Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

"Clang!"

The heavy cast iron door hinges made a harsh, grinding sound as they slammed back.

The interrogation room was dimly lit, with only a lone incandescent bulb hanging in the center of the room, swaying slightly in the draft, casting distorted shadows on the floor.

Zhao Shanhe sat in that iron chair welded to the cement floor.

Even with his hands cuffed behind his back, his broad shoulders remained as straight as a javelin, and his cold, hard features, sculpted like granite in the dim light, showed no sign of the confinement he might have felt.

Zhang Guodong did not speak immediately.

He slammed the iron gate shut behind him, not even letting Captain Zhou come in.

In the confined space, the two men's gazes met silently in mid-air.

This silence lacked the tension between interrogator and suspect; instead, it conveyed a profound depth that only old friends who had crawled out of piles of corpses could understand.

That was a life-or-death friendship.

Zhang Guodong slowly unbuttoned his military overcoat, casually pulled over a wooden chair, and straddled Zhao Shanhe opposite him.

Instead of opening the case file, he took out the crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket, flicked out two, bit one into his own mouth, and shoved the other into Zhao Shanhe's mouth without saying a word.

"Smack."

A match was struck, and the faint flame reflected in Zhang Guodong's bloodshot eyes.

He lit one for Zhao Shanhe first, then lit one for himself, and the pungent smoke filled the space between them.

"Scarface Liu vomited."

Zhang Guodong took a drag of his cigarette, looked at his old comrade-in-arms through the smoke, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "He confessed to everything, including the old case of Lao Tian from back then, and the murder-for-hire incident tonight."

Zhao Shanhe took a deep drag on his cigarette, the pungent taste slightly easing his nerves that had been tense all night.

His expression remained as calm as a stagnant pool, and he simply responded with a faint "Yes."

"Um."

"What a load of crap."

Zhang Guodong lowered his voice and cursed, using the kind of rudeness only old brothers would use: "What's wrong with Lei Zi? He's a notorious criminal who killed a policeman and escaped from prison, a madman wanted throughout the province. You single-handedly took care of his entire gang in Blind Man's Gully, and even cracked open the skull of that old Han Laowai, who had no descendants."

He stared at Zhao Shanhe's cold face: "Zhao Shanhe, do you want to completely expose the secrets of this county, or do you think I'm too comfortable in my position as bureau chief and want to give me some excitement?"

"I am also an innocent victim."

He chewed on a cigarette butt, his tone as calm as if he were talking about someone else: "I originally just went into Blind Man's Gully to hunt, but who knew I would suddenly run into Han Laowai and his gang in the middle of the night."

Zhang Guodong stared at him for a while.

The only sound in the room was the faint hum of the incandescent bulb.

After a while, Zhang Guodong exhaled a puff of smoke from his nostrils, and his tense shoulders suddenly relaxed.

He stood up, walked behind Zhao Shanhe, took out his key, and inserted it into the lock.

A crisp click.

The cold, stainless steel handcuffs snapped open.

Zhang Guodong sat back down on the wooden chair, looking at the purplish-red marks on Zhao Shanhe's wrists where he had been strangled, and muttered under his breath, "Damn it."

He held a cigarette between his fingers, his voice softening slightly: "Does it hurt?"

Zhao Shanhe stretched his stiff and numb shoulders, stubbed out the cigarette butt that was almost burning his scald on the edge of the table, and said expressionlessly, "It doesn't hurt."

"fart."

Zhang Guodong retorted irritably, but his eyes were imperceptibly reddened in the dim light.

His fingers, holding the cigarette, trembled slightly. He took two large puffs, the pungent smoke filling his lungs, barely managing to suppress the surging emotions in his chest.

"But this time..."

Zhang Guodong's voice was completely hoarse, revealing a weariness and relief that had been suppressed for more than a decade: "I have to thank you on behalf of your sister-in-law."

Zhao Shanhe looked up at him.

Zhang Guodong leaned back in his chair, looked up at the flickering incandescent light, and murmured, "It helped me settle the case from back then."

It's been more than ten years.

His brother-in-law, who died tragically in Xiazigou, was the elder brother whose wife, Tian Guilan, cried for countless nights.

Zhang Guodong had been a policeman for so many years, rising all the way to the position of bureau chief, yet he couldn't even find out how his own family members had died or who his enemies were. This thorn was stuck in his flesh, and the slightest touch caused him excruciating pain.

Tonight, Zhao Shanhe actually used the most violent and unreasonable method to forcefully lift the lid.

They really got their revenge for the blood debt from back then.

Zhao Shanhe looked at his old brother, whose eyes were red, and didn't say any comforting words.

He simply reached into Zhang Guodong's pack of cigarettes on the table, took one out, and put it directly into his mouth.

Then, his rough fingers reached out and headed for the few cigarettes left in the pack.

"Smack."

Zhang Guodong slapped Zhao Shanhe's hand with surprising speed.

He grabbed the crumpled pack of cigarettes and stuffed it into the deep pocket of his military overcoat, acting as protectively as a miser.

"Have you no shame?"

Zhang Guodong glared with bloodshot eyes and cursed, "This is a special supply I just got back from a meeting in the city. I don't even dare to smoke it myself, and you think you can take it all?"

Zhao Shanhe's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything.

He struck a match and lit the cigarette in his mouth.

The oppressive, suffocating atmosphere in the room was completely dispelled by Zhang Guodong's slap.

Zhang Guodong sighed, reached up and rubbed his throbbing temples hard, his tone regaining the competence of a veteran criminal investigator.

"Alright, you don't need to worry about the case anymore."

"Lei Zi, Han Laowai, the gold bars in the tunnel—the county bureau will handle the rest of the cleanup. I'll make sure Lao Zhou and his team do a flawless job with the testimonies and on-site investigations."

Zhang Guodong pointed to the iron chair.

"You can lean back here and take a nap for a while."

"When it gets light, I'll have a car take you back to Kaoshantun."

Zhao Shanhe's fingers, holding the cigarette, paused slightly. "Nothing else?"

"there is none left."

Zhang Guodong frowned as he looked at the purplish-red bloodstain on his wrist: "We can ask you the questions later and take a statement. You're not a suspect now, you're a victim and an important witness."

Zhao Shanhe leaned back in the cold iron chair, slowly exhaling a puff of smoke, his expression as still as a mountain.

Zhang Guodong sat down again, flicked his cigarette ash, and said in a somewhat meaningful tone, "But you won't have a peaceful day back home. Don't you have a bunch of important things to do?"

Zhao Shanhe raised his eyelids to look at him, but didn't respond.

Zhang Guodong leaned forward and lowered his voice: "I went to a meeting in the city this time, and I heard a lot about what's going on at your Hongxing Machinery Factory. There's a power struggle going on both the higher-ups and the lower-ups, and it involves quite a few people. Do you want to hear about it?"

Zhao Shanhe raised the hand holding the cigarette and shook it casually.

"Need not."

He flicked off his cigarette ash, his eyes calm and undisturbed under the dim incandescent light: "I believe in Director Liang and Director Li."

Zhang Guodong stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly grinned.

"You little brat."

He pointed at Zhao Shanhe with the finger holding the cigarette, and said with a laugh, "You really have a foolish idea of ​​not releasing the hawk until you see the rabbit. Alright, since you know what's going on, I'm too lazy to waste any more words."

Zhang Guodong stood up and tugged at the military overcoat draped over his shoulders.

"You can lean back here and take a nap for a while."

"Wait until dawn and the rain stops, then we'll leave. I'll handle everything outside for you."