Chapter 782: All‑Night Interrogation and the Secretary's Fury

The interrogation room on the third floor of the Discipline Inspection Commission was lit by incandescent lights, bright as daytime.

The slogan posted on the wall read—'Leniency for confession, severity for resistance'! Although only eight short characters, it exuded an invisible sense of oppression.

Li Chuan-gen sat in a specially made chair—no armrests, its legs fixed to the floor, leaving him unable to sit steadily or stand up.

Sitting opposite him were Section Chief Sun and a recorder.

Several folders lay open on the table, the top one bearing the cover 'Yamingsuan Tea House Related Clues', emphasizing a targeted approach.

"Li Chuan-gen, I'm asking you again!" Section Chief Sun tapped the table: "Where were you from seven to nine tonight? Who were you with? What did you do?"

Li Chuan-gen lowered his head, clasping his hands together until his knuckles turned white.

He had been sitting here for nearly two hours; his bathrobe had been changed into ordinary gray civilian clothes, but the scent of the bath center still seemed to cling to him.

"I… I was just taking a walk, I'd had too much to drink, and I took a wrong turn…"

Once a leader of the Public Security Bureau branch, he used to swagger arrogantly in public; now he was stifled like a grandson who dares not speak his anger, his voice trembling with weakness.

When it came to 'sticking to the lie,' Li Chuan-gen could be said to have eaten a hearty serving of steadfast will.

He would rather die than admit he was a regular freeloader at Dragon Bay Baths.

"Did your walk end up in a third-floor suite at Dragon Bay Baths?" Section Chief Sun snorted coldly: "Caught red‑handed and still talking tough!"

Saying this, Section Chief Sun pulled a photo from the folder.

and pushed it toward Li Chuan-gen: "Take a look—do you recognize it?"

The photo was a surveillance screenshot from a private room at the Imperial Banquet Hall, clearly showing Li Chuan-gen and Wang Lao San clinking glasses and drinking heavily, the Moutai bottles on the table tipped over.

At a glance, Li Chuan-gen's face instantly turned ashen.

Section Chief Sun then pushed over a second photo, showing Wang Lao San's subordinate carrying two tea gift boxes into the private room.

"These are the specially made gift boxes from your wife's tea shop, each with a serial number on the bottom."

Section Chief Sun flipped the photo over; handwritten on the back were the numbers and their corresponding prices.

Section Chief Sun asked with a smile: "The tea is priced at 100,000 yuan per box; ten boxes make a million. Li Chuan-gen, what's your monthly salary? Can you afford such expensive tea?"

"That… that was Wang Lao San buying it himself, it has nothing to do with me!" Li Chuan-gen hurried to defend himself.

"Nothing to do with it?"

Section Chief Sun pressed the recorder on the table.

Playing back the audio clip: "... Why are we getting local specialties again? Old Three, you're honest, but you're not flexible enough. Eating the same dish every day is bland."

Hearing his own voice echo in the quiet interrogation room, tinged with the frivolity and greed of drink, Li Chuan-gen's ears burned.

This time he truly felt ill at ease.

The recorder then played Wang Lao San's voice again: "... We'll still send the local specialties; moreover… this is ten boxes of Old Ban Zhang just taken from my sister‑in‑law's shop…"

The recording hadn't finished yet.

Li Chuan-gen had collapsed in his chair, cold sweat soaking the back of his clothes.

He never dreamed that Wang Lao San, that idiot, would have recorded in the private room… No, this wasn't Wang Lao San's recording; it was a trap set long ago by the Discipline Inspection Commission!

"Want to hear more?"

Section Chief Sun then pulled out several more documents from the folder.

He emphasized with solid evidence: "These are photocopies of the account books from your wife Wang Xiumei's shop. Last year, sales of tea priced over 800,000 yuan totaled forty‑seven transactions, amounting to over 36 million yuan. The buyer list is interesting—it includes construction company bosses, demolition firm managers, and executives of the Zhao Group."

Section Chief Sun laid all this evidence before Li Chuan-gen.

He continued:

"What's more, those who bought the sky‑priced tea subsequently received projects in your jurisdiction, had their troubles smoothed over, or—like Wang Lao San—got away with killing someone and only fifteen days of detention."

Hearing this, Li Chuan-gen trembled all over, his lips quivering, unable to speak.

"Li Chuan-gen!"

Section Chief Sun leaned forward, his eyes locked on Li Chuan-gen's: "If you confess now, it will count as voluntary cooperation. Once we verify these accounts item by item and summon each tea buyer for questioning, by then you won't even have a chance at leniency."

Silence.

Only the scratching of the recorder's pen and the ticking of the wall clock could be heard.

After Along three minutes, Li Chuan-gen finally broke down. Covering his face with his handcuffed hands, he squeezed out a whisper of despair from between his fingers: "I… I'll confess… I'll confess everything…"

At the same time.

Municipal Party Committee Building No. 1, the secretary's office blazed with light.

Wang Qigang stood before the huge floor‑to‑ceiling window, gazing down at the sleeping city's silhouette.

He clutched a freshly delivered briefing, its edges crumpled from his grip, the window glass reflecting his furrowed brow.

When the secretary‑general pushed the door open and saw that back view, he softened his steps and placed a more detailed report on the spacious desk.

"Secretary Wang, we've verified it."

The secretary‑general said in a low voice: "It was Section Chief Sun of the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission's Room Three who led the team, taking Li Chuan-gen away at the Dragon Bay Baths at 9:47 p. m.; the procedure was proper, all formalities complete."

Wang Qigang did not turn, his voice eerily calm: "Complete? Has the Standing Committee convened? Did I, as secretary, know beforehand?"

"The Discipline Inspection Commission explained it as an emergency, with the Standing Committee proceeding via written circulation," the secretary‑general chose his words carefully: "Mayor Lin and Secretary Shi both signed."

"Bang!"

Wang Qigang finally turned, slamming his palm hard onto the red‑wood desk.

It was not explosive rage.

but the sheer fury of being utterly offended!

"Written circulation? An emergency?"

He stared at the secretary‑general, eyes like knives: "Has the sky not fallen? What can't wait until tomorrow morning's Standing Committee meeting?! A Division‑Level cadre, snatched by our city's Discipline Inspection Commission! I, the Municipal Party Committee Secretary, am the last to find out! They were so urgent they didn't even have time to give me a heads‑up?!"

"!!!"

Faced with his furious superior, the secretary‑general was also nervous, his heart pounding; he kept his head down, listening to the reprimand, and dared not interject.

Wang Qigang paced quickly in the office.

The sound of leather shoes striking the marble floor was especially clear in the late night.

"He's only been in Wuzhou for how many days? Ah?! Less than a week!" Wang Qigang stopped pacing, his finger tapping in the air: "Did I not arrange someone to meet him at the airport? Did I not arrange the welcome banquet properly? Did I not support the work? When have I, Wang Qigang, ever not given my all and offered full support to a new comrade?!"

Saying that, he walked to the desk, grabbed the report, and it shook with a clatter.

"Look! Take a good look! Bath center! Blond-haired, blue-eyed technician! Study foreign languages!!! The province just finished an anti-corruption work meeting, and at this critical juncture, you go arrest people at a place like this!

Is Lin Dongfan truly clueless or just pretending not to know?!

A cadre from the public security system, caught red-handed in such a place—what impact would it have if this got out?!

How will the ordinary people view our Wuzhou cadres' work style problem?!

And the superiors!

"And how will the province view our Wuzhou team's construction work?!".

……

This series of questions, like a rapid-fire barrage, left the secretary-general's scalp tingling, and he dared not lift his eyes to meet Wang Qigang's gaze, let alone respond.