<h4>Chapter 1075: Chapter 1006: Laying Off Employees Cuts the Main Artery</h4><h4></h4>


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    Evening.


    Hotpot gathering.


    This time, it was a proper hotpot meal. Five or six people around one pot, set up right on the dining hall table. Steam wafted up, instantly transforming therge canteen into a lively Cantonese-style street food joint.


    The meat for the hotpot was primarily beef. The slicing staff at the hotpot ce stood in a row, going "ka-ka" as they cut. The kitchen workers piled the tes up with a "bang-bang," while the officers devoured the food with a "chomp-chomp."


    "Being on Captain Jiang’s team is just sofortable." Xiao Si loosened his jaw andunched into a crazed bout of gorging. He hadn’t been busy these past two days and had plenty of stored energy... just perfect for eating.


    Opposite him, Cui Qishan stared at him with an intense gaze, as if tying him down, and said, "Don’t rx too much. This is only halftime."


    "Oh, I get Captain Jiang’s halftime," Xiao Si said whileughing, pouring an entire basin of beef into the pot.


    The red broth boiled, turning the bright red beef a pale gray, which was then dipped into a bowl of crimson dipping sauce...


    Bzzzz—


    Jiang Yuan’s phone buzzed twice. He picked it up and answered,


    "Hello." Jiang Yuan’s voice grew fainter as he walked away.


    The group, busy eating beef, froze momentarily, their movements bing noticeably gentler.


    Only Xiao Si jumped to his feet, ditching his chopsticks entirely. He used a slotted spoon to scoop meat, loading three to four bowls in one go, and began wolfing it down with haste.


    The detectives eating in the canteen only needed a second to figure out Xiao Si’s reasoning: Jiang Yuan just got a call. The chances of a new assignment had surged drastically. Soon, they might not even finish their meal, and they’d probably end up starvingter. Whatever was in their mouths right now might be the best food they’d eat all week...


    Everyone stood up and started eating!


    Cui Qishan let out a long sigh, then resignedly stood up to scoop meat for himself. ncing at Xiao Si, he said irritably, "You’re like the wrench in a works, stirring up chaos wherever you go. Perfectly good dinner, now look at what it’s turned into."


    "What did I do?" Xiao Si looked innocent, poking at the pot with his chopsticks as if to emphasize his point.


    "You stirred..." Cui Qishan stopped mid-sentence, staring at Xiao Si’s chaotic poking. At once, he lost his appetite.


    "Tao handed out that nickname to all of us back then," Xiao Si protested. He could ept having a nickname, but didn’t want to bear the title alone.


    Cui Qishan felt as if the chopsticks he’d left in the pot had somehow heated up, as if something unsanitary had spilled onto his hand.


    The others at the table looked even more disgusted. Li Jiang, frantically scooping beef from the pot, muttered with his mouth full, "Can you guys talk about something more appropriate for mealtime? Every day it’s stirring this, stirring that. I dip my beef in garlic sauce, and even that can’t mask the taste of your words..."


    "Captain Li, your choice of words isn’t much better either."


    "That’s just how our unit talks. Someday, when we win a collective first-ss honor, we’ll rename the squad after something rted to ’stirring,’ and call ourselves the ’Zhengguang Stirrers.’"


    "If we really get that award, I’ll personally educate the rookies to burn incense on your ques every day."


    As the banter progressed, the group gleefully finished all the meat in the pot.


    Jiang Yuan walked back in with his phone in hand.


    A room full of hotpot-fed police officers turned to look at him simultaneously.


    Facing their stares, Jiang Yuan couldn’t just sit down casually. He adjusted his somewhat limited emotional intelligence and said, "Latest update: we’ve got a lead on the case. Next, we’ll work on the periphery and monitor progress from there."


    He didn’t say much and wasn’t very specific, but still, everyone obligingly responded with a collective "Oh."


    Tao Lu stepped up and said, "Eat for five more minutes, then take a ten-minute break before assembling."


    At this moment, the team’s disciplined nature shone through. With a synchronized shout of "Yes," they dove headfirst into the chaotic sound of ttering bowls and the quick slurping of food.


    Fifteen minutester, Tao Lu began distributing tasks team by team based on pre-printed task sheets.


    As the squad leader, he personally handled assignments for the middle-ranking teams, showing significant dedication.


    Once the teams were dispatched, Tao Lu breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Jiang Yuan, saying, "Now we wait."


    Whether it was the Jianmen Court case or the espionage group investigation, all the leads were from years ago. Tracking them down not only consumed time but also required enormous manpower.


    The people who had knowledge back then were scattered all over. Just getting a few words out of them could take an incredible effort. Qi Changye’s approach had always been a finely-tuned one: needing the police force to dig deep into the details.


    Although time-consuming andbor-intensive, the entire process moved quite quickly.


    Domestic transportation had improved significantly. Even the furthest cities could be reached within a few hours bybining flights and car rides. Of course, regr officers had a harder time getting there, as some units only reimbursed for green trains, better ones for second-ss high-speed rail tickets, and rarely for economy-ss flights, which naturally affected speed.


    For Qi Changye’s team, however, there was no budget limit on transportation costs. Within one day and one night, they had already gathered a considerable amount of information.


    By midday the following day, Qi Changye approached Jiang Yuan, pulled him into a small office, shut the door, and said, "We’ve uncovered something."


    "Actually, you don’t need to update me on the case progress anymore," Jiang Yuan said, already busy with loose ends from the Jianmen Court case.


    Qi Changye chuckled and said, "We’vee across some encryption-rted information. The cryptography experts suggested you could join in. After all, you’re familiar with the case and have both investigative and forensic backgrounds. Your perspective might be unique..."


    "Just decoding passwords? Fine." Jiang Yuan was a little intrigued.


    His Level 5 cryptography skills rarely saw use. If he really wanted to leverage them properly, proving his ability could open doors to Inte tech giants, research institutes, or academia. Much like with image enhancement, encryption and decryption usingputers was the hallmark of modern technology.


    Beyond that, the espionage front was probably the closest real-world application for cryptography. Normally, Jiang Yuan wouldn’t have any practical exposure in this area.


    When Qi Changye saw that Jiang Yuan agreed, he immediately stepped out and returned with a ruggedizedptop, opening it to show Jiang Yuan.


    The so-called encryption consisted of little more than a few sheets of paper covered in random strings of numbers and letters.


    Jiang Yuan reviewed it carefully but was ultimately disappointed. Shaking his head, he said, "It’s just some mnemonics. To crack it, you’d need the right context..."


    "You actually recognize it?" Qi Changye’s response was surprising. He knew Jiang Yuan was sharp, but quickly added, "It’s not that I doubt you, but the higher-ups think we need more solid evidence."


    "Are they testing me?" Jiang Yuan smirked.


    "They are." Qi Changye nodded, spreading his hands out. "I trust you fully, but there’s nothing I can do about the higher-ups’ mindset. On the bright side, we’ve already captured someone."


    "Captured someone?"


    Qi Changye nodded. "He’s in custody now. The suspect used to be an administrative officer at the factory Zhang Xiaoming worked at. Later, he was transferred to the printing workshop as a mid-level manager. Secretly, he took on the task of handling waste paper. By throwing ssified prints into the scrap bin, he collected arge amount of intelligence."


    Qi Changye continued, "Some workers noticed his behavior but assumed he was just after extra money, deliberately increasing the scrap rate. At most, they’d gossip in private, never suspecting espionage."


    Qi Changye went on, "When Zhang Xiaoming was conducting inspections at the printing workshop, he noticed thex management. That time, Zhang Xiaoming became serious, documenting duty logs and scrap records. The suspect noticed that his actions didn’t align across various records, which could easily expose him."


    "Too diligent in a cker’s factory?" Jiang Yuan asked with a nod of understanding.


    "Around then, the workshop’s scrap rate surged too, coinciding with a ssified meeting," Qi Changye deliberated before adding, "The suspect figured even if he wasn’t caught, he might be reprimanded, or worse, be an example to be axed during restructuring. And if none of those risks materialized, the workshop could still face closure or privatization, hampering his intelligence-gathering."


    Jiang Yuan could easily picture the decision-making process, so he asked, "Did he get promotedter?"


    "After killing Li Dianzhong, he went underground. Later, he resurfaced and regained prominence. With money, including U.S. dors, advancing through the ranks wasn’t hard," Qi Changye exined, closing the ruggedizedptop. "That wraps up the Jianmen Court case. I’ve already updated Director Zhang Xiaoya on the situation."


    """