334: Chapter 333 Reactions from All Sides After Zhang Yu's Arrest (Part 1)

About half an hour later, Ye Qingcheng arrived in front of the Modu Branch General Bureau office building just as people were getting off work.

Pushing open the car door and stepping out, Ye Qingcheng looked up and saw some civilian police officers walking out of the office building, bags slung over their shoulders, chatting and laughing. The glow of the setting sun spilled over them, exuding a sense of relaxation that came with finishing the workday—a sharp contrast to the tense state she had been in for days.

She didn't delay, quickly stepping onto the office building stairs while her fingertip swiped across her phone screen, dialing Shen Zhendong's number.

"Uncle Shen, I've arrived downstairs at the General Bureau." The moment the call connected, she deliberately suppressed the breathlessness from her rush, her voice remaining clear and bright.

"Great!" Shen Zhendong's hearty laughter came through the receiver, mixed with the rustling sound of flipping pages. "I'm in my office. Come straight up, the door at the far east end of the third floor."

"Alright, see you in a bit, Uncle Shen." After hanging up, Ye Qingcheng quickened her pace.

At the same time, she was secretly hoping: Who knew if those cassette tapes of Li Bing's might hide clues about Boss Lei? Or perhaps, she could follow the vine to unearth a few more pests hiding within the System; only then would this trip be worth the effort.

In less than two minutes, Ye Qingcheng was already standing at the door of the director's office.

The office door was left ajar, and the light inside could be seen.

Perhaps because Shen Zhendong was once a soldier under her grandfather, or perhaps because of the indelible military background they both shared, she always felt a natural sense of closeness when facing Shen Zhendong, and she felt quite relaxed.

She raised her hand to knock lightly on the door panel, and when she poked her head in, she happened to catch Shen Zhendong looking up.

"Uncle Shen, still busy?" She curled her lips into a faint smile and pushed the door open.

"Oh, Qingcheng is here!" Shen Zhendong immediately put down his fountain pen and stood up, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes crinkling with a smile. He walked over quickly to welcome her and guided her toward the sofa. "You must be exhausted from running around these past few days, right? Sit, sit, I'll brew you a cup of good tea!"

"Uncle Shen, no need for the trouble, plain water is fine." Ye Qingcheng leaned back into the sofa, finally allowing herself to show a bit of fatigue—she had been working non-stop for days and hadn't rested well at all.

"That won't do!" Shen Zhendong waved his hand and turned to rummage through the cabinet. When the metal cabinet pulled open, it made a creaking sound. "You're definitely going to be up until the second half of the night; how can you not drink some tea to refresh yourself? The tea at our General Bureau is a special supply, it's no worse than the stuff at your Security Bureau!"

As he spoke, he had already nimbly steeped the tea leaves with hot water. The amber-colored tea swirled in the white porcelain cup, and the fragrance of the tea instantly filled the room.

"Thank you, Uncle Shen." Ye Qingcheng took the teacup, her fingertips touching the warm cup wall, and her heart warmed as well. She shrugged helplessly: "To tell you the truth, Uncle Shen, I've been transferred to the Modu Branch for so many days, let alone the branch's tea, I haven't even had a hot drink of water there."

Shen Zhendong sat down on the single sofa next to her and sighed: "You, you're just too hardworking! The great leader said 'the body is the capital of revolution'; if you push yourself like this, even an iron body couldn't withstand it!"

"There's no other way." Ye Qingcheng gave a wry smile, her fingertips rubbing the rim of the cup. "Time is tight and the task is heavy. Every minute delayed is another minute of risk. Being able to successfully arrest Li Bing and the relevant suspects this time is all thanks to your help, Uncle Shen. Only then could I have the energy to keep an eye on both Zhang Yu and Li Bing's lines simultaneously. Otherwise, this mission would never have gone so smoothly. Honestly, Uncle Shen, I really must thank you properly."

"Eh, what are you saying, what's there to thank!" Shen Zhendong waved his hand, his tone hearty. "We are all working for the country, why distinguish between you and me!"

Ye Qingcheng replied very sincerely: "Uncle Shen, even so, gratitude should still be expressed. I think it's better this way: I'll host a dinner tonight for the colleagues who went on the mission today! This is my own gesture. As for the credit, once the case is closed, I will definitely report truthfully to the superiors, and the deserved commendations for everyone will certainly not be lacking."

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhendong laughed heartily: "Forget the dinner! I'll accept your kind intention on behalf of everyone. The special police who participated in the arrest today were all transferred from out of town. Once they escorted Li Bing and the others back to the General Bureau, they all withdrew; they're probably on their way back by now."

Ye Qingcheng looked a bit regretful: "That's a real pity, I wanted to thank everyone."

"It's fine, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

"Hmm, then I owe everyone this meal. Next time, Uncle Shen, you must keep them for me."

After expressing her gratitude for Shen Zhendong's support in this operation, Ye Qingcheng turned the conversation back to business, asking: "Uncle Shen, I heard from Director Xu that you confiscated many cassette tapes from Li Bing?"

"Yes, yes." Shen Zhendong stood up, walked around behind the desk, took a bunch of keys from the drawer, opened the metal cabinet behind him, and laboriously moved out a heavy cardboard box, placing it on the table in front of Ye Qingcheng. "Look—this whole box, it's all of them!"

Ye Qingcheng looked at the cassette tapes stuffed full in the cardboard box, her pupils shrinking slightly, her face filled with disbelief: "This... so many? Were they all confiscated from Li Bing's office?"

"Who's to say otherwise!" Shen Zhendong spread his hands, his face full of helplessness. "Who could have imagined that the seemingly upright Director Li had been doing so many shady things behind the scenes."

"Uncle Shen, have you listened to the contents of these tapes?" Ye Qingcheng asked, looking up.

"No." Shen Zhendong waved his hand. "Director Xu specifically instructed that the interrogation of Li Bing should be led by you, and these pieces of evidence should naturally be handled entirely by you. Therefore, to prevent leaks, these tapes were not sent to the evidence room."

"Hmm. Uncle Shen is very thoughtful." As she said this, Ye Qingcheng's fingertips slid over the cassette tapes in the box, and she smiled helplessly: "No wonder Uncle Shen wanted to brew me tea; it seems like there's no way I'm getting any sleep tonight."

The cassette tapes were arranged in chronological order. Ye Qingcheng took out a tape marked with the latest date and saw "HM-ZY" written on the back in marker pen, with a question mark at the end.

Shen Zhendong handed over a small tape recorder and added: "Use this to listen, it's convenient. I roughly went through them; the dates of these tapes go back as far as four years ago—that is, when Li Bing was first promoted to the head of the Modu Branch. Each cassette has A and B side labels; the A side is the character code, like the 'HM-ZY' in your hand, and the B side is the date. This habit of Li Bing's actually saved us a lot of trouble."

Ye Qingcheng nodded and speculated: "'HM-ZY', this should be the acronym for 'Hongmen-Zhang Yu'. As for this question mark, I guess Li Bing might not have been sure if the person on the phone was Zhang Yu." After speaking, to verify her hypothesis, she inserted the latest tape into the recorder.

Seeing that Ye Qingcheng was preparing to listen to the tapes, to avoid suspicion, Shen Zhendong immediately stood up and said: "You listen first, I'll go to the cafeteria and get you some food. You must not have eaten properly after being busy all day."

"Then thank you for the trouble, Uncle Shen." Ye Qingcheng stood up, a warm feeling rising in her heart.

"It's no trouble. You go ahead and get to work." After saying this, Shen Zhendong left the office and thoughtfully closed the door behind him.

Left alone in the office, Ye Qingcheng pressed the play button. A male voice, processed with a voice changer, immediately drifted out of the recorder. Although the tone was strange, the familiar phrasing and word choice made her instantly clench her fists—it was Zhang Yu! The content was similar to the lip-reading interpreted by Professor Chen Qingjun, all about the details of how to "rescue" Huang Hansheng.

After leaving the office, Shen Zhendong hesitated repeatedly before finally taking out his phone and dialing his daughter, Shen Jianan.

At this moment, in the parking lot of the Armed Police General Hospital, Shen Jianan was sitting in her car, watching Qin Yi being surrounded by a group of people as he got into a car and left.

The car window glass reflected her lonely profile. Her finger had just pressed the car key when her phone rang, and the caller ID showed "Dad".

She adjusted her breathing and answered the phone: "Hello, Dad."

"Jianan, what are you busy with?" Shen Zhendong's voice was filled with a smile. "Why didn't you come over with Sister Qingcheng?"

"Uh... Didn't Sister Qingcheng go to the Military General Hospital?" Shen Jianan asked back, somewhat puzzled.

"Oh, Sister Qingcheng just arrived here as well. Weren't you on a mission with Qingcheng today? You weren't together afterward?" Shen Zhendong asked in return.

"I..." Shen Jianan gripped the steering wheel, her voice dropping lower. "I made a mistake while on the mission today. Sister Qingcheng might be angry with me."

"Silly girl, how can there be no mistakes in work?" Shen Zhendong's tone softened. "Sister Qingcheng is busy checking the tapes right now. After I bring her some food, you take the initiative to call her. Don't overthink it."

"Oh, okay."

"Alright, don't think too much. Wait for my word."

About ten minutes later, a "knock, knock, knock" sound came from outside the office door.

Ye Qingcheng turned off the tape recorder, stood up, and opened the door.

Shen Zhendong walked in carrying several lunch boxes, steam escaping from the seams. "Qingcheng, eat first! I got you some hearty dishes from the cafeteria: braised pork, stir-fried greens, and that tomato and scrambled egg dish you love."

Ye Qingcheng took the lunch boxes, looking at the overflowing containers, and couldn't help but smile. "Uncle Shen, how am I supposed to finish all this?"

"Eat up!" Shen Zhendong lifted the lids off the boxes one by one. "You've been running around all day, you must be starving. The business with the tapes isn't urgent; eating is more important."

"Uncle Shen, why don't you eat something too? It's embarrassing for me to be the only one eating."

"No need, I already ate at the cafeteria." Shen Zhendong walked back behind his desk and picked up a file. "You eat, I'll process some work reports. I won't disturb you."

Seeing this, Ye Qingcheng stopped declining. She unwrapped the disposable chopsticks and began to eat heartily—after running around all day, this was her first hot meal. The aroma of the food filled the office, temporarily dispelling the oppressive atmosphere brought by the case.

Shen Zhendong sat back behind his desk and sent a message to his daughter, Shen Jianan.

Seven or eight minutes later, Ye Qingcheng's phone rang.

Ye Qingcheng glanced at the caller ID, put down her chopsticks, and answered with a smile: "Hello, Jianan."

"Sister Qingcheng, Qin Yi has already left the hospital." Shen Jianan's voice carried a hint of caution. "Is there anything else I can help with at the Modu Branch?"

Ye Qingcheng looked at the pile of tapes in front of her, thought for a moment, and said, "Not for now. Everyone has been controlled; we shouldn't act too hastily. You have to head to the Southwest early tomorrow morning. Go back and rest early to build up your energy; there will be tough battles to fight once you reach the Southwest. I'll send you the specific details later; I won't say too much over the phone."

"Okay, Sister Qingcheng, I promise I will complete the mission this time!"

"Mm. You worked hard today, go back and rest." After hanging up, Ye Qingcheng looked up and met Shen Zhendong's gaze, unable to help but smile helplessly. "Uncle Shen, Jianan told you everything, didn't she?"

"Ah? Haha," Shen Zhendong didn't hide it after being called out. He waved his hand, laughed out loud, and tapped his knuckles lightly on the desk. "Since the girl didn't come with you, I had to ask. She vaguely said she made a mistake during the mission but didn't mention a single word about the specifics. Her tone sounded so down, so I told her to take the initiative to call you so she wouldn't overthink it."

Ye Qingcheng put down her phone, picked up her chopsticks, and then put them down again. She coughed lightly. "Ahem, actually, today's incident can't be blamed on her. If anyone is to blame, it's that kid Qin Yi for being too reckless. He acted on his own without waiting for reinforcements, and even knocked Jianan and the others unconscious. He left himself absolutely no way out; it was simply madness! Although he did manage to catch the people in the end, he almost lost his life! It was a close call, to say the least."

"Qin Yi again." Shen Zhendong's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. He had become somewhat allergic to hearing that name lately; it seemed like everything could be connected to Qin Yi.

Shen Zhendong leaned forward, his eyes full of curiosity. "Qingcheng, how did he get involved in this arrest mission? Has he officially joined your Security Bureau?"

"Not at all." Ye Qingcheng shook her head. Remembering the dangerous scene during the arrest of Zhang Min last time, her tone softened. "However, that kid really has skills. If it weren't for him last time, we might have fallen into Zhang Yu's hands. I actually wanted to recruit him into the Security Bureau, but he has deep prejudices against us law enforcement officers. Fortunately, we have common goals, and we reached some private cooperation—I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone else what it specifically is, so Uncle Shen, please bear with me."

"Eh, what's there to bear with!" Shen Zhendong waved his hand, a flash of understanding in his eyes. "Someone you value this much must certainly be capable. It's just..." He stopped halfway, his fingers tapping on the drawer handle as if hesitating about something. Finally, he took a deep breath, pulled out a blue folder from the drawer, stood up, and handed it to Ye Qingcheng. "Take a look at this first."

Ye Qingcheng took the folder and flipped through it. When she saw the two photos inside, her brows furrowed noticeably.

They were two screenshots from surveillance footage. In the photos, it was indeed Qin Yi's rolls-royce cullinan. However, the person driving the vehicle, judging by their appearance, seemed quite different from Qin Yi.

Ye Qingcheng's brows instantly knitted together. She looked up at Shen Zhendong. "Uncle Shen, has this situation been investigated clearly?"

"The chain of evidence isn't complete yet, but based on my thirty years of experience in this line of work, it's him nine times out of ten."

Shen Zhendong walked over and pointed at the tire tracks in the photo to explain. "In Boss Dao's case, we found traces of a third person at the scene. We checked all the surveillance from the city center to the old house in the suburbs without any leads. We finally expanded the range to thirty kilometers away before we found this car."

"Although the person in the photo doesn't look like Qin Yi, the license plate matches, and there aren't many cars like this in the entire Modu. I suspect that he was the one who helped us catch Chen Mo back then, and that missing type 54 pistol might also be in his hands. I just can't figure out why the person driving the car wouldn't be him."

Ye Qingcheng listened quietly to Shen Zhendong's analysis and nodded silently. When she saw the bullet head from the type 54 pistol today, she had determined that the missing pistol was indeed taken by Qin Yi.

But at the time, Qin Yi made an excuse to go to the restroom and managed to divert the conversation. Now, with this new evidence from Shen Zhendong, her suspicions grew even stronger: let's see how you try to evade this one.

However, Qin Yi had more important matters at hand right now. Furthermore, Qin Yi had said before that he had evidence of Zhao Lintai's crimes. It stood to reason that the evidence for the illegal casinos run by Chen Hu in Jingnan and Boss Dao in Modu should all be in his possession.

Thinking this through, Ye Qingcheng looked up, her tone serious: "Uncle Shen, I need a favor—please suppress this evidence for now. Although Qin Yi isn't with the Security Bureau, we are cooperating on a case, and I believe he wouldn't do anything to harm society. As for the pistol, I will find an opportunity to ask him about it clearly."

"Alright!" Shen Zhendong agreed readily and leaned back into the sofa. "Presumption of innocence; this is just speculation on my part, with no solid evidence."

"Mm, thank you, Uncle Shen. Also, about these two photos?"

"It's fine, you take them. If I need them later, I can just print them again."

At the same time, in the capital, deep within a certain military compound, in front of a detached western-style building with red walls and grey tiles, Elder Ye stood in the afterglow of the setting sun, leaning on a dragon-headed cane with both hands.

The old man had learned that a leader was coming and had been waiting outside the door early. His full head of silver hair was combed meticulously, and his blue-grey Zhongshan suit made his figure appear as upright as ever. The guard beside him was carefully supporting his arm.