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◎Day 22 of the control group◎

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wanzhou responded without hesitation, "I accept the mission. Please provide specific directions."

Zhou Qingyu lowered her voice and took out a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it over: "This is Su Xiaomei's current address. She was transferred back to Beijing some time ago and is working as an accountant in a textile factory."

"Jun Yanghong was assigned to help in the logistics department. The organization suspects that at least one of them has a secret connection with foreign forces. Your task is to probe their reactions to Ren Guanglin and the illegal immigrants, and to gather useful information."

Jiang Wanzhou took the note and put it away: "I understand."

That evening, Jiang Wanzhou changed into a simple cotton outfit, carried a bucket of milk powder, and found the textile factory residential compound where Su Xiaomei lived, following the address on the note.

Upon hearing that Su Xiaomei was pregnant, Jiang Wanzhou didn't really believe that Su Xiaomei had connections with overseas entities and was pregnant.

But she couldn't directly say that Jun Yanghong had a problem.

The residential compound was bustling with people, mostly workers heading home after get off work.

Jiang Wanzhou deliberately slowed down and lingered downstairs at the apartment building where Su Xiaomei lived.

Not long after, Su Xiaomei came back from outside carrying a canvas bag, looking somewhat tired.

Jiang Wanzhou immediately went to greet her, her face showing just the right amount of surprise: "Sister Xiaomei? It really is you! I was just passing by and I didn't expect to run into you by chance."

Su Xiaomei was visibly taken aback when she saw Jiang Wanzhou, then forced a smile: "Wanzhou? What are you doing here?"

Su Xiaomei had a fight with Jun Yangjian a few months ago and went back to her parents' home, only to find out she was pregnant.

Just then, Jun Yanghong mentioned that her brother had a good career prospect and that Niu Niu was a girl.

Su Xiaomei's mother then persuaded her to come back.

Only after returning home did we realize that the Jiang family had produced three college students.

“I go to school nearby and I don’t have class today, so I came over for a stroll.” Jiang Wanzhou shoved the milk powder into his hand. “I heard from my brother the other day that he saw Commander Jun, so I thought I’d talk to you.”

"You're seven months pregnant, right?"

Su Xiaomei hesitated for a moment, then accepted it: "Thank you. Is there something you need?"

"It's nothing serious, I've just run into some upsetting things lately and wanted to talk to someone," Jiang Wanzhou sighed, her tone tinged with grievance and worry.

“I encountered a human trafficker near the school a few days ago, which gave me a huge fright. Later, I heard from a neighbor that a man named Ren Guanglin moved in next door. He doesn’t seem to be a good person and has a criminal record. Didn’t your sister-in-law say that the Jun family is related to him? Have you heard of him?”

Su Xiaomei's eyes flickered, and she subconsciously avoided Jiang Wanzhou's gaze. Her voice was a little tense: "Ren Guanglin? Never heard of him. Human trafficking is quite frightening. You'd better be careful when you go out in the future."

Jiang Wanzhou keenly noticed her unusual behavior and continued to probe, "That's right! I also heard from my husband that there seem to be people smuggling themselves into Beijing recently, supposedly related to foreign forces. I wonder if it's true. You work at the textile factory, and you have night shifts, right? Let Commander Jun pick you up when he has time."

Upon hearing the words "smuggling" and "foreign forces," Su Xiaomei's face paled instantly, and she almost dropped the cloth bag in her hand.

She quickly composed herself and waved her hand, saying, "I usually work in the workshop and rarely have contact with outsiders. Wanzhou, I have some things to do at the factory today, so I won't talk to you anymore. You should go home early too."

After saying that, Su Xiaomei practically fled into the apartment building without even saying goodbye.

Jiang Wanzhou watched her hurried figure, her eyes darkening.

Su Xiaomei's reaction was too unusual; she must know something.

After leaving the textile factory's residential compound, Jiang Wanzhou did not go straight home, but instead went around to the vicinity of the military family compound.

She knew that Jun Yanghong would help clean up the dishes in the cafeteria in the evening, so she could run into her there at this time.

Sure enough, as soon as I arrived at the entrance of the staff canteen, I saw Jun Yanghong wearing a gray work uniform, carrying a stack of bowls toward the kitchen.

Jiang Wanzhou took a deep breath, stepped forward, and greeted him in a calm tone: "Comrade Jun, it's been a long time."

When Jun Yanghong saw Jiang Wanzhou, her face instantly turned cold. She stopped and said sarcastically, "Jiang Wanzhou? What are you doing here? Did you come to see me make a fool of myself?"

"I don't have that kind of free time," Jiang Wanzhou said calmly.

"That's true. I don't know how someone got involved in philandering, but everyone knows that there was a human trafficking incident in the School of Literature at a certain university. In my opinion, it's just that someone is being disreputable."

"How did you know about this?" Jiang Wanzhou corrected him. "It was a girl who was bullied, you can't just say things like that."

A hint of smugness flashed in Jun Yanghong's eyes, but she said insincerely, "Really? That's really fortunate. But you're usually so flamboyant, it's normal for you to offend people, so it's not surprising that something like this happened."

Jiang Wanzhou wasn't angry; instead, she changed the subject: "How did you know about this?"

"I heard it from the staff. So what if a few of their children are also at Beijing Normal University?" Jun Yanghong quickly tried to cover it up.

Jiang Wanzhou didn't pursue the topic further. She changed the subject: "A man named Ren Guanglin moved in next door. Is he a relative of your Ren family? I heard he doesn't have a good reputation back in his hometown and has a criminal record for harassing women. Are you familiar with him?"

Jun Yanghong's expression changed, and she looked at Jiang Wanzhou warily: "Ren Guanglin? It's true that he's a distant relative of our family, but I'm not familiar with him. Don't judge everyone you meet with your own heart."

"If someone gets bitten by a dog, who would think the person who got bitten deserved it?" Jiang Wanzhou smiled faintly. "Are you feeling guilty? I didn't mean that."

"What do you mean by feeling guilty?" Jun Yanghong's breathing became noticeably more rapid, a hint of panic flashing in her eyes, but she quickly concealed it and said fiercely, "I don't know what nonsense you're spouting! I'm warning you, don't spread rumors and cause trouble here! Get out of here right now, or I'll call for help!"

"I was just asking, why are you getting so worked up?" Jiang Wanzhou raised an eyebrow, deliberately provoking her. "Do you know something? Or is this related to you?"

"You're talking nonsense!" Jun Yanghong completely lost control of her emotions, her voice becoming shrill. "I don't know anything! If you don't leave, I'll really call for help!"

Several family members nearby had noticed the commotion and looked over.

Seeing that she had achieved her goal, Jiang Wanzhou stopped lingering and turned to leave. Before leaving, she glanced at Jun Yanghong and saw that she was pale and trembling, which made her even more certain.

Jun Yanghong not only knew about it, but was also very likely involved.

Back home, Jiang Wanzhou told Jiang Renzhou and Zhou Qingyu in detail about how she had tested Su Xiaomei and Jun Yanghong.

After listening, Zhou Qingyu said with a solemn expression, "It seems that Su Xiaomei and Jun Yanghong are both involved. Su Xiaomei's reaction was fear, so she probably knows some inside information but dares not say it; Jun Yanghong, on the other hand, is guilty and most likely directly participated in the collusion with foreign forces."

Jiang Renzhou slammed his fist on the table, angrily saying, "I never expected them to dare collude with foreign forces! This is no longer a simple act of retaliation; it endangers national security!"

Jiang Wanzhou nodded: "The evidence is not sufficient yet, we need to continue collecting it. We need to keep a close eye on the recording device, maybe we can record evidence of Ren Guanglin's contact with them. Also, I think we can ask Lin Weiwei about the situation again, see if she has seen Ren Guanglin, when she got involved, or heard any unusual news."

“I will report this situation to the military first thing tomorrow morning,” Jiang Renzhou said in a deep voice. “Although they didn’t help before because there was no evidence, now that Su Xiaomei and Jun Yanghong have reacted abnormally, and given Ren Guanglin’s contact with the illegal immigrants, the military will definitely take it seriously.”

The family was extra cautious for the next few days.

Jiang Renzhou picks up and drops off the children at the daycare every day on time, and always accompanies Jiang Wanzhou and Shen Xinglian to and from school.

Zhou Qingyu checks the recording device every night to see if any useful information has been recorded.

Jiang Wanzhou and Shen Xinglian focused on their lesson while keeping an eye on their surroundings.

That evening, while checking the recording device, Zhou Qingyu suddenly discovered something amiss. He took out the cassette tape, put it in the player, and heard the voices of Ren Guanglin and a strange man. "...That woman is difficult to deal with, and Jiang Renzhou is keeping a close eye on her, so there's no chance to make a move." Ren Guanglin's voice was impatient. "Jun Yanghong is pressuring me to get things done as soon as possible, or she'll cut off my pay."

A strange man's voice rang out: "What's the rush? Let's keep an eye on them and wait until they lower their guard. If all else fails, we'll start with those little brats; Jiang Renzhou and Zhou Qingyu will definitely give in."

Hearing this, Jiang Wanzhou and Shen Xinglian felt a chill run down their spines, and Jiang Renzhou's face instantly darkened to a grim degree. Zhou Qingyu turned off the player, her eyes resolute: "They really intended to harm the children! This recording is evidence. Let's hand the tape over to the military and the police station right now and have them arrest Ren Guanglin!"

Jiang Renzhou nodded: "I'll contact the comrades in the army right now. Qingyu, you come with me to the police station. Wanzhou and Xingxing wait at home. Lock the doors and windows and don't open the door."

Jiang Wanzhou quickly said, "Brother, Qingyu, be careful."

Jiang Renzhou and Zhou Qingyu took the cassette tape and rushed to the military base and the police station.

—

Arrests are underway.

Seeing this, Ren Guanglin became even more frantic and kidnapped Lin Weiwei as well: "You dare to shoot? This is Beijing, if you shoot, don't even think about running away!"

One of them even raised a dagger and brandished it at Lin Weiwei's neck.

"Don't hurt her!" Jiang Renzhou's voice trembled with anxiety.

Before Jiang Renzhou could react, Zhou Qingyu suddenly stepped forward, gripped the gun tightly with both hands, and aimed at Ren Guanglin's arm.

"My gun doesn't make a sound."

"Who would know what I did before people arrive?"

"I'll count to three, then you'd better let her go, or I'll really shoot!"

Henchman: "Boss, he really has a gun."

Taking advantage of Ren Guanglin's distraction, Jiang Renzhou rescued Lin Weiwei.

This incident quickly alarmed the school and the military.

Zhou Qingyu's improved pistol prototype attracted great attention from the military research institute.