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

The morning after Chen Dapeng was beaten, He Ying arrived at the office early.

She barely slept all night—after returning from the hospital in the early hours, she tossed and turned in bed, her mind filled with the image of Chen Dapeng with a bandage on his lips, sitting on a chair in the emergency room.

She picked up the phone on the table and dialed a number.

It rang three times before being answered.

"Director Wu, this is He Ying."

On the other end of the phone came the voice of Wu Tiejun, the county public security bureau chief, with a polite, businesslike tone:

"Good morning, County Chief He. What's up?"

"Last night, Chen Dapeng from the Information Section of the County Government Office was assaulted in Liuhe Town. His injuries were serious; he needed three stitches to his lip and suffered soft tissue contusions to his ribs. I request that the Public Security Bureau intervene and investigate as soon as possible."

He Ying's voice wasn't loud, but her tone carried a hint of command.

Wu Tiejun remained silent for two seconds.

"County Chief He, I am not aware of the situation yet. I will have someone verify it immediately."

"No need to verify anymore. I've already checked. The witnesses—Deputy Director Han Bing of the Audit Bureau and staff from the Audit Bureau—are all here. You can send someone to ask them."

There was another two seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, County Chief He. I'll arrange for the criminal investigation team to get involved immediately."

"Director Wu," He Ying's voice turned serious, "This incident occurred in Liuhe Town, and the Liuhe Town Police Station is a subordinate unit of the Public Security Bureau. I hope the investigation will not be interfered with by any local forces."

Wu Tiejun understood the implied meaning in those words—

He Ying told him: Don't use the people from Liuhe Town Police Station, don't let them "investigate themselves".

"Don't worry, County Chief He, I will send someone directly from the County Bureau."

Okay. I'll wait for your news.

He Ying hung up the phone and leaned back in her chair.

……

At 9:30 a.m., the criminal investigation team of the county public security bureau arrived in Liuhe Town.

The team leader was Zhao Gang, in his early forties, the deputy captain of the criminal investigation team.

He was not tall and a little chubby, but his eyes were sharp, as if he could see right through people.

Zhao Gang led three people to the Liuhe Hotel to investigate the scene, retrieve surveillance footage, and interview witnesses.

The hotel corridor surveillance footage has been retrieved.

At 12:43 a.m., two men wearing black hoods appeared on screen.

One was taller, the other shorter; both were wearing dark clothes, so their faces were obscured.

The surveillance footage showed them coming up the stairs, walking to Chen Dapeng's room door, and standing outside for about half a minute.

Then the screen flickered—the surveillance footage for that period of time was interrupted for a few seconds, and when the footage was restored, the door had already been kicked open.

Zhao Gang watched the surveillance footage twice, then turned to the hotel receptionist and asked, "What happened in those few seconds?"

The receptionist, a young woman, seemed a bit nervous under the questioning of the detectives, stammering, "I...I don't know...maybe the equipment is old, sometimes it does this..."

Zhao Gang did not ask any further questions.

He wrote a line in his notebook: "There is a high probability that the surveillance was deliberately cut off."

There were no other clues in the corridor.

The two people left nothing at the scene—no fingerprints, no tool marks, and even their footprints were wiped clean by the carpet in the corridor.

Zhao Gang then asked Engineer Wang.

Wang was the only eyewitness, but he could only provide limited clues—"Two men, both wearing hoods, one tall and one short. The taller man's voice was lower, and the shorter man's voice was higher, both with local accents."

"A local accent? Can you tell which town it is?"

Wang thought for a moment and said, "I can't quite tell. It's just the accent from Qingshun County, which sounds similar to people from the county town."

Zhao Gang also wrote down this information.

Then he led his men to the road where Chen Dapeng was being followed—from the convenience store to the Liuhe Hotel, past that intersection, and into the alley leading to the health center.

Zhao Gang stood under the streetlight and looked around.

There are no surveillance cameras on that road.

Cameras were only installed at a few major intersections on the main street of Liuhe Town; other areas were blind spots.

The section of road where Chen Dapeng was followed last night happened to be outside the coverage of surveillance cameras.

"Captain Zhao." A young police officer walked over from the other end of the alley. "The security camera at the clinic entrance captured it. At 8:43 PM, two men ran out of the alley. They were wearing hats and had their heads down, so we couldn't see their faces."

Zhao Gang walked over and watched the surveillance footage.

The image is blurry; two black figures run out of the alley, turn into the main street, and disappear from the frame.

"After leaving the health center, which direction did you go?"

"They went in the direction of the town government."

Zhao Gang frowned slightly—there were no surveillance cameras in the direction of the town government.

……

At 2 p.m., Zhao Gang arrived at Chen Dapeng's residence with his men.

Zhao Gang sat down opposite him, took out a voice recorder, and pressed the record button.

"Chen Dapeng, this is Zhao Gang from the Criminal Investigation Division of the County Public Security Bureau. Please tell me in detail what happened last night."

Chen Dapeng recounted the whole story from beginning to end—from going out to buy instant noodles at night, to being followed, running into the health center, returning to the hotel, being broken into late at night, being beaten, and finally being sent to the hospital.

After listening, Zhao Gang remained silent for a few seconds.

Have you had any conflicts with anyone in Liuhe Town?

"no."

"What are you investigating in Liuhe Town?"

Chen Dapeng looked at him and hesitated for a moment.

He cannot tell the truth about this issue.

Because saying "we are checking the accounts in Liuhe Town" is equivalent to dragging He Ying into it as well.

The case has not yet been classified, and there are some things that cannot be said at this time.

"I was the liaison officer for the audit team, responsible for communication between the audit team and the government office. Other than that, I didn't investigate anything."

Zhao Gang stared at him for two seconds, then didn't ask any further questions.

He stood up and put away the recorder.

"Chen Dapeng, we will continue to follow up on the clues you provided. We will keep you informed of any progress."

"Thank you, Captain Zhao."

Zhao Gang walked to the door, then stopped and turned around.

"Chen Dapeng".

"Um?"

"Be careful lately. If those people can find you once, they can find you a second time."

Chen Dapeng nodded.

Zhao Gang glanced at him, then turned and left.

……

At 3:30 p.m., the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee held a meeting.

This is the second Standing Committee meeting this week.

There weren't many topics to discuss, but the atmosphere was more tense than last time—because everyone knew that today's topic was the audit of Liuhe Town.

Zhou Mingyuan sat in the main seat, with an agenda spread out in front of him.

"Thirdly, please have the Audit Bureau report on the special audit of Liuhe Town."

Han Bing opened the audit report in front of her.

— She rushed out this report this morning. According to normal procedures, an audit report takes about a week to be officially issued, but He Ying asked her to produce a preliminary result as soon as possible so that it could be reported at the Standing Committee meeting.

Han Bing cleared her throat and began her report.

She listed out the problems the audit team had discovered over the past week one by one—projects that failed to provide complete acceptance reports, records with missing supporting documents, and irregularities in the accounting entries.

She did not mention Fang Zhiqiang, nor did she mention the 17.5 mu of land.

Because those materials still need further verification, they cannot be presented at the Standing Committee meeting without being fully confirmed.

But what she said was already enough.

Fang Mingyuan sat opposite He Ying, his expression unreadable, but his fingers were tapping lightly on the table—faster than usual.

After Han Bing finished her report.

Zhou Mingyuan glanced around: "Does anyone have any opinions?"

Fang Mingyuan didn't wait for anyone else to speak.

"Director Han," he looked at Han Bing, "can you confirm that the issues you just mentioned are violations?"

Han Bing looked at him, somewhat surprised.

She verified each of these issues one by one, and every single one was documented.

Fang Mingyuan's question, "Can you confirm that it's against the rules?", was a questioning of her professionalism.

"County Chief Fang, these issues are all based on clear evidence. The missing supporting documents and the inability to provide the acceptance report are facts."

"Facts don't equate to violations." Fang Mingyuan said calmly, "Missing materials might be a filing issue; non-standard itemized expenses might be an operational problem. These issues are quite different from violations or disciplinary infractions."

Han Bing opened her mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed the words back.

Fang Mingyuan is using a fallacy—she presented the facts, but he claimed that "facts do not equal violations."

If she continues to argue, it will look like she's quarreling with the executive deputy county head at the Standing Committee meeting.

He Ying spoke up.

"County Chief Fang is right; facts do not equate to violations." Her voice was calm. "Therefore, the audit team's report is only a 'preliminary finding,' not a 'qualitative conclusion.' The final conclusion can only be drawn after further verification."

Fang Mingyuan turned to look at her, his lips twitching slightly, as if he were smiling, but not quite.

"County Chief He is right. Then let's wait for further verification."

"County Chief Fang, there's one more thing." He Ying opened the folder in front of her. "Yesterday morning, Chen Dapeng, a staff member of the county government office, was beaten in Liuhe Town. The Public Security Bureau should have already intervened in this matter."

Fang Mingyuan leaned back in his chair.

"I've heard about the assault. This is illegal and must be thoroughly investigated."

He said this in a very strong tone.

He Ying looked into his eyes, her gaze cold.

Fang Mingyuan's eyes didn't waver at all as he looked back at her, his expression so open and honest that it didn't seem like he was talking about something that concerned him.

"Director Wu," Zhou Mingyuan said, looking at Wu Tiejun, "how's the case progressing?"

"The criminal investigation team went to Liuhe Town this morning to investigate the scene, retrieved surveillance footage, and questioned witnesses and the victim. The current information is that there were two masked men with local accents who seemed familiar with the hotel environment. The surveillance footage captured some images, but they were wearing hoods, so their faces were not visible."

"Any clues?" Zhou Mingyuan asked.

"No, not at the moment." Wu Tiejun shook his head. "There are no surveillance cameras on that section of the road, and the surveillance footage in the hotel corridor was interrupted for about ten seconds—it could be an equipment problem, or it could be deliberate. No fingerprints or other traces were found at the scene."

Zhou Mingyuan remained silent for a few seconds.

"Continue the investigation. Assault is no small matter; we must get to the bottom of this."

Fang Mingyuan nodded: "Director Wu, this case needs to be expedited. The fact that government office staff were assaulted in Liuhe Town has had a very negative impact. We must give the victims and the people of the entire county an explanation."

He Ying sat beside him, listening to Fang Mingyuan say these words, her expression unchanged.

But she knew very well that Fang Mingyuan was acting.

"Investigate thoroughly" and "Give the victims an explanation"—these words came out of his mouth like those of a good person, without any flaws.

But He Ying knew that the more he acted like this, the more it showed that he wasn't afraid of being investigated.

Because the evidence is gone, the traces have been erased, and the witnesses "can't remember anything."

The police couldn't find anything.

"Let's adjourn the meeting."

Zhou Mingyuan closed the agenda.

After the meeting, in the corridor.

He Ying walked along the corridor toward the stairwell, and Fang Mingyuan's voice came from behind her.

"County Magistrate He."

She stopped and turned around.

Fang Mingyuan walked over and stopped in front of her.

Fang Mingyuan looked at her, his expression revealing nothing.

"County Chief He, I am very sorry that your people were beaten."

He paused for a moment.

"But you need to figure out who your enemy is."

He Ying looked at him without flinching.

"County Chief Fang, I can tell the difference."

The two stared at each other for a few seconds.

Fang Mingyuan looked away, nodded, his lips twitched slightly, and then he turned and left.

He Ying stood in the corridor, watching his figure disappear at the top of the stairs.

Back in her office, she found Chen Dapeng's WeChat messages.

"How are you feeling?"

She typed a few words, then deleted them.

"Does it still hurt?"

It was deleted again.

She felt these words were too mild, as if they were being asked of an ordinary patient, not the person who had been hurt because of her.

Fang Mingyuan's earlier words resurfaced in my mind: "You need to figure out who your enemy is."

He Ying slowly clenched her fist, picked up her phone, and typed a line of text.

"Focus on recovering. You don't need to worry about the audit team."

After sending it, she waited for about ten seconds.

Chen Dapeng replied, "Okay. How's it going on your end?"

"At the Standing Committee meeting, Fang Mingyuan said that the assault incident must be thoroughly investigated."

"He's acting."

"I know."

"What did the police find?"

"The surveillance footage was interrupted for more than ten seconds, there were no traces at the scene, and no witnesses."

Chen Dapeng remained silent for a few seconds.

He Ying waited a while and then sent another message.

"Dapeng, try not to go out alone during this time."

"I understand. You too, be careful."

He Ying stared at the words "Be careful" and remained silent for a long time.

She wanted to say, "You're injured and you're telling me to be careful," but she didn't type it out.

She only replied with one word: "Okay".