Chapter 2662: Saying Something Useful

Zhou Andong laughed and said: "Tell him whatever he wants to know. After all, you're wearing that uniform and still under the leadership of the Municipal Bureau—being honest is better."

Hou Guanghai, the director of the Municipal Bureau office, is like heaven to ordinary people. But in front of Zhou Andong, he's nothing—even the people behind Hou Guanghai mean nothing to Zhou Andong.

Never mind his relationship with Yue Guojiang, the big boss of the Municipal Bureau; just talking about himself, he's now a proper full ministerial-level leader, and he's registered both in the city and at the central level. As for those so-called "cattle bezoar and dog treasures" in the Municipal Bureau, anyone with a bit of sense wouldn't dare show their teeth in front of him.

For Xie Xiaomin, gaining Zhou Andong's friendship is far more important than offending Hou Guanghai and Du Changhe. When he stood by the window and saw Hou Guanghai step out of his car, he realized his chance to connect with Zhou Andong had come. So, he felt no resentment toward Hou Guanghai's arrival—on the contrary, he welcomed it.

"I understand, you're busy—I'll go reply to Hou Guanghai right away."

Xie Xiaomin hung up the phone but didn't leave immediately. Instead, he lit a cigarette and said: "Xiao Liu, you heard what I just said—go report to the section chief now. If there's any progress on his end, come back and report to me right away."

"Yes!" Xiao Liu sprang to his feet, saluted, and strode out.

After Xiao Liu had been gone for five or six minutes, Xie Xiaomin pressed his cigarette butt into the ashtray, then stood up and walked out.

By now, Hou Guanghai had glanced at his watch more than once—after all, the incident involving Wen Sanmao and a clash with others had just happened not long ago, so the case file should be easy to find. Why had it taken so long with no word back?

Just as Hou Guanghai was growing impatient, the office door was knocked on, and then Xie Xiaomin pushed it open and came back in. This was also the first time he had knocked before entering his own office.

"How is it!" Hou Guanghai asked eagerly: "What's the other party's identity?"

Xie Xiaomin looked at Hou Guanghai, his face expressionless, but his eyes flickered with a faint smile: "Director Hou, do you really want to know?"

Hou Guanghai froze, then his heart gave a violent thump. He really wanted to get up and leave, but thinking of Wen Sanmao being arrested—if he couldn't find the crux of the matter, his life might be in danger.

"Speak!" Hou Guanghai nodded: "I came here for this very matter."

Xie Xiaomin nodded: "One is called Chen Hui, the other Bai Junmin—they're Zhou Andong's bodyguards."

Upon hearing they were Zhou Andong's bodyguards, Hou Guanghai's head buzzed, his heart raced again, and finally he understood why Zhou Andong wanted Wen Sanmao dead.

But after calming down, he rejected that idea. Because in the clash, Wen Sanmao suffered the loss, while Chen Hui and Bai Junmin did nothing wrong—Zhou Andong wouldn't kill Wen Sanmao over such a trivial matter. There must be something he didn't know.

"Tell me in detail how the conflict happened."

"The cause of the conflict is very simple," Xie Xiaomin said: "Wen Sanmao's people were driving a minivan normally, while Chen Hui and Bai Junmin were driving a Duke Wang Chao car."

After the Duke Wang successfully overtook, a taxi ahead suddenly braked, the Duke Wang followed with an emergency stop, but the minivan behind couldn't brake in time—two vehicles collided violently.

Three of Wen Sanmao's men were seriously injured, so he flew into a rage and ordered his men to break Chen Hui and Bai Junmin's legs. But the result was the opposite: two of Wen Sanmao's men were beaten by Chen Hui and Bai Junmin and left seriously injured, one still unconscious to this day.

Hou Guanghai sucked in a breath of cold air, but the more he thought about it, the more confused he became. All five of Wen Sanmao's men were ruined, while Chen Hui and Bai Junmin suffered nothing—he couldn't think of any reason why Zhou Andong would move against Wen Sanmao.

Hou Guanghai refused to give up: "Comrade Xiaomin, aside from the clash between Wen Sanmao and Zhou Andong's bodyguards, is there any other grudge between them?"

Xie Xiaomin hesitated, then shook his head: "I really don't know."

Hou Guanghai saw the hesitation, and it energized him. As for Xie Xiaomin saying he didn't know, he chose to ignore it: "Comrade Xiaomin, you know, deep down we both understand."

Saying that, Hou Guanghai fell into thought: "I owe you a favor—no matter what you need in the future, if I can do it, I will."

Xie Xiaomin smirked inwardly—he wouldn't dare accept Hou Guanghai's favor—but his face showed a timely smile: "Since Director Hou said that, if I were still hiding things, I'd be a terrible person."

Hou Guanghai immediately perked up—if he just knew why Wen Sanmao offended Zhou Andong, the matter would be easy to resolve.

Xie Xiaomin feigned contemplation, then said: "I've only heard about this—there's no solid evidence. So I'm just telling you; you listen, that's all."

Hou Guanghai wanted to slap Xie Xiaomin—just say it if you're going to, why all the nonsense? This guy annoyed him, but he had to nod along anyway.

"Don't worry—I won't go spreading this around."

Xie Xiaomin cut to the chase: "It's said that Wen Sanmao took a liking to Zhou Andong's younger sister, even went to her school to harass her..."

With a sudden jerk, Hou Guanghai sprang to his feet, eyes wide: "You mean Wen Sanmao liked Zhou Andong's sister, went to her school to harass her? She refused, and he threatened her?"

"Director Hou, don't get worked up," Xie Xiaomin said with a faint smile: "As I just said, I only heard this—it's unverified, true or false."

"It's definitely true," Hou Guanghai snapped, teeth gritted: "If it weren't true, Zhou Andong wouldn't bother—he'd go to such lengths to kill Wen Sanmao. Thank you, Comrade Xiaomin—I'm leaving now. I'll treat you to a meal when I get the chance."

"I'll see you out!" Xie Xiaomin stood up, escorted Hou Guanghai to the gate, watched his car disappear into the distance, then couldn't help but smirk: "Now you're in a hurry—when you were stuffing money into your own pocket earlier, why weren't you anxious then?"

Hou Guanghai returned to the Municipal Bureau, rushed up the stairs, and knocked on Du Changhe's office door: "Director Du, I found the reason."

Du Changhe asked urgently: "What's going on?"

Hou Guanghai gritted his teeth, eyes blazing with killing intent: "Wen Liang—that damn bastard—he brought this on himself. No wonder Zhou Andong wants him dead."

Du Changhe said impatiently: "Say something useful."