eurekapd Chapter 54 Shifting the Blame: The Cosmic District Chief's Scapegoat
Chapter 54 Shifting the Blame: The Cosmic District Chief's Scapegoat
The rooftop terrace of the Guangming District Committee's residential compound.
The night was as dark as ink, and the Milky Way was dazzling.
An expensive astronomical telescope is set up in the center of the terrace, its lens pointing directly at the vast sky.
Sun Liancheng, dressed in loose cotton pajamas and old slippers, was leaning over the goggles, muttering to himself, "M78 Nebula... The visibility is good tonight, even the companion star is visible."
His slightly round face, instead of the numbness and perfunctoriness he usually displayed during meetings, radiated a childlike innocence and purity.
Behind him was a small square table covered with star charts and notebooks.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The silence was shattered by urgent knocking, followed by the loud crash of the security door being violently broken open.
"Don't move! The Supreme People's Procuratorate is carrying out official duties!"
A group of people in uniform rushed onto the terrace, led by Hou Liangping.
Sun Liancheng was startled, his hand trembled, and he almost knocked his expensive glasses askew. He straightened up, looked blankly at the group of uninvited guests, and pushed up his glasses.
"What...what am I doing?" Sun Liancheng blinked. "I'm looking at the stars, is that illegal?"
Hou Liangping strode forward, his gaze sweeping across the terrace before finally settling on Sun Liancheng's innocent face.
"District Chief Sun, what a refined hobby," Hou Liangping sneered, pulling a summons from his briefcase and slamming it onto the star chart on the table. "Ding Yizhen has escaped, and you still have the mind to count stars here?"
"What does Ding Yizhen running away have to do with me?" Sun Liancheng frowned slightly, his tone indifferent. "He's the vice mayor, I'm the district head. It's not like I let him escape."
"Whether it's a problem or not, come back with us and we'll talk." Hou Liangping waved his hand, "Search!"
Several investigators immediately got to work, ransacking the place.
Sun Liancheng watched those people roughly handling his precious star map, his heart aching with heartache, but he didn't resist. He just sighed, "Hey, be gentle, that's a complete star map of the Southern Hemisphere, a rare find..."
Ten minutes later.
A female prosecutor with a ponytail walked briskly to Hou Liangping's side. Her name was Lin Xiao, and she was in her early twenties, a time full of energy.
She wore a tight-fitting prosecutor's uniform, the light blue shirt slightly bulging from her full breasts, and a pencil skirt that hugged her round, perky buttocks. Her legs were covered in flesh-colored stockings that gleamed delicately in the moonlight.
Lin Xiao, however, disregarded her image. Holding a document in her hand, she looked excited, her cheeks flushed with excitement, and her large, watery eyes sparkled with a desire to make a contribution.
"Director Hou! Found it!" Lin Xiao's voice was crisp as she handed the document to Hou Liangping. "It was found in the safe in the study—a supplementary agreement for the land transfer of the Guangming Peak project! It has Ding Yizhen's approval and... District Chief Sun's signature!"
Hou Liangping took the document and quickly flipped through it.
really.
At the end of the agreement, the three characters "Sun Liancheng" were prominently displayed, and the date of the signature was the day before Ding Yizhen's escape.
"District Chief Sun, please explain this," Hou Liangping said, waving the paper in his hand. "Ding Yizhen is about to flee, so why would he specifically ask you to sign this agreement? Isn't the change in the nature of the 200 mu of commercial land involved a bit too fast?"
Sun Liancheng leaned over for a look and suddenly realized, "Oh, this. Mayor Ding came to me in a panic the other day, saying it was a key project for the city and needed special handling. I thought he was a leader, and it was for the sake of GDP, so I signed it."
"You just signed it?" Hou Liangping laughed angrily. "Do you even know who owns this land now? Do you know how much state-owned assets were lost due to this price difference?"
Sun Liancheng looked up at the stars, his tone becoming somewhat ethereal: "Director Hou, look at this universe, so vast and boundless. Earth isn't even a grain of sand in it. Our little matters, things like land and GDP, are just dust in the face of the universe. Why take them so seriously?"
Hou Liangping was stunned.
In all his years of handling cases, he's seen tough guys, people crying, and people pretending to be crazy.
But this was the first time he had ever seen something that directly ascended to the cosmic dimension.
"Sun Liancheng!" Hou Liangping shouted sternly, "I'm questioning you on behalf of the organization, not discussing astronomy! Take him away!"
Two bailiffs stepped forward and restrained Sun Liancheng from both sides.
Sun Liancheng didn't struggle and let them drag him away. Before going downstairs, he turned back and called out, "Hey! Put the cover back on the binoculars for me! Don't let them get damp!"
……
The next morning, at the municipal party committee building.
Li Dakang stood with his hands behind his back in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the skyline of Jingzhou outside the window.
His back was slender yet upright, like a knife ready to be drawn at any moment.
There was a knock on the office door, and Secretary Jin Hao rushed in, his face pale.
"Secretary, something's happened."
"What's the panic!" Li Dakang said without turning his head, his voice low and deep. "If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up."
"It was...it was Hou Liangping." Jin Hao swallowed hard. "Last night, they raided the Guangming District and took Sun Liancheng away. The reason given was that he was suspected of assisting Ding Yizhen in transferring assets."
"What?!"
Li Dakang suddenly turned around, his eyes wide open, his signature large European-style double eyelids twitching violently.
"Sun Liancheng? That good-for-nothing who watches the stars?" Li Dakang found it absurd. "If he had the guts to help Ding Yizhen transfer assets, I, Li Dakang, would change my name!"
"But... Hou Liangping has evidence, which is a land transfer agreement signed by Sun Liancheng."
"fart!"
Li Dakang grabbed the teacup on the table and smashed it on the ground.
"Snapped!"
Shards flew everywhere, and scalding hot tea spilled all over the floor.
Jin Hao shuddered in fright, shrinking his neck and not daring to utter a sound.
Li Dakang's chest heaved violently as he paced back and forth in the office, his leather shoes clattering on the floor.
"This is like Xiang Zhuang performing a sword dance, his true intention being to ambush Liu Bang!"
Li Dakang stopped in his tracks, his eyes filled with malice.
Although Sun Liancheng was incompetent, he was still Li Dakang's trump card, the person in charge of implementing the Guangming Peak project. Now that Ding Yizhen has fled and Sun Liancheng has been arrested, how can the Guangming Peak project proceed? How can Jingzhou's GDP be protected?
More importantly, who is Hou Liangping?
Those are Gao Yuliang's students! They are Qi Tongwei's classmates!
"Well, well, what a bunch of Han University gangs!" Li Dakang gritted his teeth, his cheeks puffed out. "That old fox Gao Yuliang can't sit still anymore, he's starting to send his cronies to undermine me! This is a political purge!"
He slammed his fist on the table: "Answer Qi Tongwei's call! Forget it, I won't answer! Notify all Standing Committee members to call a meeting immediately! I want to see just how much trouble they're trying to cause in Jingzhou!"
……
Municipal Public Security Bureau, Director's Office.
Qi Tongwei sat in a large leather chair, toying with a black chess piece in his hand.
On the computer screen in front of me, a complex radar chart is displayed.
[Skill Trigger: Insight into People's Hearts (Advanced Version)]
[Monitoring Subject: Li Dakang]
Current Status: Enraged (Red Alert)
[Psychological profile: Extremely insecure, politically sensitive, and identified as a victim of factional attacks.]
"Oh."
Qi Tongwei chuckled and placed the chess piece in one corner of the chessboard.
The results were even better than expected.
Li Dakang is like a gunpowder gun. Give him a spark and he'll blow himself up, spraying everyone around him with blood.
Hou Liangping thought he had found a clue, but in reality he had stirred up a hornet's nest.
When Sun Liancheng is released due to insufficient evidence, Li Dakang's anger will only intensify. Who will he turn his anger on then?
It's naturally the Supreme People's Procuratorate that "arbitrarily arrests people," and Gao Yuliang behind it.
The water has finally become muddy.
"Knock knock".
A knock came at the door.
"Enter."
Chen Hai pushed open the door and entered, his expression somewhat solemn.
He held a screenshot of traffic surveillance footage in his hand, walked to the table, and put it down.
"Tongwei, there's something I need to report." Chen Hai pointed to a dilapidated truck in the picture. "The traffic police have reported that this truck has been appearing near the airport road overpass at this time every day for the past week."
Qi Tongwei glanced at it.
It was a Steyr heavy truck covered in mud, with half of the license plate obscured by mud; it was clearly a counterfeit vehicle.
At that time and on that section of road, Chen Hai took his usual route home every day.
"Did you check the driver?" Qi Tongwei raised his head, his eyes instantly turning sharp. His previously lazy aura vanished, replaced by a suffocating sense of oppression.
"I can't find anything, it's all fake information." Chen Hai was a little confused. "Maybe it's just a coincidence? After all, there's a construction site over there."
"coincide?"
Qi Tongwei stood up, walked over to Chen Hai, and helped him straighten his slightly crooked tie.
In a past life, it was such a "coincidence" that this upright-looking brother ended up lying in a hospital bed for the entire duration of a TV series.
The figure that was hit and sent flying in the rainy night, the blood all over the ground, is a nightmare he can never forget in his two lifetimes.
"Hai Zi." Qi Tongwei's hand pressed firmly on Chen Hai's shoulder. "Remember what I said. From today onwards, you are not allowed to take that road until this car is properly investigated. To and from get off work, you will ride in my bulletproof car."
"Huh? Isn't that a bit much?" Chen Hai was a little uncomfortable with Qi Tongwei's overprotective attitude.
"This is not a discussion, it's an order."
Qi Tongwei's voice was as cold as ice.
"Also, have Donglai deploy two snipers from the SWAT team to keep a 24-hour watch on this vehicle. If it makes any unusual moves..."
Qi Tongwei made a downward cutting gesture, a savage, bloodthirsty glint flashing in his eyes.
"Kill him instantly."
Chen Hai was stunned by the murderous aura emanating from Qi Tongwei and nodded blankly.
Qi Tongwei turned around and looked out the window.
Dark clouds are gathering in the sky outside the window, and a new storm is about to break.
"Zhao Ruilong is in jail, and some people are getting anxious," Qi Tongwei muttered to himself. "Want to mess with my people? Then let's see if your teeth are tough enough."
Just then, the red secure phone on the table suddenly rang, its shrill ring echoing through the quiet office like a death knell.
Qi Tongwei answered the phone.
Li Dakang's suppressed roar came through the receiver.
"Qi Tongwei! Come to the Municipal Party Committee immediately! Expanded meeting of the Standing Committee! Immediately! Right now!"
"Beep, beep, beep."
The phone hangs up.
Qi Tongwei put down the receiver, a playful smile curving his lips.
The show is about to begin.