0040 040 The easiest thing to manipulate is human nature.
Jiang Shanhe had a particularly unpleasant holiday. He was an old man who was about to retire and take care of his grandson. He had originally planned to slack off and finish the last six months of his career before leaving his post with honors, but on the third day of his holiday, he was met with a task assignment.
The Hengjiang Theme Park was under construction before the Lunar New Year, but unfortunately it was not completed ahead of schedule. The last shrine of the God of War General was not yet built.
When talking about Henghai New Area, one cannot help but mention the local "native" Yang family. This family can be described as one of the oldest family lineages in China. They have been based here since ancient times and have continued to thrive for nearly a thousand years. Their network of connections is distributed across various industries in society. You can guard against them, but you can't completely prevent them from reaching you.
Jiang Shanhe is the land management director of the new district. He was transferred from another place and was already over fifty years old when he arrived. He turned a blind eye to the power that had been hollowed out, hoping to wait peacefully until the day he retired.
The construction approval for Hengjiang Theme Park never went through his hands. His assistant would bring him a large stack of documents every now and then and ask him to sign them one by one. He just needed to remember the names of all the documents and be able to match them up in the future. He didn't want to care about anything else.
But now the construction plan was slapped in his face. He hadn't done any actual work for so long that he had almost forgotten the procedures. It was the sound of his grandson crying beside him that brought his attention back.
"Reconstruction Plan for General Yang Lang's Tombstone"
He completely misunderstood the thought process of the Yang family. Since the year before last, they had been messing with their ancestors. First, they transformed the ancestral graves of one branch of the Yang family into an art museum. At the time, many people complained and reported it, and it was on the news several times. Many descendants of the Yang family insulted Yang Wen, the female leader of the Cultural Bureau at the time, for forgetting their roots for profit and destroying their ancestors. Unfortunately, this woman could not be easily swayed by a few words. She went on the local news station and said to everyone, "Did any woman from the Yang family ever get buried in that so-called sacred place? I do not agree with the continued preservation of such feudal things."
Then, in the second month after her public appearance, an art museum called "Shangbei" won the renovation bid. The next day, Director Yang Wen resigned, and the new Director of the Cultural Bureau, Ji Delu, took office.
Old Ji is also a minor celebrity. His popularity comes from his daughter, Ji Shuihan, who is a cartoonist. She became famous when she was just starting junior high school. "Little Shui Feng" swept through the entire student world. However, like most students at the time, she was required to have good grades, so her hit comic "The Day I Fell into the Pond as a Goldfish" was forced to stop updating.
When she went to university, she learned that her father had already bought the copyrights to the first two comics. Fortunately, the adaptations were quite good, which further enhanced the value of her work. Old Ji finally saw the enormous value behind his daughter. He changed his rigid and dogmatic ways and personally accompanied his daughter in drawing and brainstorming. He himself also changed his previous lazy and unambitious nature and climbed all the way up from a junior staff member to his current position as the director of the Cultural Bureau.
Ji Shuihan has never studied painting. Every line she draws is a natural inspiration. Before she could even blossom for a few years, she was forced by money to create works that did not belong to her. She once cried on a TV show about her father's control, but that episode was never broadcast. She also disappeared from the internet for several months. When she reappeared, she had a new identity: a propaganda painter in Henghai.
Her mother is from the Yang family, and she married out of Henghai. Now she has brought her family back here. Many readers can read some rigidity and boredom in Ji Shuihan's updated paintings. Some people force some so-called traditional culture into her quirky character setting. They grin and have lively expressions and light movements, but they are telling some feudal dogmas. The long-term tug-of-war has worn away the inspiration and creative passion of the genius female writer. However, the Henghai cultural brand built by her father is becoming more and more popular and has even been recommended by the government. It is a prosperous scene.
Upon receiving the renovation plan, Jiang Shanhe went to the theme park that afternoon. It was a large-scale amusement project expanded from the Shangbei Art Museum. The central area was the Yang Family Ancestral Hall, and the downward steps connected to the tomb of General Yang Lang. The old man's intuition led him to avoid the security guards and go down to the underground alone. The flashlight shone into the empty tomb. The display cases that should have been full of burial objects had been pushed to the side. Behind the cases were several large boxes. He gently lifted the foam inside.
The priceless burial items were haphazardly piled in cardboard boxes, gleaming cheaply in the dim light. He tried to pick up a gold bowl, but it weighed less than a pair of his reading glasses.
He ran home, his heart pounding. Had these people become so audacious as to sell cultural relics and even put out so many fakes for later exhibition? Had the law disappeared in Jingyang?
He picked up his phone, intending to expose the matter, but after turning on the screen, he threw the phone away. Every document related to the development of Yang Lang's tomb had been approved by him, and no one would believe his story. He could resist, but he wouldn't succeed.
The old man watched his little grandson's adorable little back as he played on the ground, then flipped the documents over and deleted all the photos he had taken on his phone.
On the fourth day of the holiday, in the usually deserted living room of the Jiang family, Ji Delu came with two of his subordinates to pay New Year's greetings, claiming that they hadn't had a proper get-together since he was transferred here. At Jiang Shanhe's house, only the elderly couple and their grandson were there. The old lady Jiang couldn't stop them from pouring him wine, so she could only retreat to the kitchen to cook, sighing as she looked at the empty wine bottles.
Ji Delu, his cheeks flushed from drinking, waved his hand and spoke loudly to his two subordinates, frightening the child into tears.
"Let me tell you that I have a special connection with Lao Jiang. We hit it off immediately. We're from the same boat, so everything is easy to talk about, right?"
As he spoke, he patted Jiang Shanhe's shoulder. Although they were about the same age, Ji Delu looked much younger than him, with a round, fleshy face that trembled as he breathed.
Knowing what he was going to say, Jiang Shanhe simply stated it outright. He refilled Ji Delu's wine glass and asked cautiously, adopting a very humble posture.
"Director Ji, my approval process is very expedited; you can have any plans you like."
"Look, Old Jiang is so straightforward. I won't beat around the bush either. Sigh, everything was fine until the middle of the year when something like that happened. Old Han was also removed from his post, so this path is blocked. The workers were dragging things out and had managed to keep the project going until now, hoping to wait until the reshuffle to see who would be the new head of the land management bureau. Well, it's better not to wait. News came from inside that it's still that kid Qi Yu. He's one of Old He's men, so he can't be recruited by us. There's only one way left."
"What method?"
“Follow the rules, you report the project as usual, then use work as an excuse to invite him out, and leave the rest to me.”
"This Secretary Qi..."
"Don't be afraid. It's just a normal superior-subordinate relationship. If it works out, we'll split it 50/50. If it doesn't work out, I'll take responsibility. I'll make sure Brother Jiang can wait until he retires, right? Look, even our grandson is smiling."
Jiang Shanhe looked at his grandson on the sofa who was looking at them, tilted his head back and downed a glass of baijiu in one gulp, then nodded heavily to Ji Delu.
Jiang Shanhe wandered around the storage room at home. He usually had plenty of money, but he was not good at giving gifts. After picking and choosing, he gritted his teeth and took out two tins of tea that he had treasured for many years. He wrapped them up and called Qi Yu with trembling hands.
He called for two days straight without getting an answer. When he relayed the message to Ji Delu, Ji was drinking somewhere again, and this time he seemed genuinely drunk, his tone sounding like he was scolding him.
"Make an appointment with his assistant! You idiot, who do you think you are to be seen by him without his permission?!"
Jiang Shanhe then noticed that the note with Qi Yu's contact information also included Zhou Cheng's phone number, written in bold. He hadn't been involved in officialdom for so long that he had forgotten many of the "rules."
Zhou Cheng's phone is available 24 hours a day. After understanding the situation, he called Butler Yan directly, who then contacted Qi Yu.
Qi Yu was rubbing Qi Shuyao's stomach with his arms around her waist. Perhaps she had been too excited from playing too much these past few days, and her period had suddenly arrived early. She was lying on the bed lamenting that she couldn't make the most of her vacation when the vacation was canceled.
Qi Yu met Jiang Shanhe at the Yashui Courtyard in Jingyang. Although the weather and environment were not a good match, the staff stubbornly put up a circle of green fake bamboo around the place to create an atmosphere. After some pleasantries, Jiang Shanhe directly stated his purpose.
Qi Yu didn't actually understand.
"Is it really necessary for Director Jiang to be in such a hurry to see me about something like this? Is there a problem?"
Jiang Shanhe did not answer, but the partition door behind him was pulled open, and Ji Delu came out. Changing his arrogant attitude in front of others, he bowed respectfully to Qi Yu and presented the documents he had brought with both hands.
There was only one photo in the folder: a design drawing for General Yang Lang's tombstone. The paper was noticeably thicker than usual. Sure enough, when you turned it over, there was a photo on the back that read "Tombstone of My Beloved Father Pei Yuzhou".
Qi Yu let out a silent sigh, put the photo back on the table, and asked them,
What does this mean?
“Secretary Qi doesn’t understand. Pei Yuzhou’s wife’s maternal family is also the Yang family. According to seniority, she is my uncle. The Yang family is united and sticks together. Now that my uncle’s tombstone has been destroyed, it’s like his spirit has been dissipated. In addition, because of his matter, his wife and children have been scolded to the point that they dare not go out. As his cousin-in-law, I can’t help but lend a hand. I will place this new tombstone in front of the hall with the advantage of his son’s status. Tourists will come and go and pay their respects. This will help him get through this calamity.”
He spoke of this sorcery in a grand and dignified manner, using flowery language and swaying his head and body, exactly like the bizarre shamanistic dance performed under the police badge at Pei Yuzhou's funeral. They couldn't even sense anything amiss; ordinary people were just objects in their eyes.
What power or belief could tame so many people into such a terrifying state? Is it religion, or is there some kind of evil magic in their family?
"Is it beyond the capabilities of Director Ji and Director Jiang to handle that matter?"
"Secretary Qi is joking. Approvals are becoming increasingly strict. Even a completed monument will be opened up and inspected to see if anything is hidden inside. It's thanks to our knowledgeable Secretary Qi that we have such powerful regulations."
"Does Director Ji also have any opinions to raise regarding the proposed amendments to the regulations?"
"Secretary Qi is too humorous. This was just my own loose tongue. But this is just something I mentioned on the side. The most important thing is that my wife went back to work at IM Gallery before the new year. I didn't expect that Miss Qi is still working with them. My wife said she wants to get together with Xiao Shui and Yao Yao."
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