Name: My father is Zhao Dehan, and I hope he will become a dragon!

The study was deathly silent.

Qi Tongwei held the cup of hot tea, his fingertips were icy cold, and the aroma of the tea filled the air, but it couldn't warm the chill in his heart.

He looked up, his eyes red-rimmed: "Teacher, I...I feel like I've been sidelined."

His voice trembled, tinged with pleading: "Economic Investigation, Technical Investigation, and State Security have all been assigned to Zhao Donglai's jurisdiction; I'm not allowed to attend some provincial party committee meetings; even personnel nominations require dual review by the Organization Department and the Discipline Inspection Commission... I, the Director of the Public Security Bureau, am now just a figurehead, unable to even move a deputy section chief!"

Gao Yuliang sat opposite Qi Tongwei and sighed as he looked at Qi Tongwei's aggrieved expression.

Qi Tongwei is like a piece of chewing gum that you can't get rid of.

As his teacher, I must always be there to protect him.

"Tongwei..."

Gao Yuliang finally spoke, his voice low and slow, yet each word as firm as a nail: "Why do you think you're still able to sit in this position?"

Qi Tongwei was taken aback.

"It's because Sha Ruijin doesn't want to touch you yet!"

Gao Yuliang sneered, "If he hadn't wanted to maintain the overall situation, if he hadn't wanted to use you as a warning, he would have already found a way to cripple you. You should be glad that Miao Qingzheng didn't record your visit, otherwise, you would definitely be done for!"

Qi Tongwei trembled, his lips quivering: "Teacher... what should I do? Am I... completely hopeless?"

Gao Yuliang stared at him for a long time before slowly uttering three sentences: "First, no matter how strong Zhao Donglai is, he is only the executive deputy director, while you are the one in charge."

Qi Tongwei was slightly taken aback: "Teacher, are you saying I still have a chance?"

Gao Yuliang said, "As long as the official seal is still in your hands, and as long as the words 'Director of Public Security' haven't been removed from the signboard, you are still the top leader of the Handong Public Security system, understand?"

Qi Tongwei became excited, his eyes shining.

Gao Yuliang continued, "If Zhao Donglai dares to overstep the line, you dare to suppress him—your title is your last line of defense."

Qi Tongwei said, "I understand!"

"What do you know? Even if you do know, you can't go against Zhao Donglai!" Gao Yuliang said coldly. "Right now, everyone is watching you!"

The light in Qi Tongwei's eyes dimmed again: "Yes, yes... but they won't let me attend meetings, they won't let me manage things..."

"Secondly, as long as I, your teacher, am still here, you still have a chance."

Gao Yuliang lowered his voice even further, "But in the days to come, I will not only be unable to help you, but I will also criticize you in public and even distance myself from you."

Qi Tongwei was stunned: "This!"

"You must be patient," Gao Yuliang continued. "Be patient until the storm passes, until they lower their guard—as long as I don't fall, the roots of the Han University gang will still be there."

Qi Tongwei suddenly looked up, tears welling in his eyes: "Teacher..."

"third!"

Gao Yuliang interrupted him, his tone suddenly turning stern, "Instead of crying here, you should think of ways to solve some major cases, arrest drug dealers, crack down on organized crime, and solve long-standing cases! Get back the headlines—not by attacking others with public opinion, but by achieving real political achievements!"

"Even if I were to speak for you, you'd need to have some tangible achievements, understand? As long as you can still do something for the people of Handong, as long as you can still make the front page of the provincial newspaper, they will never be able to label you a 'useless person'! You will still have a chance to make a comeback!"

He stood up, walked over to Qi Tongwei, and gently patted his shoulder: "Tongwei, remember: a wise man doesn't fight when he's at a disadvantage. Now is not the time to be aggressive; it's the time to keep a low profile. If you can swallow this insult, perhaps... you still have a chance to turn things around."

After a pause, Gao Yuliang continued, "If you act impulsively again..."

He paused, his voice so soft it was almost a whisper: "It's true, no one can save you now."

Qi Tongwei slowly stood up, bowed deeply, his forehead almost touching the ground.

"The teacher's teachings have been remembered by the student."

"I...I'll go back right away. I'll figure out a way to solve the case. I...I definitely won't let you down, teacher!"

Gao Yuliang turned his back, looked at the sky gradually brightening outside the window, and waved his hand: "Go."

The door closed gently, shutting out the figures of the master and apprentice.

……

……

Qi Tongwei had barely stepped into the house, not even taking off his shoes, when he heard Liang Lu speak coldly from the living room: "Your 'brother' is here again!"

Already in a bad mood, Qi Tongwei's mood worsened upon seeing Liang Lu's attitude: "Can't you be a little more polite to my family?!"

Liang Lu just sneered: "Fine, he's been waiting for you in the study for ages. He's made a complete mess of the house, the coffee table is covered in cigarette ash."

Her tone was full of disgust; she didn't even want to mention the name "Qi Tongjiang," referring to him only as "your younger brother."

Qi Tongjiang and Qi Tongwei are from the same village, but they are not related by blood. Qi Tongjiang is the son of a distant cousin of Qi Tongwei. Relying on this relationship, he has been flaunting his status as the "brother of the Director of Public Security" for many years.

Qi Tongwei was already exhausted, and upon hearing this, he frowned, suppressing his anger: "I understand."

He pushed open the study door and, sure enough, saw Qi Tongjiang squatting on the sofa, holding half a pack of Hongmei cigarettes in his hand, with several empty mineral water bottles piled up at his feet.

Seeing him come in, she immediately jumped up, her face beaming with smiles: "Brother! You're finally back!"

"What is it?" Qi Tongwei took off his wet coat, his voice cold and hard.

Qi Tongjiang rubbed his hands together, looked around, and lowered his voice: "It's... that incident in our village, do you remember? Last month, the case of Li Laosan's daughter being gang-raped..."

Qi Tongwei's heart sank, and his face suddenly turned grim.

Of course he remembers.

A month ago, Qi Tongjiang called late at night, saying that some relatives from his hometown had gotten drunk and had a "misunderstanding" with a female college student who was doing an internship back in the village, and that the woman had reported the incident to the police. The village was worried about the damage to their reputation and asked him to "settle things."

He did give me some ideas at the time.

However, after being scolded by Gao Yuliang, the matter was dropped.

Later, Zhao Dehan messed around with the Shanshui Group again, was chased and scolded by Zhao Ruilong, and then Guangming Peak fell into the hands of Zhao Chongming.

And that was the end of it.

As a result, Miao Qingzheng got into trouble later, and he was too busy taking care of himself to remember the incident.

Unexpectedly, Qi Tongjiang came again.

"Brother!" Qi Tongjiang cried out anxiously, "Didn't you say that 200,000 yuan would solve the problem? I did as you said, scraped together the money, and sent it to the woman's family, but they wouldn't accept it! Now the case has been transferred to the Municipal Public Security Bureau, and I heard they're going to open an investigation! All those brothers have been summoned!"

Qi Tongwei felt a toothache.

Qi Tongjiang lunged forward and grabbed Qi Tongwei's arm, his eyes pleading: "We're all from the same village! If you say one word, who will dare to touch them? Just make a call and ask the Luzhou Public Security Bureau to suppress the case, okay?"

Qi Tongwei took a deep breath, wanting to refuse, but looking into Qi Tongjiang's eyes, and thinking of his fellow villagers, he felt a pang of guilt.

After all, the money for my college education was scraped together by them, penny by penny.

Are we really going to harden our hearts and stand by and watch someone die?

Qi Tongwei felt a pang of conscience!