Chapter 1 Afternoon

It was noon.

Inside the interrogation room of the Inspection Department, Tang Baiqing hadn't been handcuffed or locked in an iron cage, but his cell phone, ID, and other personal belongings had all been confiscated. Moreover, the people interrogating him had installed two sets of law enforcement recording devices in the room and strictly followed the interrogation regulations, assigning a recorder, a chief interrogator, and a supervising interrogator to question Tang Baiqing.

This setup was very formal. Those cadres who had been removed from their posts faced almost the same kind of interrogation before being imprisoned.

Tang Baiqing would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous at the moment.

In the dimly lit interrogation room, the chief interrogator looked at Tang Baiqing expressionlessly: "From now on, you will say whatever I ask you. Answer the questions directly, without evading or explaining, understand?"

"Understood," Tang Baiqing nodded.

"What time did you enter the port on the day of the incident?"

"According to regulations, I entered the port at 4:30 p.m.," he answered.

"Okay, what time did you board the coast guard patrol boat after entering the port?"

"At 8:00 p.m. After the people on the previous shift returned, I and the other team members boarded the patrol boat," Tang Baiqing replied, sweat beading on his forehead.

"I've seen your internal schedule. The original team leader on duty that day was Huang Zhicheng. Why did he switch shifts with you that day? Did you propose it, or did he?" the interrogator asked again.

Tang Baiqing hesitated for a moment: "I proposed it because I originally had something to do today, so I wanted to switch shifts for a day."

"Your entire team rotated, meaning that in addition to you, the other coast guard officers in your team also had their shifts adjusted." The interrogator frowned and continued to ask: "You had something to do today, did all the members of your team also have something to do?"

Tang Baiqing clenched his palms: "...Coast guard night patrols require very detailed zoning. I and Lao Huang's people aren't familiar with each other and don't have much cooperation, so we adjusted the entire team's shifts. This makes it easier to work, and it's not uncommon in the coast guard department."

"Are you sure you didn't deliberately change shifts and had no other purpose?"

"No!"

"Why did your patrol area repeatedly avoid Patrol Area 4? A smuggling fishing boat visible to the naked eye entered the port from the front. Didn't you have any prior detection? How did you divide the patrol area? Did you consider that there were loopholes in your patrol plan?" the interrogator pressed aggressively.

Tang Baiqing had been mentally prepared before coming, but facing the investigators' constant questioning, he felt somewhat flustered.

Even the most brilliant lies have loopholes, not to mention Tang Baiqing was facing professional investigators. These people might have taken down even bureau-level cadres and chief detectives; how could they be helpless against Tang Baiqing?

After more than twenty minutes of questioning, the sweat flowing from Tang Baiqing's body had soaked through his clothes.

...

Around 3:00 p.m., Tang Baiqing was temporarily released by the Inspection Department, but they made him sign a notice stating that he was not allowed to leave Dragon City in the near future and that he had to accept summons at any time.

After Tang Baiqing left the Inspection Department, he immediately returned to his unit and found his superior, the coast guard company commander.

Inside the office, Tang Baiqing closed the door and said in a low voice to the bald company commander, "Damn it, the people from the Inspection Department dragged me over for a round of questioning and made me sign a notice that I can't leave Dragon City in the near future. Lao Wang, I think this matter is getting a bit big."

The company commander looked up at him, his face gloomy and silent.

"My idea is this: can we get the dock gang to say that the gold bricks on the boat were placed by another group of bandits, that this was a frame-up, and have them only admit to smuggling ordinary goods?" Tang Baiqing asked.

"Are you out of your mind?!" the company commander frowned and replied: "Nearly four hundred kilograms of gold bricks, how could the bandits transport them all onto the fishing boat in just a few minutes? How do you explain the fingerprints?! Also, if the bandits have video footage of the scene, and we say that, as soon as they release it on any platform, the coast guard will be hammered to death, and the matter will become even bigger!"

Tang Baiqing pondered for a long time and continued very anxiously, "Then how about this, I'll call the dock gang and have them push Feng Hai out as a scapegoat, saying that he colluded with some coast guards on our side and was secretly engaged in smuggling. This will get us out of it, and the case will end with them."

"You're still thinking about getting yourself out of it?" the company commander asked incredulously.

"What else?!" Tang Baiqing retorted.

The company commander gritted his teeth, stood up, took out two notices from his desk, shoved them directly into Tang Baiqing's arms, and roared, "Still thinking you can avoid being implicated? Are you dreaming?! Damn it, you and I have to stand up and take responsibility, understand?!"

Tang Baiqing looked down and saw the two notices in his hand, which were orders for him and the company commander to be suspended for investigation. This order was issued directly by the Coast Guard Department.

Tang Baiqing was dumbfounded: "What does this mean?"

"Let's not even talk about whether you colluded with the dock gang to smuggle or traffic drugs. Just the fact that the smuggling boat blatantly entered the inner harbor and rushed into the estuary is enough for you and me to be suspected of dereliction of duty! What are you doing? You're a coast guard! The boat came in, and you didn't react at all. Does that make sense?" The company commander roared with the same explosive emotions: "Nearly four hundred kilograms of gold bricks, how big of a deal is this? Even if your dad had an accident, you couldn't let this happen!"

Tang Baiqing looked at the notice ordering his suspension, his brain was flooded with anger, and the negative emotions in his heart were constantly rising.

Ever since he accidentally killed that woman, Tang Baiqing hadn't encountered a single smooth thing!

...

Longkou, inside the main hall of the dock gang.

Wei Xiangzuo sat beside the old man, who was nearly sixty years old, his head lowered, saying nothing.

Xu Hu walked in from outside, first offered incense in front of Guan Yu, and then respectfully called out to the old man, "Master!"

"I only imported three hundred kilograms of goods. Why did it turn out to be nearly four hundred kilograms in the end?" the old man asked, folding his hands.

Xu Hu lowered his head and didn't reply for a moment.

...

Around 8:00 p.m., a gentle breeze blew on Guangji Island, and the stars shone brightly.

A group of young people sat on mats around a bonfire, enjoying a party.

"I was the last one to climb the mountain today, and I have nothing to say." Bai Hongbo had drunk a lot, held the microphone connected to the computer, and waved his hand, shouting, "I'll sing a song for everyone!"

"Stupid as a pig!" Wa Wa pouted, cursing with extreme speechlessness, "Everyone else is already on the mountain, and we two just got to the foot of the mountain."

"Please welcome Ms. Wa Wa to dance!" Su Tianyu shouted, stirring things up.

Wa Wa reluctantly stood up, took a pipe from her small box, quickly adjusted her mood, stood next to Bai Hongbo, and said, "I'm not good at dancing. Forget it, I'll play the xiao (a Chinese vertical end-blown flute) for everyone."

"...!" Bai Hongbo was a little jealous when he heard this: "I personally suggest that it's better for you to play it solo for me at night."

"Get the hell out of here!" Wa Wa cursed and shouted, waving her small hand, "Brothers and sisters, let's get high!"

...

In a certain area of ​​District One, two off-road vehicles with the Warhammer logo, after passing through the checkpoint, immediately headed straight for Dragon City.

In the car, a black brother frowned and cursed: "The dock gang is a bunch of idiots. We almost used a nuclear aircraft carrier to escort them... but the goods still had an accident... I simply can't understand it."