After leaving Director Zhang's office, Song Xing went to find Li Qian. The moment they met, Li Qian was already fuming with anger.
Ever since the incident with Liu Bei a few days ago, Li Qian hadn't been allowed on any field operations. She wanted to go, but it felt like the entire criminal police team had isolated her—no one would take her along. After repeatedly asking around, someone finally let slip that it was Song Xing who had given the order forbidding anyone from bringing her.
She had been about to confront Song Xing when he showed up on his own. Seeing him, she couldn't hold back her frustration and demanded, "Brother Xing, I heard you're the one who told the team not to let me join any cases recently. Is that true?"
Song Xing was momentarily taken aback but quickly admitted openly, "Yeah, of course it was me. Why would the director say something like that?"
"I never said it was the director."
Song Xing coughed heavily a few times and said with a serious expression, "Zheng Yongbing told us afterward that it was because you disguised yourself as a property staff member and slipped up, which Liu Bei noticed. That's why he seriously injured two people and almost stabbed you. You're still too inexperienced right now. Taking you out not only doesn’t help but actually causes trouble. Don’t rush it—stay at the unit and focus on building up your theoretical knowledge. Maybe in a few years, you can think about going out into the field again."
"A few more years?!" Li Qian's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Of course. But for now, there’s an important task assigned to you."
"What is it?"
"The director wants you to monitor Zhou Rong and Lu Yibo’s every move through surveillance footage every day."
"More surveillance work?!" Li Qian practically shouted.
"This job isn’t simple at all—it really tests your comprehensive skills." Having spent so much time around Director Zhang, Song Xing had naturally picked up some of his rhetoric.
"Not simple at all? Hmph!" Li Qian gritted her teeth. His expression made it clear he was looking down on her.
In the entire criminal police team, aside from the logistics department, everyone was busy—except her. All she did every day was look up information, review surveillance footage, help teammates send and receive packages, and order takeout for those who returned late from duty. She’d had enough! Even if they starved to death, she swore she’d never order takeout for these jerks again! Burning with anger, she called him by his full name: "Song Xing, are you guys actually serious about investigating Zhou Rong?"
Hearing Zhou Rong’s name, Song Xing glanced around warily before lowering his voice. "Of course we want to catch him."
"Then why haven’t you arrested him all these years? He’s at Three Rivers Estuary every day, right under your noses, not even hiding. Don’t tell me it’s because of lack of evidence—when you arrest other people, do you wait for evidence first? When you catch thieves, do you interrogate them first or gather evidence first? Take Ye Jian’s case, for example—he was at that banquet too. Aside from sending someone to ask him a few questions, did you seriously investigate him? Did you ever summon him for questioning? And before that, when Director Lu went missing, you kept saying you suspected Zhou Rong. Did you ever bring him in for interrogation?! Did you take bribes from Zhou Rong and just pretend to investigate while actually doing nothing?!"
"Of course not..." Song Xing shook his head repeatedly with a smile, but then he froze. Staring at Li Qian’s aggressive expression, a chill ran down his spine. It was true—they always talked about arresting Zhou Rong, but why had they never moved against him all these years? And now they were being accused of taking Zhou Rong’s dirty money. This question... could it have come from Li Qian’s uncle in the Ministry of Public Security?
Questions involving political stances had to be handled with extreme caution!Song Xing thought for a moment, then immediately said, "You go wait in the small conference room first. I'll get Brother Jun, and we'll explain everything properly to you." With that, he turned and ran off.
Li Qian went to the small conference room in a huff. After waiting a full fifteen minutes, she was just about to leave, thinking Song Xing had disappeared for good, when she saw Wang Ruijun and Song Xing whispering to each other as they approached. The moment they spotted her, they shut their mouths and sat down properly across from her.
"Xiao Qian," Wang Ruijun put on a beaming smile and nodded solemnly at her, "the issue you just raised with Captain Song is excellent!"
Song Xing also nodded emphatically, indicating that the issue was indeed excellent.
"To be frank, we also really want to arrest Zhou Rong. Captain Song and I are one hundred percent certain that Director Lu's disappearance is related to Zhou Rong. But, ah..." He sighed heavily, as if he'd taken acting classes, stomped his foot three times on the floor, and patted his chest in distress. "You know, Zhou Rong is just too cunning!"
Song Xing picked up the thread: "Yeah, we don't have any evidence linking Zhou Rong to the case. There are rumors that he was involved with organized crime in his early years, but those are just rumors. We haven't received any reports from the public, and we don't have any evidence in hand. Besides, he's a big boss—he definitely wouldn't personally participate in any criminal activities. Honestly, if we had any evidence over the years, even a shred, we would've arrested him long ago. We wouldn't be at our wits' end like this now!"
He and Wang Ruijun both sighed heavily and slapped their thighs in unison.
Wang Ruijun continued, "He's now the richest man in Three Rivers Estuary, a representative in the People's Congress, involved in all sorts of industries, and has good relations with the government. It's even said—I've heard—that he has an extraordinary relationship with a deputy department head. Director Lu had been investigating Zhou Rong for a long time, but even he never moved directly against him. For someone like him, with enough social standing locally, we can't just summon him for questioning without solid evidence. Even if we did summon him, someone like him would never confess voluntarily. It would just tip him off."
Li Qian said discontentedly, "But we can't just keep doing what we're doing now, with me only checking his surveillance footage at the office. If that could solve the case, what would be the point of investigating at all?"
Wang Ruijun agreed wholeheartedly, nodding repeatedly. "You make a very good point. Do you have any suggestions?"
"We can't just wait for luck to come to us. We need to take the initiative, find a way to get close to him, and then gather evidence of his crimes. By the way, have you considered sending an undercover agent into Zhou Rong's gang?"
Wang Ruijun and Song Xing exchanged glances, both thinking that the undercover suggestion was naively absurd. But they couldn't just call her stupid outright—what if the question had come from someone at the Ministry of Public Security? So Wang Ruijun had no choice but to patiently explain to her, "Investigating cases isn't like making movies. Three Rivers Estuary is a small place. None of us in the criminal police team have ever done undercover work. Think about it—how could an undercover agent gain Zhou Rong's trust without three to five years? In actual investigations, we only have informants, not undercover agents."
"Do you have any informants on Zhou Rong?""Yes, but it's not very useful." Wang Ruijun thought for a moment and admitted frankly, "A few days ago, the bureau chief interrogated Zheng Yongbing. To atone for his crime by good deeds, he introduced us to a junior informant named Xiao Mi, who is Zhou Rong's driver. We talked to him, but he's purely just a driver for Zhou Rong, not part of the inner circle. Zhou Rong has three key figures around him: one is Lang Bowen, who is essentially Zhou Rong's business partner; another is Hu Jianren, Zhou Rong's secretary; and the third is Zhang Debing, the general manager of the security department in his company. All the rumors about Zhou Rong's involvement with organized crime are tied to Zhang Debing. Zhou Rong himself doesn’t associate with the underworld, and Zhang Debing operates very discreetly—we have nothing concrete on him. Xiao Mi works in the logistics department of Zhou Rong’s company and is only responsible for driving. He has no direct contact with Lang Bowen, Hu Jianren, or Zhang Debing. What he knows is just hearsay from the guys he hangs out with—things like Zhou Rong being a womanizer who always brings different women home, but we can’t just raid his house and arrest him for solicitation, right? He also mentioned that there’s a hidden safe in the wall of Zhou Rong’s study, which Zhou Rong never lets anyone see. Everyone speculates there must be something extremely valuable inside, and—"
"You said there’s a hidden safe in Zhou Rong’s study?"
"Yes."
"Could it contain his company’s internal accounts or other evidence that could incriminate him?"
"No way to know. It’s said that even the maids and the housekeeper aren’t allowed into Zhou Rong’s study. Xiao Mi only heard this from others—he’s never been further than the living room of Zhou Rong’s villa."
"Can’t we find a way to conduct a surprise search of Zhou Rong’s home and see what’s in that safe?"
Wang Ruijun sighed. "A search warrant is the hardest to get approved. We’d need solid evidence of Zhou Rong’s involvement in a crime before we could even apply to search his place. But his connections with government agencies are extremely complicated. Even if we did find something to justify a search, he’d probably get tipped off in advance and hide everything. And if we searched and found nothing, how would we explain that?"
Li Qian fell silent. Wang Ruijun had a point. She had been monitoring Zhou Rong’s movements daily through traffic surveillance but had never noticed anything unusual. Zhou Rong was extremely cautious—so far, there was no direct evidence linking him to any illegal activities. Investigating him was proving incredibly difficult. The hidden safe Wang Ruijun mentioned was a major lead, but how could they uncover its secrets?
The female driver was about 165 cm tall, with a slender figure and the fresh face of a girl in her early twenties—a petite, delicate face with a small upturned nose, thin lips, and light makeup. Her features were entirely natural, without any chemical enhancements, like a recent graduate just starting her career, yet with a hint of spirited charm. At a glance, Zhou Rong thought—this driver had class.
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