Chapter 97: Fire, It's Coming

"Is this... something you drew? Is the girl in the painting your girlfriend?" Shen Bingqing asked.

Du Long shook his head and said, "I drew it, but she's not my girlfriend. It's because of her that I almost became a vegetable, so I remember her vividly and drew her casually."

Shen Bingqing smiled and said, "Not bad. To be beaten into a vegetable for such a girl is worth it, hehe."

This time, Du Long glared at Shen Bingqing with resentment. After connecting the hard drive, Du Long turned on the computer. Once the system started, he found the folder for the Shen brothers. Just as he was about to cut the files, Shen Bingqing suddenly said, "Wait, let me do it."

Seeing the USB drive in Shen Bingqing's hand, Du Long inwardly sighed in relief. Fortunately, he had already copied the suspicious compressed file, changed its name, and re-compressed it into several files and placed them elsewhere. Otherwise, he might have been caught red-handed by Shen Bingqing.

Sure enough, Shen Bingqing's USB drive had an automatic file comparison search tool. It scanned Du Long's hard drive but didn't find the hidden compressed file. Instead, it discovered the copied work records and insights of Shen Yujie.

Shen Bingqing frowned and looked at Du Long. Du Long chuckled and said, "These shouldn't be confidential, right? I saw some useful things inside, so I made a copy. If you think it's not okay, I can delete them."

Shen Bingqing really deleted those files. He even copied them to his new hard drive and then used a special deletion tool to erase them. The tool was called a "shredder" and was said to overwrite the hard drive twenty times, making it impossible for even the KGB and FBI to recover the data. After removing the hard drive, Shen Bingqing said to Du Long, "Thank you for returning these things to me. They are really important to me. My brother's actions were his own fault, and I won't blame you for them anymore. I sincerely apologize on his behalf. I won't hold a grudge over the trouble you caused me with those thugs. Let's call it even from now on, okay? Don't mock me anymore."

Du Long extended his hand and smiled, "Deal. You're very capable and hardworking. Let's work together well in the future."

Shen Bingqing nodded, extended his hand, and shook Du Long's hand sincerely, saying, "My observation and judgment skills are indeed not as good as yours, but I will work hard to improve and surpass you one day. Just wait and see!"

The two men squeezed each other's hands, feeling the strength in the other. This handshake was different from the previous one. They were now just ordinary competitors and partners, no longer viewing each other as enemies.

Shen Bingqing left Du Long's house. As he was about to leave the neighborhood, he saw a notice board with a rental ad. He stopped to look at it. Now that his brother had been transferred, only his sister-in-law was left at home. Not only did she treat him coldly, but the suspicion of impropriety also compelled him to find a place to move out as soon as possible.

Back at home, Du Long started working on cracking the encrypted compressed file from Shen Bingqing. After more than an hour, he still had no success. The virtual machine he used to run the cracking software had crashed several times. The gap between a skilled user and a technical expert was much greater than he had imagined.

Just as Du Long was feeling disappointed, Ma Guangming called. Du Long answered the phone and laughed, "Uncle Ma, is there good news? Did the fingerprints match?"

Ma Guangming said solemnly, "Bida Kai is dead. It's said he overdosed on drugs. Did Xia Hongjun inject him with drugs?"

Du Long was taken aback. Xia Hongjun had indeed injected Bida Kai with something that day, but Du Long didn't know what it was. He realized the seriousness of the situation and said, "I don't know. Xia Hongjun probably had no reason to do that. He's always been very rational."

Ma Guangming said, "Very rational? A rational person wouldn't lead a counterattack and then personally injure over a dozen people before fleeing. Although we are now almost certain that the three miners were killed by Bida Kai, Bida Kai is dead, and Xia Hongjun is once again a major suspect for murder. Du Long, you need to help me find him!"

Du Long frowned and said, "Find him and arrest him? We haven't confirmed it's him yet. Given his distrust of the police, he probably won't agree."

Ma Guangming said, "We just need him to cooperate with the investigation. We haven't made a final determination. Asking him to turn himself in is a necessary step. Du Long, we are walking a tightrope and must maintain balance. One misstep and we'll fall. Du Long, Xia Hongjun must come forward. I can ensure he will be properly arranged and protected before the case is finalized."

Du Long said, "I can't make that decision for him. Let me call him and ask for his opinion."

Ma Guangming said, "Persuade him well. If you can, go back to Wuxi County. Xia Hongjun trusts you, right? Investigate the Bida Kai case yourself. If it wasn't Xia Hongjun, everything will be fine."

Du Long said, "We'll see. I'll hang up now and call you back later."

Du Long called Xia Hongjun. Xia Hongjun answered and said directly, "You know too? Bida Kai is dead, and they say I did it. Do you believe it?"

Du Long said, "I don't believe it. If that injection was lethal, Bida Kai would have died earlier, not now. This is clearly a frame-up."

Xia Hongjun smiled bitterly and said, "The problem is that I did inject Bida Kai. They're blaming me for it."

Du Long said, "Don't worry. They have no evidence to prove you injected Bida Kai. I will find the real culprit, just like I found out that the three people were killed by Bida Kai!"

"Was it really him? I've suspected it all along..." Xia Hongjun said, "Come over, I trust you."

Du Long said, "The problem is that Li Wuwei's backers are putting a lot of pressure on Mayor Ma. You might need to turn yourself in to the police. Otherwise, the improving situation might worsen. Mayor Ma promised to ensure your safety and proper arrangements before the case is finalized."

Xia Hongjun fell silent. Du Long asked, "What do you think, Hongjun? My personal opinion is... you should follow Mayor Ma's arrangement. I will definitely find the real culprit and clear your name!"

Xia Hongjun was silent for a moment and then said, "Alright, I trust you. I'll turn myself in. If something happens to me, please take care of my mother occasionally."

Xia Hongjun hung up, and Du Long was taken aback, feeling a mix of emotion and bitterness. He thought Xia Hongjun would refuse without hesitation, but he actually agreed. When did this guy start trusting him so much?

"I won't let your mother lose her son!" Du Long immediately called Ma Guangming, urging him to ensure Xia Hongjun's safety. He then said he would head to Wuxi County to investigate the real cause of Bida Kai's death.

As Du Long was changing clothes to leave, his mother just came back. He didn't have time to explain and just said he had something to do and wouldn't be home that night, which made Shi Yujin complain about how having a husband and a son was like having none at all.

Du Long drove to Wuxi County, praying all the way that nothing would happen to Xia Hongjun. If something did, the pressure on him would be immense.

Fortunately, about half an hour later, he received a call from Ma Guangming saying that Xia Hongjun had turned himself in and was under the protection of the Wu Ming City Special Police. Du Long finally felt relieved.

On the way, Du Long found out the hospital where Bida Kai was and asked Qin Junwei for ten Special Police officers. Upon arriving in Wuxi County, he immediately went to the Wuxi County People's Hospital. At the hospital entrance, he met the Special Police from Wu Ming City. After verifying each other's identities, Du Long led the Special Police into the morgue.

Bida Kai's family hadn't arrived yet, but a large group of his friends had. They blocked the entrance to the morgue, shouting for the murderer Xia Hongjun to be punished. Du Long was furious and shouted, "Who saw Xia Hongjun kill anyone? Step forward!"

"I saw him, and I recognize you! You and Xia Hongjun rushed into the house and killed Big Brother Bi!" A man with a bandaged head stepped forward, one of the henchmen Du Long had knocked out.

This made the henchmen blocking the morgue even more aggressive. They shouted loudly and even tried to grab Du Long to avenge their Big Brother Bi.