Chapter 677

Peng Taiping said, "You, Town Mayor Su, have a bottomless capacity. How could you have drunk too much? Isn't that a joke?"

Su Xinghui said, "Actually, I had already drunk too much at the time; it just didn't show on the surface. When I drink too much, I tend to say things that go too far. If I say anything out of line in front of you in the future, please don't take offense!"

This made Peng Taiping furious. Isn't this just being a rogue? Does this mean that from now on, if Su Xinghui spouts nonsense in front of him, he can't hold it against him?

But he really couldn't hold it against him. The drinking at noon was forced upon Su Xinghui by them, and even Bi Qingshui was offended. When others drink that much, if he says he drank too much, what can you do? Can you argue with someone who's drunk?

If he really tried to argue with Su Xinghui, he had no confidence he could win. He had already witnessed Su Xinghui's sharp tongue at noon.

Besides, Su Xinghui was always Peng Taiping's superior. If Peng Taiping kept arguing with him, he would gain a reputation for not respecting his superiors, and he wouldn't have a leg to stand on anywhere.

Peng Taiping snorted again and buried his head in his food. He really didn't want to see Su Xinghui's smiling face anymore.

Su Xinghui saw a bottle of wine on the table, took two empty glasses, poured two drinks, and placed one in front of Peng Taiping: "Secretary Peng, I'll toast you to apologize."

Peng Taiping had drunk nearly a jin of wine at noon, and he had only just sobered up. He just wanted to eat some food. He didn't expect Su Xinghui to put a glass of wine in front of him. The alcohol from noon hadn't fully dissipated, and the smell of this glass made him feel nauseous.

He put down his bowl and rushed out the door to the public restroom to vomit. He probably threw up most of the food he had just eaten.

Su Xinghui laughed inwardly, but he pretended to be stunned and said to the others, "What's wrong with Secretary Peng?"

Seeing Su Xinghui's expression, the others thought, aren't you doing this on purpose? You're asking what's wrong with him? He was already drunk, and you toasted him; how could he not vomit?

But of course, they wouldn't say it out loud. They all said they didn't know what was wrong with Secretary Peng, maybe he was just feeling a bit unwell.

Su Xinghui then raised his glass to toast them, saying he hadn't drunk enough at noon. His bottomless capacity truly shocked them all. After each of them drank one glass, they all said they wouldn't drink anymore.

It's estimated that from this day on, none of them would dare to drink with Su Xinghui again.

At this moment, Peng Taiping returned from outside. His face was ashen, and he was clearly very uncomfortable. Su Xinghui said, "Secretary Peng, why did you run out when I toasted you?"

Peng Taiping retched again and quickly waved his hand: "Please, don't mention the word 'wine' again."

Seeing Peng Taiping in this state, Su Xinghui felt he had teased him enough. He stood up with a smile: "Secretary Peng, then I'll take my leave. Enjoy your meal."

Peng Taiping looked at Su Xinghui, speechless. He decided that from now on, unless necessary, he wouldn't easily step forward to provoke Su Xinghui. He could just stay behind the scenes.

Leaving the Peng residence, Su Xinghui returned to his room, turned on the light, and sat down at his desk. He pulled open the desk drawer; it was completely empty. He had come in a hurry, and the situation here was unstable, so he hadn't brought any of his calligraphy or painting supplies.

Once things here settled down, he should go back and bring those things over. Painting was now his main source of income, and he needed to practice constantly to further improve his calligraphy and painting skills.

Come to think of it, when he had time, there was one more thing to do: he had already participated in three art exhibitions at the Provincial Art Academy and was qualified to apply for membership in the Provincial Artists Association. However, because he had been very busy lately, and with the situation in Pengjiawan, he really couldn't get away.

Once the situation here stabilized, he would have to bring the relevant materials to the Provincial Artists Association to submit his membership application.

Su Xinghui had just poured himself a cup of tea when someone came in. Su Xinghui looked up and saw it was Li Chengan. He quickly stood up: "Chief Li, come in and sit. I haven't seen you since we finished drinking at noon."

After Li Chengan sat down, he shook his head and sighed: "Sigh, things are too busy. This afternoon, Wu Jun said that while interrogating a criminal, they uncovered an important lead: it's possible that 'Peng the Second' is hiding at his cousin's house in Fukuo Village. I led a team to arrest him this afternoon, but he ran away a step ahead of us."

Su Xinghui poured Li Chengan a cup of tea and asked, "Did Wu Jun come too?"

Li Chengan took the tea and said, "Of course. He's my capable assistant now. How could I not bring him?"

Su Xinghui said, "Is he doing well?"

Li Chengan smiled: "Of course he's doing well. He can handle things on his own now. I know he's your classmate. How about this: tomorrow at noon, if I have time, I'll call Wu Jun out, and we'll have a drink together."

Su Xinghui nodded: "That sounds great."

Li Chengan said, "But it's agreed: drink as much as you want, no gambling on drinks. Your capacity is too terrifying."

Su Xinghui burst into laughter: "Fine, drink as much as you want."

The two chatted and laughed, feeling that the distance between them had narrowed significantly.

Li Chengan was once the captain of the Public Security Bureau's Security Brigade in Shangjun County and was a veteran police officer. Later, he offended Tao Yan and was exiled to the Justice Bureau. After Tao Yan fell and Xu Shixie became the Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, he was transferred back to the Public Security Bureau as Deputy Chief, in charge of public security.

Li Chengan was under forty, bold and righteous, and proficient in police work. The fact that public security in Shangjun County was so good now was largely due to his contributions.

Su Xinghui had dealt with Li Chengan a few times before and they had mutual good feelings. Now that they met in Pengjiawan and were striving for a common goal, they felt like kindred spirits.

Li Chengan said, "Town Mayor Su, I heard from Chief Xu that you were once robbed on the road in Pengjiawan, right?"

Su Xinghui nodded: "Yes, there were five robbers who blocked the road."

Li Chengan gave a thumbs up: "You're impressive. Five armed thugs, and you two took them all down, all with one move. I have to bow down to you!"

Su Xinghui smiled calmly and asked, "Chief Li, is there any progress on this case now?"

Li Chengan frowned: "It's very difficult. We have no mass base here and are too unfamiliar with the terrain. Although we have the names, portraits, and addresses of those ringleaders and active participants, trying to find them accurately is like looking for a needle in a haystack!"

Su Xinghui asked, "Are they still in Pengjiawan?"

Li Chengan said, "After that incident, those ringleaders and active participants basically all ran away. In the last two days, I heard a few came back, but every time we went over, we came up empty-handed. There's no way; the local masses are too uncooperative."

Su Xinghui said, "What should we do then?"

Li Chengan said, "We can only arrange for our police officers and armed police to stake out some main intersections and the vicinity of the suspects' homes. But this is very inefficient and hard to be effective. If we could have informed masses cooperating with our work, that would be great." ===== CHAPTER 679 =====