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

When Sun Liancheng received the call, he was squatting in the canteen of the Guangming District Government eating a boxed lunch.

The vegetables in his lunchbox were overcooked and mushy, but he ate them with relish. In just three days in office, he had lost four pounds, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

After hanging up the phone, he put down his chopsticks and stared at the remaining half-piece of tofu in his lunchbox for thirty seconds.

Then I dialed Shen Zhong's number.

"Secretary Shen, something has happened at Dafeng Factory."

Shen Zhong was drinking tea in his office. It was Tieguanyin tea, purchased by the military region's logistics department, costing one hundred yuan per jin (500 grams).

"explain."

Sun Liancheng recounted the entire situation from beginning to end. Chen Yan blocked the excavator, the live broadcast started, Li Dakang withdrew, and the blame was shifted to him, with a three-day deadline.

Shen Zhong put down his teacup.

"Secretary Dakang truly lives up to his name."

Sun Liancheng didn't dare to respond to that.

"When it comes to the skill of shifting blame, if he claims to be second, no one in the entire Handong region would dare to claim to be first."

Shen Zhong stood up and walked to the window. Outside the window was the military training ground, where two companies of soldiers were running laps.

"Lian Cheng, you go back to Guangming District and wait for orders. I'll handle the Dafeng Factory matter."

"Yes."

The phone hangs up.

Shen Zhong stood by the window for another thirty seconds, then pressed the intercom button on the table.

"Weiguo, prepare the car. We're going to the detention center."

The provincial military district's detention center is located in the eastern suburbs of the city. It is surrounded by barbed wire and electric fences, with searchlights mounted on the four corner watchtowers. During the day, it looks like an abandoned factory, but at night, with the lights on, it is no different from a small prison.

The heavy car drove directly to the inner courtyard of the detention center.

Zhou Weiguo led the way, and two guards pushed open an iron gate.

The second to last room at the end of the corridor.

The door opened.

Chen Hai sat on the iron bunk bed, his beard unkempt and his hair a mess, like a bird's nest. He was wearing the gray cotton uniform issued by the detention center, the cuffs of which were frayed.

One year and three months.

He stayed in that six-square-meter room for one year and three months.

Upon seeing Shen Zhong, Chen Hai's body visibly stiffened.

He stood up.

"Secretary Shen."

His voice was hoarse, as if someone who hadn't spoken in a long time had suddenly opened his mouth.

Shen Zhong walked in, and Zhou Weiguo moved a chair to the opposite side. Shen Zhong sat down, stretched out his legs, and leaned back in the chair.

"Chen Hai, do you know why you're here?"

Chen Hai's lips moved. "I know. As for Hou Liangping's matter, I—"

"You've been used as a pawn," Shen Zhong interrupted him. "Hou Liangping asked you to accompany him into the military ammunition depot, and you went along. I watched the whole thing on video three times."

Chen Hai lowered his head.

"Your father asked many people to help you. Liu Changchun, Tian Guofu, Gao Yuliang, he even had someone submit materials to the Discipline Inspection Commission." The heavy voice was devoid of any emotion. "It was useless. This is a military detention center; local people can't interfere."

Chen Hai clenched his hands on his knees.

"But I'm here today to give you a chance."

Chen Hai raised his head, his eyes shining.

Shen Zhong extended one finger.

"Dafeng Factory".

Chen Hai was stunned.

"Your father, Chen Yanshi, is now sitting at the gate of Dafeng Factory, blocking excavators, doing live broadcasts, stirring up public opinion, and blocking the entire demolition work in Jingzhou."

Chen Hai's expression changed.

"You don't need to know who's pushing this behind the scenes. You only need to know one thing—Dafeng Factory must be demolished."

Shen Zhong took a USB flash drive out of his pocket and placed it on the iron-framed bed.

"This contains all the surveillance footage of your intrusion into the ammunition depot. If you can get Dafeng Factory demolished smoothly, this USB drive is yours, the footage will be deleted, and the military will not pursue the matter further."

Chen Hai stared at the USB drive.

It was black, about the size of a thumb, and rested on a gray-white sheet.

He spent a year and three months in that room thinking. He considered confessing, protesting his innocence, going on a hunger strike, and even banging his head against the wall.

But he never imagined that the condition for leaving was to go against his own father.

"Secretary Shen, my dad—"

"Your father was used." Shen Zhong stood up. "As for who used him, you can judge for yourself after you go out."

Shen Zhong walked to the door and paused for a moment.

"I'll call Sun Liancheng; he'll come pick you up. Think it over carefully on the way."

The iron gate closed.

The footsteps in the corridor gradually faded away.

Chen Hai sat on the bed, covering his face with both hands.

Forty minutes later, Sun Liancheng's car stopped at the entrance of the detention center.

When Chen Hai came out, the sunlight shone directly on his face. He squinted for several seconds before his eyes adjusted.

I haven't seen such a bright sun in a year and three months.

Once in the car, Sun Liancheng handed him a bottle of water and a clean jacket.

"Change into this, so no one can tell where you came from."

Chen Hai took the jacket without saying a word.

The car drove out of the city's east and onto the ring expressway. As he drove, Sun Liancheng gave a brief account of the situation at Dafeng Factory.

Chen Hai's expression grew increasingly grim as he listened.

"So...it was my dad who stopped the excavator?"

"right."

"Did he also organize the live stream?"

"Yes. The internet is full of people criticizing the government for forced demolitions; it's in the top three trending topics."

Chen Hai leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

"No wonder you made me come."

Sun Liancheng did not respond.

No wonder Secretary Shen sent someone from the political and legal system who had been detained in a detention center for more than a year to handle the demolition.

The biggest obstacle to the demolition was his own father.

At the entrance of Dafeng Factory.

It was four o'clock in the afternoon. The sunlight slanted in from the west, casting a long shadow of the excavator.

Chen Yanshi was still sitting on the folding stool. Someone brought him a bowl of noodles, which he ate a few bites of and placed at his feet. The number of viewers in the live stream had exceeded 300,000, and the barrage of comments was so dense that the words were illegible.

"Keep it up, Mr. Chen!"

"A 78-year-old who blocked a forced demolition—that's a true Communist Party member!"

"Where's Li Dakang? Did he run away?"

Facing the camera, Chen Yanshi's expression was as calm as a stone statue. Behind him stood Wang Wenge and more than twenty factory security guards.

A black sedan stopped on the outskirts of the crowd.

The car door opened.

A young man in a dark jacket stepped down. His beard was shaved, and his hair had been wiped with water, but the weariness on his face was undeniable.

He walked towards the factory gate.

Someone in the crowd recognized him.

"That's... Chen Hai?"

"Chen Yanshi's son? Wasn't he arrested?"

"Are you out?"

Hearing the noise, Chen Yanshi turned around.

The moment he saw Chen Hai, his body felt as if it had been electrocuted.

The folding stool slid back half an inch.

"Xiao Hai?"

Chen Hai walked up to him and stopped. The two were less than two meters apart.

The live stream camera was simultaneously focused on the father and son.

"dad."

Chen Yanshi's eyes reddened. He stood up, supporting himself on the stool, and reached out his hand.

"Xiao Hai, you—you're out? How did you get out?"

"It was placed there by Secretary Shen."

Chen Yanshi's hand froze in mid-air.

"What are the conditions?"

Chen Hai looked at his father. It had been a year and three months since he last saw him, and the old man had lost even more weight, his hair had turned completely white, and the wrinkles on his face were so deep they could trap a mosquito.

"The condition is that the Dafeng Factory be demolished smoothly."