The clouds gradually fade away and the sun sets in the west.
When a ray of sunset light filled the small hill, the abandoned village was left with only the reflections of Wen Liang and Meng Ke leaning on each other. A few stray dogs came out from nowhere to look for food, mixed with the croaking of frogs in the surrounding ponds, and jumped happily between the ridges, adding a bit of vitality to the place.
From beginning to end, Wen Liang didn't say a word. He just listened quietly to her talking about the past, and then when necessary, he gave her a shoulder to lean on.
Because he knew clearly that Meng Ke didn't need anyone's comfort or sympathy at this moment. Her confession was more like an outlet for her emotions that had been suppressed to the extreme. Besides, when it came to family affairs, who was right and who was wrong was always a mess, so he couldn't say much.
Time continues to pass!
Meng Ke leaned quietly on Wenliang's shoulder, her pretty face filled with a peaceful look, her long eyelashes were under her drooping eyes, and she blinked unconsciously in her sleep. The corners of her lips were slightly opened, which seemed to carry a bit of girlish longing and intoxication. Compared with the things in the real world, she finally got real peace at this moment.
Wen Liang lowered his head, stared at her for a moment, and said softly: "Meng Ke, Meng Ke..."
Meng Ke sat up straight with sleepy eyes, rubbed his eyes, and asked blankly: "What time is it?"
"It's past seven," Wen Liang looked at his watch and said, "It's getting dark, we should go home." As he spoke, he accidentally moved his numb arm that was under the pillow, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. Meng Ke was stunned for a moment before realizing that it was because of him. He apologized quickly, "How did I fall asleep? Did I hurt you? I'm sorry..."
Wen Liang overlapped his thumb and index finger and pressed a few times on the acupuncture points on his shoulders. The numbness and soreness disappeared without a trace. He smiled and said, "Again? If you say sorry again, I will be rude..."
Feeling Wenliang's concern, Meng Ke smiled and said, "I understand. I won't say any more. Let's go."
The two stood up and walked back hand in hand along the rugged road they had come. When they reached the cement road, Meng Ke stopped and looked back again, looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar scenery around him, feeling a strange feeling in his heart.
Some things, once lost, are lost forever!
When she turned around again, she saw Wen Liang standing not far away waiting for her. The afterglow of the setting sun was cast on his profile, and the faint smile on his lips seemed like the most beautiful picture in the world.
Even though we seem close yet far away, even though we are not relatives or friends,
However, having such a person around her finally made her feel less confused and helpless!
There was no conversation along the way. After sending Meng Ke home safely, Wen Liang turned around and left. On the way back to Xiyuan, he received a call from Lei Fang: "Brother, I have booked a private room at Jinshi and invited Master Yang, who is known as the God of Cooking in Jiang cuisine, to be the chef. You should hurry over. If you are late, you will miss this treat."
Wen Liang smiled and said, "What a coincidence! I have something else to do right now and I really can't leave! Thank you for your kindness, Brother Lei. How about we make an appointment another day?"
Lei Fang thought Wen Liang was in Guanshan, and said dissatisfiedly: "It's not a big deal, can't we let the people below handle it?"
"It's just a personal matter, I have to come out." Wen Liang explained: "I went back to Qingzhou in the afternoon, and I couldn't make it even if I rushed to Guanshan... OK, I got it, you guys wait a moment... Brother Lei, things are urgent here, if you don't have anything important to say, I'll hang up first, okay?"
"Wait," Lei Fang said hurriedly, "It's about what we agreed on earlier. I just collected 100 million yuan and plan to send it to you tonight."
"There's no rush... Besides, the banks are closed now, so I can't transfer money. You can't just give me 100 million in cash to take home."
"It's OK to transfer the money tomorrow. I was thinking of signing the agreement tonight..."
"Haha, it hasn't been long since I came to Guanshan, but Brother Lei's legal awareness is much more rigorous than before! How about this, I will return to Guanshan the day after tomorrow, and we will meet then, how about it?"
Lei Fang was originally afraid that the night would be long and full of dreams, but thinking about the news he heard from Zhu Zixuan, he was not afraid that Wen Liang would go back on his word, so he smiled and said, "That's fine, go and get busy, brother, see you the day after tomorrow!"
After hanging up the phone, Wen Liang shook his head. He was so anxious that he was not afraid of burning his mouth. When he arrived at Xiyuan, Chang Cheng was already waiting at the door. Wen Liang asked, "Is Director Liu here?"
"I just called him. He's on his way here. He'll probably be here in four or five minutes."
Wen Liang nodded, went into the room, closed his eyes and rested for a while. He was planning his actions for tonight when Liu Tianlai walked in under the guidance of Chang Cheng.
"Mr. Wen, Secretary Xu called me at the last minute, so I was delayed for a while..." Liu Tianlai didn't know if it was because he had been working at the grassroots level more often recently, his face, which was not white to begin with, looked even darker. However, he was successful in his career, his work was going well, and he was gaining more and more authority and status in Qingzhou. His spirit and energy had changed a lot. To put it in simple terms, his forehead was shining, and his fortune was excellent!
Wen Liang pointed to the sofa beside him and said, "Sit down. Have you arranged everything I told you to do?"
Liu Tianlai sat sideways and said, "Everything has been arranged. There are people waiting at all the exits around the Bishuiwan underground casino. A few police officers have been sent to pretend to be gamblers to set up surveillance in the lobby. There are also two female police officers who will replace the waitresses in the VIP room tonight. Once the target person has entered the game, they will wait for the VIP room to send the signal to take action, and then they will definitely catch him red-handed."
"Well," Wen Liang did not ask any more questions. Liu Tianlai was a professional in this kind of thing. If he said there would be no mistakes, then there would definitely be no mistakes. He asked, "Who is in charge over there?"
"Geng Chao, you know Young Master Wen," Liu Tianlai carefully examined Wen Liang's face and said, "Actually, it would be better for me to go there myself to stabilize the situation... Otherwise, I should still be in time if I rush over now."
Wen Liang waved his hand and said with a smile: "You are a senior leader at the department level after all. There is no need to do everything yourself. Just leave the minor matters to Director Geng. You can command remotely from here. If there is any situation, we can respond accordingly."
There are actually two reasons for not letting Liu Tianlai come forward. First, his reputation is too big now, and too many people in Qingzhou are paying attention to his every move. It is easy to attract other people's attention and cause some unnecessary trouble. Secondly, Wen Liang does not want a fatal blow, but to set a trap to get hold of the other party. Liu Tianlai can act as a buffer and middleman, making the whole thing look less of a conspiracy theory.
"Yes!" Liu Tianlai didn't think so much. For him, he would do whatever Wen Liang said. This was a habit he had developed since the political struggle in Qingzhou.
At 11:30 p.m., news came from Bishui Bay that the target person's vehicle had already entered Bishui Bay; at 12:17 p.m., the target person appeared in the underground casino, did not stay in the lobby, and went directly to the VIP room with tight security; at 12:35 p.m., the target started to play in person after watching a round; at 12:58 p.m., the target won 13,700 yuan in the first hand... News kept coming in, and the emergency that Wen Liang was worried about did not happen until 2:30 p.m., when Liu Tianlai received a call from Geng Chao. The operation was completed, the target was captured, and 57 gamblers were arrested on the spot, with a gambling fund of more than 3.57 million yuan. This was the largest achievement in Qingzhou's comprehensive management of gambling crimes over the years.
Qingzhou Public Security Bureau, interrogation room 1!
Geng Chao presided over the interrogation of the target person. He signaled the staff around him to start with his eyes, then reached out and turned the desk lamp, shining the glaring light on the other person's face, and asked coldly: "Name?"
The man sitting on the interrogation chair lowered his head and closed his eyes, not bothering to pay any attention to Geng Chao.
"Name?"
Still silent!
"I asked you your name, did you hear me?" Geng Chao frowned and his voice became stern.
The man didn't look up, but he didn't remain silent any longer. He said, "I want to see your director!"
The staff member who was taking notes said, "This is our director. What do you want to say?"
The man was blinded by the light, and his hands were cuffed, so he couldn't cover his eyes. He could only squint and look over here, and asked, "Are you Liu Tianlai?"
Geng Chao snorted coldly and said nothing. The staff member said, "This is Director Geng. Director Geng can make the decision on your matter. Tell the truth quickly, or you will be in trouble."
"Director Geng? Never heard of him!" The man said carelessly, "Call your Director Liu. I only want to talk to Liu Tianlai!"
"This is not your home, go find whoever you want! Be honest, I'll ask you again, your name?"
The man said arrogantly: "You are not worthy of asking my name, let Liu Tian come over!"
Geng Chao slammed the table and said sternly, "Don't want to talk? Fine, take him away and lock him up for three days, then interrogate him after three days!"
Two police officers came forward immediately to take the man away. He panicked. It didn't matter if he had committed a crime. As long as he dealt with it immediately, no one would know about it. But if he stayed here for three days, it would be too late. He said, "Chief Geng, don't get angry. We are all one family, one family!"
"Bullshit!" Geng Chao was furious and cursed, "Who the hell is your friend? Do you want to squat?"
Although the man had never been to the Public Security Bureau, he knew the power of the "horse stance" move. He struggled to turn around and shouted: "I am Min Chengye, from Guanshan. Director Geng, you must have heard of my name..."
“Take him away!”
Min Chengye didn't expect to meet a young man who had never even heard of his famous name, but he couldn't make it too clear in this situation. If he really revealed his identity, he would be unable to get back on track. Thinking about it, he regretted it. Why did he get so dizzy and follow his friends to Qingzhou, a ghost place, to try his luck? It was all because he said that this Bishuiwan had newly introduced gambling equipment from Thailand and Macau, and not only did it have more ways to play than Guanshan, but the tricks were also new, which made him tempted. Who would have thought that he was so unlucky and actually ran into a large-scale raid by the Public Security Bureau.
unlucky!
"What are you yelling about? What's going on?"
In the midst of the chaos, Liu Tianlai pushed the door open and walked in. Geng Chao immediately stood up and said, "Reporting to Director Liu, tonight, according to the city's unified deployment, we carried out the Thunder Operation and it was a complete success. I am interrogating the suspect now."
"Okay, got it. You guys continue. I just came back from Secretary Xu. He asked about the results of tonight's operation. You guys should first compile a number and especially catch a few typical cases so that I can report to the city!"
Liu Tian said as he was about to leave, but Min Chengye called out from behind, "Director Liu, Director Liu, it's me, Min Chengye."
"Min Chengye?" Liu Tianlai stopped and turned back in confusion, saying, "This name sounds familiar. Are you from Guanshan?"
"Yes, yes." Min Chengye felt happy to meet a relative and said, "Guanshan, Sangqiu."
This was all he could say. Fortunately, Liu Tianlai was not as ignorant as Geng Chao. He showed a look of surprise on his face, walked over quickly, lowered his voice, and said, "Isn't this Secretary Min? Why are you here?"
“I came here with my friends and happened to run into him… Ouch!”
Liu Tianlai hesitated for a moment, waved to Geng Chao, and when he came up to him, he asked, "Is his bet big?"
"When we arrived at the scene, he and five other people were gambling in the VIP room. The gambling money seized exceeded one million, which is almost half of the gambling money seized in this operation..."
"Where's the evidence?"
"Photos have been taken at the scene, there are witnesses, and the people in the same room have all given their statements. The chain of evidence is complete..."
Liu Tianlai's face was grim, and he hesitated: "Min... Boss Min, this is not easy to handle!"
Min Chengye was as anxious as if his father-in-law had just died, and said, "Director Liu, I must ask you to do this favor. I will definitely repay you in the future."
Liu Tianlai pondered for a while and said to Geng Chao: "How about this, you continue to follow up on the case and send this Boss Min to my office first." (To be continued)