FWF Chapter 48: One Photo Sparks Outrage Among Hantong's Top Leaders
Chapter 48: One Photo Sparks Outrage Among Hantong's Top Leaders
Hou Liangping went completely berserk.
In the tense and turbulent city of Jingzhou, he was like a gleaming, even blinding, imperial sword, recklessly hacking and slashing across the iron plate of the Han Dong officialdom.
In just three days, signs for "Special Task Force 116" were plastered all over the three-story building of the provincial procuratorate. This was hardly an investigation or evidence collection; it was clearly a large-scale "house demolition" operation.
Every morning at eight o'clock, Hou Liangping would appear on time at the case analysis meeting, slamming his thermos cup on the table with a sound louder than a gavel.
"Investigate! No matter who it is, no matter whose people they work for, anyone associated with that rat Ding Yizhen, bring them back for tea!"
His voice pierced through the conference room door and echoed down the corridor.
The secretary-general of the municipal party committee, clerks from the district government, and even several retired cadres were invited in turn into that dreaded interview room. When they came out, they were all deathly pale, as if they had just escaped death.
The entire officialdom of Handong was in a state of fear.
Everyone privately called him "Lord Yama," and some even gritted their teeth at drinking parties, saying, "This monkey from the capital, isn't he afraid of tearing a hole in the sky?"
Everyone was staring at the sword, wondering who would be the next unlucky victim.
Zhao Ruilong panicked and had the account books of Shanshui Manor moved to three different locations overnight; Gao Xiaoqin was even more worried, her brows furrowed all day long, and even her favorite golf clubs were covered in dust.
However, at this very moment when the city was in turmoil and chaos, the instigator of the storm—Qi Tongwei—went into hiding.
The top floor of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, the director's office.
Qi Tongwei stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, holding the bamboo-leaf-shaped jade pendant in his hand, his fingertips gently caressing the warm, smooth jade surface. His gaze pierced through the city's steel jungle, seemingly looking at the "King Yama" leaping about, or perhaps at the deeper darkness.
"Chief, as you instructed, Zhao Donglai has taken over the Criminal Investigation Division."
Behind him, his trusted confidant, who had just been promoted to director of the political department of the municipal bureau, reported in a low voice, "In addition, those more than one hundred promising talents transferred from the grassroots have also been deployed. They are all unfamiliar faces, and no one knows that they are our people."
"Hmm," Qi Tongwei responded, his voice calm and unwavering. "Tell Zhao Donglai not to rush to make a name for himself. First, get all those nails out of the way. I don't want anyone offering cigarettes to suspects when we're making arrests later."
"clear."
"And..." Qi Tongwei turned around, a faint smile curving his lips, a smile that held the satisfaction of a hunter seeing his trap triggered. "How's that 'Historical Case Investigation Team' doing?"
The confidant paused for a moment, then gave a wry smile: "Those old foxes are all cursing. They're saying you're essentially exiling them, throwing them into the dustbin of history to rot. Especially that Li Wei, he's always smashing things in the archives."
"Just curse them." Qi Tongwei walked back to his desk, picked up a pair of scissors, and slowly trimmed the withered branches of the Podocarpus macrophyllus on the desk. "Only with resentment can one be motivated to dredge up old grievances. There are landmines buried in there that could blow up the entire Handong."
"Click."
A dead branch snapped in response.
Qi Tongwei blew away the wood shavings from the scissors, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
Did Zhao Ruilong think he was lying low? Did Gao Yuliang think he was backing down?
Oh.
Only the weak shout and scream on the table. A true hunter always silently places the muzzle of his gun against the head of his prey.
……
The archives are located on the second basement floor of the Municipal Bureau.
The air was filled with the musty smell of old paper, and dust danced wildly under the dim light.
"Holy crap! Is this even humanly possible?"
Li Wei, a member of the "task force," was slumped in a chair like a lump of mud. He was forty-five years old, with gray hair, and his once spirited face was now filled with decadence and greasiness.
He was a close associate of the former director and was originally a top expert in criminal investigation. But when Qi Tongwei arrived, he kicked him straight to this godforsaken place.
"Investigate old cases? Investigate my ass!" Li Wei cursed, casually pulling out a file. "These are old, messy accounts from over a decade ago; even a god couldn't fix them. They're just trying to force me out of here!"
He irritably opened the yellowed file folder in his hand.
The cover reads: "[2002 Unidentified Female Corpse Falling Off a Cliff at Crescent Lake Case (Case Closed)]".
"Accidental fall off a cliff...accidental my foot..." Li Wei muttered, casually flipping through the faded records. Cases like this were common in those days; most were just some unlucky guy who accidentally fell to his death, and there was no way to find out anything.
He was about to throw the file back and continue his slacking off.
Sudden.
A black and white photograph slipped between two pages of a transcript and fell with a soft "thud" onto the dusty cement floor.
Li Wei bent down to pick it up.
His movements stopped the instant his fingertips touched the photo.
Those were photographs of physical evidence from the crime scene. Beside a twisted female corpse lay several inconspicuous items: a broken, cheap watch, half a pack of tissues, and another…
A butterfly-shaped hair clip.
Made of metal, with two cheap rhinestones set on the wings, one of which has fallen off.
boom!
It was as if a thunderclap had exploded in Li Wei's already numb brain.
His hands began to tremble.
First came a slight tremor, followed by a violent, uncontrollable spasm. The thin photograph shook in his hand like a leaf dancing wildly in the wind.
He recognized the hair clip.
He'd recognize him even if he were ashes!
That was fifteen years ago, at the counter on the first floor of the Jingzhou Department Store. The girl with the bright, smiling eyes pulled him, who was still a naive young man at the time, and pointed to this hair clip, saying, "Brother Wei, this is pretty, it looks like a butterfly."
That year he was dirt poor, and it took him three months' worth of allowance to buy this not-so-expensive gift.
That night, he personally pinned it in the girl's hair. The girl wrapped her arms around his neck and said she wanted to marry him and give him a big, healthy son.
And then... no more.
A month later, the girl disappeared. She was never seen alive, nor was her body ever found.
He searched frantically for three whole years, even missing out on promotion because of it. In the end, he could only accept reality in despair and became a lazy bum who just loafed around and waited to die.
He thought she had run off with someone else because she thought he was too poor.
He hated, he resented, and eventually he became numb.
But now...
"Uh...uh..."
Li Wei let out low growls, like a wounded beast. He stared intently at the black and white photograph, his eyes bloodshot and frighteningly red.
This was not an accident.
That place is dozens of kilometers away from the city. How could she, who has no sense of direction, possibly go there alone and "fall"?
This is murder!
This is outright murder! Someone killed her, staged the scene, and even used connections to make the case look like an "accident"!
And that person, right here in the officialdom of Handong, is probably sitting in a high position, drinking red wine, and mocking him, this ant!
"ah--!!!"
A heart-wrenching roar shattered the deathly silence of the archives room.
Li Wei suddenly stood up, knocking over the chair behind him. Like a madman, he clutched the file tightly to his chest; it contained his lost youth, his tragically murdered lover, and his only obsession in this life!
Screw hibernation! Screw retirement!
I'm going to kill someone!
With bloodshot eyes, Li Wei kicked open the door to the archives room and, exuding an aura of murderous intent as if he had crawled out of hell, headed straight for Qi Tongwei's office on the top floor.
……
At the same time.
The Provincial Party Committee compound, Building No. 1, family quarters.
Sunlight filtered through the dappled shadows of the trees onto the windowsill, where Gao Yuliang sat leisurely in an expensive mahogany armchair, holding a purple clay teapot in his hands.
The teapot contains newly arrived pre-Qingming Longjing tea, with a delicate and subtle aroma.
He is very satisfied with the current situation; one could even say he enjoys it.
Hou Liangping's monkey was jumping around happily in front, scaring Zhao Ruilong and his bunch of idiots half to death. It was a good opportunity for him to give those disobedient businessmen a warning.
And Qi Tongwei, the student he once feared, now seems to be nothing special.
"You're still young, aren't you?" Gao Yuliang took a sip of tea, shook his head slightly, and his eyes held a mixture of pity and arrogance that came from experience. "Thinking you can seize power by engaging in personnel struggles? How naive. In this game of Handong, inaction is the greatest movement."
He felt he was still the one playing the game, calmly observing the changing world.
until--
"Knock knock knock!"
A rapid, somewhat impolite knocking broke the false tranquility.
Gao Yuliang frowned slightly, put down the teapot, and said in a deep voice, "Come in. What's the panic? The sky isn't going to fall."
The door was pushed open, and Secretary Wu, pale-faced, rushed in, forgetting to close the door behind her.
"Secretary...Secretary..." Xiao Wu's voice trembled, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying, "Something...something terrible has happened!"
"Speak." Gao Yuliang picked up the scissors, preparing to trim his favorite orchid, his tone still calm and steady.
"The fax machine just received a photo... it's unsigned... you... you'd better take a look yourself..." Xiao Wu handed over a still-warm A4 sheet of paper with trembling hands.
Gao Yuliang glanced at his secretary with some displeasure. These young people nowadays really can't keep their composure.
He casually took the paper, pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, and looked down.
For a second, time seemed to stand still.
The background of the photo was very dark, but in Gao Yuliang's eyes, it was more dazzling than the midday sun.
That was the Shanshui Manor from many years ago.
A luxurious king-size bed.
A young man completely naked—that was himself a few years ago.
There was also a woman nestled in his arms, with a face like a peach blossom and eyes as alluring as silk—Gao Xiaofeng.
The two were entangled together, their intimate posture was nauseating.
That was more than just an indecent photo.
That was the sword of Damocles hanging over his head, a death warrant that could kick him straight from the high position of deputy secretary of the provincial party committee into prison!
Clang!
The scissors slipped from his hand and crashed heavily onto the marble floor.
Next came the purple clay teapot, which shattered with a "crack," splashing scalding tea onto Gao Yuliang's expensive handmade leather shoes, but he seemed oblivious.
Gao Yuliang froze in his chair. His usually refined and easygoing face, which remained calm even in the face of a collapsing mountain, was now turning ashen and distorted at a visible speed.
fear.
A fear he had never felt before, a fear that penetrated to the bone, gripped his heart like a cold, large hand.
He kept this secret so deep that even he himself had almost forgotten it.
who is it?
Who dug it up?!
Zhao Ruilong? Impossible, that's his lifeline.
Hou Liangping? He's still investigating that damned Ding Yizhen, and he can't even get close to this.
So...
A name, like a bolt of lightning, instantly pierced the fog in his mind.
Qi, Tong, Wei!
Gao Yuliang suddenly raised his head and looked out the window at the police station building standing in the distance.
At this moment, he seemed to see the student who had once knelt before him, begging for directions, standing on a cloud, looking down at him with eyes full of mockery and coldness.
So, it wasn't a period of dormancy after all.
They were sharpening a knife.
Sharpen a dragon-slaying sword that can cleanly shave Gao Yuliang, skin and bones, until he is completely clean!
"It's over..."
Gao Yuliang slumped in the armchair, the A4 paper in his hand fluttering to the ground like a white funeral banner.
The sky is really about to fall in Handong.