Jiang Ting quickly went downstairs, walked through the hotel lobby, and came out of the door of the hotel. Standing on the side of the busy street, he frowned and looked at the traffic in the distance.
Yan Xie followed him out, wrapped the windbreaker in his arms around Jiang Ting, and said casually: "It's cold outside."
Jiang Ting nodded: "Qi Sihao said he'll be here in a few minutes."
They didn't expect that the King of Spades would dare to attack so quickly — after all, he didn't intend on killing Qi Sihao before, he just wanted to coerce and lure him for his own use. Therefore, when Qi Sihao was hesitating between following them or staying in Gongzhou, Jiang Ting told him it was best to stick to his usual daily life in order to not be seen as abnormal by others.
"What do you think is going on with Fang Zhenghong?" Before Qi Sihao's car appeared, Yan Xie took out a cigarette and lit it, asking Jiang Ting, "Why does his attitude seem as if he know you before?"
Jiang Ting reached out to grab the cigarette, but Yan Xie stopped him: "You're not in good health, forget it."
Recently, Yan Xie was following some healthcare hearsay posted in Madam Zeng Cuicui's WeChat feed. Even when buying breakfast, he resolutely refused to buy bean-paste buns, saying that it was necessary for Jiang Ting to eat more meat, as eating meat could replenish his body. Now he was pressing him to give up smoking. In order to prevent Jiang Ting from smoking the cigarette in his mouth, he even turned his body on purpose, with vigilance.jpg written all over his face.
Jiang Ting sighed, thinking that the WeChat article sent by Yang Mei was indeed correct, the family members without financial income could only be regarded as second-class citizens, so he rubbed his nose helplessly and said, "We've met before, but we don't know each other well."
"How did you two become acquainted?"
"During the Gongzhou-Jianning joint operation, he was the leader of Jianning's team, so we've cooperated several times. I felt that he was quite cooperative with my instructions and had a lot of discussions with him. So when you said that Fang Zhenghong wasn't used to your family's wealth, I was quite surprised, because he didn't give me the impression of someone who takes advantage of one's seniority. On the contrary, he had always respected people."
Having said this, Jiang Ting added cautiously: "But this alone can only show that he viewed me as a good person, and it's impossible for him to believe that I hadn't colluded with drug dealers simply after cooperating with him a few times."
——Where did Fang Zhenghong's strange attitude toward the two come from?
Yan Xie smoked a cigarette and pondered for a while, then took a deep breath: "Do you think Yue Guangping's gun was really stolen by Fang Zhenghong?"
"It's hard to say, it depends on what benefits the King of Spades can use to pull him to his side." Jiang Ting thoughtfully said: "But I had a feeling… Fang Zhenghong's attitude towards you is not so much tempted by interests, but rather…"
Yan Xie looked at him, and the two faced each other on the side of the noisy street. After a while, Jiang Ting finally spat out the word in doubt:
"Hate."
Scratch—
At this moment, a Mercedes-Benz stopped by the sidewalk. The window was lowered, and inside was Qi Sihao's sweaty face: "I'm here, hurry up! Hurry up!"
...…
Because of Qi Sihao's arrival, Fang Zhenghong had been locked in the bathroom with a leather glove in his mouth again. The man over half a hundred years old was tossed into anger by Yan Xie so much so that he kept squeaking and protesting inside — but Qi Sihao was so frightened that he held a cup of hot water tremblingly after entering the room and ignored the movement from the bathroom.
"I went out this morning to go to the Municipal Party Committee meeting, but as soon as I left the gate of my community, a white truck came up and followed me from a distance. I didn't pay attention at first, but when I came down from the bridge, which was relatively secluded, there was a sudden change in the back. Another truck overtook me and kept crossing the line, pushing me to the right side of the road — no matter how sluggish I was, this time I felt something was wrong. They clearly wanted to hit me! I just wanted to speed up and get rid of these two trucks, but as soon as I sped up, both the trucks – on the left and behind – also sped up at the same time to try to stop me!"
Qi Sihao was still in shock, and after drinking several sips of hot water, he calmed down: "The truck on the left squeezed me hard, and the truck behind kept coming up and colliding with the rear of my car. It went on like this for several kilometers. I can't even describe the details to you. I was so nervous at the time that I couldn't even read the license plate number clearly. If I had been a little distracted, my car would've crashed and I would've died. Fortunately, I… What the hell is that sound?!"
Qi Sihao was startled and looked toward the bathroom. Yan Xie said casually: "It's okay, just a stray dog."
Qi Sihao: "?"
The protest in the bathroom grew louder.
"So you didn't go to the meeting of the Municipal Party Committee, and went directly to Gaorong County?" Jiang Ting asked.
"How would I dare to go to the meeting!" Qi Sihao cried and grimaced: "They dare to attack me on the way to the Municipal Party Committee. How bold can these people be?!"
Yan Xie leaned against the TV cabinet with his arms folded and laughed when he heard the words: "You're very courageous. You dare to drive a car that costs a few million to the Municipal Party Committee. Do you fear that the Disciplinary Committee will not know how much money you made?"
"Okay, okay," Qi Sihao spread his hands, both regretful and wronged: "But how do I know that making such a small amount of money will anger a drug lord like the King of Spades? They are the ones who make and sell drugs and make a lot of money. I merely just stole some 'packets' to make some profit. Do they have to go as far as to try to kill me again and again?"
Yan Xie didn't know if it was his illusion, but after Qi Sihao said this, the movement in the bathroom suddenly stopped.
"If you think like that, bigger things will happen in the future." Jiang Ting said lightly.
It would have been good if he hadn't said that. After hearing this, Qi Sihao's face turned blue and red, and he jumped up irritably: "Is it time to discuss whether I am wrong? You promised me that as long as I cooperate with the investigation of Yue Guangping's murder, I will be able to grab the evidence against the drug dealer and bring the King of Spades to justice — but now? Where is the progress of your investigation?!"
Yan Xie said: "Calm down, Old Qi, we have at least found out that Yue Guangping is likely to have an illegitimate child…"
"Could that be the King of Spades?" The anxious and angry Qi Sihao couldn't wait to interrupt him: "His son was a drug dealer, so the 1009 operation was leaked in advance. He felt guilty and asked to meet Captain Jiang but was killed by his own son first?"
The room was quiet, and several people looked at each other, and after a long while, only Yang Mei let out a sigh:
"Why doesn't Captain Qi just write crime novels instead?
"The family of the King of Spades is a serious criminal syndicate. His father and even grandfathers are all unclean. He was called the King of Spades in the southwest border area in his early years; it was all because his father used to be called the Ace of Clubs." Jiang Ting said, "It would be too ridiculous to say that his son is the King of Spades. But I suspect that Yue Guangping's illegitimate son has some connection with the King of Spades criminal group, and it is even possible that he might even be a drug dealer who planted himself beside Yue Guangping."
"Then you guys go and find it out!" Qi Sihao was about to have a heart attack: "Didn't you all vow to find out the mole? Don't you want to rectify the name of Captain Jiang?! Captain Jiang, you and the King of Spades, that bastard, have a blood feud. You can't just watch him kill innocent people again, right? You have to save me!"
Qi Sihao was about to pull Jiang Ting's hand, but the latter shrank back briskly and swiftly. Yan Xie, who was a few steps away, immediately caught up with big strides, and forcefully cut in between Jiang Ting and Qi Sihao: "Hey, what are you doing, talk properly, and don't move your hands!"
"No, no," Qi Sihao almost died today, and with his greedy and timid character and psychological quality, he was almost at the limit. He was about to cross Yan Xie to beg Jiang Ting: "Captain Jiang, listen to me, now this is an emergency… "
But how could Yan Xie allow other men to pull Jiang Ting's hand — even if it was someone who was nearly fifty and ugly, it wasn't okay — so he pushed Qi Sihao out indiscriminately, and said angrily, "You're the only one who has the nerve to call yourself innocent and loyal! Stand away from me and talk properly!"
Bang bang bang!
The sound of the door slamming sounded loud. Everyone was stunned, and Jiang Ting glanced at where the sound came from.
Bang bang!
"….." Qi Sihao pointed tremblingly at the bathroom door: "Someone… Someone is knocking on the door?"
The door handle was twisted with difficulty and then opened in front of everyone's eyes.
Fang Zhenghong, whose feet had been tied, finally stood up. He unlocked the lock with his wrist, twisted his body, squeezed through the crack of the door with difficulty, and glared at everyone: "@#￥%*&…*"
"..." Qi Sihao was stunned, and looked back at Yan Xie with shocked eyes: Is this the stray dog you picked up?
Yan Xie covered his forehead with a long sigh, stepped forward, and took off the tattered leather gloves in Fang Zhenghong's mouth, his face full of sincerity and his hands spread out.
"You haven't met yet, so let me introduce you to each other first. This is Qi Sihao of the Gongzhou Criminal Investigation Division, who is suspected to be being chased by the King of Spades; this is Fang Zhenghong of the Jianning Anti-drug Division, who is suspected to be helping the King of Spades to hunt me down — the two of you can exchange the experience of chasing and being chased, learn from each other, get along well, ah."
At the next moment, Fang Zhenghong interrupted Yan Xie as if he had not heard anything, and directly stared at Jiang Ting: "Yue Guangping was killed by someone?"
Jiang Ting put his hands in his trouser pockets and said nothing.
Fang Zhenghong blinked his wrinkled eyes, turned to Yan Xie, and couldn't believe it:
"…Isn't the mole you?!"
...…
Ten minutes later, in the hotel room.
Yan Xie slapped the armrest with all his might, and was pressed against the chair by someone: "Let me go! Let me beat him again! If he doesn't agree, I'll change my surname to Fang!"
Jiang Ting was on the other side of the room to protect Fang Zhenghong, who did not dare to say a word. Yang Mei kept pretending to persuade Yan Xie: "Vice-Captain Yan, don't do this. He is a division captain, after all. Look, you have been working diligently for more than ten years and are still only a vice-captain. Don't do this, don't fight with others…"
Yang Mei couldn't hide the joy in her eyes. When Yan Xie heard her words, the blood rushed to the top of his head, and he almost rolled up his sleeves again: "Let me go!"
"You're still so stubborn?!" Fang Zhenghong couldn't help it, and stuck his head out from Jiang Ting's shackles with a red face: "If not you, who else could be the mole in Jianning City Bureau? Since the case of Hu Weisheng's drug production, you've been acting sneaky. You always run out to handle the case alone, and you even drove a police car to and rushed out from the scene of the hostage rescue without authorization. Who knows what the hell you were doing?!"
Yan Xie's brows raised up, and just as he was about to scold back, Jiang Ting gently inserted a sentence: "Captain Fang, on the night of the hostage rescue in Hu Weisheng's case, I discovered the whereabouts of the sniper, and even chased him on the abandoned road. Captain Yan acted without authorization to catch the sniper."
Fang Zhenghong didn't speak and straightened his neck again: "He keeps the office door closed all day long, who knows what he does, and often calls secretly to report information when handling cases—"
"He calls me," Jiang Ting said gently, "Han Xiaomei, Ma Xiang, and others can testify."
Yan Xie took the opportunity to let out an extremely mocking sneer.
"…That, that…" Fang Zhenghong was so stimulated by the sneer that his index fingers trembled, and he was almost at a loss for words: "The day this surnamed Yan was poisoned by drinking medicinal wine. It was obviously impossible for any normal person to survive, but it happened. He was rescued on the deserted winding mountain road, and he is still alive. How is this possible?! Why does no one think it was a good show that he deliberately directed and acted in order to clear his suspicions?!"
Yan Xie made a gesture to speak, and Jiang Ting said helplessly: "Captain Fang, the Panshan Highway was not empty that day."
Fang Zhenghong's eyes widened, only to see Jiang Ting pressing his left hand on his shoulder and his right hand ruffling his own hair, motioning him to look at the bright red unhealed scar on his forehead:
"On the day of the incident, I drove an off-road vehicle following Yan Xie, and when the poison broke out, I crashed into his car to rescue him. Then Ma Xiang rushed to take us to the hospital, so Yan Xie's life could be saved ."
The room was quiet. Fang Zhenghong opened and closed his mouth, his expression was particularly absurd and funny.
"You…you…" After a long while, he finally squeezed out a few words: "What is the relationship between you two?"
Jiang Ting sighed while holding his forehead: "I told you, just accompanying family members."
Fang Zhenghong staggered back a few steps and sat on the bed, looking quite lost after being shocked.
Everyone looked at him without saying a word, only Yang Mei's face was full of sympathy, and her heart was filled with a strange feeling of "fellow sufferers should commiserate with each other".
"Now it's time for me to ask you, Captain Fang." Yan Xie twitched the corner of his mouth, his expression full of undisguised sarcasm and pride.
Fang Zhenghong: "..."
Yan Xie looked down at him condescendingly, and said word by word, "So what did I do to make you not only think that I'm the mole in Jianning but also f*cking try to kill me again and again, huh?!"
"..."
Everyone's eyes were focused on Fang Zhenghong, only to see this old police officer who was always pale and sallow on weekdays, raise his eyebrows, his rigid manner making people feel uncomfortable. After a while, his mouth opened and closed, and then he said hoarsely:
"I didn't want to harm you. I followed you just to get evidence and prove to Chief Lu that you were colluding with drug dealers. But I really never set out to kill you…"
"No?" Yan Xie immediately asked coldly, "Then why did you stop Qin Chuan from drinking my medicinal wine, and then threw away the only medicinal wine bottle that could be used as physical evidence?"
Fang Zhenghong seemed to have frozen, and after a long time, he finally raised his head and stared at Yan Xie, his eyes were so bright and terrifying.
"Because I thought you might want to hurt him," Fang Zhenghong said slowly, "Just like at that time I was just a little injured, but after drinking your medicinal wine… I'm still sick even now."