Special District 9 Chapter 14: Old Ma

The following morning.

A sudden phone call at six woke Old Cat up, and he immediately rushed over to the Police Bureau to handle some matters. So, there was only Qin Yu in the house at the moment.

Just as he was wondering what cheap food he could get for breakfast, Lin Nianlei suddenly delivered a bag of hot fried dough stick to him.

“I just bought it. You can have them,” Lin Nianlei shouted as she hung the bag around the doorknob.

“Aiyo, you don’t need to do this.” Qin Yu, who was washing up at the moment, was pleasantly surprised.

“It’s nothing. Neighbors should help one another, right?” Lin Nianlei was thanking him for the hot water last night. With a smile, she said, “I’ll be heading to work now.”

“So early?”

“We have an outdoor event today, so I need to arrive earlier to prepare the equipment,” Lin Nianlei replied with a beautiful smile. “See you tonight then.”

“See you tonight.”

“Byebye, my fellow sister!” Lin Nianlei said as she left while holding her bag.

Qin Yu was slightly taken aback by the last few words. “Sister? What does she mean by that? Is she taking me to be a 0…?!”

Five minutes later.

Lin Nianlei met a female colleague at the entrance of her workplace, and while rushing toward the set with the latter, she started gossiping excitedly, “Hey, there’s a hot guy who lives in the same residence as me… and I just found out yesterday that he could be gay!”

“Are you serious?”

“It’s pretty much confirmed. I saw it with my own eyes!”

“Oh my god. That’s such a pity!”

“…!”

…

After eating the breakfast Lin Nianlei sent over, he quickly packed up his stuff before heading to the Police Bureau.

As Songjiang City hadn’t been established for too long, and resources were severely lacking in this world, transportation was extremely inconvenient over here. There was no public transport, and taxis were even rarer. Most people had to rely on their own two feet to get them to work. Some would use electronic vehicles too, but as electricity was rather expensive, those who could afford it were mostly those who had stable jobs or were in leadership positions in their organizations.

Qin Yu was quite thrifty, and he was saving up his money to fulfill some of his other goals, so he didn’t buy an electronic vehicle. It was possible to use the police vehicle outside of official use too, but one would have to bear the exorbitant cost of fuel too. So, he could only walk to the Police Bureau.

Roughly five minutes later, just as Qin Yu was going to head to the convenience shop to see if they sold any e-cigarette cartridges, he suddenly found two bulky men flanking him from the left and the right.

Looking at their posture, Qin Yu subconsciously took a step back as he moved his right hand over to his waist, feigning as if he was going to take out a gun. But in truth, his pistol wasn’t with him at the moment.

“I don’t mean any ill will. We just want to talk with you,” the leader of the two said.

Qin Yu was silent for a few seconds before he asked, “Who are you?”

“You don’t need to know who we are. You just need to recognize what this is,” the leader lifted his clothes slightly and revealed the gun on his waist.

Qin Yu looked at them with a cold look, not moving at all.

The leader lifted the safety engagement notch of his gun as he asked once more, “Can we have a talk?”

Qin Yu swiftly thought about the people whom he had offended after arriving at Songjiang before nodding, “Let’s go then.”

…

A few minutes later, in an alley…

Four middle-aged men were standing around Qin Yu while an old man was seated on top of an electronic jeep, not getting down at all.

Qin Yu assessed them carefully and found that they were dressed quite humbly. They were wearing extremely thick leather jackets and a woolly hat. Their faces looked a little dirty, marred with grease.

In this environment, Qin Yu was not afraid of those supposed ‘powerful figures’ who wore extravagantly and spoke with a refined voice, but he was a little fearful of those who came from unknown backgrounds and spoke uncouthly.

He was feeling a little nervous at the moment because these people reminded him of Matsushita, whom he had killed a few days back.

“You were the one who captured Ma Lao-er and Damin?” the old man seated in the electronic jeep wrapped his coat around him as he asked.

The reason why Qin Yu didn’t choose to fight back but to follow those two over here was because he had guessed that they were here for that case. He hadn’t offended too many people after arriving here at Songjiang. Ol’ Three was one of them, but their relationship wasn’t so bad that he would go this far for him.

If so, only two types of people would approach him⁠—those who wanted to do business and those who wanted to get a person out. If that was the case, Qin Yu didn’t think that there was any need for him to put himself at risk.

He hesitated for a moment before replying, “I’m the one who captured them.”

“My surname is Ma, and I’m Ma Lao-er’s First Uncle,” the old man replied as he took out a traditional cigarette and lit it up with a lighter.

Qin Yu blinked his eyes, and his expression immediately became respectful and subservient, “Ah, nice to meet you, Boss Ma.”

The old man looked at Qin Yu, and with a hoarse voice, he asked, “Little friend, you just arrived in Songjiang?”

“Yes, I just arrived not too long ago. I spent some money to get this job,” Qin Yu replied honestly. “I’m still trying to settle in, so I can only do my best to follow orders.”

“You have quite some connections. It hasn’t been long since you arrived, but you are already a squad leader?” Old Ma took a puff of the cigarette as he asked.

“That’s not so,” Qin Yu replied with a wry smile. “I was just a little lucky. I stumbled upon a major case and solved it. Superintendent Li was pleased with the results, so he promoted me.”

Old Ma exhaled the smoke for a moment before speaking once more, “Little friend, the case is in your hands. Sell me a favor and find a way to release those two.”

“This…” Qin Yu looked at Old Ma with a conflicted look on his face. “I don’t think I can do it.”

“I won’t make you do it for nothing.”

Old Ma gestured to the bulky man standing beside Qin Yu, and the bulky man took out 20,000 Asian Dollars from his pockets and handed it over, “Take it.”

“This doesn’t seem too good…” Qin Yu replied timidly.

“If you don’t want the money, you can choose the bullet too,” the bulky man replied coldly. “Which one do you want?”

Beads of sweat were forming on Qin Yu’s forehead. His instincts were telling him that if this bunch of people wasn’t happy with his answer, they really wouldn’t hesitate to kill him.

“Little friend, you were the one who led your team to handle this case. If you just withdraw a few pieces of evidence, wouldn’t you be able to release those two men of mine easily?” Old Ma said with a smile. “In this era, I have seen those who talk about food, survival, and power, but I have never seen anyone talking about morals and principles. You might not necessarily be able to work as a policeman for too long, but with money in your hand, you can do whatever you want to.”

Hearing those words, Qin Yu touched the 20,000 Asian Dollars worth of notes in the bulky man’s hand before replying humbly, “Boss Ma, I’ll be completely honest with you. I would love more than anything to take your money and help you. 20,000 is more than enough for me to buy a couple of promotions and marry a few wives, but… this matter is really more complicated than it seems.”

Old Ma didn’t reply.

“My superior promoted me and specifically instructed me to solve this case by hook or by crook,” Qin Yu explained. “If I haven’t brought them back to the Police Bureau yet, I would have released them right away even without the 20,000 dollars. But I have already brought them back and finished all of the procedures. If I release them so abruptly, I would be openly defying my superior and making light of the law. Boss Ma, I have been struggling in the Development District for many years now, and it wasn’t easy for me to get to where I am. I can’t afford to offend my superiors… So, I really cannot help you with this matter…”

“Bloody hell, we are giving you a way out but you just don’t know how to reciprocate, huh?”

The bulky on the right took out a Nepali knife, and with a sweep of his hand, he moved to slit Qin Yu’s neck.

His movements were very fast, causing a gust of wind to blow toward Qin Yu.

For those who are familiar with the concept of top and bottom, 0 basically means bottom.