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

Chen Dapeng laughed along with him.

"Sister Ying, I'm telling the truth."

He Ying stopped laughing, her voice becoming a few degrees gentler than before:

"I know. Have you eaten?"

"Not yet, we'll eat something when we get back."

He Ying urged, "Don't wait any longer, let's go now. Eat and get some rest, we definitely have things to do tomorrow."

Chen Dapeng responded, "Okay."

"Then I'll hang up."

"Sister Ying..."

"Hmm? Is there anything else?"

Are you free this weekend? I've gone back to the provincial capital now, and I don't think I'll be leaving again for the next few days...

He Ying understood what he meant and chuckled softly, "I'll try to find some time to come see you."

Chen Dapeng was overjoyed: "Okay, okay, okay, I'll wait for you."

"You want to see me that much?"

"Hmm... Sister Ying, you know what? Couples in the throes of new love feel like they've missed each other terribly if they don't see each other for even a day!"

He Ying chuckled again: "Okay! I'm hanging up now. Go get something to eat."

Chen Dapeng replied with one word:

"it is good."

After the call ended.

He stood up, turned off the office lights, locked the door, and went downstairs.

……

The next morning, in the capital.

Zeng Zhiyuan sat at his desk with a newspaper spread out in front of him, but he didn't really read it.

After the fugitive pursuit team left the country, he never had a moment of peace.

Sometimes I dream that my son, Zeng Guosheng, has been arrested, and I wake up in a fright...

Suddenly, the phone screen lit up.

He glanced down at it; it was a short message:

"Guosheng...has returned...and landed in Jiangnan Province."

He stared at those words for a long time.

The thing I feared most has happened...

He didn't reply, deleted the message, and turned his phone face down on the table.

There was a long silence.

He stood up, walked to the window, and stared blankly at the street outside...

After standing for a while, I turned around, walked back to my desk, sat down, picked up my phone, and opened my contacts.

I stared at a number for a while.

In the end, he didn't make the call and put the phone down again.

……

at the same time.

Han Youde is watering flowers on his balcony at home.

My phone rang; it was an old colleague calling.

He paused for a few seconds before answering the phone.

The other person's voice was very low:

"Old Han, have you heard? Zeng Guosheng has been brought back."

He paused, holding the watering can in his hand. "Who told you that?"

"Captain Wu personally escorted him back. He took a plane last night and was sent directly to the Jiangnan Province task force. Be careful."

His heart sank...

My first thought was—it's over!

He didn't say anything and hung up the phone immediately.

Zeng Guosheng has been brought back; it's only a matter of time before Zeng Zhiyuan is brought back himself...

He knew this day would come when he helped Zeng Zhiyuan submit the materials, but he didn't expect it to come so soon.

After the last confession, he felt uneasy, as if there were still things he hadn't said, but at the time he hadn't decided whether to tell everything.

Zeng Guosheng has now been brought back.

He had no time to hesitate any longer.

How did you acquire that house?

He knew very well—

Zeng Zhiyuan transferred some money to him through someone else, which he used to pay for the house.

At the time, he thought it was a "helping fee," but looking back now...

That money wasn't a favor fee; it was hush money given to him by Zeng Zhiyuan.

Once the money was accepted, its nature changed.

He went into the bedroom, changed his coat, put his phone in his pocket, opened the door, and went out.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's petition office, I said to the staff at the window:

"Let me add some details. I've been here once before."

The staff member glanced at him, picked up the phone, said a few words, and then told him to go inside and wait.

The man in the dark jacket from last time was waiting for him, his notebook still open on the table, and a young staff member was now taking notes.

Han Youde sat down opposite that person, paused for a moment, and then spoke:

"I mentioned submitting the materials last time."

There's one more thing I haven't mentioned—I bought a house in the third year after I retired, paying for it in full upfront.

That money was transferred to me by Zeng Zhiyuan through an intermediary in cash; it didn't go through a bank.

I thought it was a favor fee, so I accepted it.

Thinking about it later, I realized that the money wasn't right.

The man in the dark jacket didn't interrupt him, waiting until he had finished speaking before speaking himself:

"We will record what you said today. You cannot leave for now; we will discuss it further after the verification results are available."

Han Youde nodded without offering any explanation, as if he had known this would be the outcome all along.

He was led out of the interview room, through the corridor, and into a detention room.

The door slammed shut behind him.

What does that banging on the door mean...?

He knows it better than anyone.

After letting out a long sigh, he sat on the edge of the bed, lowered his head, placed his hands on his knees, and waited for the result...

……

3 PM.

Chen Yuanda received a notification from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection:

"Han Youde went to the petition office again to provide supplementary information, admitting that the funds for his house purchase came from cash transferred by Zeng Zhiyuan through an intermediary. He has been detained according to procedure."

After reading the report, Chen Yuanda picked up his phone and dialed Hu Yuheng's number:

"Han Youde has been detained. He confessed to the source of his funds for the house purchase. Please organize the relevant materials you have gathered and prepare for the handover."

Hu Yuheng didn't ask any further questions and simply replied with one word: "Okay."

After hanging up the phone, Hu Yuheng immediately dialed Chen Dapeng's number.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

Hu Yuheng spoke first:

"Dapeng, come to my office for a moment, I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay, Director Hu."

Chen Dapeng arrived at the door of Hu Yuheng's office.

The door wasn't closed; it was ajar.

He knocked twice on the door and heard a voice from inside:

"Come in."

He pushed open the door and went inside.

Hu Yuheng sat behind his desk, with several documents spread out in front of him.

She looked up at Chen Dapeng, then pointed to the chair opposite her:

"sit."

Chen Dapeng sat down opposite her.

Hu Yuheng pushed a document in front of him; it was a summary of Han Youde's confession:

"Han Youde has been detained, and he has confessed to the source of the funds for purchasing the house."

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has transferred the materials; someone needs to handle and organize them.

You previously worked with Zeng Zhiyuan's network, and you're familiar with Han Youde's background. You'll be in charge of following up on this matter.

Chen Dapeng took the materials, flipped through them, and saw that they listed the time points and key information that Han Youde had given. The edges of the papers were also stamped with the seal of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

He closed the document and asked:

"Director Hu, to what extent is it necessary?"

Hu Yuheng thought for a moment:

"First, cross-reference his account with the existing materials to see if there are any contradictions. If his description of the purchase time, amount, and characteristics of the middleman matches, it will be archived as supplementary material. If it doesn't match, further verification is needed."

She paused for two seconds, then offered a reminder:

"There's no rush, but don't delay."

Chen Dapeng nodded and stood up:

"it is good."

As he turned and walked towards the door, Hu Yuheng spoke again.

"We might get some news from Australia in the next couple of days, so make sure you have your work arranged so you don't end up not being able to manage both."

Chen Dapeng turned around and responded:

"understood."

Back in his office, he opened Han Youde's confession record and read it through from beginning to end.

The details were brief, with the core information focusing on three things: the timing of the purchase, the amount involved, and the characteristics of the middleman.

He turned on his computer, pulled up the materials he had previously compiled regarding Zeng Zhiyuan's cash flow, entered the purchase date mentioned by Han Youde into the search box, and searched for matching financial records.

Several lines of results popped up on the screen:

One of the amounts was close to the amount confessed by Han Youde.

The timing also matches, and the remarks column indicates "consultation fee".

The recipient of the payment was an affiliated company of Han Youde's employer.

He didn't rush to conclusions. First, he copied the record and saved it in a new folder. Then, he wrote a line in his notebook:

Han Youde stated that the amount he disclosed corresponds preliminarily with the financial records—further verification is needed.