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

It was four o'clock in the afternoon in the corridor at the east end of the Provincial Party Committee Office. Sha Ruijin strode forward, his heels slamming on the floor tiles. His secretary chased after him for a couple of steps but couldn't catch up. He didn't knock; he simply pushed open the door to Li Dakang's office.

Li Dakang was looking down at the documents, his pen pausing on the paper.

"Secretary Sha, a rare guest." He looked up but did not get up.

Sha Ruijin slammed the door shut behind him, his voice barely concealing his anger. "Li Dakang, I have to talk to you about this 'Eastern Depot' style of your political and legal system today."

"The Eastern Depot?" Li Dakang chuckled and put down his pen.

"My confidential secretary was summoned by the Anti-Corruption Bureau this morning, and I haven't seen her since." Sha Ruijin took two steps towards the table. "They didn't even give me a heads-up. The provincial party committee officials just arrest people like that?"

Li Dakang didn't respond to that. He gestured with his chin towards the secretary at the door.

"Draw the curtains."

The secretary paused for half a second, then went over and closed the thick curtains tightly. The light in the room dimmed slightly.

Li Dakang pulled a folder out of the drawer, slammed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Sha Ruijin.

"See for yourself."

Sha Ruijin did not move.

"Look," Li Dakang's voice deepened, "Didn't you want to reason with me? The reason is written on this paper."

Sha Ruijin picked up the stack of papers. They were copies of confessions. The first line was his secretary's name, and below that, densely packed details about how the assets of eleven companies in Jingzhou were being discounted, which companies were shorted first, and which were discounted to 30% of their original value—everything was explained clearly, item by item.

His fingers trembled.

"Secretary Sha," Li Dakang stood up, walked around the table, and faced him directly, "that man next to you has drained Jingzhou of its marrow, sending tube after tube to the coast. And now you're standing in this room, talking to me about conduct?"

Sha Ruijin's face turned pale.

The only sound in the office was the low hum of the air conditioner vents.

"This..." Sha Ruijin put the paper back on the table, his voice a little dry, "This is his personal behavior. How much resources can a secretary mobilize? This has nothing to do with the provincial party committee, and even less to do with me."

"Personal behavior." Li Dakang repeated the words, as if he were chewing on them.

"He did it behind my back." Sha Ruijin took a half step back. "I admit I made a mistake in choosing my personnel. But you can't pin the whole provincial party committee's actions on a secretary."

Li Dakang stared at him without saying a word.

Then the door opened again.

Qi Tongwei walked in. He was still wearing his police uniform, a dark red line showing through the bandage under his left sleeve. He held a piece of paper stamped with a red seal in his hand.

"Secretary Sha," he placed the paper on the table, "the military's response to the investigation. Your secretary's overseas account has been flagged for terrorism-related financing and is now frozen."

Sha Ruijin's gaze fell on the paper, but he didn't touch it.

"General Shen asked me to pass on a message to you." Qi Tongwei looked at him, his tone flat, "When it comes to national security, explanations are not welcome."

The eight words fell silent.

Sha Ruijin's throat bobbed. For the first time in his life, he felt the ground beneath his feet loosen. On one side was Li Dakang's confession slammed on the table; on the other, the military's freeze order. He wanted to make a cut, but these two things blocked any opening.

"Comrade Tongwei," he changed his tone, pausing for a moment, "Handong has just stabilized; if we continue this turmoil, it won't be good for the leadership if word gets out. Let's investigate this behind closed doors—"

"It will take time to find out the truth," Qi Tongwei interrupted him, "but the other party isn't giving us time."

He took out another item from his inner pocket, a stamped request.

"Tonight at 11 PM, the last batch of core asset valuation disks from Handong will be moved from the north of Jingzhou City onto the highway towards the port." He pushed the request document over, "I request that roadblocks be set up at major intersections throughout the province to intercept them. This order needs the provincial party committee's approval."

Sha Ruijin looked at the request document but didn't reach out.

Whose car was stopped at the roadblock?

"A data-escorted vehicle disguised as an armored truck," Qi Tongwei said. "The license plate, the escort uniform, and the documents were all genuine. Once the goods crossed the border into Handong, they could never be recovered."

Sha Ruijin's hand rested on the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white.

He knew what this signature meant. Once he signed it, Haizhou's request to "delay" over the phone would become empty words. He personally took back the pledge of allegiance he had handed over.

Li Dakang stood beside him, staring at him.

"Secretary Sha," Li Dakang's voice lowered, becoming slower, "those factories in Jingzhou are my lifeline. Anyone who dares to sell them again, I'll fight them to the bitter end."

Sha Ruijin didn't look at him.

"If you sign today, you're a member of the provincial party committee; if you don't sign—" Li Dakang paused, "you know better than I how the people of Handong will view you as secretary."

Sha Ruijin closed his eyes briefly.

He opened his eyes again and grabbed the pen on the table. The pen tip hovered above the signature field of the request for instructions for two seconds before falling.

The characters were written so heavily that they tore through the paper.

After signing, he threw down the pen, didn't look at the two people, and turned to walk towards the door. He paused for a moment, his hand on the doorknob.

"This matter ends here," he said hoarsely. "Don't smear the Provincial Party Committee any further."

The door closed.

Li Dakang looked at the door and snorted coldly. He picked up the signed request and handed it to Qi Tongwei.

"Take it. This time, he won't be able to back out."

Qi Tongwei took it, folded it, and put it in the inner bag. He walked out, and as he reached the door, Li Dakang called to him from behind.

"Tongwei".

Qi Tongwei turned around.

"Don't let that batch of trucks get away tonight." Li Dakang said, biting on an unlit cigarette. "If even one gets away, Handong will lose face."

"He can't escape." Qi Tongwei said, then pushed open the door and went out.

One of the lights in the south building of the provincial party committee came on; it was getting dark.

At the same moment, in a conference room without a sign in Haizhou, a man hung up the phone, his face changing. The news of checkpoints being set up throughout Handong province had arrived a full six hours earlier than they had anticipated.

"The conventional approach is no longer viable." He stood up, staring at the highway network map on the wall. "Activate the backup plan."

"Security team, move in." He pointed to the exit north of Jingzhou City. "Charge through. Once we're across the border of Handong, no one can stop us."

……

As night fell, it rained.

The highway connecting Handong to the neighboring province was so shiny with black pavement that even the fastest windshield wipers couldn't stop it. A white armored truck was speeding along in the innermost lane, barely reaching 140 kilometers per hour, leaving a long trail of spray from its exhaust.

It was followed by a black heavy SUV in front and behind. The people inside the vehicles were dressed in casual clothes, and the items at their feet were covered with canvas, revealing a section of metal pipe.

The head of the escort team sat in the passenger seat, staring at the rearview mirror, a satellite phone clutched in his hand.

"We've passed the North City Exit," he said into the phone. "The provincial border toll station is just ahead. Once we pass that checkpoint, our stuff will be home."

At the other end of the tollbooth, Lu Yike's inspection convoy was blocking the exit lane. Three vehicles, their police lights flashing, rain pattering against their roofs.

She stood in front of the car wearing a raincoat, holding up a sign to stop the car.

"Check ahead, pull over!" Her voice was muffled by the sound of the rain.

The armored truck not only didn't slow down, but instead accelerated.