Director Chen cleared his throat and slowly stood up, his arms trembling slightly, clearly very angry. "We've made fools of ourselves in front of the Audit Office. Anyone attempting to shirk responsibility is tarnishing the bank's reputation. This matter will be investigated internally as well. Lin Qiang, you may go for now. We'll notify you later to cooperate with the investigation."
"Understood." Lin Qiang's emotions had gradually stabilized. "Director Chen, I apologize for losing control of my emotions earlier. This incident is indeed embarrassing. Even I was bewildered by it."
Director Chen turned to look at Lin Qiang, his gaze rather intimidating. "Say no more. The truth will come out. Carry on with your normal work and don't let this affect you."
"Certainly." Lin Qiang avoided meeting his gaze and turned to leave.
"Yes, don't let it affect your work," Rosa also stood up smiling. "Little Lin, won't you stay for lunch?"
"Sure, I do miss the cafeteria," Lin Qiang replied without awkwardness, turning back with a smile. "But I don't have a meal card for this location. Are you treating me, Director Luo?"
"Of course," Rosa patted Lin Qiang. "See you at lunch then. You have other matters to attend to, right?"
"Alright, see you at lunch."
Although Lin Qiang was extremely averse to dining with her and was certain it was 200% insincere, it was clear she had something to say. Regardless of what they were plotting or what kind of trap it might be, he had to face it head-on. This was no time to back down.
"Hey, Zheng Shuai, sorry for calling at this hour, but it's urgent."
"Do you know anyone in the Security Department?"
"Okay, I'm heading there now. I'll explain later."
Five minutes later, Lin Qiang arrived at the daily monitoring room of the Security Department on the fourth floor of the Jijing Office.
"Shh..." The middle-aged man in the monitoring room quickly made a gesture for silence when he saw Lin Qiang arrive, closed the door, and then whispered, "Zheng Shuai told me everything. Let's be quick."
"Thank you, Mister Lu..." Lin Qiang nodded politely before sitting down at the monitoring station with him.
The on-duty employee, Mister Lu, reminded him: "Here, we can only view recordings on-site. If you actually need to use them, you'll need to submit a written application, you understand?"
"Of course, I'm well-versed in this," Lin Qiang got straight to the point. "Could you please pull up the surveillance footage for the Financial Street Branch, the back-office work area near the manager's office, around 2 PM on August 7th, around 11 AM on August 11th, and also for July 22nd to 24th?"
"Not difficult, just a moment." Mister Lu skillfully operated the database system, saying with a smile, "Many people come to check surveillance footage, but few remember the details as clearly as you do."
"Haha, can't help it, it's urgent," Lin Qiang shook his head. "Those people are trying to erase something that happened in broad daylight."
"Ah, that happens a lot." Mister Lu also shook his head. "However, sometimes you can't trust surveillance footage too much."
He pointed with two fingers at his eyes: "Even what the eyes may see may not be true, let alone the many things that can't be seen."
With that said, he had already pulled up the footage from August 7th. Since it wasn't too long ago, Lin Qiang remembered clearly that this was the day when Qian Cai first asked him why he hadn't approved the loan.
"There are no cameras inside the office, only in the corridor."
"Understood."
The two men stared at the monitor, quickly finding the relevant time point. Lin Qiang was in the corridor, carrying a thick stack of material into Qian Cai's office.
A few minutes later, Lin Qiang came out again with the material, his expression slightly dissatisfied, and left.
"Can we get audio?" Lin Qiang asked.
"The corridor surveillance doesn't have that function. Only the counter cameras do," Mister Lu shook his head and asked, "Did you have an argument with someone?"
"Yes," Lin Qiang frowned. "This footage can prove there was a conflict between us, but it can't prove each party's stance. Let's look at the 11th."
"Alright."
After some adjustments, Mister Lu brought up the footage from August 11th.
This time the situation had changed. Qian Cai stormed out of the office, fuming as he walked down the corridor.
"Show the employee work area," Lin Qiang quickly said.
In the work area, Qian Cai ran directly to Lin Qiang's workstation, slamming the desk and saying something. In the footage, Lin Qiang was taking out documents one by one, arguing his case.
"Pause it. Can you zoom in?" Lin Qiang asked.
"Sure, these are recently installed cameras, same quality as traffic cameras that can read license plates." Mister Lu smiled and zoomed in on the documents in Lin Qiang's hand in the footage.
Lin Qiang stared intently at the screen, asking Mister Lu to advance frame by frame.
Finally, one frame was relatively clear, and they could faintly make out the characters "Xinda" on the financial statement in Lin Qiang's hand.
"Good, that's almost it." Lin Qiang patted Mister Lu's shoulder. "Mister Lu, you're indeed skilled. Let's continue."
"This is all very simple, easy to learn," Mister Lu said as he adjusted the view back to normal size and continued watching the footage. "Even so, this still doesn't prove what you're saying, does it?"
"It adds some credibility," Lin Qiang pointed at the screen. "At least I'm pointing at the company's financial statement with an agitated expression, clearly showing some dissatisfaction."
"But couldn't the opposite interpretation also stand?"
"Well... that's also true." Lin Qiang frowned. "It could also be interpreted as me trying to convince the other party that there's nothing wrong with the report."
"Haha, so you see, even the eyes can't always discern the truth," Mister Lu nodded with a smile. "The same footage can have two different interpretations from different standpoints."
"..." Lin Qiang suddenly realized that this old Mister had seemed unfathomable since he entered the room. He respectfully asked, "What did you do before, sir?"
"Haha, before I retired from the military, I specialized in analyzing these kinds of recordings," Mister Lu laughed. "Later, I got tired of it and simply transferred here to work shifts."
"Our United Bank really does have hidden talents..." Lin Qiang sighed, thinking that this old Mister must have some insights. He proceeded to explain the whole situation to him, seeking his opinion.
...
"Hmm..." After hearing everything, Mister Lu stroked his chin and shook his head. "The surveillance in the back-office area doesn't have audio. Checking these recordings is futile; the other party can just interpret them differently."
Lin Qiang clenched his fist in anger: "Damn, even this method is useless... Mister Lu, is there any way to find audio recordings from that time, or phone communication recordings? Doesn't the Security Department have this kind of internal data?"
"Haha, you overestimate me. I'm only responsible for monitoring room shifts. Internal communication data should be handled by the General Management Department."
"I see... I'll have to think of another way then." Lin Qiang shook his head helplessly.
"However, based on my experience, these recordings aren't entirely worthless," Mister Lu changed his tone, pointing at the screen. "Look, in the office area, you two are arguing so intensely, surely people nearby must have heard, right?"
Lin Qiang stared at the screen, finally realizing.
He had been blinded by anger, too fixated on finding hard evidence. In the footage, when he was arguing with Qian Cai, there were two people at nearby workstations who were present and occasionally glancing in their direction.
"Yes, yes, these two must have heard!" Lin Qiang pointed at the two people on the screen. "Not just them, many people know about this incident."
"That's why in legal proceedings, you need both witness testimony and physical evidence to draw conclusions."
"Thank you so much, Mister Lu. I'll go right away," Lin Qiang stood up, expressing his gratitude.
"Don't mention it," Mister Lu waved his hand casually. "Next time you come by, make sure to bring Zheng Shuai along for a cup of tea."
"Certainly."
After bidding farewell to Mister Lu, Lin Qiang quickly dialed a number. It was the colleague who had been sitting at a workstation not far from Lin Qiang in the footage.