Chapter 3988: The Calm Before the Storm

That evening, Su Xinghui had a drink with Yu Ruizhi and the others. Yu Ruizhi and his group had also come to Linshan to attend the completion and production ceremony of Hanhai Technology's memory factory.

During the meal, Su Xinghui told Yu Ruizhi the news that Tian Xiaopeng had been placed under shuanggui. Upon hearing this, Yu Ruizhi shouted that it was satisfying, saying he had long been unable to stand Tian Xiaopeng. This person was too pretentious; clearly full of hypocrisy, yet he had to pretend to be a man of virtue.

Su Xinghui mentioned Cui Wenbin's betrayal. This matter made Yu Ruizhi laugh out loud, saying that Tian Xiaopeng trusted this person so much, yet was harmed so bitterly by him. If he knew, he didn't know if he would spit out a mouthful of old blood.

Everyone shook their heads and sighed; what they were sighing about was that Cui Wenbin was truly too sinister.

If one said Tian Xiaopeng was like a venomous snake hiding in the dark, then Cui Wenbin was a king cobra that even ate venomous snakes.

Hou Wenchang smiled and raised a glass to Su Xinghui, saying, "Come, Xinghui, let's have a drink to celebrate. This Tian fellow didn't do little to undermine you behind your back. This time, you can consider it venting your anger."

Tian Xiaopeng and his people had indeed undermined Su Xinghui several times behind his back. Of course, they never succeeded, because Su Xinghui walked straight and stood firm, with no dirt for others to grab.

Now that Tian Xiaopeng was under shuanggui, it could indeed be considered Su Xinghui getting his revenge.

Su Xinghui smiled and had a drink with Hou Wenchang and the others.

Yu Ruizhi said, "With Tian Xiaopeng and Daye Real Estate falling, the other side must be in a panic. This game should have an outcome soon."

Su Xinghui nodded and said, "Yes, the main thing is that no one expected Cui Wenbin to betray them. With his betrayal, the other side is now on the defensive. The things Cui Wenbin holds are a bombshell. If they were thrown out, the political arena would have a massive earthquake!"

Yu Ruizhi also shook his head. He also didn't understand why Cui Wenbin suddenly betrayed them. The main thing was, he didn't understand Cui Wenbin's mentality. Transferring the money away was one thing, but why did he have to hand over the evidence of Tian Xiaopeng's crimes? What benefit did that have for him?

Perhaps he just wanted to muddy the waters so that Tian Xiaopeng and his people wouldn't have the opportunity to pursue him. After all, this was a huge fortune.

Although Su Xinghui and his people didn't know exactly how much money Cui Wenbin had taken away, judging from the operating performance of Daye Real Estate Development Company over the years, it was definitely a huge sum. As for exactly how much, they would have to audit the accounts of Daye Real Estate Development Company clearly to know.

After placing Tian Xiaopeng under shuanggui, Lu Zhenghong instead began to take things unhurriedly. He did not implicate anyone else, only interrogating the Tian brothers while launching a comprehensive investigation into Daye Real Estate Development Company, sealing the account books and original vouchers of the company's branches in multiple major cities.

Because of the things provided by Cui Wenbin, their audit this time was targeted, and it went very smoothly. Many things provided by Cui Wenbin were corroborated through the bank transaction records of Daye Real Estate Development Company.

Tian Xiaopeng remained tight-lipped at the place of shuanggui. No matter what questions he was asked, he said he didn't know clearly, didn't know, or that too much time had passed and he couldn't remember.

However, the people interrogating him were not in a hurry. They asked unhurriedly, and it was precisely this attitude that made Tian Xiaopeng feel cold inside. He always had an ominous premonition, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong, and it was this feeling that made him feel very uncomfortable.

After Tian Xiaopeng was placed under shuanggui, no news about the matter was leaked for several days. This was like the calm before the storm; the calmer it was, the more it made those with guilty consciences tremble with fear.

Because such calm was too abnormal.

After Tian Xiaopeng was placed under shuanggui, the debate on the internet was no longer so intense. The famous scholars who had previously supported the other side collectively lost their voices almost overnight. This was, of course, because no one was paying them. Why would they work so hard to debate with others if no one was paying them?

Now that their big financier had been arrested, they immediately stopped talking. Some even took the initiative to ask Hanhai Net if they could pay them if they spoke on behalf of Hanhai Net, which left Hanhai Net feeling both amused and annoyed.

Su Xinghui was also very calm during this period. He went to work and came home as usual, and his work remained busy.

During this time, Yanbei Province's reconstruction assistance work in Xingfu County was also proceeding relatively smoothly. They had held several bidding meetings and conducted bidding for multiple post-disaster reconstruction projects in Xingfu County. Among them, industry giants like the Mi Group and Hongtu Real Estate Development Company won many bids. These industry giants almost monopolized the post-disaster reconstruction projects this time.

This was also because they had the strength, and their bid prices were indeed the lowest, which was why they won the bids so smoothly. Companies that came to bid with the intention of making a quick buck were far from being their opponents in terms of strength. Even if their bid prices were lower than theirs, it was impossible for them to win. The bid evaluation committee also looked at the comprehensive strength of the bidders.

Cao Yuanhao was almost completely excluded from the decision-making circle of the bidding. Although he entered the bid evaluation committee as a representative of the purchasing party, what could he change alone? So he could only follow the crowd. If every vote he cast was different from the other experts, then it wasn't the experts who had a problem, but him.

Cao Yuanhao was almost driven mad with anger. How was this different from his assumptions when he came? Before he came, he was counting on being able to stir up wind and rain here and make a lot of profit. But until now, apart from receiving a little tea brought by those builders, he hadn't gained any other benefits, and he had been sidelined by Jin Hao and the others.

He basically had no say in the reconstruction assistance working group. Even if he wanted to wash his clothes, no one helped him; he had to wash them himself. And his wish to hook up with young girls here had not been satisfied; until now, he hadn't even touched the hand of a young girl.

This was not because Cao Yuanhao's appeal wasn't strong. To be honest, Cao Yuanhao's conditions were quite good. He was in his early forties, exactly the golden age for a man, and his appearance was not bad—wearing glasses, fair-skinned, and refined. Added to his status as an executive vice mayor, he had the charm of a successful man.

However, Xingfu County was a disaster area, and those young girls had not yet recovered from the grief of losing their loved ones. Who had the heart for this? Added to the fact that Cao Yuanhao currently lived in a camp made of prefabricated houses, basically living a collective life, how could he dare to openly hook up with young girls under the eyes of everyone?

So, during this time, he had a somewhat ascetic appearance, looking extremely proper.

It had been more than two months since Sun Xiaoqin last came to the camp to see him. Because Sun Xiaoqin disliked the poor conditions in the disaster area, she hadn't come again, which made Cao Yuanhao somewhat nostalgic. No matter how fat or ugly Sun Xiaoqin was, she was still a woman, right?

Every time he had such a thought, he felt a chill. When did he become so desperate?

To be honest, Cao Yuanhao's political skills were really not good. So after being sidelined by Jin Hao, he was almost helpless. Of course, this couldn't be blamed entirely on him. Now Fang Zhonglin didn't support him, Sun Zhenhua was willing but unable to help, the people below didn't listen to him, and even the cadres of Linshan City didn't pay him any mind. What could he do? He was a lone man!

Having been in Xingfu County for three months, Cao Yuanhao now regretted it so much that his intestines were green. If he had known it would be like this, why did he have to rack his brains to come to the disaster area to do some reconstruction assistance? Now he hadn't eaten any meat, but had gotten himself covered in grease. In these few months, he had suffered enough in Xingfu County.

Not to mention anything else, the months he came were the hottest season in Xingfu County. Although there was air conditioning in the room, it was enough to suffer through, not to mention that this camp was built in a forest, and there were so many mosquitoes that they could lift a person up. Although mosquito coils could be lit at night, there were too many mosquitoes, and the mosquito coils were of no use at all.

In these few months, he had lost count of how many bites he had received from mosquitoes. This was truly miserable for him, and he had already developed the idea of wanting to be transferred back.

In Linshan, although he was also sidelined, at least his treatment was very good, and he could still live in luxury every day. As long as he waited patiently in Linshan for another year or two, he could jump out of the sea of suffering and go be a mayor. ===== CHAPTER 3990 =====