Chapter 84: A Word of Good Advice on a Cold Winter's Day

  Zheng Shiyan left. Tian Miao sat quietly on the bed, thinking about something. The memories of their brief encounter over the past few days were so profound. From the initial awkward meeting, to the confrontation in the hotel, to the tacit cooperation during the mission, and finally the thrilling capture; but perhaps the most memorable was the entwined and bewildered moment at the parking lot...

  Thinking and thinking, her face turned red with shame. Her whole body felt hot and flustered. A burst of footsteps startled Tian Miao Miao awake. The hospital room door opened, and Gong Qian, Gao Xiang, and Old Zeng from the cafeteria all crowded in together.

  Lao Zeng had thought of coming two days ago. Yesterday evening, Gao Xiang brought four girls back to the big team and occupied the kitchen, busy with something. Lao Tou didn't give him a good face from the moment they met. If it wasn't for Gao Xiang saying he was preparing to stew soup to send to Tian Miao Miao, I estimate Lao Tou would have driven them away. After hearing about Tian Miao Miao's situation from Gao Xiang, this morning he followed along and came too. At this moment, he saw with his own eyes that Tian Miao Miao was wearing a protective net, her beautiful hair all cut off. Lao Tou felt extremely distressed in his heart. What kind of thing is this? Nowadays, young people are getting more and more useless. It's really embarrassing for the big team. Such a dangerous task, letting a girl do it.

  Heart aching, he moved to the bedside and touched Tian Miao's little head wrapped in bandages. He asked if she was in pain. She took advantage of the situation to be coquettish. Then Lao Zeng covered his face, which was full of blushes; took a few deep breaths, adjusted his emotions, and Tian Miao directly leaned on Lao Zeng's side to be coquettish. Before long, she got Lao Zeng to laugh with a "heh heh". He patted his chest and said: "You must be lacking nutrition now. From today until discharge, I'll take care of your meals and Gong Qian's. Don't buy from the hospital, it's not delicious and lacks nutrition. If you want to eat something, just tell me directly. I'll make it and have that little brat deliver it to you at night."

  Next to him, Gao Xiang couldn't help but roll his eyes. Gong Qian poked him with a mischievous intention. Gao Xiang glared at her with annoyance. This made Gong Qian laugh even harder. Taking advantage of everyone's attention on Tian Miao Miao, Gong Qian leaned in close to Gao Xiang and whispered in a voice that only the two could hear: "Exploded meat patty, tomato scrambled eggs, sautéed pork strips... Hmm, this is today's menu."

  "This is your own recipe, isn't it? Which of these three dishes can a patient eat? Are you guys kidding me? You all come to my place to celebrate recently?"

  A sentence of protest resulted in Gong Qian's eyes turning red. Gao Xiang hastily asked her in a low voice, "Miss, what's wrong with you? You're going to frame me in front of so many people..."

  Gong Qian hastily lifted her head, wiped the corner of her eye with her hand, and turned to say: "Nothing, nothing. I just wish that if I were lying there, how many people would truly come to see me..."

  The root of the disease has been found. It turns out that Princess Gong is ill. Gao Xiang said in his heart, "Auntie, you should be more careful." Unless Deputy Director Su is crazy, otherwise, even if you lend him ten or eight guts, see if he dares to let you be bait... You still want to follow Tian Miao and get injured on duty? It's likely that the skin will be scratched. From Deputy Director Su to Qian Dui, it has been a thorough investigation...

  She hasn't thought of how to respond to this arrogant princess yet. Gong Qian has already recovered and is calling out to the crowd to sit down, when she sees a thermos on the bedside table and asks if someone has come. Tian Miao Miao mentions that Zheng Shiyan was discharged from the hospital today, and it's a stew made by Qin Duizhang, the captain of the Municipal Bureau's Serious Crimes Unit, who asked him to bring it over. Gong Qian and Gao Xiang didn't catch anything unusual, but Zeng Lao suddenly became red-eyed, jumped up and scolded: "Damn Qin Erchou! Over the years, how many people have been poached from our team? Even borrowing a person would be used to send them to the hospital... now it's even more unthinkable. Directly sending people to his place..."

  Gao Xiang and Gong Qian listened with curiosity, while Tian Miao Miao blinked her big eyes in a naive expression. The old man said gruffly: "He's taken a liking to Miao Miao. He wants to take Miao Miao away. You don't know, do you? Not just him, those people from Jing Ze have also come several times in the past two days. They're all here for Miao Miao."

  "It's hard to tell. Tian Miao Miao, you've become the fragrant cracker of our big team." Gong Qian said with a sour tone.

  Two more days passed, and it was already the 28th of the twelfth lunar month. After breakfast, Tian Miao Miao and Gong Qian had a dispute. Tian Miao Miao felt that her injury wasn't that serious, and she was staying in a special care ward with nurses watching over her 24 hours a day. It didn't make sense for her to delay Gong Qian's trip any longer, so she told her to hurry back home for the New Year.

  Gong Qian ignored Tian Miao's proposal, saying "You haven't even removed the stitches yet. You can't be alone at home. Besides, this is a task assigned to me by our team leader. Since you're still in the hospital, I'm still on duty. If we're on duty, how can we take time off to celebrate the New Year? The two girls argued back and forth until Tian Miao got impatient and said: "Gong Qian, I'm not crippled! I have hands and feet to take care of myself, and there are so many doctors and nurses here. Besides, our injuries aren't that severe. Weren't you thinking of using a pillow to smother me just two days ago?"

  As a result, one sentence of joking words made Gong Qian cry: "If you hadn't come with a big team, you wouldn't have gone to execute this task and wouldn't have gotten hurt. Look at you now, your hair is even shorter than a man's. You're so bitter that you don't dare tell your family. Whether you believe it or not, the graduation assignment thing... really wasn't done by me..."

  Helplessly, she pulled Gong Qian over. She twisted her body around. Tian Miao Miao hastily got out of bed to pull her over. Gong Qian hurriedly wiped away her tears and helped her back into bed. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Tian Miao Miao hugged her: "Little Jjian, you still remember this matter? Back then it was because of ignorance that I said such hurtful words. How could you really think you have this ability? Ridiculous..."

  Gong Qian's gentle tap on her shoulder was met with a murmur of "don't look down on people". In the end, she couldn't help but burst out laughing with a "heh" sound. She ultimately failed to convince Tian Miao Miao. After calling Captain Zhou and explaining the situation, he simply said: "You come back and tidy up at home. Tell Tian Miao Miao that I'll go see her this afternoon." Then he hung up the phone.

  Zhou Bin has come for the second time. Last time there were many people and it was noisy, didn't have a chance to say anything. This time after coming, looked at Tian Miao's injuries, just sat there looking at her.

  Tian Miao Miao actually understood him, having been together for so long. She of course knew that this dark-faced captain had become foolish as a policeman, always staring at suspects with the same gaze, regardless of whether they were male or female, old or young. Only when familiar to a certain extent could one feel his emotional changes. At this moment, Tian Miao Miao caught a glimpse of joy in Captain Zhou's eyes, and he was beaming with pride, about to wag his tail.

  Zhou Da Dui said angrily: "I was waiting for a chance to praise you."

  That's not a compliment for me. What's with that expression? Zhou Bin's eyebrows even jumped twice.

  He took a few deep breaths. Captain Zhou said gruffly, "Your commendation has already been discussed by the municipal bureau. It's just that I don't have any praise for you here. On the contrary, I need to criticize you. Can you understand?"

  "How can this be... I'm a patient! Uncle Zhou, don't you have a heart?"

  "Go go go... Don't come back with this set. You and I talk about what happened this time. Tell me in detail."

  Tian Miao Miao became serious and recounted the events of that day from start to finish. Director Zhou listened quietly, his expression unchanging. Tian Miao Miao tried to say something several times, but hesitated and swallowed her words. As a result, she spoke more and more incoherently as time went on. Director Zhou didn't seem to mind, listening attentively until she finished speaking.

  "That's all."

  "That's all."

  "Alright then. Let's talk about the first thing today. Do you think you should be praised or spanked?"

  "Huh? I don't understand..."

  Can't guess the intention of Uncle Zhou, Tian Miao Miao simply sold out the Meng. But Zhou Bin was too familiar with her. He didn't fall for it at all. Pretending to fight back, Tian Miao Miao made a dodging motion and asked him pitifully: "What's wrong? I think I performed quite well. I was scared at first, but later on, I wasn't afraid anymore. I even hit one with my gun."

  "One word: stupid. Stupid to death. Do you know or not? Your little life was saved by luck. If the backup had arrived a few minutes later, they would have killed you like killing an ant; and if something unexpected happened to you, Zheng Shiyan would have to take off his police uniform. All responsibilities would be pinned on his head. He wouldn't be able to turn things around for the rest of his life."

  "I didn't think things were so serious. But no matter how I listen to this, it sounds harsh. Tian Miao Miao retorted with a huff: 'I knew you wouldn't say anything good. Hmph.'"

  Zhou Bin saw that Tian Miao didn't understand, so his tone softened a bit. He even smiled and said: "You're still not convinced, huh? I'll point out your mistakes and then punish you by making you return to the team. After that, you can wash my car for a month."

  "I've become so unlucky. It's weird if nothing goes wrong. Just wipe the car, just say it."

  "Heh heh, you actually understand what's going on. Alright then, let me tell you something. When did Zheng Shiyuan suddenly make his move? Wasn't it when the real goods appeared? If they continued to pretend, there would be a risk of being exposed as counterfeiters. At that time, they could only take action. However, in my opinion, he also made a mistake, and not a light one at that."

  "Ah, captain, don't bring you along. You just pick on me and that's it. Why are you picking on Zheng too?"

  "Huh, so now you're Zheng Ge, right? Wouldn't that be too much to ask of someone?" Zhou Bin teased Tian Miao Miao. Tian Miao Miao thought to herself, "Who's been gossiping like this? How did everyone find out?" But she said aloud, "Ahh, come on, just say it, don't beat around the bush."

  "Fine. He was wrong to trust some comrades too much. Forgot that the partner next to him was still a scared rookie just a few hours ago. And you, are completely clueless. Think back, when he subdued Luo Mingwei, if you had taken aim at Grass Mud Horse's head with your gun in time, would they have dared to resist?"

  "Ah..." Tian Niao's old face turned red. She was asked by Zhou Bin and couldn't say anything. But thinking carefully, it made sense. Why didn't I use my gun to point at them back then? But... hey, no one told me about this kind of thing.

  Jian Miao finally realized where the problem lay. It seems she had a belated realization. The girl sat there blankly, her eyes wide with fear. Zhou Bin walked over and rubbed her head, waking her up before continuing: "However, I didn't come here today for this reason. I actually came to praise you. As a female comrade, you had no experience beforehand, yet you managed to achieve so much for our team, earning us great face. The only problem was that I didn't know how to reward you properly before... but now it's perfect timing, I can arrange a marriage between you and 'Zheng Gege'."

  "Ugh, he's so much older than me. The captain wouldn't bring someone like you along."