Chapter 796: The Drunkard Loses Contact, Feinting East to Strike West

Sun Yongwen said Zhou Hongwei had already been controlled, but it was actually a psychological tactic.

Although another team of the Discipline Inspection Commission had been watching Zhou Hongwei closely, the Commission did not take rash action against him before confirming whether the metal in the pond was illicit property.

The reason Zhou Hongwei did not answer Zhou Hongying's call.

It was because he was drunk; this guy was drinking with Tang Yuchao of the Environmental Protection Bureau. Taking advantage of being about eighty percent drunk, he kept bragging at the table, unable to hear his phone ringing nonstop.

Cups and plates were scattered on the table, two bottles of Moutai were empty.

Zhou Hongwei's face was flushed, his shirt collar torn open, he was slapping the table with saliva flying. Tang Yuchao, the Environmental Protection Bureau chief sitting opposite him, was also bleary-eyed, barely forcing a smile.

"Old Tang, let me tell you!" Zhou Hongwei spoke with a slightly thick tongue, but it didn't affect his enthusiasm for bragging: "That Lin fellow's expression today…… tsk tsk, wanting to lash out but not daring to, yet still having to praise me! Hahaha, what do you say this shows? It shows he's weak! He's scared! In Wuzhou, after all, it's Secretary Wang who calls the shots!"

Tang Yuchao was also a bit drunk.

Swirling his wine cup, he echoed: "That's right, a true dragon doesn't crush the local snake. But Old Zhou, we'd better be careful. Lin Dongfan is a princeling from the capital's circle; he's not someone to provoke……"

"What the hell to be afraid of!"

Zhou Hongwei waved his hand, nearly knocking over Tang Yuchao's wine cup.

His mouth full of drunken nonsense: "No matter his background, in Wuzhou he still has to follow the rules! What are the rules? The rules are the regulations set down by Secretary Wang! If we follow Secretary Wang, the sky won't fall!"

The more Zhou Hongwei spoke, the more excited he became.

He poured himself another full cup of sauce-flavored Moutai: "Come on, come on, let's have another! Tonight we won't go home until we're drunk!"

The two clinked cups and drank them down in one go.

The phone beside Zhou Hongwei lit up again, showing an incoming call from "Hongying." The vibration was drowned out by the clinking of glasses and drunken chatter, and no one paid attention.

The phone screen lit up, then went dark, lit up again, went dark again—after repeating three times, it went completely dark.

……

Front courtyard of the Zhou family's old residence in Pingshan County.

Time seemed to freeze.

Zhou Hongying held a knife to her own neck, her left hand gripping the unanswered phone, the panic on her face growing stronger.

Sun Yongwen's words "Your brother has already been controlled" pierced her heart like a needle.

"You… you're talking nonsense!" Zhou Hongying shouted hoarsely, but her voice clearly sounded weak: "My brother is a bureau chief! What right do you have…"

"Just because he is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law!"

Sun Yongwen's voice suddenly rose, his tone stern, his eyes blazing as he fixed his gaze on Zhou Hongying's eyes.

He spoke solemnly: "Our Discipline Inspection Commission handles cases based on evidence! Now we suspect that your family's fish pond hides evidence of your brother's crime! By obstructing law enforcement here, are you helping him or harming him?!"

This stern shout made Zhou Hongying's whole body tremble, her eyes darting in panic.

In that half-second when her attention was drawn to Sun Yongwen, a young cadre who had been standing silently in the shadow behind and to the side of Zhou Hongying moved.

He was wearing plain clothes, had been leaning against the water pump truck earlier, appearing like an ordinary staff member.

At that moment he was like a leopard that had been coiling its strength, he pushed off with his feet and shot out like an arrow from a bow! Not a straight charge at Zhou Hongying, but with a tiny arc he precisely went to the outside of her knife-wielding right arm.

Zhou Hongying's attention was entirely on Sun Yongwen in front of her, completely unaware of the movement behind her.

The young cadre struck like lightning!

With his left hand he precisely gripped the "pulse gate" point below Zhou Hongying's right wrist joint and squeezed hard!

"Ah!"

Zhou Hongying cried out in pain, her right hand instantly going numb and limp, her fingers involuntarily splaying open.

The gleaming cleaver slipped from her hand and fell!

Almost at the same moment.

The young cadre's right hand had already scooped up the falling knife handle from below, then twisted and pulled, the cleaver now firmly in his grasp.

The whole motion was smooth and fluid, taking no more than two seconds.

At the same time.

Sun Yongwen and two other staff members also lunged forward.

Sun Yongwen grabbed Zhou Hongying's left arm and twisted it behind her back; another person quickly seized her right arm.

The third person quickly stepped in front of the three Zhou nephews who wanted to rush forward, shouting sternly: "Don't move! Obstructing law enforcement will get you locked up!"

The three nephews were subdued by this thunderous tactic, frozen in place, afraid to move further.

Zhou Hongying, with both arms twisted behind her, was utterly panicked.

Like a shrew cornered, she wailed: "They're beating people! The Discipline Inspection Commission is beating people! Lawless…… help……"

"Zhou Hongying!"

Sun Yongwen released her, gesturing for staff to put handcuffs on her, his voice icy: "You are suspected of violently obstructing the performance of official duties; I am now taking compulsory measures against you by law! Take her away!"

Two staff members lifted the sobbing Zhou Hongying, one on each side, and walked toward the law enforcement vehicle outside the courtyard.

Only then did Sun Yongwen let out a breath of relief.

He turned his head and nodded at the remaining young cadre: "Xiao Chen, your skills are not bad."

The young cadre named Xiao Chen gave an embarrassed smile, handed the knife to a colleague for storage, and wiped his hands: "I trained for two years in the special police unit; it finally came in handy."

"Good."

Sun Yongwen stopped wasting words, turned and waved at the worker operating the water pump: "Clear the obstruction! Start pumping!"

"Yes!"

The diesel engine's roar suddenly rang out, the thick water pipe began to vibrate violently, the murky pond water was sucked up by strong force and gushed out toward the distant ditch.

Under the strong lights, the speed of the water level dropping was not fast.

Sun Yongwen and the others stood by the pond, their eyes fixed on the gradually exposed silt and debris. At this exciting moment, everyone was anticipating the "big fish" in the pond, hoping not to disappoint expectations.

Draining the pond by pumping cannot be done in a short while.

Sun Yongwen took out his phone.

He dialed the number of his superior, Shi Liantang, again.

"Secretary Shi, the scene is already under control, and we are pumping out water. Moreover, Zhou Hongwei's sister Zhou Hongying has been subjected to coercive measures for violently obstructing official duties."

On the other end of the phone.

Shi Liantang's voice came through: "Good. Be sure to maintain order at the scene, don't let things spiral out of control. Once it's confirmed whether there is any contraband in the pond, call back immediately."

"Understood!"

Sun Yongwen hung up the phone, glanced at the slowly receding water surface, and then looked at his phone, which showed 10:05 p. m.

The crowd of onlookers around not only did not diminish, but kept growing.

Sun Yongwen had his deputy give a few instructions about the scene, then he took Xiao Chen and two other cadres to find the village cadres for help maintaining order at the scene.

At that moment.

In a private room of a certain restaurant in the urban area, Tang Yuchao of the Environmental Protection Bureau was already drunk and slumped over the table.

Those present, including Zhou Hongwei, were all flushed from drinking. Zhou Hongwei stepped forward, patted Tang Yuchao on the shoulder, and asked whether he wanted to change venues for another round.

The Zhou guy was completely unaware that the Discipline Inspection Commission had been watching everything from the shadows.