Lu Xiao and Su Tang were speaking in private.
He didn’t want their families to worry about this matter.
And it was because of Su Tang that Lu Xiao knew so much, allowing him to take many more precautions for the future.
But even so, there were still so things he hadn’t anticipated.
Lu Xiao downed half a glass of cool water before speaking slowly. "That group doesn’t just steal things; they’re also holding dirt on a lot of people. Liu Er was the one fencing the stolen goods for them."
"Of course, he’s also the scapegoat they can push out front now that things have gone south."
"What kind of dirt do they have?"
Su Tang’s voice was a little deeper than usual. She lowered her gaze, her eyelashes casting faint shadows beneath her eyes as if she were deep in thought.
Lu Xiao glanced out the window and lowered his voice. "It’s related to last year’s accounts from the Materials Section. When I followed Liu Er’s trail to the warehouse, I saw them burning the ledgers."
The soft clatter of dishes ca from the kitchen. Mrs. Lu was probably warming up a al for Lu Xiao.
Su Tang got up and closed the door, just in ti to hear Lu Xiao ask, "Did I scare you?"
"I’m fine."
Su Tang squeezed his hand, her heart filled with worry.
"If that group dared to burn the ledgers, they must have soone powerful backing them. What are you planning to do?"
"I’ve already handed the pages I managed to salvage over to Director Feng."
"But Liu Er got away, like a kite with a broken string. He knows too much. What if that group decides to silence him for good..."
As she said this, Su Tang could feel her own heart begin to race.
It wasn’t for any other reason than the fact that what she and Lu Xiao were discussing had happened in the original book.
The words combined to clearly form the Chapter titles in her mind.
—Lu Xiao’s Thousand-Mile Manhunt, Life on the Line.
—The Drama Queen Demands a Divorce, Cutting All Ties.
These two Chapters were a minor climax in the book, where the original Su Tang was implicated because of Lu Xiao’s situation.
Then, instigated by others, she was told that after Lu Xiao’s downfall, she would be bullied too, so it was better to divorce him quickly while she still could.
And so, just when Lu Xiao needed her most, the original Su Tang heartlessly signed the divorce papers.
This beca the turning point of their fates.
After experiencing a series of upheavals—a career change, a divorce, and the death of his parents—Lu Xiao grew completely, eventually rising through the ranks with lightning speed to beco one of the most powerful n in just a few years.
anwhile, the original Su Tang t a miserable end, eventually dying in the Northwest.
Her greatest fear was coming to pass.
"Tangtang? Tangtang? What are you thinking about?"
Before he could finish, the ringing of a bicycle bell suddenly sounded from outside the courtyard gate.
Mr. Lu lifted the door curtain to look outside, then called out, "It’s Chang Jia!"
Chang Jia was Lu Xiao’s comrade from the army, and his voice arrived before he did. "Lu Xiao, I’ve got a lead on that thing you asked about! Liu Er was intercepted at the bus station in the next county!"
Lu Xiao shot to his feet. As Su Tang stood up with him, Mrs. Lu ca out of the kitchen with a tray of freshly stead, piping hot buns. "You haven’t even eaten yet..."
"Mom, we’ll be right back."
Lu Xiao grabbed the jacket slung over the back of his chair. Right before heading out, he suddenly turned back and planted a hurried kiss on Su Tang’s forehead.
"Take care of yourself. Don’t go running around."
Su Tang watched his and Chang Jia’s retreating figures, her hand unconsciously resting on her lower abdon.
The warmth under her palm suddenly reminded her of what Mrs. Lu had said that morning.
’The baby can understand everything.’
She looked down and whispered, "Your father is doing sothing incredible."
A great hero.
She added silently in her heart.
In the living room, Mr. Lu was sighing to Mr. Su. "I’m afraid this is going to attract attention from the higher-ups. That whole ss in the Materials Section... soone filed an anonymous report about it the year before last."
Hearing this, Mrs. Su grew very worried. She turned to Su Tang and said, "Will it be dangerous? Should I have your father ask his friends for help?"
Su Tang turned and refilled the two elders’ cups with hot tea. "Dad, do you rember Manager Wang, who helped us fix the radio last year? He’s in the Disciplinary Section now."
At this, Mr. Su’s eyes lit up. "You an Wang Jianhui? He did ntion to before that he was investigating so accounting problems."
Su Tang humd in agreent. It wasn’t exactly a secret, and Mr. Su’s network was quite extensive.
After all, as a teacher, he naturally had forr students everywhere.
She explained briefly, without going into too much detail.
"Now it’s just a matter of who gets to whom first."
In this era, there wasn’t much technology or forensic evidence.
If you didn’t catch soone red-handed with the goods, it was very difficult to get any real answers out of them.
But with this kind of thing, once you were caught in the act, there was no escape.
...
Lu Xiao followed Chang Jia straight into the vehicle. Two other n were already inside, ready to accompany Lu Xiao to make the arrest.
Chang Jia laughed and patted Lu Xiao’s shoulder.
"Not bad, old buddy. You haven’t been slacking on your training even after coming here."
Since Lu Xiao’s promotion, he hadn’t seen Chang Jia in a long ti.
"Enough with the chatter. You handled this well. Maybe you’ll get transferred over."
Chang Jia’s eyes lit up at his words. He had been hoping for this for a long ti.
"Really? I can get transferred? Then I’d better put on a good show. But seriously, it was pure luck that Liu Er was caught at the bus station in the next county. I heard he bought a ticket to go south, but got into an argunt with soone right before boarding and was detained by the joint defense patrol."
Lu Xiao tapped his fingers lightly on his knee, his brow still furrowed. "When sothing is this strange, there’s always a catch. If Liu Er had the guts to run, he should’ve known not to cause trouble. This whole scene feels like he wanted to get caught."
Chang Jia was about to argue when a dark stretch of forest flashed past the car window. The driver slamd on the brakes, and the tires let out a piercing screech on the dirt road.
"The road ahead is blocked."
The driver said in a low voice, pointing at several logs lying across the middle of the road.
Lu Xiao pushed open the car door and jumped out. He crouched down and touched the cut surface of a log; it was still fresh and damp.
"They were cut down not long ago."
He looked up into the depths of the forest, where the rustling leaves seed to hide countless pairs of eyes.
Chang Jia got out too, pulling out a flashlight and shining it into the woods. "Sothing’s not right. Barely anyone uses this road. Who would block it for no reason?"
The words had barely left his mouth when a few barks echoed from the distance, followed by the sound of disorderly footsteps.
Lu Xiao pulled Chang Jia back into the car and ordered in a deep voice, "Drive! Reverse!"
The driver quickly shifted gears. The car had just moved back half a ter when several burly n wielding clubs rushed out of the woods. The man in the lead was none other than Old Zhang from the Materials Section.
"Well, well, Deputy Commander Lu. Hope you’ve been well."
Old Zhang’s face was plastered with a fake smile, but the wooden club in his hand was thumping against the ground.
"Where might you be heading? How about I clear the way for you? It’s just that these logs are a bit heavy... might take a day or two."
Lu Xiao remained seated in the car, his gaze as cold as ice. "Old Zhang, are you trying to obstruct official business?"
"How would I dare?"
Old Zhang shifted to the side, revealing two n behind him.
"You see, I even brought n to help clear the road for you. You can’t just slander . It’s just that we couldn’t find any of our own people around here, so I had to ask so of the common folk for a hand."
The two n were wearing patched jackets, their eyes darting away, not daring to look at the car.
Chang Jia couldn’t help but curse. "Do you take us for fools? I’ve seen these two at the entrance to the Materials Section. They’re clearly temporary workers from your section!"
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