Chapter 1523 - Work Discussion

The compound, lavishly lit by standards that would be considered extravagant in this timeline, was clearly an Australian installation. Yet at the gate there was neither the usual long white-on-black signboard nor a Garrison Battalion sentry—just a tightly closed gate.

Zuo Yamei climbed the steps and tugged the cord beside the gate. The small hatch in the door opened immediately. She passed her entry permit through.

A few minutes later, the gate opened. Zuo Yamei lightly hopped inside.

This had once been a wealthy household's compound. The front courtyard was small; the inverted reception rooms and side wings had been converted into offices, each with a signboard by the door—hard to read in the lamplight. At this hour the office doors were closed, but light shone through the windows, indicating people still working inside.

The guard who had opened the gate had vanished. In the courtyard stood a young woman waiting for her. Though she wore the same black uniform as the police, her blue collar tabs and cap piping marked her as Political Security Bureau personnel.

"Service to the Yuan Elder Court!" The young woman smiled easily. "Good evening, Comrade Assistant."

"Service to the People! Comrade Second-Class Commander." Zuo Yamei did not dare be casual—the other wore the Political Security Bureau rank of Second-Class Commander, two grades higher than her mentor Li Yongxun.

Since she was not in uniform, neither saluted.

"If you have a moment, I'd like to take a few minutes of your time. Let's talk inside." The young woman spoke.

"Of course." Zuo Yamei nodded. She had received notice at work today—a discussion with the Political Security Bureau was not something one could refuse.

One of the front courtyard's side rooms served as a temporary storage area. Under the gas lamp, it was filled with standardized packing crates labeled with classification codes. The young woman closed the door and sat on one of the crates.

"Please, have a seat."

"Thank you." Zuo Yamei thanked her, turned slightly, pressed her knees together, and sat down.

She noticed a mixture of admiration, envy, jealousy, and self-consciousness in the other's gaze—she was used to such reactions.

"My name is Ke Yun. I work for the Political Security Bureau. This is a work discussion." The young woman came straight to the point. "Today's meeting has been reported to General Affairs Section Nine. Here is the relevant documentation."

Zuo Yamei nodded and accepted the document—this was the obligatory formality. She was not entirely clear why the Political Security Bureau wanted to see her, but in the National Police, joint operations with this department were common. To facilitate coordination, the National Police had established Section Nine under General Affairs specifically to liaise between the two. Any Bureau discussion with National Police personnel had to be filed through Section Nine.

"You work in the Household Registration Division."

"Yes. I was assigned there after graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences."

"Who do you work with?"

"I haven't started working independently. My supervisor assigned me to assist Probationary Commander Li Yongxun."

"How long have you been working with her?"

"Just over a month."

"She's your roommate?"

"Yes, we share a dormitory." Zuo Yamei realized this meeting concerned Li Yongxun. Her curiosity surged: though her mentor was only a few years older, she always seemed to have something on her mind.

"What's your impression of her?"

"Nothing special..." Zuo Yamei chose her words carefully. Suddenly arousing the Political Security Bureau's interest in someone was never a good sign. "She's like any of us female officers—work, overtime, back to the dorm to sleep. Goes shopping on rest days. She doesn't seem to have any relatives or friends in Lingao."

"Has she been acting differently lately?"

"No." Zuo Yamei thought hard, then added, "She seems preoccupied."

"Has she ever mentioned anything personal to you?"

"No." Zuo Yamei shook her head. "She never talks about herself."

"How is her financial situation?"

Zuo Yamei thought a moment. "She spends freely. Loves shopping."

"Really?" Ke Yun smiled. Zuo Yamei suddenly realized the other already knew these things. "In your personal opinion, does her spending ever exceed her income?"

"Probably not." Zuo Yamei felt a jolt—could Li Yongxun have financial problems? The Australians took such things very seriously. Once discovered, even minor financial irregularities could destroy the career of someone who had been highly valued.

But was that not supposed to be the Inspectorate's jurisdiction? Since when did the Political Security Bureau handle corruption cases?

"Has she done anything recently that deviates from her normal routine?"

"I don't think so." Zuo Yamei hesitated, then suddenly remembered. "Actually, these past few evenings when there's no overtime, she often goes out—normally she rarely goes out at night. Shopping is for rest days."

"Do you know where she goes?"

"No idea. She never says. But she doesn't bring back any purchases."

"When did this unusual behavior start?" Zuo Yamei sensed Ke Yun's interest had sharpened.

"Right after that security sweep."

"You mean the recent Operation Umbrella 7?"

"Yes, that one."

"Good." Ke Yun nodded. "Were you with her during the operation?"

"No. She was in the group assigned to Heyuan Street. I was in a different group."

"Why weren't you in the same group? Isn't she your mentor?"

"We were supposed to be together. The operations command made a last-minute adjustment. I don't know why."

Ke Yun jotted a few notes, then asked: "Anything else unusual?"

"I don't think—" Zuo Yamei drew out the word. "Just normal work." Then, as if suddenly remembering, "Actually, today we went to the Summary Court to handle household registration matters—that was a bit strange."

"How so?"

"It wasn't on our work schedule—" Zuo Yamei explained that this task was usually assigned to relatively junior but already independent new officers. Yet Li Yongxun had volunteered to take her.

"...She said it was to familiarize me with the work. That's not unreasonable, of course, but I felt like she wanted to go to the Summary Court herself." Zuo Yamei continued, "Our schedule was already full. Adding this suddenly seemed odd."

Ke Yun's interest intensified. "Did she do anything there? Anything unusual, I mean."

"Nothing. Just the normal work." Zuo Yamei said. "Nothing special."

"Think carefully. Did she meet anyone at the Summary Court? Say anything? Do anything unrelated to her work?"

Zuo Yamei thought but could not recall anything different.

"You've provided very useful information," Ke Yun said at last. "Thank you for your cooperation."

"It's nothing. It's for work." Zuo Yamei, seeing the discussion was ending, exhaled in relief. She did not ask why they were inquiring about Li Yongxun.

Ke Yun closed her notebook. "Does she know you're here?"

"Of course not. That's the rule."

"Well, meeting you here is a bit inconvenient. Like burning a zither to cook a crane." Ke Yun, pleased to have a chance to show off an idiom, smiled. "But there will be more opportunities for you to cooperate with our work."

"Service to the Yuan Elder Court!"

Ke Yun took a slip of paper from her bag and handed it over. It bore a mailing address. "Starting today, you will submit a weekly activity report on Li Yongxun. If there's an emergency, you can report immediately to General Affairs Section Nine, and we will contact you at once. Understood?"

Zuo Yamei took the slip, somewhat nervously. "Yes, I understand."

"Mail the reports to this address." Ke Yun said. "Until we notify you that the assignment is lifted."

"I will report on time."

Long after Ke Yun left the storage room, Zuo Yamei was still reeling: Li Yongxun had been placed on the Political Security Bureau's suspicious persons list. The shock was immense. Since joining the National Police, she had always seen Li Yongxun as meticulous and capable—an excellent supervisor. Moreover, she had served the Yuan Elder Court for years; loyal and reliable was assumed.

"Yamei! Why are you still in here? It's about to start!" Another girl appeared in the doorway, dressed identically to Zuo Yamei. "You'll be late."

Zuo Yamei hurried to her feet and followed the girl toward the main courtyard.

Passing through the ornamental gate, they entered the main courtyard—a large space that had been thoroughly renovated, blending Chinese and Western styles. The three bays of the main hall had become a two-story building—the ground-floor walls were still the original gray brick. The side wings, too, had been transformed into larger, taller modern structures. The courtyard had no trees or flowers, only various tall and short frames; the ground was smoothed with a mix of yellow sand and lime.

All the buildings used full-frame construction—brick pillars and iron trusses formed the structural skeleton; the exterior walls held enormous glass windows. Since Lingao could not yet produce modern large-pane tempered glass, the windows were made of multiple smaller panes fitted together in a lattice pattern.

As a worldly graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences, Zuo Yamei was not fazed by any of this. Standing in the courtyard, she could faintly hear piano music and singing, muffled. All the windows were draped with thick blackout curtains, but the open door let bright light spill out.

The girl who had summoned her had already gone inside. Zuo Yamei had been here before. Hearing the music drawing to a close, she knew assembly time was almost upon her. She broke into a light jog, bounded up the steps, and went in.

The door clicked shut behind her.