0130 139 Three Questions for Meng Qinggong
Meng Qinggong drove to the municipal party committee building. Hu Rui's office door was tightly closed. He glanced at his watch, and the two men behind him remained standing still. Just then, footsteps came from the stairs. The group looked over, and a moment later, Wang Xiaodong (the new secretary) came down the stairs. He was taken aback when he saw Meng Qinggong and the others.
"Director Meng, hello! I'm the new secretary in the secretariat..."
Meng Qinggong nodded. "Is Secretary Hu Rui inside?"
“I’m here, chatting with Secretary Qiao. After Secretary Zhou was suspended, he handed over all the work to Secretary Hu, and he’s been quite busy,” Wang Xiaodong smiled and pointed inside the door. “Secretary Qiao has been coming quite frequently lately. He must be working hard. It’s at least five or six hundred steps each time he walks from the secretary’s office to Secretary Hu’s office, and he must walk several thousand steps a day.”
Meng Qinggong smiled and said, "Since Secretary Qiao is here, I'll wait a bit. There's no rush."
Wang Xiaodong nodded. "Okay, then you wait here. I'll go take care of things first. Just call me if you need anything. I'm in that office over there." As he spoke, he pointed to the office in the distance.
“Okay, thank you,” Wang Xiaodong nodded and turned to enter the secretariat. Watching his departing figure, Meng Qinggong curled the corner of his mouth, “Anyone who can stay in this municipal party committee building must be a shrewd person.”
The person behind him didn't hear Meng Qinggong's words clearly. "What? What's wrong, Director Meng?"
Meng Qinggong waved his hand and turned around. Just then, Hu Rui's office door opened from the inside, and Qiao Senxi walked out with a smile. He nodded to Meng Qinggong and said, "Director Meng, Secretary Hu is waiting for you inside. I have something to attend to, so I'll take my leave first. I apologize for any shortcomings in my hospitality and will come back to apologize to you another day."
"No need, no need, you go ahead and do your work. I'm just doing my job, there's no need to entertain me."
“Okay…” Qiao Senxi took a few steps, turned into the elevator, and disappeared. Meng Qinggong led the two inside. Hu Rui was sitting in his office reading a newspaper, wearing glasses, and looked quite respectable. However, in the less than a minute that Qiao Senxi was gone, it was unknown what Secretary Hu Rui had seen.
Hearing footsteps, Hu Rui looked up, startled, then stood up with a smile. "Director Meng is here, please sit down..." He walked out from behind his desk. "You've been the busiest lately. How's it going? Any new developments in the case?"
Meng Qinggong and Hu Rui walked to the sofa, and the four of them sat down. "I'll go make you a pot of tea..." Hu Rui said, and was about to stand up.
"No need, no need! I'm just here to report on my work, Secretary Hu, you don't need to treat me like this," Meng Qinggong hurriedly stopped Hu Rui. "Reporting on my work is important, please don't bother." If he were to be so tactless as to drink Hu Rui's tea now, Meng Qinggong would definitely have to drink a lot of Hu Rui's tea in the future.
"Alright, then let's report on the work," Hu Rui said with a smile, leaning back on the sofa. "How's the case of abduction and prostitution at the agritainment venue going?"
“The situation is like this: this human trafficking and prostitution case is much more serious than we imagined. It’s not just the trafficked people who go out to prostitute themselves; there are women in Kunming and surrounding villages who are also selling themselves,” Meng Qinggong said, pausing as he looked at Hu Rui’s expression.
Compared to Zhou Xiye, the two were veterans in Kunming and long-time colleagues, so Meng Qinggong knew what kind of person Hu Rui was.
Sure enough, Hu Rui frowned. "What do you mean? Are those women from rural areas also prostituting themselves in these agritainment venues?"
Meng Qinggong nodded, "Yes, they also engage in prostitution. What's even more terrifying is that they do it voluntarily. Some even come with their husbands; the husbands are responsible for attracting customers, and the wives are responsible for selling themselves..."
Hu Rui's expression was grave. "If that's the case, then there must be quite a few people involved. What does your municipal bureau plan to do?"
“I think we should temporarily shut down agritainment businesses, then clean up the prostitution industry chain, arrest a few typical cases, and make an example of them.”
Hu Rui nodded, turning his head to look into the distance. "Actually, this is understandable. Look at countries like Thailand, which rely on tourism, and in the end, it still became a backyard for white people, didn't it?"
“Economic development inevitably involves sacrifices…” Meng Qinggong looked at Hu Rui, who glanced at him briefly. Meng Qinggong continued, “Of course, this is not an excuse to break the law. We cannot harm the interests of the people. We should intensify our efforts to combat crime.”
To be honest, the core logic of this rural tourism prostitution case is easy to understand—rural tourism is a place for relaxation and leisure, and relaxation and leisure require entertainment. Apart from large amusement parks targeting groups such as primary and secondary school students and college students who cannot influence consumption, the main goal is to attract adults with the willingness and ability to consume.
Their relaxation methods are complex and difficult to design, and they lack good architects. The simplest, the ones everyone understands—gambling, prostitution, and drugs.
Kunming is very close to the Golden Triangle. Although most of the drugs in China are now domestically produced, its proximity to drug dens inevitably leads to its influence. Gambling, prostitution, and drugs are inextricably linked, especially prostitution and drugs. Thus, a prostitution industry has emerged alongside the development of drug trafficking and tourism.
The development of agritourism projects has, on the one hand, solved the livelihood problems of many small business owners. On the other hand, agritourism has also become a breeding ground for crime—prostitution.
This criminal activity initially limited itself to women from surrounding villages. These women, who had come out to work, were lured away and forced into prostitution by several local criminal gangs in Kunming. At first, they all refused, but later they found that prostitution was much easier than manual labor. The pretty and attractive women could earn over two hundred yuan in just five minutes by spreading their legs. If they served twenty clients a day, they could earn four thousand yuan. With some effort, earning over ten thousand yuan a month was not a problem.
In old age, a single meal can cost twenty or thirty, and a day can easily amount to two or three hundred.
They discovered a business opportunity, and many husbands in rural couples also discovered this business opportunity. In addition, during the tourism season, many customers did come looking for excitement—the wife would take the children out for a stroll while the husband behind a tattered curtain had sex with another woman, or he would have sex with a strange woman while talking to his wife outside the door.
This is just for short-term travel. Men who live in farmhouses and guesthouses for extended periods also need "happiness" services. By cultivating good relationships with the owners of these establishments, they can sell their services and indeed become wealthy.
Gradually, prostitution developed into an industry chain in the agritainment businesses. But later they found that there weren't enough women, so human traffickers started to kidnap girls and sell them for prostitution. They tied their necks with ropes, cut off their tongues, and pulled out their teeth. Their mouths were considered a magical tool, and many repeat customers wanted to have sex with them.
The district police have always turned a blind eye to these kinds of things—it's not worth offending them. The higher-ups are unaware of these shady dealings, and those below will suffer even more if they offend the villagers. Besides, these people also pay protection money, so their illicit income is considerable.
Hu Rui remained silent for a long time before finally shaking his head. "Don't suspend operations. Just shut down the agritainment business. This business is exploiting women and taking advantage of them... shut it down."
Meng Qinggong did not expect Hu Rui to make this decision.
First, the decision to close the agritourism project was made by Zhou Xiye; whether to close it or not should be decided by a joint vote at the municipal party committee meeting. Second, this project has indeed boosted the local economy, and the current incident is solely due to regulatory issues; it shouldn't be shut down because of a minor problem.
Third, and most importantly, Hu Rui doesn't want to put much effort into this matter, and the reasons behind it are intriguing. This case can certainly be investigated thoroughly, and there's no problem in taking action against it. It's just unclear whether Hu Rui doesn't want to take responsibility or wants to punish the person who proposed the project.
Or perhaps... he's afraid of uncovering people he shouldn't be investigating.
Stopping the project is the most efficient and lowest-cost method—from any perspective.
Seeing Meng Qinggong remain silent, Hu Rui sighed, "Secretary Zhou is capable and quick-witted, but look at all the reformers throughout history, which one had a good outcome? Wang Anshi, Zhang Juzheng, weren't they all more capable than Zhou Xiye? Changing the world is not something one person can do; it requires the cooperation of the whole world."
“I know you’re in a difficult position right now. You feel that your actions are meaningful because you see hope. But I don’t think so. Everything has a side, a boundary, which is called the bottom line. We should firmly guard this bottom line. Economic development is very important, but the masses, especially in today’s gender-opposition society, need to be more careful.”
The道理 (principles/reasoning) were correct, and if Meng Qinggong were a recent college graduate, he might have been able to be appeased. However, he didn't have the authority to make that decision; Hu Rui had spoken, and he could only comply.
Meng Qinggong lowered his head and remained silent.
“Director Meng, thank you for finding out the truth. There is no wrong person or wrong thing in this matter. Secretary Zhou Xiye is not wrong; she was doing it for economic development. But she is too young and did not see the two sides of the issue,” Hu Rui stared at Meng Qinggong. “She doesn’t understand the situation, and I think you should understand that. For the sake of social stability, to avoid unnecessary panic, and even more so to avoid sensational social issues like gender antagonism, we should remain silent on the agritainment issue.”
Meng Qinggong looked up at him.
Hu Rui smiled slightly, a smile that showed he had everything under control. "Xiao Meng, trust me, leave the rest to me."
Meng Qinggong remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "Secretary Hu, I understand."
Back at the municipal bureau, the notice from above came down—the agritainment project was terminated.
News reports also followed the current events: the agritainment project will no longer continue, and the shops are asked to cooperate and move out of the agritainment area within a certain period of time to return the beautiful scenery to nature.
But can a single case of human trafficking and prostitution really make the government shut down a rural tourism project that generates over a billion yuan in economic activity? Not at all. Human trafficking and prostitution cases cannot change the legal provisions on human trafficking and prostitution, let alone address the tangible economic benefits right before our eyes.
The people need an explanation.
The government needs someone to take the blame.
This person is Zhou Xiye.
The only candidate is Zhou Xiye.
It must be said that political struggles are ruthless. In addition to the official document shutting down the agritainment project, there was also a report from Yunnan state media criticizing Zhou Xiye: too "left-leaning," and warning against the resurgence of "left-leaning" adventurism, failing to combine specific policies with the specific national conditions.
For two days, Meng Qinggong tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, staring at the overwhelming news and glaring official documents. He felt uneasy, but he couldn't pinpoint the source of his unease. He clearly disliked Zhou Xiye, hating her autocratic and unreasonable behavior.
But he felt ashamed to have so hastily removed a project that would benefit the people, buried the truth, and kept the people in the dark—it was clearly the police station's problem, and his problem, that they hadn't strictly supervised the work done below.
Before Zhou Xiye was reinstated, she was severely punished again, without even a chance to speak up and defend herself.
Wasn't it said that Zhou Xiye had special privileges from the central government to leave the procuratorate? Wasn't it said that Ling Xingzhi and she were having an affair? Wasn't it said that Pei Zhiyu was her husband?
Why isn't anyone standing up for her?
Even Meng Ling, who was watching TV, sighed and shook his head when he heard this news, "What a pity, what a pity..."
Meng Qinggong was filled with anxiety.
"Daddy...Daddy!" his daughter called. He smiled and came back to his senses. "How about we don't tell a bedtime story tonight? Daddy's a little tired."
The daughter nodded, her round eyes wide open, and said, "Dad, I saw in the news reports that you're amazing! You helped so many people and even beat up the bad guy Zhou Xiye!"
Meng Qinggong was taken aback. "Bad guy? Who told you that?"
"Our kindergarten teacher said Zhou Xiye is not a good person. Dad, do you know her?"
Looking into his daughter's innocent eyes, Meng Qinggong hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "Dad knows Zhou Xiye, but she's not a bad person."
"Then she made so many people homeless..."
He couldn't answer his daughter's question.
No, that's not how it is. Meng Qinggong leaned against the headboard, the cigarette in his hand falling onto the carpet, emitting a burnt smell, almost starting a fire.
That's not how it works.
Meng Qinggong got up and went to the courtyard to smoke.
The moon is very round, and flowers are blooming on the branches.
"Thump—thump—step—"
Someone knocked on the door. Meng Qinggong straightened up, stubbed out his cigarette, and carefully walked over in his flip-flops.
"Thump—thump—step—"
Meng Qinggong flung open the door. "Who is it? It's so late..."
It was Zhou Xiye, wearing a baseball cap and dressed all in black. He was the person he had been thinking about for the past two days, the person he had seen on the news, the person he had heard being talked about on the street.
Without thinking, Meng Qinggong closed the door.
The moment the door closed, a gust of wind swept in. Zhou Xiye closed her eyes, and she instantly understood Meng Qinggong's attitude. She was furious.
"You know very well why I'm here. Open the door and see me! I have something to ask you!"
The door remained tightly closed.
The wind blew, and the leaves fluttered down.
Zhou Xiye took a deep breath, the angrier he was, the more rational he became.
"Meng Qinggong, do you still remember your oath of joining the police force?" Zhou Xiye said slowly, "I volunteer to become a People's Police Officer of the People's Republic of China, dedicating myself to the noble cause of public security... serving the people, enforcing the law impartially... and striving to ensure the people's peaceful and prosperous lives..."
"I ask you, as the director of the Kunming Municipal Public Security Bureau, do your actions deserve the title of 'noble'?! I ask you again, have you truly upheld impartial law enforcement? Finally, I ask you, have you truly fulfilled your responsibility to strive for the well-being of the people?"
Meng Qinggong was startled and paused, his back turned.
Zhou Xiye's voice echoed in the empty night, each word like a whip, lashing his soul.
The door slowly opened, and Meng Qinggong looked at her with a stern face.
"Secretary Zhou, what do you want to do?"
Zhou Xiye looked at him, her eyes shining brighter than the moon.
"Why don't you tell the truth, why don't you tell everyone the real reason why your agritainment business was canceled? What are you so afraid of?"
When Meng Qinggong saw Zhou Xiye and met her gaze, he realized that she would lose sooner or later, and suddenly he felt no fear. "Zhou Xiye, you want me to tell the truth, you want me to be worthy of the people. But my life and death are not in the hands of the people, they are in their hands."
Zhou Xiye just looked at him without saying anything.
Meng Qinggong had been eager to see Zhou Xiye suffer, but now that he had, he wasn't exactly thrilled. He took a few steps forward, looked down at Zhou Xiye, and said, "Look at you. Aren't you pathetic? I don't want to become like you, pitifully begging the person you hate the most... I don't want that day to come. Besides, all your grand principles are completely impractical."
Zhou Xiye was stunned. After a long while, she suddenly laughed loudly.
Amidst the laughter, Meng Qinggong felt an unprecedented sense of humiliation.
"why are you laughing?!"
Zhou Xiye stopped laughing and shook his head. "You don't tell everyone the truth, you cover it up... Do you think that will defeat me? Do you think that will ruin me forever? Do you think that will make me never be able to get back up?!" The expression on Zhou Xiye's face gradually became serious. "We are not on the same page, Meng Qinggong. You will pay the price for your choice tonight."
After she finished speaking, she turned and left.
Meng Qinggong, as if possessed, called out to her.
Zhou Xiye actually stopped in her tracks, but she didn't intend to listen to Meng Qinggong's conditions or speech. She slowly turned around and looked at him. "Meng Qinggong, when your father went to the battlefield, he certainly wasn't thinking about his own life or death. He wanted to protect the land beneath his feet, he wanted to bring peace to the people behind him, he wanted to avenge the fallen soldiers, and he believed that his motherland was the motherland of the people."
As Meng Qinggong watched Zhou Xiye's mouth open and close, uttering the most hurtful words, a sharp sword shot into the air and pierced his chest—
It almost split his soul in two.
“You are his only son, and his greatest shame.”
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