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

It was almost time to leave work.

Yang Xiujiang received a message: "Governor Zhao went to the special investigation team and hasn't come out yet. I guess he won't be coming out."

He saw the message and stared at the words "can't get out" for a long time.

"Governor Zhao Zhengping... has he been placed under immediate detention?"

He silently recited a sentence in his mind.

At this moment, he had no heart for work.

He stood up, walked out of the office, and closed the door.

Half an hour later, he returned to his front door.

He stood in the entryway for a while, then bent down to change his shoes, his movements much slower than usual.

His wife came out of the bedroom, glanced at him, and asked:

"You came home earlier than usual today."

He grunted in response, offering no further explanation.

The wife didn't ask any further questions and turned to go into the kitchen.

The sound of the tap being turned on came from the kitchen.

After the sound of water stopped.

She asked again, "What do you want to eat tonight?"

Yang Xiujiang said:

"casual."

The kitchen was quiet for a moment, then the pot lid was lifted, and the sound of steam rising was muffled.

Yang Xiujiang sat on the sofa without moving.

He didn't eat much for dinner.

I picked up the food with my chopsticks a few times, but most of the time they just sat on the rim of the bowl.

His wife sat opposite him without urging him, only occasionally adding a spoonful of soup to his bowl.

After finishing his meal, he stood up and said:

"I'll go to the study for a while."

Then he turned around and went inside.

His wife didn't stop him; she just said one thing:

Don't stay too long.

After closing the study door, he sat at his desk for a while.

Then I opened the drawer, and inside was a brown paper envelope.

The envelope wasn't sealed properly; you could see a few corners of paper sticking out from the side.

He didn't open it, didn't take the envelope out, didn't even reach out to touch it—

I just opened the drawer, glanced at it to make sure the thing was still there, and then closed the drawer again.

He stood up and paused at the door of the study.

Through the crack in the door, you could see the living room light shining on the floor.

The wife's moving figure occasionally blocked the light before moving away again.

He stood there, watched for a while, then opened the door and went out.

His wife heard him come out and turned her head from the direction of the living room.

Her gaze fell on him, paused for a moment, and then she turned off the television.

Are you still going out?

"I'm not going out."

Without asking any further questions, she stood up and walked towards the bedroom.

"Then get some rest, you have to go to work tomorrow."

She paused at the bedroom door, glanced back, and then pushed the door open and went inside.

Yang Xiujiang walked to the sofa, sat down, turned the TV back on, and turned the volume down to the lowest setting.

He didn't want to watch TV, but he was afraid it would be too quiet and he hoped there would be more people talking in the room.

He leaned back on the sofa, lost in thought, doing nothing.

In the early hours of the morning, he got up, went into the bedroom, and took a clean coat from the closet.

His wife was still asleep, her back to him, her breathing steady.

He stood by the bed for a moment, then turned and walked out of the bedroom, gently closing the door behind him.

After daybreak.

Yang Xiujiang pushed open the door to the reception room of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The staff member asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Yang Xiujiang paused for a moment: "I'm here to explain the situation."

The staff member glanced at him, picked up the landline, and dialed a number.

Twenty minutes later.

Chen Yuanda entered the interview room.

He sat down opposite Yang Xiujiang, Hu Yuheng sat next to Chen Yuanda, and Chen Dapeng sat against the wall with a notebook open in front of him.

Chen Yuanda opened the folder in front of him, didn't look at it, and asked:

"Yang Xiujiang, what brings you here today?"

Yang Xiujiang did not answer with "I've figured it out" or "I've made up my mind".

The first thing he said was:

"I know Zeng Zhiyuan. I know you're investigating him."

Then, he revealed what he knew.

When Zeng Zhiyuan was in the provincial capital, he coordinated several project approvals for Zeng Zhiyuan, and some fund turnover arrangements also went through his hands.

He spoke slowly, without deliberately avoiding or deflecting the question.

Simply describe your position clearly.

He wasn't someone who could decide the direction, but that money did stay in his hands for a while.

Bai Jiangfei previously denied his spending records.

They now admit that the money did indeed come from a company controlled by Zeng Zhiyuan.

He paused here: "My nephew spent money he shouldn't have, and I take responsibility for that."

Chen Yuanda didn't interrupt him, and waited until he finished speaking before asking a question:

Do you know where those funds ultimately went?

Yang Xiujiang said, "I don't know. Zeng Zhiyuan never tells me."

He paused for a moment: "He only needs me to get things done; he won't let me touch anything else."

He knows things I may not know, but he knows things I know.

Chen Yuanda took out Sun Desheng's testimony summary from the folder, placed it on the table, and pushed it over:

"Sun Desheng said you participated in two approval coordination processes during the provincial capital project. Do you admit to that?"

Yang Xiujiang glanced down at it but didn't reach out to take it.

"admit."

Chen Yuanda didn't stop; he pulled out another sheet of paper and placed it beside him:

"On the night Bai Jiangfei was arrested, you called Li Shuangping, the director of the Xuecheng District Branch, through Feng Zicai, demanding his release. Do you admit to this?"

Yang Xiujiang paused for a moment, then said:

"admit."

Chen Yuanda continued to ask:

"Do you have any direct contact with Eric Tsang?"

Yang Xiujiang remained silent for a while longer than before.

Then he spoke: "Yes. He had someone pass on a message to me, saying, 'The earlier you cut your blood, the longer you will live.'"

I contacted him first, hoping he would protect me, but he refused.

He paused for a moment:

"He said he couldn't do anything about it. At that time, I still held onto a sliver of hope, thinking that he couldn't completely abandon the issue. But it turned out that he really didn't care."

Chen Yuanda put the few pages of paper in front of him back into the folder:

"You didn't say this when you were questioned by the task force last time."

Yang Xiujiang did not deny it: "When I first came here, I thought I could make it through."

Later, when Zhao Zhengping was summoned for questioning, I knew I couldn't hold on any longer.

"If Zhao Zhengping can't handle it, what can I?"

The room was silent for a few seconds.

Chen Dapeng's pen remained motionless on the paper.

Yang Xiujiang sat there, her shoulders slowly slumping down a bit, and then said:

"I wasn't the mastermind, I was an accomplice. I know I was wrong, but it's pointless to say it now."

He stopped himself from speaking before anyone else could.

Chen Yuanda closed the folder, offering no comment on whether the phrase "meaningless" was right or wrong, only saying:

"We will record your statement today. Be prepared if there is any need to verify it later."

He paused for a moment: "Since you came on your own initiative, we will record this matter truthfully."

Yang Xiujiang nodded.

He stood up to leave, but stopped at the door and stood there for a while with his back to the people inside.

He didn't turn around, he just stood there and said:

"I should have come much earlier."

His voice wasn't loud, as if he were talking to himself.

Then he reached out, opened the door, and went out.

The remaining three people in the room did not speak.

Chen Yuanda remained seated for a while, then turned to look at Hu Yuheng:

"What he said this time matches the previous batch of materials."

Bai Jiangfei's release of the man, Zeng Zhiyuan's relaying of the message, and his own admission of coordinating the approval process—all of these were successfully implemented.

Hu Yuheng nodded: "So what happened to him afterwards?"

Chen Yuanda thought for a moment:

Follow the procedure.

He came voluntarily, and the information he provided matched the existing materials, so we started with a walk-in interview process.

After verification, a decision will be made on whether to transfer the person to detention.

He chose this time to come in himself, so we just need to follow the rules here.