Male, 40’s, Chinese accent. The police chief at the local Beijing police station. Highly capable at his work, but not above open prejudice against newcomers and outsiders, and moral compromise to see things done his way. Doesn’t have to afford to be polite, since he’s in charge. Would preferably also voice Officer Chang. Familiarity with Mandarin pronunciation is preferred but not required.

CHIEF YUE - AUDITION SIDES

(Character lines in bold)

Yue reached for the carafe at the center of the table, pouring clear liquid into tiny cups before distributing them to his colleagues. "Let's take the edge off a bit and keep celebrating! Bai jiu for you, Detective Law?" he offered.

"No, thank you," the detective answered. "I make it a point not to deliberately stunt my deductive reasoning skills."

The police chief's expression momentarily hardened before he cracked a tight smile. "Same excuse as always. Can't hold your liquor, still, I see." He poured another cup. "Some for you then, Xiao-jie?"

Jubilee shook her head. She didn't need anything else to trigger memories of her old life. And honestly, after her car crash, she never wanted to touch another drop of alcohol again.

Chief Yue shrugged and sipped from his own cup. "Just as well. Bai jiu is strong, too strong for a girl as small as you."

Jubilee bit back a retort. Eight shots used to be nothing for her back in the day. But the chief—and the detective—didn't need to know that. Don't let him bait you, she told herself.

Yue returned his attention to Law. "You don't have an excuse, though. I must say, Law...if it weren't for your favorable track record when you first showed up, I would've been hard-pressed to take you seriously. They say you can only see a man's true colors after a few drinks." He downed his cup before continuing, "And seeing as how you never let us see yours, I sometimes wonder over the wisdom of the MPS trusting you so much and bringing you on to our most important cases. Now, with all of this—" He motioned absently towards Jubilee, "Delusional nonsense, you've bought into...I question that wisdom even more. Surely you can see where I am coming from."

Law's expression didn't change. "I realize how illogical this all may sound. And I am very familiar with the misguided notions of the local drinking culture, which you are such a ready proponent of. But you can either put stock in my willingness, or lack thereof, to participate in a drinking contest masquerading itself as a measurement of trustworthiness and professional capability...or you can put stock in my track record, which should speak for itself."

The chief regarded Law with a long, hard look, before barking a laugh. "That would've been quite the speech, if not for the fact that you emailed me some drivel and tried to call it a case report. Honestly, Law, what do you take the MPS for?" Yue shook his head and poured himself another drink. "I was going to give you the chance to redeem yourself with an explanation, but it seems you are incapable of doing even that. Guess there's a first time for everything."