Courtyard House: The Long-Lost Eldest Son Returns with Military Merit

Upon hearing the question, Jia Dongming, recalling his unexpected reunion with the Jia family, nodded and replied, "Dapao! It's quite a coincidence. After I reported to the steel rolling mill, the factory assigned me a villa at No. 95 Tongluoguxiang, where my mother and younger brother live."

Upon learning that Jia Dongming had reunited with his family, Wang Dapao immediately congratulated him, saying, "Dongming! I know that finding your long-lost family has always been your wish, and now it has finally come true."

When faced with Wang Dapao's congratulations, Jia Dongming, thinking of the Jia family's current situation, calmly explained to Wang Dapao: "Dapao, when I found my family, my father had already passed away many years ago, and my younger brother also passed away last year. Now, only a house full of women, children and other children are left."

Wang Dapao understood the current situation of the Jia family and sensed the deep-seated melancholy in Jia Dongming's heart. He raised his hand and gently patted Jia Dongming's shoulder, then changed the subject: "Dongming, the deceased is gone. I hope you can find peace of mind."

Now, tell me more about the situation at your steel rolling mill.

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongming realized that he had strayed from the topic, so he continued, "According to Zhang Yi, when he woke up the next time, he was dizzy and couldn't remember how he fell asleep during his shift."

"Afterwards, Engineer Xue from the steel rolling mill disassembled and inspected the equipment involved in the accident and determined that the equipment had been deliberately damaged, causing the malfunction and ultimately leading to my brother's death on the job."

"Logically speaking, in the event of an accident in which the steel rolling mill equipment was damaged and personnel died, the factory should have set up an investigation team to thoroughly investigate the incident."

However, the investigation team formed by the factory only went through the motions, and even the matter of Zhang Yi sleeping on duty was covered up by Chen Jianfei.

Engineer Xue, who provided the assessment, was transferred to another location two months after the accident.

"Zhang Yi also told me that if I hadn't gone to the steel rolling mill to serve as the head of the security department, this position should have belonged to Chen Jianfei."

My arrival hindered Chen Jianfei's promotion. In an attempt to force me out of the security department, he once had Zhang Yi deliver an item to the most strictly controlled special workshop.

This incident aroused Zhang Yi's suspicion of Chen Jianfei.

"Based on the various clues described by Zhang Yi, I personally believe that in addition to Chen Jianfei, there may also be his accomplices in the management of the steel rolling mill."

After all, transferring an engineer is no easy task.

"I originally planned to investigate personally, but I had just taken up my post at the steel rolling mill and was not sure if there were any remaining associates of Chen Jianfei in the security department."

I happened to be on my way home, pondering who to entrust with investigating this case, when I came across you.

After carefully listening to Jia Dongming's account, Wang Dapao, based on his years of experience in public security work, judged that there were more than a few enemy agents lurking in the steel rolling mill, and that their leader likely held a considerable position within the mill.

After all, the transfer of an engineer is not something that can be done arbitrarily, and the accident at the steel rolling mill has confirmed that the equipment was damaged, but the investigation team ultimately closed the case as a common work injury, which shows that the person behind the scenes is no ordinary person.

After pondering for a while, Wang Dapao said to Jia Dongming with a serious expression, "Dongming, your judgment is very sound."

"You're new to the steel rolling mill and not yet familiar with the security personnel. If you hand this case over to the factory's security department for investigation, information may easily leak out."

What Wang Dapao was referring to was exactly what Jia Dongming was worried about.

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongming solemnly replied, "Dapao, what you said is exactly what I was worried about."

I was still considering which department to contact to investigate this case, and I never expected to meet you here.

"According to Zhang Yi's report, when he came out to meet me tonight, he noticed that someone was watching him near his home."

He pretended to go shopping, then turned back halfway, and finally managed to escape by climbing over the courtyard wall, thus getting to his appointment.

Chen Jianfei instructed Zhang Yi to deliver the items to the heavily guarded special workshop during his shift tomorrow night.

Therefore, the time this group of enemy agents left us was extremely limited.

After listening, Wang Dapao pondered for a moment and then solemnly said, "Dongming, at present we can only confirm that Chen Jianfei, the captain of the Second Security Brigade, has a problem. It is still unclear whether other security personnel are involved."

"Given the limited manpower of the police station, I must report this matter to the branch bureau leadership overnight and request reinforcements from the branch bureau in order to completely eliminate the enemy agent gang lurking in the steel rolling mill."

Jia Dongming agreed with Wang Dapao's decision and nodded seriously, saying, "Dapao, then I'll have to trouble you."

Please let us know if the steel rolling mill needs any cooperation.

Wang Dapao then suggested, "Dongming, since Chen Jianfei is going to take action tomorrow night, he will likely meet with his accomplices to discuss the plan before then."

Therefore, we need the addresses of Chen Jianfei and Zhang Yi so that we can immediately set up surveillance.

Jia Dongming readily agreed: "No problem."

In the past two days, in order to familiarize myself with the work of the security department, I took the opportunity to review the files of all personnel.

Chen Jianfei was previously married, but passed away three years ago. They had no children and currently live in the east wing of the backyard of No. 37 Mao'er Hutong.

"Zhang Yi's family lives in a two-courtyard siheyuan at No. 29 Datong, Qianmen Street."

He said he discovered he was being followed when he came to the meeting tonight, and I suspect the monitor may still be staking out the area.

After listening, Wang Dapao turned to the young policeman beside him to confirm, "Xiao Xu, have you written it all down?"

Xiao Xu immediately nodded and replied, "Chief, all records are complete."

After learning the news from Xiao Xu, Wang Dapao turned to Jia Dongming and said, "Dongming! I need to go to the branch office to report this situation to the leaders first. Once the case is closed, we must have a good get-together."

Jia Dongming smiled upon hearing this and replied, "Dapao, you've been a great help this time. If anyone's going to treat us, it should be me."

Wang Dapao waved his hand and said urgently, "We're all old comrades-in-arms, don't be so polite."

I have to rush to the branch office to report now. You should go home and get some rest too.

On his way home by bicycle, in a secluded basement, a middle-aged man stared at Chen Jianfei, who had just walked in, and asked in a deep voice, "Tianchuan-kun, why are you late?"

Chen Jianfei quickly bowed and explained, "Colonel Koizumi, we encountered a police patrol on the way, which caused a slight delay."

Colonel Koizumi, his expression serious, continued to press, "How are the preparations for destroying the special operations workshop going?"

Chen Jianfei appeared very confident and replied, "We have secretly dug a tunnel over the past six months and have already placed it underground in the workshop."

Tomorrow I will send someone to give Zhang Yi a fake device disguised as an instrument, so that he can distract the other two guards while he is on duty.

"Once he brings the stuff into the workshop, we'll detonate it and make him take the blame."

Colonel Koizumi frowned and reminded him, "Tagawa-kun, Lin Zhendong didn't pay much attention to the security department in the past, which is why last year's incident was covered up."

Now that Jia Dongming is the section chief, if he investigates personally, he might discover the tunnels beneath the workshop, which would expose us all.

Chen Jianfei sneered and said in a low voice, "Deputy Factory Director Zhang, after this happens, you can use Jia Dongming's incompetence as an excuse to suggest that the higher-ups replace him."

"Once he loses his investigative authority, you can recommend me to take charge of the investigation. I can then use this opportunity to cover up the traces of the tunnel, and no one will suspect us."

Around 10 p.m., in an office of the Dongcheng District Public Security Bureau, a middle-aged man listened carefully to Wang Dapao's report, took out a file folder from a drawer, and solemnly said, "Dapao, take a look at the materials here."

Wang Dapao carefully reviewed the file, his face gradually showing shock. He couldn't help but ask, "Chief, so you had long suspected that there were enemy agents lurking in the steel rolling mill?"

The middle-aged man nodded and replied solemnly, "An accident occurred at the steel rolling mill last year, and a worker died."

The factory concluded that the accident was caused by a mechanical accident, but we later received a whistleblower letter pointing out that the accident was caused by someone deliberately sabotaging the equipment.

The equipment belonged to an eighth-level fitter, and the man who died was his apprentice.

"You should understand how important an eighth-grade fitter is to a steel rolling mill."

The fact that the factory handled such a serious accident so hastily suggests that the enemy agents hiding within were definitely not ordinary people.

Wang Dapao, recalling the information provided by Jia Dongming, said to the middle-aged man, "Director, the deceased fitter was my comrade's younger brother."

This time, I must assist my comrades in completely eliminating the scourge hiding in the factory and seeking justice for his brother.

The next morning around 7 a.m., after delivering the corn stalks, Jia Dongming rode his bicycle to the security office as usual.

Good morning, Section Chief!

"Section Chief, you're here really early today."

"Good morning, Section Chief!"

Jia Dongming parked his bicycle and walked into the office building, where colleagues he encountered greeted him along the way.

Jia Dongming responded with a smile. Although he was unsure whether any of his colleagues were Chen Jianfei's accomplices, he maintained his usual demeanor to avoid arousing suspicion.

Upon entering the office, Jia Dongming sat down at the desk, picked up a thick stack of folders, and found Chen Jianfei's personal file.

According to archival records, Chen Jianfei was born in Xinjing City. He joined the Anti-Japanese United Army at the age of sixteen. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he went south with the army and participated in many battles. Later, he was discharged from the army due to injuries and was assigned to the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill to work as a security guard.

This file appears clear and simple on the surface, but it contains many suspicious points: Xinjing City was under enemy control for a long time, and the file only mentions Chen Jianfei's birthplace, without mentioning any information about his parents.

Furthermore, according to the resettlement policy at the time, Chen Jianfei's ancestral home was Xinjing City, and he should have been returned to his original place of residence for work. Why was he assigned to the capital city of Beijing?

Regarding Chen Jianfei's personal information, the archives show that he had been married once, but his spouse passed away from illness shortly after the marriage. Since then, Chen Jianfei has remained single.

After carefully reviewing Chen Jianfei's resume, Jia Dongming placed the document on the table, tapped his fingertips rhythmically on the desk, and muttered to himself, "Xinjing City... Back then, the Japanese army established a large number of training and research institutions there."

Since Chen Jianfei is suspicious, he must either be a descendant of Japanese personnel left behind, or a spy trained by those organizations.

"If Chen Jianfei were truly a trained professional agent, he wouldn't have planned such a rudimentary operation."

This suggests that Zhang Yi was likely just a pretext he used to conceal his true intentions.

Considering the critical importance of the special workshop to the steel rolling mill, Jia Dongming got up from his desk and decided to personally visit the special workshop for an on-site inspection.

To avoid arousing Chen Jianfei's suspicion, Jia Dongming first went to the logistics section office and greeted Zhang Guoping inside, "Comrade Guoping, is this a convenient time?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Guoping immediately stood up and replied respectfully, "Section Chief, I have time. What are your instructions?"

Jia Dongming smiled and said, "I'm planning to take a walk around the factory area. Would you like to come along?"

For Zhang Guoping, Jia Dongming's willingness to take him along on his trips was undoubtedly a sign of trust, and he naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity.

Upon hearing the question, Zhang Guoping quickly replied, "Section Chief, I'm free! Please wait a moment, I'll get ready and go with you right away."

Soon after, Jia Dongming and Zhang Guoping walked out of the security office building and headed towards the factory area.

At that moment, Chen Jianfei, who was standing by the window, happened to see the two figures leaving side by side. A fierce look flashed in his eyes, and he lowered his voice and said coldly, "Jia Dongming, I do admire your ability to win people over, but you just had to stand in my way... After tonight, let's see if you can still laugh."

Accompanied by Zhang Guoping, Jia Dongming slowly inspected the main road of the factory area, observing the situation along the way. About half an hour later, the two arrived near the special workshop.

Outside the special workshop, three armed security personnel saw Jia Dongming. One of them immediately stepped forward, saluted, and reported in a loud voice, "Good morning, Section Chief! Song Qifeng, Wang Weiguo, and Zhou Heping from the First Brigade are on duty guarding the special workshop. Please give instructions!"