Stealing Secrets

The pickup had barely reached the entrance to the aquaculture base.

Jiang Miao spotted his brother-in-law's pickup parked there as well. He took Shu Ya straight to the manager's office.

Suddenly, he looked toward a fish farmer feeding eels atop the embankment of a nearby pond. The man saw Jiang Miao too and hurriedly set down the feed hopper in his hands.

Shu Ya, who had her arm linked through his, sensed something unusual as well, but she said nothing.

"Boss, Madam Boss, Happy New Year!"

Jiang Miao smiled and handed him a red envelope. "Xiao Cai, Happy New Year!"

"Thank you, Boss!"

Jiang Miao turned away, his eyes narrowing slightly.

The two of them walked hand in hand into the base's manager's office.

His brother-in-law was not in the office.

Just then, Shu Ya asked quietly, "Was there something wrong with that employee earlier?"

"The instant he saw me, his eyes darted about, and he instinctively looked toward the feed mixing room. In weather this cold, his forehead was covered in cold sweat. He was obviously extremely nervous. I've seen him several times before, and he never reacted like this." Jiang Miao improvised an explanation for the Appraisal Panel's results.

Through the Appraisal Panel, he had discovered that when this fish farmer, Xiao Cai, saw him, his adrenaline had surged. All the hormones and physiological reactions associated with fear, guilt, worry, and nervousness had appeared in his body.

Clearly, this man had done something wrong—and something very serious.

Jiang Miao turned on the computer in the manager's office and pulled up the surveillance records from the base's monitoring room.

Before long, he found what he was looking for.

"He sneaked near the feed mixing room several times. He definitely has ulterior motives." Shu Ya frowned tightly.

For the sake of confidentiality, Jiang Miao had purchased quite a few nutrients, but there were many different varieties, and a large portion of them were useless—or would even cause side effects.

Moreover, the mixing room had only one door, secured with a combination lock. Only Jiang Miao, Jiang Dahai, and Zhang Xincheng could enter it.

During the daily process of preparing feed for the eels, Jiang Dahai or Zhang Xincheng personally handled the crucial portion of the feed and the feeding itself, never giving the other fish farmers a chance to handle it.

Although this confidentiality arrangement could not remain secret for long, the important thing for now was to delay matters for as long as possible.

More than twenty minutes later.

Zhang Xincheng, wearing a red down jacket, came in from outside.

"A Miao, little sister-in-law, why aren't you two at home during the New Year? I can handle things here."

Shu Ya had already brewed a pot of Phoenix Dan Cong. She poured Zhang Xincheng a cup of hot tea and said with a smile in Cantonese, "Brother-in-law, have some tea."

"Thanks, little sister-in-law." Zhang Xincheng spoke Cantonese. More precisely, many fishermen around Ma Gong Town could speak it.

"Brother-in-law, I noticed something off about Xiao Cai just now." As Jiang Miao spoke, he sent his brother-in-law the video he had copied onto his phone.

After watching for a while, Zhang Xincheng's expression turned grave as well. "A Miao, there really is something wrong with this Xiao Cai. Why don't we call the police directly?"

Jiang Miao shook his head. "Calling the police now won't help. He hasn't actually stolen any secrets yet, and there's no evidence. The police station would at most give him a warning and some education. It would only alert him."

"Then are we supposed to watch him steal the secrets? What if he actually succeeds?" Zhang Xincheng paced back and forth anxiously.

"What's his background like?"

"Let me think..." Zhang Xincheng recalled the man's personal information. A moment later, he said, "This Xiao Cai is from town, not from any of the villages in Salt Town. He seemed to have worked on an assembly line at Xinli Electronics Factory before."

"If he isn't from Salt Town, that makes things easier." Jiang Miao immediately leaned close and gave Zhang Xincheng several quiet instructions.

Then he took out a blank notebook and wrote a string of data and nutrient-related terms inside. Next, he dampened the pages with a wet tissue and crumpled them several times, making them look as though they had been frequently handled.

Zhang Xincheng accepted the notebook and nodded. "Leave it to me."

Jiang Miao left the aquaculture base with Shu Ya.

A little after four in the afternoon.

Several more employees at the aquaculture base had gotten off work, leaving only Zhang Xincheng, a disabled security guard, and two fish farmers. One of them was Xiao Cai, who had volunteered to stay behind.

Inside the logistics warehouse.

Zhang Xincheng took Xiao Cai with him, gathered quite a few nutrients and other ingredients, and pushed the stuff for mixing on a handcart toward the mixing room.

When they reached the door, Zhang Xincheng turned around. "Xiao Cai, are you short on money lately?"

"Uh... no..." Xiao Cai answered evasively, then nervously changed the subject. "I got a girlfriend, and expenses have been a bit high. There's triple overtime pay and red envelopes during the New Year, so I wanted to earn a little more."

"I see. If you're short on money, just let me know. Lending you a few tens of thousands for an emergency wouldn't be a problem." Zhang Xincheng smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

Xiao Cai's body immediately stiffened, and an awkward smile appeared on his face. "If I need it, I'll definitely ask you to borrow some, Brother."

Zhang Xincheng smiled and instructed him, "Go feed the fish ponds numbered twenty through thirty. Use Feed No. 3."

"No problem."

"Work hard. The company won't treat you unfairly."

Watching Xiao Cai's departing back, Zhang Xincheng felt conflicted. I hope you know when to stop. You've already been given a chance.

He then entered the mixing room and shut the door behind him.

Next, Zhang Xincheng placed the notebook on the workbench to one side, then switched on a special switch hidden inside a switch box.

He began mixing a barrel of feed additive according to the formula in the record book.

Then he deliberately turned around and mixed another barrel of feed additive in the corner.

Right after that, he carried one of the barrels out of the mixing room and casually shut the door behind him.

On the embankment of the fish pond diagonally opposite the mixing room, Xiao Cai saw Zhang Xincheng hurriedly leave with a bucket. After glancing around and seeing no one else, he knew the other breeder was at the fish pond on the other side of the base.

Making up his mind, he carried a feed bucket and quietly approached the switch for an aerator at a nearby fish pond. Concealed by the mulberry trees on the embankment, he pulled a charger pinned with a safety pin from his pocket and swiftly plugged it into the outlet.

Pfft...

Because the safety pin connected the neutral and live wires, the charger immediately burst into scorched sparks, followed by the stench of burning plastic.

Ignoring the charger as it caught fire, Xiao Cai quickly wrapped it in his glove, yanked it out, and casually tossed it into the fish pond beside him.

At the same time.

The power throughout the entire farm tripped.

However, the indoor breeding area of the farm had a backup power supply. As soon as the circuit failed, the backup power kicked in.

Inside the indoor breeding area, Zhang Xincheng's gaze darkened. "A coincidence? Or..."

He did not go outside. Instead, he picked up the phone and called the electrician. "Lao Zhao, the farm's circuit just malfunctioned. Get over here right away."

"What? All right, all right... I'll be there immediately."

On the other side.

After throwing away the charger, Xiao Cai quickly carried the bucket toward the mixing room. He knew he had only one chance.

The farm's surveillance cameras were on the same grid as the rest of the farm's electrical system. The fault just now would put the cameras out of commission.

But time was tight. Zhang Xincheng would definitely call the electrician to repair it immediately, and Lao Zhao was from Qingcao Town. It would take about twenty minutes to get here from home, and with the time needed to inspect the wiring, it would take at least half an hour.

In other words, he had fifty minutes at most.

When he arrived at the mixing room door, he already knew from researching online that this type of combination lock was just a simple four-digit lock.

As long as he knew which four numbers were involved, it would be easy to test the password.