SFTD -Chapter 308 You Came Back?

Two hours later, Zhou Hai arrived at the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

It wasn’t clear what meeting or arrangement the bureau had today, but many familiar faces were present. Zhou Hai glanced at his watch—he was indeed a bit late; it was almost ten o’clock, their agreed time. He couldn’t help but quicken his pace.

When he reached Director Liu’s office, he knocked three times. There was no response. Just as he was about to knock again, a woman’s voice came from inside.

“Come in!”

Zhou Hai froze slightly. He pushed the door open—and the voice felt strangely familiar, so familiar it made him almost unable to believe it.

Inside the room, there was no one behind the desk. Instead, someone was sitting on the sofa behind the door, facing away.

Hearing the door open, the person didn’t turn around, only said casually: “You came in after knocking—why aren’t you coming over? Do I have to invite you myself?”

At such a close distance, even without seeing her face, Zhou Hai already knew who it was.

He closed the door and quickly walked over. Seeing that long-lost figure, he suddenly didn’t know what to say.

Suppressing his excitement, he raised a hand and stammered: “You…you…why are you back?”

The person on the sofa slowly lifted her head and stood up. The sharp police uniform outlined a graceful figure, and she looked at Zhou Hai with a teasing gaze.

“What, do I need to submit a report and get approval from you just to return to Dongnan?”

Zhou Hai was instantly speechless.

She was right—whether she came back to Dongnan or not had nothing to do with him. Looking at the increasingly beautiful Chu Menghan, Zhou Hai didn’t know how to respond. Anything he said felt wrong, so the best option was silence.

Fortunately, the door opened again. Director Liu walked in quickly. Seeing Zhou Hai standing there, he immediately laughed.

“Hahaha, Zhou Hai, you’re here! Come, sit down—what, got startled by Chu Menghan, didn’t you?”

Director Liu pulled Zhou Hai to sit down. Chu Menghan said nothing more and sat straight on the sofa. Her aura felt noticeably different—more mature, more restrained.

It was as if she had suddenly become composed and steady, no longer the impulsive person she once was. But whether that was truly the case still needed further observation.

Still, her outfit really confused Zhou Hai.

A police uniform?

Wasn’t she supposed to be returning to Beijing and accepting arrangements from her family? Why had she come back to Dongnan again?

What was going on?

Director Liu noticed Zhou Hai’s confusion and waved his hand.

“Stop guessing. I only received the notice this morning myself.”

“Someone has replaced my position as Deputy Director of the Dongnan Municipal Public Security Bureau, in charge of criminal investigation. From now on, she will be your direct superior.”

Zhou Hai had just sat down when he suddenly stood up again, staring at Director Liu, momentarily speechless.

“Then… what about you?”

Director Liu waved his hand.

“Don’t get excited, sit down first. Why are you so impatient? Look, Chu Menghan is sitting there calmly.”

Zhou Hai glanced at Chu Menghan, but she didn’t even look at him—still calm and composed.

Only then did Zhou Hai think carefully.

Chu Menghan wouldn’t come here to take anyone’s position. Then… did Director Liu get promoted?

Director Liu didn’t keep them guessing.

“Secretary Hu has been promoted and moved to the Provincial Public Security Department as deputy director. Director Song has gone to Weihai to serve as secretary of the Political and Legal Committee. That left a vacancy here.”

“So I’ve been appointed as the political leader, temporarily serving concurrently as Director of the Public Security Bureau.”

Zhou Hai froze.

“Really promoted? That’s great—this is worth celebrating. Should we now call you Secretary Liu or Director Liu?”

Chu Menghan glanced at Zhou Hai and lightly coughed.

“Ahem… haven’t seen you for a few days, and you’ve become so exaggerated?”

Director Liu waved his hand with a smile.

“Don’t start bickering right away. Zhou Hai, let me tell you—Secretary Hu, Director Song, and even my promotion—all came because of your organ transplant case. Without that case, none of this would have happened.”

Zhou Hai nodded.

“Oh… well, as long as the case is solved, that’s good!”

Chu Menghan rolled her eyes and moved a few seats closer, poking his head.

“Are you really this dense, or are you pretending not to understand?”

“Secretary Hu, Director Song, and Director Liu were all promoted because of your case. Don’t you get it? You’re the meritorious contributor!”

“This case earned Dongnan City a collective second-class merit award. Do you know how rare that is? And you don’t even know how to use this opportunity?”

Zhou Hai looked at her and finally processed her words carefully.

A collective second-class merit award… that did sound impressive.

As for what conditions to ask for, he suddenly tightened the file bag in his hand.

“Oh… so that’s how it is. Then I really do have one request.”

Chu Menghan exhaled in relief. He was too low on emotional intelligence—this really was worrying.

She knew that before leaving, both Hu Secretary and Director Song must have made promises to Director Liu. If Zhou Hai didn’t speak now, it would be a wasted opportunity.

Zhou Hai opened his bag and took out a thick stack of A4 documents, placing them in front of Director Liu, tapping the cover.

“This is the condition I want.”

Chu Menghan couldn’t see the title from her angle, but she suddenly felt Zhou Hai wasn’t as hopeless as she thought. He seemed to have grown recently.

Director Liu lowered his gaze and glanced at the documents—his eyelid twitched.

“Are you sure? You want this?”

Zhou Hai thought for a moment and nodded.

“For now, yes. I calculated the investment needed—it’s quite large, especially for equipment across different cities and counties.”

Chu Menghan grew increasingly uneasy. She grabbed the document from Director Liu and flipped through it carefully.

Her expression shifted several times—anger, realization, then helplessness—before she tossed it back.

Director Liu smiled.

“You finished reading it, Chu Deputy Director? This is technically your job now. I’m helping you out, and you still have complaints?”

Chu Menghan glanced at Zhou Hai.

“You’re really stubborn. You want to use such a rare opportunity to build a training center? Do you know this is someone else’s political achievement?”

Zhou Hai spread his hands and smiled lightly.

“I’m just a forensic doctor. Management isn’t my strength. But during my work with the task force, I realized an internal training center is necessary. If criminal investigators receive systematic training, the improvement in solving cases will be obvious—you all know that.”

Chu Menghan frowned.

“I know. Forget it… arguing with you is pointless.”

Director Liu laughed.

“Alright, enough arguing. I think this plan is a great thing. If there’s a lack of funding or personnel, Chu Menghan can bring it up—we’ll implement it immediately.”

“Now that work is done… shouldn’t we talk about something else?”

“Today is worth celebrating. Tonight, I’ll host. Let’s call Huang Zhongsheng, Wang Xuchao, Wang Man, Hu Xiangqian, Lao Nan, and the others. We’ll get together.”

“And Chu Menghan’s back too—we should properly reintroduce her to everyone.”

Chu Menghan glanced at him.

“You’re definitely getting treated tonight—let’s go to Shangri-La.”

Director Liu froze.

“You brat, do you know how much I earn? After family expenses, I barely have anything left. You’re trying to drain me dry?”

“At most, we go to that seaside food stall at Shilaoren. That’s the limit!”

Chu Menghan rolled her eyes.

“So much for your ‘clean and honest official’ image. No use saying anything—you have to bleed for this. Otherwise I’ll report your hidden stash to Aunt Hong. I’ve already seen the numbers, don’t forget~”

Director Liu blinked.

“…Alright then, we’ll go to Lao Chuan’s place. But agreed—no more than 2000. If it exceeds, you pay!”