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

The next day at 2:40 PM.

Zhao Zhengping was reviewing a project planning document when his phone suddenly rang.

He answered the phone, and without any pleasantries, the person on the other end said directly:

"Wei Yuan has been brought back from Tianjin."

After saying that, the other party hung up without waiting for a response or saying anything more.

Zhao Zhengping was stunned for two or three seconds before putting down his phone.

The documents were still spread out on the table, but he couldn't concentrate on reading a single word.

Wei Yuan has been arrested. What does this mean?

He knew it better than anyone else—

Wei Yuan was Zeng Zhiyuan's most trusted person, and he handled many unknown matters.

Once he is caught, many secrets will come to light...

My phone vibrated again.

He looked down and saw the screen light up; it was a message from a number in the provincial capital.

He clicked on it and glanced at it; the content was very short:

"Qian Yongming has been dismissed from his post."

He finished reading the line, but didn't put down his phone immediately. He looked at the ceiling and sighed softly.

These are truly turbulent times.

Wei Yuan arrested, Qian Yongming dismissed from office...

The task force acted even faster than he had imagined!

Now, the situation is getting increasingly bad...

……

After get off work, he didn't ask the driver to take him home; instead, he walked home alone.

He wanted some quiet time to think things through and plan for the future...

When I got home, the living room lights were on, and I could hear the sound of cooking coming from the kitchen.

He stood in the entryway for a while, then bent down to change his shoes, moving more slowly than usual.

His wife came out of the kitchen carrying dishes and saw him still standing in the entryway:

"What are you standing there for? Wash your hands and eat."

"understood."

Zhao Zhengping responded and went into the restroom.

He stood in front of the sink, looking at himself in the mirror—

His eyes lacked luster, and he looked much more haggard than usual.

He stood there for a while before turning on the tap, rinsing his hands, then turning it off and coming out.

Four dishes were laid out on the table, and the bowls and chopsticks were already set.

His wife served him a bowl of rice and placed it in front of him.

"Let's eat."

Zhao Zhengping nodded, picked up his chopsticks, and took a bite of rice, but he didn't have much of an appetite.

My mind was still preoccupied with the phone calls and messages from earlier that day…

"What's wrong? You seem distracted?"

His wife looked at him and asked a question.

Zhao Zhengping didn't know how to say it, so he just shook his head: "It's nothing, just work-related stuff..."

His wife paused for two seconds, not believing what he said—

As a provincial governor, how could he be so troubled by work-related matters?

She didn't press him further, but simply moved a plate of ribs a little closer to him and whispered:

"You haven't been eating enough lately."

Zhao Zhengping didn't reply. He picked up a piece of pork rib, put it in his bowl, and ate a few mouthfuls of rice.

The meal took almost half an hour, which was more than ten minutes longer than usual.

When he left the table, there was still a little bit of rice left in his bowl; he really had no appetite.

His wife glanced at him but didn't say anything, and started clearing away the dishes.

The sound of dishes being washed came from the kitchen.

Zhao Zhengping walked into the study, pulled out a chair, sat down, leaned back, and faced the window.

The curtains weren't fully drawn, and the light from the streetlights shone through the gaps.

He sat for a while, then heard the sound of water in the kitchen stop, followed by his wife's footsteps as she walked back into the living room.

The footsteps paused at the door of the study.

Without knocking or speaking, they paused for two or three seconds and then walked away.

……

Around 11 p.m., Zhao Zhengping went into the bedroom.

His wife had already lay down, her back to him, her breathing even but not like she was asleep.

He took off his clothes, lay down next to his wife, and slipped his hand inside her pajamas...

His wife paused for a moment, then turned over and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Zhengping, you're acting a bit strange today. We've been married for so long, why are you still..."

Zhao Zhengping didn't say anything, and shrank deeper into the blankets.

then……

His wife was still a bit confused and couldn't understand his behavior.

She felt her body tremble slightly...

Zhao Zhengping hasn't had that in a long time...

She didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

Such unusual behavior must mean that Zhao Zhengping has suffered some major shock.

She didn't ask why, nor did she say anything, not wanting to disturb his rare moment of enjoyment.

She gently closed her eyes, letting him caress her...

A long time passed.

Zhao Zhengping stopped, lay flat on the bed, and didn't say anything.

His wife's voice came from beside him, very low:

"Aren't you asleep yet?"

Zhao Zhengping didn't turn his head: "I went to sleep."

"You haven't said much tonight."

The wife's voice did not reproach; it was simply stating a fact.

Zhao Zhengping paused for a moment:

"I learned some things this afternoon."

He did not specify what those things were.

His wife didn't ask any further questions; she simply found his hand under the blanket and gently squeezed it.

Zhao Zhengping kept his hand flat, neither grasping back nor pulling it away.

The wife stopped making a sound, and her breathing gradually became calm.

Zhao Zhengping still hadn't closed his eyes.

He remembered the message on his phone that had already been deleted.

And that phone call...

……

The next morning, Zhao Zhengping got up twenty minutes earlier than usual.

The wife was serving porridge in the kitchen.

He stood at the kitchen doorway, watching her back for a while before sitting down at the dining table.

When the porridge was placed in front of him, steam was still rising.

He lowered his head and took a sip.

I was halfway through breakfast.

The screen of his phone on the table lit up, and a message popped up.

He looked down and saw the message from an overseas number; the message was very brief:

"Dad...do you need me to help you leave the country?"

He glanced at it for two seconds, then flipped the phone face down on the table, continued drinking his porridge, and showed no unusual expression...

His wife sat opposite him, not looking in the direction of his phone, but her chopsticks paused briefly on the rim of her bowl.

Zhao Zhengping did not explain whose message it was.

After finishing breakfast, Zhao Zhengping stood up and put on his coat.

He paused for a moment as he walked to the door to put on his shoes.

He straightened up and looked towards the kitchen. His wife was standing by the sink with her back to him, washing cups. The water was running loudly. She didn't turn around.

He looked at her for two seconds, didn't call out to her, opened the door and went out.

I arrived at the office.

He had just taken off his coat and hung it up when the landline on the table rang.

He answered the phone, and it was a member of the task force on the other end:

"Governor Zhao, Director Hu asked me to inform you to come to the task force at 3 p.m. this afternoon."

Zhao Zhengping held the receiver and remained silent for two seconds:

"understood."

He didn't sit down after hanging up the phone; his hand was still resting on the edge of the landline, and he was thinking:

"After I went to the task force to explain the situation last time, I didn't receive a response. After waiting for so many days, I finally got a reply."

He walked to the window, opened it, and looked in the direction of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, muttering to himself:

"What will the task force ask me this afternoon?"

"Should we... tell them everything we know?"