Chapter 281: Wife-Murder Case Uncovers Corruption!

The bright lights had just come on, and the night was like ink.

As usual, Tang Ye was at the hospital keeping Jiang Jing company.

He found a moment to dial Du Xi's number.

The call connected, and a smile tugged at the corner of Tang Ye's mouth: "Xiao Hui contacted me today. Did she deliver the invitation to you in person?"

Du Xi's voice carried a hint of lightness: "That's right. She gave me strict instructions that you must be there."

Tang Ye smiled helplessly: "We were classmates, after all; I can't very well reject her directly. You just attend on my behalf when the time comes."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Du Xi suddenly raised her voice, her tone unable to hide her excitement: "I have big news to share with you! That love-related murder case I mentioned before has been solved! The killer is the victim's own husband. We found a box of unsealed blank cassette tapes at his home, with one missing. He used the tapes to try and fabricate an alibi, and he even meticulously staged other fake evidence."

Tang Ye's curiosity was piqued, and he pressed: "Why did he commit such a ruthless act?"

Du Xi's voice turned abruptly serious: "The suspect is named Chen Jiadong, and he is the Deputy Director of the Suiyuan County Industrial Park Management Committee. He was keeping a mistress on the side and even had a daughter with her. After the affair was exposed, he proposed a divorce, but his wife refused and threatened to report him to the Discipline Inspection Commission... He first put sleeping pills in her drink, and after she fell unconscious, he tried to use a grooving knife to drain her blood to stage a suicide. As it turned out, his wife woke up from the pain halfway through, so he didn't hesitate and just smothered her to death with a pillow."

This description sent a chill down Tang Ye's spine, and he secretly lamented that when a marriage reaches this point, one should still seek a peaceful resolution. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him!

"Being able to keep a mistress suggests his financial situation is quite good?"

"He has multiple properties in Hanzhou—two commercial apartments in the city and three more in Suiyuan County, and the ones in Suiyuan County are all registered under his mistress's name."

Tang Ye teased: "Good heavens, and there's more than one mistress?"

"What, are you envious?" Du Xi joked.

Tang Ye laughed in spite of himself: "Am I envious that he's going to face a firing squad? If this case is dug into deeply, it might just pull up even more problems."

Du Xi reacted immediately: "Do you think this case is related to the officialdom of Suiyuan County?"

Tang Ye sighed: "Although Wang Xingjian has already been transferred to the People's Congress, the problems in Suiyuan County haven't been completely resolved. According to the Municipal Party Committee leadership's intentions, they will first replace the upper-level team, and once things are stable, they will rectify the grassroots from the top down."

Du Xi laughed: "You think this case can be used to make a move?"

Tang Ye gave an 'mm' of affirmation, his tone grave: "The Chen Jiadong wife-murder case isn't that simple; it is highly likely to involve serious corruption. The problems of organized crime involvement and illegal business operations in Suiyuan County are too severe. I've been studying the fiscal debt of Hanzhou City recently, and Suiyuan County has taken a lot of funds without achieving the expected results. Some enterprises have even forged data to defraud the government of fiscal appropriations."

Du Xi remarked with emotion: "We did a preliminary check on Chen Jiadong's financial issues; he had two million in cash hidden at home."

Tang Ye nodded slightly: "This is no longer just a simple criminal case; it also involves suspected duty-related crimes. I need to report this to Mayor Jiang."

Du Xi was a bit puzzled: "Is this within Mayor Jiang's jurisdiction?"

Tang Ye explained patiently: "Generally, duty-related crimes by cadres are handled by the Discipline Inspection Commission, but the Suiyuan County Industrial Park is a key investment project for Hanzhou, operating on municipal fiscal appropriations. Although the Executive Vice Mayor cannot manage cadre corruption, they can intervene from the perspective of supervision."

Du Xi suddenly realized, thinking to herself that it seemed Mayor Jiang was very dissatisfied with the Suiyuan Industrial Park.

Tang Ye suddenly changed the subject: "I have an older sister who wants to invite you to dinner."

"An older sister?" Du Xi asked, confused.

"Cheng Lin, my leader at the Old Cadre Bureau, who is now the Organization Department Minister of Tianling County," Tang Ye explained.

"I've met her; she has a very special temperament," Du Xi said softly.

Tang Ye realized what she meant and teased with a smile: "Was it at the Jiaochang? If you don't want to see her, I'll decline on your behalf."

Du Xi said hurriedly: "Of course I want to see her! Tang Ye, thank you."

"Thank me for what?" Tang Ye was somewhat puzzled.

Du Xi's voice carried a trace of being moved: "Thank you for giving me a sense of security. Actually, I'm quite insecure; whenever I see you with other women, I always end up letting my imagination run wild."

Tang Ye said gently: "In the future, if you have any doubts, just ask me directly. I will definitely explain things clearly to you."

Du Xi hesitated for a moment: "But, I don't want to put too much pressure on you."

"This isn't pressure; it's happiness," Tang Ye said earnestly.

Love is cautious; it requires cultivation and, even more so, constant confirmation.

Women often ask men, "Do you love me?"

Men sometimes feel impatient.

But, when a woman one day stops caring whether you love her or not,

the man had better reflect on whether he has gained a green hat in his closet.

The two chatted for a while longer before hanging up the phone.

Tang Ye looked at the night scene outside the window, his heart filled with thoughts of Du Xi.

She appeared decisive and capable on the outside, but was actually sensitive and fragile on the inside.

The next morning, taking advantage of the fact that Jiang Jing was in good spirits, Tang Ye brought up the Chen Jiadong case.

Jiang Jing immediately understood his intent: "A deputy director of the Suiyuan County Industrial Park keeping multiple mistresses—once the case is made public, it will certainly cause a huge uproar."

Tang Ye nodded: "There is a lot of public discussion now, and everyone is curious about where a deputy director got so much money to keep mistresses."

Jiang Jing's expression was grave: "This case must involve the Discipline Inspection Commission; the problems at the Suiyuan County Industrial Park are very serious."

Seeing that the timing was right, Tang Ye took out the report he had prepared: "Mayor Jiang, I have compiled a municipal fiscal analysis report, and one section specifically sorts out the problems of the Suiyuan County Industrial Park. Could I ask you to take a look?"

"Bring it here," Jiang Jing was clearly interested.

Tang Ye knew well that handing over a report directly could easily cause resistance.

Using the case as an entry point had indeed made the process smooth and natural.

After flipping through the report, Jiang Jing could not hide her surprise: "You wrote this?"

"I studied many reports from the Municipal Finance Bureau and sorted out Hanzhou's fiscal situation, and there are still many deficiencies. For example, the Suiyuan County Industrial Park pledged its factory grounds to illegally borrow 500 million yuan from the Industrial Bank Hanzhou Branch, creating a massive amount of hidden debt."

"This report is very insightful; it not only points out the problems but also proposes solutions. Even if the people from the Municipal Policy Research Office were to write it, I'm afraid they wouldn't reach this level," Jiang Jing praised.

As the Executive Vice Mayor in charge of multiple areas of work, fiscal issues had always been the top priority of Jiang Jing's work.

Hanzhou's current fiscal situation was grim, with expenditures exceeding revenue.

Funds were being consumed too quickly, some industrial parks were sitting idle, and there was a chaotic proliferation of travel expense reimbursements...

Since taking office, Jiang Jing had been committed to increasing revenue and reducing expenditure.

And Tang Ye's report had undoubtedly opened up a new line of thinking:

By strengthening budget management, one could install a "GPS" on every single expenditure;

Innovate investment and financing mechanisms, introduce private capital, and alleviate fiscal pressure.

"I'll take it to show Secretary Zhou later," Jiang Jing said, deliberately placing the report on the very top of the stack of documents.

Looking at Jiang Jing's expression, Tang Ye knew that this fiscal report had achieved the desired effect!