Official statement: Tongwei is dead! You chose Ruijin, didn't you?

Upon seeing this, Wang Fuzhen quickly reached out and took it, her eyes scanning the few lines of text on it, her face instantly turning deathly pale.

"Go inside and talk, don't stand at the door, or the neighbors will gossip even more."

She tugged at Chen Yanshi's arm in a low voice, offering him a way out.

Chen Yanshi cared most about his reputation, so he had to grit his teeth and suppress his anger before turning around and following the two back to the living room to sit down.

Zhou Zhengming and Xiaolin sat upright opposite each other on the sofa. Xiaolin skillfully opened the notebook and took out his pen.

A battle without gunfire has officially begun.

"Mr. Chen Yanshi, are you aware that your daughter, Chen Yang, holds and actually benefits from an offshore trust asset worth over 100 million yuan?"

Zhou Zhengming's first question was like a thunderclap out of nowhere.

"I don't know!" Chen Yanshi answered crisply and decisively, without hesitation.

Zhou Zhengming nodded and continued, "After the Lingang project was completed, a large sum of cross-border funds was laundered through several shell companies in Hong Kong and then transferred to this trust account. Have you heard about this?"

"I have no idea!"

"This trust has two actual beneficiaries. Besides Chen Yang, the other is Zhao Ruilong. Have you heard this?"

The moment the name "Zhao Ruilong" was uttered, the air in the living room seemed to be instantly sucked out, and the atmosphere became extremely stagnant.

Chen Yanshi froze, his previous tough "old revolutionary" demeanor instantly crumbling, and a hint of barely concealed panic flashed in his eyes.

Wang Fuzhen, who was standing to the side, trembled and almost dropped the glass of water she was holding, which nearly fell onto the coffee table.

Chen Yanshi stared intently at Zhou Zhengming, his voice dry: "Do you have solid evidence, or are you just trying to trick me into revealing information based on hearsay?"

Zhou Zhengming smiled slightly, calmly opened his personal file, took out a copy of a document sent back from an overseas investigation, and gently pushed it in front of Chen Yanshi:

"Mr. Chen, the materials for the overseas judicial investigation have been delivered, and the complete procedures are being processed. We are here today only to verify the information and will not make any determination."

We won't make a definitive judgment, we'll only verify it. This most ruthless cliché in officialdom translates to: We have solid evidence; now it's up to you to see if you're honest.

On paper, the list of beneficiaries and account numbers in English are clearly visible and glaring.

The names Chen Yang and Zhao Ruilong, listed side by side, are like two resounding slaps to Chen Yanshi's old face, which had prided itself on "high-mindedness" his entire life.

Chen Yanshi's mind went blank.

All the subtle clues that were deliberately avoided before, Chen Yang's inexplicable generosity, Zhao Lichun's unusual politeness towards him back then...

Everything came together at that moment.

He finally understood that the supervisory team was not arguing about the moral controversy surrounding his protection of the factory, nor was it just going through the motions; they had directly dug up the ancestral graves of Lingang's capital!

"I...I haven't dealt with overseas finance or cross-border capital for many years, so I can't understand these kinds of foreign books."

Chen Yanshi's voice suddenly lowered, barely holding on to his last bit of confidence, trying to avoid the details by saying "I don't understand".

"It's okay, you don't need to interpret the complicated financial terms. You just need to truthfully tell us whether you were aware of them."

Zhou Zhengming spoke calmly, without the slightest hint of coercion, yet every word was piercing to the heart.

"I don't know."

"Over the past decade, Chen Yang has traveled to and from Hong Kong multiple times, and her entry and exit records largely overlap with Zhao Ruilong's itinerary. As her father, have you never inquired about the reasons for her trips?"

"I don't know."

"During the early stages of the Lingang project, did you use your status as a retired cadre and your influence to provide explanations or facilitate the source of Chen Yang's overseas funds?"

Cornered, Chen Yanshi blurted out, "She's been an adult and independent for a long time! I can't interfere in or control everything she does outside! I can't control her!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt remorse and wished he could slap himself.

As a father, faced with irrefutable evidence, the first thing that came to his mind was "I can't control it."

This sounds like a deliberate attempt to sever ties with the father and daughter and an eagerness to shift blame, which seems particularly jarring and hypocritical.

Zhou Zhengming offered little commentary, merely nodding slightly. Beside him, Xiao Lin's pen scratched away, objectively and ruthlessly recording his exact words.

As Chen Yanshi looked at the words that kept falling on the notebook, he felt a mix of emotions, as if a million ants were gnawing at him.

In the past, when he sat in front of the television, what he despised most were those corrupt officials who, after being brought down, were eager to sever ties with their relatives and shout "I knew nothing about it."

He thought those people were extremely hypocritical.

But now that the fire has spread to him, he is shocked to realize that when it comes to his own turn, his first instinct is to draw a clear line.

He finally realized that he too could not escape human selfishness, and that his proud "Hai Rui" halo was nothing more than a thin layer of paper that could be easily punctured.

This slow, painstaking conversation lasted for over an hour, during which all the clues, big and small, were verified one by one.

Zhou Zhengming put away the transcript, stood up, and gave a verbal notice before leaving, as required by regulations:

"Mr. Chen, thank you for your cooperation. If you don't need to go out recently, please stay in Jingzhou as much as possible; if you must leave the city, please be sure to report your itinerary to the supervisory team in advance."

Chen Yanshi frowned, a hint of resentment in his eyes, trying to salvage his last shred of dignity: "I'm just an ordinary retired comrade, and I don't even have the freedom to travel? I have to report to you?"

"This is not a restriction on your personal freedom."

Zhou Zhengming smiled slightly, explaining flawlessly, "It's just that during the investigation, we need to be able to contact you at any time to cooperate with supplementary inquiries. This is normal case-handling procedure, please understand."

After explaining, Zhou Zhengming politely took his leave.

The security door clicked shut gently.

The room was deathly silent; the air seemed to have solidified into lead.

Wang Fuzhen slumped onto the sofa, her voice trembling with deep bewilderment: "Old Chen... wasn't the supervisory team here to investigate Xiao Jinzi? Why are they bringing up old grievances?"

Chen Yanshi remained silent, his face ashen, as he grabbed his phone from the coffee table and repeatedly dialed his daughter's number with trembling fingers.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is currently switched off..."

Only a cold, mechanical female voice echoed over and over again in the receiver.

After several unsuccessful attempts to call, a genuine and profound sense of panic swept over Chen Yanshi.

He had devoted his life to the organization and adhered to principles, always talking about the "big picture." But at this moment, all his lofty ideals and high moral standards were no match for his fear of his daughter's imprisonment.

Looking at the oppressive clouds overhead outside the window, an almost obsessive thought arose in Chen Yanshi's mind:

We absolutely cannot let Chen Yang return to China! At this critical juncture, as soon as she sets foot on Chinese soil, she will be completely drawn into the vortex of interests involving the entire Lingang and Zhao family, and will be torn to shreds by the supervisory team, with no room for maneuver whatsoever!