110: Chapter 110 Going fishing tomorrow

Ignoring Li Jianguo, Zhao Yang instructed Lu Yike and Lu Xiaofei, "I'll leave the recording to you two. Don't look at everything; start with this year's files. Records from too long ago aren't very meaningful. Make sure the focus is sharp when you take photos."

Li Jianguo breathed a secret sigh of relief. This year's cases hadn't had any issues, but last year's were a bit problematic.

Lu Yike and Lu Xiaofei began flipping through the catalogs, taking notes, and snapping photos with focused expressions and rapid movements. Lately, as her interactions with Zhao Yang regarding work and studies increased, Lu Xiaofei had also established a contract with him—the "Beast of Burden Agreement." Now, her efficiency in executing Zhao Yang's orders was frighteningly high.

Watching from the side, Li Jianguo felt a bit unnerved—were women from the capital always this fierce when they worked?

After giving his instructions, Zhao Yang wandered over to the older files. Li Jianguo's heart leaped into his throat again, and he said cautiously, "Director Zhao, those are older cases."

"I know," Zhao Yang said, flipping through them casually. "We can't completely ignore the ones from the last two years, or the leadership will know we've been slacking at a glance."

Suddenly, Zhao Yang's hand stopped.

November 2, 2000, Miaogao Township.

He sighed inwardly. He was too late. Hou Guiping, the volunteer teacher from the show, was already dead. The time of death was written clearly on the file—November 2, 2000. Cause of death: Drowned in a river while resisting arrest after assaulting a woman.

He closed the file, his expression unchanged, while his mind processed the entire situation.

The System notification arrived, late but certain.

[Host has come into contact with key information from the side world "the silent truth"]

[Side Quest Activated — A Light in the Dark Night: Ten years of injustice, grievances hard to dispel. Please redress Hou Guiping's case and bring justice to all victims.]

[Quest Reward: Randomly upgrade two mastered skills by 1 level each]

Before coming to Pingkang County, he had tried to see if he could speed-run the main plot like in "Black Ice." However, the criminal syndicate "Kahn Paper Industry" was quite traditional; their internal operations hadn't undergone much digital transformation, and core data was impossible to find online.

Therefore, he had to go to Miaogao Township.

According to the timeline in the show, it wouldn't be until 2003 that Hou Guiping's ex-girlfriend, Li Jing, would take a few clues to find Hou Guiping's classmate, Prosecutor Jiang Yang, to ask for help in redressing the case.

But by then, more than two years would have passed. Much of the evidence would have been destroyed, witnesses silenced, and the case finalized.

As a result, Jiang Yang investigated from 2003 to 2007 against immense resistance, even losing his girlfriend in the process. Later, he was framed and imprisoned, where he developed a terminal illness. After his release, he continued to investigate and finally, with the help of friends, used his own corpse to break the deadlock.

Everyone who helped him also paid a heavy price for using illegal means, receiving prison sentences of varying lengths.

Li Jianguo had already seen the cover of the file in Zhao Yang's hand. His expression didn't change, but he grew wary. "Director Zhao, tell me what time period you're looking for, and I'll get them for you."

"No need, no need." Zhao Yang casually pulled out a few more files and handed them to Lu Yike along with the Hou Guiping case. "Record these ones as well."

Li Jianguo watched helplessly as Lu Yike took photos. His eyelid twitched, but he said nothing.

Zhao Yang suddenly patted him on the shoulder. Li Jianguo's body jolted violently. "What is it?"

Zhao Yang looked surprised. "Captain Li, why are you shouting so loudly?"

"It's nothing, nothing," Li Jianguo said, suppressing his nerves. "I was just lost in thought and you startled me."

Zhao Yang gestured with his chin toward the file in Lu Yike's hand. "What's the specific situation with that Hou Guiping case?"

Li Jianguo grew even more nervous, but he forced himself to remain calm. "That one? A graduate student volunteer teacher who assaulted a local woman. He fell into the river and drowned while being apprehended."

"What?" Zhao Yang feigned confusion. "Looking at this guy's profile, he was from the big city. He must have seen plenty of beautiful girls; why would he go and assault a village girl? Are the girls in Miaogao Township that beautiful?"

Li Jianguo's lip twitched. "Maybe he had too much fine food and wanted a taste of 'wild game.' After all, village girls are a bit different from city girls."

Zhao Yang was stunned for a moment, then wore an expression of shared understanding as he patted Li Jianguo's shoulder. "I see, I see. It seems Captain Li is a man of passion who must have tasted 'wild game' himself. What's it like?"

Li Jianguo quickly shook his head. "Director Zhao, don't talk nonsense, I'm a family man! That was just a guess! Honestly, I don't understand it either, but the evidence was right there. Sigh, a perfectly good graduate student went astray. What a pity."

Zhao Yang also sighed, then suddenly changed the subject. "Captain Li, I've heard of Miaogao Township back in the capital."

"Huh?" Li Jianguo's heart skipped a beat. "That's impossible, right? Miaogao Township isn't exactly a tourist destination."

"That's where you're wrong." Zhao Yang looked full of longing. "You must not like Fishing."

"Fishing? I don't know much about it."

"I have a friend," Zhao Yang said, curling his lip. "That brat's family is rich, and he doesn't care about anything but traveling all over to play. He's been to Miaogao Township and told me that you'll never come back 'Air Force' from there."

Li Jianguo was dazed. "Air Force?"

"It means coming back empty-handed without catching a single thing," Zhao Yang said, rubbing his hands together. "I can't take it anymore; I can't resist. Captain Li, do me a favor—get me a set of Fishing gear, a good one, and a car. I'm going to Miaogao Township first thing tomorrow morning to see if that brat was being legit."

As he spoke, he pulled out his wallet and handed over a bank card. "Captain Li, please. The password is six zeros. There should be about 300,000 in there. If it's not enough, cover the rest for me first, and I'll definitely pay you back."

Li Jianguo's heart twitched.

Motherfucker, why don't you just die? 300,000 could buy every Fishing tackle shop in Pingkang County.

He tried his best to suppress the urge to pull his gun and blast Zhao Yang. "Director Zhao, don't be so formal. It's just a set of Fishing gear; consider it a gift from me. How could I let you spend your own money?"

Zhao Yang immediately took the bank card back as if it were only natural. "Then I'm truly sorry. I forgot that Captain Li is also a person of standing in Pingkang County. If I insisted on paying for a mere set of Fishing gear, it would be looking down on you. Please get on that quickly; I'm leaving first thing tomorrow morning."

Fuck. Li Jianguo's blood pressure spiked—do I fucking owe you?

He gritted his teeth and asked, "So you won't be coming to the archives tomorrow?"

Zhao Yang gestured to Lu Yike and the other. "Just let them continue organizing the data tomorrow. Captain Li, what time does the Fishing shop close? Don't be late. And the car—remember to fill it with gas."

"Fine, I'll go check it out now." Li Jianguo suppressed his anger and left the archives.

Zhao Yang then said in a low voice to Lu Yike and Lu Xiaofei, "Focus on recording all cases from Miaogao Township over the last two years and organize them separately when we get back. Don't miss a single word that might be related to Hou Guiping's case."

Lu Yike couldn't help but ask, "Director, is there something wrong with Hou Guiping's case?"

Lu Xiaofei nodded. "I took a look, and the issues are huge. Director, are you going to Miaogao Township tomorrow for a field investigation? Should I go with you?"

"No, it would be inconvenient to have you around while I work." Zhao Yang paused. "Also, pick out all the autopsy reports with illegible handwriting; I have a use for them. Tomorrow—I'm going to Miaogao Township to do some serious Fishing."