Chapter 477

Yang Jiong patted his chest and said, "As long as you, Mayor Su, give the word, we’ll handle that Yuan Kang however you see fit. He’s the mastermind; it’s only right that he spends a few extra days in detention."

Su Xinghui believed Yang Jiong’s words were sincere. After all, the last time with Yan Qing, their police branch had handled it normally. They had already offended a department-level cadre once; offending another one was just a case of "not fearing more debt when you already have plenty." Besides, Su Xinghui had a much more powerful background standing behind him. If he were to face retaliation, Su Xinghui wouldn't just stand by and watch.

However, after thinking it over, Su Xinghui realized that keeping Yuan Kang locked up served no practical purpose. He hadn't suffered any real loss, and Yuan Kang could only be given an administrative penalty—at most a few days of detention and a small fine, which would be like a mosquito bite to him. But for the Jiangnan District Police Branch, the pressure of repeatedly offending such high-ranking cadres would be immense.

After some consideration, Su Xinghui decided to do Yang Jiong a favor. Yang Jiong was a decent man who stuck to his principles. With that in mind, Su Xinghui asked, "Can you confirm that this Yuan Kang is indeed Secretary Zhang’s nephew? He isn't just some con artist, is he?"

Yang Jiong replied, "It’s been confirmed. He is indeed Secretary Zhang’s nephew—the son of the Secretary’s eldest sister. He works at the Provincial Tobacco Bureau."

Working at the Provincial Tobacco Bureau? Su Xinghui suddenly understood how Yuan Kang had met Sun Xuefei. Since they worked in the same system, there were plenty of opportunities to cross paths.

After a moment of contemplation, Su Xinghui said, "Captain Yang, you’ve helped me out quite a bit. Tell you what, I’m heading back to Pengjiawan shortly, and I won’t ask about how you handle this anymore. But there is one condition: I don’t want to see this happen again. If there is a next time, I won’t let them off so easily."

Yang Jiong was overjoyed. This was the best possible outcome. The officer from earlier had been sent by their bureau chief, who had hoped Yang Jiong could persuade Su Xinghui to show leniency and stop pursuing Yuan Kang.

Once the bureau chief heard it was Secretary Zhang’s nephew and involved Su Xinghui, he must have had a massive headache. Last time, Su Xinghui had clashed with Yan Qing, and the end result was Yan Qing being sentenced to prison. Even without investigating, the bureau chief knew Su Xinghui had an extraordinary background—not to mention he had looked into Su Xinghui before and knew roughly who he was, given that Su Xinghui had appeared in the *Hudong Daily* several times.

But the key was that Yuan Kang also had a significant background. How could a small branch bureau chief like him afford to offend so many powerful figures? He didn't want to offend anyone else; if he did, his position as a small branch chief would likely become unstable.

Since Yang Jiong was an acquaintance of Su Xinghui, the bureau chief had no choice but to send an officer to tell Yang Jiong, hoping he could persuade Su Xinghui.

As for Yang Jiong, he hadn't held out much hope of persuading Su Xinghui. He knew Su Xinghui was a man who hated evil with a passion; asking him to let Yuan Kang off was unrealistic. That was why he hadn't even mentioned pleading for Yuan Kang, but instead suggested keeping him in detention for a few extra days.

He hadn't expected Su Xinghui to voluntarily offer to let Yuan Kang go. This was a pleasant surprise for Yang Jiong. Having successfully handled this for the bureau chief, his standing in the chief’s eyes would be greatly improved. Yang Jiong had been stuck as the deputy captain of the traffic police squad for years, and he was hoping for a promotion.

Yang Jiong nodded quickly and said, "Mayor Su, you can rest assured. We will definitely give him a stern warning and tell him not to cause trouble again. If he gets into trouble next time, it won’t be so easy for him to get off the hook."

Su Xinghui nodded, stood up, and said, "Alright, Captain Yang, I’ll be going now. It’s getting late. If I come to Jiangcheng next time, I’ll definitely find you for a drink."

Yang Jiong nodded repeatedly and stood up to see Su Xinghui and Lu Xiaoya out. Su Xinghui saw Min Tong’s car and turned to Yang Jiong, "Captain Yang, my friend’s car is waiting for me. You can head back in."

Su Xinghui and Lu Xiaoya got into Min Tong’s car. Min Tong asked, "Everything alright?"

Su Xinghui shook his head, "It’s fine. Let’s get Xiaoya home first. It’s already 5:30; if she doesn’t get back soon, her parents will be worried."

Min Tong nodded and drove Lu Xiaoya home. Su Xinghui followed her into the Lu residence. Lu Zhenghong hadn't returned yet; only Song Qiao and Grandma Lu were home. Song Qiao said, "Why are you back so late? Come and eat."

Su Xinghui smiled, "Auntie Song, I won’t be eating. My classmate’s car is waiting for me outside. I just came to say hello."

Song Qiao said, "Why the rush? It’s not too late to eat before you go."

Lu Xiaoya smiled, "Mom, forget it. It’s almost dark. If he leaves any later, it won’t be safe. Let him go."

Song Qiao nodded in agreement. Su Xinghui said goodbye to Grandma Lu, then went out and got into Min Tong’s car.

Min Tong started the car and asked, "Xinghui, what exactly happened today?"

Su Xinghui told Min Tong what had happened that afternoon. Upon hearing it, Min Tong cursed, "That son of a bitch is truly insidious. Xinghui, I don’t think you should have let him off today. Just because he’s the nephew of a municipal deputy party secretary, he can act so arrogant?"

Su Xinghui said, "It’s not that I wanted to let him off. What is he, anyway? But at the end of the day, today’s incident wasn’t that big of a deal. Even if I were relentless, he’d only be detained for a few days at most. What would that achieve? It would only make things difficult for the police. Why bother? Even if he were detained for a few extra days, what good would it do? It would only give others leverage against me. Better to trade it for a favor."

Min Tong thought about it and realized that made sense. He stopped talking and focused on driving. About an hour later, the car arrived at Pengjiawan Town. Su Xinghui said, "Min Tong, let’s eat here before you head back. It’s getting late."

Min Tong parked the car, went into the Chaochao Restaurant with Su Xinghui, and after eating, drove back to Menghuling.