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

He Ying didn't reply to the message; instead, she called directly.

Chen Dapeng answered the call immediately.

"Sister Ying..."

"Dapeng, you said the situation has changed. What exactly happened?"

Chen Dapeng lowered his voice and briefly summarized the content of the meeting:

Zeng Zhiyuan submitted a self-statement to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

He claimed that Gu Huaiyuan and Yang Xiujiang were framing him, and that Yang Xiujiang harbored resentment because she was not satisfied with her job transfer.

The document also included a sentence at the end.

He reserves the right to appeal to higher authorities if the organization fails to investigate and clarify the facts of the framing.

He Ying was silent for a few seconds: "Zeng Zhiyuan, he's made his move."

"Yes, faster than we expected."

Chen Dapeng paused for a moment.

The task force decided to pursue two parallel lines of investigation:

While continuing to verify the statements of Gu Huaiyuan and Yang Xiujiang;

While verifying the source and authenticity of Zeng Zhiyuan's document.

In addition, Director Hu said that Gu Huaiyuan would be interrogated again within three days.

He Ying didn't respond immediately, but spoke after a while:

"Dapeng, this case has already reached the capital."

Chen Dapeng sensed the hidden meaning in her words: "What are you planning to do?"

"I'm planning to go to Beijing soon to visit my grandfather. And while I'm there... I'll also look into some things."

She didn't say "understand what".

But Chen Dapeng knew that her "understanding" was not just casual conversation.

"Be careful when you go to the capital."

"I know. You too." He Ying paused, then added, "Dapeng, did you read that document? What did you find?"

Chen Dapeng glanced at the stack of unopened photocopies on the table:

"I haven't had time to look at it closely yet. I'll tell you after I've finished looking at it."

"Okay. Don't overwork yourself."

"Okay. I'm hanging up."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Dapeng put down his phone, picked up the stack of photocopies of Zeng Zhiyuan's self-narrative materials on the table, turned to the first page, and began to read it word by word.

……

After get off work, the team members left one by one.

As Liu Chang was leaving, he asked, "Aren't you leaving yet?"

Chen Dapeng said, "Let's watch for a while longer."

As Wang Zhi left, he patted him on the shoulder:

No matter how busy you are with work, you must take care of your health.

"understood."

Chen Dapeng smiled and responded, his gaze remaining fixed on the table.

He copied Zeng Zhiyuan's self-statement and Gu Huaiyuan's confession and laid them out side by side on the table, one on the left and one on the right.

In the middle were several blank sheets of printing paper.

He picked up a pen and began to draw a timeline on a blank sheet of paper.

Zeng Zhiyuan's materials mention:

Yang Xiujiang's transfer occurred after his "request for a job adjustment was not met," therefore his motive is valid.

Retaliation stemming from dissatisfaction; framing others in retaliation.

This logic makes sense on paper:

First comes displeasure, then comes action.

Motivation and behavior have a temporal sequence.

But Chen Dapeng noticed a detail when he flipped to the middle of the material.

The transfer record attachment provided by Zeng Zhiyuan includes the registration date of one of the accounts.

That account was registered almost four months earlier than the time when Yang Xiujiang's "request for job adjustment was not fulfilled".

If Yang Xiujiang only harbored resentment after his job adjustment setback, it's impossible that he had already registered an account for transferring money four months prior.

Unless—there's a problem with the logic in that document.

Chen Dapeng did not rush to conclusions.

He reread Gu Huaiyuan's confession, found the paragraphs that mentioned Yang Xiujiang, extracted the descriptions of the relevant time points, and copied them onto a blank sheet of paper.

Gu Huaiyuan did not mention when the account was registered, but he did mention the flow of funds last autumn.

However, the "evidence" in Zeng Zhiyuan's materials corresponding to that fund was dated last summer.

It's been almost three months.

He went through both documents again, extracted all the time-related information, and listed them one by one on the paper.

He made markings using different colored pens—

Black represents the time mentioned in Gu Huaiyuan's confession;

The red color represents the time period mentioned in Zeng Zhiyuan's autobiography.

After listing them.

He moved the paper further away and looked at it over.

There are several discrepancies between the red and black time points.

It's not a minor difference; it's a gap of several months.

If the "evidence" provided in Zeng Zhiyuan's materials is true.

Therefore, the time when these fund transfers occurred should be before or roughly around the time mentioned in Gu Huaiyuan's confession.

However, the table compiled by Chen Dapeng shows a clear mismatch between the two.

The red areas are concentrated in a certain time period;

The darker periods are concentrated in another time slot.

There was a gap of nearly three months in between...

He stared at the form for a while, then stood up, took the form and two copies of the materials, and walked to the door of Hu Yuheng's office.

She's still working overtime.

The lights were still on, and the door was ajar.

He knocked twice and heard a sound from inside:

"Come in".

Hu Yuheng sat behind his desk, with several documents spread out in front of him.

She saw Chen Dapeng come in and put down her pen:

"Still not gone?"

Chen Dapeng walked over and placed the timetable in front of her:

"Director Hu, please take a look at this."

Hu Yuheng looked down and glanced at it.

His gaze swept back and forth across the red and black timeline several times before he looked up:

"Did you list this?"

"Yes. There are several discrepancies between the timelines mentioned in Zeng Zhiyuan's materials and those in Gu Huaiyuan's confession. The shortest discrepancy is two months, and the longest is nearly four months."

Hu Yuheng did not speak immediately.

She looked down at the form again, then took a red pen from the pen holder and circled one of the places where the time was out of sync:

"This account was registered four months earlier than Zeng Zhiyuan said, that Yang Xiujiang held a grudge?"

"Yes. If he only became dissatisfied after the job change, it's impossible for him to have registered an account four months in advance."

Hu Yuheng put down his pen and leaned back in his chair.

She didn't say anything like "You did a great job," she just said:

"Leave the materials with me. I'll bring it up at the morning meeting tomorrow."

Chen Dapeng nodded and turned to walk to the door when Hu Yuheng's voice came from behind him:

"Dapeng, the table you made today is more useful than our discussions the other day."

Chen Dapeng turned around and said with a smile:

"Director Hu, I will check the bank records again tomorrow."

After saying that, he opened the door and went out.

……

Meanwhile, the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission.

Yang Xiujiang was still sitting in the office, not having left work.

The phone rang; it was from an unaddressed number.

He answered the call.

"Secretary Yang, I heard from the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection that Zeng Zhiyuan submitted materials to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection."

Yang Xiujiang's fingers tightened slightly.

"What materials?"

"A self-written statement. The content is roughly a different interpretation of your relationship with Gu Huaiyuan..."

The other party did not use the words "framing".

But Yang Xiujiang understood.

Zeng Zhiyuan not only abandoned him and Gu Huaiyuan, but also turned around and bit him.

This is sacrificing a pawn to save the rook...

He didn't say anything, just gave a wry smile, and hung up the phone.

He didn't expect Zeng Zhiyuan to make a move so quickly.

What was even more unexpected was that Zeng Zhiyuan would choose this method—to directly submit the materials to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

This isn't a severance package; it's a plan to kill him and Gu Huaiyuan!

This feeling is awful!

A surge of anger welled up from the bottom of my heart.

He has followed Zeng Zhiyuan for so many years and handled so many things for him.

Whether it's Gu Huaiyuan or Zeng Guosheng, they both did their best in everything they did.

He has shouldered so many burdens over the years without uttering a single complaint.

Now that something has happened, Zeng Zhiyuan has turned around and pushed him out as a shield.

He reached for his phone, intending to find Zeng Zhiyuan's number, but stopped when his finger touched the screen.

Question him?

Ask, "Why did you do that?"

How would Zeng Zhiyuan respond?

They might say, "I have no choice."

"I was forced into it."

"Please understand."

He could guess every answer, and none of them mattered.

Moreover, once this call is made, it will leave a call record.

When it was later discovered, it became evidence that "the two colluded."

He put down his phone and lowered his head.

I began to reflect on the things I had handled over the years—

What traces were left?

Which ones can still be explained?

Zeng Zhiyuan handled the funding channels for the food court and Shuiyun Club in the provincial capital.

He also participated in coordinating several money transfers involving Gu Huaiyuan.

Although Bai Jiangfei didn't directly handle those spending records, every single one could be traced back to him.

He went through each point in his mind and realized that he couldn't explain it clearly at all.

Every transaction is recorded, signed, and handled by the person involved; the time, amount, and destination are all clearly documented.

He recalled a saying Zeng Zhiyuan had once said—

"The earlier you cut off the cord, the longer you live."

At the time, he thought it was a warning, but now he understands.

That was said to Zeng Zhiyuan himself.

Making Yang Xiujiang break off the relationship as soon as possible was not for Yang Xiujiang's own good, but to prevent Zeng Zhiyuan from getting burned.