"Are there any other differences in the newspaper?" Ning Zhiheng asked again.
Zhang Wei carefully examined the newspaper again and confirmed, "We only found this one spot; the rest of the pages are normal, and we can't see any problems."
At this moment, Xiang Yan asked, "Are you in charge of editing this 'Anecdotes' column?"
Zhang Wei shook his head and said, "Our Minsheng Daily has two column editors. In addition to me, there is also an editor named Tian Liqun. We are each responsible for two pages, and he is in charge of this column."
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement. This made sense. Xiang Yan then asked, "Has this happened before?"
Zhang Wei lowered his head and thought for a while, then frowned and said, "This kind of content change is actually very common. As long as the format of each page is not changed, there is no problem with the newspaper as a whole, so it will not attract our attention. Even if we do notice it, we will not take it too seriously. So I'm sorry, I really can't remember."
As everyone knows, this kind of thing doesn't happen often, and you wouldn't notice it unless you were specifically looking for it!
“However!” Zhang Wei suddenly spoke up again, “The content of the page was finalized at 2 p.m. I remember that the ‘Anecdotes’ column only had two short stories at that time. I didn’t pay much attention after that, and now it has become three short stories. I don’t know why Editor Tian made this change in the end.”
"Are you sure the program will still feature two short stories before 2 PM?" Xiang Yan's spirits lifted upon hearing this, and she quickly pressed for an answer.
Zhang Wei thought about it carefully again, and his master nodded, saying with certainty, "I'm sure. I checked the content of the page at two o'clock, and it is indeed two stories!"
Everyone understood now. At 10:00 AM this morning, Su Yu handed the film to Tian Liqun. After returning home, Tian Liqun soon went out again and rushed to Er Ma Lane on Xicangqiao Street in the south of the city. After dropping the film into the dead mailbox, he went straight back to the Minsheng Daily office, arriving around 3:00 PM. Then, he temporarily changed the column content and signaled the activation of the mailbox. All of this made perfect sense and was completely explainable.
Xiang Yan nodded to Ning Zhiheng, who placed the stack of banknotes in Zhang Wei's hand and said, "Mr. Zhang, we are very grateful for your help today. However, you are a sensible person. There are some things we don't want outsiders to know. When you get back, please keep quiet about what happened today, otherwise we will both be in trouble. What do you think?"
Looking at the thick wad of banknotes in his hand, Zhang Wei immediately understood the meaning behind Ning Zhiheng's words. He smiled and said, "I understand! I understand! I know the rules! I'm paid to do what's right! I will never tell anyone about this! I'm ashamed that you've spent so much on such a small matter! If you ever need my help again, please feel free to come to me!"
After saying that, he left with a happy expression. Guo Xueyi watched his retreating figure and couldn't help but laugh and scold, "This money-grubber hasn't had enough yet, he's still thinking about making more money off you!"
Ning Zhiheng turned around and said, "We don't need to pay too much attention to these insignificant people. Come on, let's discuss the case again!"
Everyone gathered around, and Ning Zhiheng pointed to the newspaper in his hand and said to Xiang Yan, "Section Chief, we can now confirm that Tian Liqun has sent a signal to activate the mailbox through the column in the Minsheng Daily. So we can be sure that tomorrow morning, when his superior sees this newspaper, he will go to the mailbox to pick up the film. Therefore, tomorrow in Erma Lane, we need to put in a lot of effort to set a trap and find this superior!"
Xiang Yan nodded after listening, but said with some regret, "Although Er Ma Lane is not a main road, there is still a lot of people coming and going every day. How can we identify the suspect?"
“That’s right. We haven’t determined the exact location of the mailbox, so the scope of suspicion is huge. We can’t possibly arrest everyone who has been to Er Ma Alley, can we? We can’t arrest them all!” Chu Guang said with some doubt.
“Furthermore, we can’t deploy too many people in the alley. According to you, Zhiheng, this contact must live nearby. He must be very familiar with Erma Alley. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen Erma Alley as the location for the dead mailbox. Now, suddenly on this day of intelligence gathering, so many strangers appear in such a small space. How could it be such a coincidence? He will definitely be alert, and it’s easy to make things worse!” Shao Wenguang was also very worried. This problem was indeed difficult to solve!
At this point, everyone was at a loss. They couldn't set up enough people in Er Ma Lane to monitor so many pedestrians. But if they ambushed too many people, their superiors, who were familiar with Er Ma Lane, would easily discover them. They were truly caught in a dilemma.
Xiang Yan then noticed that Ning Zhiheng's face didn't show much worry. Instead, he was touching his forehead and rubbing it repeatedly, his eyes slightly closed, and it was unclear what he was thinking.
"What's wrong, Zhiheng? It seems you're still quite confident!" Xiang Yan was also a little worried. Although he was experienced, he was not good at judging and analyzing details. In this respect, it was undeniable that the Action Section was slightly inferior to the elites of the Intelligence Section!
However, this did not include detective experts like Ning Zhiheng. He was carefully considering his options when he heard Xiang Yan's question. He smiled and said, "I have a suggestion. I'd like to share it and ask the section chief and everyone else for their feedback!"
Everyone had been waiting for Ning Zhiheng to speak. They had always trusted his judgment and analytical abilities, knowing that he could often analyze cases from different angles and find loopholes that everyone easily overlooked.
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