Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

The ram slammed heavily onto the door lock.

The metal security door was forcibly broken open amidst a screeching sound of metal twisting.

Several beams of powerful flashlight light pierced straight into the narrow living room.

"Don't move!"

"Hands to head!"

Special police officers, armed with submachine guns, rushed in and quickly took control of the living room, which was less than ten square meters in size.

Zhong Xiaoai followed behind, stepping over the fallen security door in her high heels. The room was filled with the smell of garlic and onions from fried noodles with soybean paste, making her wrinkle her nose.

Under the dim light of an incandescent bulb.

A balding, middle-aged man in his fifties was holding a blue-and-white porcelain bowl.

Zhao Dehan.

Half a noodle hung from his chin. He also held half a peeled garlic clove in his hand. The old man was frozen on the plastic stool, his mouth slightly open.

Zhong Xiaoai coldly sized up the director of the project department of this national ministry. His white undershirt was yellowed from washing, and he was wearing a pair of plastic slippers.

Who would have thought that this old man, in collusion with Shen Zhong of Handong, embezzled hundreds of millions of yuan in demolition compensation?

"Director Zhao, you've got quite an appetite." Zhong Xiaoai slammed the black badge booklet from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection onto the dining table.

Zhao Dehan shuddered in fright, and the garlic clove in his hand fell onto the table.

"Who...who are you? What...what are you doing?"

Zhong Xiaoai was too lazy to waste words with him and turned to look at the police officers from the special task force behind her.

"Search it for me!"

The bedroom wardrobe was pulled open, and the drawers were pulled out and turned upside down on the bed. The worn-out Simmons mattress was lifted up.

Zhong Xiaoai pulled up a chair and sat down, crossing her arms.

Half an hour passed.

The house was turned upside down, and even the walls were knocked down.

"Director, no."

The section chief leading the team shook his head, his voice low. "His bankbook only shows his wife's monthly salary, less than three thousand yuan in cash. It's all junk and rubbish."

There's nothing there?

That's absolutely impossible!

Zhong Xiaoai stood up and walked to Zhao Dehan.

"Zhao Dehan! Stop playing dumb with me!"

Zhong Xiaoai demanded sharply, her finger almost poking the other person's nose, "Don't pretend you don't know about the approval for the reconstruction of the Fude Coal Mine in Jingzhou City, Handong Province! Through what channels did Shen Zhong transfer tens of millions of yuan in operating funds to you? Where are the ledgers?!"

Zhao Dehan's legs went weak, and he leaned directly against the yellowed wall.

"Sir... Sir! How come you've come to arrest me when you're arresting corrupt officials?"

With a sob in his voice, he cried, "What corrupt official would live in a place like this? This is an old building, without even an elevator. I ride my bicycle to and from get off work every month, and I can't even afford a bowl of meat! If a corrupt official lived in a place like this, frankly, the common people would set off firecrackers to celebrate!"

Zhong Xiaoai gritted her teeth, "You, a section chief with approval authority over billions, live in this place? You think I'd believe your nonsense?"

Zhao Dehan stared wide-eyed and spread his hands.

"Isn't this how ordinary Chinese people live their lives?"

The more he spoke, the more aggrieved he felt, and his voice grew louder, "What's a section chief? In Beijing, one brick could knock down a whole bunch of section chiefs! Power, big or small, is all about serving the people! Does having power mean you can act recklessly? I'm not talking about you, but you comrade, your ideological awareness really needs improvement! You're just talking nonsense!"

These few words of blaming the victim left Zhong Xiaoai speechless.

What a wonderful call serving the people!

"Not at home, huh? Fine." Zhong Xiaoai picked up her ID card. "Then let's go to your office! Take it with you!"

Two special police officers stepped forward, grabbed Zhao Dehan's arms on either side, and dragged him downstairs and shoved him into a black official car outside.

The night was deep. The convoy sped along, heading straight for the office building of a certain ministry.

The task force presented the highest-level warrant for assistance and forcibly confiscated the videotapes from the floor's surveillance cameras.

At the end of the top-floor corridor. The project manager's office.

This place is much more impressive than Zhao Dehan's old, run-down place. It has a large mahogany desk, a genuine leather sofa, and a bookcase that covers an entire wall.

Zhong Xiaoai stood in front of the desk. Zhao Dehan was seated on the sofa.

Two special police officers stared intently at him.

Zhong Xiaoai turned around, her gaze fixed on Zhao Dehan's face. She wanted to capture even the slightest sign of the old man's psychological defenses crumbling during the upcoming search.

When a person's most important incriminating evidence is touched, their muscle reactions don't lie. If their breathing becomes erratic, or if their fingers twitch even slightly, that's a weak point.

"Find it! Tear down every single hidden compartment!"

Zhong Xiaoai gave a death order. This was to be a completely destructive search.

More than a dozen professional investigators rushed into the office like wolves.

The hardcover tomes in the bookshelf were pulled out one by one, their pages violently shaken apart in search of any bank cards or receipts that might be hidden inside. Then, these books were thrown on the floor like trash.

The waist-high safe in the corner became the prime target. Technicians brought in a small cutting machine. Sparks flew, and the ear-piercing cutting sound echoed through the office building late at night.

The heavy steel door was pried open.

"Director, it's open!"

The officers immediately reached inside and pulled out several brown paper bags.

Zhong Xiaoai grabbed the few brown paper bags and tore open the seals.

What was dumped out were all internal meeting minutes and several policy guidance documents issued by ministries over the years.

Zhong Xiaoai refused to believe it and personally went through the pile of messy documents. Where was the project approval document for Handong? Where was the appraisal report for the Dafeng Factory land? None of them!

Two hours. A full two hours of frenzied destruction.

Got nothing.

The team leader walked up to Zhong Xiaoai and lowered his voice.

"Director, we've run out of information. We can't investigate any further." The section chief pointed outside. "If we keep going like this, it'll be dawn. This is a ministry building; what are we going to tell the leaders when they come to work tomorrow and see this?"

Zhong Xiaoai's mind was a complete mess.

She gritted her teeth and looked at Zhao Dehan, who sat on the sofa with an innocent expression.

Without the evidence of corruption from Zhao Dehan, Shen Zhong's position in Handong would remain unshaken. Those overseas accounts simply couldn't form a closed loop.

"Director... let's retreat. Release them." The team leader urged again.

Zhong Xiaoai closed her eyes, her fingers gripping the edge of the scratched mahogany desk tightly.

"Fall back."

The words that were squeezed out of her mouth drained all her strength.

The officers in the task force breathed a sigh of relief and quickly packed up their equipment to leave.

Zhao Dehan stood up from the sofa, patted the dust off his trousers, and let out a long sigh.

"Director Zhong, what did I tell you? You comrades are too hasty in handling cases. I, Zhao Dehan, am upright and have nothing to fear. I welcome any investigation from the organization. As for the losses to this office..."

"I don't need you to worry about it!" Zhong Xiaoai interrupted sharply, grabbing her briefcase from the table.

Just as she turned to walk towards the door.

My phone suddenly vibrated violently, and an email pop-up appeared on the screen.