Chen Shi woke the strange man up. "Wake up. What happened to Xu Xiaodong? Where is he?"

The man regained consciousness and said with difficulty, "He... was caught as an undercover cop... We were drugged..."

"Where is he?!"

"I don't know."

Lin Dongxue asked Chen Shi to send the man to the hospital. Everyone else, including Peng Sijue, went out to search for him. The location that Xu Xiaodong sent when he last contacted them was a KTV. They used it as the central point and looked around the areas surrounding it.

The police officers searched anxiously through the streets big or small. As time ticked away, Chen Shi called. "I’m coming over now."

Lin Dongxue gave Chen Shi the address, then looked up to find a man across the street taking a photo of her with his phone before fleeing.

Lin Dongxue felt that it was a bit suspicious, so she informed everyone through the radio, “Are there people secretly taking photos of you guys?”

"It seemed like someone just took a picture of me.”

"Same here."

"Me too."

Almost everyone felt like they were being spied on. Lin Dongxue felt like she stepped into a trap. She was a little scared. This was the first time she was leading the task force. If something were to happen or if a colleague were to get hurt, how would she be able to face Lin Qiupu and everyone on her team?

Someone exclaimed over the radio, "Found him! He’s at a bus station!"

In the waiting room of a bus station, passengers passed by a person sleeping on the chairs and snickered. "Is this a madman?", "Emo?", "Their style is way too strange."

Xu Xiaodong was sleeping heavily on the seat but his appearance was a bit difficult to describe.

Xu Xiaodong dreamed that he was standing on an isolated island in the sea. The noisy voices around him were transformed into the sound of surging sea tides. Someone in the sea suddenly called out his name. It seemed to be Little Li’s voice.

The dream put the external stimulus into the dream, and Little Li became a mermaid who kept calling him from the sea.

The voice grew louder and louder until he finally woke up. Little Li was shaking him as he was still trying to regain consciousness. She cried with happiness when Xu Xiaodong woke up. “How did it come to this?”

Xu Xiaodong felt some numbness in his body. He wasn’t sure if it was the side-effects of the drugs or because of his sleeping position.

He said, "I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

"Fine? Take a look at yourself!”

Little Li took out her mobile phone and opened the front camera for him to use as a mirror. Xu Xiaodong looked at himself and his eyes widened. His original handsome hair was shaved into a yin-yang head[1]. The left side of his head was bare and exposed.

All the people passing by were laughing at him and Xu Xiaodong blushed in embarrassment.

There was a crowd of footsteps that came over in succession. Those who came didn’t know what to say after seeing Xu Xiaodaong okay but with a new hairstyle.

"It's good that you’re okay." Lin Dongxue breathed a long sigh of relief. The stone had finally landed on the ground[2]. "Let's go back."

Xu Xiaodong wailed, "My haircut is so disgusting right now. I have to go to the barber first.”

Little Li wiped her tears and said, "I will accompany you!"

Lin Dongxue said, "Okay, we’ll meet up at the bureau later.”

When everyone left, Xu Xiaodong saw Little Li with tears on her face and felt touched. "I just dreamed about you. You became a mermaid-"

As they were heading back to the bureau, Lin Dongxue informed Chen Shi. "We’ve found him, and nothing’s happened. The gangsters only humiliated him a bit and gave him a yin-yang head. It’s getting late, so you should head home quickly. Tao Yueyue should be hungry by now.”

"Then I’ll withdraw first. Don’t do too much overtime… That man is now at the Hospital Affiliated with the University of Medical Sciences. His little finger is gone but it’s not too serious.”

"Well, just head back home for now, and we’ll reimburse you for the medical expenses later."

Xu Xiaodong came back with his full head shaved. He was thirsty and hungry. He started to talk about his experience after eating a large bowl of noodles.

He had intended to sneak into the group of people who committed insurance fraud, waiting for the opportunity to contact the mastermind. Upon the informant Ah Meng’s suggestion, he got ready to participate in the drug party that night.

"Don't misunderstand, I didn’t take drugs."

Ah Meng thought of a trick using grinded vitamin tablets to pretend to be drugs. Xu Xiaodong thought that everything would go as planned but didn’t expect to be caught on the spot. Ah Meng ran to him and warned, "Someone is here to give you trouble. Let’s run for it!"

So he and Ah Meng jumped out of the window to escape. Ah Meng fell on his foot and hurt it. Xu Xiaodong carried him away and the two fled into a safe house. Xu Xiaodong prepared to contact the bureau but found that the radio was lost on the way during his escape. His phone also ran out of battery.

Ah Meng said that the gang was still outside and that they should wait until the next morning to run to the public security bureau, so they slept in the safe house that night.

He didn’t think that as soon as he woke up, his face would be covered with a handkerchief and chloroform. When he opened his eyes again, he was already at the bus station.

Lin Dongxue said, "The man who reported the case with his finger cut was your informant?”

"What? He had his finger cut? Is it serious?"

"He had his pinky finger cut off. He’s been taken to the hospital already.”

Xu Xiaodong slammed on the table. "This brother is really loyal. If he didn't report it in time, I would have no face tomorrow!" He pointed to his head.

Peng Sijue said coldly, "You’re still in the mood to make jokes? They only didn’t do anything because you were a policeman. Since they could shave your hair, they could have cut your throat or injected you with drugs. This is not humiliation, it’s a threat.”

"They’re publicly provoking the police!" Lin Dongxue said indignantly.

Xu Xiaodong felt scared all of a sudden became pale.

Peng Sijue left for a while, then came back with a pill and a straw. He said, “Show us how you did it.”

"There’s no need for that, right?"

"We need to see how you messed up."

Xu Xiaodong understood, so he used a teacup to crush the tablet and grind it down. He said, “At the time, I wrapped it in paper and put it in my pockets. When they took the drugs, they used cards to cut the white powder into strips. Ah Meng and I took this opportunity to get a drink, swapping the real and fake powders. Nobody found out though.”

"Please start your performance." Lin Dongxue urged.

Xu Xiaodong sucked the medicine powder into his nose with a straw, then rubbed his nose. Then, he made an expression like he was going to sneeze. He said to Little Li next to him, "Damn, these goods are the bomb!” Little Li covered her mouth and laughed.

"Not bad. How did you get exposed?" Lin Dongxue asked, "What happened after that?"

"The guys continued sucking on some powder, so they were high like idiots. It would have been impossible for them to find out.”

“Would it be your informant who betrayed you?”

"Impossible!" Xu Xiaodong rebutted loudly. "He’s my classmate. I have known him for many years. If he betrayed me, why would he get his finger cut then?"

"Maybe it's just part of the plan!" speculated Peng Sijue.

There was a cry of resentment down the hallway, "Let me go out! Let me go!"

Lin Dongxue was surprised, then slapped her hand on her face with annoyance. "Damn, the kid named Zhang is still in the interrogation room!"

1. Half his head was shaved bald. Half was left alone.

2. Expression where the thing you’re worrying about has landed, so the thing that was pressing down (burdening) the heart has elevated away from their hearts.