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

Chen Dapeng spent two days verifying You Yuanming's information.

The state-owned enterprise in the development zone underwent restructuring in the late 1990s.

Some personnel files were transferred to the management committee of the development zone for archiving, while others were scattered in the original companies' remaining offices, making the search take longer than expected.

He made two trips to the development zone.

On the first trip, they found a photocopy of the roster from that year, which included You Yuanming's name and the date he joined the company.

On the second trip, we found a list of project participants through an old archivist at the management committee.

The above lists one of the projects that You Yuanming participated in—

The infrastructure supporting project in the eastern part of the provincial capital development zone was completed exactly one year before the provincial capital project was launched.

He compared the two documents and confirmed that You Yuanming was in an administrative and logistical position at the state-owned enterprise in the development zone at that time.

This position gave him access to project-related documents and material flow, and also gave him a reason to be present at multiple project sites.

After gathering all the materials, Chen Dapeng began to consider how to contact You Yuanming.

You Yuanming has been retired for several years and lives in the old city of the provincial capital. His file does not contain his contact information or information about his relatives.

He asked Hu Yuheng if he wanted to come directly to his door.

Hu Yuheng thought for a moment and said:

"You should first try to get a message from someone in the development zone, and see if they're willing to meet."

Chen Dapeng arranged to meet You Yuanming through the old archivist at the management committee.

The veteran archivist didn't say much on the phone, only that, "A young man wants to talk to you about the development zone back in the day."

You Yuanming paused for a moment on the other end of the phone, then said:

"Saturday morning, I guess."

……

On Saturday morning, Chen Dapeng found You Yuanming's residence at the address provided.

An old residential building with peeling paint on its exterior walls and several dusty bicycles piled up in the stairwell.

He went up to the fourth floor and knocked on the door. The door opened a crack, and an elderly man with gray hair stood inside. He glanced at him, said nothing, and stepped aside to let him in.

The living room was small, with an old sofa, a coffee table, and a faded landscape painting hanging on the wall.

You Yuanming sat down on the sofa, without pouring tea or exchanging pleasantries, and went straight to the point:

"Old Li said you want to ask about the development zone. Go ahead and ask."

Chen Dapeng sat down opposite him:

"Uncle You, I'd like to know if you had any contact with a man named Sun Desheng when you were working in the development zone?"

You Yuanming's expression did not change significantly; he remained silent for a few seconds before speaking:

"Sun Desheng... I used to be a leader in the province. I've met him a few times, but we're not close."

When he said "not familiar," his tone was very flat, as if he were answering a question that had little to do with him.

Chen Dapeng nodded, didn't ask any further questions, and changed direction:

"Do you know someone surnamed Gu—Gu Xinming?"

You Yuanming's fingers paused on his knee for a moment.

He didn't answer immediately, as if that memory had been stirred up by the three words "Gu Xinming," and it would take a few seconds to surface from the bottom of his mind.

"Gu Xinming... he used to be Sun Desheng's secretary."

He paused for a moment, his tone lower than before:

"What did he say to you?"

"He said that before Sun Desheng was transferred to Beijing, a box of documents was delivered to an office building in the development zone, and the recipient was Zeng Guosheng. He said, 'You know how to handle this.'"

You Yuanming did not respond immediately.

He picked up the glass of water in front of him, took a sip, put it down, and then spoke:

"That box did pass through my hands. But I don't know what was inside. I just delivered it to the address. Sun Desheng told me, 'Deliver it to the usual place, Old You knows what to do,' so I delivered it."

Chen Dapeng didn't ask about the contents of the box of documents, but instead asked:

"Can you confirm where that box of documents was sent?"

"Yes. It's in that office building in the development zone, Building 3, seventh floor. I delivered it to the address provided, but I never opened it."

Do you remember which specific year it was?

You Yuanming thought for a moment:

"I don't remember the exact month of the autumn before Sun Desheng was transferred."

Chen Dapeng asked again, "You handled more than just that batch, didn't you?"

You Yuanming remained silent for longer than before.

He didn't look at Chen Dapeng; his gaze was fixed on the surface of the water in the glass on the coffee table, as if he were weighing something.

He didn't speak for a long while:

"Not just that one batch. There were five or six batches in total."

"Could you please make a list? It doesn't need to be very detailed, just the approximate time and destination will be fine."

You Yuanming paused for a moment: "I can give you a list, but that list can only be shown to you and cannot be used as formal evidence."

Chen Dapeng said, "Okay."

You Yuanming stood up and went into the bedroom. After a while, he took out an old notebook and opened it.

The notebook's pages were yellowed and the corners were curled up. The handwriting inside was small, but each line was written very clearly.

He spread the notebook out on the coffee table and pointed to one of the pages with his finger:

"These are the dates and destinations of the six batches of documents."

Chen Dapeng glanced down at the timeline, which spanned approximately two years, from the later period of Sun Desheng's tenure in the provincial capital to the eve of his transfer to Beijing.

His gaze lingered on the third line—

That time was closest to the time window of the box of documents that Gu Xinming mentioned. The destination was listed as "7th Floor, Building 3, Development Zone". There was no text in the remarks column, nor was there a recipient's name.

"This batch..."

Chen Dapeng pointed to that line:

"Do you remember who asked you to deliver it?"

You Yuanming followed his gaze and looked up: "Sun Desheng."

He paused for a moment:

"He told me over the phone to 'deliver it to the usual place,' so I did."

Who is listed as the recipient?

"The outer packaging of that batch of documents was labeled 'For Zeng Guosheng'."

Chen Dapeng copied down a few lines from the notebook without taking photos or recording audio; he simply copied them by hand.

He folded the copied paper, put it in his pocket, and stood up:

"Uncle You, thank you."

You Yuanming also stood up, and as he walked to the door, he said:

"What I'm telling you is only what I handled myself. I don't know if Sun Desheng has other people in the provincial capital doing things for him."

Chen Dapeng nodded: "Okay."

After returning to the task force.

Chen Dapeng compared the information provided by You Yuanming with Gu Xinming's testimony—

The time window, address, and recipient name are consistent.

Two independent clues point to the same place and the same person at the same time.

He copied the document list and timeline provided by You Yuanming into his notebook, and then went to find Hu Yuheng.

"Director Hu, You Yuanming has provided a list of the dates and destinations of the six batches of documents."

The third batch of documents matched the box of documents Gu Xinming mentioned; the date, address, and recipient's name were all correct.

He said he was just the person who handled the documents and didn't open the box.

After listening, Hu Yuheng read through the list from beginning to end, then looked up at Chen Dapeng:

"The six batches of documents, spanning two years, were concentrated around the time Sun Desheng was transferred to Beijing. The fact that he left these documents in the provincial capital instead of taking them with him indicates that they were not for his use, but for someone else's."

Hu Yuheng didn't say who the other person was, but Chen Dapeng knew she was referring to Zeng Guosheng.

"This lead can be added to the case file. You should compile another timeline, putting together Gu Xinming's testimony, You Yuanming's list, and the address of the development zone to form a complete record of the flow."

Chen Dapeng replied, "Okay."