After hearing the whole story, Huo Rou clenched her fingers as she looked at the heated discussions online.
Zou Xiaoxiao cautiously glanced at her. "Arou, do you think we'll really have to hand over Walkerbit to avoid conflict?"
Huo Rou was silent.
She didn't know either.
This way, his Arou would be at ease.
Huo Rou breathed a sigh of relief.
Walkerbit, such a poisonous thing, returned to him
"Vice Captain Sun approved it in the system."
Huo Rou stared into his eyes. "Then why were you on the team on the day of the operation? I saw the operation list, and you were on it!"
"After the leave request was approved, I was going to the hospital to be with my wife. But the entire team was assigned to the operation group, so I was on standby in the team." He frowned as he said this. "However... when the operation group set off, Captain Huo sent someone to urge me to rejoin the team."
After all the past events were laid bare, Huo Rou remained skeptical after listening to Cheng Guozhong's explanation. "Even if it was unavoidable, you should have known not to bring your phone on that operation."
This was the crux of the problem.
Cheng Guozhong was branded a traitor back then precisely because he brought his phone and had call records!
And the information she obtained from Kete's computer indicated that it was he who used signal tracking to determine the location back then.
"I..." Cheng Guozhong lowered his head at this. "It's my fault."
"My wife was giving birth, and I was supposed to put my phone away, but... but I couldn't get it off my mind..." Cheng Guozhong dejectedly hit his head. "I killed Captain Huo, it was me!"
"Who did you speak with during the operation that year?" Qin Ningyi suddenly asked.
"My wife..." Cheng Guozhong instinctively replied amidst his hurried and forceful questioning.
"I didn't call him!" The door was pushed open, and a weathered face appeared before them. The woman's hair was streaked with gray and pulled back behind her head, but her eyes were firm and bright. She placed her somewhat worn water kettle by the door and suddenly rushed forward, kneeling heavily before Huo Rou. "Xiao Rou, we've wronged you! But I truly didn't call him, and he wouldn't have used the phone to report to anyone! Old Cheng has been honest his whole life, how could he be a traitor?!"
"You didn't?!" Cheng Guozhong's eyes widened in disbelief, clearly he didn't know either.
Huo Rou rubbed her hand. "Could it be that the nurse called him when she saw you were in critical condition?"
She vaguely remembered that Cheng Guozhong's wife had a difficult labor that year, a strenuous birth.
"No." The woman's answer was still resolute.
"Oh?" Qin Ningyi's gaze deepened.
The woman lowered her eyes and said, "Old Cheng messaged me before the operation, saying he was temporarily assigned to the operation group. I was worried about affecting his work, so I specifically told the doctors and nurses not to call him, no matter what happened."
...
Exiting the hospital, Huo Rou looked at Qin Ningyi.
The night was deep and quiet, as if swallows returning in spring had lost their way and were darting about in the air, chirping softly.
"What they said is true." Qin Ningyi narrowed his eyes. He had observed them very closely; both husband and wife were telling the truth, so...
"This Vice Captain Sun is worth investigating."
Huo Rou nodded. Among the two groups who had attempted to assassinate Cheng Guozhong in the ward, one group's orders came from Taichuan City.
And Sun Zhiyuan was in Taichuan City!