Reborn in 1993, Dark Sea

"If Captain Wang insists on thinking that way, then I guess I'm just using you. I don't want to break the law, I don't want to get a longer sentence, and I have no one to turn to for help. After thinking it over, this is the only thing I can do."

"Heh, again, there's no other way, no other choice! Luckily, I still have some use! What if I didn't agree?"

"Then I'll have to think of another way."

"By breaking the law?"

"In my opinion, there is no such thing as a way to break the law or not; there is only a way to protect yourself."

"You've got a whole set of arguments to make!"

Wang Tiejun intertwined his hands, his thumbs constantly twirling together: "Let me raise a hypothetical question: if you had already decided I wouldn't help you, would you still have provided me with the clues about Jia Ming?"

"No!" An Xiaohai answered decisively.

"You're quite frank, kid!" Wang Tiejun had clearly anticipated An Xiaohai's answer. "Tell me your logic; I'm quite interested."

"My logic is simple: if I'm struggling to survive myself and still have the audacity to pity all living beings, then I shouldn't be sitting here; I should be sitting at the confluence of the three rivers, revered by thousands!"

"Hahaha..." Wang Tiejun laughed so hard he almost fell over.

There is indeed a giant Buddha sitting at the confluence of the three rivers, revered by thousands!

"Alright, kid! I agree!" Wang Tiejun nodded, his expression suddenly turning serious.

"I agreed because, on the one hand, you haven't committed any major crimes and have consistently performed meritorious service, so you can be considered half a comrade of mine, Wang Tiejun. Since you're half a comrade, I should do everything in my power and by all legitimate means to protect you."

Wang Tiejun paused here.

"On the other hand?"

"On the other hand, it's because you didn't lie to me; you just told me the truth."

"I see."

"I hope you always will be like this! You need to understand that building trust between people is difficult, but destroying it often only takes a single word, or even just a few words, do you understand?"

"Understood."

"Okay, is there anything else?"

"there is none left."

"Alright, I need to get to work right away. The situation is urgent. I hope we can catch this Jia Ming, both to rid the people of this scourge and to save your life."

Wang Tiejun paused here, staring at An Xiaohai for almost a minute before speaking again: "If you encounter any problems you can't solve in the future, you can ask a prison guard for help."

"Who?" An Xiaohai raised an eyebrow.

An Xiaohai originally thought that Wang Tiejun's informant was a prisoner, but he didn't expect him to be a prison guard. However, this does not rule out the possibility that Wang Tiejun has other informants among the prisoners.

Wang Tiejun's willingness to tell An Xiaohai about his connections in prison was already a huge sign of trust, which meant exposing the entire network to An Xiaohai's nose.

If An Xiaohai had ulterior motives, by observing the prison guard's activities in the prison, he could very well uncover all of Wang Tiejun's informants in the prison.

"Wu Yue Hong"

"It's him!?" An Xiaohai was greatly surprised.

Wu Yuehong was the older prison guard who used to always be by Mo Qinglian's side. He was a very low-key person, and people often overlooked his presence.

After all that, it turns out that this person, Wu Yuehong, is actually Wang Tiejun's man, or rather, someone Wang Tiejun considers trustworthy! In short, the relationship between the two is definitely not shallow.

You seem surprised.

"It was quite a surprise. I thought it would be someone like Liu Cong."

"Liu Cong, that young man?"

"Yes, it seems that Captain Wang knows quite a bit about the First Prison."

"Hehe, thank you for the compliment! But kid, let me remind you, people can't just look at the surface. We can't act based on our feelings, and we can't let our intuition influence our judgment."

Since you're convinced that someone is lurking in the shadows trying to harm you, you should be even more careful!

Remember, enemies in the open are not scary; enemies lurking in the shadows are the real threats. Those who make you wary are often the ones who can't harm you. We often reveal our weaknesses in front of those we trust.

Wang Tiejun's words left An Xiaohai speechless. He never expected that Wang Tiejun would say such a thing at this time and place.

"Of course, don't misunderstand. I don't mean Liu Cong is untrustworthy, or that everything he's shown is just an act," Wang Tiejun took a deep breath and continued, "I'm just reminding you to be careful, very careful."

That's how it is in our line of work; you can't easily trust anyone, and you certainly can't judge a person based solely on appearances.

"How do we determine that?"

"Details, actions, and results, when put together, constitute what we call evidence—solid and tangible evidence. Don't draw conclusions lightly without evidence."

More importantly, things are dynamic, and our perspective on people should also be dynamic.

Someone who doesn't harm you today might not do so tomorrow; someone who is your enemy today might become your friend tomorrow.

Everything is possible!

You're a smart person; you should know what I mean.

Wang Tiejun's words left An Xiaohai speechless. After a long while, An Xiaohai looked up at Wang Tiejun again and asked, "Captain Wang, why did you tell me all this today?"

"Because you rejected my proposal, and I can't convince myself to give up on using you to crack down on the Sea Hawk Group."

Wang Tiejun pointed at An Xiaohai: "Since you've chosen this path without hesitation, you'll inevitably have to face these vicious people in the future. I have to give you a heads-up."

Alright, time is of the essence, Jia Ming must be apprehended! I have many other things to take care of, do you have any further questions?

"No more for now," An Xiaohai shook his head.

"Alright, I'll be going now. Let's stick to the usual rules!"

The "old rule" Wang Tiejun mentioned refers to the fact that he would wait a while before having a prison guard come and take An Xiaohai away, giving An Xiaohai a rare period of time alone.

"By the way, Wu Yuehong, don't tell anyone about Lao Wu's matter, not even your family, understand?"

"I understand."

An Xiaohai nodded and watched Wang Tiejun open the door and leave.

call! ~

An Xiaohai let out a long breath.

Today's Wang Tiejun was vastly different from any of his previous ones. An Xiaohai suddenly realized that he might have unknowingly underestimated Captain Wang.

In the past, Wang Tiejun gave An Xiaohai the impression of being upright, kind, but soft-hearted and even somewhat sentimental; but today, Wang Tiejun is much more perceptive, sharp, and understanding of human nature.

Upon closer examination, it's not particularly difficult to understand.

Everyone needs someone to confide in.

Many people choose their closest relatives and friends as confidants, but even more people prefer to confide in strangers because there are far fewer potential problems if they do so.

Having said our piece, we can forget each other and never meet again, which is perfectly safe.

Wang Tiejun was in this situation before. Given his status, it was a hundred or a thousand times more difficult for him to find someone to confide in than for ordinary people. So when he met An Xiaohai, he unknowingly revealed some of his inner thoughts.

This is precisely why An Xiaohai had that impression of him before. If An Xiaohai were his colleague or rival, his perception would likely be completely different.

Wang Tiejun had even made many arrangements in secret without anyone noticing, including keeping him alone for a period of time after each meeting.

Why do this? Just to give An Xiaohai a break? What has Wang Tiejun been doing all this time? Did he go straight back, or did he do something else at the First Prison?

An Xiaohai knew nothing about these things, and had not even thought about them carefully.

An Xiaohai now understood that Wang Tiejun did this partly to give him some rare time alone, but more importantly, to help him calm down, adjust his state, and avoid giving himself away in front of others.

Wang Tiejun simply did it, but never emphasized these points.

"Captain Wang, thank you so much. You've really gone to great lengths for me..."

An Xiaohai smiled wryly. Today, Wang Tiejun suddenly changed his attitude, most likely because he had only just made up his mind to investigate Haiyaozi himself. Therefore, he had to remind An Xiaohai to be more careful in the future.

Wang Tiejun's words were somewhat heavy.

An Xiaohai could sense that Wang Tiejun must have suffered losses in this area before, otherwise he wouldn't have felt it so deeply. He didn't want An Xiaohai to repeat all the mistakes Wang Tiejun had made.

"To protect yourself, don't jump to conclusions about anyone!..."

An Xiaohai's mind finally started working quickly again.

Given Wang Tiejun's efficiency, if Jia Ming is really in Guilin, he definitely won't be able to escape. But it will still take some time. If Li Yong and his group are going to make a move against him in the next couple of days, he still won't be able to escape this trouble.

"Looks like I'll have to use you one more time, my Captain Wang!"

An Xiaohai took a deep breath, stood up, found a less sharp corner of a table, and rammed his chest into it hard!