SFTD -Chapter 382 White Spots Reappear (Part 23)

As soon as Da Zhao finished speaking, two vehicles came roaring directly into the back courtyard.

The moment the cars stopped, several people jumped out. Seeing their police uniforms, Zhou Hai looked puzzled. Huang Zhongsheng reached out and slung an arm around the newcomer’s neck.

“I knew it’d be you! Come, Zhou Hai, let me introduce you. This is Luo Jinfang, captain of the Third Squadron of our Patrol Special Police Unit. His name sounds feminine, but he’s a real loyal guy. He’s also our system’s bomb disposal expert.”

Zhou Hai nodded at him. Professionals like this deserved respect—they worked with their lives on the line.

Luo Jinfang waved his hand dismissively.

“Don’t put a halo on me. Alright, have someone brief me on the situation, then all of you fall back. We’ll handle the rest.”

Without even being called, Xu Biao hurried over eagerly.

“Captain Luo, hello! I’m Xu Biao from trace evidence. We found the bomb, let me explain.”

As Xu Biao described the situation, Luo Jinfang nodded continuously. He walked over to the window and took a look. Only after his inspection did they realize there were bombs not only at the doorway, but even hidden around the windows—smaller and far more concealed.

Xu Biao kept patting his chest as he ran back to Zhou Hai’s side. Luckily he hadn’t tried to show off earlier. If he had climbed through the window, he’d probably already be lying in a hospital bed by now. Losing an arm or a leg would’ve been the least of it.

The entire scene became so quiet that a pin drop could be heard. Everyone held their breath.

Luo Jinfang and his assistants changed into professional bomb disposal suits, carrying a camera inspection device fitted with an angled lens as they entered the two-story building.

Time passed second by second. Sweat even formed on Zhou Hai’s nose.

About twenty minutes later, the two assistants finally emerged carrying a large box of items.

Xu Biao immediately jumped up from the stone bench and craned his neck to look. Sure enough, Luo Jinfang came out shortly afterward as well, holding his helmet in his hand. His hair looked as though it had just been washed with water.

Huang Zhongsheng hurried over to help him remove the heavy protective gear. Finally freed from the burden, Luo Jinfang collapsed directly onto the seat Xu Biao had been occupying moments earlier.

Smiling at the group, he said, “You people are impressive. The placement was extremely well hidden. If we hadn’t spotted it through the exterior windows, it really would’ve been impossible to notice the explosives.

I calculated the explosive power. It wasn’t small at all—at least equivalent to two kilograms of TNT. If it had detonated, not only Third Hospital, but even the residential building behind it could’ve been leveled.

As for the ones by the windows, those weren’t very powerful. But the pull-wire setup the guy used was interesting. It had a semi-professional feel to it.”

Xu Biao smacked his lips nervously. It really was terrifying. He quickly shuffled farther behind Huang Zhongsheng.

Huang Zhongsheng patted Luo Jinfang on the shoulder. He knew the man was exhausted—otherwise he probably would’ve answered with a punch already.

“What do you mean by semi-professional?”

“It means he may have served in the military, or worked in mining. His bomb assembly, fuse arrangement, and calculations were extremely precise. Even the amount of explosives used was carefully measured. I examined them closely. These explosives were handmade and were most likely produced by him personally. If he wasn’t in one of those professions, then someone in his family definitely understood this stuff.”

Zhou Hai remained silent, repeatedly turning Luo Jinfang’s words over in his mind.

Luo Jinfang was truly exhausted as well. He waved at Huang Zhongsheng and didn’t stay any longer. After all, he still had to process the explosives once he got back. He directly boarded another vehicle and left.

Seeing Zhou Hai deep in thought, Xu Biao didn’t disturb him. Instead, he called over Zhang Wenqi, who had already arrived, and headed into the scene investigation together.

Could Yang Duxiu really have been trying to make one last profit before dying?

The more he thought about it, the more unbelievable it seemed. But who knew what other secrets were hidden inside that archives room?

Zhou Hai reached out and grabbed Huang Zhongsheng beside him.

“How’s the information gathering on Yang Duxiu going?”

“Da Zhao and the others got a little information out of people. Xiao Zhan also found his personnel file. It should be here any moment.”

Just as he spoke, Da Zhao’s thin figure appeared from the direction of the southern outpatient building. Seeing Zhou Hai and Huang Zhongsheng looking at him, he quickly jogged over.

“This Vice President Liu used to be Yang Duxiu’s assistant. After Yang Duxiu got into trouble back then, Liu immediately used his connections to become head of orthopedics.

But to make himself look generous, he also helped Yang Duxiu apply to stay at the hospital. That’s how Yang Duxiu ended up with a position in the archives room.

He also leaked the old incident to the media and used it to heavily promote both Third Hospital and himself.

Yang Duxiu’s wife took their son abroad after that. Supposedly the child couldn’t handle all the ridicule from people around them.”

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes.

Kicking someone when they were down was common enough, but what exactly had happened in the case back then?

“What did you find out about Yang Duxiu’s old case?”

Before anyone could answer, Xiao Zhan came trotting back carrying an old file bag. Judging by its color alone, it was extremely aged.

He handed the file bag to Huang Zhongsheng, who immediately opened it together with Zhou Hai.

It was a handwritten personnel file.

The handwriting was beautiful. Aside from the section for leadership comments, the entire file appeared to be written by the same person from beginning to end.

Master’s degree graduate. Directly assigned to Third Hospital after graduation.

The first thirty years of his record looked absolutely flawless. Even by today’s standards—let alone twenty years ago—he would still count as an elite academic and technical genius.

Huang Zhongsheng flipped through the pages quickly, but Zhou Hai suddenly pressed down on the file and turned back one page.

Huang Zhongsheng glanced at him, then looked over as well.

This section contained Yang Duxiu’s family information.

The Party membership field was blank.

His wife’s name was Zhang Li, the same age as Yang Duxiu, and she worked as a German translator at the Commerce Bureau.

But the section for his parents was blank.

Not blank because it had never been filled out—someone had deliberately pasted paper over it.

Zhou Hai lifted the file toward the light. He could vaguely make out writing underneath, though it was extremely blurry.

“There’s writing here, but someone covered it up. Have Doctor Nan remove the paper and see if it can be restored.”

Huang Zhongsheng immediately understood what Zhou Hai meant. He tossed the file to Da Mao, who grabbed it and hurried away.

Only then did Da Zhao continue answering Zhou Hai’s earlier question.

“We tracked down Yang Duxiu’s old case. It was handled by an officer named Zhou Zhiguo. But we couldn’t find any information about this officer in the system. After all, it was over twenty years ago, before electronic records existed.”

The moment Zhou Hai heard the name, he froze.

He took a step toward Da Zhao, his face filled with shock.

“Say that again. Who handled the case?”

Da Zhao suddenly sounded less confident, his voice dropping slightly.

“Zhou Zhiguo.”

Huang Zhongsheng grabbed Zhou Hai’s arm.

The surname, combined with Zhou Hai’s expression, made him realize something. After all, he had heard before that Zhou Hai’s father had once been a police officer, though he had died in a car accident ten years ago.

“Hai Zi, what did you think of? Could it be…”

Only then did Zhou Hai recover himself. Still visibly shaken, he turned back toward Huang Zhongsheng.

“My father’s name was Zhou Zhiguo. But as far as I know, he used to be a narcotics officer. I don’t know whether he ever worked criminal investigations.”

Those words left everyone around them stunned.

Thinking back to Xixi’s incident and Zhou Hai’s father’s death, they all vaguely felt as though they were finally approaching the truth.