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

At 11 p.m., the lights were still on in the small conference room of the provincial party committee.

Rain pattered against the windowpane. Sha Ruijin sat in the main seat, his tea already cold. Chu Pingshan sat to his left, his suit jacket perfectly buttoned, a draft of tomorrow's agenda laid out before him.

"At tomorrow's meeting, let's first reach a consensus."

Sha Ruijin pushed his teacup forward half an inch, his gaze sweeping over the people in the room. "The matter needs to be investigated, but it can't be escalated. What Handong fears most right now is that it will fall into chaos first."

Chu Pingshan answered quickly. He opened the folder, his tone as steady as if he had rehearsed it beforehand.

"I suggest that the first issue should still be the overreach of authority by the political and legal system and the failure to protect witnesses. Ma was originally a staff member of the provincial government's audit and review department, but the political and legal system took him away without sufficient communication, which subsequently caused multiple conflicts at the hospital and the parking garage, and the social impact has already emerged."

Qi Tongwei stood in the back row, the gauze under his left arm jacket stretched taut.

Lu Yike looked down and flipped through the evidence catalog, her pen pausing next to the words "can be presented at the meeting".

Gao Yuliang did not immediately refute. He held the thermos cup and gently turned the lid around.

"Can."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Chu Pingshan looked up at him, his brow twitching almost imperceptibly.

Gao Yuliang put down his cup. "The first issue can proceed as Governor Chu suggested. But please also include the major risks of outsourced audits of the provincial government and the incident of witnesses being silenced. Discuss both chains of responsibility on the same table, so that tomorrow someone only sees the fire and not who poured the oil."

Sha Ruijin's hand stopped at the edge of the teacup.

"Comrade Yuliang, the term 'silencing' is too harsh."

Gao Yuliang took a catalog from Lu Yike, but did not open it. He simply pushed it in front of Sha Ruijin.

"Secretary Ruijin, the hospital video footage, the firefighter in his uniform, the hidden compartment in the cleaning cart, and the summary of the caregiver's statement are all here."

He paused, then looked up.

"Would you be willing to write it as a misunderstanding in the meeting minutes?"

The sound of rain suddenly became clear.

No one coughed in the meeting room, and no one flipped through papers.

Sha Ruijin stared at the catalog, his fingers lingering on the rim of his cup for a few seconds. Chu Pingshan's gaze fell on the catalog's seal, his expression remaining composed, though a crease had formed on the corner of the folder from his pressure.

"Together"

When Sha Ruijin began to speak, he was a beat slow, "But the wording must be precise, and emotional outbursts are not allowed in the meeting."

Gao Yuliang nodded, "I'll only talk about what's already set."

Chu Pingshan closed the folder. "Then let me also remind you. The political and legal system protects witnesses like they're at the scene of a gunfight. Just because evidence comes later doesn't erase the earlier loss of control."

Qi Tongwei raised his eyes.

Gao Yuliang smiled first.

"Governor Chu, rest assured, I won't shift the blame for the political and legal system onto others. And don't be in a hurry to hide the knife in the provincial government's sleeve."

Chu Pingshan did not respond.

Sha Ruijin looked at Wu Chunlin, "Old Wu, the organization is holding a hearing tomorrow. You keep an eye on the border."

Wu Chunlin pushed up his glasses and said in a deep voice, "I only look at facts and responsibilities, I don't try to smooth over anyone's emotions."

……

At midnight, only the duty lights remained on in the corridor of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission office building.

Li Dakang entered carrying a red file folder, followed by his secretary, whose face was even more tense than the folder itself. In Gao Yuliang's office, Qi Tongwei and Lu Yike were already waiting, with Xinheng's diary, a catalog of hospital video recordings, and a summary of the caregiver's statement laid out on the table.

Li Dakang placed the red bag on the table.

Snapped.

"Eleven families."

He didn't sit down, his palm pressed against the opening of his bag. "Triple-fold agreement, credit warning, audio recording index. I've shaved my head clean for everyone who's going to the meeting, not a single swear word left."

Gao Yuliang glanced at him. "Rare indeed."

Li Dakang sneered, "Don't give me that. If I were to write down what I really think, the provincial committee would hold a denunciation meeting against me tomorrow."

Lu Yike opened the red bag and only read two lines of the first page.

"Secretary Li, this recording of the conversation only shows the surname Zhao, which doesn't complete the identity."

Li Dakang immediately turned his head, "I know. That's why I told them to only write the surname Zhao. Anyone who dares to make up a full name for themselves, I'll be the first to deal with them."

Qi Tongwei put the Xinheng logs aside. "Xinheng's disaster recovery lines, fake pass printing batches, and logistics communications have all been blocked. The caregivers' testimonies can only mention the middle number and 'Qin Churang cut off the tail,' and cannot be used to expand their identities at meetings."

Lu Yike took the logbook and checked off each page. "This page can be published. This note can only be read in its original form; the meaning of HS-QC will not be explained. This is the caregiver's first statement after the stomach lavage. We need to wait for the simultaneous recording to verify it. At the meeting, it can only be used as progress in the investigation, not as a conclusion."

Li Dakang frowned as he listened. "Is this how you prosecutors always talk?"

Lu Yike looked up, "If you hold it in, you won't get bitten off by the other party."

The office fell silent for a moment.

Qi Tongwei glanced at her, then reached out and gently pushed an evidence bag toward her. Lu Yike didn't look at him; she simply pulled his sleeve down half an inch to cover the bloodstains at the edge of the gauze.

"Don't spill blood at the meeting tomorrow."

Qi Tongwei stopped, "You're meddling in other people's business."

Lu Yike withdrew her hand. "The contamination of evidence is also my responsibility."

Li Dakang: "..."

He looked at Gao Yuliang and said, "Do you guys in the political and legal system now treat dating like you're giving a statement?"

Qi Tongwei's face darkened.

Lu Yike lowered her head to stick on the seal, but her ears turned a little red.

Gao Yuliang ignored this. He sorted out the stacks of materials and pointed at them one by one with his finger.

"Tomorrow, Dakang will take over the assets. Eleven agreements will be auctioned off one by one. He won't curse anyone, he'll just ask why the same coastal platform can always take over at a 30% discount."

Li Dakang tugged at his collar. "I'll try my best not to curse. I can't guarantee that."

Gao Yuliang looked at Lu Yike and said, "You do the programming. If someone says it's edited, you talk about the original disc; if someone says it's forced confession, you release the voluntary statement; if someone says it's contaminated evidence, you show them the chain of evidence."

Lu Yike nodded, "I will make sure they provide the source for every question they raise."

Gao Yuliang looked at Qi Tongwei last.

"You don't get angry."

Qi Tongwei looked up.

Kao Yu-liang pushed Hsin-heng's log to him, saying, "Just hand over the evidence. If someone provokes you, just treat them like a hospital cleaning truck and don't let them create a second crime scene."

Li Dakang slammed his hand on the edge of the table. "I like hearing that. Qi Tongwei, if you can't hold back tomorrow, just wait and see. If I can tolerate this, what can't you tolerate?"

Qi Tongwei looked at him for a long time before speaking, "Secretary Li, your frame of reference is not very stable."

Li Dakang's face darkened.

Gao Yuliang slowly raised his glass. "What he said is true."

Li Dakang glared at the two of them, but didn't utter a curse.

Very rare.

He pushed the red bag in front of Gao Yuliang, his tone hardening, "This time, don't leave yourself any tricks up your sleeve. Gao Yuliang, I don't like you, but I don't want to see you retire for nothing."

Gao Yuliang's hand stopped on the red bag.

"I've staked everything on myself."

He looked up at Li Dakang, "What other tricks are you keeping?"

The sound of footsteps changing shifts echoed down the corridor, one after another, like the clock urging tomorrow to begin.

At the same time, on the top floor of the provincial government building.

Only one desk lamp was on in Chu Pingshan's office. There were already two crumpled drafts of speeches in the wastebasket. His phone suddenly vibrated, but there was no number on it.

He answered the phone without saying a word.

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"If necessary, cut off Haiheng, but not Haizhou."

Chu Pingshan's fingers slowly tightened.

The other party hung up.

The only sound in the office was busy.

Chu Pingshan stared at the words "the political and legal system overstepped its authority" on the original manuscript, and suddenly tore the entire manuscript in half.