My online dating circle has millions of followers, why would she put a collar on me?

As Zhao Jianmin walked out of the interrogation room, a cold wind blew through the corridor, making him feel a chill on his back. He reached down and touched his shirt, finding it soaked with sweat.

He stood in the corridor for two seconds, took a deep breath, pulled the "confession" out of the file folder, and read it again.

On the signature panel, the two characters "Jiang Yi" were written neatly and clearly, without any trace of hesitation.

He smiled with satisfaction, folded the paper, stuffed it back into the file folder, and then strode back to his office.

The office is on the third floor. It's not big, but it's decorated with great care.

A mahogany desk, a genuine leather swivel chair, and a calligraphy scroll on the wall that reads "Upright and Honest," a gift from his subordinates when he completed five years in office.

Every time he walks into this office and sees this calligraphy, he feels at peace.

But he has no interest in looking at that calligraphy now.

He sat down in the swivel chair, took out his phone, and found Gu Qinghan's number.

3:20 a.m.

Calling at this hour isn't ideal, but he couldn't wait any longer.

From the moment Jiang Yi was taken away by the Chaoyang branch of the police, he knew his opportunity had arrived.

That old bastard Director Liu from the Chaoyang branch, he still wants to compete with him?

No way.

He dialed the number.

beep - beep - beep -

It rang almost six times before the other end finally answered.

"Feed?"

Gu Qinghan's voice was hoarse and tired, as if he had just been woken up, but beneath the hoarseness and tiredness was a thin layer of restlessness that could explode at any moment.

"Ms. Gu, it's me, Zhao Jianmin from the Zhongshan branch. I'm so sorry to bother you so late."

Zhao Jianmin's voice was full of laughter, a kind of laughter that could be felt even through the phone, like a thick, greasy layer of cream smeared on the receiver.

"What is it?"

Gu Qinghan's tone was neither warm nor cold, and even carried a hint of impatience, as if to say, "You'd better have something important to do."

"Miss Gu, I've taken care of the task you asked me to do this afternoon."

Zhao Jianmin's voice carried an irrepressible sense of pride, like a cat that had stolen a fish, its tail held high.

"Jiang Yi has confessed. He signed the confession form, admitting that he manipulated Jiang Miaomiao to commit fraud. When sentencing him, I will follow your instructions and impose the maximum penalty."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

Then--

"What did you say?!"

Gu Qinghan's voice suddenly rose, becoming so sharp it seemed to pierce the receiver.

Zhao Jianmin was taken aback. He had anticipated many reactions: gratitude, satisfaction, indifference, or even apathy, but he hadn't expected this one.

anger.

Utter, unrestrained, volcanic eruption of anger.

"Miss Gu?"

His voice began to tremble, and the smile that was still on his face had frozen, like a mask glued on.

"Zhao Jianmin, are you out of your mind?!"

Gu Qinghan's voice exploded from the receiver, each word like a bullet, precisely piercing through all his smugness and scheming.

"Who gave you permission to touch him?! I told you to deal with Jiang Miaomiao, who gave you permission to touch Jiang Yi?!"

Zhao Jianmin's hands began to tremble.

The phone vibrated and buzzed in his palm, like a startled bird that might fly away at any moment.

"Miss Gu, it wasn't you who said...you said 'don't let it go'...I...I thought..."

"What do you think?!" Gu Qinghan's voice rose another notch.

"What did you think?! You thought I told you to arrest Jiang Yi too?! Zhao Jianmin, are you out of your mind?!"

Zhao Jianmin opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but it felt like something was blocking his throat, and he couldn't squeeze out a single word.

He truly "thought" it.

He knew that when Gu Qinghan said "don't let it go," she meant she wouldn't let Jiang Miaomiao go.

But in order to climb up the social ladder to the Gu family, he cleverly did more to Jiang Yi.

I want to do things perfectly.

But who could have imagined it?

But he thought he was wrong.

"What did he admit to? What did you make him admit to?!"

Gu Qinghan's voice was trembling.

"Confession... He admitted that he manipulated Jiang Miaomiao..."

"Zhao Jianmin!"

Gu Qinghan's voice was like a knife, stabbing him through the receiver and making him jump up from his chair.

"Do you even know who Jiang Yi's girlfriend is?! Do you know what her family background is like?! Do you know how she'll treat you if she finds out you slept with Jiang Yi?!"

Zhao Jianmin's face turned as white as a wall in an instant.

Of course he didn't know.

All he knew was that Gu Qinghan was a member of the Gu family, and that getting close to the Gu family would benefit his career.

He thought Gu Qinghan was going to get back at Jiang Yi, so he helped Gu Qinghan get back at Jiang Yi.

He thought this was "taking sides" and "showing loyalty".

But he never considered who Jiang Yi's girlfriend was.

"Miss Gu, Jiang Yi's girlfriend is...?"

"Summer Sleep!"

Gu Qinghan practically shouted those three words.

"Xia Anmian! Xia from the Xia family! Xia from the Great Xia Dynasty! Do you understand?!"

Zhao Jianmin's phone slipped from his palm, fell onto the mahogany desk, bounced twice, and landed screen-down on the table with a dull "thud".

Xia family.

Summer in the Great Xia Dynasty.

His mind felt like it had been exploded at that moment.

All his calculations, all his smugness, all the "opportunities" he had been pondering over the past few hours, all shattered into pieces in that instant.

Director Liu of the Chaoyang branch of the Public Security Bureau remained tight-lipped about the case.

The transfer procedures were completed so quickly, it was as if someone was in a hurry to remove Jiang Yi from this case.

He thought it was the Gu family's doing, and that Gu Qinghan was behind it all.

But now he knows.

That's not the Gu family.

Damn it, Lao Liu, you fucking screwed me over!

Zhao Jianmin suddenly stood up, his chair sliding backward and crashing into the wall with a loud bang.

He rushed to his desk, picked up his phone, his fingers trembling, and it took him three tries to unlock the screen.

"Miss Gu, I... I'll release them right away! I'll..."

"Release him?!" Gu Qinghan's voice was as cold as ice. "Zhao Jianmin, he signed a confession! You made him sign a confession! Tell me, if you release him, what about that confession?!"

Zhao Jianmin's lips were trembling.

He can't help it.

A confession is legal evidence; once it's in the case file, it can't be removed.

Even if he releases the person, that confession will stay with Jiang Yi forever.

In any background check or judicial inquiry, that confession will come out and tell everyone: this person admitted to being a fraudster.

"I...I'll destroy it..."

"Destroy?!" Gu Qinghan's voice rose another notch.

"Zhao Jianmin, you're a policeman, don't you know what crime destroying evidence is?! If you want to go to jail, don't try to stop me!"

Zhao Jianmin's legs went weak, and he slumped down in the swivel chair.

The swivel chair slid, and his back hit the armrest, making him wince in pain, but he ignored it.

"Miss Gu, please, please save me..."

"I'll save you? I'm the one who needs to be saved!"

Gu Qinghan's voice carried an extreme sense of suppressed despair, as if she was about to break down.

"Zhao Jianmin, let me tell you, now that things have come to this, you're the one who did everything. Do you understand?"

Zhao Jianmin was stunned.

"Miss Gu...Miss Gu, after all, it was you who asked me to...please, I beg you!"

"Shut up! When did I tell you to do that? You're so old, you should know what you should and shouldn't say!"

After saying that, Gu Qinghan hung up the phone.

Zhao Jianmin, holding his phone, sat in a swivel chair, his whole body soaked as if he had been pulled out of the water.

He stared at the file folder on the table, at the confession inside that he had just thought of as a "trophy," and his lips twitched.

He wanted to cry.

He knew that his actions had ruined his life.