It was precisely because of Ye Jian’s murder case that triggered the subsequent chain reaction. At the crime scene where Ye Jian was killed, spa club cards were found. Zhang Yi’ang traced the cards to the club manager Zhou Qi. Because Zhou Qi had been swindled out of money by Zheng Yongbing, she reported him. During the police’s routine investigation of Zheng Yongbing, they discovered the fugitive Liu Bei. Liu Bei, precisely because his whereabouts were exposed this time, wanted to pull off one last job to get several million yuan before washing his hands of crime. That’s why he took the risk to steal Zhu Yifei’s small bronze bell. Who knew the suitcase containing the bronze bell had a hidden tracker inside? He was found and killed by Huo Zheng. Huo Zheng dragged the suitcase containing the corpse and bronze bell away, got into Xiao Mao’s fake taxi, and the suitcase was stolen by Xiao Mao. Brother Gang and Xiao Mao were scared half to death when they opened the suitcase while driving. The vehicle veered off its lane, causing Du Cong’s Mercedes to crash. After the Mercedes crashed, Zhou Rong sent his own bodyguards to handle it. Fang Chao and Liu Zhi discovered the bodyguards collectively left from behind the villa and took the opportunity to sneak in, kidnapped Zhou Rong, and robbed Zhou Rong of his money and, most critically, the USB drive containing evidence of his crimes.
Regarding everything that happened today, Zhang Yi’ang still knew nothing about it. The police were fully focused on catching one person tonight.
“Director, Yang Wei just sent word that Mei Dong has already arrived in San Jiang Kou. He’s told to meet him in an hour. The location is Maple Forest Evening Grand Hotel, but the room number isn’t known yet.” In the evening, Wang Ruijun and Song Xing rushed into Director Zhang’s office to report this urgent intelligence.
“How so fast!” Zhang Yi’ang’s eyes widened. This speed was completely unexpected. They had just set the plan yesterday to use Yang Wei as bait to catch Mei Dong, and Mei Dong arrived today—was he Superman?
Song Xing explained: “Yang Wei received a phone call from Mei Dong’s subordinate. He himself isn’t sure if the information is true or false. In my opinion, Mei Dong must be deliberately testing him. Mei Dong is abroad—even if he were returning to San Jiang Kou, how could he arrive in one day? It must be that Mei Dong sent an underling to stake out at Maple Forest Evening Hotel to see if Yang Wei brings people with him to the meeting. If safety is confirmed, then in a few days Mei Dong will secretly sneak back to San Jiang Kou to meet him.”
Zhang Yi’ang frowned and asked: “So what do you plan to do?”
Song Xing said: “Have Yang Wei go to the meeting alone. We’ll just send a few plainclothes officers to watch from the street outside the hotel, not making direct contact with Yang Wei, to avoid alerting the enemy.”
Zhang Yi’ang said with concern: “What if Mei Dong really comes? If we only send a few plainclothes officers, I’m afraid they won’t be able to handle it.”
Song Xing shook his head: “Impossible. I’ll stake my guarantee that it’s absolutely a test. Mei Dong can’t possibly come!”
Seeing his completely confident appearance, at first Zhang Yi’ang also thought Mei Dong couldn’t possibly come so quickly. But thinking it was Song Xing making the guarantee, and he was the kind of person who was wrong about everything he bet on, this guarantee definitely couldn’t hold—Mei Dong was most likely really coming.
His expression changed immediately. He shook his head at once: “We absolutely cannot let our guard down. You must immediately discuss two sets of plans—what to do if he doesn’t come, and how to catch him if he does! We must respond as if Mei Dong is really coming!”
Although Song Xing still insisted on his opinion, believing Mei Dong definitely wouldn’t come so quickly and there was no need to mobilize so many forces, since the leader had instructed this way, he could only comply. So he called several reliable veteran detectives to Director Zhang’s office, and several people discussed on the spot.
Time was urgent. Following the traffic map situation around the hotel, they spent only a few minutes to preliminarily set a plan.
First, tonight all Criminal Investigation Team members would be fully committed to the operation plan. Of course, to prevent Mei Dong from sending underlings to stake out outside the unit, all detectives would still normally wear plainclothes and leave work individually. After going outside, they would then follow Wang Ruijun, Song Xing, and others’ assignments one by one, heading to their respective positions to stand by, with key personnel carrying handguns.
Second, within a one-kilometer radius centered on the hotel, all key intersections would be quietly deployed with plainclothes officers, forming two layers of encirclement on the map—capable of surrounding, supporting, and pursuing.
Third, inside the hotel—the front and back doors and the corridors outside—would all have veteran detectives in plainclothes staking out. Song Xing would personally lead teams to guard at the hotel lobby and in front of the control room monitors. When the time came, they would let Yang Wei go in alone and have him find a way to get the information out as soon as possible. If they confirmed the person who came was Mei Dong, then Song Xing would lead the team to rush up and make the arrest on the spot. If it was a subordinate sent by Mei Dong to scout the way, they would hold their position.
This way, both inside the hotel and on the outside roads would have plainclothes blockades. If Mei Dong came, they’d arrest him. If he didn’t come, they’d withdraw the team. They could attack if advancing and defend if retreating—this plan was almost flawless.
After everyone finished discussing and reached agreement, they all looked toward Zhang Yi’ang, thinking this attack-and-defense-ready action plan would surely earn the leader’s praise.
“Director, what do you think?”
“Very not good!” Zhang Yi’ang shook his head quite dissatisfied, completely disregarding their self-esteem, blurting out: “This action plan of yours, on the surface it looks like the criminals have nowhere to escape, but in reality? It’s all show, not touching the soul of the arrest plan at all!”
This questioning from the depths of the soul immediately made these veteran detectives shudder. Everyone trembled all over asking: “How… how can we touch the soul of the arrest plan?”
“What’s the most critical point of an arrest plan? It’s catching the person!”
“Yes.” Everyone agreed.
“I ask you, are you going to install a listening device on Yang Wei?”
“Can’t install a listening device!” Song Xing said decisively. “If Yang Wei goes in and gets searched, and they find listening equipment, not only will our action plan be immediately exposed, but it’s very likely to get Yang Wei killed. The kind of listening devices worn in shoe soles that special agents use on TV—we can’t get those at a moment’s notice.”
“That’s exactly it! Yang Wei is going in alone. Whatever happens to him inside, none of us will know. Our action depends entirely on what information he sends out. Are you planning to have Yang Wei find an opportunity to send you instructions via his phone?”
Song Xing uttered an “uh” and nodded.
“In my view, the success or failure of this plan is entirely bet on Yang Wei!”
Everyone thought about it—this was fact.
Zhang Yi’ang analyzed: “You’re having Yang Wei go in and then find an opportunity to send you information via phone. What opportunity can he find? Go to the bathroom? Men don’t close the door when using the bathroom. He can’t lie and say he needs to have a bowel movement and close the door, right? Having a bowel movement right after meeting—only if Mei Dong were an idiot would he have no reaction!”
Song Xing slightly defended himself: “I’ll also tell him that if there’s no opportunity to use his phone, to wait until he comes out to notify me.”
“Hmph, after coming out, can you guarantee that after Yang Wei comes out, Mei Dong is still at the hotel? Can’t Mei Dong leave first and have his subordinate deliberately use accompanying Yang Wei as an excuse to monitor Yang Wei’s movements for an hour or so before letting him leave? By that time, Mei Dong would have long left San Jiang Kou!”
Cold sweat broke out on Song Xing’s back.
“Even excluding how Mei Dong might counter-investigate, how much do you understand Yang Wei as a person? Will he betray our plan?”
“This…” Song Xing swallowed, “We reached an agreement with him on conditions yesterday. I think… I think he wouldn’t dare trick us. If he wanted to trick us, he wouldn’t have voluntarily notified us that Mei Dong arranged to meet him.”
“That was before, but what about after? After he sees Mei Dong, will he have second thoughts? Even if he hasn’t planned to betray us, what if his words falter and Mei Dong discovers the flaw? What if he’s controlled by Mei Dong on the spot, and Mei Dong forces him to send us false intelligence, then takes the opportunity to escape our encirclement? What then? That’s why I say, according to your plan, the final success or failure is completely bet on Yang Wei with all his various risks. The risk is extremely high!”
“This…” Everyone shuddered all over. The various risks associated with Yang Wei were something they hadn’t considered.
Song Xing looked ashamed. He was completely convinced by Director Zhang’s analysis. Scratching his head, he blamed himself: “How did I not think of these things!”
Wang Ruijun snorted: “If you had thought of them, you’d be the director by now. This is the gap in experience and capability between us and the director!”
Everyone nodded one after another, sighing they couldn’t compare, and asked: “Director, so what should we do?”
“Since the meeting is arranged at Maple Forest Evening Hotel, we’ll ask Lu Yibo for help.”
“Lu Yibo’s help?” Everyone was confused.
“The Ye Jian case has had no progress so far. The only clue is the Maple Forest Evening Hotel VIP card. I always feel Lu Yibo must be hiding something. We can take this opportunity to have more contact with Lu Yibo. At the same time, Lu Yibo helping the police catch someone—Zhou Rong will definitely receive this news. Last time we used a divide-and-conquer strategy, though we don’t know what effect it had, we at least planted a thorn in Zhou Rong’s heart. If this time Lu Yibo helps the police catch someone again, the rift between Zhou Rong and Lu Yibo will inevitably deepen. Who knows, there might be unexpected results!”
Everyone thought about it and quite agreed. If Zhou Rong learned about Lu Yibo helping the police catch someone, even if Lu Yibo explained to Zhou Rong, as Zhou Rong, could he still trust Lu Yibo as before? If their relationship ruptured, perhaps all the cards would be directly overturned.
But there was still a problem. Wang Ruijun voiced everyone’s common doubt: “Although the location is Maple Forest Evening Hotel, how can Lu Yibo help us catch someone? The hotel’s security guards can’t really help, right?”
“Use the spa club, my dear Brother Jun!”