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

Wednesday morning.

Zhou Haibo stood at the door of Hu Yuheng's office, which was open.

He didn't go in; he stood outside the threshold, his tone as steady as ever:

"Director Hu, there's an urgent matter at home, and I'd like to ask for two days off."

Hu Yuheng was looking at some documents when he heard the sound. He looked up and his gaze lingered on Hu Yuheng's face for a moment.

"What happened at home?"

"The elderly person isn't in good health and needs to be checked on."

When Zhou Haibo said this, his expression did not change significantly, and his tone was natural, as if he had really just received a call from home.

Hu Yuheng didn't ask any further questions:

"Okay, write a leave note and hand over your work."

"Okay. Thank you, Director Hu."

Zhou Haibo turned around and walked back to his office, sat down, turned on his computer, printed out a leave request form, filled in the date and reason, and signed it.

Then, it was delivered to Hu Yuheng's office.

A few minutes later, he returned to his seat and tidied up his desk briefly.

He took a black briefcase that he always carried with him, stood up, and walked out.

"Dapeng, Liu Chang... you guys have worked hard. I need to ask for two days off."

Liu Chang smiled and replied, "It's okay, you go ahead with your work."

Chen Dapeng smiled as well.

"No matter how busy you are at work, you still have to ask for leave if you need to. It's okay."

Zhou Haibo said nothing more, then smiled and left the office.

There's nothing unusual about it...

After he walked out the door.

Chen Dapeng put down his pen, took out his phone, and glanced at it—

There is no new information.

But he knew that the technology department was already taking notice.

……

Around 2 PM.

Chen Dapeng was organizing information about Liu Yuanzhou's company when his phone vibrated.

He glanced down at it; it was a brief notification from the technical department:

After leaving the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, Zhou Haibo did not go home. Instead, he went directly to the provincial capital's train station, bought a ticket to Beijing, and recorded the train number and seat number.

The train departs at 3:10 PM.

After reading the report, Chen Dapeng stood up, took his phone, and went to Hu Yuheng's office.

"Director Hu, you've received the message too, haven't you?"

Hu Yuheng nodded: "I saw it."

Chen Dapeng looked at her:

"Should we take action immediately?"

"Um."

Hu Yuheng nodded: "It's time to take some action."

She picked up the landline on the table, dialed a number, and said briefly after the call connected:

"Zhou Haibo has boarded the train to Beijing. Keep an eye on things over there."

Then he hung up the phone and turned to look at Chen Dapeng:

"Go ahead and do your work. The technical department will get back to you once he arrives in Beijing."

Chen Dapeng nodded, turned around and walked out of the office.

He wasn't thinking about what Zhou Haibo would do after he went to Beijing—

He was thinking about Zhou Haibo's condition in the days before he took leave.

He goes to get off work and leaves work on time every day, organizes materials, attends meetings, and communicates normally with colleagues, without any abnormal behavior.

He stayed in that state for almost two weeks.

He faced observations every day that he thought no one would notice, without revealing any flaws.

This kind of person wouldn't be assigned to a special task force just to pass on a few words.

He must have other things he hasn't finished doing.

He couldn't think of anything else Zhou Haibo hadn't finished.

But his intuition told him that the timing of this person's leave request was not just a coincidence.

Chen Dapeng returned to his seat and continued organizing the materials at hand.

He mentally arranged the timeline—

If Zhou Haibo went to Zeng Zhiyuan's side after arriving in Beijing.

The call logs and location information should be updated this afternoon.

He turned a page of the document and continued reading, without deliberately waiting for that news.

……

Around 6 p.m., Hu Yuheng received the second notification.

She didn't call Chen Dapeng to her office; instead, she went straight over and placed her phone screen on his desk.

The text on the screen is very short:

After Zhou Haibo's train arrived in Beijing.

After leaving the station, he did not go to any government agencies or institutions. Instead, he took a taxi and entered an upscale residential area in Chaoyang District.

It has been verified that this residential area is one of Zeng Zhiyuan's current residences.

Zhou Haibo went in and did not come out.

The report did not include a conclusion at the end; it only listed the time and location.

After reading the line of text, Chen Dapeng did not speak immediately.

He looked up at Hu Yuheng:

"Director Hu, is this indeed Zeng Zhiyuan's residence?"

"Yes."

Hu Yuheng's tone was very certain.

"After he entered that residential area, he did not come out again, nor did he appear in any surveillance footage of nearby public places. He must have entered a building."

Chen Dapeng did not ask any further questions.

Hu Yuheng picked up his phone and said, "Handle his leave request as usual, and don't let anyone else know that you've been keeping an eye on his whereabouts."

After she finished speaking, she turned around and walked back to her office.

Chen Dapeng remained seated and did not move.

He mentally compared the time when Zhou Haibo entered that residential area with the box of documents in Gu Xinming's testimony.

There is a layer of distance in between.

But the direction is gradually becoming clearer—

Zhou Haibo's entry into Zeng Zhiyuan's residence confirmed a direct connection between him and Zeng Zhiyuan.

He didn't mention it to anyone.

He simply turned to the next document and continued organizing.

But he mentally went through that line again—

Before Zhou Haibo asked for leave.

He faced those bait materials every day, not knowing which were real and which were just tests sent out by Hu Yuheng, but he still delivered information at his own pace.

His entry into Zeng Zhiyuan's residence suggests that he was not merely relaying a message.

He was also keeping track of the specific developments within the task force on behalf of Zeng Zhiyuan.

Chen Dapeng put down his pen, closed the document, put it back in the file box, and then stood up to tidy up his desk.

He walked to the door.

I glanced back at Zhou Haibo's empty seat.

The documents on the table were neatly arranged, and the computer was already turned off.

He withdrew his gaze, pushed open the door, and walked out.

He slowed down in the corridor, took out his phone, and sent a message to He Ying:

"Sister Ying, Zhou Haibo took leave today and went to Beijing, where he stayed at Zeng Zhiyuan's place."

He didn't write much more, just this one sentence.

Then he put away his phone and went downstairs.

It was already dark when I left the provincial discipline inspection commission compound.

The streetlights were on, and the early winter wind carried a chill.

He didn't go to his residence immediately, but stood on the steps at the entrance for a while.

He remembered the box of documents that Gu Xinming had mentioned.

I also recalled the words written in Mr. Shen's letter.

These clues, taken together, are becoming increasingly complete.

After a while, my phone vibrated.

He picked it up and saw that it was He Ying who had replied to the message.

"Has the mole within the task force been exposed?"

Chen Dapeng smiled.

"Yes, it's basically confirmed; it was him who leaked the information to the outside world."

He Ying and Chen Li hesitated for a moment before replying: "Da Peng, the fact that Zhou Haibo was able to be placed in the special investigation team indicates one thing—Zeng Zhiyuan must still have people in the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection willing to work for him..."

Chen Dapeng was stunned when he saw this message.

Indeed—this is a tricky problem.

Just think about it, it doesn't seem strange.

Having served here for so many years, Zeng Zhiyuan naturally cultivated many of his own people.

However, some have already surfaced, while others remain submerged.

A tree with deep roots—

It will take more time to completely uproot Zeng Zhiyuan.

"Sister Ying, I understand. I believe Director Chen and Director Hu are also aware of this issue."

"Okay, just be careful."

Chen Dapeng's lips curled up slightly.

"Okay, Sister Ying."