He ran?!
The office erupted into immediate chaos. No one had expected Yan Mingchang to just slip away like that. Zhao Min reacted the strongest— the moment Han Wei spoke, her face darkened, and she shouted, “What the hell is wrong with you people? The City Bureau has all those officers, and with so many eyes on him, you still let him escape?”
Han Wei had just returned from outside, drenched in sweat and not even having taken a sip of water. He was stunned by Zhao Min’s outburst for a good long moment before he managed to reply awkwardly, “Sorry, we…”
“Sorry? Does ‘sorry’ fix anything right now?” Zhao Min was beside herself with agitation. After snapping that, she shoved past Han Wei and bolted upstairs toward Xu Zhixin’s office.
Han Wei stood frozen in the doorway. After a beat, he muttered in bewilderment, “Why is she so worked up…?”
The rest of the office was full of blank stares, everyone wearing equally puzzled expressions.
“First, tell us what happened. When did it go down?” Zhou Hui rose from her desk and said to Han Wei.
Han Wei turned to her, gathered his thoughts, and began, “A few of us…”
“…Yan Mingchang escaped? How do you lose track of someone like that?” Xu Zhixin’s voice boomed from outside, followed by him shoving the office door open. He stormed in with such fury that it seemed like he could tear the City Bureau apart.
Han Wei: “…”
Before Han Wei could even explain the full story, the Narcotics Squad laid into him.
Zhou Hui first cut off the Narcotics Squad’s tirade against Han Wei and said to Xu Zhixin, “Captain Xu, hold on a second. Let’s hear the details first, then figure out our next moves.”
Xu Zhixin realized that made sense. He grudgingly reined in his frustration with the City Bureau Criminal Investigation Team and turned to Han Wei. “Alright, spill it. What exactly happened? How did you lose him?”
Ignoring the Narcotics Squad captain’s clear displeasure, Han Wei started explaining. “Some police colleagues were auditing the books at one of Yan Mingchang’s subsidiaries and spotted irregularities. They reported it to us and said they needed to bring him in for questioning. Since we were already investigating him, they asked us to send someone along. The rest of us were stationed outside his headquarters building—covering the garage, main entrance, side doors, every exit. But by the time our guy went in with the police, Yan Mingchang was gone!”
“Did he just vanish into thin air? What about the company surveillance footage?” Xu Zhixin exploded again. His tone wasn’t any milder than before he’d heard the story. The Narcotics Squad seemed to have an unusually intense interest in Yan Mingchang’s case—intense enough to raise eyebrows.
Han Wei: “We checked the footage. No sign of him leaving.”
Zhang Yunan had overheard Zhao Min rushing to tell Xu Zhixin about Yan Mingchang. He’d immediately contacted Zhou Boyan at the Provincial Department, gotten instructions from the boss, and issued a wanted order for Yan Mingchang.
By the time he arrived downstairs in the office, Zhou Hui was already deploying teams. “Han Wei, head back to Yan Mingchang’s company and link up with the others. See if you can find any leads. Little Yang, Sun Ye, take some people and pull surveillance from the roads around his company. Check if Yan Mingchang shows up anywhere.”
“Got it.”
Zhou Hui thought of something else and asked Han Wei, “What about the situation at Yan Mingchang’s house?”
Han Wei: “We’ve got eyes on it! We’ll hear right away if anything happens.”
Once she finished, Zhang Yunan clapped Xu Zhixin on the shoulder. “Little Xu, don’t get too worked up. If Yan Mingchang bolted, that just proves he’s got something to hide. Here’s what you do: take Xiao Zhao and go assist the police on the accounting angle. You might dig up something useful there.”
Xu Zhixin started to protest, but Zhang Yunan shut him down with a genial smile. “Come on, Little Xu. I’ve already smoothed things over with the police for you. Get over there now—every second counts if we’re going to catch Yan Mingchang. Plus, the Provincial Bureau’s issued the wanted notice. He can’t get far. Relax.”
You don’t hit a smiling face, after all—and Zhang Yunan was his old boss to boot. Xu Zhixin wasn’t some fresh-faced rookie straight out of the academy; he’d been in narcotics long enough not to burn bridges over this. He nodded at Zhang Yunan, then called to Zhao Min and headed out.
After Xu Zhixin left, Zhang Yunan noticed Han Wei looking down in the dumps over losing the suspect. He patted the young man’s shoulder consolingly. “Little Han, don’t take Captain Xu’s words to heart. He’s just really passionate about narcotics cases—gets fired up the second drugs are involved. Deep down, he’s a good guy.”
Han Wei shook his head glumly. “I won’t. And Captain Xu’s right, anyway. But…” He trailed off, then wailed, “What if my little princess thinks I’m useless and stops liking me?”
“…” Zhou Hui felt utterly exasperated by Han Wei’s priorities. She shot him a disdainful look.
Zhang Yunan clearly hadn’t expected Han Wei to be sulking over something like this. He was struck speechless for a few seconds before letting out a heavy, earnest sigh. “You can take your time pursuing Officer Xiao Zhao,” he told Han Wei. “No need to rush. If she likes you, she’ll see all your good points. For now, just follow your captain’s lead and focus on the case.”
Han Wei thought there was some truth to that. With all his strengths, Zhao Min was bound to fall for him again. Once the case was wrapped up, they could surely rekindle their old flame.
Zhou Hui had no idea about the extreme self-love bubbling through Han Wei’s mind. She slapped him hard on the back with a sharp “Smack!” and said, “Come on, let’s go handle this case.”
Snapping out of his startled daze, Han Wei saw that Zhou Hui was already heading out with the car keys in hand. He hurried after her, grumbling in dissatisfaction, “Captain Zhou, can’t we be a little gentler in the future? Act more like a lady, you know? Who’d ever want to marry you looking like that?”
Zhou Hui pretended to swing at him. Her palm was already whistling toward Han Wei when the younger man darted away like a streak of smoke, dodging clear. Zhou Hui didn’t bother chasing him. Instead, she straightened up with mock seriousness and defended herself. “What do you mean ‘like a lady’? I already am one, thank you very much! You can’t even win over Zhao Min, and here you are fretting about my marriage prospects?”
Han Wei clutched his chest as if he’d been stabbed right in the heart, feigning agony as he shot back at Zhou Hui, “Captain, that’s cold! I’m counting on Zhao Min to be the face of our precinct. You can’t jinx me like that, or who’ll keep our image shining?”
“My bad, my bad,” Zhou Hui replied. She’d always valued the precinct’s reputation even more than her own love life.
When they arrived at Yan Mingchang’s company, Zhou Hui and Han Wei met his secretary—a poised woman in her early thirties with an attractive face. After a brief chat, it became clear she was sharp, capable, and unflappably professional in every word and gesture.
She showed no nervousness under police questioning. Her responses were orderly, logical, and flowed effortlessly, as if she’d rehearsed them in advance. It was obvious she’d dealt with cops plenty of times before; she was utterly at ease in situations like this.
Handling cases often meant running into people like her—uncooperative types who played games with the police, circling around the truth. It took extra effort at every step, a battle of wits to pry anything useful out of them or tease out the real story.
Seated in Yan Mingchang’s office, Zhou Hui faced the woman across from her. “When was the last time you saw Yan Mingchang?”
The secretary avoided a direct answer, firing back with a question of her own. “Officer, has something happened to our boss?” She gestured toward Han Wei beside her. “This officer was here this afternoon, saying there were issues with the company accounts. You know how it is—business has been booming these past few years, and we’ve got more rivals than ever. It must be some mix-up on your end.”
Zhou Hui waited until she finished, then repeated her question. “Secretary Tong, I’m asking when you last saw Yan Mingchang. Just answer that. As for what you’ve said, the police will verify if it’s true.”
Seeing that Zhou Hui wasn’t one to be strung along, Secretary Tong paused to think. “Around noon? Or maybe morning.”
Zhou Hui’s tone hardened. “Yan Mingchang is connected to a major case. You’d better think carefully before you speak to the police. Every word you say could end up as courtroom testimony, and you’ll be held legally responsible. Do you understand?”
Secretary Tong forced a smile. “Of course, Officer. I was just flustered earlier and forgot. It was noon—twelve o’clock, right after the company meeting ended. The boss came back to his office and asked me to prepare the financial reports he’d need that afternoon. I haven’t seen him since.”
“You’re lying! Secretary Tong, did you forget about the company surveillance? At 2:50 p.m., the camera at the second-floor stairwell shows you and Yan Mingchang entering the stairwell together. What were you doing?” From reviewing the company footage, Han Wei and the others had determined that Yan Mingchang’s last appearance on camera was at 2:50 p.m. in that second-floor stairwell.
Secretary Tong’s nerves twitched for an instant, but she quickly composed herself. “Oh, right! Now I remember. I was taking trash to the stairwell when the boss suddenly called. He said the financial reports were missing two pages. I offered to check on it, but he came out himself and said he’d go to the finance department.”
“Where’s the finance department?”
“Third floor.”
The surveillance showed Yan Mingchang vanishing from the company after that second-floor footage. He never appeared on any third-floor cameras afterward.
Zhou Hui pressed on. “Has Yan Mingchang mentioned anything recently about leaving Pingling City, or shown any unusual behavior?”
Secretary Tong replied with calm composure. “No, he hasn’t said anything like that. He’s got a business deal to close the day after tomorrow. He wouldn’t just up and leave Pingling City without reason.”
Her words were just one side of the story, not to be taken at face value. Once the questioning wrapped up, Zhou Hui decided to review the surveillance footage again, checking for anything the police might have missed.
Zhou Hui shot Han Wei a meaningful glance and murmured, “Have someone keep an eye on Secretary Tong. She seems to know something.”
Han Wei nodded and flashed Zhou Hui an OK sign.
The two made their way to the surveillance room, where their colleagues were already reviewing the footage, but they still hadn’t turned up any leads.
Zhou Hui watched for a moment before frowning and asking, “Which door is closest to the stairs?”
One of the company staff in the surveillance room replied, “The east door.”
Zhou Hui pointed at the screen. “Pull up the footage from the stairwell to the east door after two fifty this afternoon.”
The staffer grumbled, “Those two officers just checked that…”
A single sharp glance from Zhou Hui silenced him instantly. He turned around and dutifully brought up the requested footage.
“Speed it up… stop. Rewind… right there.” The timestamp read two fifty-eight when Zhou Hui jabbed a finger at the screen, zeroing in on a figure dressed like a worker, face and head completely obscured by a mask and hat. “Is this one of your company’s employees?”
“No. The boss called a repairman at noon—said the air conditioner in the office was busted.”
Zhou Hui asked, “What time did he show up, roughly? Which door did he come through?”
“Around two thirty-ish, through the main entrance.”
Zhou Hui rewound to the clip of the repairman entering. “Can you get in touch with this guy right now?”
“No idea. The boss made the arrangements. Secretary Tong should have his number, though.”
Han Wei asked, “Captain Zhou, what’s suspicious about this guy?”
Zhou Hui replied, “The man caught on camera at two fifty-eight? That’s Yan Mingchang.”
