Chapter 436: Trade-offs

Liu Qimeng had me make a trip to the Municipal Public Security Bureau with the County Public Security Bureau Director; he wanted to pressure the Municipal Bureau and oppose their hasty closure of the case.

The County Bureau Director looked distressed; the decision to close the case had come down from the Provincial Department, and the Municipal Bureau had no way to oppose it. As a mere county-level bureau chief, he had almost no say in this matter.

Liu Qimeng's stance was very clear: if this case was not dug into and pursued, he would initiate an accountability process.

If Liu Qimeng pursued accountability, the Public Security Bureau Director would be the first to bear the brunt. For the police, the occurrence of a major case is actually a good thing. Those in the police force need major cases. If a major case is solved, one gains both fame and fortune. A police officer who doesn't solve a few major cases in their lifetime will not be able to rest in peace even upon death.

Take Lao Mo, for example; he spent his whole life as a detention center officer, guarding hundreds of suspects every day, with absolutely no opportunity to distinguish himself. Therefore, when he encountered me asking him to investigate the Qilin Villa case, he threw everything aside and followed me without hesitation.

Even now that he is under investigation, he would not regret it until his dying day.

I understood Liu Qimeng's intentions; he was determined not to watch Guan Peishan get away with it. Although there was no evidence indicating Guan Peishan had any connection to Qilin Villa, the owner of Qilin Villa was Liang Tianxing, and Liang Tianxing was the developer Guan Peishan had introduced to Chunshan County.

No one could guarantee that Guan Peishan had no connection to this. Yet, to say he was involved, there was no evidence. Guan Peishan setting his office at Qilin Villa actually showed he didn't understand the affairs of Qilin Villa at all. As an old County Party Secretary, could he not distinguish between what was light and what was heavy?

Guan Peishan was stripped from his position as County Party Secretary and made the head of the Economic Leading Group. On the surface, it looked like a promotion to a municipal post, but in reality, it carried a heavy scent of a demotion.

A County Party Secretary is not a small official; they are someone whose name is registered in Beijing. No matter how big the title of Economic Leading Group head is, it is just a sinecure given by the local government. One is a feudal lord of a region, the other is a local official with a hollow title; who doesn't understand the mystery behind this?

Liu Qimeng went to great lengths to pull Guan Peishan down, and he wouldn't be satisfied just watching him sit idle. He wanted to step on Guan Peishan's back once more to ensure he would never rise again.

The Qilin Villa case was his final kick to the door.

I sat in the Bureau Director's car, feigning sleep, letting him chatter in my ear without saying a single word.

The Bureau Director grew anxious, honked the horn, and said, "County Magistrate Chen, you have to make a decision."

I opened my eyes, looked at his flustered appearance, and wanted to laugh. A smile curved at the corner of my mouth, and I said, "What decision do you want me to make?"

"You are the leader, of course you make the decision. How should we handle this?"

"Handle it coldly," I said lightly, looking ahead. "Handle it according to Secretary Liu's wishes."

"I don't understand Secretary Liu's wishes. Could you give me a hint, please?" The Bureau Director changed to a fawning tone. He was a man promoted after Liu Qimeng took office; if he truly didn't understand Liu Qimeng's wishes, was it that Liu Qimeng had misjudged the man, or was the Bureau Director truly that dense?

I looked at him with contempt. The Bureau Director was a perennial runner-up; he had stayed in the position of Deputy Bureau Chief for over ten years, watching those behind him leapfrog him one by one, and he was burning with anxiety. Once, he found an opportunity, bought two wild turtles, and went to Guan Peishan's door in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, Guan's wife had never eaten scaleless fish in her life, saying that things like turtles were wild creatures with spiritual nature. She immediately told him to take them away.

The Bureau Director was left between laughter and tears, intentionally waving the turtle in front of Guan's wife, meaning to let her see the large, golden ring tied to the turtle's leg.

The official's wife had sharp eyes and finally saw it after a few waves. She shrieked in alarm, saying that since the turtle had a token tied to its leg, it must have been something released by someone else. To eat it now would invite divine retribution.

As soon as Guan's wife shrieked, Guan Peishan's face darkened, and he immediately scolded him severely.

Guan's wife dared not delay, hugged the turtle, and ran to the river to release it.

The Bureau Director didn't get any favor, was scolded instead, and even lost a large ring. The fire burning in his heart only needed a spark to burn Chunshan County to the ground.

In his despondency, he happened to meet Liu Qimeng and poured out all the bitterness stuffed in his heart. Liu Qimeng remained calm, listened to his complaints, patted him on the shoulder a few times, and left without saying a word.

When Guan Peishan stepped down and Liu Qimeng took office, a reorganization was natural. Thus, upon his proposal, the Deputy Bureau Chief was finally promoted. The former Bureau Chief was transferred to be the Secretary of the County Political and Legal Affairs Commission.

After the Bureau Director became the chief, he followed Liu Qimeng's lead in everything. After all, Liu Qimeng was his benefactor and had shown him favor. Therefore, Liu Qimeng arranged for him to go with me to the Municipal Public Security Bureau to present our local government's opinion on the Qilin Villa case.

"Actually, I knew something would happen long ago," the Bureau Director said with the air of a hindsight genius. "A place like Qilin Villa, if there wasn't someone behind it, would they dare!"

"Even if they didn't dare, they did it," I teased him. "In your territory, this kind of thing happened; I don't know if it's your dereliction of duty or if you had concerns and intentionally let it be."

The Bureau Director said sternly, "County Magistrate Chen, don't wrong me. I reported the situation at Qilin Villa to Secretary Liu."

I said "Oh," stared at him, and said, "It seems you discovered the problem long ago?"

The Bureau Director smiled shamefully and said, "County Magistrate Chen, I've been eating this bowl of police rice for thirty years now. In Chunshan County, if someone is up to no good, stealing, having affairs, or committing arson, how could I not know?"

His temples were gray, and wrinkles covered a face like a withered tree. It was as if the five thousand years of China's vicissitudes could be read from the wrinkles on his face.

"Since you knew everything, and I still came to mess with this, I really am a dog catching mice." I was very unhappy. When Provincial Governor Lin came from the province, he had also said such things, as if everyone in the world knew about the Qilin Villa affair except for me. And they were all preparing a net, just waiting for the right time to close it.

I had blundered in like a fool, and the moment I acted, I killed the main culprit, Lao Can. With such an investigation, I was now inextricably linked to it.

I had just used a common saying, which made the Bureau Director laugh. Comparing myself to a dog was truly damaging to my status.

But I had no time to worry about that now; I couldn't even grasp the edge of Secretary Liu Qimeng's instructions.

To truly present an opinion would be to negate the conclusion of the Provincial Public Security Department. Negating the Provincial Department meant negating Provincial Governor Lin. Thinking of this, cold sweat began to bead on my back.

I, a mere small county magistrate, was almost like a mustard seed in Provincial Governor Lin's eyes. If I displeased him, he could crush me into powder with a flick of his finger.

If I didn't negate the Provincial Department's conclusion, I couldn't report back to Liu Qimeng. Liu Qimeng called me here to tie me to this matter; no matter what I did, I would be inextricably linked to it.

This way, I was damned if I did and damned if I didn't! No matter how I acted, I would offend one side. And offending either side would leave me in deep trouble.

"Let's not worry about that for now; let's get the people out first," I said. By getting people out, I meant Hao Qiang and Lao Mo.

Hao Qiang and Lao Mo were under investigation and had lost their personal freedom. They were originally heroes, but now they had become the culprits. With Lao Can dead, the case couldn't proceed further, and Hao Qiang and Lao Mo couldn't clear their names.

The Bureau Director quickly agreed. He said these two officers in the bureau were the apple of his eye. Now that they were under investigation, he felt worse than they did.

I understood the Bureau Director's words perfectly. These two were people I had personally asked him for. If they weren't people I trusted, why would I have named them specifically?

The Bureau Director was playing to my preferences, saying these things to tell me he was on my side.

"County Magistrate Chen, I feel they were both wronged. If someone wants to die, can they stop it? Besides, I heard the deceased, that scoundrel, left a suicide note before he died."

"A suicide note?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes, I heard there is quite a lot of content in the note."

"What content?"

"It is said he listed a name list."

"A list? What list?" I became even more curious.

"I don't know the specifics either. Anyway, it involves a lot of people." The Bureau Director sighed and said, "I don't know who is on his list."

"If there is a list, why close the case?" I muttered to myself, my heart churning. This Lao Can was truly no ordinary person; even in death, he left such a suspense.

"Was it suicide, or some other reason?" I asked.

"The current conclusion is suicide. But I still doubt it. With police methods, it's not that easy for a suspect to commit suicide. Especially since this case is no small matter, the level of surveillance must have been very high."

The Bureau Director was tight-lipped, focusing entirely on driving.

"It seems we are now trapped in this too," I sighed.

"Don't worry. As long as we don't get involved and act impartially, even the King of Heaven can't do anything to us."

"That's true!" I exhaled a long breath. ===== CHAPTER 437 =====