An Eye for News Chapter 13
The
person that tackled w.a.n.g Da Fa was none other than Se Cai. With the man
struggling under his grip, he ordered Lee Wei to run.
“Leave…?
I also want to but you’re lying on me!”
Turned
out w.a.n.g Da Fa in his blunder pulled Lee Wei down with him when he was tackled.
Se
Cai was surprised to realize even though he hands were firmly on w.a.n.g Da Fa’s,
most of his body landed on top of Lee Wei, no wonder he didn’t feel much impact
when he hit the ground.
It
only got more awkward when he found out the length of his body was nestled
between Lee Wei’s midriffs. He blushed in spite of himself.
Now
it looked like he was aiming for Lee Wei instead of w.a.n.g Da Fa.
If
not for the unique circ.u.mstances, the police would have taken him in for s.e.xual
a.s.sault.
Thankfully,
the awkwardness wasn’t given the chance to fester. The moment the 2 officers
realized the bomb was an empty threat, they quickly moved into action.
“We
need some help here!”
Deputy
Director Wong ordered as he picked himself up from the floor.
With
experienced moves, he pounced at w.a.n.g Da Fa and helped Se Cai detained the man.
“Call
the province city’s bomb expert immediately and evacuate the surrounding area!”
He
fired off the orders after he cuffed w.a.n.g Da Fa.
His
eyes then landed squarely on the detonator. He saw w.a.n.g Da Fa pressed it but
why didn’t the bomb explode?
The
answer he felt had to be on this newcomer so he asked cautiously, “Young man,
who are you and why are you here?”
“Deputy
Director Wong, you’ve forgotten about me? I’m Se Cai, the reporter from our
county’s
month!”
Se
Cai explained as he combed his clothes for his media badge.
He
knew he wasn’t at his most presentable after climbing up 33 floors and crawling
through an old air duct. Dust kept falling from his body as he continued the
search for his badge.
However,
despite his ungainly appearance, no one ridiculed him, instead they stared at
him like he was some kind of monster.
They
knew this young man had to be the reason why w.a.n.g Da Fa’s bomb didn’t explode…
So how did he do it?
Even
with deputy director Wong’s 10 years’ experience in law enforcement, he couldn’t
figure out an answer.
“I’m
here because I was told to report on this news but your colleague down at the
entrance wouldn’t let me up. So I had no choice but to use the fire escape to
get up here. To my utter disbelief, I found w.a.n.g Da Fa’s bomb underneath the
air duct that I crawled through so I figured I should dismantle it for everyone’s
safety…”
“You
dismantled it?”
Deputy
Director Wong was obviously unconvinced.
He
was still trying to figure out how to take care of the bomb because the county was
too peaceful and small to have a resident bomb expert. The police was restricted
by protocol from engaging the bomb because they didn’t have sufficient training
in this expertise and they didn’t have any anti-blast equipment. There was
already precedence of his men dying on case because they refused to abide by
the protocol.
Deputy
Director Wong didn’t want to put his men through such risks again, and was
combing his brain for an idea when to his awe and suspicions, an untrained reporter
had dismantled the bomb for him!
“The
bomb he used was a traditional model that thankfully I’ve seen at the province
museum before. My memory told me the bomb would be nullified after I detach the
battery. So I did exactly that.”
Se
Cai explained, pointing at a paper bag by the air duct.
The
paper bag was dirty and wrinkled. It melted perfectly into the decrepit
conditions of the rooftop. If not for Se Cai’s mind-reading skill, he would
have missed it as well.
After
hearing Se Cai’s explanation, Deputy Director Wong finally relaxed his questioning
gaze. Se Cai’s story was unlikely but not impossible. There were after all
weirder coincidences.
He
scolded Se Cai sternly, “It’s still too dangerous, what if your memory serves
you wrongly? Plus, you’re trespa.s.sing into a crime scene…”
Se
Cai lowered his head to feign contrition.
The
whole story about the museum was of course a big fat lie. Se Cai had not seen a
bomb before in his life.
It
was thanks to his mind-reading skill that he managed to pull out information on
the bomb’s location and dismantling methods from w.a.n.g Da Fa’s mind.
Thankfully
for that too because Se Cai was closest to the bomb!
“Nicely
done, I would have done the same in such a situation.”
Commissioner
Xie sauntered over with a big smile on his face and patted Se Cai encouragingly
on his shoulders.
The
dust on Se Cai’s clothes transferred to the commissioner’s white apparel but he
didn’t seem to mind. He laughed, “Deputy Wong, this young man here has done
extremely well. He has a good head on his shoulder and works well under
pressure. We should be honoring himself as a stand-up citizen, so why are you
scolding him?”
Xie
Wu was gushing appreciatively at Se Cai. The young reporter had not only saved
his life but also his career. The irony that he just told Se Cai he was
unneeded hours ago didn’t even cross his mind.
“You’re
thinking too highly of me, Commissioner Xie. It’s because of Commissioner Xie’s
brilliant commanding of the situation that everyone is safe. I was just lucky…”
After
some more small talks with the commissioner, Se Cai excused himself to retrieve
his camera. He sighed in relief when he found out the camera he propped up
against the air duct wall was still rolling. It had recorded everything!
Luckily
Se Cai had the presence of mind to set the camera to film before he barged out into
the open.
With
his a.s.signment complete, Se Cai turned to leave but Deputy Director Wong
stopped him. He wanted Se Cai to remain to complete some necessary testimonial.
Se Cai had no choice but to stay.
An
office in the building had been sequestered as a temporary command central and
Se Cai walked in to come across the reporter pair from Province X Tv Station.
“Superintendent
Lee… Sister Wei, please forgive me. My hands are tied in that situation, the
two of you were so far away from the rest of us…”
The
cameraman hugged his camera as a form of protection and pleaded helplessly.
“Jiang
Shao, the fact is you’re not there when I needed your help the most. If not for
a kind stranger, you would be taking my dead body back to the station… Make
sure you cut my part out of the final news!”
Lee
Wei sat on a couch, her white suit all smothered with dust.
Her
gaze at the cameraman though was as sharp as knives. She looked ready to tear
him alive.
The
muscular teen stood obediently like a child, afraid to move even a muscle.
“You
left your microphone up there. Here, I took it down for you.”
Se
Cai set down the microphone and coughed.
Lee
Wei left the scene in a distraught state so she must have forgotten to retrieve
her microphone. Se Cai noticed it and thought to bring it back to her.
“Wait…
You’re the policeman that saved me, isn’t it? Thank you so much…”
Lee
Wei took in Se Cai and quickly stood up to offer her grat.i.tude.
“Oh, you’re mistaken, I’m not a police. I’m
also a reporter, from County S Tv Station. Nice to meet you.”
Se
Cai patted the camera on his back and smiled.