Chapter 257

The news that his son had been arrested reached Qu Xiue's ears, and she was instantly thrown into a panic; she had no choice but to go find Shan Guozhi.

When Shan Guozhi learned of this news, his expression grew even uglier. This Tao Yanbin—when his father was in a car accident, he didn't know where he'd run off to, but now he'd finally shown up, only to cause trouble the moment he did. Why did he have to hit that tractor driver? What was the point? Wasn't this just handing others a weapon to use against them?

Shan Guozhi felt incredibly disgusted, but disgust was one thing; he still had to save Tao Yanbin. After all, his relationship with the Tao family was far from ordinary—they were, quite literally, grasshoppers tied to the same rope.

However, Xu Shixie had intervened in this matter, and Shan Guozhi really couldn't command Xu Shixie. Thus, he had no choice but to go exchange views with Ji Tao, feeling utterly disgusted.

"Secretary Ji, Tao Yanbin was indeed in the wrong this time, but he was acting on a momentary impulse. After all, his father was in a car accident. If Tao Yanbin is dealt with too severely, I fear it will be detrimental to Comrade Tao Yan's recovery. How about this: let him compensate the victim for medical expenses, and we deal with a few of the people who directly laid hands on him, while Tao Yanbin is just criticized and educated. How does that sound?"

Shan Guozhi had originally expected Ji Tao to put on airs, but to his surprise, Ji Tao nodded quite readily and said, "That's fine. The kid doesn't know any better. Comrade Guozhi, then let's handle it according to your suggestion."

Right in front of Shan Guozhi, Ji Tao made a phone call to Xu Shixie, then said to Shan Guozhi, "Alright, Comrade Guozhi, Director Xu is aware of it now."

Shan Guozhi was somewhat surprised, but he naturally wouldn't show his surprise. He nodded and said, "Secretary Ji, then I thank you on behalf of Comrade Tao Yan!"

Ji Tao smiled and said, "It's nothing. Let Comrade Tao Yan rest and recover in peace."

Sure enough, Tao Yanbin was released, though he did pay a sum of medical expenses to the injured victim, and those who had gone with him were all criminally detained.

Shan Guozhi personally lectured Tao Yanbin, saying that Shangjun County was already chaotic enough as it was, and told him to lay low for a while and stop adding to the mess. In front of Shan Guozhi, Tao Yanbin was naturally submissive and didn't dare say a word.

Su Xinghui couldn't have imagined that in the single day he had been away from Shangjun County, so many things had happened. And these events were, of course, favorable—at the very least, they weakened the strength of Shan Guozhi's faction while strengthening the side of Ji Tao and Zhang Kaishan.

After Su Xinghui returned, he also heard from his parents that the five Yu siblings had all come to Shangjun County yesterday to pay their New Year's respects to the Su family. They had returned yesterday afternoon, and his parents urged him not to forget to pay his respects to his aunt and uncle when he went to Jiangcheng.

Not long after Su Xinghui got home, he received a call from Zhang Cheng, who excitedly told him that he wanted him to go to Wu Jun's house this afternoon for a spring banquet, and to celebrate Wu Jun's promotion while they were at it.

In Shangjun County, there was indeed this custom of drinking spring banquets—that is, during the New Year, inviting close friends to one's home for a meal, just to make things lively. Since Wu Jun had just been promoted, he naturally wanted to invite these friends over to his home for a spring banquet.

Su Xinghui was truly happy for Wu Jun. In his past life, because Wu Jun didn't curry favor with leaders like Tao Yan, he had fared even worse than Su Xinghui; it wasn't until he was over thirty that he became the deputy director of a township police station, living apart from his family for long periods. But in this life, at only twenty-three, he was already the deputy captain of the Public Security Brigade.

Su Xinghui told his parents about going to Wu Jun's house for the spring banquet that afternoon, and when the Su Wenjun couple heard that Wu Jun had been promoted, they were also very happy for him.

In the afternoon, Zhang Cheng and Xu Xiaoguang came early to pick up Su Xinghui. Xue Qin also came along with them, so Su Xinghui got into Xu Xiaoguang's car and they went to Wu Jun's house together.

Wu Jun's parents were both teachers at Shangjun Middle School, so his home was also in the Shangjun Middle School faculty dormitory. After Su Xinghui got in the car, it took only about ten minutes to arrive at his house.

All of them had graduated from there, so they were naturally very familiar with the place. Wu Jun's father, Wu Xuelin, taught physics, and his mother, Han Yueying, taught Chinese; both had taught their classes. Therefore, as soon as they arrived at his home, they all called out, "Teacher Wu, Teacher Han."

Wu Xuelin and Han Yueying were also old folks in their fifties; seeing their former students arrive, they happily told them to sit down.

Wu Jun's two older brothers, Wu Ping and Wu Wen, both worked out of town, and during the New Year, they had also brought their wives and children back to celebrate, so the Wu household was quite lively.

Su Xinghui said to Wu Jun, "Wu Jun, congratulations!"

Wu Jun said with a face full of joy, "This is all thanks to you!"

Su Xinghui understood what Wu Jun meant. If Su Xinghui hadn't caused that scene that day and brought Gong Jianjun down, there wouldn't be such a ready-made position waiting for him now. Moreover, the fact that Xu Shixie could take a liking to Wu Jun was mostly because Wu Jun was Su Xinghui's classmate, and Zhang Kaishan's relationship with Su Xinghui was also far from ordinary.

Su Xinghui smiled and said, "Don't say that. If your work hadn't been outstanding, this opportunity wouldn't have fallen to you."

Su Xinghui was telling the truth. Wu Jun was truly conscientious in his work; otherwise, Su Xinghui wouldn't have seen Wu Jun chasing a thief on the street that day. If he hadn't had any work achievements, it would have been impossible for Xu Shixie to convince the masses by promoting him.

Wu Jun said, "Alright, regardless of everything, I still have to thank you! Everyone, let's take our seats; the food is ready!"

Su Xinghui said, "Teacher Wu and Teacher Han, please take the seats of honor first!"

The group helped Wu Xuelin and Han Yueying to the table, and the two elders sat down happily. Afterward, they let Wu Jun's two brothers take their seats at the table, and only then did they sit down themselves.

Wu Jun began pouring wine for everyone and said to his classmates, "You guys enjoy yourselves; I can't drink. I have to go to the bureau for duty tonight."

Zhang Cheng smiled and said, "Alright, a new official taking office is quite diligent!"

Wu Jun said, "It's not because I'm a new official that I'm going on duty; the duty roster was set long ago. Besides, the team is short a few people now, so I have to take two extra shifts."

Everyone exchanged smiles; they all knew why the Public Security Brigade was short a few people.

Su Xinghui raised his glass and smiled, "Fine, you just drink Jianlibao. I'll toast you first!"

Everyone toasted Wu Jun, and Su Xinghui raised his glass again to Wu Xuelin and his wife, "Teacher Wu, Teacher Han, I toast you both. Wishing you a Happy New Year and good health!"

Wu Xuelin and Han Yueying happily drank a toast with him, and Wu Xuelin said, "Xinghui, I heard from Xiao Jun that you're doing quite well at Meng Hu Ling!"

Su Xinghui said, "It's alright. It's mainly because those village cadres and the common folk are very supportive of our work."

Wu Xuelin nodded and said, "Good, keep working hard. Become a good official in the future, don't be like some of the cadres we have in Shangjun County now."

Su Xinghui knew who he was talking about, so he nodded and said, "Teacher Wu, don't worry, I will definitely keep your teachings in mind!"

Han Yueying said indignantly, "Some of the leaders in our Shangjun County are truly lacking in virtue. Teacher Fan's family was originally a perfectly fine family, and they've been driven to such a miserable state by him. And this is during the New Year, too!"

What happened to Fan Jianzhang's family had already spread throughout the county, and everyone knew about it. Fan Jianzhang had once been their teacher; who among them didn't feel sympathy for him?

Wu Ping asked, "Teacher Fan Jianzhang's daughter was my classmate. Wasn't she doing quite well when she was in school? How did she end up like this now?"

Wu Jun said, "Anyway, I heard that Fan Zhenzhen wasn't like this before. Later, it seems she was bullied by Director Tao once, and after that, she gave up on herself and has been following Director Tao ever since."

Wu Wen, who worked as a lawyer in Jiangcheng, was somewhat surprised and said, "If she was bullied, why didn't she report him? And she's still following the person who bullied her?"