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

Eight o'clock in the evening, in an old alley in the east of Jingzhou City.

There was no nameplate on the door where Gao Yuliang lived, and the paint on the gate was peeling off. Qi Tongwei stood outside the gate and rang the doorbell twice.

The sound of slippers stepping on the floor tiles could be heard from inside, slow and deliberate.

The door opened. Gao Yuliang stood there, wearing a faded cotton coat, holding a pair of scissors in his hand, his fingernails grime-covered. Several potted orchids, freshly pruned, sat on the flower stand in the yard.

He glanced at Qi Tongwei, his gaze lingering on the left arm, but didn't ask anything.

"Come in."

Tea sets were laid out on the stone table in the courtyard. Gao Yuliang poured a cup of tea, pushed it over, sat down, and placed the scissors next to the flowerpot.

"Speak."

Qi Tongwei didn't sit down. He placed a copy of Sha Ruijin's suspension order on the stone table.

Gao Yuliang picked it up and scanned it. His expression didn't change much. He put the paper back, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

"Sharikin was faster than I expected," he said. "This thing isn't blocking your path, it's blocking your reputation."

Qi Tongwei nodded. "If I force my way in, he'll have a reason to remove me from the list."

"You can't break in." Gao Yuliang put down his teacup and tapped his finger on the table. "But you don't need to break in either."

Qi Tongwei waited.

"What did he suspend?" Gao Yuliang looked at him. "Enforcement in Hong Kong. Cross-regional joint operations. Right?"

"right."

Is the social stability risk assessment conducted by the Political and Legal Affairs Commission considered an enforcement action?

Qi Tongwei narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Is witness protection a law enforcement action?" Gao Yuliang asked again.

Qi Tongwei remained silent. He already understood.

Gao Yuliang stood up, walked to the flower stand, and straightened a crooked orchid stem. He had his back to Qi Tongwei and spoke softly.

"You've detained the fund manager and physical evidence under the guise of 'witness protection,' which falls under the jurisdiction of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission. Once the social stability risk assessment is initiated, personnel in the relevant areas are not allowed to enter or leave without authorization; this is Article 17 of the Stability Maintenance Regulations. This has nothing to do with closing Hong Kong or with law enforcement."

He turned around.

"Sha Ruijin blocked one door for you, but he didn't expect the Political and Legal Affairs Commission to be your window. Because he thought you only had the Public Security Bureau as your weapon."

Qi Tongwei looked at his teacher. Even in retirement, dressed in cotton clothes, his hands covered in mud, his words could still pierce a person's mind.

"I understand." He picked up the photocopy from the table and put it away.

Gao Yuliang sat down again and picked up his teacup. "What about Li Dakang?"

"He cooperated," Qi Tongwei said. "The investigation revealed that securing evidence required funding, but the provincial finance department was blocked. He used the administrative funds of Jingzhou to support the project and circumvent that line."

Gao Yuliang hummed in agreement. "Li Dakang is a man who doesn't hesitate to take responsibility when it's his turn."

Qi Tongwei turned to leave. As he reached the courtyard gate, Gao Yuliang called after him.

"Tongwei".

He stopped, but didn't turn around.

"Don't use your knife while kneeling this time." Gao Yuliang's voice came from the flower stand, somewhat scattered by the night wind, but every word was clear. "If you have the evidence, then stand up and smash it down."

Qi Tongwei stood there for two seconds. He didn't answer, pushed open the courtyard gate, and walked into the night.

……

The Provincial Department of Technology, 11 p.m.

Lu Yike stared at the screen, her eyes red. She had been scrolling through the access control records for six hours.

The access system for the provincial party committee compound had been configured with different zones and levels; records for the core area required a dedicated line to retrieve. She didn't use the main line; instead, she used a mirrored backup of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission's internal system.

"Found it."

She zoomed in on that line of records. On the day Chu Pingshan was suspended, between 3 and 4 p.m., Sha Ruijin's schedule indicated "office document processing." However, the access control system showed that there was one unregistered visitor record in his office during that time period.

The visitor card number is a temporary card and does not include a name. However, the corresponding vehicle was photographed at the gate.

Lu Yike pulled up the photo. It showed a black minivan with a license plate from Haizhou.

She picked up her phone and dialed Qi Tongwei's number.

"Director, Sha Ruijin did meet with someone that afternoon. The car had a Haizhou license plate, but we're still verifying the identity of the person. The timing is crucial, coinciding perfectly with the first phone call from Haizhou."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"There's one more thing," Qi Tongwei's voice was deeper than usual. "The finance manager has loosened his grip. There's an overseas takeover chain behind the logistics park, and the code name used by the person handling it overlaps with the third line of the contact list."

Lu Yike took a breath.

"The evidence is being gathered," Qi Tongwei said, "but Shen sent a reminder, just four words."

"What?"

"There are eyes around you."

Lu Yike felt a chill run down her spine. She looked up and glanced around the technical department; the fans of the three mainframes were still spinning, and the two technicians on duty were staring at their respective screens.

Everything seemed no different from usual.

"How many people did you handle the master videotape and the transfer routes?" Qi Tongwei asked.

"Three," Lu Yike said in a low voice, "plus me, four."

"Tighten up. From now on, core information will only pass through you and me."

The call ended. Lu Yike put down her phone, her palms sweaty. She saved a screenshot of the access control record to an encrypted USB drive, then glanced at the familiar faces in the technical department.

If Haizhou can't find evidence, they'll purge people. This serious warning isn't just empty talk.

She locked the drawer and put the USB drive into her inner pocket.

The night outside the window was deep, and the corridor lights in the provincial government building were a stark white.

---

## Chapter 312 The videotape has disappeared; the mole is hidden among our own people.

At 3 a.m. the next day, at the provincial department's evidence counter.

The duty officer completed the night patrol and signed the logbook. Everything was normal.

At seven o'clock in the morning, Lu Yike came to retrieve the master tape of the on-site video evidence from the logistics park. She swiped the swipe to open the cabinet door, reached in, and found nothing.

She paused for a moment, then turned the cabinet upside down. Three shelves, more than seventy numbered compartments. In the logistics park's compartment, only an empty protective box remained.

The mother tape is missing.

Lu Yike stood in front of the cabinet, her hand resting on the edge of the empty space, her fingertips cold.

She dialed Qi Tongwei's number. Two rings later, the call connected.

"The master tape is gone."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"When did this happen?" Qi Tongwei asked.

"The patrol was still there last night. They weren't here at seven this morning." Lu Yike's voice was low. "The duty officer signed a form saying no one had been here."

"Check the surveillance footage."

"It's already been adjusted." Lu Yike gritted her teeth. "Between four and five in the morning, the surveillance signal in the corridor of the evidence room was interrupted for forty-seven minutes. The technical department said it was an equipment malfunction."

Qi Tongwei remained silent.

"During the same period," Lu Yike added, "the transfer route of the fund manager was also investigated. The internal network logs show that the accessing IP came from the Economic and Financial Procuratorate's office area."

These two things collided. Lu Yi didn't need to say anything more; Qi Tongwei already understood.

Where is the finance manager now?

"The transport truck left half an hour ago, heading towards the safe house in the suburbs of Jingzhou. I arranged for two escort vehicles."

"I'm off," Qi Tongwei said before hanging up the phone.