Me! A high-ranking official!

The security door in his house was the kind he specifically chose when he was renovating. Once locked from the outside with a key, even if someone inside had the key, they couldn't open it.

Violent banging came from inside the door; Qi Xiongwen was smashing it, the entire door rattling loudly.

"Zhao Jianguo! Open the door for me!" Cao Wenting's voice came from the crack in the door, carrying a suppressed anger.

"Zhao Jianguo, are you crazy! Open the door right now!" Xu Qingqing's voice was shrill and sharp.

He leaned against the door, his mind clearer than ever before. This door wouldn't hold them off for long. Once Cao Wenting came out, she would definitely use her power to lock him up. To fight back, he had to take advantage of this gap to go to Cao Wenting's residence and get evidence. Only in this way could he make Cao Wenting hesitate to act, and only then would he have the leverage to bring her down!

He took a few breaths, then turned around and ran towards the stairwell. He rushed down the stairs and all the way to Cao Wenting's house!

Cao Wenting's home is not far away.

Cao Wenting had bought two apartments in the same area, only about a kilometer apart, a ten-minute walk away, so that she could "take care of her daughter more easily." Zhao Jianguo used to think his mother-in-law was quite considerate, but now he realized that taking care of his daughter was a pretense; her real purpose was to monitor him, her son-in-law.

He rushed out of the gate of Ronghui Xiuyuan, crossed the road lined with sycamore trees, and plunged into Bishuiyuan Community.

Bishuiyuan is more upscale than Ronghui Xiuyuan. It was one of the earliest elevator apartment buildings in the county. It has six floors with elevators, two households per floor. The residents are either government officials or business owners. Cao Wenting's apartment is on the third floor, an east-facing unit, a large flat of more than 150 square meters. He has been here countless times and can find it with his eyes closed.

But today, he was panting heavily after running just one kilometer. He had been sitting in the office all year round, writing reports, attending meetings, and working overtime, and his body was already exhausted. This 100-meter sprint made him feel like his lungs were about to explode. After rushing to Cao Wenting's door, he almost sat down on the ground. He leaned against the wall and gasped for breath before hurriedly taking out his keys to open the door.

"Click".

The door opened, and he rushed in, slamming the door shut behind him. He put the key back in and locked it from the inside, leaving the key in the lock to prevent anyone from opening the door from the outside.

The living room curtains were drawn, the light was dim, and there was a faint sandalwood scent in the air.

Cao Wenting is a Buddhist and often makes offerings to Buddha at home. Several pieces of porcelain are displayed on the antique shelf in the living room, and a calligraphy work with the words "upright and honest" hangs on the wall. It was a gift from a retired leader of the county. The whole house is tidy and spotless, exuding a kind of dignity and restraint unique to people from the system.

The spacious apartment, over 150 square meters, features a simple yet luxurious design that is understated but sophisticated in every detail.

He didn't linger in the living room, but went straight to the second bedroom.

The second bedroom was at the end of the corridor. The door was ajar. He pushed the door open and went in. The room contained only a bed and a large wardrobe. It was simple and tidy, and there was nothing unusual about it. He walked to the wardrobe.

Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the sides of the wardrobe with both hands and pushed it outwards with force. The wardrobe slid open half a meter, revealing a small section of wall and a door behind it. It looked like the bathroom in the second bedroom.

He only knew about this place last year during the Spring Festival. Xu Qingqing asked him to come and help Cao Wenting clean her house, saying that it was almost the New Year and Cao Wenting didn't have time to clean, so she asked him to come and tidy it up. She also specifically emphasized that he should be careful and not leave any dead corners.

He didn't think much of it at the time and came over. He swept, mopped, and wiped the windows, working all morning. While moving the wardrobe to clean the corners, he accidentally discovered the door behind it.

When he saw the door, he guessed something, but he didn't open it. Cao Wenting was the type of person who hated it when others touched her things. If he dared to touch something that was deliberately hidden and Cao Wenting found out, she would definitely scold him severely. Besides, she was his mother-in-law after all, and the things inside would eventually be his. Why make things difficult for him now?

But now that I think about it, Xu Qingqing probably didn't actually want him to clean the house that day. She was probably having a secret rendezvous with Qi Xiongwen at home and deliberately sent him away.

However, now he is only grateful to Xu Qingqing for asking him to come and clean, otherwise he would not have known the location of this secret room, which gave him the opportunity to catch Cao Wenting red-handed.

He pushed open the small door forcefully. Inside was a small room of about five square meters. There was no toilet, no sink, no shower, and no window. The air was stuffy and smelled musty.

In the center of the room stood a long table, on which were stacked boxes of all sizes—some made of wood, some of brocade, some of sheet metal, and some of paper—densely packed together, some even stacked two or three layers high.

Seeing these things confirmed his suspicions. He quickly walked in, took out his phone, turned on the video recording function, and pointed the camera at the table to start filming.

The first box was made of brocade, with auspicious cloud patterns embroidered on the dark red satin. It looked very valuable and felt heavy in his hand. When he casually lifted the lid, the contents inside made his breath catch in his throat.

Two gold bricks!

Two gold bricks the size of a newborn baby's arm!

Neatly embedded in the black velvet groove, he picked up a piece, turned it over and looked at the bottom. It was engraved with the number 999.9 and a serial number. It weighed 500 grams. According to the current gold price, one gram was worth 450 yuan. This piece was worth 225,000 yuan, and two pieces would be worth 450,000 yuan.

Four hundred and fifty thousand!

He couldn't help but swallow. After five years as a civil servant, his salary, bonuses, and various subsidies had amounted to less than a fraction of this amount.

He threw the gold bar back into the box and opened the second box.

The box is rectangular with a dark brown wooden exterior and copper-plated corners, making it look like a jewelry box. Inside, there is a stack of bright red property deeds, piled up to be three or four centimeters thick.

"That greedy old woman!" He gasped, cursing under his breath. She actually owned so many houses.

He pulled out a booklet and opened it. The name on it was Cao Wenting, and the address was Yuelanwan Community in the New District. The apartment was 136 square meters, with three bedrooms and two living rooms, and the market price was at least 700,000 yuan. He pulled out another booklet, also with the name Cao Wenting, but the address was another apartment in Bishuiyuan, 142 square meters...

A dozen or so houses, even if we calculate based on the county's average price of 5,000 yuan per square meter, each house is 100 square meters, which is 500,000 yuan. A dozen or so houses would be several million yuan, close to 10 million yuan.

Ten million!?

He couldn't help but take a deep breath, stuff the property certificate back into the box, and continue taking pictures.

The third box was made of metal with a silver-gray surface. Inside was a neat stack of US dollars. The green bills were sealed in transparent plastic bags and stacked in the box. Zhao Jianguo roughly counted them and found that there were at least twenty stacks, each with ten thousand dollars, which was two hundred thousand US dollars, or more than one million four hundred thousand yuan at the current exchange rate.

The fourth box contained a pair of jade bracelets, with excellent translucency and a vibrant green color that seemed to drip water, along with a certificate of authenticity…

He slapped them one by one, becoming more and more shocked with each slap. Cao Wenting, as the deputy secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, was always full of morality and righteousness, and always talking about being honest and upright. But behind the scenes, she had embezzled so much stuff. All of this was worth at least 30 million!

"Bang!"

A loud crash came from outside, as if something had hit the door.

He was engrossed in filming when the sudden noise startled him so much that his fingers jerked and were cut by the edge of the metal box below. He almost dropped his phone, and his heart leaped into his throat.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Several frantic bangings echoed through the house, followed by Cao Wenting's hysterical screams: "Zhao Jianguo! Open the door! What are you doing in my house?!"

"Zhao Jianguo, you get out here right now! Do you believe I'll call the police and have you arrested!" Xu Qingqing's sharp and angry voice followed.

Seeing that they wouldn't be able to get in anytime soon, he took a breath, calmed himself down, picked up his phone again, and continued filming!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The banging outside the door grew more frequent and louder.

"Zhao Jianguo! If you don't open the door, I'll let you die in there!" Qi Xiongwen's angry roar came in.

His gaze fell on the box below. The box was small, not much bigger than the palm of his hand. It was entirely iron black, with no decorations on the surface. It looked ordinary, even somewhat inconspicuous. He reached out and picked up the iron box, lifted the lid, and inside was a small brass bowl.

No, it's not a bowl. It's much smaller than a bowl, but a bit larger than a wine glass. It's more like a bowl or a cup, with a dark brass color throughout. It's not the kind of shiny, brand-new gold, but a warm, lustrous sheen that comes from the passage of time.

Its shape is simple and grand, with a slightly flared mouth, a round and bulging belly, and a low ring foot at the bottom. Some patterns can be vaguely seen on the outer wall, which look like some kind of ancient script, but they have been worn away by time and can only be seen by getting close.

This thing looks like an antique!

He reached out to touch it, and as soon as his fingers touched the bowl, a huge suction force suddenly came out of the small bowl. He felt as if the wound on his finger had been torn open by something, and blood rushed out into the small bowl like a flood that had burst its banks.

The small bowl, like a vampire starved for centuries, greedily sucked his blood.