No matter who it is, I'm saying the same thing. Yes, I said it.

Record your grandpa!

From now on, nobody's allowed to mention the word 'recording' in front of me!

If anyone does, don't blame me for being heartless—I'll transfer you to watch over the reservoir!

Cai Qidong slammed the phone down hard, so angry he almost wanted to smash it. He could tolerate Wen Yan pulling these kinds of pranks, but seeing how fast the gossip spread and that everyone already knew about the recording joke, he really lost his composure this time.

Meanwhile, over in the Appraisal Department, a few people were crowding around the phone.

A young man looked eager to try something.

"Did you get the recording?"

"Got it!"

"Quick, send it to me! That's precious material right there."

The middle-aged man sitting in the chair looked at the young people around him, at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He thought to himself, these days, young people really don't see their leaders as actual leaders.

"Alright, alright, I've risked pissing off the big boss so I could help you realize your dream. Next, if you mess up or make any blunders, and the Minister grabs hold of this as an excuse, the one to get yelled at will be me."

"Chief, don't worry, we guarantee nothing will go wrong," the young ones thumped their chests and promised.

"Okay, I'm getting back to work."

"Let's go together, we'll follow and learn a bit."

The Appraisal Department Chief glanced at the young men, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Like I don't know what you're up to?"

Even so, he didn't stop them from tagging along.

They all headed downstairs together. As soon as they got to the lobby, they saw Wen Yan pushing a small cart coming out of the elevator.

They all went over, saying they were there to help with packing and sealing the items, then sending them off using the Scorching Sun Department's logistics channel.

At first Wen Yan was a little confused—what's with these guys? But then he saw the bunch of young people gathering around with excitement, asking him to share that recording.

"Just give me the raw file, I'm a hobbyist at making hilarious remixes. When I'm done, I'll send you a copy—quality guaranteed."

Now Wen Yan got it. News travels like wildfire in the office. He cheerfully shared the file, and they all added each other on Messenger, preparing for the next time they swapped ringtones.

Wen Yan exchanged some tips on making remix memes with the young ones, and they all ended up bonding fast as they gossiped about the minister behind his back.

Meanwhile, back in the office, the Appraisal Department Chief, wearing glasses, was holding a magnifying glass and carefully examining the shelves.

Through the magnifying glass, he saw neatly arranged energy ripples reflected in his eyes, which surprised him.

This shelf really does have a problem.

But after thoroughly checking up and down, all he found was that the shelf was coated with a layer of especially orderly, harmonious energy, and it was very solid and didn't leak at all.

For easier transport, they disassembled the shelves, but even that didn't affect those energy flows one bit.

After triple-checking, he put away the magnifying glass and told the team to pack up and seal everything properly.

When he was done, he called Cai Qidong back.

"Inspection finished. That shelf may have been influenced by all the strange items stored in that warehouse over a long period. There's a layer of extremely stable energy flowing on its surface.

It's basically like Rupert's Tear—huge internal stress, extremely tough, next to impossible to destroy.

But this thing doesn't have Rupert's Tear's little tail, no fatal weakness.

Time's tight, and aside from that, I didn't find any other problems."

"Got it."

Cai Qidong breathed a sigh of relief. He really was a bit worried Wen Yan had created something too wild to handle.

He went back to the monitoring room next to the interrogation room, checked in, but there'd still been no progress—in fact, the interrogation seemed to be finished.

By right, things should proceed with the next steps now.

Cai Qidong waved his hand, telling people to follow the process as usual. No sense dragging this out any further.

Leaving the monitoring room, on the other side, the interrogators were already escorting Liu Qiying out of the interrogation room.

Liu Qiying saw Cai Qidong and had a hint of guilt on her face, her words earnest and sincere.

"I truly apologize to everyone. I didn't think things through.

Could I make a phone call? There's some materials I have, I'll get someone to send them over.

They might help a little."

"What kind of materials?"

"Information on the West River Water System. Over the years, I've had people check records in libraries, visit various places, consult local elders, and bit by bit I've pieced something together; it's fairly detailed—the various changes in the West River Water System, and all kinds of local legends and stories."

Cai Qidong's eyes sharpened.

Here it is.

Out of everyone, Cai Qidong knew best—given how chaotic the West River Water System is, compiling such data is a massive undertaking, costing tons of resources and manpower.

The Scorching Sun Department definitely couldn't just fork over the money themselves—they'd need to collaborate with universities, maybe support a research project.

But the Changfeng Group could just dump piles of cash in, year after year, into this totally unrewarding project without blinking.

This woman is hoping to borrow the Scorching Sun Department's strength.

But at least up to now, she's been fully cooperative. You really couldn't accuse her of trying to threaten anyone. If you can't handle it, well, use my way then.

"Director Liu, you sure are thoughtful."

"It's my duty. Whatever penalty you decide, I'll accept it. Whatever cooperation you need, I'll give my all."

Watching as Liu Qiying was taken away, Cai Qidong went back to his office and called Wen Yan.

Watching the phone, his face immediately turned grim.

Forget it—just endure.

"Come to my office."

"It's not about the recording! Not about the recording, okay? Would you drop it already? Do I look like that petty a person? I'm looking for you about something real! I'm still the Minister, can you act serious for once?"

After hanging up, Cai Qidong sat and waited until he'd calmed down. He checked his own pulse, then let out a long sigh.

"Qin Kun's slap really did a number on me. Ever since I got hurt, I've been so short-tempered. I need to hurry up and heal."

A moment later, Wen Yan knocked and entered, closed the door, and Cai Qidong immediately picked up a remote and pressed it.

All around the office, above, below, left, right, front and back, machinery sprang up, projecting six faintly glowing shields that completely sealed off the room.

Cai Qidong passed Wen Yan a cigarette, his tone a bit more serious, almost solemn.

"There's no one else here now, and nothing can leak out. I want to ask you something—be honest: is He Changfeng in your hands?"

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