After Fang Xiaomu left, Xiao Nuo picked up the phone and dialed a number. “Secretary Xu, according to our investigation, Hu Quan’s cousin Gao Meiling is suspected. She and Chen Kaiyang, Zhang Changshun and Zhang Changshun’s son Zhang Shiqiu have long maintained improper male and female relations……”


  After Secretary Xu hung up the phone, he whispered something in Mayor Du’s ear, and Mayor Du kept calm. When he heard Chen Kaiyang’s name, he gave a knowing smile.

  “Okay, let’s go. Hey, where is Professor Ding?”


  Mayor Du stood up but suddenly found Ding Ning was not here, so he asked in surprise.

  “Director Liu asked him to discuss something, and they were talking next door.”


  Zhao Chenxi stood up and answered.

  Mayor Du frowned as he watched her, showing a thinking expression. “Little girl, I seem to have seen you somewhere. What’s your name?”


  Zhao Chenxi was shocked but gave a sweet smile. “Mayor Du, you might be wrong. My name is Chenxi, an ordinary university student majoring in journalism and media.”


  “Chen Xi?” Mayor Du shook his head with a wry smile. Maybe he was mistaken because he had not heard of this name.

  Director Sun’s eyes glittered, and a look of contempt appeared in his eyes. “The old jerk is even using such an old-fashioned way to seduce a woman. More importantly, she is Professor Ding’s girlfriend. He is really shameless.

  “But this is also good. It means that the old jerk is not flawless, and he likes women. Hehe, when it comes to the critical moment, this may become his Achilles’ heel.”


  Mayor Du did not know that he only felt Zhao Chenxi was a little familiar and asked her casually, but it caused Director Sun’s cranky thoughts. If Mayor Du learned his dirty idea, he would spit blood out of anger. After a groan, he sat back. “Wait for him then.”


  “Let me ask him back.”


  Zhao Chenxi volunteered to go to Ding Ning, but when she went out, she quietly stuck out her tongue with relief.

  “I hope Mayor Du doesn’t remember who I am. After all, I met Mayor Du at a wine party in Yan Jing in the past.”


  Subconsciously, she did not want Ding Ning to know her name. Previously, the bastard Ji Ji betrayed her after he was beaten by Ding Ning.

  In the office of the Deputy Director, Ding Ning looked at Liu Qiang solemnly. “Do you mean that you suspect them of smuggling?”


  “Yes, Bailong town used to be a small fishing village. Later, it became a port and gradually evolved into Bailong town. The whole town serves Bailong Port.”


  Liu Qiang nodded and explained, “More than ten nautical miles to the east is the East Sea, and more than twenty nautical miles to the south is the South Sea. This is a natural channel for smuggling.”


  “Do the customs and the water police not care about it?”


  Ding Ning frowned and asked in doubt.

  “This is the key point I want to address. Wang Bailang is very likely to be a puppet, and there is a huge safety net behind him, which can even trap some people in the customs department; otherwise, problems must have appeared in such a long time.”


  Liu Qiang lighted a cigarette for Ding Ning and continued, “It is uneasy for a grass-roots director of the local police station to get promoted, but relying on his good relationship with the district bureau and district government, he could easily get promotion and serve as a deputy director of the district bureau, but after working in the Bailong Town Police Station for nearly 20 years, he was still satisfied to be such a director. Do you think this is normal? According to my secret investigation, various signs show that they are smuggling something, but I don’t know what it exactly is.”


  Ding Ning nodded. “It is very abnormal. I am not a member of the government system, but in terms of human nature, everyone has ambitions. I have some knowledge of the temper and character of Wang Bailang. His relations can help him get promoted, but he doesn’t want promotion and has been working satisfied as a director for almost 20 years. This proves that there must be something attractive enough to him here. What you said is very likely, but it is useless without evidence.”


  “It’s not that we don’t have any evidence.”


  Liu Qiang opened a file bag and handed him a few photos. “I found that sometimes he would go to the riverside to meet people alone at night and send something to the cargo ship by speedboat. Once, I followed him to the riverside at night and took a few photos secretly, but I did not go near because I was afraid of disturbing them, and I didn’t even turn on the flash, so the photos are blurry. ”


  Ding Ning flipped through the dim photos, which were dark and indeed blurry, but when he saw one of the photos, his pupils suddenly shrank into a tiny spot and asked eagerly, “Director Liu, you would see lots of contact persons each time, right?”


  “Right, how could you know that?”


  Liu Qiang nodded repetitively and asked with a little confusion.

  Ding Ning heaved a long sigh but did not answer his question. Instead, his expression became more serious than ever. “Director Liu, you don’t have to care about this from now on.”


  “What do you mean? You are a special consultant to the Municipal Criminal Police Team. You are also afraid of them, aren’t you?”


  Obviously, Liu Qiang misunderstood him, so he suddenly stood up and questioned him with a red face, without concealing the anger and disappointment on his face.

  Ding Ning appeased him with a bitter smile. “Director Liu, don’t be angry. It’s not what you think. It’s too complicated to explain this. I won’t let you care about them not because I’m afraid of them, but because the special department of our country has long been watching them. These people are very strong. If you are found by them, you will die needlessly. This is not what I want to see.”


  “You are not lying to me, are you?”


  Liu Qiang stared at Ding Ning’s eyes suspiciously.

  Ding Ning’s eyes were quite clear and sincere. “I’m a consultant to the Criminal Police Team, and I will never lie to you.”


  After staring at him for a long time, Liu Qiang sat down again and took a drag of smoke unhappily. “I believe you, but how could you know that the special department has been watching them?”


  “Because I am not only a consultant to the police but also a consultant to the National Security Bureau.”


  Ding Ning fooled him in a serious manner, for he could not tell him what happened to Dafei and Qiu Hong. On the one hand, it was a long story; on the other hand, he had his own secret and could not explain it. So, he had to use the identity of the member of the National Security Bureau as a shield.

  “Really? You are also a member of the National Security Bureau?”


  As his eyes brightened, Liu Qiang had a longing expression. As a former scout, he liked adventure and excitement in his nature and had an overflowing longing for the mysterious National Security Bureau.

  Ding Ning had an idea. “Liu Qiang is upright and can keep investigating Wang Bailang’s criminal evidence secretly for so long. He is absolutely a good candidate.”


  Then he said with a smile, “Director Liu, are you interested in being a member of the National Security Bureau?”


  “A member of the National Security Bureau? Can I?”


  Liu Qiang’s breathing suddenly became rapid. Although he was not confident, his eyes were full of expectations.

  “I can’t guarantee it, but I will report it to my superiors. If you can pass the test and the political screening, there should be no problem.”


  Ding Ning did not dare to make any promises because it was hard to tell if Mo Fei would do him a favor, so he could only ask him to have a try.

  “Thank you. Thank you very much. I was a scout when I was in the army. After I left the army, I was assigned to the public security department, but I even more yearned for the exciting life of a member of the National Security Bureau, in fact.”


  Liu Qiang was too excited to speak coherently.

  Ding Ning laughed. “Since you are a former scout, that’s better. I think you are bound to pass it. Leave me your phone number, and I’ll call you back whether it’s successful or not.”


  “Okay, whether it’s successful or not, I will owe you a favor.”


  Liu Qiang was also a straightforward person. Although he did not dare to have too much hope, he would not give up if there was a chance.

  When Ding Ning exchanged phone numbers with him, his eyes could not help turning again to the one-eyed man who exposed his appearance as he lighted a cigarette in the photo. That man was Violent Dragon, who was beside Deng Ning-Finger.

  So, what they smuggled was obvious, not the so-called smuggled goods but the compatriots of Shenzhou Country. They wove a huge network of human relationships and used this smuggling channel to send the compatriots of Shenzhou Country to foreign countries for inhumane human tests.

  “Tock, tock, tock!”


  There were knocks on the door, which Liu Qiang then opened, and Zhao Chenxi put her head in and said, “Mayor Du and his companions are going back, and I came to ask you to leave.”


  “Okay, I see.”


  Ding Ning instantly put the photos in his pocket and said to Liu Qiang, “Remember what I said. I’ll take care of this matter.”


  Liu Qiang hesitated but finally nodded. “Okay, I will remember.”


  Ding Ning sighed in his mind. He knew that Liu Qiang was very strong-minded and would not be easily affected by others. Apparently, he did not take Ding Ning’s words seriously.

  When he left the police station, it was evening. Mayor Du declined District Director Yang’s invitation to dinner and asked him to take Zhao Chenxi, who was somewhat unwilling to leave, back to her school by car, while he drove Ding Ning straight to his wife’s sanatorium, where Hu Quan was secretly arranged by him to stay, and it was specially guarded by the armed police. Therefore, it was not easy for some people to murder Hu Quan.

  As for Zhang Shiqiu and Wang Bailang, they had already been sent to the Criminal Police Team of the Municipal Police Bureau. This indirectly showed Mayor Du’s attitude that he distrusted the District Public Security Bureau, making Li Guodong very embarrassed.

  “Little Ding, I want you to wake up Hu Quan, the driver who caused the accident you saw in the morning.”


  In the car, Mayor Du asked sincerely. His change of addressing Ding Ning suggested that he was close to Ding Ning.

  Ding Ning frowned. “Is he not awake yet?”


  “No, if he can wake up a little earlier, the situation will be in our favor.”


  Mayor Du sighed. Although it was possible for them to get information from Zhang Shiqiu, he hoped to use the two channels at the same time to make the situation more favorable.

  After getting the hint of Mayor Du, Xu Minglu told him all the details of the matter without concealing anything. He was really sincere.

  Ding Ning was stunned because he did not know that there were such intricate reasons. “The officialdom is really scary.”


  But whether it was because of morality and justice or his friendship with Mayor Du, since he had got involved, he would not just sit idly by. So, he instantly answered, “No problem!”


  “Little Ding, I don’t want to thank you with hypocritic words. If you have any problems in the future, just tell Uncle Du. As long as your requests are not crime-related, I will help you.”


  In a good mood, Mayor Du told him his attitude with a smile.

  “Mayor Du, after learning his character, we know Brother Ding is not a man who will commit crimes! If anything really happens, it must be that others have provoked him first.”


  Xu Minglu gave Ding Ning an envious glance, and quipped with a smile. With such a promise from Mayor Du, Ding Ning could basically act arrogantly in Ninghai in the future.

  “Thank you so much, Uncle Du.”


  Ding Ning was naturally happy to get this promise and did not mind calling him “uncle”. After all, he was much older and was Qiao Qiao’s uncle-in-law and Ding Ning would not suffer losses by calling him “uncle”.

  Besides, he was willing to build ties with a person like Mayor Du, let alone he also liked Mayor Du’s character. Although he had some bureaucratic habits, he had integrity in his bones.

  After going through close examination and inquiry many times, Ding Ning came to the sanatorium again. Through Mayor Du’s introduction, he knew that this was the cadres’ sanatorium for the military regions of Ninghai Garrison Command Headquarters. All those who could live here were retired top leaders from different military regions, with the lowest rank being major general. Therefore, this place was heavily guarded.

  Ding Ning was so shocked. “There are not many generals in Shenzhou Country. Now, there are only about 30 generals, more than 130 lieutenant generals, and about 300 major generals in service. In total, there are no more than 500 generals, but in this place, any old man who walks around is a major general at least.”