to himself while pouring water: "I said you're not suitable. You can leave. In a few days, I'll help you contact JD.com. Didn't I remember correctly?"

  Zhang Tong only felt a "buzz" in her head. Li Xing's words were like an explosion, and her ears kept ringing from the shock.

  "You... I passed the exam and graduated from a special recruitment class as an intern police officer. Your SWAT team thinks I'm not suitable, so I'll go back to the police station. But you can't insult me like that."

  He slowly walked back to his office desk and sat down. He took a sip of hot water. Li Xiangcai said in a nonchalant tone:

  "If you really still remember the bet, the Zhang Tong who appeared in front of me today shouldn't be like this. Look at you, a brand new police uniform that's been ironed to perfection, with light makeup on your face; you're truly radiant! Did you take a good look at yourself in the mirror when you were going upstairs? Can you really do well as a people's policeman or special forces soldier looking like this?"

  Zhang Tong angrily said: "I am very clear about whether I can do a good job as a people's police officer. If not, then so be it. Special police warriors don't have to do it either. You all withdraw your files. I will go back and wait for reassignment."

  Li Xing gave her a strange look: "The probation period is one year. During the probation period, if the assessment is not qualified, it will be reported to the superior authority and cleared out. Do you know this rule? I can foresee that in our team, you will definitely be eliminated. So, Zhang Tong, why waste a year of time. Why don't you go do what you like, what you're capable of doing, isn't that good?"

  It wasn't until now that Zhang Tong remembered. The Li Xing in front of him was one of the interviewers. When they graduated, Old Hei had indeed mentioned this rule. But at that time, who among the joyful graduates-to-be took it seriously?

  From the moment I entered this special police force, I've been constantly pressured by others. Now Li Xiang is using Zhang Tong's words to pressure me again. Why? Why do they have to treat me like this?

  A surge of resentment, grievance and powerlessness flooded her mind. Since joining the special police force, she had been treated unfairly. She had endured it until now, but Zhang Tong really couldn't take it anymore. Big tears fell down uncontrollably. She shouted at Li Xing:

  "I don't accept it. I don't accept it. What makes you say that? What right do you have to casually decide my future?"

  Li Xiang put down his water cup and stood up, walking to the window and pointing outside at Zhang Tong:

  "Come on. You come over here. Take a look at them. Then take another look at yourself. Do you really think you can be one of us?"

  Outside the window is a training ground, where men and women are training enthusiastically. The special police officers wearing black tactical vests and green camouflage pants are rolling around on the dusty training ground, with shouts shaking the sky. Zhang Tong began to understand why he was treated coldly today.

  Maybe he thought the intimidation was enough. Or maybe Li Xing thought Zhang Tong was a clever girl. Since she was someone he personally wanted, he couldn't just suppress her all the time. Softening his tone, Li Xing said:

  "Zhang Tong, it seems you understand; if you're well-prepared, you won't be an ordinary person who comes to our squadron without a reason. If you're well-prepared, you won't just pass by in the special recruitment class. Look at your results, such results can't even pass the assessment of our special police team."

  Your strengths are being calm and composed, unaffected by changes. However, this is also your biggest weakness. To put it nicely, you're carefree; to put it harshly, you're apathetic. You don't care about anything. Whether or not you become a police officer doesn't matter to you. Participating in training sessions or not, you still feel the same way. Now I think you understand. The special forces unit is not a place for someone who doesn't care. Your personality clashes with this environment. If you don't change yourself, you won't survive. Now I'm asking you one last time: do you want to be a police officer?

  Tian Miao followed Li Quan into the cafeteria in the backyard of the big team. There were quite a few empty seats. The large room was occupied by only a handful of police officers. All internal staff who could go home for dinner had gone home. External staff basically didn't have regular meal times. This cafeteria mainly solved the food problem for unmarried and single police officers, as well as meals for suspects temporarily detained in the detention room, special inquiry room, and interrogation room.

  Tian Miao Miao was here for the first time. Li Quan loudly ordered two stir-fries. Suan Miao back pot meat and fish fragrant shredded meat were both Sichuan dishes; when the dishes arrived, Tian Miao Miao saw a large piece of back pot meat and felt a wave of nausea. Maybe everything in her stomach had been vomited out. At this moment, her body instinctively told her that she was really hungry. After Tian Miao Miao finished her mental struggle, she made up her mind to make an effort to pick up the chopsticks and stretch them towards the plate. As a result, she picked up a Sichuan peppercorn...

  Meat was quickly scooped up by Li Quan, piece by piece, into his own bowl. He resentfully picked up the fish-flavored meat strips with his chopsticks. One bite and he almost knelt down. Damn it! In this one dish of fish-flavored meat strips, at least half a bottle of vinegar and half a catty of white sugar had been added. Is this fish flavor or sweet and sour?

  The vegetables can't be eaten anymore. Let's eat. After eating a mouthful of rice, I bit into a stone. Almost broke my big tooth. Spit it out clean. From now on, the anger that has been endured until now can no longer be endured. Angry Tian Miao Miao overturned the table and scolded loudly:

  "I've had enough. The rice is almost mixed with sand. The dishes are cooked like pig food. This is the police canteen? Police officers eat this every day? It's too much. The cook should be shot..."

  Uncle can tolerate, aunt cannot tolerate. Letting Gao Xiang serve her has finally made her realize that not everything can be fooled. The accumulated anger finally burst out. Angry Tian Miao Miao slapped the table and scolded her mother.

  She was comfortable. Li Quan, who was sitting opposite her, pointed at her as if he had seen a ghost. He didn't even care about eating the meat anymore. He threw down his chopsticks and ran away with his legs. Tian Miao Miao realized that something was wrong. She turned around to see several police officers in the room looking like they were watching a horror movie, also throwing down their chopsticks and escaping one after another. Just as she felt her hair standing on end, an old man with white hair rushed out of the kitchen, holding a large wok and shouting loudly like Jin Ma Shi Wang Xie: "Which little rabbit dare say that my cooking is bad? Are you tired of living?"

  No way, another pervert. Tian Miao Miao sized up the old man. No police badge or number on his uniform, just a dull gray apron tied around his waist. His hair and beard were all white, with a fierce expression on his face. Tian Miao Miao's eyes rolled over once, she didn't even have time to speak, she threw down her chopsticks and turned to run...

  The old man, surnamed Zeng, was furious and kicked open Zhou Bin's office door in the afternoon when he went to work. He slammed his hand on the table, puffed out his chest, glared with anger, and scolded Zhou for nearly half an hour. Zhou was so angry that he scratched his head. This old man Zeng is considered a veteran of the first brigade and has been with them since its establishment. After retiring, he returned to work in the cafeteria as a chef because he couldn't bear to leave the place where he had lived for a lifetime. Now, he's almost serving voluntarily, with qualifications older than those of the deputy commander. Zhou Bin didn't dare to provoke someone like him. Tian Miao said that there was sand mixed into the rice, which is equivalent to accusing Old Zeng of embezzling food expenses. This is going to be a big deal!

  Zhou Bin was wronged, of course he couldn't let off the main culprit Tian Miao Miao. So poor Tian Miao Miao was called into the office again to have a one-on-one talk with Captain Zhou...

  Tian Miao Miao hid and seemed to have dragged the matter past. After a week of going to work, Tian Miao Miao had some of her own insights into the police profession.

  Compared to the very few people who have a fulfilling job, most people in the city are engaged in unfulfilling work. What's the difference? It's all just work, contributing to economic development. But most people are doing simple, mechanical, repetitive work. As time goes on, today repeats yesterday, and tomorrow repeats today. It's inevitable that a sense of boredom will arise, a deep-seated boredom. In the police station, Tian Miao felt this negative emotion even more clearly.

  Twenty-four hours a day, the most common sight is the various teams of plainclothes detectives bringing back suspects in handcuffs. The plainclothes police officers look even more menacing than the suspects themselves. It makes sense when you think about it - how else can they stop vicious criminals from committing crimes? This is what they call fighting fire with fire.

  Interrogation rooms, interrogation rooms plus detention rooms. Often it's "bang bang bang" sounds. What's going on? Either slapping the table or slapping suspects. Tian Miao has seen too much and doesn't find it strange anymore. To ask a frontline detective not to hit people is harder than asking all men in the world not to steal glances. Every day, going to work and seeing nothing but boredom and annoyance everywhere. And there are still countless criminals to catch. Maybe they themselves are also annoyed with themselves, even more annoyed with this profession.

  Living in such an environment for a week, Tian Miao also started to get annoyed.