The Official Ladder: I ascend to the pinnacle of power, wielding the power of life and death.

Jiang Yiming nodded: "It's the three of them. You can make your move now. After you're done, go back and have some late-night snacks."

"Okay, then we're going to arrest them. You wait here."

Wan Wenbing loaded his gun and, along with a police officer and two auxiliary police officers, rushed toward Xia's Restaurant.

Just then, the three bald men were preparing to pry open the door with steel pipes, but as soon as they touched the door, it opened.

Seeing that it was pitch black inside, the three of them felt a little scared.

"Brother, could it be that they knew we were coming and laid an ambush beforehand?"

"Damn, have you been watching too many suspense movies? Are they just bored and waiting for us to get revenge?"

The burly man at the head of the group then pulled out a lighter and boasted, "I just bought a windproof lighter, isn't it cool?"

"Brother, it's too dark, I can't see clearly."

One of the henchmen behind him said, "Brother, can you smell something? It smells like gas."

"Could it be a gas leak?"

The other follower was extremely nervous.

"What's the panic? Just start the engine and check, then you'll know."

"Don't……"

Before the other two henchmen could stop them, the burly leader slammed the lighter on.

boom!

Suddenly, the entire house burst into flames, and the burly men felt a wave of heat as they were sent flying.

Before Wan Wenbing and his group could get close, an explosion occurred at Xia's Restaurant, and they instinctively dropped to the ground.

"Quick, call for backup!"

Wan Wenbing shouted and scrambled to his feet, rushing towards Xia's Restaurant.

"Fire! Help! Help!"

"Quick, everyone, get out of here..."

The scene was chaotic, with shouts echoing everywhere.

Half an hour later, the fire was completely extinguished.

"how is the situation?"

Seeing Wan Wenbing, who looked disheveled, walk over, Jiang Yiming handed him a bottle of water.

At this moment, he was also somewhat bewildered.

I don't understand how this could have happened.

"The good news is that the fire was discovered in time and did not spread. The bad news is that two people died and two others were slightly injured."

Wan Wenbing took a few gulps of water and said, "The initial assessment is that it was a gas cylinder leak. One of the three people who arrived later used a lighter, which ignited the gas."

"Guess who was the first person to go in?"

"Not a thief?"

Jiang Yiming asked in confusion.

Wan Wenbing shook his head and said, "The owner of the restaurant across the street."

"The owner of the restaurant across the street?"

Jiang Yiming was somewhat taken aback.

“We asked the locals and learned that the owner of the restaurant across the street had once brought people to stop Xia’s restaurant from renovating, because they were worried that Xia would steal their business.”

Wan Wenbing said, "Our initial assessment is that the owner of the restaurant across the street sneaked into Xia's Restaurant to turn on the gas cylinder. As for whether the purpose was to burn Mr. Xia to death or to set a fire and burn Xia's Restaurant down, we cannot determine at the moment."

"Unfortunately, before he could leave, those drunkards arrived, which resulted in the explosion."

Jiang Yiming nodded. He finally understood the cause of his father-in-law's death in his previous life.

At this moment, he felt no sympathy for the boss who had been burned to death. In his previous life, he had caused the death of his father-in-law and made his mother-in-law suffer from burns for a year, yet he still managed to escape legal punishment.

How abominable!

"Brother Jiang, I can't leave for a while. You should go back and rest first. I'll report back to you if anything happens."

"Okay, then you go ahead and get busy."

Jiang Yiming found a hotel near the Organization Department and checked in.

At least three groups of people knocked on the door at night, all asking if I needed a special massage or foot bath, and some even said they had female students available.

Jiang Yiming ignored it; these small cards were high-risk, and the probability of encountering a honey trap was very high.

The next morning, Jiang Yiming was about to leave when he discovered a dozen sexy little cards slipped under the door.

Jiang Yiming decided never to come to this hotel again.

Without a doubt, these people getting their feet washed are either hotel staff or have a partnership with the hotel; otherwise, they wouldn't know that I was staying alone.

Jiang Yiming contacted Wan Wenbing to inquire about the situation at Xia's Restaurant.

"Brother Jiang, I was just about to contact you. Once this case is finished, we absolutely have to treat you to a big meal!"

Wan Wenbing's excited voice came from the other end of the phone.

"what happened?"

“Those three out-of-towners yesterday were fugitives who had fled to our county. They were even Class A fugitives on the wanted list, hiding for five years without being caught. Just last week, they robbed a jewelry store in another area and killed someone. We never expected to catch them by accident!”

Wan Wenbing couldn't hide his excitement and said, "I'm definitely getting a second-class merit."

"Okay, I'll drink this round of drinks. Congratulations in advance!"

Jiang Yiming laughed and said, "By the way, you should release Boss Xia later, and don't have anyone shut down their shop again."

Now that the crisis is over, he no longer needs to try to close Xia's Restaurant.

Besides, Xia's restaurant was hit by a fire and will not be able to reopen for a while.

"Alright, I'll have someone let them go back right away."

Wan Wenbing immediately agreed.

"Time for breakfast."

Jiang Yiming walked in carrying steamed buns, spicy soup, and soy milk.

"Brother Jiang, how are my dad and the others?"

Xia Shining's eyes were a little red, it seemed she hadn't slept well yesterday because she was worried about her parents.

"They should be home by now."

Jiang Yiming said, "After you finish breakfast, I'll take you home."

"Thank you, Brother Jiang."

Hearing that her parents were alright, Xia Shining breathed a sigh of relief.

After breakfast, the group went to Xia's Restaurant.

Xia Shining and Jiang Qianqian were stunned to see the restaurant in such a mess.

"How did things change like this overnight?"

Jiang Qianqian was filled with shock.

Xia Shining looked at her parents with concern and saw that their eyes were red. She quickly went over to comfort them.

"What's done is done, don't be too sad. The restaurant is gone, but we can start over. As long as everyone is safe, that's all that matters."

"Yes, thankfully we were taken to the police station yesterday, and you weren't at the restaurant, otherwise who knows what might have happened."

Mr. Xia patted his wife and said, "Don't cry. We'll find a way to earn more money."

"You make it sound so easy. To open this restaurant, we not only poured all our savings into it, but we also borrowed 15,000 yuan from my brother. I promised them I would pay them back by the end of the year. What are we going to do now?"

Tears streamed down Xia's mother's face uncontrollably: "There's still the matter of my two daughters going to school. My eldest daughter will be going to university soon. How can we manage without money?"

Upon hearing this, Xia's father also fell silent.

Just then, a motorcycle drove up, and a middle-aged couple got off.

"It's only been open for a few days, how did it get like this?"

The middle-aged woman kept nagging, "I told you I wouldn't lend it, but you insisted. Now look what's happened, they can't even afford to eat. How are they going to pay it back?"

"Could you please say less?"

The middle-aged man said impatiently, and quickly walked up to the Xia family members: "Shi Ning, are you all alright?"

"Uncle, we're alright."

Xia Shining said earnestly, "Uncle, don't worry, I'll start working after I finish the college entrance exam and pay you back as soon as possible."