"If you are willing to tell me the truth, I think I won't hold a grudge against you."

Just as the two were filled with emotions.

A familiar voice came from the side.

Almost simultaneously.

The two were startled for a moment.

They looked in the direction the voice came from.

Behind a tree, a familiar figure appeared.

"Dirk, what are you doing here?"

Caden asked in shock.

The other person was Arlo, who scratched his head and said, "I remember I didn't have a tail following me."

"I didn't follow you, I came with him."

Dirk pointed at Caden.

Arlo chuckled, saying, "Executive Director Dixon, it's not my fault, it's you who didn't hide well enough."

Dirk walked a few steps forward, right in front of the two.

He said to Arlo, "Of course, you were already seen through by me long ago."

"No way, I hid so well. How could you have seen through me?"

Arlo retorted.

Dirk smiled faintly and said, "Don't forget, I'm George Carter's son. I've read all the letters he exchanged with you."

These words.

Left Arlo stunned on the spot.

His mischievous expression gradually calmed.

With a long sigh, he said, "Alright, I was overconfident."

Dirk wasn't lying.

From the first time Arlo mentioned his name, Dirk already knew who he was.

When George Carter was practicing medicine in Kenton County, he met Arlo for the first time in a remote mountain village.

At that time, Arlo's father had died of illness, his mother remarried, and nine-year-old Arlo lived with his four-year-old sister and grandmother.

The grandmother had long-term eye issues.

Unable to see clearly, it was George Carter who treated her.

Seeing that Arlo was smart and promising, George decided to sponsor his schooling.

Every August, George Carter would send the year's tuition and living expenses on time, which enabled Arlo to smoothly make it to university.

Each year, Arlo would write letters to this "dad" George, who would also reply to encourage and comfort him. Under the dual support of spirit and material from George, Arlo decided to become a doctor, believing he should save lives like this "dad" without blood ties.

In his sophomore year.

He suddenly stopped receiving letters from George, the same year Dirk turned eighteen, and George and his wife both passed away.

The past was unbearable.

While sorting his father's belongings, Dirk found these letters in a box and learned of Arlo's name.

So the first time Arlo inexplicably appeared before him, he knew this doctor had a connection to his father.

"So, our first meeting was arranged by you on purpose?"

Dirk asked.

Arlo waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "Not at all, I was indeed spying that day and accidentally got caught by you. It's fate, haha..."

Whether these words were true or not.

Dirk no longer wanted to investigate.

He looked at Caden and asked, "Don't you have anything to say?"

Caden looked helpless.

He sat cross-legged on the ground and asked, "You said you came with me, so you already knew my identity?"

Dirk smiled and said, "No, it was only after today that all my suspicions came together, which is why I personally followed you."

"Tell me, when did it all start?"

Caden asked.

Dirk and Arlo both sat down cross-legged, forming a triangle with Caden.

Dirk looked up at the sky and said, "Let's start from when I was transferred to Kenton County..."

This transfer.

From the beginning, Dirk felt something was wrong.

After finding out that Dylan Tate's death was related to Sherman Summers, all traces were cut off around the 419 mining disaster. Dirk wanted to continue pursuing it, but Donal Lewis repeatedly advised him not to.

He used the excuse of greater development space in Kenton County to suggest transferring Dirk.

After Dirk clearly refused to go.

Donal Lewis brought up the lead on Teague Tanner.

This was in stark contrast to his previous reluctance for Dirk to investigate further, revealing that his true intent was to transfer Dirk to Kenton County.

For an executive-level cadre to be transferred across counties wasn't an easy task.

Especially to the lucrative education bureau.

Regardless of Donal Lewis's abilities, without someone secretly helping from Kenton County Committee, it wouldn't have happened.

Speaking of this.

Caden interrupted Dirk, asking, "Isn't Minister Cecil Ford of the Organization Department a good friend of Donal Lewis?"

Dirk smiled and said, "Yes, but the position of Education Director isn't something Minister Ford alone can decide. Especially under the control of Charlotte Ramey and Yorke Payne, they'd never let someone impulsive like me take that position. So, there must be another behind-the-scenes instigator for my transfer to Kenton County."

After hearing Dirk's analysis, Caden sighed and said, "Yes, transferring you to the education bureau was my idea, but even if you suspected it, you couldn't have guessed it was me since I've been deliberately suppressing you since your arrival."

Dirk nodded and said, "Right, in the beginning, I didn't suspect you until the incident of Myra Walsh's jumping case."

"That incident? What aroused your suspicion?"

Caden asked.

Dirk said, "After Myra Walsh jumped, the police immediately sealed the scene. I thought, Yorke Payne must have great influence, even mobilizing the police. Yet when I went to catch Buckley Quill at the Third High School, the police did nothing. I brought in our city personnel to prevent the county bureau from intervening, which was odd because they didn't interfere. I know Secretary Guan is very close to you, wasn't it intentional?"

Indeed.

After this event.

Dirk's biggest suspicion was that Caden was instigating corruption in the education system for personal gain, just like the inquiries in the office today, all his assumptions pointed to that.

Additionally, he had figured out Arlo's identity.

Arlo casually found the panties Shannon Pitts left behind in Dirk's sofa.

Without prior knowledge, it would seem impressive, but knowing beforehand, the human interference was apparent.

Combining both.

Dirk felt more and more uneasy.

After leaving the county government compound.

Dirk pretended to leave but kept following Caden.

He wanted to see whom Caden was meeting.

Coming to a small grove, he saw Caden meeting Arlo.

Previously reasonable and unreasonable points all matched up.

After Caden said those words, Dirk revealed himself.

"Then what do you think we've been doing all this for?"

Caden asked.

Dirk shook his head and said, "I don't know, but from your recent words, I've concluded that what you're doing and what Dylan Tate did should be the same."

Caden heaved a long sigh.

He looked up at the sky.

After being in a daze for a long time, he said to Dirk, "Let me start by telling you a story."

"Alright."

Dirk nodded in agreement.

Caden's eyes gradually became blurry.

It seemed like he was recalling something.

The story took place in the late seventies.

A young man from the provincial capital and another from Ashmount City were sent to Stillwater County as part of the government initiative.

The small town where they settled was called Bayberry Town.

It was part of a decade-long tumultuous movement of sending urban youths to rural areas. Many city youths, like these two young men, threw themselves into the nation's construction wave.

The young man from the provincial capital was George Carter, and the young man from Ashmount City was Caden.

At the same time in Bayberry Town, another young man was waiting.

That man was Dylan Tate.

No one knew that at the moment the three met, the gears of fate had already begun to turn...

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