After breaking up with my boyfriend, I made a fortune and rose rapidly in my career.

Zheng Weiyuan.

The name exploded in Chen Pingfang's mind, along with the continuous output of the conversation from the recording pen; every word pierced his temples.

"The approval will be held for three days, that should be enough. Once the money arrives, it will be transferred through Songhe's account and then split into six subsidiaries. Jianbang, I trust you to handle this."

"Old Zheng, where did this money come from?"

"Don't ask where you came from. You have someone protecting you. Just focus on getting the paperwork done properly."

It was his father's voice. Chen Pingfang recognized it; it was steady, with a hint of barely perceptible hesitation.

"I can't do it."

There was a two-second silence in the recording.

"Jianbang, think about it again."

"Don't even think about it. I can't help you with this."

"Let me put it another way," Zheng Weiyuan's voice dropped half an octave. "If you help, everyone's happy. If you don't, I can't guarantee you'll stay in the General Office. Your wife teaches at the Affiliated High School of National Taiwan Normal University, and your son just started elementary school, right?"

The recording stopped here.

Chen Ping pressed his thumb on the stop button of the recorder, his fingernail digging into the plastic casing.

In the main room, Su Minhua sat opposite, her hands folded on her knees, motionless.

"Mom, did Dad give this recording to anyone before he died?"

"no."

Are you sure?

Su Minhua raised her chin slightly.

"Your father only ever acted stubbornly once in his life. He rejected Zheng Weiyuan, and the following year he was transferred out of the General Office to a cold, unpopular department. Two years later, he was gone."

Cause of death~

"Myocardial infarction." Su Minhua pronounced the two words slowly. "At least the death certificate says myocardial infarction."

Chen Ping put the recording pen into the inside pocket of his cotton coat and stood up.

"Mom, don't go out these next few days. I'll have someone come and keep you company."

"Need not."

"This is not a matter for discussion."

He dialed Han Zhiming's number and walked out of the main room.

"Arrange for two reliable people to go to Qingxi and get to my mother's place before tonight. Don't go through the provincial government's security department; use your own connections."

Han Zhiming didn't waste any words, replying with just one word: "Okay."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Ping got into his car and started the engine. As the car drove out of the alleyway of Dongguan Street, he glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a silver-gray van parked at the end of the alley, its windows closed and the engine running.

The seat was empty when I arrived.

He neither slowed down nor sped up, and continued on the original route onto the provincial highway.

In the rearview mirror, the silver-gray van hadn't followed.

He drove the 140-kilometer provincial highway in less than an hour and a half. Before entering Jizhou city, he turned onto a secluded side road and parked his car in front of a car wash.

I took a sealed bag out of the glove box, put the voice recorder inside, and sealed it.

Then I dialed a number.

Ji Mingchuan, Deputy Director of the State Security Department.

The phone rang three times before being answered.

"Director Ji, Chen Pingfang. I have a recording from 1999 that needs to be compared with a voiceprint."

Ji Mingchuan's response was brief and direct.

"Comparison targets?"

"Zheng Weiyuan".

There was a three-second pause on the other end of the phone.

Are you sure?

"Confirmed. This recording involves instructions for the illegal transfer of funds from 23 years ago, as well as threats against staff members of the Provincial Party Committee Office. I need technical analysis to identify the individuals."

Ji Mingchuan didn't ask any more questions.

"Send it to the Technical Division of the National Security Bureau and find Zhou Han. Use my special approval channel, bypassing the bureau's internal system; you'll get the results in two hours."

"I'll be right there."

The National Security Bureau's Technical Division is located in a gray building in the south of the city. There is no sign at the entrance, and even the roadside signs skip this alley.

Zhou Han was a technician in his early thirties, with a buzz cut and black-rimmed glasses. When he took the sealed bag, he only glanced at the seal and didn't open it.

"We have the comparison samples in our database. Zheng Weiyuan gave a public lecture at the Provincial Party School in 2018, which was recorded in its entirety."

That's enough.

Chen Ping sat on a plastic chair in the corridor of the technical department, waiting. The air conditioner in the corridor hummed, and the warm air it blew out carried a fishy smell from the metal pipes.

One hour and forty minutes later, Zhou Han pushed open the laboratory door, holding an A4 sheet of paper in her hand.

"The voiceprint matching accuracy is 97.6%, with a confidence interval of over 99%. The speaker marked as 'Party A' in the recording is highly consistent with Zheng Weiyuan's voiceprint sample."

He handed me an A4 sheet of paper, which contained an overlay of two sets of voiceprint waveforms.

"In addition, we analyzed the audio layer of the recording. There were no signs of splicing or speed adjustment, and the background noise characteristics of the recording device were consistent with those of Sony's ICD series portable voice recorders. Judging from the aging of the tape, the recording time was between 1999 and 2001, which matches the date marked on the device."

Chen Ping folded the report and put it into his inner pocket.

"Zhou Han, how many copies of this report should be issued?"

"As instructed by Director Ji, only one paper copy was issued, and the electronic version was stored on an isolated server with access limited to only three people."

Which three?

"Director Ji, you, and I are still here."

Chen Ping nodded and walked out of the technical department.

Halfway there, he dialed Governor Liu's number.

"Governor, I have some documents that I must show you in person."

The rustling sound of Governor Liu flipping through documents stopped.

"What materials?"

"The kind that can be used at the Standing Committee meeting."

The rustling sound did not resume.

"Eight o'clock tonight, in my office."

At 7:55 p.m., Chen Pingfang walked into the governor's office.

Governor Liu sat behind his desk, his reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, with a thick stack of documents spread out in front of him.

Chen Ping placed the voiceprint identification report and the voice recorder together on the table.

"On November 17, 1999, Zheng Weiyuan, then Deputy Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee, instructed my father, Chen Jianbang, to illegally transfer funds, threatening the safety of his family. My father refused to cooperate and died of a heart attack two years later. The funds have been transferred through the Songhe account to this day, accumulating to over 11 million yuan."

Governor Liu took off his reading glasses, picked up the voice recorder, flipped it over, and saw the date engraved on the back.

Who conducted the voiceprint comparison?

"Special approval from Ji Mingchuan, Technical Division of the National Security Bureau. Match rate 97.6%."

Governor Liu put the recorder back on the table and leaned back in his chair.

"The special report on the Chipfire project is scheduled as the third item on the agenda for the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee meeting the day after tomorrow morning. I'd like to add an ad-hoc item."

"What topic?"

"Special report on cadre supervision. Please compile the materials into the Standing Committee's format and submit them to me before 8:00 AM the day after tomorrow."

Chen Ping put away the recording pen.

"Governor, Zheng Weiyuan is now at the vice-ministerial level; taking him down is necessary."

"I've spoken with the people from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection." Governor Liu put his reading glasses back on, looked down and opened the documents in front of him. "You just need to prepare the materials. The rest is not something for someone of your rank to worry about."

Chen Ping walked out of the governor's office and stood in the corridor for a few seconds.

My phone vibrated.

A message from Han Zhiming.

"Director, the Binhai City Public Security Bureau just announced that Shen Yayun surrendered herself to the Binhai City Central Police Station thirty minutes ago."

Shen Yayun. Shen Yayun has been missing for eleven days.

Just as Chen Ping was about to reply, Han Zhiming's second message popped up.

"She was carrying a USB drive, which she claimed contained video footage of all the M-Tek officials who had bribed people in China. The authorities in Binhai have blocked the news, but someone took a photo of her entering the police station, and it is being circulated."

Chen Ping stared at the last line of text on the screen.

Complete video archive of all M~Tek officials in China who bribed him.

The elevator doors at the end of the corridor opened, and Shen Congwen stepped out, a cigarette dangling from his hand, his steps quickening three beats faster than usual.

Their eyes met.

Shen Congwen pulled the cigarette from between his fingers, snapped it in half, and threw it into the trash can next to him.

"Did you see the news about Binhai?"

"I saw it."

Shen Congwen walked up to him and lowered his voice.

"If the contents of that USB drive are real, Zheng Weiyuan is just the beginning."