Chapter 126

Chapter 126

Bai Xingshu did not refuse. The mood between them was a bit tense as they descended the stairs, where Bai Xingshu then saw Shen Geng standing at attention in front of the building alongside five or six others, facing two police officers.

The two officers were all smiles, heaping praise on Shen Geng and the others—praising them as "brave," "selfless," and "shining examples of humanity" as they spoke, patting Shen Geng and the others on the shoulders.

Shen Geng’s expression looked completely overwhelmed, even flustered.

...No wonder he was standing so stiff.

Bai Xingshu almost laughed, but at that moment, the two officers came over eagerly to him and Song Xiyan.

So Bai Xingshu got the same treatment.

"Young people these days are truly remarkable. I saw the videos everyone took—so incredibly brave!"

"Society needs young people like you right now!" The officers continued praising Bai Xingshu to the skies before asking, "How's the kid doing?"

Bai Xingshu was... pretty overwhelmed too.

After all, he was usually the one being scolded at the police station—he had never heard so much praise from officers before.

It went straight to his head.

Still, Bai Xingshu managed to reply, "A few kind neighbors have already gone to take care of the child."

To be precise, after rescuing the child, Bai Xingshu had opened the door only to find a crowd of people—men, women, old, and young—waiting outside. Without hesitation, he handed over the screaming little troublemaker in his arms to them.

Sure, he was the one who made the kid cry, but now it was their responsibility!

Without a shred of responsibility, Bai Xingshu made a quick escape.

He had originally planned to take the elevator and get away clean, but unfortunately, the doors opened to reveal Shen Geng and Song Xiyan standing inside.

The officers breathed a sigh of relief, and one of them announced they would go upstairs to check on the situation while the other nodded and handled things downstairs.

The remaining officer gave a cheerful wave at Bai Xingshu and the others who had participated in the rescue. "Thank you all for your bravery and fearlessness. Please come with me—we’ll find a spot to get your info for the bravery commendation."

Bai Xingshu had done this before.

At the start of the semester, after taking down some psycho on a bus, he had also gone through the registration process.

Back then, he had received a cool thousand star credits along with a thank-you letter.

What really mattered was that letter.

No matter how old you are, you can't say no to the reward of a little red flower!!

Thus, everyone involved in the rescue were all smiles, buzzing with excitement as they followed the officer.

They found a spot, and the officer began registering them one by one.

"Ji Wei..."

"Li Youyi..."

...

"Shen Geng... Hm?" The officer paused mid-name, giving Shen Geng a long look before scratching his head and continuing with the registration.

Then, he came across an even more familiar name.

"...Bai Xingshu?" The officer paused.

Now that was a familiar name.

Though this wasn't Yonghe District, the legendary exploits of Bai Xingshu and Shen Geng, the two temporary staff members, had been talked about at every briefing.

Initially, seeing Shen Geng's name, he hadn't been sure, but now with Bai Xingshu's name appearing as well, he naturally recognized them.

However, the officer didn't say anything directly to Bai Xingshu. After quickly registering everyone, he waved the others off with a smile before speaking up, "Bai Xingshu, Shen Geng, I've got some extra paperwork. You two young men, stay behind and help me out."

As a matter of course, Bai Xingshu and Shen Geng were thus pulled aside, along with Song Xiyan.

Song Xiyan had stayed quiet; from the start, he had been quietly observing Bai Xingshu.

Watching as Bai Xingshu, who had initially been walking beside him, gradually drifted to the side, playfully stepping into the footprints left by Shen Geng ahead, as if playing a game.

And now, when pulled aside by the officer, Bai Xingshu and Shen Geng were trading looks.

No words were needed; it was as if there was a space between them that no one else could penetrate.

Song Xiyan: "..."

A bitter taste rose in his throat.

In a bad mood, Song Xiyan's expression was stone-cold, making it impossible for the officer to ignore him.

"And you would be...?" The officer instinctively used a respectful tone toward the aloof and imposing Song Xiyan.

Song Xiyan looked at the two who had turned their heads in unison at the officer's inquiry, paused for a few seconds, and finally spoke calmly.

"Their instructor."

At this self-introduction, Shen Geng was taken aback, staring at Song Xiyan in surprise.

Shen Geng hadn't expected Song Xiyan to give such an answer.

He thought Song Xiyan would at least say they were friends or something.

But instead...

Their instructor?!

An answer that left no room for interpretation regarding Bai Xingshu.

Ignoring Shen Geng's reaction, Song Xiyan coolly asked the officer, "What is it you need here?"

"Oh... oh." The officer uttered two automatic responses, thrown off by the chill before collecting himself with a dry cough. "Since you're their instructor, let me cut to the chase."

The officer turned to face Bai Xingshu and Shen Geng.

The previously warm and friendly smile vanished, replaced by a stern and cold expression he'd usually save for suspects: "Didn't you two receive any training back at Shangqing Branch?!"

"Going in completely unprotected—real brave of you!"

"Especially you!" The officer turned to point at Shen Geng. "Bai Xingshu had to go up from below without protection, but you came out from the fifth floor without even a safety rope! You had the gear and didn't use it??"

After reprimanding Shen Geng, the officer turned to Bai Xingshu, who looked like he thought he was off the hook. "Don't go thinking you're in the clear. Do you know what just one screw-up means?! You wouldn't just fail to save someone—you'd get yourself killed!!"

The officer chewed them out, then turned to Song Xiyan, intending to scold him as well—something about failing as a teacher and not keeping his students in line.

But upon seeing Song Xiyan’s stone-cold face, he swallowed his words. Clearing his throat, the officer got back on track with his original purpose.

Still maintaining a stern expression, he barked at Bai Xingshu and Shen Geng, "Since you two didn’t shape up at Shangqing Branch, you’ll spend this long holiday at our Wuhe Branch! We’ll teach you properly!"

Bai Xingshu and Shen Geng: "..."

This was transparent as hell!!

Bai Xingshu gave a nervous chuckle and didn’t immediately agree. "Actually, we already have plans for the holiday with Shangqing Branch. How about… I’ve got a lot of classmates at the academy who are really interested in my past holiday experiences. I can hook them up with you instead?"

The officer had his angle, but Bai Xingshu had his own too.

There was no way Bai Xingshu would just cave and accept whatever was thrown at him.

The officer studied Bai Xingshu, warming up to him more.

This kid even cared about his classmates and planned for them—every bit as impressive as the reports from the bureau’s meeting had described.

So, the officer was even less willing to let Bai Xingshu off the hook.

He said bluntly, "Then let your classmates go to Shangqing Branch. Everybody wins, yeah?"

After a round of negotiations, Bai Xingshu finally agreed that he and Shen Geng would spend the holiday at Wuhe Branch. In return, the officer promised to arrange temp gigs for students from Capital Military University.

Not just those from the Combat Department—Shen Geng’s Command and Operations Department, Song Xiyan’s Mechanical Engineering Department, and even others Bai Xingshu made sure to include.

Well…

If they were going to negotiate, why limit it by departments? They may as well rope in the whole school!

Their philosophy: If you’ve seen it, you get a share. If you haven’t, you still get a share.

They’d go back and ask how many students were willing to come, and the officer would arrange everything.

Bai Xingshu felt he’d scored a great opportunity for everyone to experience the activities—total score!

The officer, too, was pumped.

He’d just secured a whole crew of reliable temporary labor for the branch—total score!

The best negotiation outcome is when both sides walk away feeling like they’ve won.

So when they finally parted ways, both sides were grinning ear to ear.

In the end, the three of them piled into the sky cab back to the academy together.

The atmosphere inside wasn’t awkward, though, because Bai Xingshu kept bugging Song Xiyan with instructions.

"Teach, make sure you spread the word to your students later."

"Not just Class S—put out feelers to other classes too," he added.

"Especially XXX and XXX... and XXX, you need to pay attention to whether they know about this."

"There are some family situations with them. During the last long holiday, they were also working part-time, especially XX, who was even cheated out of some money by their boss—just 800 star coins for over a month..."

Listening to Bai Xingshu's detailed and thorough words, Song Xiyan felt as if he wasn't sure which of them was the real Instructor of the Mechanical Engineering Department anymore.

"How did you know all this?" Song Xiyan asked.

Bai Xingshu replied matter-of-factly, "At the beginning of this semester, wasn't there the readjustment training where we had the 100-kilometer hike? I chatted with them along the way and learned this."

Hold on...

You remembered all that?!

Bai Xingshu didn’t think it was a big deal.

"If we talked, why wouldn’t I remember who they are?" Bai Xingshu didn’t understand what was so surprising.

Shen Geng and Song Xiyan were both at a loss for words.

Seeing Bai Xingshu about to say something else to Song Xiyan, Shen Geng, feeling somewhat neglected, couldn’t help but speak up: "What about my Combat Command Department?"

Bai Xingshu shot Shen Geng a helpless glance. "Don’t you already know everything about the students in the Combat Command Department?"

During training, whenever anyone from the Combat Command Department was mentioned, Shen Geng would always chime in with a few words.

Shen Geng’s attempt to bid for attention was instantly deflated by Bai Xingshu’s remark, as if his little scheme had been exposed on the spot. His ears turned red immediately.

And it happened right in front of Song Xiyan.

Shen Geng, who was very particular about his image, felt completely mortified.

But to Song Xiyan, who had already picked up on things, the scene only highlighted how close the two were.

What Bai Xingshu said to him was just about other people.

But what Bai Xingshu said to Shen Geng showed clearly how well he knew and understood Shen Geng.

They were on completely different levels of intimacy.

Song Xiyan looked down, quietly waiting for the flying car to land, along with his heart.

Soon, news spread throughout the school that students could work as temporary staff at the police station during the long holiday.

Young students, always eager for excitement, rushed to sign up for participation.

Forget traveling! This long holiday, they wanted something different!

Unsurprisingly, this once again alarmed the school’s leadership.

With so many students wanting to join, this was asking for trouble!

How many officers did the Wuhe Precinct even have? Across all its divisions, just over a thousand.

And how many students were in their school?

Counting all grades, there were over ten thousand.

Even if only one-tenth of the students participated, it could directly overhaul the entire branch office.

Alarmed, the school quickly assessed the situation and realized how tricky it was.

After all, in essence, this was actually a positive move.

If the school outright rejected it, the students would absolutely riot.

So the school leaders immediately took action, contacted Wuhe District, and rushed to coordinate student involvement.

After days of back-and-forth, they eventually brought in branch offices from other districts in the capital star.

Additionally, the school also brought up the temporary staff gigs, the typically long daily working hours (just ask Bai Xingshu and Shen Geng), and the various cases and tasks they would have to handle.

With these "horror stories," the school finally managed to deter a large number of students who were merely following the trend impulsively.

Only then did the busy school leaders and instructors finally get around to looking into how this all started.

And then…

Bai Xingshu, not you again!!