Chapter 965: Aftereffects of Secondhand Goods

When Guo Huixiang arrived at her brother's house, the sky had already darkened.

She entered with a noisy push, the white high-heeled sandals under her feet making a thudding sound, as if she had a grudge against someone; as soon as she walked in, she angrily flung her bag onto the sofa.

Character just came out of the washroom: "Back already? Have you eaten?"

"This godforsaken place of Wuzhou, even if I die poor and starving, I will never come back to do business here!"

Guo Huixiang poured a glass of water, gulped down the whole glass of ice water, but still couldn't suppress the anger in her heart.

Character was bewildered: "What's going on?"

"How come? Go ask the Wuzhou Traffic Police Team, ask the Wuzhou Faction!" Guo Huixiang's voice grew louder: "Today someone tried to extort me, attempting to blackmail me for 100,000 yuan! They bullied me for being an outsider, and even the Traffic Police Team didn't believe me, impounding my car; I just took a taxi back!"

Character's brows furrowed: "Extortion? What extortion? Speak slowly, from the beginning."

"At the time I was driving normally, an old man suddenly rushed out from the roadside..." Guo Huixiang recounted the whole incident in detail.

From the old man rushing out, spilling blood and collapsing, to his son rushing out to extort money, then the traffic police arriving at the scene, impounding the car, and returning to the Traffic Police Team to assign responsibility.

The key point is:

When the Traffic Police Team applied to the City Bureau for access to the security footage of the accident site, they were rejected by the City Bureau.

In the end, Guo Huixiang really had no choice. Because there was still a project waiting for her to negotiate, she couldn't afford to waste time. She didn't have the energy to wrangle with Fan Shirin?, so she first paid the 100,000 yuan to settle the matter.

But that 100,000 yuan was merely the other side's appetizer.

The old man went to the hospital; how much more medical expense would follow? That's unknown. If the Traffic Police Team deemed her fully liable, the bulk of the compensation would still come later.

"Why didn't you file an insurance claim?" Character asked.

Upon hearing this, Guo Huixiang flew into a rage: "I didn't hit anyone! The other party deliberately staged an extortion; there was no actual traffic accident at all—how could this be claimed on insurance? You're acting like a foolish official!"

???!

Character was left dumbfounded by the retort; since becoming a leader, he hadn't driven a car for over twenty years, and his comings and goings were always handled by a dedicated driver.

As for whether to report such an incident to insurance, he truly didn't know.

However……

Who's stupider? There's no doubt about it—you're definitely the stupider one compared to me.

Even if insurance won't cover you, the Traffic Police Team wouldn't believe you either! Don't I still have your back? Why don't you just mention my name? You're hopelessly stupid.

Character swallowed his feelings and advised: "Calm down, go eat first..."

"I'm so full of anger, what's there to eat!"

Guo Huixiang's anger remained unabated, she lashed out without cease: "You guys, Wuzhou may be a provincial capital, yet you can't even pull up surveillance—what kind of security is this? I don't think it's just that you can't adjust the surveillance! Now I seriously suspect: the Traffic Police Team very likely colluded with those ruffians to swindle us outsiders!"

"This isn't that serious; first calm down."

The younger sister directly criticized Wuzhou's shortcomings, which amounted to slapping Character in the face—after all, Old Guo is the big boss of Wuzhou.

Character patiently consoled: "How could we possibly fail to adjust the surveillance? Tomorrow I'll accompany you on a trip. As long as you're certain you really didn't hit anyone, no one will be able to extort you."

The next morning, Fuyang Road T-junction.

Character summoned the Traffic Police Team members to the accident scene to inquire about the details. The senior traffic officer who handled the incident yesterday today didn't even dare wear sunglasses.

Upon learning that Guo Huixiang is the younger sister of Municipal Committee Secretary Guo.

Their hearts leapt up to their throats.

The senior traffic officer pointed to the surveillance camera above and explained to Character: "Secretary Guo, you see, that camera was originally able to capture the accident site. After we finished investigating the scene yesterday, to clarify the truth of the accident, we immediately followed procedure and applied to the City Bureau for access to that surveillance footage, but the City Bureau rejected it."

"Why did the City Bureau reject it?"

Character followed the direction the officer pointed and looked at the surveillance probe.

The officer frowned and replied: "The City Bureau people said that a few days ago, when it rained, this surveillance was struck by lightning and hasn't been repaired yet."

"Bullshit!" Character snapped: "Does that look like it's been struck by lightning?!"

The officer forced a grin: "That's what the City Bureau said; as for the exact situation, even we in the Traffic Police Team aren't clear..."

Guo Fanhu also didn't waste words.

On the spot he pulled out his phone and dialed the City Bureau Chief's number: "Luo Zhiwei, where the hell have you been? I've been waiting here for over half an hour!"

"On the way, I'll be there shortly."

At that moment Luo Zhiwei sat in the rear of the police car, quite composed. Just like someone with nothing to do, after hanging up the phone he closed his eyes, resting and recuperating.

The driver asked: "Chief Luo, Secretary Guo is urging you this urgently—should we take a shortcut?"

"What shortcut? Life has no shortcuts to take; just drive your car properly." Luo Zhiwei really wasn't in a hurry at all, leaving the driver looking puzzled, suspecting he had forgotten to take his medicine that morning.

Ten minutes later.

The police car steadily pulled over to the side of Fuyang Road.

Seeing Luo Zhiwei get out of the car.

Character raised his wrist to check the time, then began to criticize: "Chief Luo, you're so busy! You actually made me stand under this scorching sun for a full forty-five minutes!"

August's sun really is a bit vicious; Character and the others already had sweat-soaked backs.

Luo Zhiwei slightly quickened his pace, stepped forward and explained to Character: "Just now I happened to be in a meeting; after receiving your call, I immediately rushed over—I really didn't dare delay even a second."

"First, let's not talk about whether you delayed my time."

Character pointed to the surveillance camera above and asked again: "First, explain this matter to me—yesterday a traffic dispute occurred here. The Traffic Police Team wants to access this surveillance footage; why won't your City Bureau allow them to?"

"I don't know." Luo Zhiwei lowered his gaze at the surveillance probe, putting on an innocent look: "Nobody reported this to me yesterday."

"So now you know?!"

Character solemnly said: "The City Bureau people said this surveillance was struck by lightning and hasn't been repaired yet! Open your eyes and take a look—does this surveillance look like it's been hit by lightning?"

???!

Luo Zhiwei tilted his head back and stared for a while; after a moment's thought he understood what was going on—whether the surveillance had been struck by lightning was no longer important; the key point was that it was indeed broken.

Luo Zhiwei gathered his composure, shook his head and replied: "It doesn't look like it's been struck by lightning."

"Then explain to me why you won't let the Traffic Police Team access this surveillance footage?" Character glared at Luo Zhiwei, furious and exasperated.

Luo Zhiwei replied without hesitation: "Because it's broken."

"The security monitor installed just a month ago, and now you're telling me it's broken?!" Character grew angrier the more he listened: "Is it you who's incompetent, or is it this monitor?"

"Secretary Character, this matter, this matter you really can't pin on me."

From the moment he decided to lie low, Luo Zhiwei has feared no one; today, even if the Heavenly King and his father unleashed heavenly wrath, he would remain just as composed and calm.

Facing Character's anger.

Luo Zhiwei explained neither humble nor arrogant: "Initially, the Municipal Party Committee assigned me a task, but the municipal government, citing tight city finances, refused to allocate funds. It's like the master whipping the donkey's rear, urging it to pull the mill faster, yet not feeding it grass. For the donkey to persist and finish pulling the mill is already no easy feat."

"What do you mean by that?!" Character's face darkened with anger.

Luo Zhiwei replied indifferently: "With no money in hand and the task still required, I could only go to the secondhand market to pick up some cheap goods. The original project cost of twenty thousand per unit dropped to two hundred. You get what you pay for; it's not surprising it broke. But there is also a portion that's good—not all are merely ornamental and useless."

"There's still a batch that's good? Well, I really have to thank you!" Character, fuming, gave a thumbs-up: "You've completed this task really well! Great! Putting you in the bureau chief's position would truly be a waste of talent!"

That last sentence is dripping with sarcasm.

Luo Zhiwei understood the meaning as——you're not worthy of the position, you're dismissed!

Unable to endure any longer, Luo Zhiwei couldn't be bothered to tolerate it anymore: "In the document issued by the Municipal Party Committee initially, it never said we couldn't use secondhand monitors. I haven't made a mistake; on what grounds do you dismiss me?"