Chapter 40: The Surveillance Plan (4)

Zhang Heng was certain the call was from those people, so he calmly pressed the answer button. Once connected, the voice on the other end said, "Hello, is this Brother Zhang Heng, the retired police officer?"

Hearing that confirmed his guess. He replied, "Yes."

"Brother Zhang Heng, I’m here at the invitation of our boss to pick you up. I’m almost at the hotel address he sent me. Are you staying at that hotel?"

"Yes."

"Alright, get ready. I’ll be there in five minutes."

Then the other party hung up.

After ending the call, Zhang Heng stood up and glanced around the room. He had only just booked this room, and it had been less than two hours since he arrived. Now he was about to check out. He felt a twinge of emotion, but for the sake of getting close to this drug trafficking gang, it didn’t matter.

After tidying his clothes, he took the room card and left. Indeed, apart from a newly purchased phone, everything else—bank cards, ID, chargers—was tucked safely in his pocket.

He went to the front desk to check out.

No sooner had he finished checking out than his phone rang again. It was the same number from before. He answered.

"Brother Zhang Heng, I’m outside the hotel now. I’m heading towards the entrance. Please come out."

He stepped outside the hotel just as instructed.

Sure enough, by the entrance was a car. The driver was an older man who looked honest enough but bore the signs of age, his hair streaked with gray, resembling a fatherly figure.

Zhang Heng sized up the man and the car—a well-worn used vehicle.

"Are you Brother Zhang Heng?" the driver asked.

"Yes," Zhang Heng replied.

"Good. Get in."

The driver opened the passenger door and gestured politely for Zhang Heng to enter.

Zhang Heng obliged, sitting in the front passenger seat. The driver got behind the wheel, started the car, and drove off.

---

After more than two hours on the road, the car pulled into a remote suburban area.

Zhang Heng felt a faint sense of familiarity creeping in.

This place matched the remote hospital location he and Brother Liang had discussed investigating earlier.

If his guess was right, moving forward would bring them to that secluded hospital.

A chill of fear crept into his heart, but he forced himself to remain calm.

Fortunately, the driver seemed oblivious to his unease.

They drove for another five minutes and indeed arrived at the hospital.

The driver parked at the entrance.

No sooner had the car stopped than several men wielding machetes burst out of the hospital, surrounding the gate.

The driver hurried out and strode into the building.

Zhang Heng, left alone in the car, immediately moved to the driver’s seat, intending to flee—but the keys had been taken out.

It seemed his chances today were slim.

Still, he resolved to face whatever came with a brave front.

He stepped out, smiled faintly at the group of machete-wielding thugs, and boldly called the number he had been texting with at the hotel.

The call connected. The voice said, "Comrade Zhang Heng, now that you’re here, you surely know you can’t leave easily. Even if you want to leave, ask these brothers in front of you if they’ll let you."

Zhang Heng replied coolly into the phone, "So this is how you welcome me—someone who wants to cooperate?"

The line went dead.

A moment later, applause and laughter rang out from inside the hospital. Zhang Heng looked toward the building and saw a middle-aged man he'd never met before, dressed sharply in a suit, stepping forward.

Flanking him on either side were two familiar faces.

One was the gang leader he’d seen during the investigation of the Liang Lahua case at an aunt’s house, standing to the suited man’s left.

The other was Old Shang, whom Zhang Heng had encountered during the previous investigation with Brother Liang.

The three walked forward together.

---

The suited man stopped about five meters from Zhang Heng, his two companions halting alongside him.

He appraised Zhang Heng with a sweeping gaze, clearly satisfied.

He snapped his fingers at Old Shang, who immediately approached and said respectfully, "Boss."

"Did he come here to inspect, or did he enter our premises?" the boss asked.

"No, no," Old Shang replied. "To be honest, boss, he was about to go with that cop last time, but I stopped him. So he left quietly."

"Good. Go back."

"Yes, boss."

Old Shang trotted away.

The boss then snapped his fingers at the gang leader on his left, who hurried over.

"Old Xiang."

"Boss."

"Has this cop been interfering with your bad debts?"

"Boss, to be honest, because he’s here, our men don’t dare to come demanding the last debts..."

"Now he’s here. Go collect it."

"Boss, I’m afraid we’ll be turned away again..."

Smack!

The boss slapped him across the face.

"Go again."

"Boss, it’s not that I don’t want to, but I don’t know where that woman is hiding."

"Get lost."

"Yes, boss."

Old Xiang returned to his previous spot.

The boss smiled at Zhang Heng.

"Young man, you’re lucky. You’ve survived so many near-death moments."

Zhang Heng smiled faintly.

"Since you’re here, let’s be straightforward. We’re all straightforward people. You agreed in your messages, and you’ve worked with us before. We’re quite satisfied with your approach. Besides, in your current situation, you can’t act as a cop anymore. But someone like you, with real skills, we welcome you genuinely."

"Look, we already gave you sixty thousand before. If you agree today, we’ll give you another sixty thousand."

At that moment, Zhang Heng recalled a film starring Wang Baoqiang called Blind Shaft, the story that propelled the actor from obscurity to fame.

The film told of two ruthless miners, Tang Chaoyang and Song Jinming, who killed a fellow miner underground, staged the scene as an accident, and extorted funeral money from the mine owner. After splitting the money, they discarded the victim’s remains carelessly and looked for their next target.

At the train station, they met Yuan Fengming, the hapless victim played by Wang Baoqiang. They disguised themselves as kind strangers, helped him get fake ID, bought him meals, and cleaned him up to gain his trust.

They found a mining site suitable for their crime. The owner admitted that deaths underground happened and compensation was capped at thirty thousand yuan per death.

Despite Tang Chaoyang’s eagerness to kill Yuan Fengming, Song Jinming’s lingering humanity repeatedly intervened, allowing Yuan to live a few more days.

In the end, both killers died in the mine, and Yuan Fengming walked away with their funeral money.

This story mirrored the boss’s current approach: first, lure with kindness; then, reveal the fangs.

But Zhang Heng thought, something was off. The boss knew he was a cop—an enemy intent on capturing them. Yet he still openly invited him here.

Though Zhang Heng wanted to infiltrate the drug trafficking ring, this invitation felt too direct.

"What's on your mind, Zhang Heng? Brother, do you have doubts?" the boss asked, noticing his hesitation.

Just as Zhang Heng was about to answer, the boss’s phone rang. He answered brusquely.

After a terse exchange, the boss covered the phone, looked at Zhang Heng, and said, "Zhang Heng, wait here a moment."

Turning to his men, he ordered, "Keep an eye on him. Don’t let him out of your sight."

Then he strode quickly toward the hospital building.

As soon as the boss left, the men formed a tight circle around Zhang Heng, boxing him in.

Zhang Heng felt a wave of nausea but knew he had to play submissive for now.

He stood his ground, observing the fierce expressions of the men surrounding him.

At that moment, his phone vibrated twice with incoming text messages.

Reaching for his phone, the two men closest to him tensed and stepped forward.

Zhang Heng smiled, held up his phone, and said, "It’s a phone. See?"

The men relaxed and stepped back.

He opened the messages.

Both texts came from the same 19-digit number.

The first read: "Zhang Heng, be alert. International drug trafficker Yang Xiaoqiang is currently in our city. Special operations have confirmed that the middle-aged man in front of you is Yang Xiaoqiang. [Deleted!]"

The second was a spam message with an advertisement link.

Clearly, these messages were sent either by Director Shang’s team or the Beijing Public Security Bureau as a tip-off.

Zhang Heng deleted the first message and kept the spam one, then pocketed his phone.

The boss soon returned, approaching him.

The men around Zhang Heng quickly resumed their positions.

The boss looked at Zhang Heng and asked, "Zhang Heng, have you made your decision?"