An eerie silence suddenly fell over the room.
After a dozen seconds or so, Zhou Yi finally broke the silence. In an unusual tone, he said, "There's something I simply can't figure out. Before we set off, only five people knew the exact target of this operation: the secretary, Department Director Tian, myself, Bi Wensheng, and Fu Kui."
"Yet when we arrived in Hongqiao Township, we found large numbers of officers from the Chuanhai City and Nanchang County public security bureaus already there. If the People's Armed Police hadn't been carrying out their assignment, those officers would have searched the Fish-Watching Hut before we did."
"What do you make of this, Secretary Cheng, Department Director Tian?"
Cheng Zhixing and Tian Zhengbing both felt a jolt. Sure enough, Zhou Yi had grown suspicious! In fact, his advance deployment of the People's Armed Police alone showed that they, too, were among those he was guarding against.
Cheng Zhixing frowned and looked at Zhou Yi. "You mean someone leaked the information?"
Tian Zhengbing's expression turned cold as well. Seizing the initiative, he demanded, "Are you suspecting us?"
Zhou Yi replied solemnly, "There's certainly no question about the secretary or Department Director Tian, or myself, of course. But Bi Wensheng and Fu Kui..."
He left the sentence unfinished, confident that Cheng Zhixing and Tian Zhengbing would understand what he meant.
Cheng Zhixing considered it briefly, then asked without committing himself, "There is indeed something suspicious about this. What do you have in mind?"
Zhou Yi immediately answered in a firm, decisive tone, "I recommend that the department investigate Comrades Bi Wensheng and Fu Kui. If they did commit the serious legal and disciplinary violation of leaking operational intelligence, we must not let them off."
Cheng Zhixing turned to Tian Zhengbing. "What's your opinion, Comrade