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

Secretary Bai paused for a moment, then bowed and withdrew, gently closing the door behind her. The sound of the door locking came from outside.

Sha Ruijin was the only one left in the office.

He walked to the corner of the wall, unfurled a landscape painting scroll, and behind it was a red telephone that looked completely different from the one on his desk.

The phone is bulky and has no dial pad, only a few special buttons.

He took a deep breath, picked up the microphone, and pressed one of the buttons.

After a few distinctive connection sounds came through the line, the connection was established.

"Dad," Sha Ruijin's voice trembled with barely suppressed emotion, "it's me."

There was silence on the other end of the phone, except for the faint static.

"Handong...something's happened." Sha Ruijin gripped the microphone tightly. "Shen Zhong and Qi Tongwei, they're almost at the Haizhou connection, I can't keep quiet about it."

He recounted incoherently the provincial authorities' operation to apprehend the suspects and how Ji Changming had blocked the evidence.

"You have to help me use my old connections in the Central Military Commission to transfer Shen Zhong away and shut Qi Tongwei up... otherwise..."

Finally, a voice came from the other end of the phone—an old but unusually cold voice, filled with deep disappointment.

"You've disappointed me so much."

Sha Ruijin froze.

"I shouldn't have let you take on this mess back then," the old man coldly interrupted him. "Who do you think you are? A provincial party secretary? You're just an empty shell! Now that shell is about to crumble, you come to me for help?"

"I……"

"Ruijin, let's end it here." The old man's voice was devoid of warmth. "What happens next is none of your concern, nor can you."

After saying that, the person on the other end of the phone hung up immediately.

Beep...beep...beep...

The busy signal rang in Sha Ruijin's ears, as if announcing his death sentence.

He held the microphone, slid down the wall to the floor, and wore an expression that was a mixture of absurdity and despair.

At the same time.

A windowless listening room in the National Security Department of Handong Province.

Several technicians were gathered around a complex audio workstation.

The master eavesdropper, wearing headphones, flew across the console, where a segment of intercepted encrypted communication spectrum was being stripped away layer by layer.

"...The signal source was a special secure line in the provincial party committee compound, which used military satellite frequencies, and the reverse tracking was cut off."

"What about the vocals? Can they be reproduced?" The team leader stood behind him and asked in a deep voice.

The monitor adjusted several parameters and extracted a three-second scream, repeatedly reducing the noise.

The crackling sound of electricity faded from the speaker, and the voice of a man breaking down was amplified, echoing clearly in the room.

"Dad! If something happens to me, no one can cover up what that 'Qin Kewen' did in Haizhou back then!"

……

"Sir, the report is out."

Northern Command Post, 9:20 AM.

As soon as the door to the testing lab opened, a technician carrying a folder ran to the door of the command room. The hem of his white coat was lifted by the wind, and his forehead was covered in sweat.

Shen Zhong stood at the door, his military uniform buttoned up to the top, the epaulets pressing down on the light, and he stood very steadily.

He reached out and took the folder.

Zhou Weiguo followed from the side, "Paper fibers?"

The technician took a couple of breaths. "Yes. There's a problem with the paper used for the coordination letter; it doesn't match any of the official documents used on the northern route."

He solemnly turned to the first page.

The report is full of fiber color development, fluorescent spot locations, and cut edge comparisons.

He didn't rush to see the conclusion; he looked at the raw data first.

Zhou Weiguo stood to the side and lowered his voice, "Sir, go straight to page three."

Shen Zhong turned to the third page.

The technician pointed at the form and said, "The pulp contains specific mink hair fibers, in a very low proportion, but it's present in every sheet of paper. This isn't ordinary anti-counterfeiting; it's an identification fiber added specifically for batch numbers."

"Mink fur?"

Zhou Weiguo frowned. "Official government paper? Still using this kind of stuff?"

The technician chuckled dryly, "These things are easy to spot when inspected. You can't tell normally, but once the machine shines on them, they're all exposed."

Shen closed the folder solemnly. "Batch number."

The technician immediately handed over a second report: "This is special paper for Beijing, batch number QC-7913. It has a stable supply record over the past five years."

Zhou Weiguo paused for a moment.

QC.

He knew those two letters all too well.

There is a sentence in the tattered pages left by Chu Pingshan.

QC is an abbreviation for department.

Shen Zhong took the report and entered the command room.

Several staff officers were checking materials inside the room. When they saw him come in, they immediately stood up straight.

Shen Zhong placed the report on the table.

"List of Logistics Supplies"

Zhou Weiguo immediately sat down in front of the offline terminal. "Sir, should we investigate the military side, or the distribution point in Beijing?"

"Distribution point".

"Authorization is required."

Shen Zhong took off his gloves and threw them on the table.

Use mine.

Zhou Weiguo didn't ask any further questions, inserted the encryption card, and entered three sets of verification codes.

A red verification box popped up on the screen.

His hands stopped on the keyboard, and he turned to look at Shen Zhong.

Shen solemnly placed the document in the recognition area.

drop.

Permission granted.

Zhou Weiguo opened the logistical supplies list and pulled out each item, including paper, printing materials, classified consumables, and special supplies.

The technician stood beside him, even his breathing became shallow.

A few minutes later.

Zhou Weiguo pressed Enter, and three records appeared on the screen.

He stared for two seconds, then lowered his voice.

"Sir, we've found it."

Shen Zhong walked over.

Zhou Weiguo zoomed in on the page: "QC-7913, has only been supplied to three offices in the past five years, with no records of external allocation or transfer to lower levels."

Which three?

Zhou Weiguo did not speak immediately.

He picked up a pen, wrote three code names on a piece of paper, and pushed it in front of Shen Zhong.

QC-01.

QC-02.

QC-05.

The command room fell silent.

A young staff officer glanced at it and immediately lowered his head.

The technician's forehead was sweating again.

He only knew that the paper was special, but he didn't expect that this batch of paper could be traced to this level.

Shen Zhong picked up the whiteboard marker and walked to the whiteboard.

Click.

Remove the pen cap.

He didn't speak, but simply wrote down three code names.

QC-01.

QC-02.

QC-05.

The black ink marks on the whiteboard were very straight.

Zhou Weiguo, standing at the back, asked, "Sir, should we bring out all the staff, those who signed for the documents, and the custodians of these three offices?"

"No rush."

Shen Zhong snapped the pen cap back on. "Let's see where it should land first."

Zhou Weiguo realized, "A sealing wax bag?"

Shen Zhong turned around and walked to the safe.

The safe was a temporary military safe, with double locks and double codes, and a confidential seal was affixed to the side.

Shen Zhong first entered the password, then used the key to unlock the door.

Click.

The cabinet door opened.

There were several sealed bags inside.

The top one has a cover that says "Copy of Materials from Handong".

Handwritten by Gao Yuliang.

Diagram showing the relationship between the sealing wax bag and the black border.

When Zhou Weiguo saw these words, his Adam's apple bobbed.

After this thing was brought back to the northern front from Handong, only Shen Zhong personally handled it.

Even he, as the adjutant, had only seen the number on the handover list.

Shen Zhong took the sealed bag out and placed it on the table.

He didn't dismantle it immediately.

First, pick up the cigarette pack, take out a cigarette, and hold it in your hand.

Zhou Weiguo glanced at the sign inside the room. "Sir, smoking is prohibited inside."

Shen Zhong looked up.

Zhou Weiguo stood up straight. "I shouldn't have said that."

Shen Zhong put the cigarette back. "You're right."

He put his gloves back on, opened the sealed bag, and pulled out a copy sheet.

The copy isn't very clear, but the lines, frames, and annotations are still legible.

The very top part was painted with ink to form a black border.

I applied the paint heavily and applied it repeatedly.

Zhou Weiguo took half a step forward.

He has seen many top-secret materials and many documents with information covered up.

But this picture is different.

It's not about covering up a person's name.

It erased a person from the structure.

Shen Zhong pasted the copy onto the whiteboard.

A white sheet of paper was pasted next to the three codes, with the top black frame aligned directly above QC-01.

Zhou Weiguo picked up a ruler.

"I'll do it."