Hearing Qiu Tu's words, a simple, good-natured smile appeared on Fourth Master Qin's chubby face. Pulling Qiu Tu down to sit beside him, he said, "It's nothing much, really. It's just that I felt we hit it off at the banquet, Agent Qiu, and I wanted to get to know you better in private."
With that, he asked tentatively, "It's still early. Would you be interested in taking a stroll outside with me, Agent Qiu?"
Looking at Fourth Master Qin's expression and taking his line of work into account, Qiu Tu had no trouble guessing what sort of "stroll" he meant.
But he was on official business, at least on the surface, so he declined the invitation politely with a smile. "Thank you for the kind offer, Fourth Master. But I'm feeling a bit under the weather tonight. Perhaps another day?"
His smile undimmed, Fourth Master Qin said, "Of course, I understand."
Then he pointed at the young woman at his side. "Xiao Ying, what are you standing there for? Go brew Agent Qiu some tea."
At his words, she hurriedly bowed her head in acknowledgment.
A moment later, a cup of fragrant tea was set at Qiu Tu's hand.
Qiu Tu nodded his thanks, and as he sipped his tea, he went over what he knew about the Qin family's five branches in his mind.
Apart from the fifth branch, whose mother was the second wife, the other four were full siblings, born of the same mother.
The eldest branch, headed by Qin Heng, was the current head of the Qin family. His official post was Director of the Civil Affairs Department at Xinjie City Hall, where he oversaw household registration and statistics, social assistance, social welfare, and related work.
He was a man of great standing throughout Xinjie City, ranked second only to the three big bosses, Yan Chen among them.
The second branch, Qin Zhengguang, was the Qin family's openly acknowledged number two. His official post was deputy chief of the Public Security Division at the Xinjie City Investigation Bureau, where he oversaw public security across the city. He was a man of real power within the Bureau.
The reason Old Master Qin had cultivated a private friendship with Yan Chen during his lifetime was to smooth the way for him.
The third branch, Qin Shu, was the third of the five Qin brothers. Unlike his two elder brothers, he had not gone into politics but into business. He presided over all of the Qin family's openly conducted commercial affairs, mainly in legitimate trades such as ready-made clothing, jewelry, and general merchandise.
These three brothers, together with Qin Youde—Fourth Master Qin, who was sitting beside Qiu Tu now and ran the family's gray-market business—made up the Xinjie Qin family that straddled both the legitimate and underworld sides.
As for the fifth branch, he had been spoiled rotten by Old Master Qin. His mother was only the second wife, and he was the youngest of the five. As a result, he had turned out something of a good-for-nothing. He was now a notorious playboy in Xinjie City, and had long been shut out of the Qin family's inner circle.
So even before he had set foot in the Qin residence, Qiu Tu had already picked out two breakthrough points for this mission. One of them was Fourth Master Qin.
What he hadn't expected was that before he could make any move to approach Fourth Master Qin, the man would come looking for him first. And after seeking him out, he had simply made a bit of small talk before falling completely silent.
What was he playing at?
So thinking, Qiu Tu lowered his head over his tea without betraying a thing, waiting patiently for Fourth Master Qin to speak.
If Fourth Master Qin was in no hurry, then neither was he.
Perhaps Fourth Master Qin hadn't expected Qiu Tu to be able to hold out like that. He drank three cups of tea and sat in silence for about ten minutes before he finally couldn't help speaking up.
With a genial smile, he asked, "Does Agent Qiu have some assignment this time?"
At his words, Qiu Tu, who had been counting how many tea leaves were in his cup, slowly came back to himself. Smiling too, he said, "What assignment would I have? Naturally, to make sure Miss Shu Man is safe."
Hearing this, Fourth Master Qin shook his head dismissively and raised an eyebrow. "But that's not what I heard."
Qiu Tu's interest was piqued. "Oh?" Then he looked at Fourth Master Qin with feigned curiosity. "What did you hear, Fourth Master?"
Fourth Master Qin glanced outside a couple of times, confirmed that no one was eavesdropping, and only then lowered his voice and said softly, "I heard you have a grudge against our Qin family, and that you came this time to investigate us."
This was certainly not something that could be laid out in the open, so Qiu Tu waved his hands again and again. "What kind of joke is that, Fourth Master?"
"What am I, that I could investigate the Qin family?"
"To say nothing of Director Qin Heng's standing in Xinjie City, or Deputy Chief Qin Zhengguang's power—you could crush me to death with a single finger."
"If I crossed your family, wouldn't I be terrified of ending up at the bottom of a pond on my way home one day? Hahaha."
Hearing this, Fourth Master Qin laughed "hahaha" along with him. Then, the very next second, he shifted his tack and cut straight to the point: "Which is exactly why you've moved into the Qin residence."
In that instant, Qiu Tu's expression changed, and he nearly couldn't keep up the smile.
Was this man really so steeped in underworld ways? To openly threaten a public official, just like that?
But on second thought, Qiu Tu decided he had it wrong. If Fourth Master Qin really meant him harm, his [Crisis Sense] should have popped up a warning by now.
Could it be—
A flash of inspiration struck him, and he guessed at a possibility.
The smile vanished from his face. He looked sharply at Fourth Master Qin and said with a straight face, "Are you threatening me, Fourth Master?"
"What, so it would be hard for the Qin family to move against me while I'm here without having to answer to the Bureau—but the moment I step outside, I'm as good as dead? Is that it?"
"Threatening an agent—is that how you defy the entire Xinjie City Investigation Bureau?"
Perhaps Fourth Master Qin hadn't expected Qiu Tu to push back so hard. He was taken aback for a moment, then his expression quickly returned to the genial smile from before. "You've got it wrong, Agent Qiu. I was just making small talk with you. How did this turn into a matter of principle?"
"I never threatened you, and I never defied the Investigation Bureau."
"But people are born, grow old, fall ill, and die. No one knows whether tomorrow or an accident will come first, do they?"
With that, he narrowed his eyes, half smiling, and patted Qiu Tu on the shoulder. "So you must rest well and take good care of yourself, Agent Qiu. You don't want to come down with some illness or run into some accident."
With that, he got to his feet laughing heartily and strolled freely out of Qiu Tu's room. Only—when he stood up, a small white booklet seemed to have slipped from his person by accident.
Qiu Tu watched him leave, then slowly rose and picked up the booklet from the floor.
Inside, it recorded certain illegal and corrupt activities by Qin Zhengguang of the second branch during his tenure as deputy chief of the Public Security Division.
The charges listed included taking bribes from gang members, turning a blind eye to gang members' crimes, releasing members of the anti-government armed group without authorization, and altering patrol routes to create opportunities for members of the anti-government armed group to carry out operations.
Having read through the booklet, Qiu Tu smiled.
He hadn't guessed wrong. Fourth Master Qin had come to tip him off and make friendly overtures.
Though on the surface he had been threatening Qiu Tu, what he was really doing was telling him in a roundabout way that people within the Qin family already knew his true purpose, and warning him to be careful.
As for the booklet, it was a probe. Fourth Master Qin wanted to see whether Qiu Tu really dared to investigate the Qin family, and just how far he was willing to go.
The only pity was that he seemed to think Qiu Tu was a bit of a fool.
Chapter 23