Chapter 627

Such a decisive attitude truly left Lin Zhinan stunned. As for how to handle this matter, they had a plan long ago—nothing more than probing Su Yang's background—whether to side with Geng Miao or become everyone's enemy.

Although Su Yang spoke so bluntly, he still asked: "County Magistrate Su, you know Geng Zong's influence, and I heard that yesterday at dinner he even gave you a small gift; now to turn against him like this—I'm afraid..."

Su Yang said: "Afraid of what? Afraid that others will say I'm ungrateful? One thing is one thing. Party discipline and state law are party discipline and state law; personal feelings are personal feelings. Public is public, private is private—I can still tell them apart. If Manager Geng has a problem, let him come find me."

"That's settled, go quickly—don't let this public opinion keep fermenting, or else none of us can withstand it."

Lin Zhinan didn't even know how he had left Su Yang's office; by the time he got back to Lie Shan Public Security Bureau, his mind was still in a daze.

Originally it was just to give Su Yang a show of force, to let him know how complicated and difficult this matter was, and if necessary have him use connections to suppress public opinion. Anyway, Su Yang had twice before gotten into trouble, and public opinion was quickly suppressed each time, so he should have considerable experience and connections in this regard. Otherwise, why would Geng Miao come up with this move? Why would he have him go directly to Su Yang?

But Su Yang didn't play by the usual rules.

That said, this matter cannot be left unhandled. If public opinion pressure really builds up, nobody can withstand it, especially someone like Geng Miao who walks the gray line.

His conduct may be unorthodox, but he has always kept a very low profile, especially regarding the media—avoiding exposure if possible, avoiding appearing if possible.

After a long while, he finally called Geng Biao—indeed, he called Geng Biao, not Geng Miao directly, for he wasn't qualified enough to do that.

After hearing this, Geng Biao exploded on the spot: "What the hell is this? If I don't show them some color, they'll never know how tough I am! For tonight, leave it as is—don't move yet. Tomorrow morning I'll give you a word, and we'll see how this gets settled."

"But before that, you first arrest all those who filed the reports! If you can't handle it yourself, I'll send people to do it! And, are you, as Public Security Bureau Chief, lacking a brain?"

"Weren't these matters supposed to be dumped first onto the newly arrived Deputy Chief Sun Chengjun? Shouldn't he be the one to resolve it? Then he'd go find Su Yang, and if the problem couldn't be solved or got blown up, that would be their affair! Why did you run over there yourself?"

Lin Zhinan kept nodding, admitting fault, saying nice things to explain, while in his heart he had already cursed Geng Biao as utterly useless: "This is the system, not the underworld! Officialdom has its own rules!"

The reporters went straight to Sun Chengjun's side to file the case; Sun Chengjun is no fool, and since the matter is important, he naturally first reported the situation to the head of the Public Security Bureau, rather than bypassing channels to report to the County Party Committee leadership.

Moreover, if he didn't have his consent, or if the County Party Committee leadership had specifically ordered Sun Chengjun to report, then Sun Chengjun couldn't arbitrarily go to superiors to report work.

After finishing the pleasantries, he still held a grudge, so he bluntly told Geng Biao: "Second Brother, I think we should handle it like this: let you deal with the reporters first; best to give them a taste of their own medicine so they withdraw the case."

"Once the case is withdrawn, everyone will be fine, and we can also ask them who's behind them filing again and causing trouble."

Geng Biao snorted and hung up. In his view, such things are trivial—finding those reporters is easy for him, and dragging them back to pry open their mouths is just a flick of the finger.

He had originally intended to do just that, but Geng Miao insisted on emphasizing that whatever could be handled through legal proceedings should be, and whatever could be resolved officially should be; after going around in circles, it still ended up being their responsibility. He never realized that Lin Zhinan had actually kicked the ball back to him.

Of course, Lin Zhinan also came to hate Sun Chengjun. He had already been dissatisfied with Sun Chengjun taking the post of Deputy Chief of Lie Shan Public Security Bureau; according to the original plan, the person Geng Miao intended to promote was exactly the one he had favored.

That way, the entire Lie Shan Public Security Bureau would be wholly his voice, his word final. But after Sun Chengjun arrived, without a word he sought to take control of the Criminal Police Team.

For now, the Criminal Police Team is still in his hands, but this time the person behind the scenes who stirred things up filed the report with Sun Chengjun, and Sun Chengjun naturally passed the buck to him. It seems this Deputy Chief who came with Su Yang is no saint either.

At this moment, Sun Chengjun was calling Su Yang: "County Magistrate Su, has Bureau Chief Lin already come to report work to you? I mean someone filed a report saying that the Geng Group's agrochemical store, because it sold agrochemicals to the common people, eventually turned into loan sharking, leading to deaths."

Su Yang said: "Exactly, that's the matter. Originally, according to his logic, he wanted me to come out and take the blame, to go head-to-head with Geng Miao, but he thought too simply. I kicked the ball back again, having him arrest people, and we'll go directly to the Public Security Bureau this morning to look into this."

"You handled this side quite well this time, but you still need a few of your own people; otherwise nothing can get done. According to the original plan, these matters weren't urgent, and we at least had a transition period, but now it seems they won't give us that chance."

"This isn't because Geng Miao is eager to confront us face to face; rather, another force is secretly manipulating this matter. It seems those lurking in the dark would love to see us clash with Geng Miao."

"If we really end up losing, to them there should be no loss—after all, the worst situation in Lieshan County is no worse than this; but if Geng Miao falls, the dark cloud over Lieshan County will disperse, and the common people will thereafter be able to live peaceful lives."

"But that's also what I think. Although I've kicked the ball back, Geng Miao is surely not easy to deal with; if he were, he wouldn't be Geng Miao. You should also consider this on your end—if they push you to the front, you too need a proper solution."

"To prevent him from suddenly sending you to lead a team to arrest people, let me think… If he wants you to be a shield, then you should request the Shuanggou Town Police Station to assist in making arrests."

After Su Yang finished speaking and hung up, he began to wonder who was behind this, so eager to let him and Geng Miao fully open hostilities, not giving him even a breath's chance.

At this very moment, Geng Biao had already taken the Shuanggou Liquor Factory security team to arrest the reporters. They were just about to set out when they saw that familiar tiger-head Benz that everyone makes way for drive in through the gate.

As soon as the vehicle came to a stop, Geng Miao stepped out, his face cold, and asked: "What are you doing? Didn't I tell you to keep a low profile? Haven't recent events been enough?"