Searching for someone in northern Myanmar, and you call that earning tuition fees?

When Zhou Zhenguo pushed open the door, Su Ming had just finished drinking the last sip of seaweed and egg drop soup.

The young man put down his chopsticks, took a tissue to wipe his mouth, and his movements were so refined that it seemed as if he had just finished dinner at his own dining table, rather than being in a border interrogation isolation room.

"My name is Zhou Zhenguo, the head of the Criminal Investigation Department of Jiangnan Province." Zhou Zhenguo pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down. His voice was calm and steady. He slammed a thick file folder on the table and scrutinized Su Ming with his gaze. "Have you eaten?"

"I'm full. Thank you, Uncle Zhou, the food is good." Su Ming smiled a little embarrassedly, not taking the other party's status and aura seriously, and casually opened the mineral water bottle on the table.

Zhou Zhenguo stared at him, trying to find even a trace of the ruthlessness that had been stained with blood on the eighteen-year-old's face, but the face was clean and clear, and there was no trace of ruthlessness to be seen.

"Su Ming, male, eighteen years old, from the Jiangcheng Orphanage, a recent graduate of Jiangcheng No. 3 High School, with a perfect score in the science section of the college entrance examination." Zhou Zhenguo stared into his eyes, those eyes that had seen through countless people seemed to want to read his entire background. "Code name 'Scholar,' although you only appeared briefly on the 'Dark Web' hunter list, your record was undefeated. I'm very curious, before last night, why was your file as clean as a blank sheet of paper?"

Su Ming scratched his head shyly: "Maybe it's because I obey the law? I'm a law-abiding citizen."

"A good citizen?" Zhou Zhenguo chuckled, pointing to the boning knife on the corner of the table. "A good citizen carries this around? A good citizen can hack into an overseas vault and extort 150 million?"

"That's compensation for emotional distress," Su Ming corrected earnestly. "Besides, I've already paid taxes... Oh wait, I think I have to declare overseas income back in China?"

Zhou Zhenguo took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to slam his fist on the table. This kid looks harmless, but his words are always sarcastic and insincere.

"Alright, I'm not going to beat around the bush with you." Zhou Zhenguo leaned forward, his imposing aura pressing down on him. "The country needs you. Your abilities might be an uncontrollable factor in society, but in our hands, they're a sharp sword. I want you to join the Jiangnan Provincial Criminal Investigation Corps. The paperwork is specially approved; you'll be directly assigned to the Special Operations Group."

This is a "sudden rise to the top" that many police academy graduates would never dare to dream of.

However, Su Ming looked troubled.

"Um... Uncle, could we not go?"

"Reasons?" Zhou Zhenguo frowned. "Dislike the low pay? Or are you afraid of danger? You dare to venture into K District, are you afraid of assigned tasks?"

"No." Su Ming sighed, took out a crumpled piece of red paper from his pocket, carefully unfolded it, and pushed it in front of Zhou Zhenguo. "I finally got into university, and I don't want to repeat a year."

Zhou Zhenguo looked down.

Jiangnan University Admission Notice. Major: Finance.

"..."

The room was quiet.

Looking at the notice and then at Su Ming's face, which was filled with "I love learning," Zhou Zhenguo felt that his career had encountered the biggest setback.

If it were anyone else, he would think it was an excuse. But Su Ming… this kid was willing to fight his way through northern Myanmar for tuition fees; he genuinely wants to go to school!

"You can retain your student status and take a temporary position..." Zhou Zhenguo tried to salvage the situation.

"No way." Su Ming shook his head, his eyes resolute. "Grandpa said that if you read more books, you can calmly reason with idiots; studying physics is so that even fools can calmly listen to my reasoning. I'm only a freshman, and I want to enjoy college life, have a relationship, skip classes, and stuff like that."

Zhou Zhenguo: "..."

The stalemate lasted for a full minute.

Zhou Zhenguo suddenly laughed, a laugh like an old fox. He put away the job application and pulled out another red certificate that he had prepared beforehand from his briefcase.

"Since you want to go to school, I won't force you. But you have to accept this."

Su Ming took it and saw that the red cover had large gold lettering that read "Special Technical Advisor of the Public Security Bureau of Jiangnan Province".

"Normally, you don't need to clock in or go to the office; you're still a college student. But if we encounter a tricky case that we can't solve, especially one involving overseas entities, high-IQ crimes, or... situations that require 'physical persuasion,' then we'll come to you."

Zhou Zhenguo paused, then added, "You have a government job, you get a stipend, and... we dare not give you a license to kill, but if necessary, your actions will have the highest priority immunity."

Su Ming's eyes lit up.

Isn't this a legitimate part-time job?

"Deal." Su Ming deftly tucked the certificate into his pocket. "Uncle, what about the tax issue..."

"Get lost!" Zhou Zhenguo laughed and cursed. "That was illegally obtained money from overseas. Since you've already 'legally' transferred it back to China and used it for your 'legitimate' medical treatment, the country won't be after your little bit of money. But..."

Zhou Zhenguo stood up, and as he walked to the door, he turned back and gave Su Ming a deep look.

"Su Ming, happy first day of school. Put your knife away, don't peel apples at school."

Su Ming watched the door close, a slight smile playing on his lips. Just then, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out; an encrypted message appeared on the screen: "Ms. Lin Yue has been safely delivered to her father. The final payment has been transferred to the designated account. It was a pleasure doing business with you."

Su Ming casually opened another app, and after seeing that it was indeed legitimate, his smile deepened. He put down his phone, picked up the bottle of cola again, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Burp—that feels so good."