Looking at his wife sleeping soundly in his arms, Li Chu smiled and lowered his head to kiss her forehead.

Then he stood up and carried her into the bedroom.

I could fall asleep while sitting in his lap listening to him sing. Was he singing a lullaby?

He muttered to himself as he sat on the bed and gently helped her take off her clothes.

He struggled to put her on the bed and cover her with a blanket before leaving the bedroom.

As soon as he returned to the living room, he found that several dogs that should have been sleeping in their beds were sitting by the door. When they saw him come out, Xiao Hei even ran over and nudged him.

Is someone at the gate, or someone they know?

It's almost 10 o'clock, who could it be? I didn't hear the doorbell ring.

While thinking to himself, he didn't slow down. He picked up the coat from the clothes rack, put it on, and went out.

As Li Chu walked into the front yard, Zhang Jianshe, who lived in the back house, came out.

"Uncle Li, where are you going so late?"

"I'm not going out. There seems to be someone outside, but they're probably acquaintances."

Zhang Jianshe was a little stunned when he heard this. "I didn't even know there were people outside. How did you know you lived in the back?"

However, when he saw the dog running over and biting the door latch, he realized what was going on and followed silently to see who it was.

In no time, the Great Sage opened the door. The person standing outside had already anticipated this outcome, so he stepped back slightly after the door opened.

"Brother Meng, it's you?"

"Dad? What brings you here at this hour?"

Several dogs ran out and surrounded the people standing at the door. Li Chu and Zhang Jianshe came out and exclaimed in surprise when they saw who it was.

"Xiao Chu, I'm just here to say a few words to you and then I'll leave. Jianshe, you go back first. I need to talk to your Uncle Li about something."

"Oh, Dad, Uncle Li, you two talk, I'm going in."

"Brother Meng, let's go inside and talk. It's so cold outside."

"I'll just say a few words and leave. I won't go in, in case I wake anyone up again." Zhang Meng shook his head.

Seeing this, Li Chu sent the other dogs away and kept Maoqiu.

Why didn't you ring the doorbell?

"I saw the leader's car, but I didn't dare run it over. I just thought I'd stand at the door for two minutes and see if your dog would come over. What a good dog!"

Li Chu pointed at the fur ball and said, "This one, and the two that just went in have already been mated, but we don't know if they're pregnant yet. We'll catch another one for you after they give birth."

The furball seemed to know it was being talked about, and rubbed its head against its owner's leg.

"No, no," Zhang Meng shook his head. "It's nice to keep them, but it's too painful to send them away. I'm not keeping them anymore."

"See? You can just come and hug me if you want. Tell me, Meng-ge, what brings you here so late?"

"That guy confessed."

Upon hearing this, Li Chu was a little stunned. It took him a while to react after seeing the joy on Zhang Meng's face.

"You mean that beast finally confessed?"

"Yes, the preliminary hearing took several days, and they didn't start speaking until after six o'clock."

"Will there be no problem this time?" Li Chu suddenly became a little worried, afraid that something like the first thief incident would happen again.

“This time there’s no problem. Many of the details he gave were things that no one but the perpetrator could have known.”

"Congratulations, Meng Ge."

"No, congratulations to your nephew anyway. He's definitely getting a second-class merit this time. But it's only right for him. Ever since I assigned him the task last October, he's been carrying out my orders without hesitation these past few months."

That's precisely why they were able to catch him red-handed when he committed another crime.

The year-long case of the rape and murder of a woman has finally come to an end, and Zhang Meng is deeply moved at this moment.

He was able to safely land this time thanks to Li Chu and his nephew. Who would have thought that a staff member of the Materials Bureau, with both a son and a daughter, and a seemingly happy family in the eyes of outsiders, could commit such a series of bloody crimes?

The reason is quite simple: his addiction was too severe, and his wife could no longer satisfy him.

When his advances were rejected, his wife kicked him off the bed and angrily told him to go find another woman. That's when the seed of love took root in his heart.

Of course, he didn't initially intend to take the path of brute force.

At first, he wanted to go out and find those secret doors, but since he had never been in contact with them before, he couldn't find where they were at all.

He overheard someone say that there were some in Jingshan, so he took advantage of his night shift at the supply warehouse to sneak over the back wall, ride his bicycle there.

The result was predictable: nothing was found at all.

In those days, those who worked in the back door wouldn't accept anyone who wasn't an acquaintance or someone brought by an acquaintance, so even if he ran himself ragged, he would never find one.

Having no other choice, he turned his evil hand to the female factory workers who were coming off the night shift.

"Brother Meng, thank you on behalf of my nephew."

"Don't be so polite. It's just like you said, we're all brothers." Zhang Meng took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tossed one to Li Chu, and then took out a lighter to light them for both of them.

"Once this case is over, I can leave in peace."

"Has the destination been decided?"

"Thanks to you this time, Finance Bureau."

"Cough cough cough..." Li Chu suddenly started coughing violently.

"What's going on? Now even smoking a cigarette makes me choke," Zhang Meng said, both amused and exasperated.

"No... which organization are you going to?"

"The Finance Bureau, what's wrong?"

"The top leader?"

"Absolutely, otherwise I'd rather not leave."

"Haha, it really is true that birds of a feather flock together," Li Chu said with a laugh and a shake of his head.

"How so?" Zhang Meng asked in surprise.

“My niece and her husband both work at the Municipal Finance Bureau; they are Jia Dong’s sister and brother-in-law.”

"Cough cough..." Zhang Meng, who had just taken a puff of smoke, also started coughing.

"Really?"

"If I remember correctly, Jia Yuan works in the budget department, and Lin Li works in the general affairs department."

"Hey, I guess I can't escape those two siblings, can I?" Zhang Meng laughed as well.

"That's good. I'm in a completely unfamiliar place, so it's nice to have two of my own people tell me about the situation in the bureau."

When are you going?

"I'll go over once the handover procedures here are completed, which should be in the next few days."

"Okay," Li Chu nodded. "I'll prepare a feast to congratulate you on your promotion this Sunday, the 6th."

"Don't bother with it, I'll do it. Just book a table at your friend's restaurant."

"Okay, I'll bring my own alcohol."

"You, it's starting to snow again. Alright, I should go back now. You should go inside and rest."

Li Chu looked up at the dark sky, where snowflakes were falling again. He pointed to the jeep parked at the entrance of the alley and said, "Let's go, I'll put you in the car."