176: Chapter 176 You're Back

The call connected, and Zhu Wenhao took the initiative.

"Is there any lead on the whereabouts of Boss Lei?"

...

Time rewinds an hour and a half.

Today is Friday.

Secretary Qiu Dehai, the Town Party Committee Secretary, had suffered a setback at the hands of Secretary Tian from the Discipline Inspection Commission that morning. Choking on his resentment, he found an excuse by noon and slipped off to a clubhouse in the county seat to enjoy himself.

With the top leader gone, the Town Government compound was suddenly leaderless.

The work at the Party and Government Office naturally slackened as well.

At this moment, after finishing her discussion with Zhu Wenhao, Director Xu Jie had arrived at a farmhouse courtyard.

This was a property she had purchased before coming to Heishi Town. Its exterior was dilapidated, and the moss-covered walls made it look no different from any ordinary farmhouse.

Inside, however, it had been converted into a temporary command center with high-level anti-reconnaissance capabilities.

In the center of the living room, several high-performance servers were running silently.

Xu Yi sat in front of a matrix made of four high-definition monitors, wearing tactical headphones, his fingers moving so fast across the specialized keyboard that they became a blur.

The screen was divided into over a dozen surveillance windows. From traffic cameras in Jingjiang City to tracking networks at various secret checkpoints, massive amounts of data scrolled by like a waterfall.

"Xu Er, has the data extraction from the signal tower in the western suburbs of Jingjiang been completed? Be careful to avoid detection by the Provincial Public Security Department's technical reconnaissance."

Xu Yi stared at the screen and gave orders into the microphone, his instructions clear and methodical.

"Xu San, compile a list of all abnormal capital flow accounts within a ten-kilometer radius of the Red Star Machinery Factory over the past six months. Filter out public-to-public accounts; focus only on large personal cash holdings."

This kind of film-level special operation was the true foundation of The Capital's elite circles.

Since Director Xu Jie had made a promise in Zhu Wenhao's office, she would never fight a battle without preparation.

Days ago, she had already mobilized the Xu family's intelligence network in Jiangnan Province to begin secretly investigating the roots behind the case involving Lei Jun's organized crime activities.

Director Xu Jie sat in a large armchair, holding a cup of warm water.

When she heard Zhu Wenhao's question come through the speaker—straight to the point without any pleasantries—she lowered her eyes for a moment.

"The one who calculates victory in the temple before the battle, calculates more."

Given Zhu Wenhao's nature of planning before acting and looking three steps ahead, since they had already reached a deal, he would never come to rush the progress in such a short time.

A superior does not interfere with a subordinate's execution process; they only ask for the final result.

If he was calling to urge her now, it could only mean one thing: someone had suddenly flipped the table at the poker game in the provincial capital or Linjiang, and the situation had taken a dangerously sudden turn.

Seeing that Director Xu Jie's call was connected, Xu Yi, without stopping his work, tacitly handed a newly compiled and printed document to her with both hands.

Director Xu Jie opened to the first page.

"Boss Lei, whose real name is Lei Dong. According to the genealogy, he is a distant relative of Secretary Lei Zhen from the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission, within five degrees of kinship. At the same time, he is also his most important 'white glove' kept on the outside."

Director Xu Jie read from the document.

"In the major case involving the loss of hundreds of millions in state-owned assets during the merger of the Red Star Machinery Factory in Jiangnan Province, this Lei Dong played an extremely disgraceful role. Through several shell companies under his name, he helped certain big figures complete the laundering and transfer of assets layer by layer."

On the other end of the line, Zhu Wenhao remained silent.

This kind of background and status as a 'white glove' was not exactly a top secret in high-level circles if one was determined to investigate it.

Using such superficial official rhetoric to claim credit did not match Director Xu Jie's standing.

Zhu Wenhao's silence was a form of silent pressure.

Director Xu Jie turned to the second page, revealing her trump card.

"After Lei Dong disappeared, the Provincial Public Security Department's Criminal Investigation Corps almost tore apart the entire Jingjiang City, yet they didn't even find a single hair of his."

Director Xu Jie threw out the hard facts.

"That's because Lei Dong has extremely strong anti-reconnaissance awareness, and there is even high-level leadership within the Jingjiang Municipal Public Security Bureau secretly providing him with anti-tracking guidance."

"However, no matter how cunning a fox is, it will still leave a scent." Director Xu Jie's gaze rested on a blurry photo.

"Lei Dong has a mistress who also acts as his private secretary, named Wang Xiaoqian."

"My people have tracked Wang Xiaoqian's movements."

"Three days ago, she appeared near the Yulong Mountain villa area in the western suburbs of Jingjiang City. That place is mountainous and densely forested, a privately developed area completely devoid of municipal surveillance coverage."

Director Xu Jie closed the document.

"What's more interesting is that, according to our contacts in Jingjiang, every time Wang Xiaoqian goes out to purchase daily necessities, she never uses a card or online payment; she uses cash the entire time, leaving no digital footprint."

Hiding in the deep mountains, cutting off surveillance, refusing online payments.

The only explanation was that inside that villa, there was a living person who absolutely could not be exposed.

"Not bad." On the other end of the line, Zhu Wenhao's voice finally came through. "It seems this rat hiding in the shadows is not far from the trap."

Director Xu Jie replied, "My people have already set up hidden sentries on the outskirts of Yulong Mountain. Lei Dong has a strong instinct to resist, and he likely holds the core interests of Secretary Lei Zhen's faction. If we force a raid now, it will easily alert the enemy, or even force them to silence witnesses."

"Give me a little more time. As soon as we figure out the specific defenses of that villa and lock onto Lei Dong's exact location, I will notify you immediately."

"Good. Thank you for your hard work."

The call was cut off cleanly and decisively.

Zhu Wenhao placed his phone back on the desk.

With a lead on Lei Dong's whereabouts, there was now a weak point that could be ripped open with a single sword strike.

As long as Lei Dong was in his grasp, the rest of the matters would be easy to handle.

He looked up at the wall clock.

5:40 PM.

It was time to get off work.

Too many things had happened today; storms at both the provincial and municipal levels had arrived one after another.

Yet, Zhu Wenhao had no intention of working overtime to handle administrative affairs.

The pieces were already set; he only needed to wait for the situation to ferment.

He stood up, neatly locked the files on his desk into the safe, and took the dark jacket from the coat rack to put it on.

He pushed open the door, walked out of the office, and left the Town Government compound with a steady stride.

The dormitories assigned to cadres at the deputy section level and above in Heishi Town were located in an old red-brick building behind the government compound.

As an externally appointed Deputy Secretary of the Town Party Committee, Zhu Wenhao had been assigned a two-bedroom apartment.

The house was quite old, but compared to the single-bed dormitories for ordinary clerks, it was a rare exception in the whole building, as it allowed for cooking and had independent bathroom facilities.

He walked up the slightly mottled concrete stairs.

Just as he reached the third-floor landing, the aroma of food wafted through the old wooden door and into his nostrils.

Zhu Wenhao took out his keys and turned the lock.

He pushed the door open.

The furnishings inside were still simple, but the lingering musty smell from when he first arrived was gone.

The living room floor had been mopped clean, and the window was left half-open for ventilation. The clutter on the coffee table had been tidied away, and next to the pile of cold policy compilation files in the corner, there was even a pothos plant growing in a bottle of clear water.

The sound of the range hood whirring came from the kitchen, along with the crisp clatter of a spatula hitting an iron wok.

Su Qinghan was wearing a pure white shirt with the cuffs rolled high, and an apron with a floral pattern she had found somewhere tied around her waist.

Her long hair, originally coiled at the back of her head, was held up casually with a hair clip, and a few strands of dark hair hung against her fair neck, carrying the scent of hearth and home.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, she turned off the stove and walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate of freshly stir-fried pork with green peppers.

"You're back."

There were no sycophantic titles, nor was there the cold exterior of a discipline inspection cadre.

Just these four simple words, accompanied by the steam from the food, filled the slightly empty room.

"Dinner will be ready soon." Su Qinghan placed the plate on the spotless dining table and reached up to tuck the loose strands of hair behind her ear. "Go wash your hands and sit on the sofa for a while. There's still a pork rib soup; we can eat in a moment."

Zhu Wenhao stood in the entryway, hanging his briefcase on the coat rack.

In the arena of power, he calculated human hearts and danced on the edge of a blade.

Only when returning to this small space, looking at the woman who was usually cold as ice, now wearing an apron and preparing a meal for him, did he feel at peace.

He walked to the sink and turned on the faucet.

The cool tap water washed over his knuckles.

He grabbed a towel to dry his hands and walked over to sit on the old sofa in the living room.

In the purple clay teapot on the side table, fresh green tea was steeping.

The television was off, and there were only the faint sounds coming from the kitchen. In this winter twilight, it felt exceptionally peaceful.

His tightly wound nerves finally relaxed amidst the aroma of the meal.

The sky outside the window had completely darkened.

Dim streetlights lit up the streets of Heishi Town.

Everything outside that door seemed to have become a story from another world.