Chapter 810: The Ordinary Master Receives Visitors

On Monday morning at 9:30, the door to the mayor's office was gently knocked.

Secretary Xiao Chen pushed the door open and entered: "Mayor Lin, Secretary Shi has arrived, and… the lover of Chen Lao Ban of Blue Wave Pond."

Lin Dongfan lifted his head from the pile of documents: "Please come in."

The first to enter was Shi Liantang, his face solemn.

Behind him followed a woman in her thirties, leading a five- or six-year-old girl.

The woman was Yang Xiaoju, dressed plainly, her eyes severely red and swollen, her face full of weariness and panic. The little girl tightly gripped her mother's hand, timidly sizing up this unfamiliar office.

"Mayor Lin, this is Chen Lao Ban's lover Yang Xiaoju, and this is her daughter Niu Niu," Shi Liantang introduced.

Yang Xiaoju lowered her head, her voice trembling: "Hello Mayor Lin."

Niu Niu also softly echoed: "Hello Uncle Mayor."

Lin Dongfan stood up, walked around from behind the desk, and said: "Sister‑in‑law, Niu Niu, please have a seat." He pointed to the sofa in the reception area, then told Xiao Chen: "Pour two cups of warm water and bring some biscuits."

This calm tone allowed Yang Xiaoju's tense nerves to relax a little.

She pulled her daughter to sit on the edge of the sofa, sitting only on half of it, her hands clenched tightly together, knuckles whitening.

Lin Dongfan sat down on the opposite single sofa, without immediately speaking.

Instead, he first picked up a biscuit from the tray Xiao Chen had brought and handed it to Niu Niu: "Niu Niu, are you hungry? Have something to eat first."

Niu Niu looked up at her mother.

Seeing Yang Xiaoju nod, she then timidly took the biscuit and softly said: "Thank you, Uncle."

"You're welcome." Lin Dongfan then turned to Yang Xiaoju: "Sister‑in‑law, I've heard about what happened at home. My condolences."

Those words were like opening a floodgate; Yang Xiaoju's tears instantly welled up.

She rubbed her face haphazardly with the back of her hand, choking: "Mayor Lin, my husband… he died too unjustly…"

"I know." Lin Dongfan pushed the tissue box toward her: "That's why I asked you to come, to hear the details. Go ahead, I'm listening."

Yang Xiaoju took a deep breath and began to speak haltingly.

From Yuan Ben Zhong's first visit to the fishing spot to fish, to the broken rod and his anger, to her husband kneeling to present a gift, then to the fishing spot being sealed off, her husband being beaten, and finally jumping into the river…

When she reached the part about her husband being beaten, her whole body trembled.

"When my husband came back, his body was covered in wounds. I asked who hit him, but he refused to say, just claiming he couldn't afford to offend them. That night he didn't sleep at all, just sat on the bed smoking cigarette after cigarette…"

Lin Dongfan listened quietly, occasionally asking a detail or two.

Shi Liantang quickly took notes beside him, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

"Did your husband leave any evidence on the day he was beaten?" Lin Dongfan asked.

Yang Xiaoju wiped away tears: "He… he had a recording on his phone. Before he left, he told me that if he didn't return within two hours, I should call the police. Worried something might happen, I had him leave the phone recording on…"

"Where is the phone now?" Lin Dongfan asked.

"It was taken by the police station." Yang Xiaoju further explained: "They said they needed it as evidence and haven't returned it to me. I've asked several times, but they keep saying the investigation is ongoing and tell me to wait."

Shi Liantang immediately pulled out his phone: "I'll notify them right away to coordinate retrieval."

Lin Dongfan nodded, then asked Yang Xiaoju: "Bureau Chief Yuan often goes to your fishing spot; besides fishing, what else does he do? Who have you seen him with?"

Yang Xiaoju thought: "Bureau Chief Yuan basically always comes together with Su Zong. That's Su Qingyu of Green Wild Landscaping, the son-in-law of the Zhao Group. Sometimes he also brings other bosses; after fishing they stay in the air‑conditioned room playing cards and eating, lingering for most of the day, acting secretive."

"What do they talk about? Have you overheard anything?"

"I… I don't dare to listen."

Yang Xiaoju lowered her head: "On a few occasions when I delivered food inside, I heard them talking about land parcels, projects, floor‑area ratios… and numbers, hundreds of thousands or millions. My husband wouldn't let me stay long, saying knowing too much isn't good."

Lin Dongfan pondered for a moment, then continued: "How does Bureau Chief Yuan settle his bills at your fishing spot?"

"Never in cash."

Yang Xiaoju said: "It's all put on the tab, with Su Zong settling it. Fishing fees, meal costs, cigarette and alcohol expenses—all go onto Su Zong's account. My husband said Bureau Chief Yuan does this in many places around Wuzhou, never paying out of his own pocket."

"Mayor, take a look at this."

Lin Dongfan was about to ask again when Shi Liantang handed him a preliminary investigation report.

He glanced at it casually.

Dongfan's face sank, making the atmosphere in the mayor's office feel somewhat oppressive.

Yang Xiaoju sat on the sofa, her head bowed the whole time, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her clothes.

Beside her, her little daughter Niu Niu imitated her mother, clutching her mother's pants with her small hand, eyes timidly scanning this unfamiliar place.

Lin Dongfan set down the materials in his hands.

"Sister‑in‑law." Lin Dongfan spoke gently: "We know everything about your husband's case. Rest assured, we will definitely get to the bottom of it."

Yang Xiaoju lifted her head, her eye sockets red and swollen: "Mayor Lin, my husband was honest his whole life, never daring to offend anyone. That Bureau Chief Yuan, we truly can't afford to provoke him…"

"There's nothing one can't afford to provoke." Lin Dongfan stood up, walked to the window, his back to the office: "Before the law, everyone is equal."

His words rang out firmly, but Yang Xiaoju's face showed little confidence.

She had come to the municipal government to petition three times; the first time she was urged to go back and "wait for notice," the second time she was told "it's under investigation," and the third time she simply didn't even get inside the door.

If it weren't for Secretary Shi personally coming to fetch her today, she might still be sitting at the petition office's door.

"Mayor Lin…" Yang Xiaoju trembled as she pulled a plastic bag from the cloth bundle she carried: "This is… what my husband left behind."

Inside the plastic bag were a few miscellaneous items:

An old mobile phone with a cracked screen; a crumpled cigarette pack; and several torn pieces of paper, their edges ragged, as if hastily torn from a notebook.

"What is this?" Shi Liantang took the plastic bag.

"The phone is the one he took out that day; when he came back the screen was already broken." Yang Xiaoju said: "The cigarette pack is the brand he usually smokes; inside… inside there are a few slips of paper."

Shi Liantang carefully opened the cigarette pack.

Inside there were no cigarettes, only three slips of paper folded into small squares. He unfolded the first one, on which a ballpoint pen had written a string of numbers in shaky handwriting: "3.18‑Su‑8000."

The second sheet reads: "4.23-Li-5000"

The third slip had only two words: 'Yuan-fish'.

"What does this mean?" Lin Dongfan asked.

Yang Xiaoju shook her head: "I don't know. My husband... he... he's not educated, he just keeps accounts casually. These numbers could be the fishing ground's income, or they could be debts. He told me before that some bosses come to fish and don't pay cash, they just put it on the tab, and settle everything at year-end."

She pointed to the slip that read 'Yuan-fish' and said: "This Yuan must be Bureau Chief Yuan. Every time he comes fishing, he doesn't pay, just says to put it on Manager Su's account. My husband didn't dare to ask for it, so he could only write it down."

Shi Liantang examined the slips closely, his brow slightly furrowed: "This information is too fragmentary. Dates, surnames, amounts—there's no specific detail, so it can't be used as evidence."

Yang Xiaoju choked up: "My husband is timid, he never dares to offend anyone. Whenever Bureau Chief Yuan comes, he gets so nervous he stutters. Once Bureau Chief Yuan got drunk and smashed a cup in the air-conditioned room; my husband was so frightened he didn't sleep all night... How could he possibly dare to leave any evidence?"

Lin Dongfan fell silent.

Yeah, an honest and simple fishing-ground boss, facing someone like the Deputy Chief of the Land and Resources Bureau who holds real power—what else could he do but swallow his anger?

Lin Dongfan solemnly comforted her: "We'll take these materials for now. Rest assured, we will get to the bottom of your husband's case."

Yang Xiaoju's tears fell again: "Mayor Lin, I ask for nothing else, just fairness. My husband shouldn't have died in vain."

"He won't have died in vain." Lin Dongfan said: "I promise you."