Chapter 58: The Unexpected Help from the Distant Cousin

The Sheng Residence was exceptionally luxurious; aside from being a bit small and lacking a swimming pool, it was almost identical to Cheap Cousin’s mansion. Upon entering, Li Wensheng did not head straight indoors but instead instructed Shi Xiaozhen and the others, “This time we’re looking for a hidden document. Search everywhere, leave no stone unturned.”

The five of them nodded and dispersed throughout the grounds to search. Seeing that they were all combing the courtyard, Li Wensheng stepped inside.

The main hall was in complete disarray, things scattered everywhere—clearly already searched thoroughly. Li Wensheng doubted he’d find anything in places the soldiers had already turned over; what he needed to find was something the soldiers had missed.

Casting his eyes around each corner, seeing everything had been rifled through, Li Wensheng headed toward the kitchen. He spent half an hour inspecting the kitchen, bathroom, and storage room, but found nothing. He then proceeded upstairs.

There were five rooms on the second floor; they were in the same state as the hall, upturned and chaotic. He checked them all and still found nothing.

By the time Li Wensheng reached the third floor, Shi Xiaozhen and the others had come up as well.

“Section Chief, there’s nothing outside,” Shi Xiaozhen reported quietly.

Li Wensheng was not surprised at the lack of results. If they’d found something so easily, the soldiers who searched before would have been in serious trouble.

“There are five rooms here. Each of you search one thoroughly.”

Once they’d gone to their respective rooms, Li Wensheng walked to the balcony at the end of the corridor.

The balcony was spacious, about ten square meters, furnished with a small round table and four upholstered stools. Here, everything was in perfect order, untouched.

Li Wensheng searched meticulously, nearly turning the table over, but found nothing. With a sigh, he sat down on one of the stools.

Then, his eyes suddenly gleamed as he reached for a coffee cup that had been sitting on the table for several days. Inside was half a cup of coffee, giving off a faint, stale odor. But Li Wensheng’s attention was not on the coffee itself, but on the subtle lipstick stain on the rim.

“A woman has been here.”

It wasn’t unusual for there to be women in the Sheng Residence, but finding a lipstick print on a coffee cup was suspicious. The servants certainly wouldn’t dare drink coffee here on the sofa.

The British economic advisor was a man, and he had come to Shancheng alone. That made the woman who left the lipstick mark all the more questionable.

A moment later, Li Wensheng sensed something was off.

“No, a criminal investigation expert must have already checked this place. If I can spot this, there’s no reason others wouldn’t have noticed. Unless... this woman’s identity is special—after verifying, they found nothing unusual, so she wasn’t mentioned in the file Old Dai gave me.”

“Damn that Old Dai, sending me into a minefield without even providing detailed information.”

After cursing Old Dai in his heart, Shi Xiaozhen and the others returned, all reporting they had found nothing.

With nothing to show for it, it was time to withdraw.

Li Wensheng led them out of the Sheng Residence and began searching the surrounding area. By noon, they left the cordoned-off zone, had a meal at a roadside eatery, and then Li Wensheng took the team back toward the Sheng Residence, intending to continue searching the area.

Just as they stepped into the checkpoint, a voice called out behind them, “Major Li!”

Turning, Li Wensheng saw a man in a lieutenant colonel’s uniform stepping out of a car, holding a file in his hand.

“Major Li, please take this document,” the man said, coming over and raising the file.

Somewhat puzzled, Li Wensheng walked over to receive it. As he took the file, the man whispered, “Major Li, this document is top secret. Only you may read it. No copying, no disclosure. Burn it immediately after reading. Also, those people are all being held by the Central Bureau. You may interrogate them; the Adjutant’s Office has already notified the Central Bureau. However, you are not to disclose the results of the interrogations. Once you reach a conclusion, do not report to the Military Bureau—report directly to the Adjutant’s Office.”

Li Wensheng immediately realized that Old Dai had assigned him this task behind the Chief’s back. If he went to the Adjutant’s Office for an order, Cheap Cousin would know exactly what task he was taking on—this arrangement was to make things easier for him.

“Old Dai must have gotten an earful for this,” Li Wensheng thought with a wry smile, then replied quietly, “Understood. I’ll burn it after reading.”

“Good. Major Li, best of luck with your assignment,” the man said before returning to his car.

With the file in hand, Li Wensheng decided to postpone the search until he had read it. He signaled for Shi Xiaozhen and the others to follow, exited the checkpoint, piled into his jeep, and headed for the Second Branch.

Upon arriving at the Second Branch, Li Wensheng had just reached the entrance to the Counterintelligence Section when Ren Zuhong, the portly, ever-smiling chief of General Affairs—whose round, benevolent face resembled the Laughing Buddha—came to find him.

“Chief Li, Chief Tian issued an order yesterday: the Counterintelligence Section is short-staffed. When the new recruits arrive, your section gets first pick. The newcomers will be here at ten tomorrow morning. Chief Li, you’ll have to be present to select your people, otherwise I’ll have trouble assigning the rest.”

“Chief Ren, I have other business tomorrow—I may not have the time. How about I leave Deputy Chief Shi to handle the selection for me?”

Ren Zuhong glanced at the file in Li Wensheng’s hand and replied jovially, “No problem, Chief Li. If you’re busy, Deputy Chief Shi can handle it just as well.”

“Thank you, Chief Ren.”

“You’re welcome. You’re busy—I’ll be off now.”

After Ren Zuhong left, Li Wensheng entered the Counterintelligence Section and instructed, “Shi Xiaozhen, Bai Yan, you two stay here tomorrow and handle the newcomers. Don’t assign them to teams yet—once this matter is settled, let the gun nuts serve as team leaders, and then you can divide the groups. Anyway, there’s not much work at the moment. Let the recruits get familiar with our procedures and the city first.”

Shi Xiaozhen nodded. Bai Yan, pouting, said, “Chief, can I skip being a team leader and be your secretary instead?”

“No need, I don’t require a secretary.”

Rejected outright, Bai Yan’s pout deepened to an almost comical degree.

Entering the section, Li Wensheng went straight to the innermost office on the left, partitioned off for the section chief. Once inside, he shut the door, sat behind his desk, and opened the file.

Compared to the scant information Old Dai had provided, this file was a world apart—more than a dozen pages.

He spent nearly an hour reading it carefully, then fetched a brazier from the corner, took out a box of Good Luck cigarettes from his system space, and used a match to light the papers one by one.

After tossing the last page into the brazier, he lit a cigarette from the flames, exhaled a plume of smoke, and, watching the fire slowly die down, muttered with a frown,

“It looks like the original Counterintelligence Section of the Second Branch will have to take the fall for this, whether or not they’re guilty. No wonder Old Dai didn’t wait for the results—he had me take over as chief straight away.”