Chapter 1423: Coming to Back Ma Ran Up!

Xia Xiang was in the middle of a meeting, but he announced an immediate adjournment, then said to the members of the leadership team, "County Magistrate Tang has arrived. He is right at the entrance, let's go down together!"

"County Magistrate Tang is here for an unannounced visit; I wonder if he has discovered anything!"

Xia Xiang was suddenly filled with anxiety!

A crowd of people swarmed downstairs and out the door.

Seeing Tang Ye make a single phone call that not only summoned Xia Xiang but also had the other town leaders following right behind him, the security guard suddenly realized the situation was wrong!

The driver, Qian Xiaobiao, snatched the car keys from the security guard's hand and glared at him fiercely.

Tang Ye stepped out from the back seat of the sedan and walked toward Xia Xiang.

Xia Xiang extended both hands, took the initiative to shake Tang Ye's right hand, and said with a hint of excitement, "County Magistrate Tang, why have you come? Welcome, please move to the conference room."

Tang Ye withdrew his hand, first glanced at Xia Xiang, and then looked at the crowd behind him, "Secretary Xia, I originally intended only to see Comrade Ma Ran; I did not mean to disturb everyone. Since Comrade Ma Ran is not at the Government, I will not stay long."

An awkward smile appeared on Xia Xiang's face, "Comrade Ma Ran was seriously injured and hospitalized. We should have reported it to the county, but Comrade Ma Ran strongly requested that we not disturb too many people."

Tang Ye's tone turned somewhat cold, "Secretary Xia, I had Ma Ran come to Lianhua Town as a Seconded Official in the hope that he could provide some assistance to the work in Lianhua Town. However, Lianhua Town does not seem to welcome him. If you cannot even protect a Seconded Official sent down from the county, how can you protect the ordinary people? The social atmosphere in Lianhua Town is truly terrible!"

County Magistrate Tang!

He has come to back Ma Ran up!

Beads of sweat the size of beans appeared on Xia Xiang's forehead, and he looked distressed, "County Magistrate Tang, I have already ordered the comrades at the Police Station to investigate the perpetrator. Please rest assured, I will definitely get to the bottom of this."

Tang Ye waved his hand, "There is no need for Lianhua Town to investigate this matter anymore. I will have the County Public Security Bureau establish a special task force to investigate. I hope you will actively cooperate."

Xia Xiang nodded, "Understood, I will cooperate."

Before getting into the car, Tang Ye glanced at the security guard, "Do not make things difficult for this comrade; he took our car keys while performing his duties. If it weren't for him being so conscientious and dedicated, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to meet today."

Xia Xiang gave a bitter smile, "Please rest assured, County Magistrate Tang, I will not make things difficult for him."

Tang Ye said, "Alright, I am leaving, you all go back to your own business!"

Xia Xiang hurriedly asked, "Do you need me to accompany you to the County Hospital to visit Town Mayor Ma?"

Tang Ye waved his hand, "No need! I will go by myself."

Tang Ye sat in the back seat of the sedan and instructed Qian Xiaobiao, "Drive."

Once the sedan turned the corner, it disappeared from view.

Xia Xiang let out a long sigh of relief and said to the security guard, "When you have time, browse the Yechuan County Government official website more often and memorize the appearances of the various County Leaders so that next time you encounter a similar situation, you won't cause such a misunderstanding."

The security guard nodded hurriedly, "I will go memorize them right away."

In fact, he had seen Tang Ye before, but at that time, Tang Ye was riding in a luxury official vehicle.

So today, when Tang Ye changed to an ordinary sedan, he didn't react in time, which led to the blunder!

The security guard muttered to himself, wondering why a dignified County Magistrate would be acting so sneakily.

Tang Ye arrived at the County People's Hospital.

The hospital had received Xia Xiang's call and attached great importance to it; the Dean led a group of hospital leaders to line up at the hospital entrance to wait.

After getting out of the car, Tang Ye shook hands with the hospital leaders, "How is Comrade Ma Ran's condition?"

The Dean looked toward a doctor beside him, "This is Town Mayor Ma's Attending Physician."

The Attending Physician said with a grave expression, "Town Mayor Ma's injuries are still quite serious. He suffered a heavy blow to the head, resulting in a mild concussion, two broken ribs, and multiple soft tissue injuries on his body."

Tang Ye had not expected the injuries to be this severe and sighed to himself, "There is no need for so many people to follow; you take me to see him."

Although Tang Ye requested fewer people, a group of them still walked into the ward.

When Ma Ran saw Tang Ye appear, he was completely stunned.

Once he realized what was happening, he tried to sit up from the bed, "County Magistrate Tang!"

Tang Ye stepped forward to stop him, "Lie down, don't move!"

Qian Wenle was very observant and moved a stool to the bedside, letting Tang Ye sit down.

Seeing Ma Ran, whose face was bruised and swollen beyond recognition, Tang Ye felt a mix of emotions!

"I would like to speak with him alone."

"Understood, then we will step out first. If you need anything, feel free to contact me at any time."

The Dean gave a wink to the people behind him, and the group walked out of the ward.

"What exactly happened?" Tang Ye asked in a grave tone.

Ma Ran sighed, "That afternoon, I had finished lunch and returned to the dormitory to sleep. While I was fast asleep, a group of people kicked the door in. I didn't react in time; if these people hadn't ambushed me, I could have at least taken one of them down! They beat me for about four or five minutes, and then someone shouted that it was enough, and they all left. I was unconscious for a long time, and after I woke up, I used my phone to call 120 and 110."

Tang Ye said in a deep voice, "Do you know who they are?"

Ma Ran shook his head, "They were all unfamiliar faces; judging by their accents, they should be Northerners."

Tang Ye continued to ask, "Have you offended anyone recently?"

Ma Ran paused, "I have suspects, but no concrete evidence."

Tang Ye frowned and said, "Tell me, so we can give the police an investigative direction."

"Zhang Chong!"

"Zhang Chong, what does he do? Where do you have a conflict of interest with him?"

A look of anger appeared in Ma Ran's eyes, "Zhang Chong is the boss of an engineering company; the company mainly does rural road and bridge construction. There are a few villages in Lianhua Town that currently do not have roads, so I went to conduct an unannounced investigation and discovered that there were other hidden reasons why these villages had not built roads."

Tang Ye nodded at him, signaling for him to continue.

"In these villages, the villagers planned to raise funds themselves to build a cement road together. As a result, as soon as the cement road was laid, it was sabotaged."

Tang Ye quickly sorted out the reason; there were interests involved in rural road construction.

If the villagers all built the roads themselves, then how would the boss who contracted the project make money?

Tang Ye asked curiously, "For rural roads, the county has special funds, why weren't they built?"

Ma Ran said, "This company engaged in using inferior materials and cutting corners during the construction process. Therefore, when it came time to allocate the funds, I did not sign off. They then deliberately halted the road construction for those few villages."

The Town Mayor is in charge of the Town Government's financial approval work.

Ma Ran refused to sign, so the payment disbursement process could not proceed.

"Zhang Chong has come to me many times, offering gifts and stuffing money at me, but I didn't take any of it. Later, the Town Mayor and the Party Secretary also talked to me; although they didn't say it explicitly, their implication was for me to turn a blind eye and let this matter pass. But I didn't agree. Quality issues concern the safety of the common people.

Seeing that I was impervious to reason, Zhang Chong arranged for people to call and threaten me, saying that if I continued to be ungrateful, they would throw me into Lianhua Lake to feed the fish!

County Magistrate Tang, I am not afraid of their threats.

The doctor said I need to rest for at least a month.

I want to apply to be discharged from the hospital early!"

Tang Ye patted Ma Ran on the shoulder.

"Are you throwing your life away by wanting to be discharged in your current state?

I know what you are worried about! You are afraid that if you are discharged later, the other party will have already achieved their goal and received the project settlement payment.

I will arrange this matter!

As for you being beaten, I will definitely give you an explanation."