Anti-gang campaign: Female bureau chief

Shen Wangshan leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes, and remained silent for a long time. When he opened his eyes, there was an indescribable complex emotion in his gaze.

"Zhao Biao has been with me for nineteen years," he said, his voice tinged with a barely perceptible hoarseness.

"I've treated him like a younger brother since he was sixteen. I saved his life from the shantytown in the east of the city. Back then, he was as skinny as a dog and didn't even dare to snatch a steamed bun."

Zhou Wenxuan stood to the side, unsure how to respond.

"But he knew too much. The Shiqiao mine, Li Changhe's leg, and the person who 'disappeared' in the Fengmao Logistics warehouse three years ago."

"If Jiang Ruolan digs these things up, I'll be executed three times over." Shen Wangshan picked up his wine glass, tilted his head back and took a big gulp, then slammed the glass heavily on the table.

"I have no choice. Things have come to this point, and no one can turn back now."

"Brother Shan, about the hospital... should we arrange another round?"

"No need." Shen Wangshan stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to Zhou Wenxuan.

"Zhao Biao is lucky to be alive, so let him live. But let him know that the person who stabbed him was Ma Laoliu, who was 'avenging' his sister—once he hears that name, he should understand."

"Understand what?"

"You understand I don't want him anymore." Shen Wangshan's voice was as cold as ice.

"I, Shen Wangshan, have never done a losing business in my life. Ma Laoliu's so-called sister did indeed have an affair with Zhao Biao. Such things are not hard to find in the underworld."

I gave him this reason to tell him—if Brother Shan wants you to die, you must die; if Brother Shan wants you to live, you can live. You're alive not because you're lucky, but because I don't want you to die yet.

Zhou Wenxuan was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice:

"But Brother Shan, if Zhao Biao figures out that you sent someone to kill him, he might actually—"

"You'll bite me, won't you?" Shen Wangshan turned around, a cryptic smile on his face.

"No, Zhao Biao knows me too well. He knows the price of biting me—his mother is still in Yi'an, and his son is still in high school. He doesn't dare to speak up because he can't afford the price."

The night grew deeper. Outside the operating room of the Municipal People's Hospital, Jiang Ruolan sat alone on a bench, the operating light in front of her glowing red.

The corridor was quiet, with only the occasional sound of nurses' footsteps and the wheels of trolleys rolling over the ground in the distance.

She was waiting. Waiting for Zhao Biao to come back to life from the operating table, waiting for him to realize something after his brush with death—Shen Wangshan was no longer the "Brother Shan" who would protect him back then.

The current Shen Wangshan is merely a businessman who would sacrifice anyone at any time to protect himself.

What she was waiting for was the moment when Zhao Biao would realize this.

Once that moment arrives, this battle will truly take a turn for the better.

When Zhao Biao was wheeled out of the operating room, it was already 3:40 a.m.

Jiang Ruolan sat in the corridor for a full six hours.

During this time, Lu Zheng brought her a boxed lunch once, but she only ate a couple of bites before putting it down; Zhou Pei called twice, and she gave him a brief report on the situation.

Fang Xuewen also called, his tone tentative, asking if she needed more manpower, but she coldly refused.

She didn't trust anyone Fang Xuewen sent—Zhao Biao was stabbed in the cell, and the person in charge of cell allocation must be someone from Fang Xuewen's line. If this mole wasn't caught, sending more people would only add more eyes to watch her.

The operating room door finally opened, and the attending physician took off his mask, revealing a tired but calm face.

He glanced at the only person waiting in the corridor—a young woman in a police uniform with silver olive branches adorning her epaulets.

"The surgery went smoothly. The spleen has been removed, and the ribs have been stabilized. The patient's vital signs are currently stable, but he is still under anesthesia and will likely wake up in about two hours." The doctor paused, then added.

"The weapon that stabbed him was inserted in a very dangerous position, just two centimeters away from damaging the abdominal aorta. If that blood vessel had been damaged, the man would have died on the spot."

"He's lucky to be alive," Jiang Ruolan said.

"He's really lucky to be alive." The doctor nodded and turned back to the duty room.

Jiang Ruolan walked to the door of the ward and looked inside through the glass window. Zhao Biao was lying on the hospital bed, covered in tubes, his face ashen, a stark contrast to his carefree, joking demeanor three days ago in the interrogation room.

His right hand was handcuffed to the bed railing, and two fully armed special police officers sat on chairs in the corner of the ward, their eyes warily fixed on the door and the window.

Jiang Ruolan stood at the door for a while but did not go in.

She gave the two special police officers a few instructions, then walked to the end of the corridor, took out her phone, and dialed Lu Zheng's number.

"Zhao Biao is out of danger. How's the interrogation of Ma Laoliu going?"

Lu Zheng's voice sounded a little hoarse, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept all night.

"We've interrogated him four times, but he's still very stubborn. He keeps repeating the same thing—Zhao Biao took his sister away, and he's been holding a grudge ever since. This time, we happened to be in the same cell, so he took action."

When asked how he ended up in Zhao Biao's cell, he said it was luck. When asked where the toothbrush handle came from, he said he'd sharpened it beforehand, originally intending to use it against another person in his cell, but changed his mind at the last minute.

"Full of loopholes," Jiang Ruolan said.

"Yes, but we couldn't find any flaws in his story. We also found his sister; she did have a relationship with Zhao Biao, which caused quite a stir in Yi'an, and everyone in the neighborhood knew about it."

The motive is logically sound and would be irrefutable in court. Shen Wangshan clearly put considerable effort into arranging this person.

"What about the detention center? Who signed off on the cell assignments?"

"We found it. It was signed by Liu Changgui, the deputy director of the detention center. I called Liu Changgui in for questioning, and he said that when Ma Laoliu was admitted, someone in Zhao Biao's cell had been transferred, leaving a vacant bed, so they arranged for him to go there."

It sounds reasonable, but I checked the person who was transferred—he was transferred to a better-equipped prison ward early because of his "good behavior." And the person who approved the transfer was Liu Changgui.

Jiang Ruolan leaned against the wall of the corridor and rubbed her throbbing temples.

These details, pieced together, point to a clear chain:

Someone ordered Liu Changgui to transfer one of Zhao Biao's cellmates to make room for Ma Laoliu.

Ma Laoliu's mission was to stab Zhao Biao, and his pre-prepared "revenge motive" was enough to make it all look like an ordinary fight in the prison cell.

"What is the relationship between Liu Changgui and Fang Xuewen?" Jiang Ruolan asked.

"I checked. Liu Changgui is Fang Xuewen's old subordinate. Ten years ago, when Fang Xuewen was the director of the Chengdong Police Station, Liu Changgui was his deputy director."

Later, Fang Xuewen rose through the ranks, and Liu Changgui followed suit, eventually being transferred to the detention center as deputy director. The two men were very close.

............