"Mayor Qian, don't bother with a rude man like him. Please sit down and have a cup of tea."

Those who reacted quickly found a way out.

"Old Sui, he's the deputy mayor, and you're the director of the Organization Department. Can you be more precise with your words?"

They were trying to save face, but Li Haoran had no intention of letting them off so easily.

Because he is Mayor Xiao's man, they have been making things difficult for him in the past eight years.

He demoted himself step by step from the director of the municipal bureau to an ordinary household registration police officer.

It's not that they don't have the ability to kill themselves directly, they just do it to humiliate themselves constantly and achieve their perverted pleasure.

Now that Mayor Xiao is back, it’s time to avenge grievances and revenge. How could Li Haoran be polite to them?

"Li Haoran, don't be so arrogant. Vice Governor Liu hasn't officially appointed you yet. You are just an ordinary police officer now. What qualifications do you have to be so arrogant here?

Wait until Vice Governor Liu comes over. I hope you can still be so arrogant."

Qian Zilai said this in a timid tone.

"Okay, I'll wait then."

Li Haoran shook his head.

You are a bunch of useless people who can do nothing but plot and scheme. Mayor Xiao and I are too upright, which is why we fell into your hands.

Mayor Xiao was here yesterday. There was such a big commotion in the Municipal Bureau. The whole Su City has changed, but these losers still don’t know anything!

Just when everyone was preoccupied with their own thoughts, the door of the conference room suddenly opened and three figures appeared at the door.

The person who opened the door was Xia Dong, who had long been demoted. Why did the person following him look so familiar?

"hiss……"

Except for Li Haoran, everyone else stared with wide eyes at the figure that they had almost forgotten.

"Hello, Chief!"

Li Haoran didn't care about other people's reactions. He was extremely excited when he saw Xiao Qingyang, whom he hadn't seen for eight years.

"Haoran, I'm sorry for causing you to suffer."

When Xiao Qingyang saw Li Haoran, he felt a lot of emotion in his heart.

"It's not bitter. They only use some despicable means. I don't take it to heart at all. I still eat well during the day and sleep well at night.

"But you, Chief, must have suffered a lot on the farm, right?"

Xiao Qingyang had a high prestige in Sucheng. Fearing that the common people would gather and cause trouble, Xiao Qingyang's family was secretly escorted away. Li Haoran wanted to mail something, but couldn't find the address.

"The hardships on the farm were nothing compared to the hardships during the Anti-Japanese War."

The two of them reminisced about the past in the conference room, completely ignoring everyone else.

"Mayor Xiao, where's Vice Governor Liu? Why didn't he come to the meeting?"

Qian Zilai suppressed the fear in his heart and forced a smile on his face that was uglier than crying.

"Vice Governor Liu has returned to the provincial capital, and I will be presiding over today's meeting. What's wrong? Doesn't Vice Mayor Qian welcome me?"

Xiao Qingyang looked at Qian Zilai with amusement.

"Welcome, of course you're welcome. Mayor Xiao has gone through so much hardship and finally found his happy ending. It's truly commendable."

Through the window, Qian Zilai saw shadowy figures outside. Qian Zilai knew that today's meeting would probably not end well.

"Eight years ago, you were deputy mayor under me. So much time has passed, and you still haven't made any progress."

When he was framed, Qian Zilai, who worked with him, did not speak for him. It was just a way of protecting himself. Xiao Qingyang could understand that.

But he shouldn't have gone against his conscience and given false testimony, and followed Cai Wei in reporting and exposing himself.

"After Cai Wei came to power, he was dictatorial and arbitrary, and he had the final say. Even if I wanted to make progress, there was no room for me!

It's great to have Mayor Xiao back. I believe that under your leadership, Sucheng will definitely get better and better!"

Qian Zilai seemed not to understand Xiao Qingyang's sarcasm, and shamelessly took the lead in applauding.

"Welcome Mayor Xiao."

"Mayor Xiao, please ask the cafeteria to add two more dishes for lunch so we can welcome you."

"Mayor Xiao, you've been gone for eight years, and I've missed you for eight years! I'm finally able to see you today."

…

No one who can reach this position now is a fool. Since Xiao Qingyang has returned to Sucheng, it proves that this matter has become a foregone conclusion.

Now they could only pray that Xiao Qingyang, who had just returned to Su City, would let them go for the sake of Su City's stability.

Many of them were promoted by Cai Wei after Xiao Qingyang left, and they did not participate much in the events of that year.

"Haoran, take them all away and lock them up, then confiscate their property."

Xiao Qingyang didn't want to say a word to these complete villains, and even felt that looking at them for any longer would dirty his eyes.

"Mayor Xiao, we are wronged!"

"Mayor Xiao, when you left, I was just a junior high school principal and didn't participate in your persecution!"

"Mayor Xiao, the stable development of Su City cannot be separated from us. We are willing to atone for our mistakes and contribute our own strength to the development of Su City!"

"Mayor Xiao, please give us another chance. From now on, we will follow your lead."

…

Those present were all heads of various departments, and were all well-known figures in Su City. At this moment, they completely disregarded their status and begged desperately to Xiao Qingyang.

"You want a chance, right? I'll give you one. If the police search your home and prove you're innocent of corruption or bribery, I'll let you go."

Xiao Qingyang said with pretended magnanimity.

Everyone looked at each other and lowered their heads dejectedly.

Over the past eight years, they have raided many houses by taking advantage of that evil trend.

No matter how your wealth came from, or how outstanding your contribution to the War of Resistance was, being rich is the original sin.

Almost all entrepreneurs in Suzhou have been exploited by them.

As the saying goes, money can move people’s hearts. Faced with huge amounts of wealth, how many people can stick to their original intentions?

When everyone is taking, if you don’t take, it means you are not united and you are separated from the organization.

Xiao Qingyang seemed to have given them a chance, but in fact he was forcing them into a desperate situation.

“Mayor Xiao, you can’t do this. The stability of Su City cannot be separated from us.

If you take us all down, how can you handle the huge city of Su? Even if you were made of iron, how many nails could you hammer?

Qian Zilai warned himself that the more critical the moment, the more he should not panic or lose his composure. He should rely on the actual situation in Sucheng to create favorable conditions for himself.

"Don't bother with that, Deputy Mayor Qian. I'd be letting down the people of Su City if I kept you parasites here!

When I was handing over my work to Vice Governor Liu yesterday, I realized that during the eight years since I was away, Suzhou's human and financial resources have declined instead of increased.

All these years, besides lining yourselves' pockets and excluding those who are dissidents, you haven't done anything serious!"

Xiao Qingyang looked at Qian Zilai with disgust, as if he were looking at a fly or a rat.

They don't care about the people whom they treat as their brothers and sisters at all!