Zhou Jin didn’t know what to do. All she could do was be calmer and more composed than at any other moment.
Jiang Hansheng held Zhou Jin tightly. She buried herself in his embrace and wept without stopping, her tears soaking through his shirt.
Over these five years, she had believed time and again that she had found a lead, only to be disappointed time and again. Zhou Jin had been ground down body and soul by this endless cycle of hope and despair, and all those years of accumulated exhaustion seemed to surge up to her brow at once.
Zhou Jin cried until she was spent, and leaned drowsily against Jiang Hansheng’s shoulder.
Jiang Hansheng listened as her breathing gradually steadied, then carefully and gently laid her down on the bed.
He retrieved the first-aid kit and cleaned the blood from her wounds, then carefully applied bandages.
Zhou Jin moved her fingers, which felt constrained, and closed her hand around Jiang Hansheng’s.
Jiang Hansheng thought she was about to say something and leaned down toward her. “What is it?” he asked.
She suddenly reached up and embraced him — loosely, softly — her hand moving instinctively across his broad back.
She murmured like someone talking in her sleep: “Hansheng, don’t leave me alone.”
Jiang Hansheng pressed his lips to her forehead, as if in comfort. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll stay with you.”
---
From the school to Gardenia Lane, there was a tree-lined path he had walked countless times.
He would follow behind Zhou Jin, watching the little braid that swayed whenever she walked, listening to her gesticulate animatedly as she recounted all the interesting things that had happened at school…
Sometimes he would resent it — resent that the person he liked was Zhou Jin, that Zhou Jin whose gaze was always fixed on someone else.
But there was nothing to be done. Even the rhythm of his footsteps fell in time with her laughter.
He wanted to be by her side. Always by her side.
Always. Always.
As long as Zhou Jin still needed him.
---
Late at night, the light in the Major Crimes Unit chief’s office was still on.
Tan Shiming cradled his cup of tea, leaning back in his chair, turning over his earlier conversation with Zhou Jin in his mind.
Zhou Jin had relayed Jiang Cheng’s testimony to him word for word, the account interwoven with the findings from her and Jiang Hansheng’s investigation into Qi Yan during that period.
“After the ‘8·17’ gun heist five years ago, the city established a special task force, and Chief Yao voluntarily stepped forward to serve as its leader. With assistance from the provincial department’s criminal research division, he quickly located the criminal gang hiding in the suburbs and recovered some of the stolen weapons.
At the time, Chief Yao believed there were four of them in total. However, after Jiang Hansheng and I traveled to Huaisha to investigate, we have reason to suspect that the person shot and killed by the police back then was not Qi Yan himself, but Qi Yan’s twin brother.
When the police investigated the identities of the four individuals killed, they identified one named Feng He, and through screening Feng He’s social connections, learned that he had close ties with He Wen.
Combined with Jiang Cheng’s testimony, I believe it was after tracing this lead that Chief Yao secretly launched the undercover operation codenamed ‘Concealed Blade’ — sending Jiang Cheng into Guhua Prison to get close to He Wen and earn his trust. That is why, after his release, Jiang Cheng gained He Wu’s favor and successfully infiltrated the enemy’s ranks.”
This was Zhou Jin’s deduction, built upon all the leads currently available.
Tan Shiming knew her deduction was not wrong. This was precisely the intelligence Yao Weihai had shared with him when requesting that he serve as overall commander of Operation Jingang — and it aligned perfectly with Jiang Cheng’s testimony.
Yet Tan Shiming still had reservations. “According to the classified files,” he said, “Meng Junfeng is ‘Concealed Blade.’ Jiang Cheng’s name does not appear in the undercover records.”
Zhou Jin planted both hands on the desk, her voice rising several notches. “Who ‘Concealed Blade’ is doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that Jiang Cheng holds evidence capable of sending He Wu and his people straight to hell — and only he can lead us to the location of the drug manufacturing facility.”
Tan Shiming had worked with her as mentor and protégé for no short time, yet this was the first time he had ever seen her so fierce — with an unshakeable resolve burning in her eyes.
“Zhou Jin,” Tan Shiming said, “you may trust what Jiang Cheng says. But the chief of the Major Crimes Unit cannot. Operation Jingang has already proven that these criminals will strike back against the police without a moment’s hesitation. What if Jiang Cheng is just another trap?”
“If the USB drive in Jiang Cheng’s possession genuinely contains evidence of He Wu and the others’ involvement in illegal trade — would that not prove he can be trusted?”
He Wu was already a core figure within this criminal organization. If they wanted to retaliate against the police, there would be no need to sacrifice He Wu and all of Hengyun Logistics.
Either way, they would first need to retrieve the USB drive from the safety deposit box at Guangqi Bank.
Tan Shiming thought it was worth attempting. “Getting the USB drive won’t be difficult,” he said.
Zhou Jin nodded. “Certainly not, as long as there’s no mole on the inside.”
Tan Shiming’s expression darkened. The mole within the police force had always been a festering threat at the heart of everything.
After a moment, the furrow between his brows smoothed. “This may be an opportunity,” he said.
Zhou Jin smiled, lifting her chin slightly. “Exactly — a perfect opportunity to catch the mole.”
The two of them, mentor and protégé, had arrived at exactly the same thought.
Tan Shiming deliberated briefly. “Even so, I’ll need some time to think this through carefully,” he said.
---
Tan Shiming had drafted a preliminary action plan, though he couldn’t guarantee the mole would take the bait — nor had he settled on who should carry it out.
After careful consideration, he decided to call Jiang Hansheng.
He laid out the plan to use the USB drive as bait for the mole, and asked Jiang Hansheng to assess its feasibility.
Jiang Hansheng thought it over. “Once word of the USB drive is let out among the police,” he said, “the mole will pass the information along quickly. To protect He Wu, they’ll stop at nothing to destroy the evidence before the police can reach it.”
Tan Shiming could keep the officers who knew about the USB drive under covert surveillance the entire time — the moment anyone made a move, he could order an immediate arrest.
“So you also think it’s workable?” Tan Shiming asked.