A Searing Red

Past one in the morning, Zhou Yi dragged his weary body onto the bed in his office.

It was his third consecutive day of working overtime.

Since the task force had been formed, he and his colleagues from the criminal investigation, economic investigation, and public order brigades had worked day and night sorting and analyzing reports, taking direct aim at Fu Yu, the son of County Party Secretary Fu Pingjiang, known as the princeling.

Unlike the Zeng Brothers, who kept thugs on their payroll and usually achieved their aims through beatings, killings, and other forms of outright violence, Fu Yu employed a more sophisticated approach: "soft violence."

He amassed illicit profits through extortion, bid rigging, fraudulent invoicing, and forced transactions.

These methods were more covert, making investigation and evidence collection much harder.

The task force had collected and organized twenty-three leads. After careful analysis, they decided to focus on two key targets: Shen Hai, deputy secretary of the County Political and Legal Affairs Commission, and Huang Sheng, chairman of Dongji County's Daxing Construction Engineering Co., Ltd.

Enough thinking. Time to sleep, or I won't be able to get up in the morning.

Wait, let me check my messages first.

Sure enough, he had left an important message unanswered, and the sender had lost patience and left him with, "I'm going to take a shower."

After a moment's thought, he hurriedly replied, "Just finished working overtime. Been dead tired lately."

Right, now I can sleep.

Beep, beep.

A reply came almost immediately with the message alert.

"Take care of yourself. If you need to, buy some Huiren Kidney Treasure to build yourself back up."

Zhou Yi checked the time in disbelief.

One twenty-two in the morning. Seriously, lady, why are you still awake?

And what kind of outrageous suggestion is that?

"Staying up late isn't good for women. It can mess up your cycle. How about I buy two boxes of Huiren Kidney Treasure? One for me, one for you. When you feel good, I feel good."

Zhou Yi sent his reply at once.

"Sure, I'll wait for you to mail it. Enough chatting. Get some rest. Good night."

Jian Shuyue was actually feeling a little more awake, but she ended the conversation herself, not wanting to keep him from resting.

He really is busy!

If he's that busy, he probably doesn't have time to have dinner with Zhou Xiaofan or anything, right?

In the few days since she had returned, she had no idea what had come over her. Every so often, that man in police uniform seemed to appear before her eyes.

Jian Shuyue was exasperated with herself. She had suddenly become a fool prone to wild imaginings, nothing like the exemplary student and outstanding class officer she was supposed to be.

At nine that morning, the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the County Public Security Bureau decided to summon Huang Sheng, chairman of Daxing Construction Engineering Co., Ltd., for questioning, but he was nowhere to be found.

His family and company employees confirmed that he had not been seen since leaving home the day before yesterday.

The County Public Security Bureau immediately launched a countywide search. Three full days passed, but there was still no trace of Huang Sheng.

In his office, Zhou Yi frowned deeply. He had a bad feeling. This suspect, the man most likely to possess crucial evidence concerning the construction of the Rural Commercial Building, had either fled to escape prosecution or met with foul play.

Then, unexpectedly, on the afternoon of August 14, Zhou Yi received a call from a stranger.

"Hello, is this Captain Zhou?" A man's hoarse voice came through the phone.

"Speaking. Who is this?" Zhou Yi asked, puzzled.

"Captain Zhou, this is Huang Sheng."

Zhou Yi froze at those words. He quickly raised a hand, signaling Cai Xiaobo and the others in the office to be quiet.

"Captain Zhou, I know you're looking for me, and I know what you want. But first, I need to ask you something. Can you guarantee my safety and my family's?"

Huang Sheng's breathing was rapid. After hiding for an entire week, he had finally decided to turn himself in.

He knew all too well that he held too many of the Fu family's secrets. Fu Yu would certainly kill him to silence him. If he wanted to live, surrendering was his only option.

In the past, he would never even have dared consider it. But now, the downfall of Zeng Xuedong and his two brothers had made one thing clear: in Dongji County, Zhou Yi was the only man who could bring down Fu Yu and the forces behind him!

"I can," Zhou Yi answered firmly.

"I trust you, Captain Zhou. Bring your men to the top floor of Daxing Construction right now," Huang Sheng said hurriedly.

"All right. I'll be there right away."

Zhou Yi hung up and beckoned to the man who never shirked a duty. "Shao, you and Liu Zhi take two officers and come with me."

Why hadn't he called in men from the Criminal Investigation Brigade? Because, by comparison, he still trusted the men in his own brigade more.

Meanwhile, Huang Sheng paced anxiously around a storeroom. A week earlier, he had secretly bought a SIM card and stashed some food here, then spent seven days hiding like a rat.

Every day felt like a year. Every minute was torment.

Ring, ring, ring...

His phone suddenly rang. Huang Sheng instinctively thought it was Zhou Yi, but a closer look revealed an unfamiliar number.

After a moment's hesitation, he answered, but cautiously remained silent.

"Huang, you've really made me work hard to find you!"

At that familiar voice, Huang Sheng felt as though he had plunged into an icy abyss.

"Relax. I'm not interested in where you're hiding. What interests me now is the little girl in a yellow dress with a red hair clip lying on my bed. Tell me, once I've had my fun with her, should I sell her off to some remote mountain village, or just stuff her in a sack and toss her into the Dongji River?"

The voice on the phone was relaxed and unhurried, but the viciousness in those words made his scalp crawl.

"Young Master Fu, please show mercy. You said families were off-limits..." Huang Sheng pleaded, his voice strained.

"That's right. Families are off-limits. But only if you take the fall yourself, Huang!" The princeling's voice was cold and merciless.

"Just tell me what you want me to do," Huang Sheng asked in despair.

"You're a smart man. Surely you can figure it out?" Fu Yu asked with a laugh.

Fifteen minutes later, Zhou Yi arrived outside Daxing Construction with Shao Mingbao, Liu Zhi, and two police officers.

Huang Sheng had certainly understood the principle that the most dangerous place was the safest. He had hidden in his own company for seven days.

They had barely stepped out of the car when they heard a dull thud.

A figure fell from the seventh floor and slammed squarely onto a sedan parked to the right of the building's entrance.

It was early afternoon. Bright, blazing sunlight fell across the middle-aged man's blood-covered face, his eyes wide open.

His right hand tightly gripped a photograph. In it, a family of three nestled together, their faces beaming with happiness.

Now, a trickle of blood slowly dripped onto the photograph, leaving a searing patch of red!