Nominal: My senior brothers are all big shots

He Bing didn't speak. He waited. The interrogation room was extremely quiet, except for Zhou Tianming's suppressed sobs.

After a long while, Zhou Tianming raised his head, wiped away his tears, and said in a hoarse voice, like sandpaper scraping against wood, "Director He, I'll talk. I'll tell you everything."

He Bing pressed the recorder button.

The first thing Zhou Tianming confessed about was smuggling.

His voice was calm, as calm as if he were reading a work summary. "I organized the rare earth smuggling for Tiansheng Group. It started in 2010 and has been going on for over ten years. Every year, the amount of rare earth smuggled out ranges from several thousand tons to tens of thousands of tons. There are two routes: one is from Dongshan Wharf to the sea, and the other is from the coast of a neighboring province. Liu Zhi helped me with the Dongshan Wharf route. Huang Zhiqiang helped me find people for the neighboring province route."

He Bing asked, "Where did the smuggled rare earth elements end up?"

Zhou Tianming said, "Most of the products are sold to Japan, South Korea, Europe, and the United States. We have regular clients and long-term contracts overseas. The money is transferred to overseas accounts and doesn't go through China."

He Bing asked, "How much money is in the overseas account?"

Zhou Tianming paused for a moment, then said, "Converted to RMB, it's about two or three hundred million."

He Bing asked, "What did you do with all this money?"

Zhou Tianming said, "Part of it was used to keep the company running, part was used to cultivate relationships, and part was left in the account for future use..."

He didn't finish his sentence. He Bing said it for him: "For use when you run away later?"

Zhou Tianming did not answer, but his expression said it all.

He Bing asked, "Who are the people you've been bribing?"

Zhou Tianming paused for a moment, then said, "Liu Zhi, Huang Zhiqiang, Han Ligang, Wei Guoan, Zhao Anguo. And a few people from the province."

He Bing asked, "Who are the people from the province?"

Zhou Tianming shook his head. "I can't say. If I do, I'm really finished."

He Bing looked at him, paused for a moment, and then said, "If you don't tell me, do you think they can protect you? Zhou Tianming, you still don't understand. Those people can't protect you. They can't even protect themselves."

Zhou Tianming lowered his head and remained silent.

He Bing took a USB drive out of the folder, plugged it into the laptop, opened a video file, and turned the screen towards Zhou Tianming.

On the screen appeared an old man. He sat in a wheelchair, the background a simple living room, with a calligraphy scroll hanging on the wall that read "Great virtue carries all things." The old man's hair was completely white, his face was covered with wrinkles, and his eyes were cloudy, but his gaze was still sharp. He wore a faded old military uniform, the collar buttoned up meticulously.

Zhou Tianming stared at the screen, his pupils suddenly contracting. That was his uncle.

In the video, Old Zhou looked at the camera, paused for a moment, and then spoke. His voice was hoarse, but every word was clear. "Mingyuan, you have disappointed me greatly."

He paused, his voice lowering further, "In my whole life, I've fought wars, been wounded, and I believe I've done right by the Party and the people. The only thing I've wronged is you. When you were little, I spoiled you. When you made mistakes, I covered for you. When you got into trouble, I fixed it for you. I thought that was doing right by your father, but I never imagined that I was the one who ruined you."

Tears streamed down Old Zhou's face, running down his wrinkles. "Mingyuan, stop. Don't push yourself any further. You can't take it anymore. If you confess, you might have a chance to live. If you don't, you really won't have a chance."

The video ended. The screen went dark.

Zhou Tianming stared at the black screen for a long time. Tears streamed down his face, but he didn't wipe them away. His lips trembled, and his shoulders shook. He buried his face in his hands on the table and cried. Not the suppressed, silent kind of crying, but a loud, wailing cry, like when he was a child and had been bullied outside, running home to his uncle. But this time, his uncle wasn't there for him.

He Bing didn't try to persuade him or urge him; she just sat there and waited.

After a long while, Zhou Tianming raised his head, wiped away his tears, and looked at He Bing. His eyes held fear, regret, and a deep weariness.

"Director He, I'll tell you everything. I'll tell you everything. I'll tell you everything from the people in the province."

He Bing pressed the recorder button.

Zhou Tianming's confession lasted for three whole days.

For three days, he sat on that cold chair in the interrogation room, talking from morning till night, his voice going from hoarse to silent, and then from silent to hoarse again. Several groups of interrogators came and went, but he never stopped.

He was like someone pouring out twenty years' worth of accumulated sewage, bucket after bucket, until he emptied himself out.

He Bing sat opposite him, her notebook already full, and she had replaced it again. The voice recorder had its batteries changed several times, and the table was piled high with empty pen refills.

As he listened to Zhou Tianming's explanation, his expression grew increasingly grim, and his brows furrowed more and more tightly.

It wasn't that Zhou Tianming didn't explain things clearly enough; it was that he explained them too clearly. Every name, every amount, every route, every detail was crystal clear, as if it had been prepared in advance.

"In 2015, at Dongshan Wharf. That shipment was 3,000 tons of rare earth, worth 120 million yuan. It was under-declared by 70% during customs declaration, evading 36 million yuan in customs duties. Liu Zhi made the arrangements with customs. The person in charge was Zhang Guoliang, who was the head of customs at the time, but he has since been transferred to the provincial level."

"In 2017, at the Changhui mining area, a miner reported illegal mining and was beaten by Wei Guoan's men. He was severely beaten, with several broken ribs and a ruptured spleen, and spent three months in the hospital. Later, the man dared not report it again and settled the matter privately for 300,000 yuan."

"In 2018, in Longnan Town, two miners were beaten by He Laoliu's men for demanding their wages. One of them died from his injuries. He Laoliu spent 500,000 yuan to settle the matter, and the family did not pursue it further. Later, He Laoliu told me that the man was not killed intentionally, but accidentally. I did not believe it, but I did not ask. Some things cannot be asked; if you ask, you have to get involved. If you get involved, everything will be over."

He Bing stopped writing. "Someone died, and you're not going to do anything about it?"

Zhou Tianming lowered his head and remained silent for a long time. His voice was very soft, as if squeezed from his chest. "Director He, it's not that I don't want to get involved, it's that I can't. If I get involved, the mine will stop operating; if it stops operating, the workers will have no work; if they have no work, they will cause trouble; if they cause trouble, things will get serious; and if things get serious, they can't be covered up anymore."

He Bing looked at him, her gaze filled with something indescribable—not anger, but sorrow. "So, you just let them die?"

Zhou Tianming didn't speak. His eyes were red, but no tears fell. He knew that tears were useless. Tears couldn't save the two dead people, nor could they save himself.