Even if Xiao Liang’s immediate goal was only to send Xiao Yujun to prison, simply obtaining the whistleblower materials from Gu Peijun would never be enough.

Most of the documents in Gu Peijun’s possession had been gathered over the past year through quiet, off-the-clock investigation.

So far, Gu Peijun had only managed to piece together that several businesses effectively controlled by Xiao Yujun had clear—and sometimes hidden—financial ties with the Nanting Lake Juice Factory. But due to various limitations, much of it was still based on hearsay and inference. Hard evidence remained scarce.

That had been one of the key reasons in Xiao Liang’s previous life why, even after Gu Peijun stepped forward publicly with accusations, Xiao Yujun had not been brought down.

Of course, direct evidence did exist.

The factory’s records of raw-material purchases, production line equipment, product sales and storage logs, along with financial ledgers tracking the flow of money—combined with the audit reports Xiao Liang himself had compiled over the past three months—would form a powerful chain of proof.

Together with Gu Peijun’s materials, they could establish a strong case that Xiao Yujun had embezzled and misappropriated the collective assets of Nanting Village.

Unfortunately, they could no longer access those original records.

Even Xiao Liang’s audit files from the past three months had almost certainly fallen into Xiao Yujun’s hands by now.

Since Xiao Liang had already decided to pull Gu Xiong and Gu Peijun fully into this struggle, he naturally wasn’t about to say anything discouraging. Even without mentioning the Provincial No.14 Cadre Retirement Institute, he needed to give them confidence.

Calmly, he said,

“The night before last, it was Deputy Captain Yuan Wenhai from the County Public Security Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division who came to Yunshe to escort me back to the county. Chief Chen Shen from the town police station and Du Jiang were also in the vehicle. When the accident happened, Du Jiang was thrown out of the car. Captain Yuan, Chen Shen, and another officer were trapped inside the burning police car. I pulled them out first—only then did I leave the scene.”

He paused.

“When I called home immediately afterward, Officer Sui happened to be there. I lied to her on the phone, saying I was still in Yunshe and would surrender when she arrived.”

He gave a faint smile.

“I’m surprised she wasn’t furious about being tricked. Instead, she started investigating the suspicious points in the case. That tells me she’s an upright person.”

“But if I go to her with the documents,” he continued, “she’ll certainly arrest me first, then take both me and the materials back to the county bureau. After that… whether the bureau would still allow her to handle the case is another question entirely.”

“You were the one who saved Captain Yuan and Chief Chen?” Gu Peijun stared at him in astonishment before cursing angrily. “Damn that Fan Chunjiang! What kind of dirty deal does he have with Xiao Yujun to bite down on you like this?”

Xiao Liang simply spread his hands.

If Fan Chunjiang was willing to go this far to help Xiao Yujun hunt him down, how deep their collusion ran hardly needed explanation.

Which meant that Gu Xiong and Gu Peijun could not easily back out now.

Once the truth surfaced, Xiao Yujun’s retaliation would be ruthless. Gu Xiong, who feared him so deeply, should understand that better than anyone.

Turning to Gu Peijun, Xiao Liang said,

“Secretary Gu, do you still have spare copies of the whistleblower report? If not, make several copies. Let’s wait two days and see how things develop. If there’s truly no other way, I’ll take the materials directly to Officer Sui.”

He then looked toward Gu Xiong, whose brows were now tightly furrowed.

“What do you think, Station Chief Gu?”

Caught off guard, Gu Xiong couldn’t possibly analyze the situation in depth.

All he cared about was that Xiao Liang seemed calm and wasn’t about to do something reckless.

“I’ll head to the county right away to make copies,” Gu Peijun said.

In 1994, photocopiers were still rare. He would have to make a special trip to the county.

“But once I’ve made the copies, how do I contact you?”

“I’ll call Station Chief Gu from time to time,” Xiao Liang replied.

Neither he nor Gu Peijun owned a pager yet, and Xiao Liang had no intention of revealing where he was staying.

Fortunately, the wholesale shop had a landline. He could simply call Gu Xiong periodically to stay informed.

He said this openly while looking straight at Gu Xiong, making no attempt to hide the fact that he still didn’t fully trust him.

Then Xiao Liang wrote down an address on a scrap of paper and handed it to Gu Peijun.

“Lin Xuetong is working at this place in Shishan. A few others from Nanting Village are there too. When you go to the county, you could run into them ‘by coincidence.’ Mention what’s been happening in Yunshe these past couple of days and see how Lin Xuetong reacts.”

Gu Peijun frowned thoughtfully.

“You think Lin Xuetong might already suspect something between He Hong and Xiao Yujun and believe you were framed? But even if he does… I doubt he’d step forward to testify.”

In those days, even if a man knew his wife was having an affair, publicly admitting he’d been cuckolded was no small humiliation.

And even if Lin Xuetong swallowed his pride and accused He Hong and Xiao Yujun of an affair, it didn’t seem like it would actually help Xiao Liang’s case.

“Who knows?” Xiao Liang said vaguely.

He deliberately avoided mentioning Lin Xi.

“At least it gives us another option. Besides, something this big happened involving He Hong. If Lin Xuetong doesn’t show up, Officer Sui will probably track him down sooner or later anyway.”

“Fair enough. I’ll already be in the county—it’s not much of a detour,” Gu Peijun agreed. He couldn’t think of any better ideas himself, so he decided to follow Xiao Liang’s suggestion.

—

When Xiao Liang walked out of the wholesale shop, the commotion across the road had already died down.

Villagers were still excitedly discussing how the female police officer had subdued the two hooligans and dragged them off to the town station.

After all, how many people had ever seen a policewoman so strikingly beautiful—and yet so ferocious in a fight?

A Santana sedan was parked by the roadside.

The sun was blazing now, making it impossible for Xiao Liang to see inside the car.

In 1994, a Santana was still an unattainable luxury for most families, but in rural towns close to the city it wasn’t particularly rare. The license plate didn’t look special either.

Perhaps it had simply stopped when the earlier commotion drew attention and hadn’t left yet.

Just then another bus approached from the direction of Yunshe Town.

Xiao Liang strode across the road.

As he stepped onto the bus, he glanced through the window and saw a man in his late twenties getting out of the Santana’s front passenger seat and walking toward the wholesale shop.

The man looked sharp and capable. His white shirt and black trousers were simple and clean—ordinary attire in the city, but oddly out of place in a rural village in 1994.

Two villagers came running behind, trying to catch the bus into town. The conductor leaned out the window, tapping the side of the bus with his ticket board to urge them to hurry. The driver waited patiently.

The weather was growing hot. Dongzhou’s buses had no air conditioning yet, so all the windows were open.

After buying his ticket, Xiao Liang sat beside the open rear window and looked back at the Santana.

The man in the white shirt soon emerged from the shop with a pack of cigarettes. He leaned down and handed them through the half-rolled-down rear window.

Only then did Xiao Liang catch a clear glimpse of the man seated in the right rear seat—a middle-aged man in a jacket with thick, distinctive eyebrows.

When the man took the cigarettes and happened to glance toward the bus, Xiao Liang gave him a faint smile in greeting.

The white-shirted man returned to the passenger seat, then turned around and asked with a grin,

“Secretary Tang, what are you looking at?”

“That young fellow,” the middle-aged man replied thoughtfully. “There was such a commotion outside just now, but he stayed inside without rushing out to watch. Interesting.”

He chuckled softly.

“And when he boarded the bus, he didn’t look nervous at all. Even smiled back at me.”

Behind the driver sat an elderly man with thinning gray hair and a gaunt figure. He was staring intently at the departing bus, seemingly unaware of the conversation.

The younger man asked,

“Should we follow him? I didn’t expect things in Yunshe to be this complicated. That guy was hiding inside the shop instead of coming out—maybe he’s with those two thugs.”

“…Without evidence, what would be the point of chasing him?” the old man said at last, snapping back to attention and stopping him.

The middle-aged man also made no move to tell the driver to follow.

Even if that young man really had been connected to the hooligans, what would chasing him accomplish? Show off the authority of a county Party secretary?

Besides, even after Sui Jing dragged those two thugs to the police station, it would be difficult to punish them seriously. They might even walk out and file a complaint about police brutality.

The situation hadn’t escalated only because Sui Jing’s appearance had softened the crowd’s reaction.

If it had been any other officer acting without clear evidence and roughing up two street punks in public?

A dozen villagers would have surrounded them, shouting that the police were beating people.

The middle-aged man turned to the elderly one and spoke sincerely.

“I’ve only been working in Shishan for three or four months. I still don’t understand the grassroots situation well. Meetings pile up every day—I barely have time to breathe. A lot of work hasn’t been pushed forward properly. That’s my failure.”

He hesitated before asking,

“Should we go to the town government now?”

The old man chuckled.

“No. If we show up there and Xiao Jing sees this old man sneaking into Shishan—spraining his ankle climbing a mountain—she’ll laugh at me.”

He waved his hand dismissively.

“And besides, she’s been strong-willed since she was little. She hates people interfering in her work. If I run over there declaring that she’s my granddaughter and no one’s allowed to bully her, what happens later when she can’t stand on her own? She’ll blame me for everything.”

“I came to Shishan simply to revisit old places,” he continued. “Not to point fingers. The problems at the grassroots level aren’t something an old retiree like me can fix by wagging his tongue.”

The middle-aged man nodded thoughtfully.

“This case looks simple on the surface, but Officer Sui ran into interference the moment she started investigating. There must be something more to it.”

He paused.

“Since we’ve seen it ourselves, it feels wrong to ignore it. Should I call the Public Security Bureau and ask about it?”

The old man remained completely calm.

“There’s no need to interfere yet. Let’s see how far this fearless young calf can push the case.”

He smiled faintly.

“You can also use this opportunity to observe the resistance that exists at the township level.”

“And besides,” he added, “letting Xiao Jing knock her head a few times isn’t a bad thing. That was precisely why we didn’t force her to stay in the provincial department.”

“Secretary Tang… should we head back to the county then?” the white-shirted man asked uncertainly.

“I understand what Elder Sui means now,” the middle-aged man replied. “We’ll go back first. I’ll keep an eye on what happens in Yunshe. As long as it doesn’t spiral out of control, we won’t interfere.”

Then he turned toward the old man.

“How long do you plan to stay in Shishan, Elder Sui?”

“Let’s wait until Xiao Jing reaches a preliminary conclusion on her case,” the old man said with a smile. “I can’t very well slip away without even seeing my own granddaughter.”

“Besides, Shishan is quite interesting. Worth staying a few more days.”

Then he added with a chuckle,

“But don’t worry about me—and whatever you do, don’t tell the city government I’m here.”

“I’d like a little peace and quiet.”