Chapter 585: Deep Water, Shallow Water

Everything didn't exceed my expectations. Less than two days after the Petition Bureau's request was submitted, the notice issued in the name of the Hengyue Municipal Government arrived in my hands.

The Municipal Government, according to the request, united the procuratorate, the court, and the discipline inspection commission, with the Petition Bureau taking the lead, to form a joint investigation team.

My name was prominently listed on the notice; I was actually the deputy leader of the joint investigation team.

The leader was a deputy secretary of the discipline inspection commission, and a deputy president of the procuratorate, a deputy president of the court, and I were the deputy leaders. Each deputy leader drew a staff member from their own unit, and the office location of the joint investigation team was set in our Petition Bureau.

Holding the notice, I always felt something was wrong. I looked at the notice repeatedly and suddenly discovered that there was no Public Security Bureau in the joint investigation team.

I was still guessing the meaning of the notice when Wan Xiao's phone call arrived on my mobile phone.

Wan Xiao invited me to drink tea at Xinlinyin, saying that an old comrade-in-arms of his brought him top-grade Guapian from Anhui. Anhui Liu'an Guapian is indeed a top-grade tea, with an annual production of only ten or twenty catties. In the past, it was a tribute to the royal family, and now it is a good thing that ordinary people can't taste.

My concept of tea is not very strong. When I was a child, I was thirsty and always poured a ladle of cold water. When I was in college, I drank cold water the same way. It wasn't until I became a deputy county magistrate that I started to learn to taste tea under the strong suggestion of Yu Wei, pretending to be elegant.

Tea is a good thing. It is said that gentlemen like tea. I don't want to be a villain, so I want to learn to taste tea.

Wan Xiao's suggestion immediately received my enthusiastic response, and I took Xu Meili and rushed to Xinlinyin.

On the way, Xu Meili heard that I was going to drink tea with Wan Xiao and refused to go no matter what. She insisted on getting off the car halfway. No matter how I tried to persuade her, she insisted on her own way and just wouldn't go.

Actually, I wanted to bring Xu Meili into the joint investigation team.

After Xu Meili insisted on getting off the car, she complained to me, "Director Chen, you clearly know my relationship with Old Wan. You taking me to drink tea with him like this is either putting eye drops on him, or looking for trouble for me? Or are you dark in your heart, wanting to watch my joke?"

Reminded by her, I remembered this. So I patted my forehead and apologized repeatedly. Xu Meili didn't blame me, simply laughed and said, "Since Director Chen has already brought me out, it's not good for me to go back now. Why don't you give me a day off, and I'll go shopping."

I couldn't help but agree to Xu Meili's request. After waiting for her to twist her butt and leave, I went straight to Xinlinyin.

Wan Xiao had been waiting for me for a long time. Seeing me enter, he hurriedly stood up to welcome me.

Wan Xiao wanted a private room that was absolutely private, with no one else but him.

The water had already boiled, and Wan Xiao pointed to the kettle and said, "Brother, this water is particular, it's not easy to come by!"

I asked in surprise, "What's particular about the water? Isn't it just water?"

Wan Xiao smiled without saying a word, took out a cup as white as snow, poured some water into it, handed it to me, and said, "You look, what's different?"

I carefully examined the cup in my hand, looked at it for a long time, shook my head, and said hesitantly, "Wan Ju, I don't see anything."

Wan Xiao smiled, his smile seemed to hide countless mysteries. He pointed to the water in the cup and said, "Look carefully, is this water floating like silver threads?"

I looked carefully and seemed to see thousands of silk-like things floating in the water. So I praised, "Good water!"

"Of course it's good water." Wan Xiao extended a finger with satisfaction, dipped a drop out of the cup, and pointed it on the back of my hand, "Look, does it look like a pearl?"

The water drop fell on the back of my hand, actually didn't scatter, and was indeed as round as a pearl.

"This is Zhenzhu Quan," Wan Xiao sighed, "To brew such tea, ordinary water can't brew its charm and exquisiteness. Only good water like Zhenzhu Quan can match such good tea."

I didn't understand, like me, I wouldn't pay attention to what water brews what tea. I only know whether the tea is astringent or not, or whether it is bitter, or whether it has fragrance when brewed.

This attitude of mine toward life was once considered by Lin Xiaoxi to be a person without taste in life. She mocked me for being more of a farmer than a farmer, and said mercilessly that the blood flowing in my bones didn't have half a noble bloodline.

I surrendered every time. Lin Xiaoxi was right. My grandfather was a farmer, and my father was also a farmer. It was just that later, following the revolution, I changed my destiny and washed the mud off my legs to become a city person.

But there was one sentence I didn't say. In fact, looking at society, tracing back three generations, whose ancestors weren't farmers?

I don't think farmers are ignorant at all, and I don't think farmers are lower than city people. Anyone who looks down on farmers is a hypocritical person, a person without moral bottom line, a person who likes to pretend to be 13.

Without farmers, where would food and drink come from? Without farmers, where would clothes and housing come from?

Without farmers, city people live worse than dogs!

"This water of mine was taken specifically to brew this tea. Two days and two nights of travel, and the last ten kilometers were places with no people, all relying on human shoulders and hands, so there were only one or two buckets, not even a hundred catties of water."

Wan Xiao said, describing the hardship of taking this water, exaggeratingly gesturing with his movements.

I know this Zhenzhu Quan; it's not in the jurisdiction of our Hengyue City, not even in the jurisdiction of Central Province. Zhenzhu Quan is in a continuous mountain range, located at the junction of three provinces, a place where chickens call five counties.

Drinking this water really has the effect of sweet spring. It can relieve heat, fatigue, and refresh the mind. What's more magical is that long-term drinking of this water makes one immune to all diseases, mosquitoes don't get close to the body, and there is a dark fragrance flowing between the body and hair.

If you bathe with this water, it's even more extraordinary. It is said that it has the effect of rejuvenating. Women who bathe with this water have skin like grease and skin like snow. Between the corners of the eyes and eyebrows, it is like spring mountains containing black, looking forward with affection.

I praised, "Wan Ju is awesome! Amazing."

Wan Xiao smiled and said, "Good tea and good water treat brothers, no need to brag about me."

Wan Xiao's level is higher than mine. He is a genuine deputy department-level cadre. Originally, he was going to be promoted a level last year to be the Municipal Political and Legal Committee Secretary, a department-level cadre, but for some reason, he didn't go up. This is his most regrettable place, and he has been working hard in this direction.

Wan Xiao is an old public security officer who worked in the Public Security Bureau after retiring from the army. Originally, when he was professional, he was already a regiment-level cadre, a level equal to the County Party Committee Secretary. But the local area doesn't eat that set of the army. As long as you return to the local area, no matter how high the level was before, no matter how big the official was, they will all be demoted.

Demoting a level or a half-level makes people understand, but what is feared is demoting to the end. For example, Wan Xiao, a regiment-level cadre doing a deputy station chief, I don't know how many levels he was demoted.

Wan Xiao knows the local rules and works diligently on his own things. A year later, he encountered a murderer. He was alone and captured him with his bare hands. Later, several murder cases occurred in his jurisdiction, all of which were led by Wan Xiao to solve the case. In this way, he went from deputy station chief to county bureau criminal police brigade chief, then to deputy bureau chief, bureau chief, and a few years later went to the municipal bureau to be the deputy bureau chief in charge of criminal investigation, working for more than ten years, and just climbed to the bureau chief's throne two years ago.

In this way, when the Qilin Villa case occurred, Wan Xiao was the deputy bureau chief of the Hengyue Municipal Public Security Bureau in charge of criminal investigation.

A pot of tea was brewed, and before drinking, a trace of fragrance had already made people intoxicated.

I praised sincerely, "It's really good tea."

Wan Xiao smiled and moved the tea water in front of me, signaling me.

Drinking tea is particular, called one trial, two observations, three tastes. I hurriedly reached out, green tea, then observed, the tea water is quiet, the tea fragrance is pungent. Three tastes, the tea is divided into three sips, after finishing one by one, I looked up and sighed, "The tea person is a good guest from all directions, and the clear wind comes naturally."

Wan Xiao interface said, "Taste the fun, pour yourself and enjoy it endlessly."

The two of us looked at each other and laughed heartily.

Before the laughter ended, Wan Xiao threw out a sentence, "I heard that the city formed a joint investigation team, does the brother know about this?"

I thought about it, knowing I couldn't hide it from him. Wan Xiao invited me to drink tea, could it be as simple as drinking tea? He didn't smell a trace of taste, he wouldn't invite me to drink tea for no reason.

I simply said, "Yes, there is indeed this matter. Investigating a human life case."

"Such a thing should be handed over to our public security to do! We are the ones who are famous and righteous."

I laughed, "Indeed. It should be your Public Security Bureau."

Wan Xiao sighed and said, "In this day and age, we people who do work are most afraid of laymen leading experts. Clearly knowing nothing, but wanting to point fingers. This is our sadness!"

I couldn't answer for a while. Wan Xiao said these words, there must be a purpose and intention.

"I heard that the brother is also in the investigation team?" Wan Xiao asked me.

I nodded and said, "Yes, I don't know how I was arranged to go in."

"The brother is young and promising."

I smiled bitterly, "I haven't been at work for a month, everything is strange!"

Wan Xiao tapped the tea table and said, "Only on a blank sheet of paper can you write well. If it's full of words, can you still write?"

I muttered, "I'm not a blank sheet of paper anymore."

Wan Xiao didn't continue to say, hesitated for a while and asked me, "You are investigating this matter, is it aimed at our Public Security Bureau?"

I hurriedly shook my head and said, "How is that possible? Besides, this matter hasn't started yet, I don't even understand what to investigate."

Wan Xiao didn't ask anymore, poured me a cup of tea and said, "Pour tea seven points, leave three points of friendship."

He really didn't pour full, pointed to the cup and said, "Brother, I leave three points of friendship for the brother, I hope the brother leaves two points of friendship for the brother."

I laughed heartily, "Brother Wan, don't worry, this is a natural thing."

Wan Xiao said slowly, "In fact, our life is like this cup of tea. Where the tea leaves come from, where the water for brewing tea comes from, whether the water is deep or shallow, indeed many places are full of temptation. Everyone wants to try the depth, in fact, some people, often because of curiosity, don't know the depth, and as a result, they even lose their lives."

My heart stopped, is Wan Xiao hinting at me?

Looking up at him, he turned his eyes to the side, looked at a calligraphy by Zheng Banqiao hanging on the wall, and chanted, "Hard to be confused." ===== CHAPTER 586 =====