Chapter 1731: Special Operation and Interviews

The nature of this incident is extremely grave! A group of poachers has become utterly lawless... Fortunately, the final outcome was acceptable, and Deputy County Magistrate Duo Jie and other patrol team members suffered no serious injuries.

But the impact has already spread. Our Ma Zhi County is small—anything happens, it spreads like wind, and now everyone in the county knows that poachers have become so brazen.

The county still needs to attract investment; after all the trouble we went through to lure people in, when they come here and find out this is the situation, who would dare invest here? This incident must be thoroughly investigated—in coordination with Tian Duo City—dig deep, dig hard, and bring every criminal involved in this gang to justice...

Secretary Chen slammed his fist on the table in rage, assigning tasks to everyone: primarily, to severely crack down on poachers in the near term and reinforce police forces to track down the three escaped poachers. Since the ringleader was in the vehicle, we must eliminate the chief offender.

After agreeing on this, someone suggested: "I think we should appropriately publicize this. Although the poachers have become so brazen as to dare attack state cadres, Deputy Magistrate Duo Jie led the patrol team to defeat the odds, capturing twenty-four poachers, with only one patrol member sustaining a shoulder wound."

Such an event, let alone in our region, is rare even nationwide. This fully demonstrates our Ma Zhi County's achievements in anti-poaching governance. If handled properly, it could reassure potential investors in Ma Zhi County and show our superiors our work."

Duo Jie couldn't help but glance at the speaker.

After such a major incident, he naturally wanted publicity—not for any other reason, but to let those poachers hoping to get rich in Bo Lamula see the patrol team's combat power: thirty-nine men killed twelve, captured twenty-four, and all of them faced heavy sentences.

If we could also publicize the previous two cases involving Dagji and Li Yongqiang's gangs, it would make poachers hesitate. Though we can't stop those who value money over life, we can make the more timid ones abandon their plans, reducing the number of poachers significantly.

But he couldn't propose it himself—he was the patrol team's leader, so any publicity would inevitably center on him. If he brought it up himself, it would seem like he was desperately seeking personal fame, which wouldn't look good.

"Agreed!"

Duo Jie turned at the voice—it was Lin Peisheng speaking.

"We can't suppress this, and we can't hide it. Since that's the case, let's turn this into an opportunity—transform this bad thing into a good one. No, it's already a good thing. Secretary, I'll contact the newspaper and send a reporter here to interview us and thoroughly publicize our Ma Zhi County."

Secretary Chen nodded, and the matter was settled. They discussed a few other matters, then ended the meeting, and everyone returned to their respective duties.

After the meeting, Lin Peisheng summoned Duo Jie to his office.

"You've burned yourself this time, haven't you? If Wang Yan hadn't rescued you in time, your entire team would've been wiped out."

Lin Peisheng slammed his cup down in front of Duo Jie. "I read the interrogation records from the Public Security Bureau yesterday—horrifying. Old Duo, you barely escaped with your life. I've told you before: you kept escalating, and Wang Yan too—a good college student, now mixed up with you, killing like a butcher. Twenty lives on his hands! Twenty!"

Lin Peisheng held up two fingers, emphasizing heavily.

"Nineteen." Duo Jie corrected him.

"What's the difference of one?"

Duo Jie smiled. "Wang Yan's marksmanship is precise—he doesn't let poachers dare resist, or we couldn't capture them."

"But it's precisely because of his marksmanship that your earlier captures of two gangs led to today's disaster. Old Duo, don't you think of yourself—what about Xiao Xiao Asao and Zaxi?"

"What can I do?" Duo Jie shook his head with a smile. "Something has to be done. You've seen how brazen the poachers are. Only when we hit them hard do they react so violently."

"Have you considered that poachers might retaliate against your family?"

"So we just stop doing our jobs?"

Looking at Duo Jie's expression, Lin Peisheng sighed deeply. "I can't reason with you—I'm wasting my breath. Just be careful. This isn't over. Spring's coming—people will start harvesting brine shrimp and panning for gold again. Brine shrimp harvesters are manageable, but gold prospectors are no better than poachers."

"They're all the same people," Duo Jie replied. "When wool's profitable, they hunt sheep. When it warms up, they pan for gold. Whatever's profitable, they do."

"Then why don't you find gold mines yourselves? Wouldn't it be better if we developed them ourselves?" Lin Peisheng sighed in frustration. "Even if you want to protect Bo Lamula, couldn't we haul the raw materials back to the county for processing? That would create dozens, even hundreds of jobs here. Why don't you ever think of this?"

"Didn't Wang Yan give you his report? Go survey then. My point is development on the basis of protection—I never said not to develop, let alone oppose it."

"What about your earlier reports?"

Duo Jie understood—Lin Peisheng still wanted the old reports. Wang Yan had been here too short a time to survey extensively.

He said: "Our reports were inaccurate. Previously, a big boss came here and lost hundreds of thousands."

"I've already assigned teams to conduct deeper surveys in Bo Lamula, primarily following Wang Yan's current report, using your old reports as reference."

"Some areas are animal habitats—those can't be touched. I'll definitely exclude them."

"Don't worry—I only want to develop the places you mentioned. If you disagree, the project won't move forward anyway."

Duo Jie didn't believe Lin Peisheng for a second. Lin Peisheng was second-in-command, and Duo Jie, among all standing committee members, held the least power. Through normal channels, he couldn't block Lin Peisheng's initiatives—he could only appeal upward, but that would damage unity and ruin more things...

"I hope you'll keep your word. I'll bring you the reports tomorrow. I'm leaving."

Duo Jie stood up and left without hesitation. Lin Peisheng could only sigh helplessly—he was endlessly frustrated with Duo Jie...

Once the county reached consensus, matters moved swiftly. The twenty-four captured poachers were swiftly processed by the police, procuratorate, and court. Tian Duo City, upon learning of the incident, expressed support for the patrol team, condemned the poachers' brazen actions, and affirmed the leadership of Ma Zhi County.

Tian Duo City joined Ma Zhi County in joint operations, thoroughly exploiting every detail of the thirty-six captured or killed poachers. No one objected—it wasn't just about profit; handling so many cases alone incurred massive investigative expenses.

Using confessions from the captured, they pinpointed the residences of the three fugitives and launched an exhaustive investigation into their network—digging down to the bedrock.

Moreover, they escalated further to the provincial level—and within two days, the case was upgraded again, now under provincial supervision. Provincial forces were mobilized to expand searches and arrests of criminals.

The province also highly commended Ma Zhi County's work, affirmed Duo Jie as the leading official fighting criminals, and granted honors to Wang Yan—the prestigious university graduate who voluntarily came to the frontier, played an absolutely critical role, and saved Duo Jie and others' lives.

In the original plot, Duo Jie died—no evidence, no body, shrouded in mystery, and indeed violating relevant laws and regulations, making it hard to handle.

But now, Duo Jie was surrounded but survived—the facts are clear, and they even captured so many. This is an affront to state authority, a disruption of local peace, especially in this ethnic minority region, where recent years have seen problems undermining ethnic unity—making this a top priority.

Thus, a storm erupted: arresting and cracking down on poaching gangs, dismantling supply chains, and targeting related smuggling syndicates. This was a targeted special operation—its efficiency dwarfed the patrol team's by orders of magnitude.

The patrol team dealt with problems at the end of the chain; this provincial operation struck at the entire poaching network. When they caught a fence, they interrogated who supplied the goods, who the next smuggler was, and who the bosses behind them were. Some were arrested; others fled at the first sign of trouble...

Most visibly, half a month had passed, spring was arriving, yet the patrol team received no more reports from herders about intruders entering the mountains.

Under such intense special operations, poachers had been completely wiped out—everyone was terrified...

On the plateau, the sky seemed lower, thick clouds almost within reach.

Two cars, kicking up clouds of dust, pulled up one after another at the patrol team's base. Wang Yan opened the door, stepped out, grabbed his belongings, waved to the driver, and the two cars drove off.

Wang Yan waved away the dust, picked up his bag, and walked into the courtyard.

"Big Student, you're finally back! Everyone's been looking for you," Sangba rushed over, frantic. "Go to the county right away—if Bo Lamula weren't so hard to find, they'd have gone straight there."

Previously, county and city officials wanted to understand the situation, followed by interviews—Wang Yan's story was legendary, packed with publicity-worthy angles, so everyone wanted to interview him, even overshadowing the supervising leader Duo Jie. Later, provincial and provincial capital officials sent teams too, following the same process.

Wang Yan certainly didn't want to be a mascot all day, so he volunteered to Lin Peisheng and joined the survey team he brought in to explore the mountains. Only when their supplies ran low did the team emerge.

"They're still here?"

"Still here? They've come even more—been interviewing here for days now."

Sangba beamed. "Your article got published—since then, even more people came to interview you, wanting to do special features. A whole crowd of reporters. I don't understand it, but you must go to the county—they're all waiting. Publicize more, Big Student—let more people see Bo Lamula."

"So you'll finally get your official position, right?"

"That's just a side benefit," Sangba laughed. "Even if everyone got positions, would they forget me? I'm genuinely happy for you—for everyone. If more people see Bo Lamula, we'll all be fine. Enough, go now—this car's full of gas, hurry!"

"There's no rush; I just came out of the mountains, starving and exhausted. How could I possibly have the mind to run all the way to the county seat again?" Wang Yan tossed his bundle to Samba. "I'm going to make beef noodles, enjoy a fragrant meal, and then sleep soundly."

Watching Wang Yan already step up the stairs and head inside the house, Samba hugged Wang Yan's luggage and followed behind: "What was that saying again? Something about the Emperor..."

"The Emperor isn't anxious, but the eunuchs are."

"Yes, I feel like I'm the eunuch right now."

Wang Yan laughed heartily: "You don't count as a eunuch; this matter is closely related to you too. Your desire for an official position can no longer be hidden."

"I just want an official position, something stable and secure, so I won't worry about my old age; it's wonderful. You make more; I haven't eaten any in a long time."

"How is Zhacuo doing?"

"He's recuperating at home; his Zhuoma is taking care of him." As soon as Samba started talking about Zhacuo, he recalled Zhacuo's proud demeanor, so he dropped Wang Yan's luggage. "I'll go make a call to the county first; otherwise, they'll blame me later."

The only people remaining here were Dongzhiba and Samba; most others had gone home to rest. After all, only Zhacuo, Samba, and a few others stood out; the rest were merely background extras. Even if interviewed, their words might not be kept, and their photos would only appear as silhouettes in the group picture.

Everyone is the protagonist of their own life, but in others' stories, they are merely supporting characters, perhaps with only a few lines of dialogue, just passersby A, B, C, or D.

Making beef noodles requires boiling meat broth, but fortunately, there was a pressure cooker here, which saved a great deal of effort. Even so, by the time Wang Yan had finished the broth and made the noodles, more than an hour had passed.

Just after he fetched some wine and hadn't been eating and drinking with Samba and Dongzhiba for long, they heard the sound of car tires screeching against the ground outside.

The three of them—Wang Yan, Samba, and Dongzhiba—lifted their bowls in unison and walked out of the house, only to see a long line of vehicles stopped on the road outside the courtyard; a rough estimate suggested perhaps over a dozen cars.

Samba and Dongzhiba were both stunned, their mouths hanging open, holding their bowls in a daze.

Wang Yan, however, remained unaffected, still slurping down large mouthfuls of noodles.

"Wang Yan, you've finally come out," Secretary Chen said, leading the charge personally. "Look at all these comrades; they've all traveled a long distance specifically for you."

"Oh my, that truly was hard work for everyone. Then hurry up, what do you need me to do? I will definitely cooperate."

They all knew Wang Yan had just emerged and hadn't rested well, yet they began the interviews anyway. Wang Yan ate noodles and drank wine, facing numerous reporters alone, as if it were a press conference.

A press conference in Bolamula...

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who generously donate, cast monthly votes, submit recommendation tickets, and silently read the book for their strong support!