Chapter 24 The Chef is Caught

Li Xiao had a habit—after dinner every day, she would take a stroll around the surveillance room.

This habit started two weeks ago. That night, she worked overtime too late, and when she went to the cafeteria, there was no food left. She happened to run into the security guard on duty, who kindly made her a bowl of noodles. The two chatted a bit, discovered they both loved science fiction movies, and became friends.

Since then, Li Xiao went to the surveillance room every night to hang out for a while, chat with the guard, and incidentally watch the real-time footage of each floor. In her words, this was called "familiarizing with the environment and enhancing safety awareness."

The security guard was named Liu Yang, twenty-two years old, having just joined the service three years ago. He was thin-skinned; he blushed whenever Li Xiao called him "Brother Liu." But he worked diligently and didn't even blink when staring at the monitors.

At eight o'clock this evening, Li Xiao strolled into the surveillance room as usual, carrying two cups of milk tea.

"Brother Liu, I brought this for you!"

Liu Yang took the milk tea, and his face turned red again: "Thank you, Sister Li."

Li Xiao waved her hand, sat down next to him, and habitually swept her eyes over the row of surveillance screens on the wall.

Cafeteria, corridor, elevator entrance, underground garage, laboratory entrance... Everything was normal.

Her gaze continued to move, then suddenly stopped.

The back kitchen passage of the third-floor cafeteria.

A middle-aged man in a white chef's uniform appeared on the screen, walking along the passage. At the end of the passage was a door, with "Staff Only" written on it.

Li Xiao didn't pay much attention and continued to look down.

Five minutes later, she inadvertently glanced at that screen again. The cook was still in the passage, but his position had changed—he wasn't walking forward, but walking back.

That's not right.

She stared at the screen, her brain spinning rapidly.

From the back kitchen to the staff passage, a normal walk takes only two minutes. A round trip takes at most four minutes. But this person had been walking for five minutes and still hadn't walked out?

"Brother Liu," she pointed at the screen, "how long is this passage?"

Liu Yang took a look: "It's not long, just fifty meters."

"Then why has this person been walking for so long?"

Liu Yang zoomed in on the screen and looked carefully: "Maybe he's checking something? Logistics personnel sometimes patrol."

Li Xiao nodded, not speaking further. But in her heart, she felt something was wrong.

At the same time the next night, she appeared in the surveillance room again.

This time, she specifically watched that passage.

At 8:15, that cook appeared again. He walked into the passage, went to the door at the end, stood for two seconds, then turned and walked back.

Li Xiao checked the time: From entering the passage to exiting, it took three minutes and fifty seconds in total.

At a normal walking speed, a fifty-meter round trip takes at most two minutes. Three minutes and fifty seconds is double that.

What is he doing?

"Brother Liu," Li Xiao pointed to the screen, "do you know this cook?"

Liu Yang took a look: "I know him, it's Master Zhang from the cafeteria. He's been working here for six or seven years."

"Does he go to that passage every night?"

Liu Yang paused, then pulled up the recordings from the past few days. Fast forward, fast forward, fast forward—

Around 8:15, Master Zhang appeared in the passage. Walked to the end, stopped for a few seconds, turned around, and came back.

Five consecutive days, the exact same time, the exact same route.

Li Xiao's heartbeat began to accelerate.

"Brother Liu," she lowered her voice, "don't tell anyone about this yet. I'm going to find someone."

Fifteen minutes later, Fang Lin appeared in the surveillance room.

She had already finished work, but upon receiving Li Xiao's call, she rushed over without a word. After hearing Li Xiao's discovery, she said nothing, just stared at the screen for a long time.

"Pull up the recordings from the past week," she said.

Liu Yang hurriedly operated the controls.

Seven days of recordings, around 8:15 every night, Master Zhang appeared in that passage. Sometimes he stayed for three minutes, sometimes four, sometimes five. But it was never empty.

"What is he waiting for?" Fang Lin muttered to herself.

She pulled out her phone and dialed a number: "Zhao Gang, come to the surveillance room."

Five minutes later, Zhao Gang pushed the door open and entered. He glanced at the screen, then at Fang Lin, his eyes immediately becoming sharp.

"What's the situation?"

Fang Lin explained the matter. After hearing it, Zhao Gang frowned.

"Where does that passage lead to?"

Liu Yang hurriedly pulled up the architectural structure diagram: "The end of the staff passage is a door, and outside the door is... is the garbage collection area. Every night at 8:30, a garbage truck comes to collect."

Zhao Gang and Fang Lin looked at each other.

Garbage truck.

Appears at a fixed time every day. Comes from outside the base. Does not need to go through strict security checks.

The perfect intelligence transmission channel.

"Investigate him," Fang Lin said, "don't alert the enemy, but investigate him thoroughly."

Three days later, the results came out.

Zhang Jianguo, forty-three years old, cafeteria cook at the base, six years of tenure. Usually performs well, no bad records. But—

"There have been five deposits in his account in the last month," the investigator pointed to the bank statement on the screen, "each ranging from ten thousand to twenty thousand, totaling seventy-three thousand yuan. The source is unknown."

Fang Lin stared at those numbers, her eyes turning cold.

A cafeteria cook with a monthly salary of thirty-five hundred. Seventy-three thousand extra in one month. Where did this money come from?

"Continue the investigation," she said, "see how this money came in."

Another day passed, and the answer was revealed.

"Cash deposits," the investigator said, "every time it was cash, deposited at multiple outlets, with irregular time intervals. But there is one commonality—the day before each deposit, he would go to the county town."

Fang Lin stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the mountains outside.

George.

This name surfaced in her mind.

That opponent who was still in the shadows had indeed not given up.

"Prepare to close the net," she said.

The next night at eight o'clock, everything was ready.

Zhang Jianguo, as usual, walked into that passage at 8:15. He walked very slowly, looking around as he walked, as if confirming whether there was anyone.

When he reached the door at the end of the passage, he stopped. He didn't open the door, just stood there, as if waiting for something.

At 8:20, the garbage truck outside sounded right on time.

Zhang Jianguo took out an envelope and pushed it out through the crack in the door. Then he turned and walked back.

When he reached the middle of the passage, the doors on both sides opened simultaneously.

Zhao Gang appeared in front of him with four security personnel.

Zhang Jianguo was stunned, his face instantly turning pale.

"Master Zhang," Zhao Gang's voice was as cold as ice, "come with us."

In the interrogation room, the lights were blinding.

Zhang Jianguo sat in the chair, his hands handcuffed behind his back, head lowered, not saying a word.

Fang Lin sat opposite him, also not speaking, just looking at him.

The silence lasted for a full five minutes.

"Master Zhang," Fang Lin finally spoke, her voice not high, but every word was clear, "you have worked here for six years without any problems. The leaders trust you, colleagues like you, and even give you benefits during festivals."

Master Zhang's fingers moved slightly.

"But do you know," Fang Lin continued, "how many people the intelligence you sent out could potentially kill?"

Zhang Jianguo lifted his head abruptly, his lips moving, wanting to say something, but nothing came out.

"I didn't..." his voice was hoarse, "I didn't know... He just asked me to deliver a letter..."

"Who?"

Zhang Jianguo lowered his head again and said nothing.

Fang Lin pulled a few photos from the folder and pushed them in front of him.

"This is the deposit record of your account, seventy-three thousand yuan. This is the surveillance screenshot of you going to the county town every time, the times match up. This is the envelope you pushed out of the door crack; we have already seen what is inside."

Zhang Jianguo's body began to tremble.

"Master Zhang," Fang Lin's voice cooled down, "your only way out now is to tell everything you know. Who instructed you? What did they want you to send? What do they look like? Where did you meet?"

Zhang Jianguo lowered his head and was silent for a long time.

Then, he spoke.

"He is called... He said his surname is Qiao. An outsider, with an accent like someone from the south."

Fang Lin's eyes narrowed.

"The first time I met him was at a restaurant in the county town. He gave me five thousand yuan and asked me to help him keep an eye on things in the base. Later... later we met a few more times, and he gave money every time. He asked me to help him deliver letters, send them to the door, and push them out when the garbage truck came. He said it was just some business intelligence and wouldn't hurt anyone..."

His voice grew lower and lower, finally turning into a sob.

"I really didn't know... I thought I was just earning some extra money..."

Fang Lin stood up, walked to him, and looked down at him.

"Master Zhang, do you know who arranged that garbage truck?"

Zhang Jianguo raised his head, his eyes blank.

"It was arranged by us," Fang Lin said, "Since the second time you ran there, we have been watching you. Every letter you sent out is in our hands."

Zhang Jianguo's eyes widened.

"You... you..."

Fang Lin turned to leave, stopped at the door, and said without looking back: "Cooperate well and confess everything you know. This is your only way out."

The door of the interrogation room closed.

In the corridor, Zhao Gang leaned against the wall, holding an unlit cigarette.

"Did he confess?" he asked.

"He confessed," Fang Lin said, "George. It really was him."

Zhao Gang was silent for a few seconds, then asked: "How to handle that cook?"

"Follow the rules," Fang Lin said, "leaking secrets and accepting foreign funds is enough for a few years in prison."

Zhao Gang nodded and said nothing more.

Fang Lin looked at him and suddenly asked: "Where do you think that George is now?"

Zhao Gang looked into the night outside the window, his eyes turning cold.

"No matter where he is," he said, "I will definitely find him."

The next morning, in the cafeteria.

Lin Mo was looking for a seat with his tray as usual. As soon as he sat down, Li Xiao ran over.

"Teacher Lin, Teacher Lin!" She sat down with a thud, her eyes bright, and lowered her voice to say, "Do you know what happened last night?"

Lin Mo looked up at her: "What happened?"

Li Xiao looked left and right, leaned close to his ear, and whispered: "Master Zhang was caught."

Lin Mo was stunned: "Which Master Zhang?"

"The cafeteria cook! The one who has worked for six years!" Li Xiao's voice lowered even further, "I heard from Liu Yang that he was sending intelligence to the outside and was caught red-handed! There were tens of thousands in unexplained deposits in his account!"

The chopsticks in Lin Mo's hand stopped.

"Sending intelligence?"

Li Xiao nodded vigorously: "Sent it to the garbage truck! Pushed it out when the garbage truck came at 8:30 every night! It was captured clearly on surveillance!"

Lin Mo was silent for a few seconds, and Zhao Gang's words suddenly flashed in his mind:

"Don't go to the cafeteria alone at night in the future."

So he had known all along.

"And then?" he asked.

"Then Director Fang interrogated him personally!" Li Xiao said with an expression of worship, "I heard the cook confessed everything! It was instigated by an outsider, surnamed Qiao!"

Lin Mo's heart skipped a beat.

George.

That "visiting scholar" who once appeared at the door of his laboratory with a gentle smile but eyes that made him uncomfortable.

So he had never given up.

"Teacher Lin?" Li Xiao called out softly when she saw him dazed.

Lin Mo came back to his senses and smiled: "It's nothing. Eat."

He lowered his head and continued to eat.

But his heart was already in turmoil.

In the afternoon, Lin Mo went to find Zhao Gang.

Zhao Gang was in the security control room, looking at something on the wall screen. Seeing Lin Mo come in, he nodded.

"Heard about it?"

Lin Mo nodded: "That cook..."

"Has been handed over," Zhao Gang said, "he will receive the punishment he deserves."

Lin Mo was silent for a few seconds, then asked: "What about that guy surnamed Qiao?"

Zhao Gang glanced at him, a flash of complex emotion in his eyes.

"Still looking," he said, "but he is very cunning and hasn't left many traces."

Lin Mo didn't speak.

Zhao Gang walked up to him and looked at him: "Dr. Lin, this matter has nothing to do with you. You just need to do your job. Leave the outside matters to us."

Lin Mo looked up at this cold and hard security chief.

He remembered that scrutinizing gaze of Zhao Gang when they first met. He remembered those "chance encounters" in the corridors, elevator entrances, and corners of the cafeteria. He remembered that night when Zhao Gang stood in the laboratory, listening to his explanation of the significance of scientific research.

"Captain Zhao," he said, "I trust you."

Zhao Gang was stunned for a moment, then the corners of his mouth moved slightly, as if he wanted to smile.

"Alright, go back," he said, "that material of yours is the real priority."

Lin Mo nodded and turned to leave.

Walking out of the control room, the sunlight shone in from the window, plating him in a layer of gold.

He stood in the corridor, looking at the distant mountains, and took a deep breath.

As for the outside matters, there is Zhao Gang.

His battlefield is in the laboratory.