Era: Starting from the local police station

The jeep was driving on the main road.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Jin Hong asked, "Zheng Hua, what are your plans now? Should we just carry out the plan and bring Hu Decai back for interrogation?"

Jiang Zhenghua, sitting in the back seat, did not answer immediately. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "I think it's best not to move for now, at least not tonight."

Why?

Zhang Chongguang was somewhat puzzled; shouldn't they have ended things quickly?

"We went to the machinery factory this morning, and then Qi Ronggen was sent out. Even if we find a suitable excuse, the other party will still have some suspicions. So it's better not to do anything tonight and start the operation tomorrow."

Jin Hong nodded, acknowledging that it was indeed easy to alert the enemy: "Then let's keep an eye on them for now and let them lower their guard."

"But there is someone who can move."

"Who?"

Jiang Zhenghua said, "Truck driver. Let's contact Section Chief Cheng and see if he can find a way to send the driver on a business trip so we can arrest him secretly. I think he probably knows a lot of things."

Jin Hong pondered for a moment and said, "Now it seems that the machinery factory has a big problem. Although we don't know what's in those bags, it's definitely not garbage."

Jiang Zhenghua went through the details in his mind before saying, "I now suspect that Hou Laicai's death might be related to what's in there. Maybe he let something slip, or somehow someone found out he knew the inside story, so he was silenced."

"It might be scrap metal, which they might resell."

"Old Zhang, this is just speculation. Didn't you ask Section Chief Cheng to investigate the warehouse? Maybe we can find something out there."

"Deputy Director Jin, what I'm actually more curious about now is what this big deal he's talking about? It could actually lead to a permanent job."

"I've been thinking about this too. It's not easy to find a job these days, especially since he has a rural household registration. It's much more difficult for him to get a job in the city than for a normal city dweller."

A short while later, the vehicle entered Micang Hutong.

Not long after entering, I saw several bicycles parked in front of a courtyard gate.

Zhang Chongguang said, "That bicycle belongs to Qiao, the one at the front gate."

With a screech, Xiao Li stepped on the brakes, and the Jeep came to a steady stop at the door.

The three jumped out of the car and quickly walked into the courtyard gate.

The once neat and spacious front yard now has three sheds. Two of them have long chimneys sticking out of them, clearly kitchens; the other is open and has piles of coal and some miscellaneous items.

As soon as Jiang Zhenghua entered the hospital, he felt his view was obstructed. Looking up, he saw all sorts of electrical wires haphazardly strung together and exclaimed, "They didn't even bother to tidy up the wires when they were being laid out. What if this causes a fire?"

Zhang Chongguang chimed in, "The point you raised is very important. I think it's necessary to discuss it with the power supply station and get it sorted out before National Day."

Jin Hong glanced at the women chatting not far away, then turned back and said, "I think this can't be left to you alone. The bureau chief needs to step in and the entire Dongcheng District needs to be rectified together. Every year, many courtyards suffer significant losses due to fires caused by cluttered storage, illegal construction, and haphazard wiring."

Several women standing on the steps watching the commotion pointed and whispered about the three people.

An older woman exclaimed, "Oh dear, look! Someone else is coming!"

A young woman nearby said, "Looks like a leader. I just heard a car."

"What did Hou San do wrong? Why are so many police officers investigating?"

"Do you think this Hou San might be an enemy spy?"

The room fell silent the moment those words were spoken.

"It seems so to me. He's from the countryside, and it's really unusual that he can occasionally eat meat."

"Oh dear, if this really is an enemy spy, won't it implicate us?"

"Hey, don't worry about it. The ones who should be worried are the three stewards."

"Oh dear, what a loss! I should have reported him to the neighborhood committee when I saw him eating meat so often. If it had worked, maybe the higher-ups would have thought he had done a good deed and even arranged a job for my third son."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

A young woman muttered, "I think the shrewish widow should be more worried..."

Someone immediately shouted, "What nonsense are you spouting, you Wang family member?"

As he spoke, he gestured with his lip toward an elderly man next to him.

The three ignored the people's chatter and headed straight for the back room.

"The second one should be the one in front of us."

The door opened as soon as he finished speaking.

A middle-aged man in blue overalls came out. When he saw that two of the three were in uniform, he was taken aback at first, then turned around and said, "Officer Geng, some police officers have arrived."

Zhang Yi and Geng Jianwu quickly came out, stood at attention, saluted, and said loudly, "Good morning, Deputy Director Jin."

Jin Hong returned the greeting: "Where are Director Qiao and the others?"

"The crime scene has been located, and they have gone to investigate and conduct interviews."

"Is this Hou San's house?"

As he spoke, Jin Hong walked towards the room.

Geng Jianwu explained from the side, "It belongs to him. I asked the people in the courtyard, and the ownership of this house belongs to the guard Ni Yongfu's family. It was a private house bought during the renovation period. Later, his son went to work in another city, so it was vacated and rented to Hou San."

Jiang Zhenghua followed him inside and found that the room was about 20 square meters.

The interior is simply furnished.

A broken wooden cabinet, one door missing, contained clothes and blankets; in the corner were two small stools and a worn wooden table, with dried food stains still on it, clearly used for eating.

In the innermost corner, a bed was covered with a tattered straw mat.

In another corner, a cutting board was set up, on which were placed three bowls with chips and two plates.

A honeycomb briquette stove sat to the side, the walls blackened by smoke.

Zhang Chongguang scanned the room: "Did you find anything inside?"

Geng Jianwu shook his head: "We only found a hundred yuan and some receipts, nothing else."

Jiang Zhenghua asked, "What about the person we were supposed to keep an eye on?"

"She went to work at a machine factory as a kitchen worker. She finishes get off work at six o'clock and gets home around six-thirty."

Jiang Zhenghua glanced at his watch; it was already 6 PM. "Half an hour left. By the way, did you find out where Hou San's cart went?"

Geng Jianwu was taken aback: "I didn't know he had a cart, so I didn't ask."

After saying that, he walked to the door and called out, "Comrade Ge Guifu, come here for a moment."

Soon, the middle-aged worker who had just walked out stepped in.

Geng Jianwu introduced, "Comrade Ge, these are Deputy Director Jin of our Dongcheng Branch, Deputy Director Jiang of Taotiao Hutong Police Station, and Instructor Zhang, you should know them."

He then pointed to Ge Guifu and introduced him, saying, "This is Comrade Ge Guifu, the liaison officer of the institute."

Jin Hong extended his hand and said, "Hello, Comrade Ge."

Ge Guifu extended both hands, grasped them tightly, and shook them vigorously: "Hello, leader."

The two released each other's hands, and Ge Guifu smiled at Zhang Chongguang and said, "Instructor Zhang, it's been a long time."

Zhang Chongguang smiled and nodded: "It's been a while since we last met."

After shaking hands with him, Jiang Zhenghua asked, "Comrade Ge, I asked you to come here to inquire about some things. Do you know that Hou Laicai has a handcart?"

Seeing his confusion, he explained, "It's Hou San, his original name was Hou Laicai."

Ge Guifu suddenly realized, frowning as he recalled, "I really didn't know that. But when he first moved here, I saw him pulling a brand new cart a few times. I even asked him if it was his own. He said he borrowed it from a friend, and I haven't seen him since."

"Do you know what he does for a living?"

"I know, I'm a worker at the steel plant. I ran into him unloading coal at our plant once, and that's when I found out he'd been doing temporary work."

Jin Hong, Jiang Zhenghua, and the other two frowned simultaneously.

"Did he tell you that the cart belonged to his friend?"

"I never said that."

Jin Hong looked at Jiang Zhenghua and asked, "What do you think?"

Jiang Zhenghua did not answer immediately, but looked around.

After a moment, he sighed, "Hou Yongshou and the others wouldn't lie to us. Now it seems that Hou San has a big secret."

Zhang Chongguang chimed in, "That's right. I didn't expect him to not bring the cart back. Even if he did, he was still lying."

Ge Guifu understood now and interjected, "I guess he has some reservations. Ni Yongfu and his wife are rather mercenary. If they knew he had a bigger source of income and a cart, they would probably raise the rent, or let the other people in the courtyard borrow it."

Jiang Zhenghua nodded, then asked, "Comrade Ge, do you know who he frequently associates with?"

Ge Guifu shook his head again: "I really don't know. He leaves early and comes home late every day, so I rarely see him."

"Who lives in those houses over there? Are they in the courtyard now?"

Ge Guifu hurried to the door and called into the yard, "Old Zeng's family, come here for a moment."

A woman's voice came from behind: "Uncle Ge, what...what do you want with me? I don't know anything about this."

Jiang Zhenghua gestured to Zhang Yi, who immediately went outside.