Siheyuan came through and sent Jia Zhang to prison

Jiang Hu's face flushed red and then turned pale, as if he had been slapped hard several times. His teeth were grinding, and his knuckles turned white from the force. "Don't push me! If you really push me too far, I'll fight to the death! I want to see how you get what you want without me as your inside man!" He thought he still had bargaining chips, but he didn't expect that the other party had already grasped his weakness.

Zhang Jie seemed to have heard the funniest joke. A mocking smile curled at the corner of his mouth as he leisurely straightened his wind-blown collar, his movements as casual as if he were discussing the weather: "Total destruction? Sure." His tone shifted abruptly, his eyes turning as cold as poisoned icicles. "But don't forget, you're not alone. I remember, you had a lover hiding in that little courtyard on the outskirts of the city. She gave birth to a big, healthy boy last winter, didn't she? That child was so adorable, he should be just learning to walk unsteadily by now, right?"

He paused, looking at Jiang Hu's suddenly tense face, his tone almost overflowing with malice: "If he 'accidentally' trips and falls on the street one day, hits his head, or gets startled by some stray dog ​​and gets seriously injured... then it really has nothing to do with me, I can only blame his bad luck, right?"

"You dare!" Jiang Hu, like a wolf whose tail had been stepped on, suddenly rushed forward, grabbed Zhang Jie by the collar, his knuckles digging deep into the other's flesh, his eyes bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead throbbing as if they were about to burst. "You can lay a finger on me, I'll accept it! But if you dare to lay a hair on my family's head, I'll risk my life to drag you down to hell with me!" His voice was hoarse with rage, carrying a desperate madness.

Zhang Jie, despite being grabbed by the collar, showed no sign of panic. Instead, he gently slapped Zhang Jie's hand away, straightened his wrinkled collar, and put on a fake smile again: "Alright, don't get so angry. As long as you obediently follow me and do your job properly, I'll leave immediately once this is done and will never touch you again. Then we'll be even, how about that?"

Jiang Hu's chest heaved violently as he stared intently at Zhang Jie, as if trying to etch his face into his mind: "I can roughly guess what you're up to. But your affairs have nothing to do with me. I'll just act as a bridge and pass on a message for you, on the condition that—you promise you won't harm my family, otherwise..." He didn't finish his sentence, but the ruthlessness in his eyes said it all.

Zhang Jie smiled, took out two gold bars from his briefcase, their bright yellow luster particularly dazzling in the dim light. He handed the gold bars to Jiang Hu: "Don't worry, we're not the kind of people who ask for free. This is a deposit, you can take it first. After you finish our job, there are five more gold bars like this waiting for you to collect."

Jiang Hu stared at the two gold bars, his Adam's apple bobbing. The anger still burned within him, but reason told him there was no turning back now. Since he'd already made the connection, he might as well accept the reward—otherwise, if things went wrong and the higher-ups investigated, he wouldn't even have the means to escape. Then, he could take the money, his lover, and their child, and flee far away, hiding his identity—who could trace him then?

He gritted his teeth, snatched the gold bar, and clutched it tightly in his hand. The coldness of the gold bar seeped through his palm, but it couldn't suppress the burning heat and panic in his heart.

Jiang Hu took the gold bar, its heavy weight pressing against his palm, the texture on its surface making his fingertips numb. He looked up at Zhang Jie, his eyes filled with a complex expression: "Alright, I'll find a way to get the blueprints you wanted. But remember, I'll be the one contacting you, not the other way around. The location and time are my responsibility, understand?"

Zhang Jie nodded hurriedly, a smile plastered on his face, but a calculating glint in his eyes: "No problem, I'll do whatever Brother Jiang says." Since the weapons he needed hadn't arrived yet, he could use this time to refine the plan; there was no rush. He patted Jiang Hu on the shoulder, his tone familiar as if they were old friends: "Then I'll head back now and wait for your news."

Jiang Hu simply nodded, saying nothing more. He watched Zhang Jie's figure disappear into the alleyway before slowly clenching the gold bar in his hand. The coolness of the metal seeped through his palm, but a fire burned within him—a fire of regret. How had he come to this? He was a key technical worker in the factory, earning a decent salary, yet he had chosen to get involved in such shady dealings.

But Zhang Jie's words were like a thorn in his heart—"You're already on board, want to get off? Not so easy." Yes, he had no way out.

It all started with a ridiculous misunderstanding. Last month, at a factory dinner, he was plied with too much alcohol and, in a daze, bumped into Zhang Jie, who was also eating at the restaurant. Intoxicated, he blurted out confidential information, including the parameters of the factory's new equipment and the warehouse patrol schedule. Worse still, Zhang Jie had someone take photos of him; in the photos, he had his arm around Zhang Jie's shoulder and was muttering incoherent words, making it seem like they had been in cahoots all along.

From that day on, Zhang Jie threatened him with photos and recordings, first asking him to reveal trivial information, then his demands grew, eventually requiring him to cooperate in smuggling goods and coal mines. It wasn't until the first batch of coal "disappeared" at the dock that Jiang Hu realized he had fallen into a trap, but it was already too late.

He had considered confessing to the organization and explaining everything. But every time he tried to speak, he thought of his two children—the older one had just started elementary school, and the younger one was still an infant. If he were arrested, how would the three of them survive? The whispers and pointing fingers, the constant struggle to make ends meet… just thinking about it made him lose his courage. He could only grit his teeth and follow Zhang Jie deeper and deeper into the abyss.

Unbeknownst to Jiang Hu, a different drama was unfolding in ward 302 of the city hospital. Old Wu lay on the bed by the window, his leg in a cast—he was the warehouse guard who had "accidentally" fallen down the stairs a few days ago. In reality, he had noticed something was wrong and tried to report it, but was instead ambushed. A new patient had arrived in the ward, a young man in his twenties with a bandage wrapped around his arm.

At first, Old Wu ignored everyone, only saying "I'm fine" when the doctors and nurses asked him questions. After all, he had spent most of his life in the factory and knew what he should and shouldn't say, and he was still wary of retaliation. But this young man was sweet-talking, always helping him pour water and wash apples, and speaking to him kindly. Gradually, Old Wu's guard down.

That afternoon, sunlight streamed through the window and shone onto the blanket. Old Wu saw the young man frowning at the newspaper and couldn't help but ask, "Young man, what happened to your arm? It doesn't look like you fell."