Chapter 4220: The Feeling of Being Cuckolded

The He brothers had a close bond. Back when the college entrance examination system was restored, He Fengnian had been able to attend university entirely thanks to his older brother's support. Even though He Fengnian had later risen to prominence and climbed the career ladder, he had always doted on this nephew as if he were his own son. Seeing him run in suddenly with his face covered in scars, he was shocked.

He Chuan stepped forward and began to cry, "Uncle, I was beaten..."

"Who beat you?" He Fengnian asked immediately.

"It was that Deputy District Mayor of Chanba District, Zhao Desan. He's the one who did it!" He Chuan sobbed.

Upon hearing the name Zhao Desan, He Fengnian's brows knit together. He was deeply puzzled; he couldn't understand how his nephew could have gotten into a conflict with Zhao Desan. After a few seconds of silence, He Fengnian frowned and asked, "What exactly happened? How did you get into a feud with that kid?"

He Chuan recounted the whole story, and He Fengnian cursed, "Why do you always cause me trouble? How could you get into a fight with that kid!"

He Chuan didn't understand what his uncle meant, so he frowned and said, "Uncle, you're the Minister of the Organization Department of the Municipal Committee; you're in charge of them! You have to find a way to get him removed!"

He Fengnian looked up and glared fiercely at He Chuan, scolding, "Organizational matters aren't that simple! You can't just remove someone because you want to! Besides, that kid's deeds of 'acting bravely for a just cause' have spread throughout the entire Hexi Province. Right now, Secretary Yang of the Municipal Committee has a very good impression of him, and he has a cousin who is the third-in-command at the provincial level. Remove him? Are you trying to make me lose my official hat?"

He Chuan frowned and said, "Then... you can't just watch me get beaten up by that kid and do nothing, right?"

He Fengnian thought for a moment and said, "The project you're planning to partner on is actually being managed by Zhao Desan. I was originally going to talk to him, but with you pulling a stunt like this, the whole plan is ruined..."

"That kid is in charge of the New Rural Construction project?" He Chuan's eyes widened in disbelief.

He Fengnian looked impatiently at his nephew and waved his hand, saying, "Go back for now. Just consider this a lesson learned the hard way!"

He Chuan muttered an "oh" and left the office of the Municipal Organization Department Minister, He Fengnian, in low spirits. After his nephew left, He Fengnian leaned back in his executive chair, knitting his brows in thought. He would certainly help his nephew vent this frustration, but it wasn't convenient to have a direct confrontation with Zhao Desan right now. After racking his brains for a while, He Fengnian suddenly had an idea, picked up the phone on his desk, and dialed a number...

The next morning at work, Liu Yue came to clean Zhao Desan's office and saw that he looked gloomy, as if he had something on his mind. She couldn't help but ask, "Director Liu, are you in a bad mood today?"

Zhao Desan turned around, smiled, and said, "Not at all!" In truth, ever since he left the bar last night and called Fang Qi, he had been plagued by an ominous feeling of being cuckolded. Last night, after leaving the bar, he wanted to go find Fang Qi to sleep with. He got into his car and called her. As soon as the call connected, a "beep" sounded, followed by the prompt: "The number you have dialed is currently busy." This only happened if the other party intentionally hung up. Zhao Desan immediately felt something was wrong, so he desperately called her over a dozen times. When the call finally connected, Fang Qi said lazily, "I'm already asleep, why are you calling?"

Zhao Desan said, "I'm in the city. I'll come over to see you!"

To Zhao Desan's surprise, Fang Qi said, "Don't bother. I'm already asleep, come another day!" She hung up the phone.

Zhao Desan, who was good at reading people and possessed keen insight, immediately felt something was off. He drove straight to where Fang Qi lived and knocked on the door, "Dong, dong, dong," but no one opened it. The neighbor next door, annoyed by the knocking, opened the door, poked their head out, and said impatiently, "Stop knocking, she's not here, she hasn't come back yet!"

Zhao Desan was an extremely sensitive person. Fang Qi's initial refusal to answer the phone, followed by her claim that she was already asleep, made him feel deeply suspicious, and he gradually realized something. He simply went downstairs and sat in his car, waiting for Fang Qi to return so he could ask her what was going on. However, he waited until the middle of the night, and Fang Qi never returned. At first, he felt inexplicably nervous, as if he were being cuckolded, but later he tried to calm himself down, thinking that perhaps Fang Qi had gone to her parents' house and it was inconvenient to answer the phone, and that he was just overthinking it.

However, Zhao Desan's nervousness was not without reason. That afternoon, Political Commissar Ma of the Municipal Bureau received a notice from the Bureau office: the Provincial Department required the Deputy Director and the Political Commissar to arrive at the Provincial Department by 2:00 PM for the autumn work meeting, and they were required to bring an assistant. By the time Commissar Ma received the call, it was already late, so he quickly called Qiu Qiming and told him to prepare the car.

When Qiu Qiming received the call, Commissar Ma specifically pointed out that Fang Qi should accompany them to the Provincial Department meeting. Fang Qi had been in the police force for less than two years, so being able to follow the leaders to a provincial meeting made her overjoyed. She excitedly agreed, "Yes, Director Qiu!" After saying this, her face inexplicably flushed red.

Qiu Qiming prepared the car and personally went to Commissar Ma's office to invite him out. Commissar Ma and Qiu Qiming sat in the back seat, and Fang Qi sat in the front passenger seat. The car drove out of the Municipal Bureau compound and headed toward the Provincial Department.

Fang Qi was extremely excited in the car and had even specially worn a new police uniform. Because she usually worked as a criminal investigator, she didn't have many opportunities to wear the uniform. Today, she was going to the Provincial Department with the leaders, so she had specifically put it on.

It was a crisp autumn season. Since the Municipal Bureau's office was located in the new administrative center of Xijing, it was a distance from the main urban area. On the way to the Provincial Department, the red leaves on the hillsides along the highway made for beautiful scenery. Fang Qi looked at the time and realized it was time to eat. As a female subordinate, it was her duty to take care of the daily needs of the two high-ranking leaders. This was a woman's instinct, and also a way for a grassroots criminal investigator like her to get close to the leaders and climb the career ladder. Fang Qi was a calculating girl; in order to achieve success in her work, she could be unscrupulous. Although she was with Zhao Desan because she liked him, part of the reason was also Zhao Desan's status.

Fang Qi checked the time and looked back at Qiu Qiming, saying, "Director Qiu, let's find a place to eat. I know a Korean restaurant not far ahead, the food there is quite good."

Qiu Qiming chuckled and said, "Korean food? Isn't that just a dog meat restaurant? We aren't eating that. Dogs are man's best friend, and we have police dogs in the bureau; we can't eat dog meat. Commissar Ma, let's go a bit further. There's some Wei River wild fish ahead. How about we eat Wei River fish?"

Commissar Ma nodded and agreed, "Good, I'll listen to your arrangement, Old Qiu!" The driver received Commissar Ma's permission and drove the car steadily forward.

Fang Qi immediately smiled and said, "Great, I like fish too. Will Commissar Ma and Director Qiu be drinking later?"

"We have to attend a meeting at the Provincial Department this afternoon, so we'll just eat at noon. After the meeting, tonight, I'll take you all out for a good meal. It's a pity that we're wearing police uniforms for this trip, so it's not appropriate to drink. How about this: after the meeting, we'll all buy some casual clothes and have a good drink tonight!" Qiu Qiming said with a smile.

"Hehe, Director Qiu, you're so kind!" Fang Qi said with a smile.

Commissar Ma looked lustfully at the smiling Fang Qi and said, "Little Fang, you should work hard under Director Qiu. You were very brave when you caught the robbers with that Zhao Desan last time. Today, I specifically asked Director Qiu to bring you to the Provincial Department meeting to broaden your horizons. We are focusing on cultivating you, so you must be humble, prudent, and keep up the good work!"

Qiu Qiming smiled at Fang Qi and said, "Little Fang, look at how much Commissar Ma values you. You should visit Commissar Ma more often in the future!"

Fang Qi blushed at the leaders' praise and said modestly, "Commissar Ma and Director Qiu are too kind. I still have a long way to go!"

Commissar Ma stared lustfully at Fang Qi's blushing face and chuckled, "Humility is good. Humility leads to progress!"

The driver drove the car off the highway and into a village by the Wei River. It was lunchtime, and several other cars had driven in. Even in broad daylight, there were streetwalkers on the side of the road trying to flag down cars, but as soon as they saw the SUV and the people in police uniforms inside, no one dared to approach, and they even showed looks of fear.

Fang Qi said with a smile, "These women are just decoys for the shops here to solicit customers. These shops all have some 'special services.' When I first graduated and came to patrol this area, our captain took us to raid them every day. Later, I heard that the village chief here is very resourceful and has bribed the local police station and patrol team. Leaders, look, they're out again!"

As a leader of the Municipal Bureau, Qiu Qiming was all too familiar with these restaurant solicitation scams. He nodded and said, "It's too outrageous. After we return from the Provincial Department meeting, we will summon the heads of the local police stations in this area to the Municipal Bureau for a meeting. The next step is to focus on rectifying the behavior of grassroots police providing protection for illegal and criminal activities for profit. If we let this continue, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Commissar Ma, from the perspective of his own work, said to Qiu Qiming, "We must start with ideological education to improve the ideological awareness and understanding of grassroots police officers and leaders. As police officers, their ideological understanding must come first. They must know what responsibilities they bear, and we absolutely cannot let these petty gains corrupt the minds of our grassroots police."