Chapter 202

Zhao Jianguo stood at the Courtyard Gate, the wind blowing the door to sway a little. He didn't move, his hand still in his coat pocket, fingertips touching the edge of the watch. The bicycle bell from just riding over still echoed in his ears, but he no longer had the mind for that.

He turned and walked into the house, steps unhurried, without looking back. After entering, he first closed the door, then took the watch out of the cloth bag and placed it on the table. The Screen lit up, the line on the homepage still read: 【Local signal scan completed, no Abnormal Frequency Band detected】. He stared at it for two seconds, then his finger slid to the backend data page, pulling up all movement signal records from the past twenty-four hours that had passed around the Siheyuan.

A strange signal track appeared. This number had no registration info, but it had shown up at the Hutongkou for three consecutive days, each stay lasting over fifteen minutes. The last occurrence was yesterday afternoon at 3:17 p. m., exactly when Wang Dehai left the department store after buying an electronic watch.

Zhao Jianguo intercepted that data, then grabbed the pen and paper on the table and sketched a simple route map. The person entered via West Street and exited via East Alley, with the midpoint stop positioned just right to see the canteen rear window and the Central Courtyard teaching point—exactly where the smart watch training was held.

Zhao Jianguo folded the paper, slipped it into his pocket, put on his Coat, and headed out. As he reached the Courtyard Gate, he bumped into Sha Zhu coming to deliver lunch boxes.

"Jianguo, still going out this late?"

"Just a bit of business." Zhao Jianguo didn't break stride, "Go back and tell San Daye that tomorrow's class schedule stays the same, but don't let strangers near the teaching area."

Sha Zhu blinked, "Is something wrong?"

"Not sure." Zhao Jianguo didn't turn his head, "Better to be on guard anyway."

Zhao Jianguo walked all the way to the police station; the technical investigation staff hadn't left yet. Seeing him, the duty officer sprang up: "Engineer Zhao, what brings you here?"

"There's a situation." Zhao Jianguo produced the paper, "This person might be gathering technical information from our Siheyuan. He claims to be a scrap collector, but I checked the registration list—no one knows him."

The officer took the paper, glanced at it, and his face changed: "We've noticed this guy. The day before yesterday he was rummaging through two old radios in another hutong, saying he was stripping them for copper to sell. But those two units are 1950s models—basically worth nothing."

"That makes sense." Zhao Jianguo said, "I suggest you set up a temporary inspection point at the East Alley entrance under the pretext of checking for excessive radiation from discarded electronic products. I can provide real-time location support from my side."

The officer nodded and immediately called his superior. Less than half an hour later, a person from the municipal Special Forces arrived—thirty-something, in plain clothes, speaking bluntly: "I'm the Special Forces Captain, received orders to cooperate with the operation. We'll start watching that person you mentioned right now."

Zhao Jianguo took out his watch and connected it to the portable Terminal; the Screen showed a green dot slowly moving toward the East Alley.

"He's on his way." Zhao Jianguo said, "Speed's not fast; he's probably trying to act natural."

They found a concealed spot beside the bike repair stall at the East Alley entrance to stake out. The sky grew dim, the streetlights just flickered on. Around 7:10 p. m., a man in a gray jacket pushed a tricycle into the alley, loaded with old appliances, humming a little tune.

The Special Forces Captain gave a glance, and two plainclothes officers immediately stepped forward to block the path.

"Comrade, please cooperate with the inspection. Recently we found discarded appliances with radiation exceeding limits, affecting residents' health."

The man blinked, then nodded with a chuckle: "Inspect away, I'm just helping the neighbors dispose of old stuff."

Just as he reached for his ID, Zhao Jianguo's watch vibrated. The Terminal showed that the old-fashioned recorder he was carrying was transmitting an encrypted signal from inside.

"That recorder must not be moved." Zhao Jianguo whispered.

The Special Forces Captain understood, walked over himself, and said, "This machine looks pretty old; we need to take it back to the bureau for a thorough check."

The man's face changed slightly, but he didn't resist. They subdued him and his tricycle, and on the spot found five imported electronic watches hidden in the radio's interlayer.

The next morning, Zhao Jianguo was summoned to the interrogation room monitoring area. The Special Forces Captain handed him a photo: "This was found in his residence."

The photo showed a hand-drawn floor plan of the Siheyuan, with multiple red dots marked "signal reception point" and "data upload node," among others. There was also a notebook recording, at different times each day, which elderly people in the Siheyuan were wearing watches.

"More importantly, this." The Special Forces Captain opened another folder, containing several photocopied sheets of paper: "We found these under his bed frame, mailed from a Southeast Asian tech company, requesting 'to obtain high-precision timing terminal samples and user behavior patterns.'"

Zhao Jianguo finished reading, his brows knitting: "This isn't just a simple resale scheme."

"No." The Special Forces Captain said, "We decoded the signal he sent out: 'Node 3 deployed, awaiting master watch synchronization.' They're trying to replicate your watch network system."

The two of them fell silent for a few seconds.

Zhao Jianguo suddenly thought of something: "Where is Xu Da Mao now?"

"Labor reform farm." The Special Forces Captain said, "In theory he couldn't have any outside communication."

Zhao Jianguo returned home, sat at his desk, opened the system Sign-in Interface, and typed the three characters "Xu Da Mao."

The Screen flashed, popping up a red alert: 【Detected illegal communication activity at the labor reform farm—Xu Da Mao, via a prisoner scribe, mailed a family letter overseas; the letter contained keywords such as 'new-type timer,' 'signal network construction,' and 'node coverage,' and the system has flagged it as a high-risk information leak source】.

Zhao Jianguo shot to his feet and slammed a fist on the table.

No wonder outsiders have been asking about the watch principles lately—turns out someone's been pulling strings behind the scenes. Xu Da Mao himself is inside, but he's still hoping to turn his fortunes with this tech. Those relatives who bought watches, the scrap partners—all are pieces he set up.

He grabbed pen and paper and began writing a report, stringing together all the clues: Wang Dehai's watch purchase time, the suspicious individual's activity trail, the content of the overseas letter, and Xu Da Mao's communication logs. After finishing, he printed it out and placed it in a file folder.

Just as he was about to leave, a knock came from outside the door.

The Special Forces Captain stood outside, holding a mobile phone.

"Just intercepted a cross-border telegram." He said, "The sender's identity is unknown, but the destination is the labor reform farm where Xu Da Mao is held. The message reads only: 'The watch is in place, awaiting your next order.'"

Zhao Jianguo took the phone and glanced at the line.

He looked up and asked, "Do you know who Xu Da Mao usually gets to write his letters for him in the farm?"

"I do." The Special Forces Captain said, "It's a prisoner named Li Changgen, formerly a radio technician."

Zhao Jianguo passed over the file folder, "This contains the full chain of evidence. I recommend we immediately detain Li Changgen, examine his writing habits and communication frequency. If they really are using family letters to pass coded messages, we'll surely find a pattern."

The Special Forces Captain took the folder, nodded, and said, "I'll head back to arrange that now."

He turned to leave, but Zhao Jianguo called him back.

"There's one more thing." Zhao Jianguo said, "Could you check whether anyone has recently sent similar electronic watches abroad? The kind with precise timing functions."

"You mean…… they've already been sending samples out?"

"I just want to know." Zhao Jianguo stared at him, "What exactly are these people after?"

The Special Forces Captain's eyes darkened, "If it were just about stealing the technology, there'd be no need for all this complexity. What they want isn't a single watch, but the operating logic of the whole system."

The room fell silent.

Outside the window, the wind blew the towel on the drying line back and forth, slapping against the wall with a smacking sound.

Zhao Jianguo walked to the window, gazing toward the distant Hutongkou. There, two plainclothes individuals stood, heads lowered, whispering something.

He knew this matter wasn't over yet.

Zhao Jianguo picked up the watch from the desk, slipped it back onto his wrist. The Screen lit up, and a new notice popped up on the homepage: 【System detected an abnormal communication attempt, source direction: southwestern suburban labor reform area】.

He pressed the side button to dismiss the alert, without deleting the record.

At that moment, Footsteps came from downstairs; someone was heading up to the second floor.

Half a face appeared around the stairwell corner—it was the technician brought by the Special Forces Captain.

"Engineer Zhao, we just found a draft sheet under Li Changgen's pillow." The young man panted, "On it is a string of numbers, like some kind of coding format. See if it might be……"

Zhao Jianguo reached out his hand.