Zhao Qiguang and Xie Dong both took note of the expression on Rong Qian’s face. Xie Dong in particular narrowed his eyes and looked at her anew, reassessing her.

“Officer Rong, you just said you’d heard his name before, but never had the chance to meet him in person. I’d like to ask—when exactly did you have the chance to meet Thomas?” Xie Dong’s tone was now completely that of someone interrogating a suspect.

Rong Qian was startled for a moment, then began playing dumb. “Did I? Did I say that?”

“You did. You said it.” Xie Dong didn’t allow her to dispute it.

Rong Qian waved a hand dismissively. “I probably just misspoke in the heat of the moment.”

“Heat of the moment? Fine then, let me ask you—why was your reaction so strong?” Xie Dong wasn’t fazed at all. Having latched onto this one point, he pressed relentlessly.

Rong Qian suddenly realized that trying to deceive her own colleagues and bluff her way through was a foolish thing to do.

Rong Qian said calmly, “Don’t question me in that tone. I’m not hiding anything from you. The reason I know about Thomas is because it’s connected to a case I was previously in charge of.”

“Which case?” Zhao Qiguang cut in to ask.

Rong Qian answered him, “The case that just closed a couple of days ago—the body that had been buried underground for over thirty years after a mudslide. During my investigation, I came across someone named Shen Yi, and Thomas is connected to this Shen Yi.”

“Shen Yi?” Xie Dong flipped through the files and found that the name Shen Yi wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the entire case record. He asked, “Who is this Shen Yi?”

“He passed away over thirty years ago. Anyway, the reason I know about this Thomas is because he had dealings with this Shen Yi—that’s why my reaction was so strong just now when I heard the name.” Rong Qian was essentially being honest now—except, of course, for hiding the matter of time travel.

After all, that would sound far too absurd to say out loud, and would be very hard for anyone to believe.

Xie Dong indicated he understood and didn’t press further on this point. He said to Rong Qian, “This Thomas fled to Canada. A few years back we heard he had died, but recently we’ve gotten word of him again, so the news of his death was probably false.”

Xie Dong paused for a moment as he spoke, then looked up at her and said, “In other words, the reason that gang of fugitives targeted you is because someone has put out a bounty on your life.”

The phrase “a bounty on your life” landed on her heavily, ringing in her ears like thunder, and it kept echoing through Rong Qian’s mind, refusing to fade.

Rong Qian was truly shaken. Someone had put a bounty on her life—who was this person? And why would they want to kill her? Could it be to stop her, to prevent her from going to save Shen Yi?

The moment this thought crossed her mind, Rong Qian suddenly woke up as if from a dream!

So that was it—this was the reason behind the series of attacks she had suffered!

But then another question arose—who exactly wanted to stop her? And how could they possibly know about her time travel?

Rong Qian couldn’t figure it out—there were far too few clues available right now.

To make further progress, she would have to start with this Thomas. With that thought, Rong Qian said to Xie Dong, “Since someone wants my life, then let me be the bait.”

“What do you mean by that?” Xie Dong frowned.

Rong Qian explained, “That gang of fugitives has already taken the money, so as long as they’re still on the run, they won’t pass up a chance to kill me.”

Rong Qian briefly explained her plan to them: she wanted the police to temporarily halt their pursuit operation, so as to make the fugitives let their guard down.

And then she would deliberately make herself appear somewhere near them, prompting them to come find her on their own.

“This is the only way to lure them out. Just let me give it a try.”

Just as Rong Qian had said, this was the best option available at the moment, but Xie Dong was still somewhat hesitant. “This is no small decision. Given your special status, we’ll need to discuss it among ourselves.”

“What’s so special about it? Shouldn’t the bureau chief’s daughter be even more obligated to lead by example? As for my father, I’ll go talk to him myself.” Rong Qian knew exactly what they were worried about, and this was precisely the thing she least wanted to encounter.

In the end, Xie Dong still said that he would go back to the bureau and report this to his superiors—the specifics would have to wait for the outcome of that discussion.

Rong Qian knew that once they started discussing it, another two days would be wasted, but there was nothing she could do to stop that—she could only agree.

That evening when she got home, Rong Qian told her parents about this. Before Father Rong could say anything, Mother Rong had already jumped to her feet in agitation and rejected it outright: “No! Absolutely not! I will never agree to this!”

Father Rong, however, remained quite calm. He lit a cigarette, took a drag, and told Mother Rong to go inside first—he wanted to have a talk with their daughter.

Before leaving, Mother Rong repeatedly insisted: their daughter absolutely could not be allowed to go!

Only after Mother Rong had gone inside did Father Rong stub out his cigarette in the ashtray. His usual smiling expression was gone—his face now was deep and grave.

Rong Qian lowered her voice and said to him, “Dad, with Mom there earlier it wasn’t convenient to say this, but me acting as bait isn’t out of some reckless passion, and it’s not for any kind of reputation either—it’s because someone has hired them to come take my life.”

“Could it really be a case of the sins of the father falling upon the child?” Father Rong suddenly said this.

Rong Qian was confused. “What do you mean?”

Father Rong said slowly, “Thomas—I know him.”

Rong Qian was startled. Her father knew Thomas too?

Father Rong said in a deep voice, “When I was young, I had dealings with him—you could say we became enemies. So when I heard what you said just now, I suspected that he’s doing this to take revenge on me.”

This was completely unexpected for Rong Qian—she hadn’t imagined there would be such a surprising revelation.

Rong Qian suddenly thought of something and quickly asked him, “Dad, do you know Shen Yi, then?”

Father Rong nodded. “I know him.”

“But when I asked you before, you said you knew nothing at all!” Rong Qian immediately accused him.

But Father Rong said, “What you asked about before was Wei Long. You never mentioned Shen Yi.”

“What’s the difference?” Rong Qian was now seriously suspecting that her father had been deliberately keeping things from her!

But Father Rong said in all seriousness, “Of course there’s a difference. They’re different names, aren’t they.”

Rong Qian: “…”

“Alright, I won’t beat around the bush with you anymore.” Father Rong, mindful of where to draw the line, said to Rong Qian, “That was over thirty years ago. Back then I was just a rookie cop who’d just started out, barely twenty years old, young and green—”

“Dad, get to the point.” Rong Qian cut him off promptly.

Father Rong nodded. “Alright, getting to the point.” Then, he stared intently at her without blinking.

“Dad, why are you staring at me like that?” Rong Qian felt utterly uncomfortable—his gaze was very strange.

But very soon, Rong Qian would understand why he was looking at her this way—because his next words were: “When I was young, I met you.”

In that instant, Rong Qian felt as if she’d been struck by lightning—her entire body turned to stone. Her father had met her?

Didn’t that mean that when she traveled back in time again, she would also encounter her own father? Rong Qian suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of unreality—this was even more bizarre than meeting Shen Yi!

Chapter 50: When I Was Young, I Met You

Zhao Qiguang and Xie Dong both took note of the expression on Rong Qian’s face. Xie Dong in particular narrowed his eyes and looked at her anew, reassessing her.

“Officer Rong, you just said you’d heard his name before, but never had the chance to meet him in person. I’d like to ask—when exactly did you have the chance to meet Thomas?” Xie Dong’s tone was now completely that of someone interrogating a suspect.

Rong Qian was startled for a moment, then began playing dumb. “Did I? Did I say that?”

“You did. You said it.” Xie Dong didn’t allow her to dispute it.

Rong Qian waved a hand dismissively. “I probably just misspoke in the heat of the moment.”

“Heat of the moment? Fine then, let me ask you—why was your reaction so strong?” Xie Dong wasn’t fazed at all. Having latched onto this one point, he pressed relentlessly.

Rong Qian suddenly realized that trying to deceive her own colleagues and bluff her way through was a foolish thing to do.

Rong Qian said calmly, “Don’t question me in that tone. I’m not hiding anything from you. The reason I know about Thomas is because it’s connected to a case I was previously in charge of.”

“Which case?” Zhao Qiguang cut in to ask.

Rong Qian answered him, “The case that just closed a couple of days ago—the body that had been buried underground for over thirty years after a mudslide. During my investigation, I came across someone named Shen Yi, and Thomas is connected to this Shen Yi.”

“Shen Yi?” Xie Dong flipped through the files and found that the name Shen Yi wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the entire case record. He asked, “Who is this Shen Yi?”

“He passed away over thirty years ago. Anyway, the reason I know about this Thomas is because he had dealings with this Shen Yi—that’s why my reaction was so strong just now when I heard the name.” Rong Qian was essentially being honest now—except, of course, for hiding the matter of time travel.

After all, that would sound far too absurd to say out loud, and would be very hard for anyone to believe.

Xie Dong indicated he understood and didn’t press further on this point. He said to Rong Qian, “This Thomas fled to Canada. A few years back we heard he had died, but recently we’ve gotten word of him again, so the news of his death was probably false.”

Xie Dong paused for a moment as he spoke, then looked up at her and said, “In other words, the reason that gang of fugitives targeted you is because someone has put out a bounty on your life.”

The phrase “a bounty on your life” landed on her heavily, ringing in her ears like thunder, and it kept echoing through Rong Qian’s mind, refusing to fade.

Rong Qian was truly shaken. Someone had put a bounty on her life—who was this person? And why would they want to kill her? Could it be to stop her, to prevent her from going to save Shen Yi?

The moment this thought crossed her mind, Rong Qian suddenly woke up as if from a dream!

So that was it—this was the reason behind the series of attacks she had suffered!

But then another question arose—who exactly wanted to stop her? And how could they possibly know about her time travel?

Rong Qian couldn’t figure it out—there were far too few clues available right now.

To make further progress, she would have to start with this Thomas. With that thought, Rong Qian said to Xie Dong, “Since someone wants my life, then let me be the bait.”

“What do you mean by that?” Xie Dong frowned.

Rong Qian explained, “That gang of fugitives has already taken the money, so as long as they’re still on the run, they won’t pass up a chance to kill me.”

Rong Qian briefly explained her plan to them: she wanted the police to temporarily halt their pursuit operation, so as to make the fugitives let their guard down.

And then she would deliberately make herself appear somewhere near them, prompting them to come find her on their own.

“This is the only way to lure them out. Just let me give it a try.”

Just as Rong Qian had said, this was the best option available at the moment, but Xie Dong was still somewhat hesitant. “This is no small decision. Given your special status, we’ll need to discuss it among ourselves.”

“What’s so special about it? Shouldn’t the bureau chief’s daughter be even more obligated to lead by example? As for my father, I’ll go talk to him myself.” Rong Qian knew exactly what they were worried about, and this was precisely the thing she least wanted to encounter.

In the end, Xie Dong still said that he would go back to the bureau and report this to his superiors—the specifics would have to wait for the outcome of that discussion.

Rong Qian knew that once they started discussing it, another two days would be wasted, but there was nothing she could do to stop that—she could only agree.

That evening when she got home, Rong Qian told her parents about this. Before Father Rong could say anything, Mother Rong had already jumped to her feet in agitation and rejected it outright: “No! Absolutely not! I will never agree to this!”

Father Rong, however, remained quite calm. He lit a cigarette, took a drag, and told Mother Rong to go inside first—he wanted to have a talk with their daughter.

Before leaving, Mother Rong repeatedly insisted: their daughter absolutely could not be allowed to go!

Only after Mother Rong had gone inside did Father Rong stub out his cigarette in the ashtray. His usual smiling expression was gone—his face now was deep and grave.

Rong Qian lowered her voice and said to him, “Dad, with Mom there earlier it wasn’t convenient to say this, but me acting as bait isn’t out of some reckless passion, and it’s not for any kind of reputation either—it’s because someone has hired them to come take my life.”

“Could it really be a case of the sins of the father falling upon the child?” Father Rong suddenly said this.

Rong Qian was confused. “What do you mean?”

Father Rong said slowly, “Thomas—I know him.”

Rong Qian was startled. Her father knew Thomas too?

Father Rong said in a deep voice, “When I was young, I had dealings with him—you could say we became enemies. So when I heard what you said just now, I suspected that he’s doing this to take revenge on me.”

This was completely unexpected for Rong Qian—she hadn’t imagined there would be such a surprising revelation.

Rong Qian suddenly thought of something and quickly asked him, “Dad, do you know Shen Yi, then?”

Father Rong nodded. “I know him.”

“But when I asked you before, you said you knew nothing at all!” Rong Qian immediately accused him.

But Father Rong said, “What you asked about before was Wei Long. You never mentioned Shen Yi.”

“What’s the difference?” Rong Qian was now seriously suspecting that her father had been deliberately keeping things from her!

But Father Rong said in all seriousness, “Of course there’s a difference. They’re different names, aren’t they.”

Rong Qian: “…”

“Alright, I won’t beat around the bush with you anymore.” Father Rong, mindful of where to draw the line, said to Rong Qian, “That was over thirty years ago. Back then I was just a rookie cop who’d just started out, barely twenty years old, young and green—”

“Dad, get to the point.” Rong Qian cut him off promptly.

Father Rong nodded. “Alright, getting to the point.” Then, he stared intently at her without blinking.

“Dad, why are you staring at me like that?” Rong Qian felt utterly uncomfortable—his gaze was very strange.

But very soon, Rong Qian would understand why he was looking at her this way—because his next words were: “When I was young, I met you.”

In that instant, Rong Qian felt as if she’d been struck by lightning—her entire body turned to stone. Her father had met her?

Didn’t that mean that when she traveled back in time again, she would also encounter her own father? Rong Qian suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of unreality—this was even more bizarre than meeting Shen Yi!