84: Chapter 84 So Close

Zhao Yang opened the car door and leaped out.

He had already spotted Sun Dehai sandwiched between two plainclothes officers, completely unable to move.

Zhao Yang strode over and said to Master Sun, "Master Sun, don't worry, we're on the same side."

Seeing Zhao Yang arrive, Sun Dehai's eyes instantly lit up, and his eye rims turned red.

"Comrade Xiao Zhao, you've finally come!"

Zhao Yang had no time for pleasantries and asked in a low voice, "What is on the truck? Is it really a machining center?"

Sun Dehai nodded heavily. "Of course it is, otherwise why would I have had my fellow workers risk their lives to stop it?"

"Alright, I understand!" Zhao Yang dropped this sentence and quickly walked over to He Yunqiao.

"Director He, I was right, screw them!"

He Yunqiao remained impassive, nodding almost imperceptibly.

A few minutes later, the patrol officer who inspected the truck returned to report, "It is indeed a machining center, and it was produced in Germany."

He Yunqiao glanced at Zhao Yang beside him and said in a low voice, "You kid really predicted this perfectly. Watch how I deal with them."

He raised his voice and said to the patrol officers under his command, "These two truck drivers are suspected of smuggling imported equipment. Take them and the vehicles away!"

One of the truck drivers' legs trembled, and he nearly lost his footing.

"Comrade Police, we are innocent! We just came to haul goods; the factory's exit permit is right here!"

A cold sneer appeared at the corner of He Yunqiao's mouth. "Perfect, bring the exit permit along too."

In the blink of an eye, the two truck drivers were handcuffed and taken away.

Zhao Yang said to He Yunqiao, "Director He, after these two trucks are sent to the parking lot, they must be sealed. Without my order, no one is allowed to approach them."

He Yunqiao turned his head to look at him and laughed, "You're getting cocky, kid. You're using that tone when talking to us in the Municipal Bureau now."

"If you aren't convinced, go ask Director Luo." Zhao Yang retorted unceremoniously.

Luo Jinghui didn't actually have any personal friendship with Zhao Yang, but others couldn't tell. Zhao Yang was very skilled at using others' authority to intimidate people.

He then put on a smile, took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, and lit one for He Yunqiao and himself.

"Chief He, I suspect someone will definitely call to ask you to let them go. You must hold your ground and refuse to release them. Find all sorts of excuses to delay, until the inspection of the Die-Casting Machine Factory's restructuring is restarted. Understand?"

He Yunqiao narrowed his eyes slightly, then a smile bloomed on his face. "That's easy enough, don't worry!"

Jiang Nan came to Zhao Yang's side and greeted He Yunqiao with a smile, "Hello, Director He!"

He Yunqiao scratched his head. "Xiao Jiang, I've heard you call me Team Leader for so long, hearing 'Director' really takes some getting used to."

"Stop showing off," Zhao Yang rolled his eyes at him, "You're probably secretly thrilled!"

He Yunqiao looked left and right, then laughed, "Keep it down, my subordinates are all here."

Jiang Nan leaned against Zhao Yang, rubbing against his arm. "How did you make up your mind to detain these two trucks?"

Zhao Yang explained in a low voice, "The thing Master Sun risked his life to stop could only be the machining center we just found out about. Those two machining centers are physical evidence, which is harder than any ledger. Guo Mingkai is anxious, which means he's afraid. The more afraid he is, the less I can let him succeed."

"You'll come up with any idea; aren't you afraid you might have guessed wrong?" Jiang Nan pouted, looking a bit unconvinced.

Her words were meant as a reprimand, but the gentle tone made Zhao Yang feel like it was a compliment.

At this moment, several police officers arrived and drove the large trucks away from the scene.

Sun Dehai came to Zhao Yang's side and lowered his voice, "Comrade Xiao Zhao, will the police..."

Officials protect each other; in the eyes of these low-level workers, the police and corrupt officials were all the same.

Zhao Yang shook his head firmly at Sun Dehai. "It's fine, these police officers are absolutely trustworthy."

He then asked, "Master Sun, how did you discover that the factory was going to smuggle out the equipment?"

A flash of anger crossed Sun Dehai's face, and he said bitterly, "Those bastards built the wall surrounding the equipment all the way to the roof, so outsiders couldn't see it at all. I snuck into the factory a few times to look, but I couldn't break the wall, so I couldn't take any pictures. A while ago, the factory started tearing down the wall to move the equipment, and that's when my fellow workers and I finally found our chance."

Zhao Yang smiled at Sun Dehai. "Thank you for your hard work. Let's go to your house now, and give me what you've managed to photograph."

Bidding farewell to He Yunqiao, Zhao Yang and Jiang Nan followed Sun Dehai to his home.

Sun Dehai took out a stack of photos and placed them on the coffee table. Zhao Yang flipped through them one by one; the scene was exactly the same as when he had accompanied Ji Hongwen on the investigation last time. The difference was that the walls were now broken open, revealing the large equipment inside.

Now that they had the physical items, the evidence that the Tongan Die-Casting Machine Factory had concealed the equipment was effectively confirmed.

Zhao Yang put away the photos and looked at Sun Dehai. "Master Sun, where is Accountant Li, the one you mentioned last time?"

"After Accountant Li was driven away, he went to a factory in the South. If you need him, we can contact him at any time." Having had the previous experience, Sun Dehai was now completely open with Zhao Yang.

After saying this, he looked at Jiang Nan beside Zhao Yang. "The girl who came with you last time doesn't seem to be this one. How is that girl doing now?"

Zhao Yang gave a wry smile; this Old Sun was truly honest. He quickly explained, "The one who came last time was my colleague. She only suffered some scrapes and has long since recovered. This is my girlfriend, Jiang Nan from the Tongan Municipal Bureau. She has been secretly sending people to protect you all this time."

Sun Dehai slapped his thigh. "I was wondering why things had been going so smoothly lately; so that's why."

He then looked at the two of them and clicked his tongue repeatedly. "Oh, that's wonderful, you two are really a perfect match."

Jiang Nan blushed slightly and raised her hand to adjust the brim of her hat.

Zhao Yang chuckled, "Thank you, Master Sun, I think so too."

Having caused such a big scene, Zhao Yang dared not stay in Tongan for long. If anything happened to the evidence, a lot of the preliminary work would be wasted.

Emerging from Sun Dehai's house, Zhao Yang took Jiang Nan's car keys and laughed, "Jiang Nan, I'm taking you back to your parents' home, are you coming?"

By returning to her parents' home, he naturally meant returning to the provincial capital, Jiangzhou.

A look of joy appeared on Jiang Nan's face, but she immediately shook her head and teased, "You're a staff member of the Commission for Discipline Inspection, yet you are openly inciting me to use a government vehicle for personal business. What are your intentions?"

"Captain Xu did say that your mission for the next two days is to protect my safety. Is there a problem with that?"

Having his girlfriend protect him—that sounded quite embarrassing to say out loud. But Zhao Yang didn't have that kind of self-awareness; after all, his girlfriend was a police officer.

He gave a self-deprecating laugh and reached out to rub Jiang Nan's head. "You're silly, can't you just drive the police car back and switch to your own car?"

Returning to the Criminal Investigation Detachment, they switched back to Jiang Nan's Santana 2000. Zhao Yang started the engine, slowly drove out of Tongan City center, and got onto the highway.

Jiang Nan sat in the passenger seat, watching Zhao Yang's profile, and couldn't help asking, "Now that you have the evidence, when do you plan to come back to Tongan?"

"Not right now."

"Why?" Jiang Nan was puzzled.

Zhao Yang didn't answer; he was silently counting the days in his heart. It was already mid-November. Every year in January, the province held the "Two Sessions," which was less than two months away.

According to convention, before the People's Congress, the successor Governor must be in place. If what Sun Hongwei said was true, Sun Zhendong would come to Jianghan Province early next month. He would serve as Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Committee and Acting Governor, becoming the second-in-command of Jianghan Province. The opportunity he was waiting for was already close at hand.