Chapter 175

The 9·28 forest fire case was hastily closed, leaving many regrets; if we had to name the biggest regret, it would certainly be the half‑year disappearance of Yang Tao, whose whereabouts remain unknown to this day.

Although Professor Luo is someone who cannot tolerate even a speck of sand in his eye.

But he had just arrived, completely unaware of how deep the waters of Nanzhou ran, and Lin Dongfan didn't expect him to change anything in a short time.

If we let the media get involved and stir up this muddy water, there might be an unexpected effect.

Lin Dongfan paid out of his own pocket, compensating Miaomiao with a new recording microphone and a new camera, then accompanied her to Qingzhu Village for an interview.

On the road.

Miaomiao, holding back her anger, sneered: "You anti‑corruption bureau folks are really rich—ten‑plus‑thousand‑yuan cameras, and you just say you'll compensate and you do."

"That's nothing—I own two courtyard houses on Jing Erhuan. Want me to take you to see them sometime?" Lin Dongfan showed off his wealth without reservation.

That left Miaomiao feeling stifled and speechless.

The car had already entered the rural road.

Miaomiao turned her head to gaze at the mountains and rivers outside the window; the scenery was lovely, but her heart felt heavy.

She simply couldn't figure out what background this scoundrel Lin Dongfan had—just a casual message and he could get the station's leaders to personally intervene.

It got her scolded bloody and she almost lost her job.

Later, the police (110) arrived at the scene.

It also left her feeling like she'd swallowed coptis—bitter but unable to speak—so she had to steel herself and explain to the officer, admitting it was all a misunderstanding.

Fortunately, this scoundrel Lin Dongfan still had a shred of humanity.

After smashing things, he at least would compensate.

At least, he still had those ordinary common folk in his heart, seemingly not sunk to the point of utter inhumanity.

This Nanzhou is truly dark—it can actually make a living person vanish into thin air for half a year.

The more she thought about it, the heavier Miaomiao's mood became.

Since becoming an out‑of‑town reporter for the "Key Interview" column, she has almost daily been running around the country and has witnessed many bizarre events that shock one's worldview.

Events that cannot be smoothly reported also often occur.

I don't know whether this time we can uncover the truth behind Yang Tao's disappearance—even someone with backing like Lin Dongfan has to resort to media public‑opinion oversight, so the matter behind it is probably not simple.

She thought and thought…

Miaomiao, carrying a special prejudice against this scoundrel, cautiously asked Lin Dongfan a question: "Tell me the truth—are you really trying to help Yang Tao, or are you just trying to play me?"

Lin Dongfan gave her a sideways glance.

His gaze, comparable to a high‑precision body scanner, swept from her cheek down to her chest, then over her long legs—those tight jeans.

"What are you looking at? You scoundrel!"

Miaomiao squeezed her legs together, pushing her knees toward the car door, trying to keep distance from the devil.

Lin Dongfan earnestly emphasized: "My wife is a dance performer, my ex‑girlfriend is a judge, my ex‑ex‑girlfriend is the administrative director of a certain media company—all of them stunningly beautiful. As a suspected playboy like me, my standards are still high; dare you take off your makeup first and then ask if I'm trying to play you?"

"The 'play' I mean isn't that kind of play!"

Miaomiao's eyes widened, her liver nearly bursting with anger.

Am I ugly, miss?

What I dislike most is heavy makeup! What you see now is my bare face—do I still need to take off makeup? What a baffling jerk!

No……

Why am I angry?

Whether I'm pretty or not, what does it have to do with this scoundrel?

Why should I care about his opinion?

I'm furious!

The demon inside her kept roaring; Miaomiao turned her head to look at the countryside outside the window, but her mood remained unsettled, inexplicably chaotic……

Suddenly, Lin Dongfan's bewitching voice sounded again in her ear: "I love my wife deeply—don't try to hit on me. Every beauty who tries to hit on me ends up getting what she wants and falling into a pit."

"Hit on you? You wish—I just want to choke you to death!"

If silent curses could kill a person, Lin Dongfan would probably need to die a hundred times today; Miaomiao's inner universe had already erupted like a volcano.

Each burst of flame was a heaven‑burning, earth‑destroying grudge power.

In the end she still felt a bit regretful, regretting having gotten into Lin Dongfan's car.

If she had known this would happen, she should have taken the rear car earlier; that photographer, though ugly, was at least a man of few words—honest and not given to loudmouth teasing.

"Stop the car, I want to get out!"

"My Audi A6 can't carry your proud soul?"

"Without your pride, I just don't want to be suffocated by the aura of some scumbags."

"We're here."

Lin Dongfan turned the steering wheel half a turn, smoothly entered the threshing ground on the left, and parked the car at Liu Hong's front gate.

Before coming, Lin Dongfan had already called Liu Hong.

Liu Hong, standing at the door waiting eagerly, immediately stepped forward when she saw Lin Dongfan get out of the car: "Brother Lin, you've come—please come in and sit down."

Liu Hong was the first person to call Lin Dongfan 'Brother Lin'.

In Liu Hong's heart.

Lin Dongfan truly was like a real older brother.

If it weren't for Lin Dongfan repeatedly helping her out, she might not have died a miserable death under the old village head Yang Shouli's carrying pole, but she would have died of shame in Xiao Yunce's hot spring pool, unable to face living to this day.

Lin Dongfan stepped forward and introduced: "This is Miaomiao, a reporter from the 'Key Interview' team. Tell her everything about yourself. I'm going to use the toilet—where is yours?"

"The toilet is over here."

Liu Hong hurriedly led Lin Dongfan to the toilet; it was a bit dark inside, fearing he couldn't find the light switch, she went in first to turn on the light for him.

When Lin Dongfan turned around to greet Miaomiao again, the photographer also entered the house.

Liu Hong excitedly handed them a cup of hot water: "Reporter Miao, thank you for coming all this way to interview my family. Please have some water."

"Thank you."

Miaomiao carefully surveyed her home's surroundings.

In the countryside, a three-story flat house isn't too bad; it shows that Liu Hong's family used to be fairly well off. But Liu Hong now looks exhausted; beyond doubt, that forest fire really destroyed her happy life.

Miaomiao saw that Lin Dongfan still hadn't come over.

Miaomiao couldn't help but ask Liu Hong: "Lin Dongfan, when he handled the 9·28 case earlier, did he collude with others to deceive you?"

Miaomiao still doubted Lin Dongfan's true motive for bringing her to Green Bamboo Village.

Miaomiao doubted Lin Dongfan's motives.

Lin Dongfan just wanted to toy with her.

Unexpectedly, when Liu Hong talked about Lin Dongfan, she actually smiled with relief: "Brother Lin has been very good to me, helped me a lot. Reporter Miao, do you have some misunderstanding about him? He's not a bad person."

"Really? As long as he's not a bad person."

Seeing that Liu Hong didn't seem to be lying, Miaomiao also felt much more at ease.

Waiting for the photographer to turn on the camera and adjust the angle.

Miaomiao also picked up her newly bought microphone, and sat with Liu Hong in the hall to talk: "Liu Hong, first tell me about the 9·28 forest fire..."

The interview thus began.

They didn't realize that from the moment the program team's special vehicle entered the village, the village cadres, as if facing a great enemy, hurriedly reported to the town.

The town learned that Lin Dongfan had brought the "Key Interview" program team to conduct interviews.

They also broke out in a cold sweat.

Not to mention that Lin Dongfan himself is a tough character, coming from the flagship program of CCTV, which the town can't simply call off.

The town hastily reported the matter to the district.

The district was equally on edge, and also reported the matter to the city, which eventually reached Gao Peng's ears.

Gao Peng, furious to the point of exploding, slammed his desk in the office and roared: "Lin Dongfan, he actually brought a Central TV reporter into the village—what on earth does he intend to do!!!"