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

He Ying changed out of her bath towel and put on her clothes.

When I came out of the bathroom, Chen Dapeng was already awake, leaning against the headboard, his eyes not fully open, but the corners of his mouth had already curved into a smile:

"You're awake? Why didn't you wake me?"

"You're sleeping so soundly."

He Ying walked over, sat down on the edge of the bed, and reached out to press down a tuft of hair that was sticking up on his head.

"I have a meeting this morning, and I need to catch the 9:30 train."

Chen Dapeng took her hand and placed it in his own: "Then I'll take you to the station."

"No need, you should get ready and head out."

Chen Dapeng nodded: "Okay."

He didn't stay in bed any longer; he got up, put on some clothes, and started to sleep.

He Ying had already gone to the kitchen. As he walked to the door, she was taking two eggs and a handful of noodles out of the refrigerator, and glanced back at him.

"This is all we have; we'll just have to make do with this meal."

That's enough.

He Ying started working at the stove, cracking eggs, boiling water, and cooking noodles. Her movements weren't fast, but she was efficient in every step.

Chen Dapeng leaned against the door frame without going in. Watching her busy figure, he felt more at ease than any progress in the case.

The noodles are cooked, two steaming bowls, topped with poached eggs and sprinkled with chopped green onions.

The two people sat facing each other at the dining table, each eating noodles with their heads down.

After finishing their meal, He Ying asked, "By the way, did Director Hu mention a specific timeframe for liaising with Gu Xinming?"

"It should be within the next day or two. She said she'll arrange for someone to handle it as soon as possible."

He Ying nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

She took the dishes into the kitchen to wash them, dried her hands, came out, picked up her bag from the sofa, and said, "I should go."

Chen Dapeng escorted her to the door.

He Ying changed her shoes, straightened up, and glanced at him sideways: "I'm leaving. I'll come again next week."

Chen Dapeng's eyes were filled with reluctance.

"Sister Ying, we'll miss you so much."

He Ying smiled, took two steps forward, put her hands on his shoulders, and kissed him on the lips.

"Sweetie, we'll see each other soon."

Taking the opportunity, Chen Dapeng put his arm around her waist, pulled her tightly into his arms, and took a deep breath, as if he wanted to smell her scent.

"Dapeng, you're hugging me too tightly."

Chen Dapeng smiled.

"Sister Ying, I just love holding you like this."

He Ying felt somewhat helpless, but her heart was filled with joy.

"Okay, have you hugged enough? I need to catch my train."

Chen Dapeng then released his grip, creating a fist's distance between them, and pressed his forehead against hers.

He Ying chuckled softly, "Da Peng, you're so clingy."

Chen Dapeng didn't say anything, but kissed her lips directly.

Caught off guard, He Ying let out a soft "uh".

Her lips were fragrant and soft, and Chen Dapeng always lingered, savoring them to his heart's content...

He Ying's heart softened like spring mud, and she couldn't bear to push him away, so she took the initiative to respond to his kiss.

After a long, passionate kiss, He Ying gently pushed him away and gave a reproachful sound.

"Dapeng, you're annoying."

Chen Dapeng smiled and said, "Sister Ying, I just couldn't resist..."

He Ying gently pinched his cheek, pretending to be angry.

I don't want to talk to you anymore.

Chen Dapeng smiled and said, "Sister Ying, how could you bear to part with her?"

He Ying glared at him: "What's there to be reluctant about? You're really leaving."

This time, He Ying didn't hesitate, lest she be pestered by him again.

After walking a few steps, He Ying looked back at him. Their eyes met, and she twitched her lips but didn't say anything. She turned around and continued walking down the street.

Chen Dapeng listened to the footsteps receding into the distance, until they were completely gone, before closing the door.

……

Half an hour later, he arrived at the task force office.

Liu Chang was already there, looking down at a document. He looked up and greeted him.

Chen Dapeng had just sat down in his seat when Hu Yuheng came out from the inner room, holding a folder, and placed it in front of him on his desk.

"These are some details about Zhao Zhengping, more specific than last time."

Chen Dapeng immediately understood her intention.

He opened the folder and glanced inside. There were a few pages of paper inside, which were summaries of where and when Zhao Zhengping's name appeared in the provincial capital's project funding approval process.

"Director Hu, I understand."

Hu Yuheng nodded, turned and left.

Chen Dapeng placed the folder on the corner of the table—a little further out than last time, at an angle where it would be visible to people in the aisle when he was working with his head down.

He sat down, turned on his computer, and began organizing a case file, as usual.

Less than ten minutes later.

Zhou Haibo walked back from the tea room carrying a water cup.

He didn't slow his pace noticeably as he passed Chen Dapeng's seat, but Chen Dapeng noticed out of the corner of his eye that his gaze lingered on the folder for a moment—

It was more obvious than the previous times. It wasn't just a glance; my gaze lingered for about two seconds before moving away.

Zhou Haibo returned to his seat, sat down, and turned on his computer.

Chen Dapeng didn't look up at him and continued with what he was doing.

About five minutes later, Zhou Haibo stood up. This time he wasn't carrying a water glass; he simply walked towards the corridor.

……

In the afternoon, Hu Yuheng received a notification from the technical department.

After listening, she did not immediately draw a conclusion. Instead, she took the report back to her office, sat down, and read it again.

The report was brief: Zhou Haibo made two calls in the afternoon. The first call lasted about four minutes and the base station was located in a certain area of ​​Beijing.

The second call lasted longer than usual, about six minutes. After hanging up, I dialed again less than two minutes later, and the base station was located in another area of ​​Beijing.

Hu Yuheng placed the report on the table and stared at the two lines of location information for a while.

She thought that the first call was a little longer than the usual three to five minutes, about a minute longer.

This extra time may be spent confirming or reporting new information.

The second call was significantly longer, and the call was repeated after the call ended, suggesting that the situation at the time was not one-sided information reception, but rather that there was something that needed to be confirmed back and forth, or that the other party had asked follow-up questions and he was providing supplementary answers.

The fact that the two base stations are located in the same city but in different places means that they transmitted information in two different directions on the same day.

She dialed Chen Dapeng's number.

Two minutes later, Chen Dapeng arrived at Hu Yuheng's office.

Hu Yuheng pushed the report in front of him: "The results from the technical side. He made two attempts today, in two different directions."

Chen Dapeng glanced down at the report, making sure he saw the call duration and base station location information, then looked up:

"Two different locations... Is he transmitting information to both sides simultaneously?"

"It seems possible at the moment." Hu Yuheng paused for a moment, "It's not entirely certain yet, but the direction has been pointed."

Chen Dapeng paused for a moment, then asked, "Shall we close the net now?"

"No rush. Observe one more time and confirm the behavior pattern before taking action."

"it is good."

Chen Dapeng nodded and left Hu Yuheng's office.

Back at the task force, he didn't look in Zhou Haibo's direction, nor did he deliberately avoid eye contact—he simply maintained the same posture and movements as usual, as if he hadn't noticed anything unusual.

Zhou Haibo was still in his seat, head down, organizing materials. His expression showed no particular change, no different from any other ordinary workday afternoon.

But Chen Dapeng knew that the two phone calls this afternoon had made his behavior pattern clearer.

He was transmitting information in two directions simultaneously.

If the bait is released again next time...

The calls he made still showed the same location distribution.

Then this line can be confirmed.