Absolute power in officialdom

Chapter 185 The Master's Wife is Here

After returning to China to recuperate for a period of time, Wu Zhiyuan began a new battle.

Just as Liu Mingxuan said, the national security warriors are always fighting.

Over the next year, Wu Zhiyuan participated in the investigation of several more cases.

A key national defense research unit in the province discovered signs of abnormal data flow in new aerospace materials.

Wu Zhiyuan, posing as an auditor, infiltrated the investigation and discovered that a senior engineer who had been recruited from abroad was using a quantum-encrypted communication test channel to transmit engine blade process parameters.

Instead of making an immediate arrest, he injected false data and tracked the recipient to a business consulting company in the southeast coastal region. This led to the dismantling of a spy network that used business consulting as a cover to steal advanced manufacturing technologies. The network involved three military enterprises and two university professors, and protected several major special technologies.

A series of deeply forged recordings of internal government meetings have circulated on overseas social media platforms, inciting local confrontation.

Wu Zhiyuan led his team to start with the underlying environmental noise in the audio and trace it back to the private server of a seaside homestay.

He posed as a photographer to get close to the guesthouse manager and discovered that the manager was employed by a non-governmental organization that was fabricating false information involving sensitive issues such as ethnicity and environmental protection.

The task force simultaneously launched raids in multiple provinces, arresting several core members and seizing server arrays, thus revealing for the first time the complete chain of cognitive domain infiltration methods used by foreign forces.

Wu Zhiyuan also carried out special missions abroad.

A major cross-border oil and gas pipeline in which my country has invested has experienced a sudden political upheaval, with opposition armed groups threatening to disrupt my country's capital-controlled energy lifeline.

Wu Zhiyuan was ordered to infiltrate the country as the security chief of an energy company and discovered that a private military company from a certain country was behind the opposition, aiming to undermine my country's energy cooperation with Europe.

He uncovered a sabotage team disguised as technicians at a critical pipeline pressurization station and cleverly used local tribal conflicts to provoke a clash between government forces and another local armed group. He seized control of the pipeline section that had been fitted with a timer device, ensuring the safe operation of the pipeline during important energy negotiations in the country.

Wu Zhiyuan also carried out missions in Africa.

Multiple batches of engineering data were abnormally leaked from the deep-water port built with Chinese assistance, and a Chinese research vessel was subjected to unidentified surveillance.

Wu Zhiyuan, in his capacity as a port management consultant, discovered that a foreign intelligence agency had bribed the port dispatcher to implant a Trojan horse into the control system of the port cranes used for loading and unloading Chinese goods. The Trojan horse's aim was to steal shipping data and potentially gain remote interference capabilities.

He took advantage of the other side's attempt to obtain false intelligence on China's submarine resupply patterns, and used a counter-strategy to infiltrate during data exchange. He not only cleared the backdoor but also obtained a list of intelligence networks monitoring multiple countries' naval ports in the region, which he then handed over to friendly nations.

Due to his outstanding work performance, Wu Zhiyuan was promoted again to the deputy division chief level.

That year, he was twenty-seven years old.

The one-year agreement with Lin Keke has long passed.

Lin Keke has been missing for over a year, and there is still no news of her. Wu Zhiyuan has to accept a very cruel reality: Lin Keke will not come back.

National security work is on a covert front. Although it is also within the system, it is very different from being in the officialdom.

Wu Zhiyuan also rarely paid attention to the dynamics of officialdom in Jiangzhong Province.

In fact, there have been many changes in the officialdom in Jiangzhong.

Jiang Jun, the top official of the provincial party committee, is under investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.

Ai Kun, Jiang Jun's former secretary and secretary of the Longcheng Municipal Party Committee, is a veritable survivor in the officialdom and has not been implicated.

Of course, this is related to his tact and caution.

Luo Shutian, secretary of the provincial discipline inspection commission, has been promoted to deputy secretary of the provincial party committee.

Lin Xue was transferred back to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, where she served as Deputy Secretary, a position equivalent to a department-level official.

In a park in Jiangzhou, Wu Zhiyuan was strolling alone when he met reporter Ye Xiaoman again.

This is the first time I've seen Ye Xiaoman in over a year.

She was wearing a light beige trench coat; she looked beautiful and elegant.

When Ye Xiaoman saw Wu Zhiyuan, she quickly turned her face to the side, intentionally avoiding him.

However, Wu Zhiyuan called out, "Reporter Ye!"

Ye Xiaoman could no longer avoid it. She turned around, feigning surprise and delight: "Zhiyuan! It's you! Long time no see!"

Wu Zhiyuan smiled wryly and said, "Long time no see! Was the last time we met on the streets of Jiangzhou?"

"Really? I don't remember at all!" Ye Xiaoman pretended to think.

On that occasion, Wu Zhiyuan and Li Xiaoyu pretended to be a couple and followed Chang Long, the deputy director of the Provincial Defense Science and Technology Office. They ran into Ye Xiaoman on the street, but were unable to explain themselves, which led to a misunderstanding.

"Reporter Ye, are you still working at the Longcheng Daily?"

"No, I was transferred to the Jiangzhong Daily. What about you?"

Since Wu Zhiyuan couldn't say he worked for the Provincial State Security Department, he casually said, "I work for an import and export company."

What he said wasn't entirely wrong.

As a national security officer, he already had multiple identities.

He works as a salesman for an import and export company in the provincial capital.

"That's nice. Why are you taking a walk alone?"

Wu Zhiyuan gave a wry smile: "Were we originally the same person?"

Ye Xiaoman was astonished: "Still single? Not in a relationship?"

"Being alone is fine. What about you?"

I got married at the end of last year.

Now it was Wu Zhiyuan's turn to be surprised.

"You got married? I didn't know. Otherwise, I'd like to have a drink at your wedding. I was abroad at the end of last year."

Indeed, he was in Africa at the end of last year.

"I posted an invitation on my WeChat Moments at the end of last year," Ye Xiaoman changed the subject. "Marriage is about finding the right person, living together, and having a simple, ordinary life."

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

"Zhiyuan, we have a few young and beautiful female reporters at our newspaper. Would you like me to play matchmaker?"

Wu Zhiyuan smiled sadly: "Never mind, I don't have any ideas for now. My life is quite different from most people's."

Some roads are better walked alone, with fewer worries.

He paused, looked at Ye Xiaoman, and said sincerely, "I'm very happy to see that you're doing well now."

"By the way, Zhiyuan, where's Lin Keke? I haven't seen her in ages."

Ye Xiaoman is really bringing up a sore spot!

Wu Zhiyuan's heart wound, which had just scabbed over, was punctured again, and blood flowed freely.

His tears welled up.

The man did not shed tears, but he did not go to the sad place.

"Zhiyuan, what's wrong with Coco?"

"He was injured and fell into the sea, and has been missing for over a year."

"Fell into the sea? Missing?" Ye Xiaoman exclaimed in surprise. "Zhiyuan, what happened?"

Wu Zhiyuan shook his head bitterly.

The process cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality.

His greatest pain was watching helplessly as the woman he loved disappeared from his sight.

Ye Xiaoman couldn't bear to ask any more questions and offered some words of comfort.

Soon after, she received a phone call from her husband.

"Excuse me, Zhiyuan, my husband invited me to go boating in the park."

"Oh, then you go ahead and get busy."

Ye Xiaoman turned around and walked somewhat hurriedly toward the other side of the park, toward the boat dock.

The hem of her light beige trench coat swayed gently with her steps, quickly blending into the crowd of people taking an evening stroll.

Wu Zhiyuan stood there, watching her figure disappear.

The image of Ye Xiaoman and the scene of Lin Keke falling flashed through his mind like a movie.

……

Xu Yunxi called.

"Zhiyuan, your phone was so hard to get through! Finally got through!"

"I just returned from abroad not long ago."

"I understand, I understand. I know you do special work. Zhiyuan, do you still remember your promise?"

Wu Zhiyuan chuckled to himself.

Xu Yunxi initially asked Wu Zhiyuan to be her nude sketch model.

"Yunxi, judging from the timeline, you should be a sophomore in college now, right?"

"Yes, do you remember when I was a sophomore? I was at the Hangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. I have good news for you, my dad is going back to work at Jiangzhong."

"Yeah?"

"Of course, but you have to keep it a secret before it's officially announced."

He will serve as the Vice Governor of Jiangzhong Province and concurrently as the Director of the Provincial Public Security Department.

"Is Teacher Liu also going back to work in Jiangzhong?"

"Of course."

Teacher's wife, Liu Qingqing, is coming back.