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

Hospital corridor, 4:10 PM.

The red paint on the fire hydrant was glaringly bright in the afternoon sunlight. Lu Yike gripped her briefcase tightly, the cold zipper pull pressed firmly against her palm like a needle that couldn't be pierced.

Shen Zhong stopped in front of her, his military boots landing precisely on the cracks in the floor tiles, without avoiding her question.

"The transfer order to the northern front has taken effect. Return to your unit within 24 hours." Shen Zhong handed back the signed supplementary page of the file. "Keep an eye on things in Handong."

Lu Yike did not answer.

She glanced at the half-open ward door, a corner of a snow-white sheet peeking out from the crack, like a silent exam paper.

"Chief Qi just had surgery, his left arm is out of commission for six weeks; Qin No. 2 is waiting for a retrial at the provincial department; old case files from fifteen years ago have surfaced on their own; and there's a mole in the evidence room with authority higher than a ghost who hasn't shown up yet." She clenched her teeth, her voice low and hard, "So much work, can a carbon-based life form handle it all? Which one should I focus on first?"

Shen Zhong looked at her calmly.

At the end of the corridor, the hospital guards were changing shifts. When they heard the name "Qin No. 2," they paused for a moment as they raised their hands to adjust the brim of their hats.

Shen Zhong pushed the documents forward again, leaving no room for refusal.

"First, we've already squeezed every last drop out of Qin Erhao. Once we've reached the limit, we'll immediately shut him down and not give him any chance to recant."

Lu Yike took the document this time, and the edges of the pages brushed against the back of her hand like razor blades.

"Second, keep copies of the old files, and don't let the originals leave your drawer. If anyone wants to access them, make them leave their application report and fingerprints with them."

Shen Zhong glanced towards the ward door; it was silent inside.

"Third, the line in the evidence room is for fishing, not for catching. If you catch a small fish now, the big fish behind it will just retreat back into the deep sea."

Lu Yike stuffed the rolled-up materials into the briefcase compartment with her usual nimble movements, but the zipper got stuck for a moment.

The cold metal teeth gripped the edge of the fabric tightly.

She lowered her head and forcefully pushed it aside without saying a word.

Two soft knocking sounds suddenly came from the ward.

Thump, thump.

It was Qi Tongwei's right hand tapping on the metal bed frame, through the crack in the door, as if stamping this heavy handover ceremony with a silent seal.

Shen Zhong heard it, but did not turn around.

"There's one last thing." His tone was even heavier than before, almost like an order, "Qi Tongwei cannot fight for the next six weeks. Whoever forces him out of bed is helping the other side cripple our fastest weapon."

Lu Yike zipped up the zipper abruptly, her knuckles turning bluish-white from the force.

She looked up, staring directly at Shen Zhong. "Including himself?"

Shen Zhong glanced at her, his eyes sharp as knives.

"Especially himself."

The corridor was silent for a brief two seconds.

The guard straightened his hat, put his heels together, and stood even more like a gun than before.

Lu Yike switched the briefcase to her left hand, reached into her coat pocket with her right hand, and pulled out a thin stack of photocopies. The corners of the papers were yellowed, and the words "Haizhou Port Smuggling Case" were prominently displayed at the top.

His heavy gaze fell on the stack of papers.

"A copy of an old case?"

"A copy." Lu Yike stuffed it into the other hidden pocket. "The original is in my office drawer, and I have the key. Whoever wants it, let them figure out how to get it off my neck."

Shen Zhong didn't respond to her barbed remark, but instead explained the route more clearly.

"Exit through the back gate of the hospital and take the military region's confidential vehicle. Go to the confidential counter on the east side of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. Tian Guofu's people will only accept the sealed bag, not the person. Avoid the Provincial Party Committee's motorcade the entire way, and don't go back to the Provincial Department's evidence room."

Lu Yike frowned. "Secretary Tian won't see me?"

"His meeting with you is like handing a pen to certain people, allowing them to write a legitimate record of the meeting." Shen Zhong raised his hand and glanced at his watch. "What they want most right now isn't material, but a connection between you that they can use to make a fuss."

Lu Yike pulled the strap of her briefcase to its tightest setting.

"What happens after I get to the confidential document locker?"

Shen Zhong took out a white magnetic card without any markings from his pocket and handed it to her.

"The card has a temporary identification code. After delivering the package, go around the north gate of the hospital back to the street outside the provincial hall, but don't go through the main gate. If Lin Huahua needs to check something, let her use the external security machine; she is absolutely not allowed to touch the main server."

Lu Yike paused for a moment when she took the card.

She suddenly asked, "Secretary Shen, are you entrusting these to me because you trust me, or because... you have no one else to use?"

Shen Zhong did not answer immediately.

Inside the ward, there was a slight rustling sound of the bedsheets. Qi Tongwei seemed to want to move, but was pulled back by the restraints.

Shen Zhong looked at Lu Yike and spoke each word carefully and firmly.

"Lu Yike, you're not running errands for him, you're guarding the gate for Handong."

Lu Yike pressed hard on her throat, as if swallowing a piece of ice.

This time, she didn't call him Secretary Shen.

"clear."

Shen Zhong picked up his briefcase, took two steps toward the elevator, and then stopped.

"Also, don't show your worry on your face. Qi Tongwei is as stubborn as a rock. The more worried you are, the more he'll want to prove he can still fight. Don't give him a chance to show off."

Lu Yike's gaze fell on the tightly closed ward door, where there was only deathly silence through the crack in the door.

She looked away, her tone calm, "If he really dares to get out of bed, I'll have the nurses lock all the bed wheels."

Shen Zhong paused for a rare moment.

"The method is crude."

Lu Yike stuffed the white card into her document holder and replied.

"The main point is that it works."

Shen Zhong is gone.

The sound of military boots faded away down the corridor. The guard stood at attention and saluted. As his hand fell, Lu Yike had already turned around and pushed open the ward door.

Qi Tongwei leaned against the headboard, his face still pale, his right hand resting on the pillow, but his expression remained relatively calm.

"Did you hear everything?" Lu Yike closed the door behind her.

Qi Tongwei looked at the briefcase in her hand. "I heard half of it. I heard the most important half."

Lu Yike walked to the bedside and moved the thermos two inches to his right, making sure he could easily reach it.

"Six weeks without playing. That includes yourself."

Qi Tongwei paused for half a second, then raised his hand to touch his high, straight nose and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"Shen Zhong is truly a talent. Even after everyone has left, he can still cast spells remotely."

Lu Yike patted her briefcase, making a crisp sound.

"You've never given us an easy time either."

Qi Tongwei looked at her and gently tapped the bed railing with his right hand again.

Go ahead. Don't push yourself on the way.

Lu Yike hugged her briefcase tightly, as if she were holding a bomb that could explode at any moment.

"I'll return those words to you exactly as they were."

She turned and went out, the white light casting a narrow, solitary shadow on the paving stones. The wind at the hospital's back gate was much colder than in the corridor. The VIP vehicle was parked quietly under the awning, its windows tinted dark, obscuring the view inside.

The guard stepped forward and whispered, "Director Lu, Secretary Shen instructed that the car should not enter the main road, but take the side road on the west side first."

Lu Yike nodded, and as she walked around the back of the car, her peripheral vision inadvertently swept over the glass curtain wall outside the inpatient department.

In the reflection, a gray sedan with a Haizhou license plate sat like a dead fish in the shadows of distant trees, its headlights off.

Her steps did not falter for even a moment.

She clutched the briefcase tightly to her chest, the shoulder strap pressing down on the side of the old case copy. The stack of thin papers brushed lightly against the hidden pocket, carrying the chill of fifteen years ago.

Before getting into the car, Lu Yike looked down and rapidly tapped on her phone screen with her thumb.

"Investigate a gray car from Haizhou, but don't go through the provincial system."

The text message was sent to Lin Huahua.

In the reflection of the glass wall, a hand wearing a black leather glove slowly rose from the driver's seat of the gray car and calmly turned off the flashing red dot on the dashcam screen.