Chapter 637: A Spring Festival of Uneven Temperatures!

In the evening, inside the Tang Family villa, they had a warm New Year's Eve dinner.

Xiao Qin complained that the New Year atmosphere wasn't as strong as it used to be, while watching the Spring Festival Gala.

Around ten o'clock, Du Xi received a call from Liu Fang.

Liu Fang said to the twins, "Hurry up and wish your godfather and godmother a Happy Spring Festival."

Du Xi said with a smile, "What good babies. Your lucky money is already prepared; I'll give it to you when we meet in a few days."

Afterwards, Liu Fang handed the phone to Sun Hai. Sun Hai said a few auspicious words to Tang Ye, and Tang Ye handed the phone to Xiao Qin.

"Auntie, Happy New Year! Wishing you good health."

"Little Sun, Happy New Year, and I wish your mom and dad good health too!"

The phone was then passed to Du Chengfeng.

"Uncle Du, Happy New Year, wishing you great fortune and steady promotions in the coming year!"

A smile appeared on Du Chengfeng's usually stern face, "Wishing you a smooth career and happiness for your whole family."

After hanging up on Sun Hai, they received a succession of New Year greeting calls.

Tang Ye took the time to call several people he was familiar with, such as Hong Ruilin, Zhou Chengwu, Jiang Jing, as well as some classmates and friends from the Party School.

As for Du Chengfeng, he received quite a few calls, while Tang Yu seemed a bit more quiet, mainly because he rarely socialized and was always holed up in the operating room.

Du Xi made a call to Chen Lan.

"Cousin, wishing you a Happy Spring Festival!"

Chen Lan was silent for a few seconds; she was currently at the nursing home accompanying Xiao Fang.

She sighed inwardly, "Thank you for your well wishes, wishing your whole family a Happy Spring Festival!"

This was the most desolate Spring Festival of her life!

Yet Chen Lan felt a sense of relief.

……

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the funeral home's mourning hall felt as if it were soaked in ice.

Inside the Haoqi Changcun Hall, Shen Wanshan's ice coffin was placed in the center, surrounded by yellow and white chrysanthemums, with dew still clinging to the petals.

Shen Baoshan's sisters sobbed incessantly.

Shen Minghan, dressed in mourning clothes, knelt before the coffin; this position should have belonged to Shen Mingcheng.

However, since Shen Mingcheng was now in prison, she had to kneel in this spot; there were no tear tracks on her face, only exhaustion.

"Family members, return the bow!"

A reminder brought Shen Minghan's wandering thoughts back.

He Haiyang stood up at this moment and went to greet him, "Uncle Huang, you've come!"

Provincial Governor Huang patted He Haiyang on the shoulder and then walked toward Shen Minghan, "Minghan, don't be sad, please accept my condolences!"

"Uncle Huang, sigh!" Tears flowed from the corners of her eyes.

Provincial Governor Huang seemed touched as well, tears welling up in his eyes, "I worked with Old Shen for many years. His health had always been poor, and before the New Year, I even reminded him to go to the hospital for more check-ups. I didn't expect him to have an accident. Although Old Shen is gone, our friendship will not change. If there is anything you need me to do, contact me at any time."

"Uncle Huang, there is indeed a matter I need your help with." Shen Minghan seized the opportunity to speak.

Provincial Governor Huang thought to himself that Shen Minghan was quite good at seizing opportunities.

But out of consideration for his years of working with Shen Baoshan, he found it hard to refuse.

"Speak! As long as it is within my power, I will certainly resolve it for you."

"I want to see my younger brother," Shen Minghan said softly.

Provincial Governor Huang glanced at the Secretary behind him, "You go handle this matter. Comrade Baoshan was a person who made significant contributions to the country and the region; his final wishes should be given care and attention."

The Secretary hurriedly took out a pen and notebook to record the leader's instructions.

Shen Minghan continued, "Uncle Huang, before my father passed away, he couldn't let go of Mingcheng. Mingcheng is someone you watched grow up; he might be a bit mischievous, but he isn't a bad kid."

Provincial Governor Huang waved his hand, understanding what Shen Minghan meant, "He is not a child; he is an adult and was even a County Party Secretary. If he did wrong, he did wrong. He must be determined to turn over a new leaf. Once he has been reformed, he can start over. Having suffered a major setback in life, isn't it an opportunity for transformation to temper one's character?"

Seeing that Provincial Governor Huang had blocked her path for help, Shen Minghan said disappointedly, "Uncle Huang, I have taken your teachings to heart. I will certainly convey them to Mingcheng and have him study and reform well inside."

Provincial Governor Huang left the memorial service venue; a gust of cold wind struck, freezing him and making him pull his collar tight.

The Secretary hurriedly opened the car door, and Provincial Governor Huang climbed in; the warm air made his brow relax slightly.

"We have investigated clearly; this time Shen Mingcheng's arrest was the result of Zhou Chengwu communicating with Secretary Zhu. The fuse should have been Shen Mingcheng arresting a businessman named Sun Hai. This Sun Hai's backer is the son-in-law of Hanzhou Municipal Committee Secretary-General Du Chengfeng, named Tang Ye!"

If it were an ordinary person, they would be dizzy from these complex relationships.

"Tang Ye, why is this name so familiar?"

"Xiao Jingyu's son, Xiao Zi'an, was brought down by Tang Ye! Furthermore, he once served as Jiang Jing's secretary..."

Provincial Governor Huang's gaze turned cold, and he sighed faintly, "It is not a good thing for a young person to be too sharp!"

……

"Little Shen, why haven't you touched your food today?"

"If you want to eat it, then you can have it!"

"Then I won't be polite. The food is only this rich because it's the New Year; after the New Year, you won't even be able to eat it if you wanted to!"

The cellmate walked over to Shen Mingcheng, scraped the leftovers from his tray onto his own, and began to eat with a slurping sound.

Shen Mingcheng watched him immersed in it, looking exactly like a pig rooting for food, and his heart was filled with disgust.

Shen Mingcheng had never imagined he would spend the New Year in prison. His cellmate in the same room was also a political prisoner who had been a Department-level Official before entering prison; he had now been in jail for eight years, his edges worn smooth.

When he had free time, he would curl up in the corner and write a novel. It is said that a publishing house had already contacted him, and it would be published when he was released.

This type of realistic memoir-style novel had quite good market feedback and had enough attractive selling points; as long as the promotion was in place, it could have good sales.

"9529! 9529! 9529!"

"They're calling you, Little Shen!"

Seeing Shen Mingcheng dazed, a cellmate kindly reminded him.

"Here!" Shen Mingcheng, not yet accustomed to his nickname, shuddered and quickly called out.

"Someone is here to visit, tidy up your appearance!" the prison guard said with a dissatisfied tone.

"May I ask who is visiting?" Upon hearing someone was visiting, Shen Mingcheng felt his nose sting.

"It's your older sister!" the prison guard's tone was somewhat impatient.

Shen Mingcheng wiped his moist eyes and, led by the prison guard, walked toward the visitation room.

The cellmate watched Shen Mingcheng's back, his eyes rolling around.

He had been constantly changing cellmates, mainly wanting to find creative inspiration and material from these people.

Having been in contact with Shen Mingcheng for a few days, this young man seemed to have not yet recognized the reality of the situation.

Once he got used to his current life, he would slowly share his crimes with him.

Shen Mingcheng walked to the visitation room and saw a familiar figure sitting opposite him.

This time he could no longer hold it back, and tears flowed down in torrents, like a river bursting its banks!