32: Chapter 32 Gunshots Echoing Through the Night

Cao Ye's family was extremely enthusiastic about Su Ye's arrival, preparing a full eight dishes.

At the dining table, Cao Ye raised his glass and introduced him to Su Ye: "Ye-zi, this is your sister-in-law, Wang Wen."

Then he turned to Wang Wen and said: "This is my best brother, Little Su."

Wang Wen smiled somewhat reservedly and said: "Little Su, I really have to thank you for helping our Old Cao with such a big favor before. Otherwise..."

Seeing the gratitude in Wang Wen's eyes, Su Ye waved his hands quickly and said: "Sister-in-law, I just happened to be there and helped Brother Cao with a small favor. You are being too polite; you're not treating me like one of your own."

Seeing Su Ye's mischievous expression, Wang Wen and Cao Ye couldn't help but laugh: "Alright, Little Su is not an outsider, so let's stop saying such polite things. Come, let's raise our glasses to welcome Little Su to our home."

Seeing Cao Ye raise his glass, Su Ye and Wang Wen quickly followed suit. At this moment, Little Mengmeng also hurriedly stood on her high chair, holding her yogurt with her two fair, chubby little hands, and shouted in a milky voice: "Cheers!!!"

By the time Su Ye left Cao Ye's home, it was already nine o'clock in the evening. He was quite satisfied with his performance this time. Thanks to the system's optimization and his own training, he had successfully drunk Cao Ye under the table, while he himself only felt about fifty percent tipsy. One has to realize that the two of them had been drinking 500ml bottles of Wuliangye, and each of them had finished two bottles.

After the designated driver brought his car to the underground parking lot, Su Ye returned home in a slightly dazed state. After a quick wash, he collapsed onto his bed and drifted off into dreamland.

The next day, Su Ye did nothing but go to an outdoor supply store to buy a collapsible three-section staff. He found a place to test it out, and with a full-force swing, a branch as thick as a forearm was snapped directly in two by the staff. Once he got interested, Su Ye didn't stop until he had wrecked over a dozen trees.

On the evening of July 13th at exactly nine o'clock, in the open space in front of the Wuhou Police Branch, a full forty elite police officers from the Wuhou and Gaoxin District branches stood in straight lines, fully armed, with an invisible sense of pressure permeating the surroundings.

Yan Zheng and Deputy Bureau Chief Chang Le were standing at the very front of the formation, both with solemn expressions. Yan Zheng said in a hoarse and sharp voice: "Everyone, this month our Gaoxin District branch, in conjunction with the Wuhou Police Branch, has jointly discovered a group of drug traffickers who smuggled themselves from the Yunnan border into our Chengdu to conduct transit transactions. According to reliable intelligence, they will be conducting a transaction tonight. As People's Police, it is our duty to eliminate evil. Can we tolerate crimes happening right under our noses?"

The forty police officers roared in unison: "No!"

Deputy Bureau Chief Chang Le stepped forward and said: "According to reliable information, this drug transaction involves a full twenty kilograms, a rare and major case. This is a contempt for the Chengdu police, a disgrace. If we let them succeed or escape the sanctions of the law, needless to say, we will all be firmly nailed to the pillar of shame in history. Can you allow such a situation to occur?"

The roar grew three times louder: "No!!!"

Deputy Bureau Chief Chang Le and Yan Zheng exchanged a glance and then said: "Good! The code name for this operation is 713. Everyone, hand over your communication devices, board the vehicles, and depart for the designated location immediately. Be aware that these drug traffickers are ruthless and vicious; we cannot rule out the possibility that they may have firearms. Everyone must be on high alert."

The officers below quickly placed their mobile phones into a plastic basket in front of them and then promptly boarded their respective police vehicles.

"Weewoo! Weewoo! Weewoo!" A total of seven police cars activated the sirens on their roofs, filing out from the gate of the Wuhou Police Branch and disappearing into the dead of night.

The Jinxing Hotel—though it's called a hotel, it's actually just a small inn. It only changed its name to "hotel" to cater to the current era, but even with the name change, its interior decoration is no different from an inn from the early 2000s, with wall plaster peeling off in many places.

If this hotel were located in a bustling downtown area, it naturally wouldn't have much business. However, in this location on Airport Road 4, business is surprisingly decent. This is because it is not far from Shuangliu Airport, and there are many migrant workers working on nearby construction sites. The cheap prices of the Jinxing Hotel are naturally the first choice for many people looking for a temporary place to rest or needing to satisfy their physiological needs.

However, at this moment, a full five various private cars were parked in inconspicuous corners around the Jinxing Hotel. In each car, there were two plainclothes police officers, keeping a close watch on all surrounding passages. And Yan Zheng and Deputy Bureau Chief Chang Le were currently in a private car located at the back kitchen area of the Jinxing Hotel.

A voice came through the walkie-talkie at this moment: "Deputy Bureau Chief Chang Le, Bureau Chief Yan, the mouse has entered the hole."

Yan Zheng and Deputy Bureau Chief Chang Le exchanged a glance, then looked at their watches and said: "Synchronize watches now. It is 11:10. In five minutes, at 11:15, we act. We must catch them with the stolen goods; we cannot give the drug traffickers time to destroy the drugs."

"The first and second teams will breach from the front door, the third team will enter from the back door, the fourth team will breach from the kitchen's back door, and the traffic police brigade will seal off the surrounding roads. Is that clear? I'll remind you one more time: the drug traffickers may be in possession of firearms. If there is a threat to life, neutralize the dangerous elements immediately."

"Team One received." "Team Two received." "..."

The hour hand ticked away on the watch face. Even the battle-hardened Deputy Bureau Chief Chang Le and Yan Zheng couldn't help but feel a hint of nervousness. After all, this wasn't about cooking a meal; it was a real, face-to-face fight against vicious drug traffickers.

In the blink of an eye, the time reached 11:15. Two teams of twenty people appeared from both sides of the hotel and quickly breached the interior. Five people were left to guard the lobby, and the remaining people were divided into two teams to breach from the elevator and the fire escape on the side. Behind Yan Zheng and Deputy Bureau Chief Chang Le, ten police officers also appeared, breaching the hotel interior from the back kitchen.

Several minutes passed. Suddenly, a commotion and shouting came from the third floor of the hotel, attracting the surrounding residents to poke their heads out to look at the hotel. When they saw the police officers blocking the street, they hurriedly retreated and hid behind their windows to observe quietly.

"Bang! Bang, bang, bang!!!" Several gunshots rang out across the quiet night sky. Yan Zheng and Deputy Bureau Chief Chang Le's expressions changed; they hadn't expected these drug traffickers to actually possess firearms.

Deputy Bureau Chief Chang Le quickly got out of the car, drew his service weapon, and said: "Old Yan, you stay here and keep watch. I'm going up to take a look."

Without waiting for Yan Zheng to respond, he disappeared from Yan Zheng's sight.

Yan Zheng had no choice. It wouldn't do for both on-site leaders to rush to the front line; someone had to remain behind to coordinate and command.

Just as Yan Zheng was secretly regretting his slow reaction earlier, "Bang! Bang," two sounds of heavy objects hitting the ground came from behind the car where Yan Zheng was located.