I slept with my sister's classmate, and she turned out to be my boss.

At 2 a.m., Hu Yuheng was awakened by the ringing of the phone.

She reached for her phone on the bedside table and glanced at the caller ID—

The night shift number for the technical department.

She answered the phone and heard a hurried voice on the other end:

"Director Hu, Gu Huaiyuan's cell phone signal started moving from near his residence half an hour ago, heading towards the airport expressway."

Hu Yuheng sat up: "Are you sure it's his phone?"

"Confirmed. We have been monitoring the signal in real time, and the owner information matches."

"Continue to track and report your location as needed."

Hu Yuheng hung up the phone and immediately dialed Chen Yuanda's number.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

"Director Hu, what is it?"

"Director Chen, Gu Huaiyuan has made a move. The technical department has detected that his cell phone signal is moving towards the airport."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone:

"Immediately arrange airport security. Notify airport police to set up checkpoints at all security checkpoints, boarding gates, and parking lot entrances and exits."

In addition, send a team directly to the airport terminal.

"clear."

Hu Yuheng hung up the phone and began to notify the relevant personnel.

……

At 2:40 a.m., the task force members set off from their respective residences and headed to the airport.

Chen Dapeng was asleep when he received the call, but he woke up immediately when he heard the words "Gu Huaiyuan ran away".

He put on his coat as he walked downstairs, hailed a taxi on the roadside, and gave the directions to the airport.

3 a.m., airport terminal.

Airport police have set up checkpoints at various key locations as instructed.

Security checkpoints have been manned more frequently, plainclothes officers are observing at boarding gates, and checkpoints have been set up at parking lot entrances and exits.

Hu Yuheng stood next to a pillar in the departure hall, watching the passengers coming and going.

There weren't many people at the airport in the early morning. Occasionally, someone would drag a suitcase through the empty hall, their footsteps echoing in the empty space.

The technical department tracks and displays signals in real time.

Gu Huaiyuan's cell phone signal was indeed within the airport area, and it was parked near the departure hall.

Hu Yuheng picked up the walkie-talkie:

Attention all teams: The target cell phone signal is near the departure hall, but it is not moving. Check all suspicious individuals in the hall.

The walkie-talkies crackled with responses from each group.

Twenty minutes later, airport police found the phone at the departure hall service counter.

The screen was still lit up and placed on the service counter.

There was no one around; the phone lay there all alone.

Airport police took photos with their phones, then put them in an evidence bag and delivered them to Hu Yuheng.

Hu Yuheng looked at the phone and immediately realized he had been tricked.

"The cunning Gu Huaiyuan!"

She picked up the walkie-talkie: "The phone has been found. The person is not in the terminal. Retreat to all teams."

At four o'clock in the morning, the task force assembled outside the airport terminal.

Hu Yuheng stood by the car and looked at Chen Yuanda: "He left his phone here and left. The phone signal comes from here, but we searched the entire terminal and couldn't find him."

Chen Yuanda paused for a moment: "He changed cars?"

"The investigation is still ongoing. We're checking the surveillance footage around the airport to see if it captured him getting out of any car."

Chen Yuanda glanced at the sky: "Let's have a meeting tonight."

……

4:30 a.m., in the task force's meeting room.

Chen Yuanda stood in front of the whiteboard, wrote "Mobile phone found at the airport - person has left" and drew a horizontal line below it.

"His ability to change vehicles and move before we could set up surveillance indicates that he was better prepared than we anticipated. Let's review his movement route next."

The technical staff turned on their computers and pulled up the route map.

"He left his residence around 1 a.m. and hailed a taxi at the intersection to head towards the airport."

According to the surveillance footage, he was carrying a briefcase at the time.

The taxi stopped once, near an exit of the airport expressway.

He didn't continue to the airport, but got off and transferred to another vehicle.

The car exited the highway towards Nancheng.

Chen Yuanda drew this path on the whiteboard:

"After he got out of the car, he left his phone in the car and asked the driver to take it to the airport."

This was a deliberate false signal, intended to make us think he would leave the country from the airport.

His real destination was in the southern part of the city.

Hu Yuheng said, "The area in the south is too large. He might settle in the south city area, or he might move to another city. We don't have enough information to pinpoint his exact location."

Chen Yuanda paused for a moment:

"Expand the search area. Notify the local public security authorities in all counties and cities surrounding Nancheng to assist in the investigation."

At the same time, monitoring of Yang Xiujiang's whereabouts was strengthened.

Gu Huaiyuan has run away. Yang Xiujiang might take action after hearing the news. We can't let him escape too.

……

When Gu Huaiyuan arrived in Nancheng, it was still dark.

He transferred to a pre-arranged car, and the driver dropped him off at the entrance of a small hotel on the outskirts of the southern city.

The hotel was old, one of the sign lights was broken, and the facade was inconspicuous.

Gu Huaiyuan pushed open the door and went in, registering for a room with cash.

The shopkeeper didn't ask for his ID card, took the money, and handed him the keys.

Gu Huaiyuan went upstairs, entered his room, locked the door, and drew the curtains.

He placed his briefcase on the bedside table and sat down on the edge of the bed.

He didn't turn on the light, sat in the dark for a while, then took out his old-fashioned cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

It rang twice before being answered.

"arrive?"

"arrive."

"I can't stay in Nancheng for long. News of this will get here soon. I'll stay for two days at most, then I'll make arrangements for my next destination."

Gu Huaiyuan didn't ask where the next leg of the journey was, he only said one word:

"it is good."

The phone hangs up.

He sat in the dark, with his phone on the bedside table.

He remembered the cell phone he had left at the airport service desk a few hours earlier—

There was no sensitive information stored inside; all call logs, text messages, and contacts had been cleared beforehand.

But leaving your phone number is itself a signal—

The task force knew he had fled.

He leaned against the headboard and closed his eyes for a moment.

He had to decide on his next step before dawn.

……

The next morning, in Yang Xiujiang's office.

He had just finished signing a document when his phone vibrated.

He picked it up and saw a message from an unmarked number:

"Old Gu has already left. He left his phone at the airport and went in a different direction."

Yang Xiujiang stared at that line of text for a long time.

Gu Huaiyuan left—in this way.

I left home in the early morning, left my phone at the airport, and then took another car to leave.

Yang Xiujiang didn't know where Gu Huaiyuan had gone, but he knew that Gu Huaiyuan hadn't taken a plane, hadn't left the country, and was still hiding somewhere in the country.

He put down his phone and sat in the chair for a while.

Can Gu Huaiyuan escape?

He wasn't sure.

But he was certain that Gu Huaiyuan's actions had made his situation even more dangerous.

The task force did not stop Gu Huaiyuan.

The next step will be to focus on the remaining people—Yang Xiujiang is one of those "remaining people".

He stood up, walked to the office door, closed it, and locked it from the inside.

Then he went back behind the desk and opened the bottom drawer on the right.

There were several documents inside, which had been organized previously.

What needed to be processed has already been processed; there's not much left.

He closed the drawer without taking anything.

He sat down again, picked up his phone, found a number, and pressed the call button.

It rang three times before being answered.

"Old Wu, it's me."

The voice on the other end of the phone carried a hint of surprise: "So early?"

Are you free tonight? Let's have dinner together.

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone: "Okay, where to?"

"The usual place. Seven o'clock in the evening."

"it is good."

Yang Xiujiang hung up the phone, looked out the window, and began to consider her options.

Gu Huaiyuan ran away; he can't follow in his footsteps.

He needs to do something to make himself appear as if everything is normal...