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

The echo of the red-line phone call still reverberated in the conference room when Sha Ruijin turned and walked out.

His figure disappeared through the side door, his footsteps echoing far down the corridor. No one stood up, nor did anyone exchange glances. The self-inspection report, in its seventh draft, lay open on the mahogany table, its corners trembling slightly in the air conditioning breeze.

Five seconds, ten seconds.

Wu Chunlin was the first to stand up, his briefcase tucked under his arm, taking large strides. He paused for half a second as he passed Li Dakang and nodded. Li Dakang didn't move, his fingers still resting on the edge of the file box.

Ji Changming tidied up the documents slowly, stacking each sheet neatly. As he stood up, he glanced at Tian Guofu, who was folding the original case filing decision and stuffing it into the inner pocket of his briefcase.

Shen Zhong was the last to stand up. He picked up his military briefcase, the clasp fastened. As he reached the door, Li Dakang stood up.

"Secretary Shen."

Shen Zhong stopped abruptly. The other Standing Committee members had already walked far away in the corridor, their footsteps barely audible.

Li Dakang walked up to him and asked in a low voice, "Who made that phone call just now?"

"Secretary Sha's father-in-law," Shen Zhong answered crisply. "He has old connections in the Central Military Commission."

Li Dakang took a breath. He opened his mouth as if to ask something, but then swallowed his words back.

"The matter in Handong," Shen Zhong continued walking forward, "won't be halted by a single phone call. Keep the materials you have on hand, and report them as needed. Follow the normal procedures."

"Understood." Li Dakang took two steps forward. "Over on the northern front—"

"I'll be back at the team tomorrow." Shen Zhong pushed open the fire door in the stairwell. "Within twenty-four hours."

The door closed, and the echo bounced a few times in the concrete stairwell.

……

Military compound. 2 PM.

After Zhou Weiguo finished checking the last document, he signed his name in the footer. When he looked up, Shen Zhong was already standing in front of the whiteboard, holding a marker.

"Everyone's here." Zhou Weiguo tucked the pen back into his breast pocket. "The operations staff, confidential secretary, and intelligence analyst are all waiting in the next conference room."

Shen nodded. He didn't go next door; instead, he drew a line on the whiteboard, dividing it into three segments from left to right.

"First section, the northern line." He wrote the character "North" on the left. "Combat readiness upgraded. I must be at the command post tonight. Follow me for this section."

He moved the pen to the middle. "Second paragraph, Handong." He wrote the three words "freezing order," and "The military freeze order is unaffected by the transfer order and continues to be implemented. All the materials from Handong are to be copied and sent to Old Xu's office; not a single copy is to be kept."

Zhou Weiguo frowned: "Give them all away? No copies?"

"No one will be spared." The heavy pen scratched across the whiteboard, the sound jarring. "The battle on the northern front isn't over yet. The waters there might be even deeper than those in Handong."

He circled a circle on the right and wrote the character "Qin". "Third section, sealing wax file. The core page, awaiting Elder Xu's instructions. No one in Handong is allowed to touch it without authorization, including yourself."

Zhou Weiguo stared at the whiteboard for a few seconds and wrote down every word.

"There's one more thing." Shen Zhong put down his pen, turned to face him, and said, "Don't pursue Sha Ruijin relentlessly. He's already been crippled; if pushed too far, he'll turn on you. Our focus right now isn't on him."

"Understood." Zhou Weiguo took out his notebook from his pocket and wrote down the three points he had just mentioned. "I will prepare the handover documents by 5 p.m. and send them directly to Old Master Xu's office through the confidential channel."

"Go and do it."

Zhou Weiguo walked to the door and then turned back: "Secretary Shen, what about Director Qi...?"

"I'll go." Shen Zhong picked up his briefcase. "He still has a debt to settle."

……

Military hospital. 3:30 PM.

Qi Tongwei leaned against the headboard, his left arm in a sling, the bandage wrapped thickly. A document lay open on the bedside table; it was a supplementary page to a bundle that Lu Yike had just delivered. The signature field on the last page was blank.

The ward door was pushed open.

Shen Zhong walked in, placing his briefcase on a chair and draping his coat over the back of the chair. He pulled up a stool and sat down, very close to the bed.

"Have you heard about what the provincial committee has done?"

Qi Tongwei nodded: "Yike just mentioned it. Sha Ruijin left after receiving the phone call; the meeting wasn't over yet."

"Hmm." Shen Zhong leaned back in his chair. "The transfer order has arrived. The General Office of the Central Military Commission, ordering me to return to my unit within 24 hours."

Qi Tongwei tapped his fingers twice on the bed sheet: "I'll take you."

"No need," Shen Zhong interrupted him. "Finish signing off on the supplementary pages. Use your right hand."

Qi Tongwei glanced down at his immobilized left arm, then looked up again. He didn't argue, only asking, "What's the next step in the situation in Handong?"

Shen Zhong pulled a neatly folded piece of paper from his briefcase, its edges pressed flat. He placed it on the bedside table to Qi Tongwei's right.

"Operational Memorandum. Four points."

Qi Tongwei picked it up and unfolded it with one hand. The words on the paper were written with a fountain pen, the strokes were heavy, and the ink had seeped into the paper's texture.

Article 1: The interrogation of the middleman surnamed Qin has reached its limit; do not delve any further. All materials are to be handed over to the military for safekeeping.

Article 2: Don't pursue Sha Ruijin relentlessly. He's already been crippled; if pushed too far, he'll turn on you.

Article 3: The core page awaits instructions from Elder Xu. No one in Handong may tamper with it without authorization.

Qi Tongwei looked down. The handwriting on the fourth entry was slightly lighter, as if he had paused while writing it.

Article 4: Lu Yike's case-handling abilities and loyalty have been verified. She can be trusted at key junctures.

He looked up.

Shen Zhong met his gaze: "She shielded you from traffic, backed up the master tape, and kept an eye on the mole. This kind of person isn't someone you can just throw away after you've used her."

Qi Tongwei didn't speak. He folded the memo into quarters and stuffed it under his pillow. He moved slowly and pressed it down firmly.

There was something else under the pillow. It was a sticky note Lu Yike had left that morning, folded into a small square and stacked with her memo.

"Secretary Shen," Qi Tongwei patted the pillow flat, "Be careful on the northern front."

Shen Zhong stood up, picked up his briefcase, and said, "Sign the document. After you've signed it, have Lu Yike send it to the Discipline Inspection Commission for filing, through the confidential channel."

He walked to the door.

Qi Tongwei spoke from behind, his voice low: "The knife is left behind."

Shen Zhong did not turn around.

"The sheath is in my hands," Qi Tongwei added.

The door closed. The footsteps in the corridor gradually faded away.

……

Hospital corridor. 4:10 PM.

Lu Yike leaned against the wall next to the fire hydrant, holding a signed and supplementary document in his hand. The document was secured with a binder clip, and the edges of the pages were neatly aligned.

As Shen Zhong came out of the ward, she immediately stood up straight.

"Are you done signing?" she asked.

"Okay." Shen Zhong took the document and flipped through it, confirming that the signature and the official seal were still there. "Take it to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. Secretary Tian will receive it. Use the confidential channel, don't go through the Provincial Party Committee's motorcade."

Lu Yike nodded and stuffed the documents into the side pocket of her briefcase. She paused as she zipped it up.

"Are you leaving again?"