Siheyuan came through and sent Jia Zhang to prison

He took a deep drag of his cigarette, only snapping back to reality when the butt burned his fingers. He didn't even notice the ash falling onto his trouser leg. He needed to think of a way. Either he could find an opportunity to drag He Feng down with him and make him join in the corruption, or he could find even stronger connections to quell the matter once and for all. Otherwise, it would eventually explode and might blow him to pieces one day.

Just then, the door lock clicked. His wife came in carrying a blue cloth bag filled with freshly bought vegetables, potatoes, and a piece of pork belly with alternating layers of fat and lean meat. Seeing Jiang Hu sitting in the room, she nearly dropped the bag with a thud. Her eyes instantly reddened, and her voice trembled with tears: "Old Jiang? You...you're back? Are you alright? They didn't give you any trouble, did they?"

"What could possibly be wrong?" Jiang Hu flicked his cigarette ash, trying to keep his tone relaxed so she wouldn't worry. "Go cook, make something substantial, you're starving."

His wife wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and nodded quickly, "Okay, I'll go right now and make you braised pork and stir-fried some vegetables." She turned and went into the kitchen, and soon the sounds of chopping vegetables and the whooshing of the gas stove could be heard. The clattering of pots and pans brought a touch of life to the quiet house.

At the entrance of the alley across from the building, two men in plain clothes leaned against the wall. One carried an empty vegetable basket, while the other pretended to repair a bicycle, but his eyes never left the window on the third floor of Jiang Hu's house. The one on the left was Xiao Wang, one of Zhao Lei's men. Young and hot-blooded, he looked at the warm yellow light shining from the third-floor window and smelled the faint aroma of meat wafting over. He couldn't help but curl his lip and say, "Damn it, he's done so many things and he can still eat and drink well. Why is that? We two brothers are starving here, while he has a hot meal waiting for him when he gets home. He's living the high life."

Old Li, standing nearby, tapped his pipe, chuckled, revealing two rows of yellow teeth: "You think Director He is a pushover? If he told us to keep an eye on him, there must be a reason. This guy surnamed Jiang is already behaving himself after just getting out? I don't believe it. Just wait, he'll be making a scene in a few days. Either we'll find the person behind him, or we'll destroy the remaining evidence. Then we'll catch him red-handed and see if he's still so arrogant."

Xiao Wang pursed his lips and said nothing more, only pulling his straw hat down around his neck to shield his head from the glaring sunlight. His gaze swept past the passersby, the old man pushing his bicycle, and the child chasing a ball, but remained firmly fixed on the window with the light on—the kitchen fumes were growing thicker, and he could vaguely see Jiang Hu's wife busy at the stove, with the occasional soft clatter of plates. Everything seemed like an ordinary evening, warm and commonplace.

But only they know how many unspoken secrets and shady dealings lie hidden beneath this calm, like dynamite buried in the ground, just waiting for a fuse to detonate and turn the world upside down.

When the police officers "released" Jiang Hu and sent him home, his steps were still unsteady, as if he were walking on a river with a thin layer of ice in early winter, feeling very unsteady. His mind was buzzing, filled with calculations on how to sever ties with Zhang Jie—he had to burn those smuggling ledgers as soon as possible, and he had to move the gold bars hidden under the bed. He absolutely couldn't let that madman drag him down with him. But he was completely unaware that there were two pairs of eyes watching him from the shadows—two henchmen sent by Zhang Jie were huddled under the old locust tree on the street corner, the cold wind swirling dry leaves into their collars, their hands clutching half a dry, hard cornbread, crumbs falling everywhere as they gnawed on it.

The two men had been squatting for most of the day, their legs numb as if they didn't belong to them. When they stood up, they hissed in shock. Seeing Jiang Hu walking back from the direction of the police station, his cotton hat pulled down over his eyebrows, his steps unsteady but his face showing no sign of dishevelment, but rather a sense of relief, they exchanged a glance. The tall, thin one spat on the ground, ice shards mixed with saliva splashing up, and cursed in a low voice, "Damn it, I never expected this! We two brothers are here starving, eating cold cornbread, shivering from the cold, while that bastard Jiang Hu gets away scot-free after going to the station! Look at him, all ruddy-faced, walking in with his back straighter than anyone else's, living a much more comfortable life than us! Go back and tell the boss right away, let's see how he deals with this treacherous brat!"

Another short, stout man nodded repeatedly, rubbing his hands, which were numb with cold, his knuckles red as if they were about to crack: "That's right! There's no such thing as a free lunch. Who knows what shady methods he used to get away with it, and he might even be trying to sell our boss for his own future! That old fox, he's got a mind of cunning!"

Unbeknownst to the two, behind a wall not far away, police officers arranged by Zhao Lei were secretly keeping watch. Wrapped in military overcoats, they pretended to rummage through the trash cans, their eyes fixed on the red-painted gate of Jiang Hu's house. They didn't notice the two small fry mixed in with the passersby at all—after all, they were wearing patched old cotton-padded jackets, their trouser legs were covered in mud, and they were no different from the neighbors in the alley, really inconspicuous, at most two idle hooligans.

Zhang Jie's two henchmen didn't dare to linger. They caught a glimpse of a police car with its lights flashing in the distance and realized the area was too unsafe. They crouched down and took a shortcut back. They knew that the police were searching everywhere with Zhang Jie's portrait, and if they were spotted at this critical moment, they would be in big trouble. They had to hurry back to the abandoned cannery warehouse to hide; it was a secluded place, and nobody went there except for rats.

Panting, he ran back to the hideout. The tall, thin man flung open the tattered cotton curtain hanging on the doorframe, and the cold wind carried his shouts inside: "Boss! We found Jiang Hu! That kid's out of jail, looks perfectly fine, and's on his way home! He was even humming a little tune as he walked in, looking incredibly pleased with himself!"

Zhang Jie was squatting on the ground cleaning his gun, repeatedly rubbing a rag against the barrel. Hearing this, he abruptly looked up, a flicker of surprise and suspicion in his eyes, as if burned by a spark. He had been constantly worried—all the shady dealings he'd done at the coal mining bureau—smuggling state-allocated ore, illegally possessing explosives for blasting mountains—were all done in partnership with Jiang Hu. Both their signatures were on the ledgers. Now he was a wanted criminal, hiding like a stray dog, while Jiang Hu was unscathed? Had this guy really sold him out, exchanging his crime for Jiang Hu's safety?

"He's alright?" Zhang Jie's grip on the gun barrel tightened, his knuckles turning white like frozen ice. "Not bad, this Jiang Hu is quite capable. He managed to suppress such a big matter. It seems the person behind him is not simple." He was both shocked and resentful. He was shocked by Jiang Hu's extraordinary abilities, and resentful that the other party might have betrayed him and used him as a stepping stone.

The short, chubby man next to him shrank his neck and added, "Yeah, boss, we saw it clearly. He was carrying a net bag with Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) and braised beef in it. He looked quite relaxed. He even greeted the old lady across the hall when he came in!"