The BMW M4 came to a steady stop in a secluded corner near Yanjing University.
Lu Xuan turned off the engine, resting one hand on the steering wheel, his fingertips tapping unconsciously, while his other hand took out his phone.
The screen lit up, and he tapped on the familiar black icon—the “Black Material APP.”
Zhang Yining’s father, Zhang Jianguo.
A faint, cold smile played on Lu Xuan’s lips.
At the coffee shop entrance just now, Zhang Yining’s tearful, kneeling pleas were still vivid in his mind, and the source of all this pointed to this Deputy Director of the Education Bureau.
“Let me see just how clean you, this Deputy Director, truly are.”
Lu Xuan murmured to himself, selecting from his album the somewhat bloated official standard photo of Zhang Jianguo he had casually saved earlier, and uploaded it.
On the phone screen, a faint blue glow flashed.
“Ding! New analyzable target detected…”
“Analyzing target information… Please wait…”
On the APP interface, Zhang Jianguo’s ID photo, with its bureaucratic smile, was instantly enveloped by countless dense, light blue data streams, as if undergoing an atomic-level scan and analysis.
The data streams converged and dispersed, accompanied by a faint electrical hum, exuding a strong sense of technology.
Lu Xuan leaned back in his seat, waiting quietly.
He was already well-versed in this process.
After a few seconds, perhaps ten, the data streams abruptly stabilized, then receded like a tide, and clear text appeared on the screen:
“Name: Zhang Jianguo”
“Gender: Male”
“Age: 52”
“Occupation: Deputy Director of Dongting City Education Bureau…”
A series of basic information was listed, which Lu Xuan merely skimmed; these were not the main points.
He patiently waited for what followed, for that was the real show.
As expected, the text on the screen changed again:
“Black Material Generating… Please wait…”
The progress bar advanced at a visible speed, almost flashing by.
“Black Material Generation Complete!”
Immediately following were the familiar exchange options:
“Option One: Exchange 1000 points for a complete Black Material package.”
“Option Two: Exchange Black Material Voucher × 1 for a complete Black Material package.”
Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow, about to choose between points and vouchers, as black material for someone of Zhang Jianguo’s caliber would surely not be cheap.
However, the prompt that popped up on the screen the next second made him slightly pause.
“Detected that the target’s black material content involves numerous individuals and has a wide-ranging impact; to maintain system data balance, this black material will be provided free of charge.”
“Hmm?” Lu Xuan’s fingertips stopped, and a playful smile appeared on his face. “Free of charge? Has the sun risen from the west? This stingy system actually changed its tune today?”
He stroked his chin, feeling that things were probably not that simple. Free lunches often had the most peculiar taste.
“And ‘maintaining system data balance’? You say it so grandly. I think you’re just afraid this ‘melon’ is too big, with too much data?” Lu Xuan chuckled softly, complaining to the air.
However, free black material, why not take it?
The next moment, the core black material concerning Zhang Jianguo exploded before Lu Xuan’s eyes like a bombshell!
“Black Material Core Details: Dongting City Education Bureau Deputy Director Zhang Jianguo, in his twenty-five-year career in the education system, has been involved in a total of 1353 instances of various forms of illicit exchanges!”
“Hiss—” Even Lu Xuan, who was accustomed to all sorts of dirty dealings, couldn’t help but gasp.
One thousand three hundred and fifty-three times!
He quickly did the math: twenty-five years, averaging over fifty times a year! This meant that almost every week, this Deputy Director Zhang was engaging in a power-for-money transaction or a favor exchange.
“Holy crap!” Lu Xuan couldn’t help but curse under his breath, a hint of shock flashing in his eyes. “Is this Zhang Jianguo treating the Education Bureau as his private garden and power as an ATM? How could the education sector be so corrupt?”
He had originally thought that Zhang Jianguo had at most pulled some strings regarding his daughter’s college entrance exam and some routine corruption and bribery, but he never expected that beneath the iceberg lay such a shocking network of corruption!
The information on the screen continued to refresh, and more detailed descriptions appeared:
“Specific Description: Target individual Zhang Jianguo, born into a poor farming family, entered university through his own efforts and became a civil servant after graduation. Starting from the lowest level as a township clerk, he gradually gained a foothold in the education system, step by step, and eventually rose to the position of Deputy Director of the Dongting City Education Bureau. His ‘struggle history’ can be called an inspiring example. However, beneath the glamorous facade, he used his position for personal gain over more than two decades, involving himself in, but not limited to, elementary school enrollment quota allocation, junior high key class transfers, high school selection indicators, university special admissions recommendations, teacher Job title evaluation , misappropriation of education funds, textbook procurement kickbacks, and many other Links , accumulating 1353 instances of illicit exchanges.”
“Inspiring example?” Lu Xuan sneered, his tone full of sarcasm. “How is this inspiring? This is clearly the fall of a humble family’s child, the making of an education parasite!”
He could almost see that behind those 1353 transactions were countless families’ helpless sighs, countless students’ fates altered, and countless pairs of eyes eager for knowledge being blinded.
“A complete and utter venomous insect!” Lu Xuan’s gaze turned cold.
What shocked him even more was the scale of the “PPT” black material generated by the system.
“This black material has been automatically organized into PPT format, totaling 14888 pages, including detailed text records, photocopies of relevant receipts, bank transaction screenshots, call recording summaries, key personnel relationship diagrams, and partial video clips…”
Fourteen thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight pages!
Lu Xuan looked at this number and felt his temples throb twice. This was not a PPT; this was practically an encyclopedia of Zhang Jianguo’s criminal career! On average, each illicit exchange had nearly ten pages of material to corroborate it, indicating its thoroughness.
“System, you really went all out this time.” Lu Xuan scrolled the screen, quickly flipping through a few thumbnail pages of the PPT.
Images, tables, densely packed text—each page exuded undeniable, ironclad evidence.
He noticed a detail: in the records involving specific transactions, the names, photos, and video footage of the other parties involved in illicit exchanges with Zhang Jianguo were heavily pixelated, leaving only Zhang Jianguo clearly visible.
“Oh? You even know how to pixelate?” Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow. “What does this mean? Are you afraid I’ll wipe out the entire network of relationships in Dongting City’s education sector in one go, and your system server won’t be able to handle it?”
He then thought that the system probably had other plans.
“System Prompt: To avoid triggering large-scale social panic and uncontrollable chain reactions, this free black material is only for the core target individual, Zhang Jianguo. Information on other involved personnel has been blurred. If the host wishes to obtain complete black material for specific related individuals, it still needs to be exchanged through the normal process. This system is committed to precise strikes and opposes indiscriminate carpet bombing.”
“Right, ‘precise strikes, opposes carpet bombing.’” Lu Xuan was amused by the system’s cunning operation. “To put it bluntly, you’re afraid I’ll freeload too much and affect your subsequent point income, right? What a shrewd, profit-driven system!”
However, he also understood that just this one piece of black material on Zhang Jianguo was already enough to be earth-shattering.
Lu Xuan took a deep breath and turned off his phone screen.
Silence once again filled the car, but a storm raged in his heart.
Zhang Jianguo… Deputy Director of the Education Bureau… 1353 illicit exchanges… over fourteen thousand pages of evidence…
He had originally only wanted Zhang Jianguo to help with a small matter, resolving the issue of his cousin’s college entrance exam scores being replaced.
Now, it seemed this Deputy Director Zhang was in deep trouble himself.
“I just wanted you to bleed a little, but you insisted on putting on airs with me.”
Lu Xuan leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes, the cold curve of his lips becoming even more pronounced. “Now, this grand gift, I wonder if you, Deputy Director Zhang, can handle it?”
He could already imagine how wonderfully expressive Zhang Jianguo’s bureaucratic smiling face would become when a portion of this “generous gift” was quietly delivered before him.
