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

Thursday afternoon.

Chen Yuanda returned to the provincial capital.

Without prior notice, he walked directly into the task force office and scanned the faces around him:

"Is everyone here? Let's have a meeting."

Hu Yuheng came out of the inner room, holding a notebook in his hand, and glanced at the time:

"Liu Chang is here, Wang Zhi is on leave, Chen Dapeng is here. I'll call the others."

"No need to call anymore."

Chen Yuanda took off his scarf and draped it over the back of the chair.

"Just the few of you."

Several people sat down in the conference room.

Chen Yuanda didn't open his briefcase; he spoke first:

"I read the official report about Zhou Haibo's situation on the way here."

He didn't comment on the behavior itself, but went straight to the point:

"Let's first review the current state of the evidence. We'll go through it one by one."

Hu Yuheng opened his notebook and spoke first:

"Zhou Dahai's testimony has been verified."

During his time on the provincial capital project, he worked with Shen Zhengqing on supervision. The scenarios described by the two were basically the same, and the timelines and personnel matched up.

Sun Guodong's testimony has also been relayed by Shen Zhengqing himself, and its content does not contradict Zhou Dahai's; therefore, it can be used as corroborating evidence.

"We received Gu Xinming's testimony yesterday."

Chen Dapeng continued:

He confirmed that Sun Desheng and Zeng Zhiyuan had several private contacts, mentioning a one-time full payment of funds, handled by a person named Liu Yuanzhou.

He also mentioned that before Sun Desheng was transferred to Beijing, a box of documents was delivered to an office building in the provincial capital, with Zeng Guosheng listed as the recipient.

Chen Yuanda did not express his opinion after listening:

Has Liu Yuanzhou verified this?

"Still verifying."

Chen Dapeng explained.

"The state-owned enterprise he was transferred to had already undergone restructuring, and the personnel files were not very complete."

However, the direction is clear: if that one-time full payment did indeed occur, the bank should have a record of it.

Chen Yuanda paused for a moment, then his gaze fell on Chen Dapeng:

"How's the progress on the financial chain that Lin Chen found out about?"

Chen Dapeng was taken aback, not expecting Chen Yuanda to mention Lin Chen's name.

It seems that she hadn't kept Lin Chen's request for help in collecting evidence a secret from him.

He considered his words carefully:

"We have obtained some of the account information of the company associated with Zhao Yike."

The flow of funds matches the overseas account described by Li Xiushan.

The bank statement summary shows the timeframe is between last autumn and the beginning of this year.

The direction of this line is clear, but there are no specific documents signed by Zhao Zhengping himself.

The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.

Chen Yuanda remained seated in the main seat, his fingers resting on the edge of the table.

He mentally reviewed the progress of all the clues—

The testimonies of Zhou Dahai and Sun Guodong have been finalized;

Gu Xinming's testimony supplemented the information provided by Sun Desheng;

The money chain provided by Lin Chen connected Zhao Yike to an overseas account.

The only missing link now is the direct connection between Zhao Zhengping and that sum of money.

"Two lines, different progress."

Chen Yuanda finally spoke:

"The chain of evidence for Sun Desheng's case is basically complete. The chain of evidence for Zhao Zhengping's case is still missing one link in direct evidence. We can't pursue both lines simultaneously."

He paused for a moment:

"Let's recruit Zhou Haibo first."

Hu Yuheng looked up at him without interrupting.

"Zhou Haibo visited Zeng Zhiyuan's residence. He passed on case files and information; he was Zeng Zhiyuan's informant within the special investigation team."

Chen Yuanda's voice suddenly rose a few decibels:

"Take him in first, and use his confession to pry open Zeng Zhiyuan's defenses."

He had to answer questions about what he sent, to whom he sent it, and who sent him.

Zeng Zhiyuan can deny others, but he cannot deny those who have direct contact with him.

He can't deny the fact that Zhou Haibo visited his residence.

He paused for a moment and added:

"On Zhao Zhengping's side, continue to surround but not attack."

If he doesn't move, he won't panic.

If he moves, it will only expose more traces.

If he doesn't take any action, we'll wait until Zhou Haibo's testimony is finalized before making any further moves.

Hu Yuheng closed his notebook: "When are you going to collect it?"

"tomorrow."

Chen Yuanda's expression turned serious.

Zhou Haibo has taken two days off, and tomorrow is the last day.

If he comes back to work on time, call him in for a talk as he walks into the office.

If he doesn't come back, then go directly to his house or somewhere he might be looking for him.

Chen Dapeng sat on the other side of the conference table and did not interrupt.

He mentally reviewed Chen Yuanda's words, deciding to first subdue Zhou Haibo and use his confession to pry open Zeng Zhiyuan's defenses, while continuing to surround Zhao Zhengping without attacking him directly.

The timeline is set up.

After the meeting, Chen Dapeng walked out of the conference room and returned to his seat.

He didn't turn on the computer immediately, but sat in the chair for a while.

Zhou Haibo's empty seat was still there, with the documents on the table neatly stacked.

He withdrew his gaze, opened the case file in front of him, and continued to organize the materials related to Liu Yuanzhou's line.

……

The next morning, Zhou Haibo did not return to work.

When Chen Dapeng arrived at the office, his seat was still empty.

Liu Chang glanced up at Zhou Haibo's location, then turned to Hu Yuheng and asked:

"Director Hu, Zhou Haibo didn't come today?"

Hu Yuheng was pouring water, without turning his head:

"He asked his family for leave until tomorrow. If he hasn't returned by tomorrow, I will contact him."

Liu Chang didn't ask any more questions and continued to organize the materials in his hands.

Chen Dapeng sat down in his seat and turned on his computer.

He glanced at his phone; there were no new messages.

He put down his phone and began compiling a standard case summary.

After half an hour.

The technical department sent a message—

Zhou Haibo's cell phone signal reappeared in Beijing, in the same area where he had previously entered Zeng Zhiyuan's residence.

After reading the message, Hu Yuheng only said one sentence:

"knew".

……

The next morning, Zhou Haibo returned to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection.

He was wearing a dark coat. He walked into the office with a normal expression, greeted Liu Chang, went to his seat, hung his coat on the back of the chair, sat down and turned on his computer, as if nothing had happened.

Chen Dapeng sat diagonally opposite him without looking up.

I only caught a glimpse of him sitting down out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't say anything more.

Less than ten minutes later.

Hu Yuheng walked out of the office and stood next to Zhou Haibo's workstation, his tone as calm as ever:

"Zhou Haibo, come to my office for a moment."

Zhou Haibo looked up, not particularly surprised.

"Okay, Director Hu."

He stood up and followed Hu Yuheng into the office.

The door closed behind them.

Chen Dapeng remained seated without looking up.

He heard the door close, but his pen didn't stop; he continued writing the note about Liu Yuanzhou in the case file.

After Zhou Haibo went in, the sounds inside were very soft, and he couldn't hear anything through the door. He could only occasionally hear the sound of a chair being moved.

After writing that note, he put down his pen, neatly stacked the materials on the corner of the table, and then stood up to get a glass of water from the tea room.

As I passed by Hu Yuheng's office.

He glanced at the crack in the door out of the corner of his eye—

The door was closed tightly, and you couldn't see inside.

He knew the operation had begun, and now it was up to Zhou Haibo to decide what to say.