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

Chen Dapeng put down his phone and continued organizing the comparison table of concepts for the selection exam.

Just then, the phone rang.

Chen Dapeng glanced at it; it was an unfamiliar number.

He answered the call.

A somewhat familiar voice came from the other end of the phone—You Yuanming.

"Xiao Chen, after you came to my house last time, I rummaged through the storage room and found something. If it's convenient for you, could you come over here?"

Chen Dapeng put down his pen: "Uncle You, what are you talking about?"

"An old, small box, placed on the shelf at the very back of the storage room."

Sun Desheng gave it to me before he left, saying, "Someone will come to collect it later," but no one ever came.

I haven't touched it in all these years.

Chen Dapeng didn't ask any further questions: "I'll go there now."

After hanging up the phone, he immediately dialed Hu Yuheng's number:

"Director Hu, You Yuanming just called and said that he found an old box while searching the storage room. It was entrusted to him by Sun Desheng for safekeeping years ago."

He said no one had ever come to collect it before, and now he wanted us to collect it.

Hu Yuheng paused for a moment on the other end of the phone:

"Come to the task force, we'll go together."

"it is good."

Chen Dapeng hung up the phone, tidied up quickly, and went out.

More than half an hour later.

Chen Dapeng and Hu Yuheng's car was parked downstairs at You Yuanming's house.

You Yuanming was already standing at the entrance of the building, waiting.

Seeing them get off the bus, he didn't say much, but turned around and led the way.

The three went upstairs and into the house.

You Yuanming went directly to a small storage room behind the kitchen, turned on the light, and dragged a small gray box from the bottom shelf.

The box is small, made of sheet metal, and covered with a layer of dust.

The latch was not locked; it was simply secured with a thin wire twisted twice.

You Yuanming carried the box to the coffee table in the living room: "This is it. I'm sure it hasn't been opened."

He stepped back half a step, giving Chen Dapeng and Hu Yuheng some space.

Hu Yuheng put on gloves and carefully untied the wire.

The wire was somewhat rusty, and made a slight metallic scraping sound when it was unscrewed.

She lifted the lid of the box, inside was a stack of yellowed notebooks.

The edges of the paper are brittle, but the overall condition is still relatively intact.

She picked up the top book, which had a plain kraft paper cover, no title, and no signature.

She opened the first page, which contained a handwritten record. The handwriting was neat and strong, and each item, including the date, location, participants, and key points of the conversation, was clearly listed.

She flipped through a few pages, her gaze lingering on a particular line—

The line reads, "At the provincial capital project site, Zeng Zhiyuan, Sun Desheng, and Zhao Zhengping had a private conversation for about twenty minutes."

She continued scrolling down.

The following pages introduce multiple time points and names.

The record formats are roughly the same, and the content covers multiple stages such as project approval, fund allocation, and personnel arrangement.

She closed her notebook, not having read all the contents on the spot, closed the box, and turned to look at You Yuanming:

"Uncle You, we'll take this box with us for now. We'll contact you again if we need your cooperation in verifying anything later."

You Yuanming nodded without saying anything more.

As he saw the two to the door, he stood inside the doorway and said:

"These things have been sitting here for many years, and I always thought no one would come to claim them. Now that I'm giving them to you, at least they have a place to go."

Chen Dapeng said "thank you".

Then he went downstairs with Hu Yuheng.

Back at the task force, Hu Yuheng put on gloves and flipped through the stack of notebooks one by one.

She didn't read very fast, but she carefully checked the date and content of each page.

When she reads the section about projects in the provincial capital, she lingers a little longer and jots down the key information on another sheet of paper.

Chen Dapeng sat next to her and organized the content she had extracted into a timeline.

When I turned to the fourth book.

Hu Yuheng's fingers paused for a moment.

That page contained a record of a phone conversation regarding fund approval, which included Zhao Zhengping's name and a specific amount.

She read it twice, then closed the notebook, marked the page, and set it aside.

In the evening, she made a phone call to Chen Yuanda:

"Director Chen, You Yuanming voluntarily handed over a box today, which contains several handwritten memos left by Sun Desheng back then."

The content involves multiple meetings and funding approval processes during the provincial capital project, and contains a considerable amount of information. I have compiled a timeline.

I just received the materials today and am still reviewing them thoroughly.

Chen Yuanda remained silent for a moment after listening:

"The materials will be sealed and stored for now. Once they are organized, I will arrange for them to be submitted."

……

Meanwhile, in the capital city.

Han Youde sat in a chair in the study, the screen of his phone in front of him already dark.

He dialed Zeng Zhiyuan's number for the third time, but still no one answered.

It rang a few times the first time before cutting off.

The second time it rang, it automatically hung up.

This time, it didn't even ring; it went directly to voicemail.

"Could it be... that Old Zeng wants to cut off contact with me?"

A wave of panic washed over him...

"Should we take the initiative to explain the situation?"

He hesitated, unable to make up his mind for a moment...

He placed his phone on the table, but didn't put it down; his fingertips hovered over the edge of the phone.

He recalled the news that Qian Yongcheng had been summoned for questioning.

Does he have any materials related to himself?

Zhou Haibo confessed first, then Qian Yongming, will it be my turn next?

He helped Zeng Zhiyuan submit the materials.

Looking back now, every step of this incident falls apart under scrutiny.

He personally placed the materials at the petition office window.

The surveillance camera captured his face, and the petition registration form recorded the time he submitted it.

He sat in the chair for a long time.

Then he stood up, changed his coat, picked up his car keys, and went out.

He did not try to contact Zeng Zhiyuan again, nor did he call anyone in advance; he drove directly to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The car was parked on the sidewalk opposite the gate.

He turned off the engine, but did not get out of the car immediately.

He sat in the driver's seat for a while.

Looking at the door of the gray building across the street, I opened the car door, crossed the street, and walked towards the window of the petition office.

The staff member sitting at the window looked up at him.

Han Youde's tone was calmer than he had expected:

"I'm here to explain the situation proactively."

He stood at the window for nearly forty minutes, recounting the entire story of how he helped Zeng Zhiyuan submit the materials—

When did Zeng Zhiyuan contact him, what materials did he give him, and when did he deliver them to the petition office?

He admitted that he knew the letter was written by Zeng Zhiyuan.

However, I did not open the document to read the contents; I simply handed the material to the designated window as Zeng Zhiyuan requested.

After registration is completed.

The staff had him sign a document receipt confirmation form.

After signing the document, he turned and walked out of the petition office.

He paused on the steps as he stepped out the door.

I looked up at the sky—it was already dark.

He walked down the steps, crossed the road, and got back into his car, letting out a slight sigh of relief.

"Am I being watched? What happened to me...? Could someone know?"

He was talking to himself.

He sat in the driver's seat for a long time, making sure no one was paying attention to him, before driving away.