Chapter 1: The Past and Present Life of Lu Xun's Head

  In 1984, just as the spring thunder of reform was approaching, politics was clear, and a hundred flowers were in bloom. The Republic entered its most vibrant period of thought in history.

  Beijing's neighboring city, Wuhan, is one of the earliest coastal cities to open up to the outside world. The standard of living for its people has been improving day by day, and luxury cars from Hainan have begun to appear on the streets. Although not long ago, a high-ranking official in Hainan was demoted due to a wrong decision that led to a large number of smuggled cars entering the mainland, this sensational smuggling case had no impact on the enthusiasm of citizens of the Republic for owning private cars.

  "Setting up a small stall is better than being a county official; blowing a horn, not doing the provincial governor", capital awakened, the wave of all people going to sea gradually surged, noise and frenzy like a dam break rolling forward.

  The tree wants to be still but the wind will not stop; people's hearts are floating, and the passion that bursts out after many years of being locked up is unimaginable.

  The area under the jurisdiction of Guangning County in Wushan is also the case. Guangning was formerly known as Shicheng, relying on mountains and seas, with convenient transportation, guarding the throat of the capital city's exit, and has been a must-contend place for military strategists since ancient times. Ming Stone Mountain left behind Cao Cao's timeless masterpiece. After the reform and opening up, Wushan was listed as a coastal open city, and Guangning County under its jurisdiction is also rapidly developing economically. The Golden Coast of the coast built a sand sliding field, becoming a leisure resort.

  Weeping willows line both sides of the county town streets, private restaurants, electrical repair shops, barber shops and other scattered in front of the department store on the main road of the county town. Compared to other inland areas in the north, Guangning's commercial development has accelerated significantly.

  Along the shaded path, Lu Zhong strolled through this small county town, looking at the familiar yet strange grass and trees, the rows of shops, with a multitude of emotions in his heart.

  After a car accident, he found himself transported back in time to 1984, when he was in his youth.

  The 1980s, a decade that brought both glory and endless humiliation to oneself.

  I like the simplicity and innocence of this era, but I also hate the humiliation I suffered in this era. Must the thorn that was once deeply embedded in my heart be experienced again?

  "Commissioner, would you like some water?"

  Lu Zhong smiled and shook his head, glancing at Hu Zi.

  Now Hu Zi, who followed his own career change, is a detective of the Guangning County Bureau's Criminal Investigation Team, and he himself is the Deputy Director of the County Bureau's Politics and Law Committee and the Head of the Public Security Section.

  Hǔ zǐ, actually is own family a old diligent soldier's grandson, go to battlefield and oneself same one troop have take care of protect oneself meaning, but on the battlefield,反而是 oneself saved his life, in oneself turn career after, he also voluntary turn career, follow oneself came to Guǎngníng.

  Hu Zi has feelings for himself, with the traditional loyalty consciousness passed down by his grandfather, and also the life-and-death emotions forged in blood and fire. In short, in front of him, he is both a diligent soldier and a guardian.

  Sometimes I think Xiaohu is a "small feudal lord", but he still does whatever he wants and doesn't care what others say.

  At this moment, looking at the green military canteen handed over by Hu Zi, Lu Zhong's heart surged with inexplicable sadness. In his previous life, even when the Lu family fell and he was at his most disheartened, Hu Zi had still been doing his best to help him, only to be implicated and imprisoned, ultimately losing his life.

  It's really "time reveals one's heart" and "adversity reveals true feelings".

  "I'm not thirsty." Lu Zhong said with a smile, rubbing Tiger's small head, now Tiger really looks like his own little brother.

  Hǔ zǐ xiǎng lái bù zhī dào zì jǐ suǒ xiǎng, hái shì rú wǎng cháng yí yàng, hē hē shǎ xiào yī shēng.

  Translation:

  The tiger cub wants to come but doesn't know what it's thinking, or is it just smiling foolishly as usual.

  Lu Zhong walked slowly, thinking about the past, present and future.

  Actually now myself, is the most disheartened time, but Hu Zi always trusted himself, following his own footsteps, step by step.

  He always believed that he could overcome all difficulties and defeat all opponents, just like on the battlefield of Nanyang, invincible and unbeatable!

  Hu Zi did not know that the political arena was more treacherous than the battlefield, where enemies were tangible, but in the workplace, they were often intangible and unpredictable.

  Now cadres are required to be "young, knowledgeable, professional and revolutionary", that is, the new Fourth Army-style cadres. Their own revolutionary loyalty is beyond doubt, they are young in age, but their junior high school education is a fatal flaw for themselves.

  But what the troops brought to themselves, apart from iron and blood passion, was a rough and simple work style. After a year of sedimentation, after the heroic halo faded away, they gradually became somewhat out of place. Moreover, at a young age, they had already taken up positions that some old comrades-in-arms would spend their whole lives striving for, so there were many people who looked down on them and spoke ill of them behind their backs.

  In his previous life, several months later, he would be squeezed out of the public security team and resigned to start a business, thus losing his grandfather's love and family protection. Although his own business was not bad, with the Lu family being brutally eliminated from the political map of the Republic, himself who had gradually drifted away from the Lu family also got involved, twice imprisoned, and the company was even confiscated.

  But no matter what kind of predicament he encountered, Hu Zi always followed him. When he went to sea, Hu Zi accompanied him in business. When he was imprisoned, Hu Zi ran around outside. Finally, he too was restricted from personal freedom and mysteriously took his own life at home.

  Past scenes flashed in his mind.

  "Hu Zi, from now on we'll only fight winning battles, not losing ones!" Lu Zhong said softly, as if he was saying it to Hu Zi, but also as if he was saying it to himself.

  Du Xiaohu looked like he didn't understand what he meant, and smiled foolishly, saying: "Of course, Zuo Ge, those people at the county bureau are not your sons!"

  "Go, get a haircut." Lu Zhong looked up and saw that they had just arrived in front of a barber shop. He smiled and pointed at the shop. "In ancient times, people cut their hair to show their determination. I'll follow the example of the ancients and start anew from today."

  The barber shop is not very big, but it's bright and clean. Compared to the state-owned barber shops, this small one is more fashionable. On the glass mirror, there are beautiful movie star photos of "Little Flower", unlike the large posters of later generations, these photos are just ordinary photo size, inserted on the edge of the frame, Chen Xiaoqing, Liu Chong and other young stars' naive photos, quite good-looking.

  The owner of the barber shop is an old man named Wang, who is very talkative and claims to be a retired state-owned barber. He couldn't stay idle, so he opened this first private barber shop in Guangning two years ago, and business has been pretty good, earning more than when he was working.

  "Get a crew cut." Sitting in the chair, looking at himself in the mirror, Lu Zhong smiled slightly, his body surging with youthful blood, it's great.

  Wang Da Ye's technique was skilled and his movements were quick, but the manual razor wasn't very good to use. Lu Zhong sometimes felt a stinging sensation on his scalp, which couldn't compare with the electric razors of later generations.

  But isn't this what it means to get a haircut? Lu Zhong actually quite enjoyed the process of getting his hair cut.

  Du Xiaohu sat upright on the long bench against the wall behind Lu Zhong, with an air of a military background.

  Old Wang looked around and chuckled: "Young fellow, you all used to be soldiers, right?"

  Lu Zhong nodded, and Old Man Wang opened his mouth: "Being a soldier is good, you can go out and see the world. My youngest son was also a soldier, he came back last year and bought me some granulated sugar. He said that this stuff used to be sold in foreign currency exchange shops for foreigners, it's black with a bit of bitterness, but it tastes pretty good."

  Lu Zhong just smiled after hearing it, but Du Xiaohu frowned and corrected him: "Old man, that's not called granulated sugar. What you're talking about is chocolate. And also, the Overseas Chinese Store doesn't only sell things to foreigners. It's for people in our country who receive foreign remittances and can consume them at the Overseas Chinese Store."

  Old Wang chuckled and said: "Look, young comrade, being a soldier is all about seeing and experiencing more things, isn't it?"

  The young man frowned and muttered: "This old fellow, his awareness is a bit low. We are the laboring people who are in charge, when did we only sell good things to foreigners? Being afraid of foreigners is feudal society."

  Lu Zhong glared at Du Xiaohu through the mirror and scolded, "Tiger! What are you muttering about!" In fact, he couldn't help but feel amused in his heart. It turned out that more than 20 years ago, Tiger was so tender and lovely. People of this era were still very innocent.

  Huzi stopped talking, and the old man's face turned serious, not daring to make any more jokes. After all, it wasn't long ago that they had just settled the chaos, and the repercussions of being framed were still lingering. The consequences of speaking carelessly could be terrifying at times.

  The barber shop fell silent, Old Wang quietly shaved heads, Lu Zhong closed his eyes and thought about the recent shocking dismemberment case that had led to him being squeezed out of the county bureau.

  A sudden burst of chaotic voices interrupted Lu Zhong's thoughts, and seven or eight men suddenly rushed into the barber shop, with different ages, some wearing business attire, others in casual clothes, all with red armbands on their sleeves with the words "Strike against speculation and profiteering".

  A middle-aged man who looked like a cadre was the first to speak up, wearing glasses and smiling as he asked Old Wang: "Uncle Wang, business is good, isn't it?"

  "Hey Xiao Long, it's Sunday today, you guys are still quite busy?"

  A middle-aged government official let out a sigh, but with a somewhat pleased expression: "No way, maintaining economic order, the county meeting has already said it, now there are too many cases of illegal business operations, we can't catch up even if we work 24 hours non-stop."

  Lu Zhong knew they were from the Strike Office by their armbands. The so-called Strike Office was actually the "Office of the Leading Group for Striking Against Smuggling, Speculation and Profiteering", which was set up in the County Bureau of Industry and Commerce. Its main responsibilities included exercising economic supervision over industrial and commercial enterprises, protecting legitimate business operations, banning illegal business operations, maintaining economic order, striking against acts of reselling important production materials and scarce commodities that were prohibited by the state.

  Lu Zhong received some information from the casual conversation between middle-aged cadres and Old Man Wang, it seemed that this cadre's surname was Zhou, he was the deputy director of the administrative department of the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, and concurrently served as the captain of the law enforcement supervision team of the "Office for Combating Speculation and Profiteering".

  The house behind the storefront is Zhou Kechang's home, and this storefront was also built by Zhou Kechang. Even Wang Dage's individual business license was helped to be handled by Zhou Kechang, so Wang Dage is very respectful towards him. When talking to Zhou Kechang, he would stop using his razor and comb, causing Du Xiaohu to frown.

  Director Zhou saw Du Xiaohu's expression and immediately sized him up, saying in a gloomy tone: "What's wrong, are you still not satisfied?"

  Du Xiaohu's eyelids lifted as he was about to retort, but Lu Zhong stopped him: "Xiaohu!"

  If it were the old Lu Zhong before his rebirth, he would have been young and vigorous, bursting with energy, and would have definitely clashed with Zhou Kelong and the others. But now that Lu Zhong has experienced so much, how could he possibly engage in meaningless disputes with them?

  Lu Zhong also clearly knew that as the economy became more vibrant, various law enforcement departments gradually gained power, and some people who had never tasted this power inevitably became arrogant. Zhou Kezhang was one of them. The more he was asked to do favors for others, the more he gradually detached himself from the masses, feeling superior and looking down on everyone else.

  How difficult is it to get a business license now? How many people want to start their own businesses and obtain legitimate operating rights? The industrial and commercial system has naturally become a powerful unit with great power.

  Although he had tamed the tiger, Lu Zhong's heart was gradually rising with anger. He knew that no matter how he was reborn, his 20-year-old personality was still deeply influencing him, and he was more like a young man in his 20s than the unpredictable "Magic Hand of Commerce".

  Du Xiaohu was stopped by Lu Zhong, but his big eyes were still staring at Zhou Kelang, making Zhou Kelang stare back in anger. Just as he was about to speak, a timid voice came from the side: "Uncle, I don't want the egg anymore, just let me go."

  Originally, among the law enforcement personnel who were beaten, there was also an 8 or 9-year-old little girl wearing a floral dress, looking very cute and delicate, but she was short in stature, so Lu Zhong and Du Xiaohu didn't see her earlier.

  "Shut up! Do you know what you're doing? This is called profiteering, do you know that? Was it your parents who told you to come and sell this? Tell me, who are your parents? Which unit are they from? If you don't say, then don't think about leaving."

  The little girl was trembling with fear under the fierce rebuke of Director Zhou, but she still shook her head and remained silent, naturally wanting to protect her parents.

  On the other side, a young law enforcement officer was holding a basket of eggs. At a glance, it was clear that a little girl had come to the city to sell eggs and been caught by them.

  "Speak up? If you don't speak, I'll lock you up in the police station!" The law enforcement personnel next to him intimidated the little girl.

  The little girl's big eyes were filled with tears, but she just shook her head desperately and refused to speak.

  Lu Zhong couldn't help but secretly admire this little girl's sense of justice, daring to take on responsibility at such a young age. Although, this behavior was quite childish, because no matter what, she would eventually be able to find her parents.

  Just as Lu Zhong was about to speak, he saw a young law enforcement officer slap the little girl on the head and scold her, saying: "Dare to cry? I'll beat you to death if you dare to cry!" He felt annoyed seeing the little girl turn away with tears.

  Seeing this, Lu Zhong's face suddenly turned cold and he said in a low voice: "What are you doing? Hurry up and return the eggs to the little girl. A few big men bullying a little girl, isn't that shameful?"

  The law enforcement officers all looked at Lu Zhong, the young man who had just patted the little girl on the back was obviously the most rude in law enforcement, and his mouth was not clean either. He cursed and said: "What are you, it's none of your business, just shave your head properly!"

  Lu Zhong also stopped arguing, stood up and said: "You are striking at speculation and profiteering, do you know what speculation and profiteering is? Do you want me to take out the legal provisions for you to see? Besides, this is called rough law enforcement!"

  Several law enforcement officers looked at each other, all of them sneered and thought they had met a ruffian. They didn't know what Lu Zhong was talking about, and one of the law enforcement officers was about to approach Lu Zhong, apparently wanting to teach him what rough law enforcement is.

  That Director Zhou, being a cadre after all, listened to Lu Zhong's words and coldly sneered: "First, she didn't go to the wholesale market; second, she didn't have a business license. That's illegal operation, speculation and profiteering."

  Little girl wiping away tears, said on the side: "My mom told me to go to the wholesale market, but I don't know the way, and I'm looking for someone to ask..."

  Immediately next to her, someone scolded her: "Nonsense, at such a young age you already know how to be cunning and argue, not studying well!"

  Lu Zhong's heart was filled with anger, but in reality, it's quite normal for farmers to bring their own vegetables and eggs from their backyard chickens to sell in the city. Not going to the wholesale market is also common, after all, the wholesale market is not big enough, and it only opens on fixed days. Now that the economy has just been revitalized, the corresponding services and systems are not keeping up, these people are still using outdated methods to bully others.

  Moreover, the domestic drawbacks have always been that the system and services cannot keep up with the law, the law is ahead of its time, and the system and services are backward. This has also given law enforcement personnel an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. That is, completely speaking of the law, many industries think they can punish whichever enterprise they want to punish, and if they don't want to be punished, they have to speak with real gold and silver. The experience of this little girl today is a fledgling form of this.

  Lu Zhong turned around and said to the little girl, "You're Xiaohua, right? Didn't your mom tell you to hand over that blue egg to your uncle at the entrance of the market? It's a fresh egg from our home-raised chicken."

  The little girl was stunned, staring blankly at Lu Zhen, thinking to herself how did this good uncle know that I'm called Little Flower? She didn't know that Little Flower was a name made up by Lu Zhen.

  "How did you know I'm Xiaohua? Do you...do you know my mom?" Xiaohua asked timidly.

  Really called Xiaohua? Lu Zhong was sweating profusely, but he also quickly nodded and said: "Yes, I heard San Shu (your mother) mention sending eggs this morning."

  Lu Zhong said, "Director Zhou, may I have a word with you?" He wanted to clarify the situation and downplay the matter.

  Who knew that Zhou Kechang was already furious, seeing this young man singing a duet with the little girl, who was young and cunning, and also knew how to cooperate, which made him so angry that he cursed: "Are you farting! I think you are also an enemy of socialist economic disruptors!"

  This is just a primitive version of "You talk law with him, he plays rogue with you, you play rogue with him, and he talks law with you."

  However, Zhou Kechang's words touched Lu Zhong's reverse scales. Lu Zhong had a lot of misfortunes in his childhood. At that time, his parents were not doing well, and he was taken away by the nanny as soon as he was born. He had the deepest feelings for the nanny, and in his heart, this foster mother was his real mother. Unfortunately, when he was eight years old, his foster mother died of illness in Guangning, and he was adopted by a local family with the same surname Lu. His household registration was also registered here, but his new adoptive parents were very cruel to him, forcing him to work from a young age until he ran away from home in his teens. It wasn't until then that his biological parents finally found him and sent him into the army.

  However, when facing his biological mother, Lu Zhong's heart couldn't get past that hurdle. Even until today, he hasn't called out "mom" once. He always felt that this title should be forever reserved for the foster mother who had accompanied him through hardships and difficulties until her death. If not for his foster mother, he wouldn't have made it to where he is today, and would probably have been fed to wild dogs long ago.

  But Du Xiaohu knew all about it, and he had also seen with his own eyes the tears that Lu Zhuang's mother had secretly wiped away.

  So, whether Zhou Kechang's sentence "let your mother fart" insulted Lu Zhong's adoptive mother or biological mother, in Du Xiaohu's eyes, it was an unforgivable mistake.

  Director Zhou didn't care about Lu Zhong's face, which had turned cold. Just as he was loudly scolding him, Du Xiaohu suddenly stood up and kicked out with one foot, hitting Director Zhou right in the lower back. Director Zhou let out a pained cry and stumbled forward several steps before collapsing onto the barber chair like a noodle. The huge inertia also caused him to grab onto the chair and fall to the ground with a "thud".

  The law enforcement officers next to them were stunned for a moment, and then they all rushed up. Not only Du Xiaohu, but also Lu Zhong's side was surrounded by several people fighting. The barber shop was instantly chaotic.

  Lu Zhong and Du Xiaohu were both in good physical condition, emerging from the hail of bullets, especially Lu Zhong, who felt his strength had increased greatly. Three or five strong men were no match for him, but since the other side had more people, he couldn't knock them all down at once. In the chaos, he also took several punches to the face.

  Mr. Wang saw the chickens flying and dogs jumping inside the store, "Bang" a sound, the mirror in front of the barber chair was smashed by someone's thrown chair, cracking into thousands of cracks.

  Old Wang's eyes were welling up with tears as he rushed out of the barber shop, shouting: "Quickly, someone come! A fight has broken out, come and mediate!"

  Just then, a green three-wheeled motorcycle drove up on the willow-lined road. On board were three uniformed civil police officers. Seeing this situation, they quickly got off and rushed into the barber shop. The tall and thin leader shouted: "Stop, all of you stop!"

  Zhou Kechang, who had struggled to get up, was overjoyed to see the newcomer, a man he knew, Hou Jianjun, the director of the Chengguan Police Station. They usually called each other brothers. Zhou loudly shouted: "Director Hou, quickly arrest these two hooligans! Damn it, they dared to beat law enforcement personnel, they are counter-revolutionaries, counter-revolutionaries!"

  In the midst of Zhou Ke's loud roar, Hou Jianjun saw Lu Zhong and Du Xiaohu rolling around on the ground together, and he was immediately stunned.

  In the county's public security system, if Lu Zhong still has his own people, it would be Hou Jianjun, the director of this city's police station. Hou Jianjun, also from a military background, is in his early thirties and often drinks with Lu Zhong and Du Xiaohu, having similar personalities. Of course, after being in local politics for over a decade, Hou Jianjun has a much heavier bureaucratic air about him compared to Lu Zhong and Du Xiaohu.

  Seeing several people wrestling with Lu Zhong, Lu Zhong's eyes were still swollen and bruised. Hou Jianjun didn't say a word, and strode towards Director Zhou.

  Director Zhou pointed at Lu Zhong and shouted: "You wait, see how I'll deal with you!…… Ah……" Before he finished speaking, there was a miserable cry. It turned out that Hou Jianjun had kicked him in the stomach, causing him to tumble over again. His foot got tangled in a chair that was lying on the ground, and he fell with his four limbs pointing towards the sky.

  "Damn your mother, you business people have rebelled! Our political commissar even dares to hit us! Get these bastards killed!" Hou Jianjun spat a mouthful of saliva on the ground. In fact, before he could speak, those two young men had already pounced on them. Zhou Kechang and his group were at a disadvantage from the start and were immediately beaten until they cried out for their parents.

  About ten or so minutes later, the barber shop quieted down. Director Zhou was handcuffed to a chair, while his underlings were ordered to squat on the ground, some with bruised noses and faces, muttering softly, about to receive another slap in the face.

  The barber shop has been closed with wooden boards, so as not to be seen inside, after all, they are all in uniform, beating each other up, if it gets out, those present will have no good outcome.

  Zhou Ke's cheek was swollen and bruised, his eyes were black and blue, his glasses had long since flown off, his lower back ached as if it had been broken, he looked at Lu Zheng, the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau, who seemed too young for this position. He felt regretful, angry, and anxious, unsure how things would end.

  Lu Zhong rubbed his slightly sore wrist and gave Hou Jianjun a signal to let him go.

  It's actually funny that the little girl is gone, and the basket of eggs is also gone. Apparently, in the chaos, this little clever ghost took advantage of the situation to slip away. It's just that this guy is too unscrupulous.

  Hou Jianjun took out the key and unlocked the handcuffs on Zhou Kechang's wrist, saying: "If you follow my temper, you are a police assassin!"

  Zhou Kechang wanted to refute, but saw Hou Jianjun glare at him, and was so scared that his words retreated into his stomach. He was really intimidated. Unexpectedly, the usually affable Hou Jianjun had such a dark hand after changing his face, and he was also so terrifying.

  Damn it! The public security personnel are indeed as changeable as flipping through a book!

  Hou Jianjun continued: "However, our land policy committee is lenient. Let's just forget about today's matter, Old Zhou, do you have any objections?"

  Zhou Kezhang nodded, although he was angry, but the situation was stronger than people. If they continued to make trouble, they would definitely be laughed at in the unit. Moreover, the public security had always been strong, and it was a period of severe crackdown. If they had a bad relationship with them, they would be afraid to do anything smoothly.

  "Get up, all of you." Hou Jianjun made a gesture, and Zhou Kechang's group looked at each other, someone took the lead, and they slowly got up.

  Lu Zhong smiled and said: "I heard that in the past, the Beijing City Garrison and the Vanguard Regiment often fought each other. This time it's just a misunderstanding, similar to those fights, just for fun. Compared to the martial arts battles of the past, this is nothing. It's just a difference in law enforcement views between me and Director Zhou, not a big deal. The way we solved it was just...not very civilized."

  Lu Zhong finished speaking, and a young man from the police station burst out laughing. Several law enforcement officers also found it amusing. In their hearts, they thought that Lu Zheng, the political commissar of the Public Security Bureau, was indeed cultured. He had managed to turn a group fight into something work-related. Moreover, after listening to Lu Zheng's words, the law enforcement officers' original feelings of humiliation gradually faded away. They no longer felt that they had been bullied by the police or beaten up. Instead, they found the situation quite amusing, like the feeling of a flood washing over the Dragon King Temple.

  Lu Zhong said: "Director Zhou, let's put it off till another day, I'll invite you guys to have a drink together. Now, we're all injured, let's find a place to treat our wounds?"

  Director Zhou didn't know that the ready-made stairs were going down? Seeing Lu Zhuang stretch out his hand, he shook hands with Lu Zhuang and said, "Let's talk another day." Wanting to say something else, but ultimately unable to save face, he took his companions who had been beaten up and opened the back door of the barber shop, went home to do some washing and applying medicine.

  Lu Zhong then said to Wang Da Ye: "Sir, all the losses will be counted as mine. I'll find someone to fix it for you later and compensate your loss."

  Grandfather Wang was also hesitant and didn't dare say anything.

  Opening the wooden board door out of the barber shop, I saw people watching the commotion from afar in twos and threes. Although they got on the wooden boards later, there must still be people who saw it when the group fight happened.

  Fortunately it's not the era of camera phones, otherwise if someone took a few photos and put them online, it would be strange if I wasn't completely exposed.

  Du Xiaohu and the young man from the police station helped Wang Dage put up a wooden board from outside, today's business is definitely closed, closing the door also saves someone from coming to ask.

  Lu Zhong patted Hou Jianjun's shoulder and said, "You hurry back now."

  Hou Jianjun took a look at the distant crowd, knowing it wasn't good to stay for long. He nodded and said, "Alright, if anything happens today, I'll take responsibility." In fact, Hou Jianjun had some slight regrets in his heart. It wasn't that he regretted getting into this fight today, but rather that a year ago when Lu Zheng first arrived at the county bureau, he had misjudged him, thinking Lu would definitely rise to prominence. As a result, without any solid backing, he quickly became close with Lu Zheng, only to find out that now, a year later, Lu Zheng had become a marginal figure in the county bureau, dragging Hou Jianjun down with him, and they were often criticized by Deputy Director Gao, who was now rising rapidly. Every day felt suffocating.

  Watching the three-wheeled motorcycle disappear into the distance, spewing black smoke, Du Xiaohu stood behind Lu Zhong and said with some concern: "Commissar, have I messed things up?" When he took action, Du Xiaohu hadn't expected it to turn out like this.

  Lu Zhong smiled and said, "It's nothing."

  "How can nothing be wrong? If Gao Zhikai finds out about this, he'll definitely make a big deal out of it."

  Gao Zhikai? Lu Zhong's eyelids twitched at the mention of this name, and his fists clenched unconsciously.

  Past life and present life, birth separation and death parting, scene after scene flashes before one's eyes, this name was once one's own nightmare.

  Gao Zhikai, five years older than himself, is the current deputy director of Guangning County Bureau and head of the criminal investigation team. Before coming to Guangning, he was a police academy graduate who was promoted to deputy section level in the county bureau at the fastest speed.

  Now from the central to provincial and municipal party committees, all are promoting cadres' "youthification, professionalization, intellectualization, and revolutionization". Gao Zhiguo is undoubtedly a very typical example of this kind of new type of cadre.

  Two years ago, he was promoted to deputy director. At the age of 25 that year, he became the youngest deputy section-level cadre in the county and was naturally spirited.

  But he didn't expect that just a year after becoming the deputy director, I would transfer to Guangning and break his "myth", especially since we were in the same system, he naturally wouldn't be convinced, after all, he had struggled for many years at the county bureau before being promoted from a regular rank, compared to me, he was just an old public security officer.

  In his past life, he himself resigned and went into business, more or less because of his backstabbing.

  At this point, he didn't blame himself, after all, everyone has their own private thoughts. But what he couldn't have imagined was that after the Lu family fell, the one who led the investigation into his company and him was none other than the now-promoted Deputy Director of the Provincial Public Security Department - him.

  How much hatred must he have harbored to not let himself go for so many years?

  Perhaps it's because he was jealous of my success in the business world, and that touched his nerves? He absolutely can't bear that after all these years, I, who was driven away by him, am still living a better life than him.

  Of course, such a big thing as sealing off his own company must have had an inside black hand behind it. He was just the executor, but seeing the excited look in his eyes back then couldn't help but make one feel chilled to the bone. After all, he was an old colleague they hadn't seen in years, shouldn't there be some lingering affection?

  But his methods were so vicious, and Tiger's death was likely to be related to him. Moreover, he had directly persecuted his own relatives, forcing himself to confess against his will.

  Lu Zhong was lost in thought, recalling scene after scene, and remained silent for a long time.

  Lu Zhen was seen being distracted, Du Xiaohu asked in a low voice: "Commissar, what's wrong?"

  Lu Zhong came to himself, shook his head, waved away the distractions, patted Hu Zi's shoulder and said: "Hu Zi, I've told you before, from today on, we'll only win battles!"

  Du Xiaohu nodded slightly as if he understood but didn't really understand.