242: Chapter 242 Mayor Qian's Thorough Confession

Two officers from the County Commission for Discipline Inspection blocked the way, their expressions impassive.

"Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong, Director Li Qiang asks that you accompany us to verify some information."

Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong forced himself to remain calm. "I am just about to report to Secretary Qiu regarding the emergency repair work on South Street. Whatever the matter is, we can discuss it when I return."

"Someone has already been sent to inform Secretary Qiu." The officer stepped aside, clearing the path to the stairs.

Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong glanced back at his messy living room, knowing that once he left, the chances of him ever returning were slim to none.

The second floor of the town guesthouse.

Director Li Qiang watched the surveillance footage.

Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong sat on the wooden chair in the detention room, fidgeting anxiously with his fingers and glancing up at the camera in the corner from time to time.

Holding the interrogation outline, Director Li Qiang excitedly pushed open the door to the temporary command room next door.

Zhu Wenhao was sitting upright at the table, reviewing the flow of funds chart for the South Street project that Police Chief Zhao Gang had just delivered.

"Secretary Zhu, he has been brought in." Director Li Qiang was eager to act. "This old guy is usually so arrogant and domineering; I'm going to go strip him bare right now."

"No rush." Zhu Wenhao did not look up. "When breaking a hawk, the worst thing you can do is rush."

Zhu Wenhao closed the file in his hands.

"If you go in now, all he'll be thinking about is how to use bargaining chips to negotiate with you, and how to shift the blame onto the construction team below. He is still holding onto a glimmer of hope, counting on Secretary Qiu Dehai or his backers in the county to save him."

"Then how should we interrogate him?"

"To defeat a man, first defeat his heart." Zhu Wenhao tapped his knuckles on the table twice. "When a man is driven to a dead end, he doesn't fear a sharp blade; he fears that there is no way out."

"Police Chief Zhao Gang intercepted a car at the provincial road checkpoint half an hour ago. Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong's wife was in the car, and three million in cash and gold bars were found in the trunk, along with copies of the 'yin-yang' contracts for the South Street project."

Being caught red-handed while transferring illicit funds is a death sentence.

"Don't interrogate him yet." Zhu Wenhao set the strategy. "Take a clip from Police Chief Zhao Gang's body camera footage and play it on a tablet. Place it in front of him, and don't say a word. Let him watch it himself."

The Town Party Committee Secretary's office.

The ashtray was piled high with cigarette butts.

Cluttered footsteps came from outside the door, and the liaison officer burst in without even knocking.

"Secretary, Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong... has been taken away from his home by the County Commission for Discipline Inspection!"

Secretary Qiu Dehai's hand trembled, and hot cigarette ash fell onto the back of his hand. He ignored the stinging pain and collapsed back into his leather chair.

What was meant to come, had finally arrived.

Once Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong could no longer withstand the disciplinary investigation, the signature he had placed on the project proposal years ago would become a noose around his own neck.

Secretary Qiu Dehai stood up, walked to the filing cabinet against the wall, and pulled out two yellowed files.

They were copies of early approvals for the South Street project, containing markings that should never have been there.

He grabbed a lighter and set the papers on fire directly in the ashtray.

The dancing flames illuminated his face.

Diagonally across the hall, Town Mayor Luo Xingbang had his door slightly ajar, clearly witnessing the liaison officer's panic.

Returning to his desk, he pulled a file folder from the bottom of his locked drawer.

Inside were the details of the financial dealings between Secretary Qiu Dehai, Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong, and others, which he had been coldly observing and secretly collecting over the past few years.

He had been sitting on the fence, waiting for the right moment to act.

Now, Zhu Wenhao had already placed a blade against Secretary Qiu Dehai's throat; the outcome was set. If he didn't take a side now, when would he?

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang put the file folder into his briefcase.

The detention room was deathly silent.

The wooden door was pushed open, and Director Li Qiang walked in. Without a word, he placed a tablet on the interrogation table in front of Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong.

He pressed the play button, turned, and left, the door locking once more.

Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong stared at the screen.

The image shook; it was the provincial road checkpoint.

Amidst the flashing police lights, his wife was pinned against the car door by two female officers, her cries heart-wrenching. The trunk was open, revealing rows of cash and several bars of gold.

The video was only a dozen seconds long, playing on a loop.

Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong's psychological defenses collapsed at that moment.

His wife had been arrested, and the illicit funds intercepted.

His greatest weakness and his final escape route had both been ruthlessly severed.

He had originally hoped to shoulder the blame himself, letting his wife take the money to another place to leave a way out for their son.

Now, it was all for nothing.

He sat motionless on the chair for a full two hours.

Until the screen ran out of power and went black.

Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong suddenly lifted his head and roared at the surveillance camera in the corner: "Someone come here! I want to see Secretary Zhu! If I don't see him, I won't say anything!"

In the command room, Director Li Qiang watched Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong on the screen.

"Secretary Zhu, he's ready to talk."

Zhu Wenhao stood up and adjusted his coat cuffs.

"Go ahead, it's your turn."

"You aren't going to interrogate him yourself?" Director Li Qiang asked in surprise.

"This is a Discipline Inspection Commission case; for me, a Deputy Party Secretary of the town, to overstep my bounds would be against the rules. The credit is yours; I only want the results."

Walking to the door, Zhu Wenhao stopped.

"Director Xu." He turned his head to look at Director Xu Jie, who was standing to the side. "Go to the detention room for me. Deliver a message to Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong."

"Confess voluntarily, and you might save your life."

Director Li Qiang, accompanied by two clerks, pushed open the door to the detention room.

Director Xu Jie followed behind, remaining standing.

She walked to the interrogation table, looked down at Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong, and calmly repeated those eight words.

Then, she turned and left.

Upon hearing this, the last shred of hope Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong had vanished.

Zhu Wenhao didn't even have the interest to see him; his life and death now depended entirely on what he said next.

"I'll talk. I'll tell you everything." Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing together.

"The drainage project on South Street was secured by my brother-in-law using a shell company."

"Town Peoples Congress Chairman Zhang Jianming was responsible for coordinating the completion inspection and took ten percent of the total project cost as a silent share."

"A deputy director of the County Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau was responsible for approving the city's flood control special funds and skimmed fifteen percent off the top."

Director Li Qiang wrote rapidly, his heart beating faster the more he heard.

"What about Secretary Qiu Dehai?" Director Li Qiang went straight to the core of the matter.

Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong gritted his teeth, fished out a USB drive he had been keeping close to his body the entire time, and pushed it across the table.

"With such a huge capital pool for the South Street project, how could I, as an Executive Vice Mayor, cover the sky with one hand without the approval of the top leader?"

"The signature on the project proposal was written by Secretary Qiu Dehai himself. I gave him 100,000 in cash. This USB drive contains scanned images of the original document from back then, as well as a recording I secretly made when I gave him the money in his office."

"He wants me dead, but if I'm going to hell, I'm taking him with me!"

Physical evidence, testimony, and the chain of benefits—the evidence was conclusive.

Holding the materials, he rushed into Zhu Wenhao's office.

"Secretary Zhu, a total victory! Secretary Qiu Dehai and Town Peoples Congress Chairman Zhang Jianming have both been implicated, and it even involves a deputy director from the county bureau!" Director Li Qiang slammed the confession onto the table. "I'm going to report this to Secretary Pang Jianguo right now and request authorization to take mandatory measures against Secretary Qiu Dehai!"

Zhu Wenhao was holding a white porcelain teacup, taking a shallow sip.

"What's the rush?" Zhu Wenhao put down the teacup. "We have the testimony, and we have the USB drive. But you must understand, Secretary Qiu Dehai has been operating in Heishi Town for over a decade, and his connections in the county are deeply intertwined. Based solely on the testimony of a fallen Executive Vice Mayor, when it reaches the Standing Committee, someone will definitely accuse this of being the desperate biting of a mad dog or a frame-up."

"When handling a case, never rely on a single piece of evidence."

Zhu Wenhao looked up. "Police Chief Zhao Gang sealed off the construction company and found two sets of ledgers. One is a fake ledger meant to fool people, and the other is the real, authentic record of money flows. Compare the amounts and timelines in the confession with that real ledger one by one. Once they match perfectly, that will be ironclad evidence, and no one will be able to overturn the case."

A layer of cold sweat broke out on Director Li Qiang's back. If he had reported it immediately based on his hot-headedness, and any flaws were found in the chain of evidence, Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan and his people would certainly launch a desperate counterattack.

"I have learned much, Secretary Zhu. I will go verify the ledgers right now."

Director Li Qiang withdrew.

A commotion came from outside the compound.

The family of Old Sun, along with dozens of merchants, wearing raincoats, blocked the main gate of the Town Government.

"We want justice! The Town Government treats human lives like grass!"

The shouting rose and fell in the curtain of rain.

The security guards couldn't stop them, and the gatehouse called the Party and Government Office.

Director Xu Jie knocked on the door and entered to ask for instructions.

Zhu Wenhao picked up a black umbrella. "Let's go, let's go see them."

Outside the compound gate, the crowd was incensed.

Zhu Wenhao walked out, holding an umbrella. He didn't bring a large force of police, only Police Chief Zhao Gang and Director Xu Jie accompanying him.

"Fellow villagers." Zhu Wenhao did not use a megaphone, but his voice clearly pierced through the sound of the rain.

Old Sun's son rushed forward, his eyes red. "Secretary Zhu! You are an upright official; you must seek justice for my father! The space under that road is completely hollow. This isn't road construction—this is building a grave!"

"The Town Government will cover all of your father's medical expenses. Any subsequent compensation will be paid in full, down to the last penny." Zhu Wenhao looked him straight in the eye. "The collapse of the South Street road is a dereliction of duty by the government. I, Zhu Wenhao, will take responsibility for this mess."

He turned to the crowd. "I understand that everyone is angry. The County Party Committee and the County Commission for Discipline Inspection are currently investigating how this road was built and who embezzled the money."

"I am setting a rule for everyone here today. Whoever is found out, no matter how high their rank or how big their hat, I will make them spit it all back out with interest. The South Street project will be put up for re-tender by the town. When that time comes, I invite you all to elect representatives to personally act as supervisors. How every penny is spent and how every truckload of cement is poured will be decided by you, the common people!"

His words were resonant and firm.

The agitated crowd heard a concrete promise.

Converting the power of the masses into a sword of supervision, he had completely severed the internal black-box operations. By following the will of the people, he used the people to control the officials.

Secretary Qiu Dehai stood behind the curtains of his second-floor office, watching as Zhu Wenhao dispersed the troublemaking commoners in just a few words at the compound gate. The chill in his bones grew heavier.

This young man wasn't just quelling a disturbance; he was winning the hearts of the people.

Once the hearts of the people were in his hands, the authority of the Town Party Committee Secretary would vanish completely.

The red telephone on his desk suddenly rang.

Zhu Wenhao returned to his office and answered the phone.

The caller ID showed Secretary Pang Jianguo of the Qingjiang County Commission for Discipline Inspection.

"Comrade Zhu Wenhao." Secretary Pang Jianguo's voice was filled with a stern, killing intent. "Director Li Qiang has sent me the preliminary investigation report through the internal line."

"Secretary Pang Jianguo." Zhu Wenhao's tone was calm.

"Secretary Lu has made the decision. Tomorrow morning, a Standing Committee meeting of the County Party Committee will be convened." Secretary Pang Jianguo's tone was extremely heavy. "This time, whoever's signature is on those documents will not be able to escape unscathed."

"I await Secretary Pang Jianguo's thunderous might."

After hanging up, Zhu Wenhao looked at the winding water trails on the window glass.

The chessboard of Heishi Town had already been broken.

He reached out and gently drew a circle on the cold glass.

Tomorrow, the main show begins.