BPIFC -Volume 1 – Chapter 107 Inside the Door, Outside the Door

Kong Dalong strolled leisurely down the stairs after effortlessly dealing with the two men.

When he reached the second-floor exit, he suddenly stopped. Then he let out a soft chuckle and said to the empty air, “I thought you’d need at least another half hour to get here. Didn’t expect you to already be waiting to block me.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a “kekeke…” laugh echoed from inside the second-floor doorway, followed by Sun Desheng’s voice.

“Hey man, the troublemakers on the other side are just a bunch of nobodies. Clearly, they were aiming for my brother Che Qianzi. Either they’re reckless enough to be here to die, or they’re just cannon fodder sent to test the waters. If it’s the latter, they’d need to report back immediately whether they succeeded. I took a walk around—there’s no better vantage point than the seventh-floor office upstairs.”

Sun Desheng paused for a moment. Outside the door, the sound of a lighter flicking came through, followed by the smell of cigarette smoke drifting out.

After taking a puff, he continued, “When I went upstairs, I just happened to see that guy bleeding all over the place. He’d just died. I took the elevator up. The other elevator hadn’t moved at all, so naturally, sir, you took the stairs.”

Hearing this, Kong Dalong clapped his hands.

“Impressive. In such a short time you’ve thought this far ahead—worthy of being Sun Desheng. You move like a chess player; before making a move, you’ve already calculated five or six steps ahead.”

From inside the door, Sun Desheng gave a bitter smile.

“Yeah, the same Sun Desheng you toyed with yesterday. Don’t flatter me. If I’d really calculated things properly and prepared in advance, you’d have left in an elevator already. If I can see five steps, you’ve already seen seven.”

He paused, then slipped a pack of cigarettes through the crack in the door.

“We’ve got time. Let’s talk while we smoke.”

Kong Dalong didn’t refuse. He took a cigarette, lit it, and took a drag.

“Yesterday I just got lucky, and you, Director Sun, underestimated me. If you had prepared against me in advance, even ten ‘Long Dekou’ wouldn’t have been able to hide from you.”

Sun Desheng chuckled.

“Sir, no need to play word games. ‘Long Dekou’ reversed is Kong Dalong, right? But honestly, your disguise skills are top-notch. My brother grew up around you, and it’s only been a few days apart—he couldn’t even recognize you face to face. If you’d hinted to me yesterday, I wouldn’t have been so worked up. We’re all on the same side—you could’ve told me earlier. I would’ve arranged a private jet for you at the airport myself.”

Kong Dalong wasn’t surprised that his identity had been exposed. He smiled faintly.

“Seems like leaving my ‘son’ in your care was the right decision. Since you already know who I am, you must also be curious about Che Qianzi’s background. Don’t you want to ask?”

“I don’t,” Sun Desheng replied immediately.

He finished his cigarette, crushed the butt, and continued, “Not my business. First, even if I ask, you might not tell me. Second, even if you do tell me, it might not be true. And even if it’s true, there might still be traps inside. Why bother? I don’t want to waste time trying to figure out what’s real or fake. I only have one line—Che Qianzi is my brother.”

“I understand. So you already know his background,” Kong Dalong interrupted with a faint smile.

“That makes sense. Either way, this will be made public sooner or later. I originally intended to give you a favor, but since you already know everything, there’s no point for me to stay. I’ll be leaving now.”

“Sir, please wait—” Sun Desheng quickly called out. “I heard you’ve been dealing with some trouble lately. Why not come take shelter in our Special Investigation Bureau? We’ve got a few white-haired veterans there. No small fry would dare approach. What do you say? That way, my brother wouldn’t have to worry about you all the time.”

“Sun Desheng, you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? You know I can’t enter your bureau—neither officially nor personally.”

After saying this, Kong Dalong ignored him and walked down the stairs.

But when he reached the halfway landing, he turned back and said through the door:

“One more thing—keep an eye on your brother. Don’t let that other Che Qianzi come out too often. It’s not a good sign if he does.”

Sun Desheng wanted to ask more, but by the time he came out, Kong Dalong had already vanished without a trace.

At that moment, Shen La came down from upstairs and looked at the smiling but helpless Sun Desheng.

“Desheng, everything okay? Was that really Kong Dalong?”

Sun Desheng hadn’t come alone on this risky trip. He had originally arranged for Yang Jun and Yang Xiao to come as well; they arrived shortly after the incident.

Sun Desheng had guessed there might be surveillance, so he brought Shen La along to investigate. After seeing the two corpses upstairs, he was almost certain Kong Dalong had been there.

To avoid revealing Kong Dalong’s identity, he had left Shen La upstairs and told him not to come down without a signal. But Shen La, worried after waiting too long, came down anyway—just a step too late.

Sun Desheng sighed.

“It really was that old fox. Shame—I said one wrong sentence and ended up offending him.”

Shen La was intrigued.

“You? You did it on purpose? What could you possibly say to offend Kong Dalong?”

“Don’t bring it up,” Sun Desheng said bitterly. “Thinking about it just makes me angry.”

Then he continued, “I’m no longer with the Special Investigation Bureau. Call the Second Division and tell them something happened here. Have them clean up the mess. Also, do you know where Director Wu is? Haven’t seen him in a while. I was just joking with Ren San earlier… now I kind of miss my father-in-law.”

“He’s the kind of guy who never shows up when you expect him,” Shen La replied.

At that moment, his phone suddenly rang. After checking the caller ID, he frowned.

“Yang Shujie? Isn’t he still in the hospital? Why is he calling me now?”

He answered briefly, then handed the phone to Sun Desheng.

“He’s looking for you.”

Only then did Sun Desheng realize he had left his own phone in the restaurant across the street.

After taking the call, before he could even greet him, Yang Shujie’s anxious voice came through.

“Desheng! Can you hear me? We’re in trouble. While I was hospitalized, they already held a meeting and decided to parachute in a new bureau chief… and during my recovery, he’ll even temporarily take over my duties. What do we do? Desheng! Desheng! My Sun Desheng, are you listening?”

After learning that “Long Dekou” was actually Kong Dalong, Sun Desheng had already lost interest in leaving the Special Investigation Bureau.

He had been thinking of using an excuse to return—but unexpectedly, just a day and a half later, headquarters had already decided to fully take over the bureau.

Still, he wasn’t completely unprepared.

He chuckled and said into the phone:

“I heard you. That’s actually good news. Unfortunately, I’ve already quit, so I can’t help welcome the new director. But don’t worry—even though I’m not in the bureau anymore, I’ll still cooperate with your work from outside.”