Chapter 122: Surfacing

The third-to-last security guard was brought in.

Yang Changfeng regarded him with amused interest and said courteously, “Sit down and talk.”

The man was trembling with fear. He dared not sit, and forced a smile. “Sir, I’m fine standing.”

“There are plenty of things to ask you about. It’ll take at least two or three hours, so sit down and talk.” Yang Changfeng glanced at Zhang Baode. Understanding at once, Zhang walked behind the man and fixed a menacing stare on the back of his head.

What were they planning to do?

“The people before you have all confessed. According to them, you and Liuzi have always been on good terms and often lent each other money. Is that right?” Yang Changfeng began with what had happened today, deliberately mentioning the men he had questioned earlier. The guard’s face flushed, then paled, and just as suddenly Yang Changfeng turned to matters in his daily life.

The instant the man heard the name Liuzi, his heart began to tremble. After waiting a long while, he heard Zhang Baode bark from behind, “Quit stalling, or I’ll smash your head in!”

So they really were going to use force!

The fellow dropped to his knees with a thud, tears and snot streaming down his face. “Sir, Liuzi and I do get along, but I—I never asked him to do anything! I don’t know anything!”

“Is that so?” Yang Changfeng neither confirmed nor denied it. He gestured to indicate a rectangular object. “After Liuzi came back, he secretly brought you a little box this long, this wide, and this high. What was inside?”

“Chili sauce! My family mailed me some chili sauce. They were supposed to deliver it to the company tomorrow, but Liuzi said he was going out to buy something anyway and could bring it back for me. The people at the courier station all know him, and they know we usually spend a lot of time together. It wasn’t anything valuable, so they agreed to let him take it.”

The fellow was utterly baffled. What was wrong with that?

“Oh, chili sauce?”

The man hurried on. “Liuzi loves that chili sauce. When he found out it wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow, he was desperate for it, so I went to the dormitory to get it. It really was chili sauce—six bottles!”

Yang Changfeng smiled amiably, then suddenly asked, “So you don’t know whom Liuzi called at noon? Stop pretending. Don’t tell me you couldn’t see that I’m looking for the mole.”

The guard stared miserably at the back of his hand. Only after a long while did he say, “It couldn’t be Liuzi. He does need money, sure, but where would he get the nerve to do something like that? When he came back in the afternoon, I was worried he might have done something bad. Liuzi even said that nobody should get involved in Wang Hu’s business—once you touched it, it would cost you your life.”

All right, I’m not asking you anything else. And stop speaking in that Sichuan accent, or you’ll have me talking like you too.

“I hope you understand the consequences of talking nonsense.” Yang Changfeng waved a hand. “All right, go. I’ll question Liuzi next. If you dare make a sound, the two of you…”

“I understand, I understand. I won’t say a word. I believe Liuzi is a good man.” The fellow scrambled to his feet and hurried into the small suite of his own accord.

That fellow was quick-witted. The question was whether he could be put to use.

First, he would question Liuzi.

Liuzi was a native of Jiangzhou. He lived a little over an hour away from the company by car. His family had received a considerable amount of demolition compensation, and if they had not been keeping it under lock and key, he would never have come to work as a wretched security guard. The pay was meager, and he had to greet everyone he saw first. How humiliating.

But today, it seemed something really had happened.

Watching the people around him being called away one after another, Liuzi knew just how ruthless the new department head was, and unease inevitably gnawed at him.

He knew he could not hide the fact that he had gone out, but he could not let those men spout nonsense either. They could not pin something he had never done on him.

Besides, in this day and age, why would a mole need to go anywhere? A single phone could settle everything. No one was foolish enough to think that the person who had gone out must be the mole, right?

Just as he was thinking this, Liuzi smacked Zhang Baode in the face with a wrench.

“What are you doing? What the hell are you trying to do?” Liuzi exploded at once, leaping to his feet and glaring nervously at Zhang Baode.

Zhang Baode did not argue with him. He merely smiled. “If you haven’t done anything shameful, what are you afraid of? Come on. The department head wants to speak with you. Hurry up.”

The man whose forehead Zhang Baode had split hurriedly asked, “Deputy Captain Zhang, what about me? Why not question me first? Liuzi went out, so questioning him will surely be troublesome. Question me, then let me go back to sleep. I’m tired.”

Zhang Baode smiled faintly. “Don’t rush. You’ll all get your chance.”

Liuzi flew into a rage and kicked the man. Wasn’t he implying that Liuzi was the mole?

“If you’re not the mole, why are you so nervous? You threaten everyone you see and tell them not to talk nonsense. Did you really think I didn’t hear you?” The man who had been kicked down was even more indignant. Pointing at Liuzi, he reported to Zhang Baode, “Deputy Captain Zhang, I’m reporting Liuzi. He went out, and when I texted him at noon, he wouldn’t tell me anything. It has to be him! He’s the mole!”

Zhang Baode shouted, “The department head has already found out who the mole is. Sit there quietly. You’ll be questioned soon!”

The man paid no attention and kept insisting that Liuzi was the mole.

Liuzi gave a cold laugh. He seemed to understand now: he had fallen into a trap.

“That’s right. I’m the mole. Do whatever you want.” The moment he entered the room, Liuzi flopped down on the floor and began playing dead.

Yang Changfeng said, “So you’re prepared to admit it. Good. Here’s what we’ll do. Rest here for a few minutes while I notify the police. Then I’ll have you taken away. I’ll contact your family and inform them of what happened. They should also prepare themselves for the lawsuit the company will bring. The company has suffered enormous losses because of you—somewhere between thirty and fifty million, I imagine. Your family will have to pay it.”

Liuzi’s face went white. What? Couldn’t this man tell he was only speaking out of anger?

Yang Changfeng continued, “I heard from Old Zhang that your family received a demolition payout. They should be able to cover part of it. By the time we count the house, the car, and whatever other property they own, it should just about be enough. Don’t worry. We won’t ask for a single penny more than necessary.”

Liuzi was horrified. This department head was ruthless and brutal, and when he hit someone, he never held back. If he went after Liuzi’s family, who among them could possibly deal with him?

“No, no, I was only angry! That’s right, I’m not the mole. I did go out, but I went home. Some relatives had come over, and they even brought a woman for me to meet as a potential match. It’s true—I swear it’s all true!”

Liuzi immediately backed down. Being angry was one thing, but if his childish defiance made the man truly set his sights on him, then he would be finished.

Yang Changfeng said coolly, “Is that so? Whom were you angry with? What, you think you can’t afford to offend him? Let me ask you this: don’t you understand the company’s night-duty rules? Why were you sleeping while on duty? Why didn’t you report it when you discovered what had happened?”

Liuzi stood there tongue-tied, bitterly regretting everything. This time he had truly gone too far. He had never expected the department head to take him seriously.

“I—I was just unwilling to accept it!” Suddenly, inspiration struck him. Remembering something, Liuzi’s face lit up, and he blurted it out.