Chapter 239: Ready to Kill

After glancing at the phone number, he said to Ji Chaoming, "I'll go outside to take a call; we need to hurry up here."

Ji Chaoming said, "Just follow his instructions, quickly go make him a seaweed egg drop soup; we can't keep wasting time on these meaningless things."

Spending time on meaningless things is the opposite of what Su Yang wants; he just wants to waste time, he wishes this meal would take him ten or eight hours. As a result, he hasn't even taken two bites.

The longer the delay, the more advantageous it is for him.

Shortly after, Residual Warmth walked in from outside and said, "Su Yang, stop with the pointless struggling and stalling, because you can't change anything anyway. From now on, we won't let you eat or drink soup; even if you want to die, we don't mind using measures against you."

"Anyway, during Discipline Inspection Commission interrogations, many people commit suicide out of fear of guilt; you're no exception—if you really want to die, we can help you."

Ji Chaoming heard Residual Warmth say this and felt a chill inside; Residual Warmth spoke lightly, but while there are people who commit suicide out of fear during Discipline Inspection Commission interrogations, those people have no background or backing—at most they're just a scapegoat.

That's because they have to die; only when they die does that line get cut, allowing the big figures behind them to land safely.

But Su Yang is different—if he dies here, the ones who'd easily become cannon fodder would be him and Residual Warmth; they've thought of that, which is why they initially didn't dare to act against Su Yang.

Even Residual Warmth was usually cautious, but after suddenly receiving a phone call, he changed; he couldn't help but look to Residual Warmth for meaning, yet Residual Warmth's expression showed great determination.

At this moment, Su Yang's pupils also involuntarily contracted; it seemed Residual Warmth had received instructions from some people to strike at him.

Ji Chaomin said to Residual Warmth, "Let's go out and communicate first."

Residual Warmth knew what he wanted to ask, "We don't have much time left; I just got word from people in the bureau that someone is already everywhere looking for Su Yang's whereabouts—if we give them a certain amount of time, they'll definitely find us."

"So from now on, make everyone turn off their phones, cut off all contact with the outside. Strive to pry open Su Yang's mouth in the shortest time." After saying that, he leaned close to Ji Chaoming's ear and whispered, "County Magistrate Zhou and Secretary Fang are already on their way back; as long as they personally look for Su Yang, this matter will become extremely passive."

Ji Chaoming asked, "If we really have to use measures, what if someone dies? Who will be responsible in the end? You also said County Magistrate Zhou and Secretary Fang are coming back; no matter how the struggle among the County Standing Committee members turns out, I'm afraid neither of us will get a good outcome."

Residual Warmth smiled faintly and said, "Letting him walk out alive this time, we still won't get a good outcome. I just got a call; besides the information I just told you, someone also revealed an extremely important matter: County Magistrate Zhou and Secretary Fang both have connections in the province."

"Once they find out we're deliberately targeting Su Yang, the consequences would be unimaginable, especially Secretary Fang—normally, for training meetings held in the province, can division-level cadres take leave? Obviously not, yet Secretary Fang somehow managed to take leave and come back. Moreover, the person who escorted him out is still a deputy secretary of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission."

"From this you can imagine how deep his background is, and I've also heard that the city is already preparing to form a joint investigation team."

"Put bluntly, they're coming after us; if we don't handle this properly, what will we face? Do I need to spell it out?"

"Say something you don't want to hear—our political careers might very well end because of this. Moreover, we've been in the system for years; if they want to dig up dirt on us, even a casual search would turn up a lot, and I dare not say what the consequences would be."

Ji Chaomin was half‑believing, half‑doubting Residual Warmth's words; given his professional sensitivity, it's easy to tell he definitely received a phone call from someone behind the scenes giving instructions—that person is likely the big figure behind the scenes that they and Zhao Jidong mentioned.

"Old Ji, we have no choice; once we go in, whatever needs to be done must be done, whatever needs to be acted on must be acted on—otherwise we'll be the ones who suffer."

At this very moment, Zhao Ruilong, Liu Kunda, and Wang Tao are drinking at an entertainment club in the provincial capital.

Liu Kunda asked somewhat puzzled, "Wasn't it already arranged for someone to tamper with things? Why do we need to use force? If we use force, wouldn't that invite criticism?"

"If we mess up, they'll really investigate this matter."

Wang Tao laughed and said, "You've been a boss too long, only knowing how to make money; saying this is easy is easy, saying it's troublesome is also troublesome."

"The reason it's troublesome is that Fang Jingwen and her side will definitely cause trouble, and the cause of Su Yang's death will be investigated thoroughly; someone will inevitably have to take responsibility for this, otherwise we can't explain it away."

"But if we say it's easy, it's easy, because this matter isn't something we did—what does the so‑called Residual Warmth and whatever Ji … have to do with us?"

Liu Kunda's eyes lit up upon hearing that, "Exactly, kill him. He even dared to smash an ashtray on my head—just asking for death."

"No, if we want him dead, we just need to tamper with the food; that way even if he dies, it'll be a quiet death. If you start fighting inside, that's practically handing them a chance to bring in a forensic examiner."

Zhao Ruilong gave a cold snort and said, "Your brain is just like that. You don't understand anything—this kind of drug can't directly take effect; it needs to be triggered in an emotionally agitated state, otherwise it would really be murder. You've got to use some brains when doing things."

"No matter what, we can settle this like that; in the end, if Fang Jingwen isn't all‑that‑important and really pushes hard, someone will naturally step forward to take the blame, and it'll have nothing to do with us. We'll eat and drink as we please—I want every official, big and small, in Ganzhou to know what happens when you offend me, Zhao Ruilong."

"Come on, keep the music playing, keep dancing—today we must have a wild time."

"Also, delete all records of your contacts with subordinates; if anything happens, we won't know a thing—who tampered with what? Who did what and who's responsible?"

While those three were here disregarding life, waiting for the outcome, Su Yang had already taken a few bites of food; although he originally wanted to waste time, seeing the expressions and behavior of Residual Warmth and Ji Chaoming, he simply stopped eating.

He clearly understood his situation—he was just like those expendable scapegoats, even worse off; in reality, he was a pawn in this political game.

Sure enough, just as he put down his chopsticks without even wiping his mouth, Residual Warmth and Ji Chaoming entered—this time it was obvious Ji Chaoming had been persuaded.

He directly asked, "Will you confess or not? If you don't, don't blame us for being ruthless."