0129 138 Insulting a Man's Wife
However, Shen Yuhe still had several meetings to attend, so Ling Xingzhi went to the Shen family courtyard alone in advance, while Li Qingshan went to the municipal government to handle official business.
As soon as Ling Xingzhi got out of the car, he saw Pei Zhiyu walking out of the courtyard, chatting happily with Liu Liangyou. Ling Xingzhi didn't walk forward, but leaned against the car, took out a cigarette, lit it, and looked up at the scenery around the courtyard.
The red tiles and gray walls evoke the feel of Beijing's hutongs. It's far from Beijing, but the people here have great ambitions.
Before half a cigarette had passed, a black car pulled up in front of the courtyard. Ling Xingzhi turned his head to look at the license plate—it was there to pick up Liu Liangyou.
Liu Liangyou got into the car with a smile, while Pei Zhiyu stood behind him with a faint smile, seeing Liu Liangyou off. Ling Xingzhi turned around, rested his arm on the car roof, watched Liu Liangyou drive away, and then looked at Pei Zhiyu.
Pei Zhiyu, standing at the entrance of the Shen family's courtyard, turned her head and saw Ling Xingzhi. Ling Xingzhi took the cigarette out of his mouth and raised his other hand to wave as a greeting.
Pei Zhiyu stood motionless at the door.
The atmosphere was a bit off. Ling Xingzhi smiled indifferently, stubbed out his cigarette, threw it in the trash can, and walked towards Pei Zhiyu.
"Mayor Pei, it came on a red-eye flight? Is it because of Secretary Zhou's matter?" After saying that, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, Secretary Zhou will be fine."
Pei Zhiyu didn't smile. He stared at Ling Xingzhi and asked, "Mayor Ling, did you come to see me?"
Ling Xingzhi shook his head, his tone relaxed, "No, I just happen to have a dinner party here. What about you? Are you going to ask Liu Liangyou to put in a good word for Secretary Zhou?" At this point, he sighed, "It's no use asking him. Zhou Xiye was transferred from the Central Committee. We still have to pull strings from above."
Pei Zhiyu did not answer Ling Xingzhi's question, but said indifferently, "Shall we talk about Zhou Xiye?"
Ling Xingzhi raised an eyebrow. Talk about Zhou Xiye? What could the two of them possibly have to talk about? The Pei family and the Ling family have always been on different paths. Moreover, in the Pei family's eyes, the Ling family is hardly a prestigious family; at most, they are a red aristocracy. The Pei family, on the other hand, has a long history, a century-old business, and very strict family rules.
Ling Xingzhi had no idea what Pei Zhiyu was up to, but he still nodded and said, "Okay, shall we talk inside? I've made a reservation."
The two entered the Shen family courtyard one after the other. A waiter led them into the courtyard, turning several corners to the private room that Ling Xingzhi had reserved. Inside, the waiter brought out tea and poured water. Ling Xingzhi didn't stand on ceremony, sitting directly at the wooden table, picking up a cup of tea, and taking a sip.
Pei Zhiyu remained standing.
Ling Xingzhi glanced at him, put down his tea, picked up a dessert and took a bite. "Sit down, you don't have to be so formal."
Pei Zhiyu nodded, still making no move. After the waiter placed the desserts and left, Ling Xingzhi continued, "Mayor Pei, how are things on your end? Hangzhou should be better than Kunming..." Although both were mayors, Ling Xingzhi subconsciously asked Pei Zhiyu as an elder, after all, the former Beijing Municipal Party Secretary was different from other municipal party secretaries.
Pei Zhiyu did not reply. Ling Xingzhi looked up and saw Pei Zhiyu rolling up her sleeves.
Ling Xingzhi was taken aback, put down the dessert in her hand, and squinted at him.
Pei Zhiyu rolled up his sleeves and met Ling Xingzhi's gaze; their eyes locked in mid-air. Pei Zhiyu strode towards Ling Xingzhi with icy anger, like a flame burning deep in the sea. In that instant, Ling Xingzhi understood the source of his coldness and anger.
The rivalry and jealousy between men can be understood with just a glance.
Without a second thought, Ling Xingzhi stood up. Although he didn't want to fight, he couldn't afford to lose in terms of momentum. Ling Xingzhi glanced at the things on the table and chuckled, "Mayor Pei, you should think it over. The Ling family and the Pei family have no grudges against each other."
Pei Zhiyu took a few steps to stand in front of Ling Xingzhi, and he almost gritted his teeth as he said, "What do you take me for? Someone who will let others bully my wife?!" As soon as he finished speaking, Pei Zhiyu's fist flew towards Ling Xingzhi.
Ling Xingzhi took a solid punch, and the next second he grabbed Pei Zhiyu's wrist and pressed it down, "I have never thought of Zhou Xiye as your wife, so how can you say that I am abusing someone else's wife?"
"Ling Xingzhi, do you have any shame?" Pei Zhiyu's eyes blazed with fury. With his hands restrained, he raised his foot to kick Ling Xingzhi. The kick missed slightly, and Ling Xingzhi quickly released his grip, taking two steps back, his smile vanishing. "Pei Zhiyu, are you serious?"
Without saying a word, Pei Zhiyu pounced on Ling Xingzhi like a tiger with bloodshot eyes. This time, Pei Zhiyu came at a fierce pace, forcing Ling Xingzhi to intervene, and the two began to wrestle.
Two flowers bloom, each representing a different branch.
Shen Yuhe was in a meeting in the conference room, the sunlight dazzling and filling the entire window. The conference table was piled high with documents, and his colleagues in the working group were discussing tax issues.
"The companies that Secretary Zhou mentioned are all industry leaders in Kunming's tourism sector. They approached Secretary Zhou to discuss matters with the government in order to secure some preferential policies, not to seek back channels. However, an unexpected development was that they encountered tax issues; several payments were made using dual contracts, requiring them to pay back taxes."
"But the companies that Secretary Qiao mentioned seem to be fine."
Shen Yuhe nodded. "Let's talk to the heads of these three companies." He put the lid on his teacup. "Let me see Secretary Qiao's statement again. What was his motive for reporting Secretary Zhou?"
"He didn't go into details, but judging from his resume, he was promoted by Secretary Zhou. Is he repaying kindness with enmity?"
Shen Yuhe thought for a moment, "Did he have a girlfriend from a powerful family before, and then broke up with her after he got promoted?" Shen Yuhe shook his head, "Judging from this, it is very likely that he climbed up to a bigger tree and was instructed to report Secretary Zhou."
But why? Even if he reported Zhou Xiye, the position of municipal party secretary wouldn't be Qiao Senxi's. Shen Yuhe thought for a moment, then looked upwards—if the position became vacant, besides appointing another municipal party secretary, the only other option was to select someone from the provincial party committee's list of candidates for the position.
There was only one beneficiary—Hu Rui.
What benefits could Hu Rui offer Qiao Senxi? Qiao Senxi comes from the public security, procuratorate, and judicial system; does he want to be transferred back? Will Zhou Xiye refuse to transfer him? Shen Yuhe had no idea; it was all speculation. However, he needed some evidence, because evidence speaks for itself. "You guys retrieve Qiao Senxi's recent communication records and see who he's been in contact with."
"Team leader, all we need to know is whether Secretary Zhou has embezzled or accepted bribes. Do we also need to know the whistleblower's motives?"
Shen Yuhe nodded, then shook his head. "If it's something that's convenient, investigate it if you can; if you don't have the energy, don't investigate it." The central government rarely intervenes in the interests of local officials; it only deals with matters on a case-by-case basis and handles some matters of principle.
However, after these few days of investigation, Shen Yuhe's opinion of Zhou Xiye has changed somewhat, but he is even more curious: "Has Luo Yiming been found? What did Chen Huihe talk to him about?"
"Luo Yiming himself said that the money he gave Zhou Xiye was indeed for charity, to help the government handle some matters, and had nothing to do with protection money or gifts."
Shen Yuhe found it ridiculous. "A big boss suspected of drug trafficking is giving money to the government. Is he really fulfilling his corporate social responsibility? No businessman is without guile. Zhou Xiye must have made some kind of exchange to get this money. Even if the money doesn't go into his own pocket, once it's in the government's account, it will eventually end up in his own hands after a few twists and turns."
"That's possible."
"This money all went into the treasury?" Shen Yuhe asked again. "Did you see the ledger?"
"We checked, and the money and the ledgers match; there are no problems."
That's strange. Both of the accusations against Zhou Xiye are problematic, but the evidence they saw when they arrested him was conclusive.
"However, we received another tip today, saying that Secretary Zhou specially approved a piece of land for a company called Qihang Tourism to develop a tourism project. The land is worth 500 million, but Secretary Zhou only paid 100 million for it in the bidding."
Shen Yuhe sighed, "Do you have any evidence? Do you have the informant's information?"
The team members nodded. "We have evidence. We've verified everything. The document bears Secretary Zhou's signature, the municipal finance department's account shows 100 million, and we even have photos of Secretary Zhou inspecting the site. The whistleblower... is anonymous, and the signature is that of an employee of Qihang Tourism Company."
"Let me see," Shen Yuhe took the documents and read them carefully. It wouldn't be unreasonable to use this evidence to arrest Zhou Xiye again, but... Shen Yuhe thought of Ling Xingzhi, and then he realized that the two pieces of evidence against Zhou Xiye were false, so he hesitated to take action.
"In that case, let's send a few people to investigate Qihang Travel Company first. All of this must be done in secret. Once we have investigated thoroughly and have very certain first-hand evidence, then we'll take action."
After the meeting, Shen Yuhe drove to the Shen family's courtyard. Xu Jiaojiao called, but Shen Yuhe said he was busy with work. He was thinking about Zhou Xiye's matter. So far, the investigation had not revealed any problems with this woman's work, except for the human trafficking and prostitution case at the agritainment venue.
He let out a sigh of relief, unsure who was targeting Zhou Xiye. Even if she survived this ordeal, rebuilding a new system for herself would be incredibly difficult.
Upon arriving at the Shen family courtyard, the waiters were seen hurrying around as soon as they entered. The restaurant manager, with a somber expression, stopped when he saw Shen Yuhe and greeted him, "Good morning, Team Leader Shen."
"What happened?" Shen Yuhe asked.
"Mayor Ling assaulted someone..."
"Hitting someone? Even if it's his territory, he can't just hit people like that. This is a society governed by law."
The manager shook his head. "Mayor Ling was also beaten."
"ah?"
Wow, that's amazing!
It's like the flood washed away the Dragon King's temple; even family members don't recognize each other.
"Don't even mention it. That kid from the Pei family came up and punched me twice without even asking what happened," Ling Xingzhi said, pressing an ice cube to his lips. "I doubt anyone outside the Shen family's courtyard knows about this."
Shen Yuhe laughed out loud, shaking his head and saying, "Nobody knows, nobody knows..." He looked at Ling Xingzhi's furious appearance and said, "You're having an affair with someone's wife. It's a wonder he didn't beat you into the hospital. If it were me, I would definitely beat you half to death."
Ling Xingzhi glared at Shen Yuhe. "According to you, Young Master Pei is a man of conscience. Fighting bare-handed without using any weapons is considered giving me face?"
Shen Yuhe chuckled, “What else?” He looked at Ling Xingzhi with schadenfreude, “No wonder you always trip up Zhou Xiye, and even used your connections in the central government to threaten to transfer me… Your heart is with him, who would be so cruel to their own precious darling?”
Ling Xingzhi snorted, "Stop talking nonsense... I never considered Zhou Xiye to be his wife. Could she be someone bound by a piece of paper?" He sighed, his tone softening, and turned to look at Shen Yuhe, "I've come to apologize to you this time. I wasn't very good last time..."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yuhe quickly waved his hand and said, "Don't talk to me about this. From childhood to adulthood, you've bullied all of us brothers. What have we said? This little thing is nothing compared to our friendship of more than ten or twenty years. Just put your mind at ease."
Ling Xingzhi nodded and patted Shen Yuhe on the shoulder.
Shen Yu smiled, picked up his chopsticks, took a bite of food, and after a few seconds felt something was wrong. Looking at Ling Xingzhi who was pouring tea, he snatched the teacup from his hand and said, "Hey, Ling, you didn't come to apologize to me because of Zhou Xiye, did you?"
Ling Xingzhi was taken aback, feeling inexplicably guilty. "How could that be?"
Looking into Ling Xingzhi's determined eyes, Shen Yuhe put down his teacup with some doubt. "Let's not talk about it anymore. This matter is over... Eat! Eat!" He thought to himself that he couldn't tell Zhou Xiye about his new affairs, otherwise that old rascal would do something outrageous and disregard brotherhood again.
With Zhou Xiye's embezzlement case concluded, the investigation into her using her privileges to give preferential treatment to Qihang Travel Company and the human trafficking and prostitution case entered a new phase.
Meng Qinggong's plainclothes officers arrested numerous prostitution rings, and only after interrogation did they realize the seriousness of the human trafficking and prostitution case. However, Zhou Xiye was now suspended from his duties, so he could only go to Hu Rui and Ling Xingzhi to report the case details and formulate the next steps.
However, he used two clever tricks when reporting this matter—the news that Ling Xingzhi had made things difficult for Hu Rui had already spread, and the two did not get along, so they had to report separately to avoid embarrassment. In addition to this, he could also find out their different attitudes and then choose a method that was the same as his own.
Upon hearing that Meng Qinggong was going to report on his work, Ling Xingzhi remained silent for a long time—not because he didn't want to listen, but because he had just argued with Zhou Xiye and didn't want to be foolish again, especially since Hu Rui was already of a higher rank than him. He figured Zhou Xiye would be coming out soon anyway, so he might as well push this mess onto the municipal party committee and enjoy a more relaxed life.
"Director Meng, I'm busy with something here. Secretary Zhou previously asked Hu Rui to take over and act as the municipal party secretary. You can go find him."
Meng Qinggong understood the implied meaning and said, "Alright, then I'll keep the mayor busy."
On the contrary, Hu Rui took this matter very seriously.
"Come to my office to report."
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