Chapter 27: Liu Juan Gets Caught

Three days later, Zhang Ruoqi called. Shen Yunhe immediately answered the phone.

“How’s it going? Did you find everything?”

Zhang Ruoqi hesitated for a moment, as if unsure how to speak. Shen Yunhe’s expression darkened.

“What happened?”

“I found something, but it’s a bit complicated. Liu Juan’s father is named Liu Hongming. This man is corrupt and a womanizer, using his power to harm several people. But that’s not the most important part. The crucial thing is that I found out he’s been in contact with people from Country B through his factory’s equipment dealings, selling national secrets. This man might be a spy!”

“What!” Shen Yunhe was shocked. He had only expected corruption, but this was much bigger than he thought.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. His factory even received government subsidies, yet he repaid the country with betrayal. This kind of scum should be shot!”

“Don’t investigate further for now. We don’t want to attract Liu Hongming’s attention,” Shen Yunhe said.

“He’s just a factory director. No one’s noticed him for so long, so there must be someone helping him behind the scenes. He could be working for someone else. I’ll report this to the higher-ups. You don’t need to worry about the rest.”

“Got it!”

After hanging up the phone, Shen Yunhe stood up and walked toward the division commander’s office.

When he arrived, Commander An was on the phone. He waved for Shen Yunhe to sit down. Shen Yunhe quietly took a seat and waited.

After a while, Commander An hung up the phone, took a sip of tea, and smiled kindly at Shen Yunhe.

“Yunhe, what’s the matter? You came to see me?”

“Commander, I’ve found a spy. This person has been using his position to sell information to foreigners. He has some ties to our unit as well.”

“What! Who is it?” Commander An’s smiles faded, and his expression grew serious.

“It’s Liu Juan from the art troupe. Her father is Liu Hongming!”

Commander An lowered his head in thought for a moment, then looked up and instructed:

“Find someone to control Liu Juan first. Don’t let her alert anyone. I’ll send people to investigate. If the information is true, we’ll arrest Liu Hongming directly!”

“I suspect there’s someone behind Liu Hongming.”

“Don’t worry. If we find anything, no one will be spared!”

Meanwhile, Liu Juan was practicing dance when two soldiers entered the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing.

“Who is Liu Juan?”

Liu Juan’s heart skipped a beat, and she anxiously stood still. One of the girls pointed at Liu Juan.

“It’s her! She’s Liu Juan!”

“Please come with us!” The soldiers walked up to Liu Juan. Startled, Liu Juan’s heart raced, and she instinctively turned to run.

“Stop!” The two soldiers quickly chased after her.

The girls huddled together, whispering.

“What’s going on? Why is Liu Juan running?”

“I don’t know!”

“She must have done something criminal, or why else would she run away like that?”

Outside, Liu Juan’s shouting and screaming could be heard. The girls ran to the door and looked out. The two soldiers had pinned Liu Juan to the ground and cuffed her. Liu Juan, furious, shouted:

“Let go of me! You have no right to arrest me! You’re bullying me, help! There are people bullying me…”

The girls exchanged glances, shocked. They hadn’t expected Liu Juan, who usually appeared gentle and poised, to suddenly lose control and act like a wild woman. It seemed her usual grace was all an act.

Liu Juan was being held in the interrogation room, sitting on a chair. The investigators questioned her, but Liu Juan pretended to know nothing, causing a huge uproar, and refusing to cooperate. In fact, she even spat at the investigators, making them so furious that they almost slapped her.

At that moment, a girl came forward to report Liu Juan. She claimed to have witnessed Liu Juan giving money to someone in exchange for keeping an eye on the movements of Captain Shen and reporting back to her.

The investigators were shocked. Liu Juan had been so audacious. They asked again, unsure if the girl was telling the truth.

“Can you take responsibility for what you’re saying?”

“I’m sure!” The girl responded firmly. “I saw it with my own eyes. It’s true!”

This was serious, especially since it concerned Captain Shen. The investigators immediately informed Captain Shen, and when he learned of this, he felt a wave of nausea rise in his chest and rushed to the restroom to vomit.

The disgust he felt towards Liu Juan only made him more determined to get rid of her. Leaving her alive would cause future problems.

After the investigation into Liu Hongming was completed and the evidence was conclusive, the higher-ups personally issued orders to arrest Liu Hongming.

Once Liu Hongming was arrested, he remained silent, refusing to say anything no matter what he was asked. The investigators then brought up his daughter, Liu Juan.

“Even if you don’t care about yourself, you should at least think about your daughter, Liu Juan.”

Still, Liu Hongming showed no reaction. The investigators had no choice but to temporarily hold him in custody. When Shen Yunhe learned of this, he walked into the interrogation room and casually mentioned a name.

“Liu Ci. I’m not sure if you know him.”

Liu Ci was Liu Hongming’s illegitimate son, only nine years old, and the youngest child of Liu Hongming, who doted on him greatly.

Liu Hongming’s eyes turned red. He stared at Shen Yunhe in shock.

“What have you done to my son? I warn you, don’t touch him, or I’ll never forgive you!”

“Your son hasn’t committed any crimes, so we won’t touch him. But you have. And the influence of your crime on him is undeniable. Do you think that if you stay silent, the people behind you will be grateful? You’re wrong. They’ll be wishing you were executed as soon as possible.”

Liu Hongming lowered his head helplessly. “I don’t know the full details. Someone in Beijing sends me a letter every month, asking me to pass it on to a person from B country. He gives me many benefits in return, so I agreed to do it.”

“Who is this person?”

“I don’t know. I only know his last name is Gu. I don’t even know if he’s male or female. I don’t know why he approached me either. At the time, the equipment in my factory was outdated, and I urgently needed new machines. I had no way to get foreign equipment, and the delay was causing problems. Then, a young man, about twenty years old, came to me. He told me that if I helped him send a letter to B country, he would arrange for foreign equipment to be shipped to me without charging any money. I thought it was a great deal, so I agreed without much thought. One favor led to another, and with each favor, I received more benefits. I was blinded by the profit and made mistake after mistake.”

Shen Yunhe asked him, “How did you send the letters?”

“My factory often needed maintenance on equipment, and only people from B country could repair them, so the B country people were constantly coming and going freely in my factory. Sending the letters was easy.”

“Do the people from B country still come?”

Liu Hongming shook his head. “The last time I saw them was a month ago. I don’t know when they’ll come again.”

“The person who asked you to send the letters is named Gu?”

Shen Yunhe pondered for a moment, deciding to have Zhang Ruoqi investigate further to see if there were any leads.

“Yes. The young man who contacted me once referred to him as Mr. Gu.”