Chapter Thirty-Two: The Fishing Scheme

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Fishing Plan

The one speaking was none other than Qian Yihai—Fatty Qian—who stood beside Wu Zhengke. As soon as he finished, all eyes in the room turned to him.

“Don’t look at me like that. I really don’t know the location of the safe house. The Chief is here today too. You all know what kind of person I am,” Qian Yihai said, letting out an awkward chuckle.

“Fatty Qian, what are you implying? Setting up a safe house requires a large sum of money. Given your obsession with money, are you telling me the General Affairs Office has no idea where the funds went?” Wu Zhengke couldn’t help but retort at Qian Yihai’s sarcastic tone.

“I truly don’t know,” Qian Yihai replied shamelessly.

“Captain Wu, the Red Party member was rescued while under your squad’s watch. Maybe the problem lies with your men?” Liu Peiru interjected suddenly.

“Hmph, how could that be? All three of those men died in the line of duty,” Wu Zhengke said, his irritation showing as he rolled his eyes. “Trying to capture Mr. Li again will be difficult, but I believe finding the traitor is possible. Don’t forget, our brother said with his last breath that it was someone from our own bureau. The circle is small, and there aren’t many suspects.”

“So, what’s your plan?” The man at the head of the table, Boss Dai, asked in a measured tone.

“Everyone from the bureau is currently in this building. It should be easy to check what they were all doing earlier. We should focus on those with notable skills,” Wu Zhengke suggested.

“Heh, you think that sly mole would make such an obvious mistake for us to catch them?” Liu Peiru scoffed.

“Then what do you propose?”

Silence fell over the room once more. Wu Zhengke’s plan wasn’t guaranteed to work, but at least it was a method—one reason for the bureau’s drastic action tonight.

Earlier, when Wu Zhengke learned the operation had been betrayed by an insider, he immediately reported it up the chain. Boss Dai wasted no time—he gathered everyone together in the shortest possible time.

“Report!”

A crisp voice shattered the quiet of the meeting room. A technician entered with a report and handed it directly to Boss Dai. After reading it, Boss Dai slammed it down on the table.

“Take a look at this. The bullet found at the scene matches the gun lost during the attempt to capture Mr. Li. Clearly, both incidents were carried out by the same person or group.”

Boss Dai’s gaze swept over the room, finally settling on Li Hongwei, the head of Communications. “Hongwei, what’s your take on this?”

“Ah, I… I… have no opinion,” Li Hongwei stammered, lost in thought.

“Hmph. I’ll handle the matter of the traitor personally. Tell the men to write down exactly what they were doing earlier. Anyone who can’t explain themselves goes into custody. Meeting adjourned,” Boss Dai declared, rising from his seat.

“Chief, when will the lockdown be lifted?” Li Hongwei called out suddenly.

“What’s the rush to leave the bureau?” Boss Dai gave him a meaningful glance and walked away. The others, intrigued by Li Hongwei’s outburst, said nothing more and dispersed.

In the Director’s office:

“Who do you think is most suspicious?” Boss Dai asked his secretary.

“Chief, I think Li Hongwei and Fatty Qian are the prime suspects. The location of the safe house is top secret. Mr. Li was brought in by Liu Peiru, so he can be ruled out. Wu Zhengke was responsible for guarding him, and it’s unlikely he’d betray us—his hands are stained with Red Party blood,” the secretary replied quickly.

“But Fatty Qian and Li Hongwei are different. One heads General Affairs, the other leads Communications. Both have ways to access sensitive information. Most importantly, when they were summoned earlier, their whereabouts were vague.”

“It seems we must set our fishing plan in motion as soon as possible,” Boss Dai murmured with narrowed eyes.

…

In the Operations Team office, Wu Zhengke was explaining the situation to team leaders Ye Mao, Gao Debiao, and Bai Zeshao. As Bai Zeshao heard that the dying man had revealed the culprit was an insider, he couldn’t help but feel a tremor in his heart.

Fortunately, his nerves held steady. He quickly realized that if he really were exposed, the bureau’s show of force tonight would have been much more serious.

Still, even though he hadn’t been uncovered, the indefinite confinement weighed heavily on him. Mr. Li’s condition required urgent treatment, yet Bai Zeshao was trapped in the bureau, unable to leave.

He worried that the delay would be too much for Mr. Li to bear. All he could do now was pray for a stroke of luck.

Over the next two days, every member of the bureau was interrogated, and the city remained tightly sealed. Yet despite their efforts, no trace of Mr. Li was found—neither on the streets nor in pharmacies and hospitals.

Still, while they failed to find Mr. Li, the dragnet struck a heavy blow against the underground organization in Shanning. Many peripheral members were arrested.

For a time, the city was gripped by fear. The Red Party’s underground network, unaware of the full story, had no choice but to scatter and intensify their efforts to uncover what had happened.

On the afternoon of the third day, just past three o’clock—

When Bai Zeshao awoke, he noticed that the soldiers who had been stationed outside the building had vanished. He let out a sigh of relief; regardless of whether they had found the traitor, at least the bureau had resumed its outward calm.

What Bai Zeshao didn’t know was that, at that very moment, a scene was unfolding in the third-floor conference room that left everyone stunned.

“It is hereby announced that Qian Yihai, Chief of General Affairs, is appointed head of the Inspection Team. He will be fully responsible for the investigation into the traitor. All departments are to cooperate unconditionally.”

“Yes, sir,” the group replied.

Qian Yihai accepted the appointment with a face full of anguish. After the meeting, everyone dispersed. With the end of the assembly, those who had been under house arrest were free to leave the bureau.

After three days of torment, Bai Zeshao made his exit swiftly. Instead of heading straight for New First Street, he returned home to meet Ah Hai.

“Ah Hai, has anything happened these past two days?”

“Nothing, just tighter checks on the streets,” Ah Hai replied with a smile.

“Alright, get back to your work.”

Time passed slowly as Bai Zeshao waited patiently for nightfall. Only under the cover of darkness could he make his way to No. 12 New First Street.

At last, sometime after eight, nearly nine, Bai Zeshao left his home and hurried toward New First Street.