Chapter 80: The Celebration Banquet

After work, everyone joyfully made their way to the restaurant. The celebration banquet wasn’t extravagant, with each table costing only three hundred yuan. What truly made the police officers happy was that the case was finally solved.

Although there might be new cases tomorrow, today’s work had concluded perfectly.

While waiting, Xu Xiaodong walked around with a set of paper slips. This was an unwritten rule in the second detective squad. Half of the people who drew slips could drink, while those who didn’t draw could only drink half a bottle of beer to prevent everyone from getting too drunk to drive home.

Xu Xiaodong approached Chen Shi, patted him on the shoulder, and affectionately called, “Brother Chen.” Chen Shi waved his hand and said, “I won’t draw. I’m not drinking tonight. I have some extra work to do later.”

“Brother Chen, you’re really good at this!”

“Haha, thanks for the compliment.”

The dishes were served, and the chatting officers put out their cigarettes and eagerly began to eat. At this moment, Lin Qiupu and Peng Sijue walked in. Someone said, “Captain Lin is here. Say a few words!”

“Say what? Just eat!” Lin Qiupu said as he walked in.

“Haha, no need to be polite.”

“I’m starving. I’ve been eating instant noodles for days, finally some real food.”

“Do you like the atmosphere in the team?” Lin Dongxue asked Chen Shi.

“Yes, it’s lively and everyone gets along well.”

“Now that you’re a consultant, you’re half a member of the team. We’re colleagues now.”

Chen Shi took out the consultant certificate from his pocket, “I haven’t agreed yet!”

“My brother said consultants get allowances and travel subsidies. You can make some extra money.”

“I’m used to my freedom and don’t want to be restricted…” Chen Shi took the certificate out of its cover, handed it back to Lin Dongxue, and put the cover in his pocket. “Return this to your brother for me.”

“What!?” Lin Dongxue couldn’t believe it. He rejected it just like that.

“But if you ask me to cook for you, I can consider it, but you’ll have to pay more.”

“How much more? I’m just a level-three junior officer, my monthly salary isn’t much.”

“How about 80 yuan a day?” Chen Shi asked with a smile.

“That’s a bit high. Let me think about it…”

Chen Shi turned his head and found that half of the dishes on the table were already gone. He said, “These hungry dogs, let’s eat!”

Chen Shi didn’t have a peaceful meal. Officers kept coming to toast him, “Brother Chen, look after our team in the future!”, “With Brother Chen on the case, no case is unsolvable. Cheers to you!”, “Brother Chen, you should stop driving a taxi and join the bureau. With your skills, the chief will definitely promote you!”

Chen Shi smiled and dealt with them, forced to drink a stomach full of juice and barely had a chance to eat. Lin Dongxue laughed softly, “Serves you right!”

Chen Shi looked up and saw a pair of cold eyes staring at him from across the table. Peng Sijue hadn’t touched his chopsticks and just kept staring at him.

So Chen Shi poured a glass of juice and said, “Captain Peng, here’s to a great partnership!”

Peng Sijue was initially unresponsive. The people around urged, “Brother Chen didn’t toast anyone else, just the captain. Give him some face!”, “Yes, yes, you two are the heroes who solved the case.”

Peng Sijue couldn’t refuse and poured half a cup of tea. When their cups clinked, he whispered, “I’ll find out who you are sooner or later!”

Chen Shi was taken aback, then smiled, “Go ahead!”

A commotion arose in the crowd. It turned out Lin Qiupu had drunk too much and was speaking earnestly to everyone, completely unlike his usual stern self, “Old Li, aren’t you afraid of your wife scolding you for drinking? Come, let’s have another!”, “Old Peng, why do you keep staring at him? Look at me, or I’ll get mad… Come, let’s have another!”, “Old Zhang, Old Zhang, please dance with me.”

Watching her brother dancing ballroom-style with Officer Zhang, Lin Dongxue facepalmed, “I really don’t want to admit I know him!”

Next to her, Xu Xiaodong and a few young officers were conspiring, “If Captain Lin asks what he did after getting drunk, we’ll all say he fell asleep.”

After the celebration banquet, Chen Shi drove Lin Dongxue and the drunken Lin Qiupu away from the hotel. The first task was to send Lin Qiupu home. On the way, Chen Shi asked, “Why don’t you and your brother live together?”

“The reason is laughable. A few years ago, my brother had a girlfriend and they were talking about marriage. I didn’t want to be a third wheel, so I moved out. Every time I asked, he said they were getting married soon and we’d be invited to the wedding. Six months later, I found out his girlfriend had dumped him because he was always busy with work. He pretended for half a year, fooling us all! Isn’t he so stubborn?”

“Haha!” Chen Shi laughed heartily, “Your brother is quite cute.”

Lin Qiupu, sleeping in the back seat, mumbled, “Don’t bully my sister!”

At Lin Qiupu’s place, Chen Shi helped him out of the car and into the apartment complex. On the way, Lin Qiupu mumbled incoherently, and Chen Shi responded absentmindedly, like he was coaxing a child.

Lin Qiupu’s two-bedroom apartment, bought with his housing fund, was as messy as any bachelor pad. Lin Dongxue wrinkled her nose as soon as she walked in, “Why are men’s places always like pigsties?”

“Don’t include me in that. My place isn’t this messy.”

“Who believes that!”

After settling Lin Qiupu in bed, giving him some water, and tucking him in, Chen Shi quietly left the bedroom. Looking around the living room, he said, “This place is nice. Why don’t you two live together? It’ll ease the mortgage pressure.”

“Live together? Then you can come see me more often?”

“When did Miss Lin become so considerate?”

“I’m not a lady… I thought about it, how about 60 yuan a day?”

“75!”

Lin Dongxue was so angry she wanted to punch the wall. Sometimes Chen Shi was so considerate, but when it came to money, he was always so stingy. She couldn’t figure out if this man had feelings for her or not.

“70 then!” Chen Shi proposed, “You often don’t come home for dinner. Just call me when you need a meal. It might only be ten times a month, not expensive, right?”

Lin Dongxue folded her arms, angrily amused, “Making money off a girl, you really have no shame.”

“I put in labor, so of course I feel no shame.”

“Hmph, take me home!”

In the car, Lin Dongxue asked, “Are you short of money? Or do you have a sick family member needing medical expenses?”

Chen Shi calmly said, “No, I just love money.”

“Oh… I was thinking, if you urgently needed money, I could consider it a sponsorship and pay more.”

“Thanks for the kind offer.” Chen Shi smiled, “With my taxi driving and savings, I live quite comfortably.”

“Then why are you so stingy?”

At this moment, the radio announced, “…Congratulations to the lottery winner with the phone number ending in 0848 for winning the grand prize of twenty million yuan!”