241: Chapter 241 Returning to Blackstone Town, Dealing with Mayor Qian

Early morning.

The frost and fog of Jingjiang City had not yet fully dispersed.

Two black sedans, one after the other, drove out of the hotel driveway.

Su Qinghan sat in the back seat of Study Committee Member Cao Rui's car.

The two were returning to Linjiang City together.

Study Committee Member Cao Rui was going to report to the Municipal Party Committee Office to begin his career as a scribe alongside Secretary Zhu Tianhe.

Su Qinghan was returning to the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Behind them.

Director Xu Jie held the steering wheel, with the car headed straight for Heishi Town.

Zhu Wenhao leaned against the passenger seat, looking straight ahead.

The phone rang; it was a call from Director Qi Shan.

He answered.

"Zhu Wenhao." Director Qi Shan's voice was raspy. "The plate of the Jingjiang Municipal Public Security Bureau has cracked."

Zhu Wenhao watched the streetscape receding outside the window.

"Uncle Qi, did Secretary Cao and Secretary Feng perform well yesterday?"

"Like two swords joined, unstoppable." Director Qi Shan reviewed the grand drama of the previous day. "At the cadre meeting in the afternoon, Deputy Secretary Cao Hang and Secretary Feng Zhiyuan presided personally, and the Municipal Party Committee's accountability was pinned directly on Bureau Chief Hao Jianguo."

Director Qi Shan added: "Team Leader Qiu Rui of the Discipline Inspection Commission announced the establishment of the Special Investigation Team at the meeting, pointing out on the spot that those who voluntarily explained their problems before 12:00 tonight would be considered as turning themselves in. After 12:00, when the Discipline Inspection Commission comes knocking, the nature of the case will change entirely. He said those words ruthlessly: 'Do not sacrifice your future for someone else's family affairs.'"

"The result?" Zhu Wenhao asked.

"At night, the door of the Special Investigation Team was knocked open." Director Qi Shan's words were resonant. "Three people. Although their ranks are not high and they are not core members, once someone takes the lead in defecting, Bureau Chief Hao Jianguo's defense line rots completely. The collapse of the Jingjiang Municipal Public Security Bureau is just a matter of time."

"Those who are good at fighting seek victory through momentum, not by blaming people." Zhu Wenhao evaluated. "Team Leader Qiu Rui used a strategy of attacking the heart. In a desperate situation, people fear their companions speaking first the most. With these three living witnesses, the evidence chain for the Lei Zhenzi organized crime case is complete."

"Your strategy is vicious." Director Qi Shan agreed. "As for the remaining cleanup, the Provincial Public Security Department will proceed step by step. When you return to Heishi Town, take care of yourself."

He cut off the communication.

The vehicles drove into the Linjiang City highway entrance.

The two cars parked side by side in the diversion area.

Study Committee Member Cao Rui lowered the car window and poked his head out: "Secretary. I am going to report to the Municipal Party Committee Office."

"Read more files, socialize less." Zhu Wenhao instructed. "In the Municipal Party Committee Office, keep your mouth shut and be a lone official."

Study Committee Member Cao Rui accepted the teaching and nodded.

Su Qinghan looked over through the car window.

The two did not say much.

A chess player who understands the rules knows where to place their pieces.

The car window went up, and Study Committee Member Cao Rui stepped on the gas, driving toward the Linjiang City area.

Director Xu Jie turned the steering wheel, and the car drove onto the national highway leading to Qingjiang County.

The car was quiet.

Zhu Wenhao closed his eyes to rest.

Province, city, county, town—a huge sand table unfolded silently in his mind.

In the Provincial Party Committee, the fight between Governor Zhou Zhiwen and Secretary Lao Liguo had reached a white-hot stage. Although Deputy Director Liu Qiang had entered the Development and Reform Commission, the dark piece of Deputy Director Zhao Bingzhang had already been buried; Secretary Lao Liguo was by no means a soft persimmon to be manipulated.

In Jingjiang City, Deputy Secretary Cao Hang rose by leveraging the momentum, and the reshuffling of the Municipal Public Security Bureau was imminent.

In Linjiang City, his father, Secretary Zhu Tianhe, had begun to counterattack; the personnel appointment of Chairwoman Lin Yulan of the Audit Bureau was going through the process, and Mayor Su Changming was attacked from both front and back.

On the side of Heishi Town, the village tyrant of Heishui Village, the Zhang family's eldest branch, had fallen, and the old order had collapsed.

One must destroy in order to build.

After smashing the old jar, one must fill it with new wine.

He wanted to build roads and control water in Heishi Town, using the reorganized mining funds to create blood for the people.

In the territory of Heishi Town.

The standing water left by the cold rain from a few days ago had not yet dried up.

The large collapsed pit in the drainage ditch on South Street had been cordoned off. Workers were nearby re-surveying.

The car drove into the Town Government compound.

Inside the compound, staff members walked in a hurry. Seeing Zhu Wenhao walk by, they stepped aside to greet him.

He pushed open the door of the Deputy Secretary's office on the second floor.

In the guest seat, a person stood up abruptly.

Director Li Qiang of the First Office of the County Commission for Discipline Inspection.

He held a thick kraft paper bag in his hand; his eye sockets were red and bloodshot, but his spirit was extremely full.

"Secretary Zhu." Director Li Qiang stepped forward quickly.

Zhu Wenhao took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack.

"Sit."

Director Li Qiang sat back in his original position and pushed the kraft paper bag to the tabletop.

The matter of the South Street collapse had fermented.

"Secretary Zhu, Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong has been nailed down." Director Li Qiang's voice was loud. "These past few days, I followed that collapsed pit on South Street and investigated him thoroughly."

Director Xu Jie served two cups of hot tea at the right time and retreated to one side.

Director Li Qiang opened the materials.

"That rainy night, Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong's brother-in-law attempted to use quick-setting cement to fill the pit and destroy the evidence, but we caught him in the act." Director Li Qiang analyzed clearly. "The person was taken to the Town Guesthouse, and he didn't last half a day before spilling everything."

"The cost of the South Street drainage ditch project was falsely inflated by three times. Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong used his authority as Executive Vice Mayor to designate his own relatives to contract the project. The construction materials were of inferior quality, and they even used construction waste for the base. The kickback funds were laundered three times, and eventually, they all ended up in the account of Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong's wife."

"The most brilliant part is here." Director Li Qiang pulled out several surveillance screenshots. "Didn't the materials mention that he tampered with the Finance Office's electronic accounts? We went to the Finance Office and asked the Municipal Public Security Bureau's technical investigation unit to perform a system recovery. The approval time and modification traces all left a backdoor."

The evidence chain was closed.

Zhu Wenhao flipped through those reports.

"What was Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong's own reaction?"

"Seeking help everywhere." Director Li Qiang sneered coldly. "These past few days, he has run to Secretary Qiu Dehai's office no less than five times, but Secretary Qiu Dehai claimed illness and refused to see him. He also made several calls to the county, but no one picked up. This person is about to collapse."

Once a person collapses, in order to save themselves, they will bite out anything.

"Pull out the radish and the mud comes with it. The project establishment and funding allocation for South Street required signatures from multiple parties. An Executive Vice Mayor alone cannot pull off such a sky-high case."

Director Li Qiang leaned in: "The brother-in-law confessed that the Town Renmin University Chairman Zhang Jianming was responsible for coordinating the project acceptance and received dry shares. A deputy bureau chief of the County Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau was also involved in the profit sharing. And further up..."

He pointed to the ceiling.

Town Party Committee Secretary, Secretary Qiu Dehai.

"Don't rush to close the net on Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong yet." Zhu Wenhao put down his teacup.

Director Li Qiang was confused: "The physical evidence is complete; we can detain him at any time."

"A trapped beast fights; if forced too hard, it's easy to destroy both jade and stone." Zhu Wenhao leaned back against the chair. "Let the bullets fly for a while longer. Do not interrogate, and do not arrest. You leak the news that you have investigated the illicit money from his wife's account to him."

Zhu Wenhao's eyes became profound.

"Let him be clear that the County Party Committee and the Town Party Committee have abandoned him. Let him feel the fear of a sharp blade hanging over his neck. When he is desperate to the peak, he will take the initiative to find you and use others' heads to trade for his own way out."

"Understood." Director Li Qiang collected the materials. "I will go arrange it now. Let him experience what it's like to call heaven and get no response."

Director Li Qiang retreated.

The office returned to tranquility.

Zhu Wenhao walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

Outside the glass window, the old streets and alleys of Heishi Town were in full view.

"Director Xu Jie, someone has to clean up the mess on South Street." Zhu Wenhao spoke.

"The money in the town's financial accounts has already been emptied. To rebuild, we must find living water." Director Xu Jie replied.

"General Manager Zhou Shutong's capital team is almost here, right?"

"Arriving in these two days."

"Good." Zhu Wenhao's gaze was cold and stern. "When capital enters the market, I will set the rules. Have Town Mayor Luo Xingbang prepare the docking plan for the Town Government. The Town Mayor who has been sitting on the fence should also step out and do some real work."

Zhu Wenhao turned back to the large desk.

There were several backlogged documents on the desk, all daily government affairs submitted by the Party and Government Office.

He picked up a red and blue pencil and reviewed them one by one. His handwriting was vigorous and devoid of hesitation.

He finished approving an audit form regarding agricultural tool subsidies and set the document aside.

"What has Town Mayor Luo Xingbang been doing these two days?" Zhu Wenhao asked.

Director Xu Jie opened the schedule record book.

"Town Mayor Luo has been to the countryside for the past three days. He went to several natural villages near Heishui Village to investigate winter crop frost protection. He avoided the turmoil in the town compound."

"Hiding in peace." Zhu Wenhao threw down the pencil. "With such a big accident on South Street, as the Town Mayor, he went to the countryside to investigate agricultural affairs. This is avoiding suspicion, and it is also waiting for us and Secretary Qiu Dehai to decide the winner."

"However, he cannot hide."

Zhu Wenhao issued instructions.

"Draft a meeting notice. Convene an expanded meeting of the Town Party Committee tomorrow afternoon. There is only one agenda: the establishment of a rescue task force for the South Street drainage project collapse accident and the coordination of funds."

Director Xu Jie recorded it in the book.

"Require full attendance?"

"Naturally. Notify Secretary Qiu, and ask him to be sure to attend and preside over the overall situation." Zhu Wenhao's words contained a sharp edge. "Also notify Town Mayor Luo, stop the countryside investigation, and attend the meeting on time."

This was forcing the palace.

Bringing everyone out into the open to debate in the sunlight.

On the other side, the town staff quarters.

Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong sat on the sofa in his living room. The floor was covered with cigarette butts.

He held a mobile phone tightly in his hand, and the screen showed a dozen missed calls.

Half an hour ago, his wife received a private message from an acquaintance inside the bank. The County Commission for Discipline Inspection held an investigation assistance procedure and checked the transaction records of the three bank cards under her name.

The few rebates from the South Street project transferred into them were investigated clearly.

This news was like a bolt from the blue, blowing Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong's soul away.

Director Li Qiang did not come to arrest him.

But this kind of hanging, undecided investigation was even more suffocating.

"Secretary Qiu Dehai, you cross the river and break the bridge!" Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong gritted his teeth.

When the project was established that year, he went to Secretary Qiu Dehai's office and sent 100,000 in cash. Secretary Qiu Dehai agreed fully and signed with a wave of his pen.

Now that something happened, Secretary Qiu Dehai claimed illness and refused to see him, clearly intending to use him to take the blame.

Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong stood up and paced back and forth in the living room.

He could not sit still and wait for death.

If he really entered the detention room, his life would be ruined.

He walked to the bedroom and dug out an encrypted USB drive from the bottom of the safe.

Inside, he had stored his backup plan.

Electronic copies of documents signed by Secretary Qiu Dehai, as well as several recordings.

"You are heartless, don't blame me for being unrighteous." A fierce light flashed in Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong's eyes.

He stuffed the USB drive into his jacket pocket, grabbed his coat, and hurried out the door.

He was going to find Director Li Qiang to strive for lenient treatment by voluntarily confessing.

Just as he pulled open his front door.

Outside the door, two officers from the County Commission for Discipline Inspection were looking at him expressionlessly.

"Executive Vice Mayor Qian, where are you planning to go?"

Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong's legs went soft, and he held onto the door frame to avoid collapsing.