"When the sky brightens, I and you are alike, in my heart, I regard you as a friend. When you didn't come to the construction bureau, some young people in the bureau would often mock me and bully me. You shone on the basketball court, subdued them, and no one dared to make fun of me again... I... I'm truly grateful to you from the bottom of my heart, but...but I've wronged you."

  "To be honest, Deputy Director Yu has been quite good to me. I'm a person with no prospects, and can only follow the leaders around. Although I wasn't assigned to work directly under Deputy Director Yu, he has always taken care of me, and we have had many private interactions. He often takes me out for meals too. So when Sun Qiao Xian's husband passed away, he assigned me to take charge of contacting her and taking care of her daily life. I agreed without hesitation."

  "He made many promises to me, such as allocating a house for me and promoting me to deputy director of the office. I'm not stupid, I know that being a deputy bureau chief in the bureau doesn't have much real power. The promises he made were empty, without the old bureau chief's approval, they were all just empty checks and hollow words. Unless he becomes the bureau chief himself."

  "Not long ago, he took me to a teahouse for tea and we happened to run into Sun Qiaoxian playing cards. Under their urging, I joined in too. After the game ended, Deputy Director Yu left, and Sun Qiaoxian invited me to her home to play around... We drank some wine, and then I, I vaguely remember going to bed with Sun Qiaoxian..."

  "In just a few days, Deputy Director Yu came to me, and Sun Qiaoxian was also there, crying and saying that I had bullied her. She wanted to report me to the bureau, and only then did I realize that Deputy Director Yu and Sun Qiaoxian were in cahoots to frame me. At that moment, I panicked, because as someone like me, no leader would truly protect me with good intentions. If this matter gets out, wouldn't I have to go back to my hometown to farm?"

  "So, I was trapped by Deputy Director Yu. Of course, he still treated me well and even actively facilitated my interactions with Sun Qiao Xian. However, when he asked me to go to the old director's office to steal things, I was shocked. With my courage, how could I dare to do such a thing? My first reaction was to refuse Deputy Director Yu's request."

  "At that time, Deputy Director Yu turned against me, saying he would report my and Sun Qiaoxian's matter to the Bureau's Discipline Inspection Committee. I was afraid, so I agreed to his request... In just two days, he handed over the key and password of the bureau chief's safe to me, under his cover, I smoothly obtained three notebooks belonging to the old bureau chief."

  "In fact, after getting the three laptops, Deputy Director Yu regretted it. He regretted not letting me take more things, because taking only three laptops would make it easy for Old Director to guess who did it. Deputy Directors Gao and Sun were both Old Director's people and wouldn't dare have such thoughts, whereas Deputy Director Chen was an outsider, always cautious and careful, and wouldn't resort to such tactics just to become the director."

  "At that time, a small unexpected event occurred, someone reported the case, and Deputy Director Yu suspected it was done by Deputy Director Chen. It was just to muddy the waters and take advantage of the situation. However, Deputy Director Yu only wanted to use the three notebooks to blackmail the old director, without wanting to make the matter public and let others benefit from it. So he asked Public Security Bureau Chief Xie Zixiang to send a reliable person to pretend to investigate, what was called the 'special case group', which was actually just to placate everyone."

  To cover himself, Deputy Director Yu thought of a plan, which he himself said was "a thief shouting to catch a thief". He called back Xiang Tianliang from the poverty alleviation point in Dayang Village under the Construction Bureau and let him openly investigate, hoping to create an illusion that Deputy Director Yu was not the one who stole things.

  However, Deputy Director Yu never thought that Xiang Tianliang was a top student at the Police University. In just two days, he found out that I was the one who stole things, and the one who instructed me to steal was none other than Deputy Director Yu himself. Deputy Director Yu panicked, having previously said to me, "I didn't expect us to have stolen a hot potato!" What he didn't expect even more was that Xiang Tianliang had actually defected to the old director and wanted to steal the thing back to return it to the old director.

  "Deputy Director Yu wanted to hand over the three notebooks to the organization, which would indeed allow the old director to leave early, but the organization would not let Deputy Director Yu, who was despicable in his methods, take over as director. Deputy Director Yu naturally hoped that the old director would come to him and they could reach a compromise, but the old director was stubborn and refused to budge, showing no signs of compromise."

  "Just then, Deputy Director Yu went to the provincial city for a meeting, and his home was stolen... According to what he told me later, it must have been done by Xiang Tianliang. What's even more deadly is that those three notebooks are gone, but Deputy Director Yu didn't leave any photocopies."

  "I also asked Deputy Director Yu, why can't we bring Tian Liang over, he told me, if this kid knew that his police quota was replaced by Xie Zixuan's daughter, it was my idea, I changed his personal wish through the Organization Department, would he spare me?"

  "In those days, Deputy Director Yu had a very bad temper. As soon as he saw me, he would scold me, as if I were Tian Liang himself. I carefully asked him if it was possible to negotiate with Tian Liang, and he viciously said, 'What's there to negotiate? That damned Tian Liang not only stole the old director's three notebooks but also swiped the things I kept for my friends.'"

  "I knew something was wrong because Yu, the deputy director, didn't have many friends in Qinghe City who could speak their minds, and Public Security Bureau Chief Xie Zixiang was one of the best ones. The two of them almost talked on the phone every day and met each other every other day, I don't know what they were talking about, but it was definitely something mysterious and not good."

  "Sure enough, that day Vice Director Yu called me over and pulled out a jade pendant from his pocket, telling me to put it in Xiang Tianliang's bag or box. This was a frame-up, how could I dare do such a thing? He threatened me, saying if I didn't go along with it, we'd be waiting for death. Yu Feilong might not remain as vice director, but he could still mix around until retirement in Binhaixian, whereas Chen Dabao was nothing, and crushing him would be as easy as crushing an ant."

  "He also said that after doing this, there is still hope for a comeback. Once the dawn breaks and he enters the Public Security Bureau, even an iron-willed man will have to surrender. As long as he helps us turn the tables, we can put the old director and his men in a desperate situation. If he doesn't do this, he'll join forces with Xie Zixiang and throw me out as a scapegoat, pushing all the blame onto me."

  "Alas... I still couldn't resist his threats and temptation, agreed to his request, quietly put the jade pendant into Xiang Tianliang's box, and the next day, also successfully got Xiang Tianliang caught by the public security bureau."

  "Originally, Yu Deputy Director and Xie Zixiang's plan was to capture Xiang Tianliang and then on the one hand, tarnish his reputation outside, while on the other hand, use various means to deal with him inside, forcing him to hand over all the things he had stolen from Yu Deputy Director's home."

  "But unexpectedly, someone's appearance made Yu Deputy Director and Xie Zixiang's plans fall through."

  (Recommended military history masterpiece "The Silk Road of Sui and Tang Dynasties")