SFTD -Chapter 117 Resignation Letter

Zhou Hai walked a few steps toward the outside, then paused as if thinking about something. He glanced at his watch—almost 17:00, nearly time to get off work.

“Do you have anything to do later?” he asked.

Xu Biao jumped down from the desk, shaking his chubby face. “Nope. I can help you stake someone out, beat someone up—anything works. But food is a must beforehand!”

Fengzi burst out laughing. “With your build, you’re going into battle just to be someone’s punching bag, right? If we’re picking people, we should pick someone like me—light as a swallow.”

Then he added, “So, what is it? Are we going to beat up Captain Huang? That guy’s been getting a bit too arrogant lately. Ever since Director Liu’s been squeezing us too hard, he’s been using the media to threaten us every day. Count me in if we’re hitting him!”

Zhou Hai glanced at him. “Go home and stay with your wife.”

He looked back at Xu Biao. “You come with me. I need to buy something. I’m not familiar with furniture stores, I need a guide.”

Xu Biao had already changed clothes. He grabbed the report Zhou Hai had handed him and threw it toward Fengzi. “I’ll leave this glorious and arduous task to you!”

Before Fengzi could react, he grabbed his backpack and chased after Zhou Hai, who was already heading out.

Zhou Hai tossed him the car keys and went upstairs alone to ask Director Pang for leave.

On the fourth floor, he knocked on the door. Director Pang called out, “Come in.” Zhou Hai pushed the door open—but paused slightly when he saw Zhao Xinli standing in front of the desk.

After a brief hesitation, he still walked quickly to Director Pang and handed over the folded leave application.

Director Pang looked tense as he glanced at Zhou Hai a couple of times. He took the A4 sheet folded down to a quarter size and turned it back and forth, examining it repeatedly.

Zhao Xinli was also staring at the paper. Unlike usual, he didn’t greet Zhou Hai, but instead looked nervously between Director Pang and Zhou Hai, clearly shocked and disbelieving.

Director Pang shook the paper in his hand.

“What… does this mean?”

Zhou Hai blinked, not understanding what he meant. Why wasn’t he even looking at the application? Could it be that leave wasn’t allowed during his rotation in the major crime unit?

He thought for a moment and explained again, since three days was already tight for a simple home renovation.

“I’m asking for a few days off to do some basic renovation at home. This is a leave form.”

Director Pang and Zhao Xinli both let out a breath of relief.

Zhao Xinli bumped Zhou Hai’s shoulder.

“Dr. Zhou, next time you don’t need to be so formal about asking for leave. A text message or phone call is enough. Bringing something like this over scared Director Pang.”

Zhou Hai immediately understood what their earlier reactions meant—they thought it was a resignation letter.

Director Pang coughed twice and nodded.

“If you want leave, like Xinli said, don’t make it so formal. It’ll give people heart problems.”

“Tell me, how long do you need? I can arrange for Team One and Zhao Xinli’s group to rotate and cover for you. Are you just too exhausted lately?”

Zhou Hai’s fingers trembled slightly. He wasn’t used to such concern from Director Pang.

“One week,” he said. “I need to tidy up my house. My teacher was injured in a car accident, and the Chinese girl he adopted has no one to care for her. She’ll need to stay with me for six months, so I need to prepare a room for her.”

Zhao Xinli couldn’t help but laugh.

He grabbed Zhou Hai’s arm and looked into his eyes to confirm he wasn’t joking.

“You… taking care of a child? Oh my god.”

“What?” Zhou Hai asked.

Zhao Xinli waved his hand. “Nothing, it just feels a bit out of character. Uh, I mean—if you trust us, my mom could help. She really loves kids.”

Zhou Hai nodded. The kindness touched him.

“Thanks. If I run into anything I don’t understand, I’ll call you.”

He then looked at Director Pang.

“The 1.19 drowning case report is complete. All files will be transferred to Captain Huang tomorrow. I won’t be coming in tomorrow then. See you next week.”

Director Pang nodded. “Alright. Go handle your matters.”

Half an hour later, the two arrived at Baianju, not far from Zhou Hai’s home.

Xu Biao unbuckled his seatbelt.

“This place has everything for renovation and furniture. Doing it in two days like you said—only here can do it. By the way, that girl from your teacher’s place… what’s her name again?”

Zhou Hai frowned, grabbing his bag from the back seat as he got out.

“Her name is Charlotte.”

“I don’t know her exact age. I asked my teacher, but he didn’t reply.”

Xu Biao looked at Zhou Hai’s confused expression and immediately understood he was truly at a loss. He patted Zhou Hai’s shoulder.

“Got it. Then let’s pick something that most girls would accept in terms of color and style?”

Zhou Hai nodded.

He truly didn’t know much about girls—big or small. Suddenly having to take care of a child every day left him completely unprepared. Luckily, Xu Biao was there to help.

“Alright. Let’s go take a look. It has to be environmentally friendly.”

Xu Biao pulled Zhou Hai by the arm and dragged him into the store.

By the time they finished discussing renovation and furniture, it was already past 8:30 p.m. Zhou Hai felt completely drained. He and Xu Biao ate beef bone noodles downstairs.

Before they even left the mall, the renovation designer called again.

“Mr. Zhou, I’d like to visit your home. Even though it’s a simple renovation, I still need to see the actual space to better coordinate colors and make it more suitable for a girl’s aesthetic.”

Xu Biao looked at Zhou Hai’s lifeless expression and could tell this was already his limit.

“Forget it, let’s wait for him,” he said.

“I’ll talk to him. I’ll stay at your place tonight. You feed me tomorrow, and I’ll do the work.”

Zhou Hai’s eyes lit up slightly.

“Okay. You choose what you want to eat.”

Soon the designer arrived, and the three of them drove quickly to Zhou Hai’s home.

The residential area in the foothills of Fushan, though nearly ten years old, was still top-tier at the time of construction. Built along the mountain, it was layered and surrounded by greenery, with excellent environment and value.

Zhou Hai’s home was simple and clean. The entire space used a sky-blue base tone with light gray flooring. It was a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment, though he didn’t fully use all the rooms. He used only the master bedroom and a small study. The second bedroom by the entrance was empty—no furniture at all, not even a TV.

After seeing the site, the designer made minor adjustments. Not all girls liked overly dreamy pink tones—it could be too sweet. Given the tight schedule, the overall color scheme was not changed. Instead, they used diatom mud to create a deep blue starry sky effect on one wall, plus a hand-painted mural. All furniture was changed to white. The living room was also furnished with cabinets, a rocking chair, and a projector.

In three days, the renovation, furniture installation, and cleaning were completed.

On the 24th, Zhou Hai arrived at the airport early, holding a sign that read “Charlotte O’Neill.” As soon as he saw passengers coming out, he quickly raised it. At this moment, his heart felt like it was collapsing.

The photo sent earlier by Teacher John showed Charlotte wearing Halloween makeup. It had left him deeply frustrated, but considering the teacher’s disabled legs, he endured it and kept watching the exit carefully.

A group of foreigners walked out. Zhou Hai collected his thoughts and observed carefully. There was also supposed to be a lawyer accompanying them—based on the voice, likely a middle-aged man.

Zhou Hai raised his sign again. The group glanced at it and walked past.

Then a soft, sweet voice sounded: “William, that uncle is holding my name?”