Chapter 027: Stirring the Grass and Startling the Snake

This story is purely fictional.

Ma Shengwei took out his phone. “Sorry, just a moment.” He tapped on the screen for a few seconds. “Go on.”

“I’ve been analyzing this with Xiao Jin for a long time. ASF... ASF... what could it stand for? It seems like an abbreviation for a place. But Afghanistan is ‘AF’—Afghanistan—so that’s out. Austria, Australia, Oceania? None of those fit. Maybe Australia, Australasia? After reconsidering, I think it’s probably not connected to any country abbreviation. Could it be a hotel with a similar abbreviation? That’s a big question mark. From what I know, the word that matches with ASF is ‘AS’—yes, it must be the AS Hotel. That’s my intuition. But what does the F stand for? It must be the floor.” Wu Zhengzhe shared his thoughts with Ma Shengwei.

Ma Shengwei, hearing Wu Zhengzhe’s deduction about the AS Hotel and the mention of a floor, thought, “This kid is really smart. In such a short time, he’s gathered a lot of useful information.” To cover his own unease, he said, “It looks to me like the label from a clothing brand. I’ve seen similar fabric tags before. Keep investigating and report back to me if you find anything new.” He handed the strip of cloth to Xiao Jin.

After composing himself, he turned to Wu Zhengzhe. “Make the most of your time and keep investigating this case. Report any new discoveries to me at once. Xiao Jin, stay behind. I have something personal I need you to handle.”

“Understood, Chief. I’ll report anything new right away. I’ll get to work now.” Wu Zhengzhe got up to leave.

Just as he stood up, his eyes caught a string of numbers on the chief’s desk calendar. The last five digits, 25988, were exactly the same as the ones on the slip of paper. Puzzled, he left the chief’s office.

Back in his own office, Wu Zhengzhe kept asking himself, “How could there be such a coincidence? The numbers on my slip of paper match five digits on the calendar. Could my suspicion of an inside informant be true? That someone as high up as the chief is involved in this case is almost unthinkable...” He shook his head in disbelief.

He ran to the stairwell and called Xiao Jin. Xiao Jin, who was still talking with the chief, glanced at his phone and showed the screen to his boss.

The chief gestured that he could answer, and said, “Take it. Put it on speaker.”

“I’m heading to the AS Hotel now. Once you’re done talking with the chief, come find me there,” Wu Zhengzhe said, then hung up.

After Xiao Jin finished the call, Ma Shengwei said, “Don’t worry. I already notified them when you were reporting in. Relax!” He let out a few cold laughs.

Wu Zhengzhe left the police station and hurried to the parking lot. He started his car, stepped on the accelerator, and sped off toward the AS Hotel.

A drive that should have taken about an hour, he completed in just thirty minutes.

From the moment Yun Jiu arrived in Dahe, Leng Junfeng found the guy disagreeable no matter how he looked at him. He called Black Tiger.

Black Tiger listened to Leng Junfeng’s instructions intently, replying “Yes, yes, yes,” over and over.

“I’ve given you a task. Do it well. If you mess up, don’t blame me for being harsh,” Leng Junfeng said sternly.

Wu Zhengzhe sped down the road, his mind racing. He felt that the recent strange events at the station were connected to the chief. To test his theory, he had deliberately revealed the information from the slip of paper found at Shi Tou’s friend’s house during his report to the chief. Especially when he spotted the matching string of numbers on the desk calendar, he began to regret his recklessness, fearing he might have tipped his hand. If so, the case, which had seemed on the brink of a breakthrough, might now be in jeopardy. Realizing the chief’s secret, he knew the chief would also realize that the hotel safe might have been discovered, and would likely take steps to eliminate any risk.

Ten minutes should have been enough, but to his surprise, he found the safe wasn’t even locked. He tried to lift fingerprints from it, but it was as if someone had deliberately wiped away every trace. There was nothing.

He was astonished. Looking around, he noticed panoramic cameras at both ends of the corridor and felt a glimmer of hope.

He quickly found the hotel’s security staff, showed his badge, and was led to the central control room. The security guard on duty regretfully informed him that the third-floor surveillance system had been out of order for days. They had already reported it to maintenance, and were told it would be fixed soon. The guard apologized.

Wu Zhengzhe shrugged in resignation. “Sorry for the trouble.” Not wanting to leave empty-handed, he asked for the last hour’s footage from the hotel lobby cameras.

He handed over his storage drive, and the security guard downloaded the footage and returned the device.

On his way back to the station, Wu Zhengzhe was filled with frustration, blaming himself for his impulsiveness. He realized he should have investigated in person as soon as he discovered the secret. But regret was pointless now. The promising case had become even more tangled—he had lost both evidence and leads. Still, knowing the target he needed to track down, he felt a bit relieved.

Zhao Ming returned to the chief editor’s office at the TV station. As the newly appointed director entered, his colleagues all stood and applauded to congratulate him.

As he stepped inside, confetti burst above his head, filling the air with color. His face was beaming with joy.

He brushed the confetti from his shoulders and thanked everyone warmly. “Becoming director is thanks to all of your support. I couldn’t have made it here without you.”

Smiling, he clapped his hands. “Over the past few years, with everyone’s help, our department has thrived, staying at the forefront and earning recognition from our superiors. In this round of competition for leadership positions, it was your support that got me here. Thank you, everyone!”

He paused, then continued, “In the future, I’ll work side by side with you as always, taking the initiative, focusing on social issues, tracking major events, and striving to do even better journalism. We want to serve the people and satisfy society!”

When Zhao Ming finished, the office rang with applause.

A colleague suddenly shouted, “Director Chi, you’re not being fair! Every time someone’s promoted, we always celebrate together. How can you not treat us today on such a special occasion?”

“Is that so? If you all have time tonight, don’t make other plans. Get permission from your families, and I’ll tell you where we’re going,” he replied.

“Director Chi, do you think we’re all like you, needing to ask our wives for permission? That word doesn’t even exist in our dictionary! To quote a mahjong phrase: we’re ‘eight million’—totally off track!”

“That’s your business. If it causes trouble at home, I take no responsibility,” Chi Zhaoming laughed heartily.

At that moment, Wu Zhengzhe called. “Xiao Jin, I heard about your promotion—you’ve got to treat us!”

“Of course! The office is already talking about it. I’ve booked a table at Prince Restaurant for tonight. Bring Xiao Jin along—I could use a few more people to help fend off the drinks.”

“Forget the Prince Hotel, it’s too pricey. Don’t waste your salary there, Director Chi. The owner of the Zhizhen Hotel is a friend of mine. We’ll take the presidential suite there. I’ll call right now,” Xiao Jin said, raising his voice so Zhao Ming could hear.

Seeing Xiao Jin’s generosity, Zhao Ming couldn’t refuse. “Alright, then it’s settled. We’ll go to the Zhizhen Hotel after work.”

The guy with the pigtail in the office led the cheers, “Yeah! Yeah!”

Zhao Ming returned to his office and called his wife, speaking gently: “Honey, I have a dinner tonight. My colleagues insisted on a celebration for my promotion, so I won’t be home for dinner. There are some snacks in the fridge if you get hungry. When I get back, I’ll bring something for you. I’ll pick up Xiyu after his night class, don’t worry.”

“Alright, but don’t drink too much—preferably not at all. You lose control when you’re drunk, and you’ve just been promoted. You need to watch your image, understand?” Du Juan reminded him.

“I’ll keep it under control. I’ll bring four bottles of strong liquor, 52-proof. I doubt they’ll finish them all, so we’ll be fine. See you tonight!” Zhao Ming blew her a kiss through the phone.

He put down the phone, took out his wallet, and counted his cash—just two thousand yuan. If not for a special contribution award from work, he would have been in trouble. He frowned, annoyed that he’d forgotten to ask his wife for more money. Two thousand wouldn’t be enough—what a headache!

Just in case, he remembered Wu Zhengzhe would be there and called him. “Zhengzhe, you’re coming tonight, right? Can you stop by the bank and bring some cash? I don’t think I’ve got enough to cover the bill.”

Wu Zhengzhe and Xiao Jin were still busy at the station. “No problem. We’ll finish up here and head over,” they replied.

(To be continued)