Chapter 27: First Day at Work

Tu Shan walked into the office, feeling quite excited for her first day of work.

The "spirited young sister" greeted her with a smile: "Sister Sanmei, you're here."

"Sister Sanmei, let's go, the Boss is waiting for you in the office," Xu Zhi said, running over excitedly.

Tu Shan’s smile stiffened: "Please call me Third Sister, thank you." What the hell was "Sister Sanmei"? It made her feel completely uncomfortable. When would she ever be able to just be called Tu Shan?

The two of them didn't take her minor depression to heart at all and switched their address for her as easily as flowing water.

"Let's go, Third Sister, the Boss has been waiting for a while," Xu Zhi said, tugging Tu Shan along.

He Jiahuan had a private office, though he didn't use it much.

Tu Shan walked in, and he pointed to a chair covered in dust: "Sit."

Tu Shan... Tu Shan pulled over a piece of clothing from the side to wipe the chair, shook it out after wiping, and put it back.

He Jiahuan...

"This is your onboarding form. Fill it out. Also, your grain supply will be transferred to us. Did you bring your grain ration book? We need to register it. If you didn't bring it..."

"I brought it," she said, pulling it out of her small black bag.

He Jiahuan took it to register her and then wrote out a certificate: "Go to the community later to register yourself. From now on, all your various grain supply subsidies will go through our team.

This is your work certificate. Since you're a temporary worker, you don't have a police officer's badge or an ID card. You'll have to earn those yourself in the future."

"No problem," Tu Shan said, full of confidence.

"There's nothing else for now. Familiarize yourself with things first; I'll have Xu Zhi show you around."

Xu Zhi poked his head in from the doorway and beckoned to Tu Shan like a pimp: "Third Sister, come quickly, come quickly."

He Jiahuan couldn't help but roll his eyes.

How embarrassing.

"Go on."

Tu Shan went.

"Third Sister, you're one of us now. Since you provided important information for the case and made a huge contribution, you can participate in the case we're currently investigating. Follow me."

Xu Zhi took Tu Shan outside the interrogation room. There were dozens of people brought in who needed to be interrogated one by one, over and over; it wouldn't be finished anytime soon.

For the past few days, the entire team had been busy with this, working without sleep, and everyone was suffering from nervous exhaustion.

"Third Sister, do you know the specific details of our case?"

Tu Shan shook her head. How would she know?

Xu Zhi cleared his throat; it was his turn to perform: "We received news that someone was smuggling cultural relics. We followed the trail and found the person you helped us catch in the water earlier.

That guy is called 'Water Ghost.' He does water transport and mostly deals in shady business.

From him, we got information about the cargo contact, the person we caught in the black market area, called 'Mountain Demon.'

But Mountain Demon is just a middleman who helps connect cargo and people for a fee. He doesn't ask who the employer is and always uses codes to communicate. He picks up the goods at a designated place and delivers them to a designated person.

The trail ended there, and the case stalled.

However, the tomb-robbing gang you provided gave us new clues.

We investigated and found that this group is the source of the goods.

It's just that after two days of interrogation, these people insist they were only hired to do manual labor and don't know anything else."

Tu Shan understood. One operation, with the people behind it divided into different sectors, just like an assembly line in a factory. Division of labor and cooperation—it was safer and more efficient. It was normal for these people not to know anything.

"The small fry downstairs are indeed just hired help; they don't know much.

But the one who was seriously injured and hospitalized, and this one here, are the leaders. They definitely know.

It's just that the one who was injured hasn't passed the danger period yet, and this one... his mouth is harder than his bones. He won't say a thing."

Tu Shan looked through the small window on the door and saw Li Hao and his teammate interrogating a man.

The man kept his eyelids lowered, silent, refusing to speak no matter how Li Hao and the other questioned him.

Tu Shan blinked: "I've seen this man before."

Xu Zhi was surprised: "Third Sister, you've really seen him? Where? When?"

...

In the office, He Jiahuan, Xu Zhi, and Li Hao—who was somewhat irritable from the torture of the interrogation—all stared at Tu Shan expectantly.

Tu Shan took a strategic step back: "At the hospital. The day I went to see the Captain, I saw him with Zhang Limei."

The hope on the three men's faces vanished instantly, replaced by an indescribable expression.

He Jiahuan coughed lightly: "San..."

"Call me Third Sister." Tu Shan was truly afraid of hearing "Sister Sanmei" again.

He Jiahuan...

"Little Tu, to be honest, Ling Yang and I have been brothers for nearly ten years. I know his character very well. He is absolutely a person with a sense of responsibility, principles, discipline, and a deep hatred for evil. Regardless of what others say, you should trust him first."

Tu Shan???

Xu Zhi leaned in: "Third Sister, Brother Ling Yang is a real man. Although he is indeed very popular with women, I swear on my head that he is absolutely reliable.

You can't believe the rumors outside.

Besides, even if other women are interested in him, it's not something he can stop, but he definitely won't have any wandering eyes.

Brother Ling Yang... I think he's allergic to women. Even the mosquitoes around him are male."

Tu Shan???

Li Hao was much more blunt, skipping the roundabout talk of the previous two: "It's impossible for Brother Ling Yang and Zhang Limei to have anything going on. Third Sister, don't go looking for trouble with Zhang Limei, or it will affect your marriage." The important thing was that it would affect Ling Yang's reputation and future.

None of these people knew yet that Ling Yang had already brought up divorce.

Tu Shan...

I didn't, I don't, I'm being wronged.

She smashed a table with her fist: "You can question my character, but you cannot insult my professional integrity.

I really saw the two of them talking together. If you don't believe me, I can apply to tail and investigate Zhang Limei to find evidence to prove I'm not lying."

The three men, who had been showered with wood shavings, all retreated in unison.

He Jiahuan said with heartbreak: "Little Tu, you still didn't listen."

Tu Shan silently clenched her fists.

He Jiahuan felt a chill down his spine and continued: "Even if, you know, you saw them talking, it doesn't prove they have a problem. Maybe they were asking for directions, or asking about something? You are a member of the national team now; you must be rigorous in your words and actions."

Tu Shan said expressionlessly: "It wasn't asking for directions. Their conversation went like this

'Did you ask?'

'Not yet. You know, those people have very tight lips.'

'Hurry up.'

'I know.'

Based on this conversation, I have reason to suspect they have an improper relationship."

She had suspected it at the time and wanted to investigate, but the people at the hospital guarded against her like she was a thief, which made her angry.

He Jiahuan turned serious. After a few days of getting along, although Tu Shan was occasionally mentally unstable, she was very reliable most of the time. She wouldn't lie about something like this.

"Fine. Xu Zhi, you go to the hospital and tail Zhang Limei."

Tu Shan... They still didn't believe her.

Hmph, what's so great about that.

"Li Hao, continue the interrogation. You can casually mention the hospital or hint that we already know about this person named Zhang Limei, and see how he reacts."

The two left, and Tu Shan looked at He Jiahuan expectantly.

He Jiahuan... "Uh, you probably don't know the details of this case very well. Take the file and study it carefully."

"Fine."

Ding...

Time to eat.