Chapter 529: with translation of chapter title

Early morning.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, slanting onto the bed, as if trying to remind the two people lying there: the sun has already baked their backsides, yet they're still shamelessly messing around—why don't they get up and get to work!

Such a silent reminder was obviously useless.

Until half an hour later.

Lin Dongfan finally walked out of the room, with Jian Sining following behind. Both had dark circles from staying up late, but their mental state wasn't particularly bad.

Jian Sining tidied her cuffs efficiently, preparing to lead the team out to summon Wei Shouqin's wife, Zhang Lan. Wei Shouqin was stubborn as a dead duck, determined to resist the investigation; for now they could only find another angle of attack.

Lin Dongfan, meanwhile, took a deep breath of the cool morning air, preparing to face the superior's reprimand. He hadn't taken Prosecutor General Chen's call last night, so he'd definitely have to make excuses today.

"Senior brother."

Jian Sining stopped at the stairwell, glanced worriedly at Lin Dongfan, and said: "Prosecutor General Chen's side… you should be polite to him, after all he's a superior leader."

She knew her senior brother's temper all too well, and worried he'd offend someone.

Lin Dongfan smiled indifferently: "Don't worry, I've got it under control. Go summon Zhang Lan—act fast and be firm. She and Wei Shouqin don't get along; make good use of that."

"Understood."

Jian Sining nodded, went downstairs, and met up with the two procuratorate officials who had been waiting.

Lin Dongfan watched the car drive off, then leisurely got into his own vehicle, pondering whether he should assign a dedicated driver—after all, as a bureau chief, it's hardly proper for him to drive himself.

Half an hour later.

Provincial Procuratorate, Prosecutor General Chen's office.

The atmosphere was so heavy you could wring water out of it.

Prosecutor General Chen sat behind his large desk, his face dark as iron, his fingers tapping intermittently on the desktop, emitting a dull thud.

Lin Dongfan stood before the desk, calm and even a bit nonchalant.

"Comrade Lin Dongfan!"

Prosecutor General Chen finally couldn't hold back, slamming his palm on the desk so hard the teacup lid jumped: "Do you still have any organizational discipline?! Any procedural rules?!"

The resentment he'd bottled up all night exploded with surprising force.

Prosecutor General Chen picked up the report on the desk, shaking it with a rustle: "Arrest Wei Shouqin! Search his private residence! Where's the arrest warrant? The search warrant?! How come I didn't see the approval paperwork?! Do you think Baoyue Province is your backyard vegetable garden? Is Wei Shouqin the potato in your garden that you can dig up however you like?"

"Potato?"

Lin Dongfan blinked, shook his head, and replied: "He's not a potato."

"You also know he's not a potato?" Chen laughed in anger: "Are you doing a crosstalk routine with me? You spent half a day thinking up that he's not the potato in your garden?"

"Understood." Lin Dongfan nodded: "Prosecutor General Chen, please don't get angry—the paperwork is complete."

"Complete paperwork? Where? I haven't seen it." Chen thought he'd misheard: "You didn't submit the arrest paperwork to me—who signed it?"

"The Supreme People's Procuratorate's Anti‑Corruption Bureau issued the arrest and search warrants."

Lin Dongfan took two photocopies from his briefcase and gently placed them on Prosecutor General Chen's desk.

He then explained: "This operation was led by Section Chief Peng Tianhua of the Anti‑Corruption Bureau's Investigation Division One. Our provincial anti‑corruption bureau is merely assisting."

Prosecutor General Chen took one copy and was momentarily speechless.

According to the regulations, for major cross‑province cases the Supreme People's Procuratorate can authorize directly without provincial approval, which means his outburst today was a bit rash.

But rash is rash—he couldn't lose face.

"Even if you have the paperwork, why didn't you give me a heads‑up on such a big matter?" Chen tossed the copies back onto the desk, his tone somewhat softened but still indignant: "On the surface it's Section Chief Peng Tianhua from the Bureau leading the enforcement, but in reality you're calling all the shots, right?"

That couldn't be denied.

Those who know Lin Dongfan's background among the provincial and ministerial bigwigs are two: one is Wang Daochen, the other is the impatient Prosecutor General Chen right in front of him.

To claim he was taking orders from Peng Tianhua would be tantamount to insulting Chen's intelligence.

Lin Dongfan grinned and tried to smooth things over: "Prosecutor General Chen, well… the reason I didn't greet you is also to ease some of your burden. Think about it—the provincial web of relationships is tangled. Whether you're in the loop or not can change the outcome, don't you agree?"

"That makes a lot of sense."

Chen didn't argue aloud, but he was seething inside.

He thrust his right hand forward: "What about the corruption evidence on Wei Shouqin? You searched all night—what did you turn up? Besides a tattered diary, a possibly fake ancestral secret recipe, and his refusal to admit eight gold bars and twelve overseas bonds, what else did you find?"

"You found all that and it's still not enough?" Lin Dongfan asked in surprise.

Chen frowned: "Now you're doing crosstalk with me again—you're the straight man, right? He says the gold bars and bonds were left by his father; you can't dig up corpses from the grave to confront him."

"Can't." Lin Dongfan also furrowed his brows.

Chen, his chest tight with anger, rose and walked to the window, covering his heart as he drew two breaths of fresh air: "I'm almost sixty; my heart isn't as strong as you imagine. If you want to anger me to death, just keep playing the straight man."

"No, Prosecutor General Chen, I really don't know what you're angry about." Lin Dongfan gazed at Chen's back, thought a moment, then added: "Eight gold bars plus overseas bonds worth 2.4 billion—he says they're from his father, so they're from his father? Nobody's that stupid."

"You're not the fool, I am?!"

Chen suddenly turned around.

He put on a stern face and criticized Lin Dongfan:

"Wei Shouqin is the head of the Provincial Health Department—do you have any idea how much important work he's juggling?"

"Never mind the rest."

"Just take the medical dispute involving Huang Xiuju's son."

"It's blown up into a huge fuss!"

"It's made the Jingcheng Evening News, and the central media has named and criticized it!"

"Now Secretary Wang still expects Wei Shouqin to handle this and calm the storm!"

"But you—you didn't even give me a heads‑up, then you just took Wei Shouqin away! Who's supposed to settle that medical dispute—you or me?"

"How am I supposed to answer to my superiors?"

Chen grew more and more agitated, as if Lin Dongfan had really kicked up a colossal mess, leaving Baoyue Province in an awkward predicament with no good way forward.

Lin Dongfan responded with a faint, dismissive smile: "Prosecutor General Chen, the province expects Wei Shouqin to resolve Huang Xiuju's son's medical dispute? You couldn't possibly be joking, could you?"

"Who's joking with you? Be serious!" Chen Jian exuded an air of righteousness.

Lin Dongfan furrowed his brow slightly: "What qualifications does Wei Shouqin have to resolve this dispute? Is it relying on his corrupt power from sitting on 2.4 billion overseas bonds? Or is it relying on his professional expertise in precisely calculating his mistresses' ovulation cycles?"

!!!

Those few simple words left Chen Jian speechless.

Lin Dongfan spoke in a grave tone:

"Huang Xiuju, a factory worker, borrowed money everywhere to treat her 16‑year‑old son's illness, even selling the family's old house, draining all their savings."

As a result, her son died on the operating table.

Huang Xiuju had filed a complaint with the Health Department, but no one paid her any heed—what was Wei Shouqin doing at the time?

Huang Xiuju only went to the hospital entrance to hold up a sign after being driven to desperation, and then clashed with the hospital security guards—it was the guards who struck first.

Yet the person who was criminally detained was Huang Xiuju—don't you find this absurd?"

Faced with Lin Dongfan's questioning, Chen Jian's expression also grew much graver; this time he wasn't angry at Lin Dongfan's sharp words, but belatedly realized he had underestimated the gravity of the situation.

Through Lin Dongfan's attitude and his approach of acting first and reporting later.

It's not hard to tell—this must be the Central's intention, the Central directing Lin Dongfan to strike hard and thoroughly rectify the medical corruption problem in Baiyue Province!