248: Chapter 248 Zhong Xiaoai: Hou Liangping, that's enough!

Qian Bugou hesitated for a moment, then finally lowered his voice and said word by word, "The handler is named Gao Qiqiang, a native of Jinghai. There's another person with the surname Zhao, whom Gao Qiqiang refers to as 'Young Master Yang'."

Hou Liangping was stunned. "Gao Qiqiang? Young Master Yang? Zhao Yang?"

Qian Bugou nodded. "It should be them. I don't know specifically which family's descendants they are, because there are quite a few powerful and influential people with the surname Zhao. You'll have to investigate that yourself."

Hou Liangping tilted his head, smacked his lips, and suddenly laughed, "I didn't expect that I, Hou Liangping, would have such a connection with those surnamed Zhao."

He questioned him in detail about some related particulars, and Qian Bugou answered them one by one.

During the interrogation, Qian Bugou kept carefully observing his expression. Seeing that he looked relaxed, the heart hanging in his chest finally settled, and he couldn't help but ask, "I've said everything I should say, what about the sentence reduction..."

Hou Liangping patted his chest. "Leave it to me. As long as we uncover a major corrupt official, you will have performed a meritorious service."

Afterward, with a look of triumph, he strode out of the prison.

By the time he returned to the city from the southern suburbs, it was long past the time to get off work. Hou Liangping went straight home, humming a little tune while deftly busying himself in the kitchen.

Unlike in the original story, his relationship with Zhong Xiaoai was not very harmonious. Although they didn't fight every day, throughout the year, Zhong Xiaoai would always return to her parents' home to stay several times due to bickering.

Therefore, Zhong Xiaoai's niece, Liu Shan, did not stay here, and even their son, Hou Haoran, was often taken by Secretary Zhong to the Zhong family residence.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Hou Liangping dashed out of the kitchen, his face full of smiles. "My dear wife is back! Come, come, hurry and change your shoes."

Zhong Xiaoai revealed a satisfied expression, sniffed, and curled her lips slightly. "Braised fish, sweet and sour pork ribs. Dinner is quite sumptuous today; has there been a breakthrough in the case?"

Hou Liangping smiled, "There was a huge harvest today! Let's eat first and talk while we eat. You absolutely won't be able to guess how big of a fish that is. If I handle this case, I will definitely have hope of catching up to your footsteps, my dear wife."

Regarding the case of Zhao Dehan, setting aside the doubts about the leak, Zhong Xiaoai had handled it extremely beautifully. She was already half a rank higher than Hou Liangping, and now it was highly likely she would be a full rank higher than him. Hou Liangping never said it out loud, but he had been holding back a surge of energy inside.

"Tch." How could Zhong Xiaoai not know his little thoughts? She rolled her eyes at him and turned to go into the inner room to change her clothes. Hou Liangping hurriedly set the table, served the dishes, and dished out the rice, busy with everything.

Under his deliberate ingratiation, the first half of the meal was quite relaxed and harmonious. Halfway through the meal, Zhong Xiaoai put down her chopsticks and asked seriously, "Hou Liangping, stop keeping me in suspense. This case was handled by the Discipline Inspection Commission and your Anti-Corruption Bureau back then; this time, it will likely be a joint investigation again. Tell me, what exactly did you find today?"

Hou Liangping rubbed his hands together, lowering his voice, but unable to hide the excitement in his tone. "Qian Bugou confessed. The handler of that money is Gao Qiqiang, the boss of the Qiangsheng Group."

Zhong Xiaoai raised an eyebrow, surprised, "The handler is Gao Qiqiang? My god, this is no small matter. Then who did he handle it for?"

Hou Liangping picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs, gently placed it in Zhong Xiaoai's bowl, his expression becoming complicated, and said slowly, "You absolutely won't be able to guess who it is. I really thought he was something special, but it turns out he's just a corrupt official. All that talk about being the 'number one wealthy person in the system' is all wealth gained by undermining the nation."

With a clatter, Zhong Xiaoai's hand trembled, and her chopsticks fell straight onto the table.

She stared at Hou Liangping in disbelief, her voice somewhat tight. "Who... are you talking about?"

"Haha, you must have thought of it, right?" Hou Liangping laughed triumphantly.

Zhong Xiaoai stood up abruptly, her almond eyes wide, her face flushed red. "This is impossible. You must have made a mistake."

Seeing Zhong Xiaoai's reaction was so intense, Hou Liangping's smile grew even deeper. "Xiaoai, actually I was very surprised too. But this matter shouldn't be wrong! He and Gao Qiqiang are both from Jinghai; isn't it normal for them to be in cahoots?"

Zhong Xiaoai shook her head forcefully. "Impossible. At that time, Zhao Yang was at most a section-level cadre, and they were both people from Jinghai. Qian Bugou is a local from the Imperial Capital; that's too far apart."

"I've thought about this question too," Hou Liangping said unhurriedly. "Therefore, there must be a bigger fish behind them. Hehe, Xiaoai, this is a super corrupt official who has been hidden for so many years. Watch me drag them all out one by one."

"No. It can't be Zhao Yang." Zhong Xiaoai's tone did not waver in the slightest.

"Why?" Hou Liangping was a bit indignant. "Even if his current wealth can stand up to scrutiny, what about his startup capital? He came from the grassroots in Jinghai; where did he get his first pot of gold to earn so much money now? I've investigated many people like this; don't look at how they act all dignified now, behind the scenes they are all thieves..."

Bang!

"Enough!" Zhong Xiaoai slammed her hand heavily on the table, then immediately realized her reaction was a bit too intense, and forced her voice down, saying, "Hou Liangping, watch your tone. Zhao Yang is now a centrally-managed cadre. Drawing conclusions without sufficient investigation is a major mistake."

"Uh..." Hou Liangping gave a sheepish smile. "I know, I know. Don't worry, I will investigate slowly."

Zhong Xiaoai forced herself to calm down, stared at him and asked, "How do you intend to investigate? Any investigation into Zhao Yang must be reported to the central authorities for approval."

Hou Liangping smiled, "Don't worry, I won't touch Zhao Yang right away. I'll start with the Qiangsheng Group first and check the flow of funds from back then."

Zhong Xiaoai was silent for a moment, then slowly shook her head. "Hou Liangping, do not investigate this case any further."

"Why?" Hou Liangping looked puzzled. "Assets worth over a hundred million are unaccounted for, a super corrupt official has been hidden for so many years, and all the case workers who handled this case back then have left their jobs—this is clearly very abnormal."

"It's a case that has already been closed, and so much time has passed," Zhong Xiaoai deliberately revealed a troubled expression. "Do you want to overturn it and open a new case? Do you think that's possible? If you submit this report, not to mention the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate, even your own bureau chief will return it to you without a second thought."

Hou Liangping was silent for a while, his brows knitted together. "Aiya... this is indeed not easy to handle. How about this, I'll investigate privately first. My intuition tells me that Zhao Yang definitely has big problems, and there is an even bigger, true fish hidden behind him."

"Hou Liangping!" Zhong Xiaoai could finally no longer suppress her anger. "That's enough! Don't you understand what I'm saying? I am telling you not to investigate anymore."

Just at this moment, Hou Liangping's phone rang.

He looked down—it was a call from Secretary Zhong.

... I'll post this chapter as well; I posted it wrong before. Sorry, foster fathers.