Nominal: My senior brothers are all big shots

On the third night, He Bing entered the interrogation room. He didn't sit in the interrogation seat, but instead moved a chair and sat opposite Liu Zhi. He placed a folder on the table, but didn't open it; he just pressed it lightly with his hand.

"Liu Zhi, your wife came to the provincial capital yesterday." He Bing's voice was very calm, as if he were talking about something insignificant.

Liu Zhi suddenly raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot and sunken. He looked at He Bing with fear, expectation, and an indescribable pain in his eyes. "What...what is she doing here?" His voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.

He Bing said, "She came to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. She said she didn't believe you would do those things. She said you must have had your reasons. She wants to see you."

Liu Zhi's eyes reddened. He lowered his head, his shoulders trembling. He Bing looked at him without saying a word. The interrogation room was extremely quiet, with only the ticking of the clock on the wall and Liu Zhi's suppressed breathing.

After a long while, Liu Zhi raised his head, tears streaming down his face. "Director He, I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything."

He Bing pressed the recorder button.

The first thing Liu Zhi confessed was about himself. His voice was calm, as calm as if he were reading an obituary. "I received money from Zhou Tianming. The first time was in 2016. He asked me to help him get a mining license. One million yuan, in a bank card, in a tea box. I took it."

He paused, his voice lowering slightly, "It happened several more times after that. Each time it was cash, and each time he had Sun Decai hand it over. I can't remember how many times it happened, or how much money it was. But it should be in Sun Decai's ledger."

He Bing asked, "Besides taking money, what else did you do for him?"

Liu Zhi said, "I put in a good word for him. Things like mining rights, safety accidents, and export quotas. If he asked, I'd help him. He's the biggest rare earth boss in Pingjiang; if he asked, I couldn't refuse. Later… later it wasn't that I couldn't refuse, it was that I dared not refuse. He knew too much about me."

He Bing asked, "Besides Zhou Tianming, who else has given you money?"

Liu Zhi paused for a moment, then said, "Huang Zhiqiang. He delivered them to me. Han Ligang also delivered them. And Zhao Anguo. And..."

He read the names aloud one by one, as if reciting a death list. He Bing wrote down every name, every number, every detail.

He Bing asked, "Why did Huang Zhiqiang give you money?"

Liu Zhi said, "He wanted to be the secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission. The original secretary had retired, and he wanted to take over. I recommended him to the provincial authorities. He gave them 500,000 yuan."

He Bing asked, "Where is Han Ligang?"

Liu Zhi said, "He wanted to be the executive vice mayor. Li Jianping was in that position, and he thought Li Jianping was in his way. He gave him 800,000 yuan. I spoke on his behalf at the provincial level, but the province didn't agree. He didn't ask for the money back either."

He Bing asked, "Where is Zhao Anguo?"

Liu Zhi said, "He wanted to become the Party Secretary of Changhui City. The original Party Secretary had been transferred, and he wanted to take over. He gave him one million yuan. I helped him make the arrangements."

He Bing quickly jotted down notes in his notebook. After finishing, he looked up at Liu Zhi. "How much do you know about Zhou Tianming's smuggling ring?"

Liu Zhi paused for a moment, then said, "I know he's the actual controller of the smuggling ring. His Tiansheng Group, on the surface, is engaged in legitimate rare earth trading, but in reality, more than half of the rare earth is smuggled out of the country. He buys ore from illegal mines, exports it through the trading company of Yuanda Group, underreports the price when declaring it at customs, and evades tariffs. The rest is smuggled out of the country directly, without declaring it at customs or paying taxes."

He Bing asked, "When did you find out?"

Liu Zhi said, "It happened a long time ago. I found out in 2017. Someone reported him, but I suppressed it. Later, customs also investigated him, but I made a call and nothing came of it."

He Bing asked, "Besides you, who else put in a good word for him?"

Liu Zhi said, "Huang Zhiqiang. He's the secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, and the public security bureau, procuratorate, and courts are all under his jurisdiction. It's not that no one has investigated Zhou Tianming's smuggling, but every time they're halfway through, Huang Zhiqiang orders them to stop. There's also Han Ligang, who's in charge of industry, and he helped Zhou Tianming with the rare earth export quotas. And there's Wei Guoan, the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau. It was he who arranged for Zhou Tianming's smuggling convoy to move freely in Pingjiang."

He Bing asked, "Is Wei Guoan one of Huang Zhiqiang's men?"

Liu Zhi nodded. "He was promoted by Huang Zhiqiang. He worked in the public security system for over twenty years, climbing up step by step from the grassroots level, all thanks to Huang Zhiqiang. He did whatever Huang Zhiqiang told him to do."

He Bing asked, "Who else?"

Liu Zhi thought for a moment and said, "There are also people from the province. Zhou Tianming has to pay tribute to certain people in the province every year. I don't know exactly who they are. But once, he was drinking with me and got a little drunk, so he let it slip. He said that the people in the provincial capital have much bigger appetites than you guys. I asked who they were, but he wouldn't say."

He Bing wrote down those words.

The interrogation lasted all night. Liu Zhi confessed to many things; some of the names He Bing recognized, and some he didn't. He wrote down every name and every detail.

The next morning, the task force held an emergency meeting. He Bing stood at the front of the meeting room, behind him a whiteboard covered with densely packed names and relationships. He took a marker and drew a diagram on the whiteboard.

"This is the diagram of the protective umbrella relationship that Liu Zhi revealed."

His voice was calm, but every word carried weight. "At the top is Zhou Tianming, the actual controller of the smuggling ring. The second layer consists of Liu Zhi, Huang Zhiqiang, Han Ligang, and Zhao Anguo, who are Zhou Tianming's main protectors in Pingjiang. The third layer includes people like Wei Guoan and Sun Decai, who are the implementers. Below them are cadres from various departments and districts, who either accept bribes, act as informants, or provide convenience."

He pointed to a name on the whiteboard. "Liu Zhi confessed that Zhou Tianming had to pay tribute to certain people in the province every year. Liu Zhi didn't know exactly who they were. But we must investigate this lead."

The conference room was completely silent. He Bing's gaze swept over every face, then he said, "Our next task is to thoroughly investigate every person and every line on this map. No matter who is involved, no matter their level, we must investigate to the very end."

That afternoon, the task force split into several groups. The interrogation team continued to investigate Liu Zhi, the external investigation team went to banks, industrial and commercial bureaus, and tax bureaus to collect evidence, the funds investigation and control team monitored the accounts of Zhou Tianming, Huang Zhiqiang, Han Ligang, Zhao Anguo, and others, and the protection umbrella investigation team began to sort out clues from the provincial capital.

He Bing stood by the window, gazing at the gray sky outside. He clutched a copy of the relationship diagram in his hand, the paper crumpled from his grip. The diagram wasn't large, but he knew its significance.

He picked up the phone and dialed Lin Feng's number. "Secretary Lin, Liu Zhi has spoken up. He's confessed a lot. Huang Zhiqiang, Han Ligang, Wei Guoan, and Zhao Anguo are all in there."

Lin Feng paused for a moment on the other end of the phone, then asked, "Is the evidence sufficient?"

He Bing said, "That's enough. Liu Zhi's confession, Sun Decai's account books, and Chen Lili's materials are sufficient to file a case."

Lin Feng said, "Then let's move."

He Bing said, "Mm."