"Stop trying to deny it. Tell me what your relationship is with Chen Hongxia."

Did she instigate you to engage in capitalist activities, and use the money raised to betray the country?

"?!"

Zhou Han was completely bewildered. He recognized every single word they said, but the meaning they conveyed together left him utterly confused and unable to believe it.

"Aunt Chen? What does Aunt Chen have to do with this?"

Chen Hongxia had been operating undercover in China for over 20 years, and she must have spent most of her money. If she wanted to engage in espionage activities, she would definitely need financial support.

In recent years, with the domestic lockdowns and extremely limited opportunities for international exchange, she couldn't get money from abroad and had to find ways to make money from within the country.

They suspected that Chen Hongxia instructed the Zhou father and son to embezzle and smuggle money in order to raise funds.

If Zhou Han was just moments ago radiating a sense of dejection, lifeless and without a shred of hope, he is now filled with doubt.

He leaned forward, resting his head on the table and staring straight at them.

The interrogators exchanged glances, not readily believing him.

"As far as we know, you are not short of money. Your urgent need for money must be because someone else is asking for it."

"That was my own thought, it has nothing to do with her."

Zhou Han hurriedly explained that what he really wanted to ask was why they suspected him of having some shady deal with Aunt Chen, since they were not even acquainted before.

Why would Aunt Chen need money?

Soon, a thick stack of documents was handed to Zhou Han, who hurriedly flipped through them with his handcuffed hands still on.

The words on the document made him break out in a cold sweat, and the more he read, the more nervous he became, until his hands started trembling.

"How is that possible?"

Zhou Han has known the Bai family since he can remember, but they were not familiar with each other before. Bai Rongjun grew up in the Lu family, so he was more familiar with the Lu family.

Even though they weren't close, he knew that Bai Xiangdong was Rong Jun's biological father, that he was an ordinary worker in a machinery factory, and that Chen Hongxia was an ordinary woman. Before, Chen Hongxia had always been a symbol of gentleness in his mind.

She had little presence, radiating a gentle aura, and only became more noticeable this year.

But the person he's been calling Aunt Chen for 20 years doesn't actually have the surname Chen; she's actually a foreign spy lurking in China.

"Comrades, are you sure you're not mistaken? How could Aunt Chen be a spy? She's always been in Xin'an."

Zhou Han's hands were trembling slightly. She was a member of the capitalist Lin family who had stayed in China. So, had Chen Hongxia been getting close to her father all these years because she was planning to turn him against her?

He recalled his mother complaining on the phone that his father had embezzled money and spent it on some slut, without letting them, his mother and son, get any benefit from it. Now that he was in trouble, they needed to help him pay it back.

Did all that money go to Chen Hongxia?

If she really is a spy, then what role does the Bai family play? Does Bai Rongjun know?

"Comrade, are you sure you've made a mistake? We don't know anything about this, and it has nothing to do with Chen Hongxia."

“Your father always knew her true identity.”

The interrogator's very confident statement left Zhou Han stunned, and he didn't know how to refute it.

They could tell from his expression that they still wouldn't get anything out of him today.

"We have basically uncovered the whole truth. Now we are giving you a chance to cooperate. Think it over carefully: do you still want to continue to hide it?"

Soon he was alone in the interrogation room again, the lights went out, and he was plunged into darkness. The chilling cold sweat on his back, combined with the stinging pain in his thighs, made his head feel like it was filled with lead.