Chapter 317: Sun Chengjun at His Wits' End

"What's going on? Weren't they arrested for picking fights and causing trouble? How dare they come looking for Du lao er—who gave them the guts?" Sun Chengjun's head is pounding now.

He knew the villagers of Water Melon Village were troublesome, but he didn't expect them to be this troublesome. Dealing with the ringleader would be easy for him, but if someone incites the whole village to cause trouble and he can't find the mastermind behind it, he can't possibly arrest everyone, can he?

This kind of thing has never happened before, and among those who came, besides the families of Du lao er and his gang, there were also many people from the Jiang and Chen families.

The reporting officer said, "This is also suspicious—originally the Jiang and Chen families weren't on good terms, and now Du lao er is the one arrested; what does it have to do with them?"

"But actually they came together and, filled with righteous indignation, insistently demand that the police station hand over Du lao er—they're sure of it, Du lao er has already fled."

Sun Chengjun was practically at his wits' end; after going out, he saw the villagers straining their necks and shouting, and said, "Du lao er assaulted a police officer this morning and fled secretly. He's now fleeing to avoid punishment, and our police station is also preparing to arrest him."

"If you haven't noticed, please provide any clues promptly; otherwise, you're harboring a criminal."

"Besides, this is the town police station, not your farmland—you think you can come cause trouble whenever you want? Last night you came provoking us repeatedly; I let it slide because you don't understand the law, or perhaps someone behind the scenes is deliberately provoking you."

"But if you keep storming the police station over and over, we can treat it as besieging the government."

"No matter how many of you there are, you will face legal sanctions. Don't think that being numerous makes you untouchable; otherwise, go ahead and test it."

"Who are you trying to scare? I don't believe you can arrest all of us—come try arresting one, I'll stand right here."

"You all stay still—let him come arrest someone; I'll see how many he can catch."

"Exactly, your police station only has about ten people, while we have several dozen—what can you do to us?"

"A police station that hasn't even grown a full head of hair, yet its director acts like a big shot—we don't care; Du lao er was taken from our village by you, and now we demand you return him to the police station."

In the crowd, one of Du lao er's lackeys stirred things up with a sentence, set a rhythm, and the rest began shouting in unison.

Sun Chengjun's face turned grim; handling public relations is truly his weakness. If these people really are thugs, he has hundreds of ways to deal with them.

These are ordinary people—hardline tactics simply can't be used; even the slightest harshness will draw public condemnation.

He also knows for sure that some people in the town government are behind this; any move will be seized upon, taken to the town government meeting, and thus implicate Su Yang.

Just when he had no idea how to respond, Li Hu and Dai Yaxuan arrived in a hurry.

Actually, Li Hu found out about last night's incident before dawn today, so he didn't go to the town government but came straight to the police station.

Dai Yaxuan was the same; they both came without prior agreement, and seeing the scene, Li Hu's face turned completely grim.

"Who just said that? Want to find Du lao er? Ask me—I'll find him."

"A petty scoundrel, you try to fool them a bit, and they actually think the law can't touch them? From now on, anyone wanting to find Du lao er will register their name one by one at the police station gate."

"Anyone who registers their name will have their poor-household relief grain and all such benefits canceled, all welfare issued by the town government reclaimed, and all funds and projects allocated to Water Melon Village suspended."

"Besides, I will propose that the town Party Committee and town government dismiss the Village Party Secretary and hold the village director accountable."

"If you still want to find Du lao er, come to the gate to register—and I'll personally register you."

The crowd exchanged glances; finally an elder stepped forward and left, and then the rest scattered in a hubbub.

Isn't it that they don't care about removing Jiang da tou and his ilk, but these villagers rely entirely on relief grain to survive—if the government cancels their relief grain, it might as well be killing them.

Coming here today was originally just to disgust Sun Chengjun, while also fulfilling the task assigned by those behind the scenes.

But now it seems the fox wasn't caught and instead stirred up a mess—better to run away quickly.

If Li Hu really sets his sights on you, that's also trouble.

Although they don't understand the law, they're certainly not stupid; they know that if they anger Li Hu to the point of fury, there are hundreds of ways to deal with them.

After everyone had left, Sun Chengjun hurried forward to greet them, saying, "Mayor Li, Mayor Dai, I'm really sorry to bother you so early in the morning."

Li Hu chuckled and said, "What's the trouble? I'm normally in charge of public security in the town; frankly, these problems never happened before, but now some people in town want to stir things up."

"They keep using underhanded tactics day after day to stir up trouble; I roughly know who's behind them inciting this—let them have their fun for now, and once Secretary Su returns, I'll sort them out clearly."

"But Du lao er has fled now; we must hurry to find him, or else someone will surely use this incident to make a fuss."

"From what Secretary Qin said, the Four Seas Biological Pharmaceutical factory matter is to be finalized today, with the groundbreaking ceremony tomorrow—so these two days we should avoid any incidents."

"As for you going to the county to report work yourself, admitting fault isn't necessary; everything can wait until Secretary Su returns."

"To be frank, these people are acting this way aimed at Secretary Su, and only Secretary Su can resolve it."

"We can only do our best to perform our duties well. Moreover, I estimate that these people can still gather to cause trouble now, but if construction really begins, there will definitely be a clash."

"You need to arrange personnel properly; at the groundbreaking ceremony, nothing should go wrong. Moreover, if I'm not mistaken, Secretary Qin won't be there in person to preside over the ceremony—there's a high chance I'll be asked to do it—so make a contingency plan."

Sun Chengjun nodded with a grim face; this is the toughest test of his career so far.

Since becoming police station director, he's had no day off; these past days, aside from the shooting incident and the escaped suspect, he hasn't accomplished anything that would earn leadership's approval.

If the County Public Security Bureau really pursues this, he will at least receive a demerit.

At this very moment, the news that Li Hu intends to propose removing Village Party Secretary Jiang da tou has spread; upon hearing it, Jiang da tou went straight to Qin Chuan's office.

"Secretary Qin, I just don't understand why Li Hu wants to propose removing me—what do the villagers' disturbances have to do with me? It's not like I told them to cause trouble."

"It seems the police station director openly fired on ordinary people and opposed them, which is why they went to cause trouble; the public is dissatisfied with them—what does that have to do with me?"

"Secretary Qin, you need to uphold justice for me on this matter……"