Chapter 65 Harming Others and Oneself

Because of a student?
Yu Dachang immediately associated it with himself.
In his past life, he never got into any trouble, and Wei Chuang committed no faults either.
So why, after the changes in this life, did even Wei Chuang end up dragged down along with him?
The butterfly effect?
Give me a break. A trivial matter like his couldn't possibly be tied to anything so high-level.
There was only one possibility he could think of...
Wei Chuang had a direct connection to his disappearance.
Moreover, it was very likely that Wei Chuang was the one who caused his disappearance.
Verifying this was quite simple... just find him.
Since he couldn't get a straight answer about what exactly had happened, finding out where Wei Chuang had been transferred couldn't possibly be a secret.
Having made up his mind, Yu Dachang suddenly wasn't in a rush anymore. He pulled up a chair in the instructors' office and sat down.
Then, he started making casual, desultory conversation with the new instructor.
After a while, more instructors returned from outside.
Yu Dachang picked one who had been on good terms with Wei Chuang and called him outside.
This time it went smoothly; within two or three sentences, he managed to ask where Wei Chuang's current workplace was.
Before leaving, that instructor offered some earnest advice:
"I knew you'd come. Take my word for it: stop acting on impulse from now on. You're hurting both others and yourself."
"What do you mean by that?" Yu Dachang immediately realized there was a juicy piece of gossip hidden in those words. If he didn't dig into it, he would be doing a grave disservice to himself.
Unfortunately, the instructor didn't say anything more. He merely patted Yu Dachang on the shoulder and turned back inside.
Don't just leave your sentences half-finished... Yu Dachang really wanted to charge into the office and drag him back out.
Judging by what he had implied, it was his own impulsive actions that had dragged both Wei Chuang and himself into ruin.
With a belly full of questions, Yu Dachang walked out of the police academy and took out his phone to dial a number.
The prompt indicating the phone was powered off sounded once again.
He had dialed this same number for Wei Chuang the last time he visited the academy, and after all these days, it was still turned off.
It seemed Wei Chuang had abandoned this number.
He glanced down at the time on his phone.
5:15 PM.
It was getting a bit late. Even if he took a cab to the Qingpu Sub-bureau right now, it would be close to 6:00 PM by the time he arrived.
Standing by the roadside in deep thought, Yu Dachang ultimately decided to go anyway.
If he went during the day, even if he could get time off, it would inevitably disrupt Wei Chuang's work.
Hailing a taxi, Yu Dachang hopped into the back seat, quickly rattled off the destination, and asked the driver to go as fast as possible.
The sub-bureau's closing time was 5:30. Factoring in the time it took for people to walk out, as long as he arrived before 6:00, there was a very high probability of running into Wei Chuang.
Even if he missed him, he could still find his current colleagues and get his phone number.

Half an hour later, Yu Dachang arrived at the entrance of the Qingpu Sub-bureau.
Some police officers were already walking out from inside, which made him breathe a slight sigh of relief.
He hadn't arrived too late; the officers of the Qingpu Sub-bureau had just gotten off work.
"Hello." Yu Dachang stepped forward to intercept an officer and asked,
"Excuse me, has Officer Wei Chuang come in today?"
"Wei Chuang?" That officer turned back, pointed toward the sub-bureau building, and said,
"Go inside, up to the third floor, and it's the second room on the left."
He just told me straight away? Yu Dachang found it a bit strange.
This was a sub-bureau, after all, and he was wearing casual clothes. Why hadn't the officer even asked him anything?
He could at least have asked what business he was here for.
It seemed the name Wei Chuang was what had made him let down his guard.
Afraid of complications arising from extraneous troubles, Yu Dachang didn't ask any further. After uttering a word of thanks, he stepped into the Qingpu Sub-bureau.
Following registration with the duty personnel, he made his way to the third floor.
"Second room on the left..."
Orienting himself, Yu Dachang came to a halt before an office door.
A sign hung on the painted wooden door, bearing the characters: Residence Registration Section.
Seeing those three words, he instantly understood why the officer earlier hadn't questioned him.
The officer must have assumed he was here to handle household registration matters with Wei Chuang.
Just as Yu Dachang was about to knock, the door was pulled open from the inside.
The person standing right there in the doorway was none other than Wei Chuang.
"Dachang?" Wei Chuang looked somewhat surprised to see Yu Dachang standing at the door, but then, as if remembering something, he lowered his voice and said,
"Let's go. We'll talk outside."
He recognized me instantly... Yu Dachang saw neither astonishment nor doubt in Wei Chuang's eyes.
With his current physique, even someone with as good a memory as Zhou Zizhe hadn't recognized him immediately.
This meant Wei Chuang had seen him recently.
And he had seen him without Yu Dachang even knowing it.
Yu Dachang could be certain that ever since his rebirth, this was his very first encounter with Wei Chuang.
Suppressing the turbulence in his heart, Yu Dachang nodded nonchalantly and followed Wei Chuang out of the sub-bureau.
Along the way, Wei Chuang kept glancing back every now and then.
It was as if he were observing Yu Dachang's expression and reactions.
Once they reached the outside, Wei Chuang thought for a moment and said,
"Let's go to my place. I'll have your sister-in-law whip up a few good dishes."
"Senior, I..."
Before Yu Dachang could finish, Wei Chuang interrupted him:
"Drop that form of address. From now on, just call me Brother, or you can call me by my name."
Upon graduating from the police academy, it was customary to refer to former instructors as seniors.
Cadets referred to each other as senior or junior fellow apprentices.
Because the academy's instructors were selected from among outstanding police officers and belonged to the professional and technical ranks,
they held police ranks and official establishments, allowing for mutual temporary postings between frontline departments and teaching staff—which was why they were called seniors.
It wasn't an absolute rule.
But that was how everyone addressed each other at the Songhai Police Academy.
"Brother Wei?" Yu Dachang tried out the title.
It still felt a bit awkward, so he switched to another one:
"Brother Chuang, wouldn't that be imposing too much? Let's just find some small diner casually, my treat today."
His primary concern was that having Wei Chuang's wife present would make it inconvenient to talk.
Besides, he knew from his past life that Wei Chuang's wife was no pushover.
"Why stand on ceremony with me? Just listen to me."
With that, Wei Chuang took out his phone and made a call. Judging by the tone and content, it was likely to his wife.
The two of them stopped by a nearby market to buy some ready-to-eat deli meats and tossed salads. Until they stepped through the front door, neither of them suggested drinking alcohol.
Yu Dachang knew his tolerance for liquor was poor, and he was afraid that getting drunk would mess things up.
He guessed Wei Chuang had the exact same thought.
Once the dishes were fully served, the three of them sat down, and Wei Chuang and his wife warmly urged Yu Dachang to eat.
Yet Yu Dachang had zero appetite.
It wasn't because the food looked unappealing, but rather because his mind was weighed down by heavy concerns, making it impossible to swallow anything.
Forcing down a couple of bowls of rice, the three of them exchanged polite chatter and laughter across the table.
Even so, Yu Dachang noticed that Wei Chuang's wife didn't welcome him at all.
Her smile was fake, her words exaggerated. On the surface she appeared hospitable, but in reality, she was intentionally putting distance between them.
Right after telling Yu Dachang "You must visit often," she immediately turned to Wei Chuang and remarked, "Actually, there's really no need to keep maintaining ties from the police academy days."
It sounded as though she were referring to Wei Chuang's former colleagues among the instructors, but Yu Dachang knew very well in his heart that she was talking about him and Wei Chuang.
She's holding quite a grudge against me, huh... Yu Dachang quickly made his judgment.
It seemed that old bint knew quite a lot as well.
The meal finally came to an end. Taking advantage of the moment when Wei Chuang's wife was busy clearing the bowls in the kitchen, Yu Dachang gently tapped Wei Chuang on the thigh.
"Brother Chuang, I've wronged you. If it weren't for me, you'd definitely still be teaching at the academy."
"Don't—don't say that." Wei Chuang's voice was actually trembling.
From the moment Yu Dachang met him today until now, this was the first time he showed an expression of genuine shock.
"Dachang, you've remembered everything?"