"Lungmen needs your abilities. If you become a vigilante or an external police officer, your abilities are undoubtedly very useful."
Taking a sip of tea, Officer Ch'en wrote down an order and sent it to the waiter outside, then looked calmly at Li Lin, who lowered his head across the barbecue mist.
"If your intuition is accurate enough, just like shown in the data, then you can come help Lungmen investigate some situations when needed. And with your assistance, we can solve those most tense cases in a very rapid manner; this is the most reasonable move."
"But, I…"
"If you feel it will affect your life, then we can hold dual jobs. This is the best condition I could fight for. You can work at Penguin Logistics and provide support services for us simultaneously. If you are notified of a difficult case, you must accept it if you don't have an urgent mission. But correspondingly, you will also have temporary law enforcement authority during urgent cases, without needing to wait for counterattack. What do you think?"
"I…"
"No need to answer hastily. We have plenty of time to consider. I will slowly wait for your final answer."
Officer Ch'en looked at Li Lin, her expression calm, yet carrying a kind of inexplicable trust.
The barbecue restaurant outside was bustling with voices, but this private room was clearly secluded, elegant, quiet, and silent. Although coming to eat barbecue alone was indeed a bit lonely, now with one more person, it seemed somewhat noisy. Especially when Officer Ch'en calmly picked up a piece of barbecue meat, clearly wanting Li Lin to calm down, his thoughts instead became somewhat chaotic. Looking at the swirling, steaming barbecue smoke and aroma, he felt Lungmen's actions were perhaps too hasty.
Towards official entities like this, Li Lin held a feeling of non-contact, non-trust. This wasn't because he spent too much time online, but because he wasn't a native of Lungmen; he likely wouldn't enjoy the guarantees for personal safety and related matters provided by the Lungmen government.
Moreover, although Li Lin himself enjoyed a slightly stimulating life, strictly speaking, this stimulation should be controllable, should be kept within controllable limits. He didn't completely trust his intuition. Intuition, this thing, even if you toss out ten thousand counterexamples, you can't guarantee the next one will also be a counterexample. But if it's logic-based, one's own skills or arts, then no matter how many times, one can determine what it is. This is the difference between intuition and technique. And what Li Lin feared was exactly this. Making judgments about things based on so-called intuition, this was completely a choice of ignorance.
Stupid, illogical, disorderly, completely idealistic. Although it was very effective, it couldn't be used long-term. When this gift from heaven disappears, that often also means the arrival of death. That's why Li Lin always wanted to escape from Penguin Logistics to write novels. Compared to other things, the thing called novels was more controllable, and looked like it didn't require too many rigid conditions and knowledge related to this world, a perfect option.
But having attracted the attention of Lungmen officials because of his intuition, that was another matter entirely. Penguin Logistics, he could leave anytime; everyone was still friends, after all. With him, they do well; without him, they won't collapse. But this external system of Lungmen was different.
Rights equate to obligations; Li Lin felt he hadn't reached the level of qualification to undertake this obligation yet.
"…Sorry, I cannot accept."
"Why? Are you worried about your companions? This won't conflict with your Penguin Logistics work."
"No, I'm just very strange, why does Lungmen trust me so much? Why trust someone who lives only by intuition? I don't think this is a normal attitude towards life."
Looking at Officer Ch'en's somewhat surprised expression, Li Lin shook his head.
"Responsibility and obligation; if I had more abilities, or if I was certain about the source of my intuition, I would strive to serve you, Officer Ch'en. But right now, I don't know why I can judge these things. Regarding my own life, I can disregard others. At Penguin Logistics, I can only try my best to live. But this is official business, not my personal matter, but involves dozens, hundreds of people. I'm not sure I can make the right choice."
"Even the work at Penguin Logistics, if I were settled, I wouldn't do it either. Charging headlong onto the battlefield using intuition, although stimulating, is irresponsible towards my friends' lives and others' trust. I don't want to face tragedy the next moment after I lose this ability someday."
"So I refuse this recruitment. If possible, I hope to use my wisdom, my strength, not intuition, to solve problems."
"Officer Ch'en, your invitation is truly a great honor for me, but I cannot accept this invitation."
"So, in other words, you are refusing this recruitment?"
Officer Ch'en sat upright opposite Li Lin, her expression showing neither joy nor anger, asking calmly. And Li Lin also nodded seriously, meeting her gaze.
"Yes. Because I haven't reached that qualification."
"I cannot tie others' lives to my so-called intuition. This is irresponsible behavior. I've said this to the members of Penguin Logistics, and here I've said it to Officer Ch'en too. The least trustworthy thing in this world is intuition. Even if it's correct ten thousand times, the ten thousand and first time could still be a disaster. If you have any questions you want to ask me, I will do my best to help you. But this kind of recruitment, please forgive me for being unable to comply ."
Let it be. We'll talk later, Officer Ch'en.
Looking at Officer Ch'en lowering her head silently, Li Lin also silently shook his head, stood up, preparing to leave.
This somewhat strange friendship might end here. Li Lin thought so. But when he pushed open the door and hadn't walked more than a few steps, he heard the sound of a door being pulled open behind him. Then, a strange premonition made Li Lin subconsciously turn around, reach out towards the air, and grasp a ball of paper in his hand.
"What is this?"
Looking at Officer Ch'en who chased out and threw the paper ball to him, Li Lin couldn't help but look up and ask.
"Phone number. It's my private number. Just send a text message to confirm after you go back. Didn't you just say we should help each other?"
Looking at the somewhat bewildered Li Lin, Officer Ch'en crossed her arms, looking appreciatively at the operator before her.
"If there's anything you can't handle, or some situation that feels very wrong to you, just contact me directly using this. And if I need you, I will also contact you."
"Ah? But I—"
"You live by intuition but refused Lungmen's recruitment because you don't trust intuition. And I solve cases with logic, but want to trust you because of intuition. Just take it. Consider it a witness to my illogical intuition this time. I also want to see how far my intuition can go."
"…Thank you."
"Go back. Won't disturb you anymore."
Looking at Li Lin's serious expression, Officer Ch'en smiled and waved her hand.
And after confirming Li Lin had left, waving at his receding back, Officer Ch'en turned around, walked back to her private room, and sat down.
…Then, just stared blankly at the dazzling array of ingredients on the table.
Spread across it were abundant ingredients, some fruits and vegetables, looking like a portion more than one person could eat. Facing so many extra dishes, Officer Ch'en couldn't help but sigh. And almost at the same time, the waiter outside slowly walked over, knocked on the outside door to signal, then asked in a low voice:
"The two servings of steak you just ordered have arrived. Excuse me, Officer Ch'en, do you need a waiter to help you grill the meat?"
"No need, I can do it myself. Just leave the things outside."
Intuition, this thing, is indeed unreliable.
Looking at the ingredients for two people, Officer Ch'en shook her head with a smile, picked up a piece of somewhat burnt meat, put it in her mouth, and tasted it.
Chewing the bitter taste of carbonization between lips and teeth, then slowly swallowing, taking a sip of tea, calmly tasting the slightly excessive amount of meat in this double room.