Commission for Discipline Inspection building.
Along the corridor.
Dong Xuebing asked. “Is secretary Song here?”
Ning Shaoyang replied. “He should be here. I will bring him over.”
Deputy District Mayor Chu looked slightly nervous when he heard secretary Song had arrived. Ning Shaoyang and Fei Fan brought him to another department. Looking after civil servants under custody was handled by another department.
Suddenly, they heard Luo Haiting’s voice from one of the offices they walked past.
Luo Haiting said. “Secretary Song, you say you did not tell Deputy District Mayor Chu anything other than the leader’s inspection. You did not mention the leader’s visit to the Third Middle School. Let’s put this aside first. You said Deputy District Mayor Chu had received bribes. Can you tell us in detail? How do you know he received bribes last year and even know the exact date and amount? Is the Building Committee investigating him?”
“Yes.” A man replied.
Luo Haiting nodded. “Your statement is what we needed. Thank you for providing information about Deputy District Mayor Chu’s crime. Thank you for your cooperation.”
“Ok.”
Outside of the office, along the corridor.
Deputy District Mayor Chu looked terrible when he overheard the conversation.
F**k! How dare you backstab me?! Didn’t Feng Jie get someone to call me and say he would take care of my family if I kept quiet? You all are trying to push everything on me and silence me! You think I will be your scapegoat?! Dream on!
Deputy District Mayor Chu said. “I want to meet Director Dong.”
Ning Shaoyang looked at him. “Why?”
“I got something to say.”
Ning Shaoyang looked at him again and brought him back to the office.
Dong Xuebing looked at them. “Why are you here again?”
Before Ning Shaoyang and the rest could answer, Deputy District Mayor Chu said. “Secretary Song called me yesterday morning and hinted that someone among the higher-ups is targeting Third Middle School. He wants me to settle it as soon as possible and try to contain the situation. That’s why I called the project’s main contractor to move the substandard materials away. He also said this is what Deputy City Mayor Feng wanted. Nothing must happen during this period.”
Dong Xuebing looked at Deputy District Mayor Chu. “Are you willing to bear the consequences of what you said?”
“Yes.”
“Then write it down.”
“Ok.”
Deputy District Mayor Chu was furious as he started writing. He had lost all hope and decided to drag everyone down with him.
After writing his statement, Dong Xuebing called the other department to bring Deputy District Mayor Chu away.
After that, Dong Xuebing brought his men to Luo Haiting’s office. They could hear Luo Haiting talking to secretary Song from outside. Before they could open the door, Ning Shaoyang, Zhuzhu, and Fei Fan saw Liu Hanqing walking with secretary Song at the end of the corridor. They nodded to Dong Xuebing and entered another office.
Ning Shaoyang was stunned. “Wasn’t secretary Song in this office?”
Dong Xuebing opened the door, and they saw Luo Haiting sitting opposite an Inspection First Office staff member. It was Xiao Zhang, a new staff member.
Xiao Zhang quickly stood up. “Director.”
Dong Xuebing patted his shoulder. “Well done.”
Luo Haiting stood up and laughed. “How was it?”
“He confessed.”
Ning Shaoyang, Fei Fan, and the rest realized what had happened. Director Dong had set another trap, and he asked Director Luo and Xiao Zhang to put up an act. They made Deputy District Mayor Chu thinks secretary Song betrayed him. No wonder they did not hear ‘secretary Song’ talking much, and everyone felt Director Dong was too wicked. Not only Deputy District Mayor Chu was fooled, but they were also fooled. Anyone would fall into this trap.
However, Deputy District Mayor Chu would not confess if he did not fall for this.
From another perspective, Director Dong’s method was very effective but immoral.
After a while, Dong Xuebing consolidated the investigation results into a report and went to Zhan Guiping.
Deputy Secretary Office.
Zhan Guiping read the report and nodded. “Inspection First Office acts fast. We had just handed this task to you, and you all completed the investigation in the afternoon.”
Dong Xuebing replied. “This is only the initial investigation. We need to continue investigating to find out who else was involved. However, we got a breakthrough, and the rest is only a matter of time.” He knew he could not catch any big fish in this case. At most, there will be a reshuffle in Xi Ping District. Deputy District Mayor Chu’s confession could only let Feng Jie receive minor punishment and nothing more. But minor punishment was enough for him to lose the Party Committee seat to Huilan, which was what Dong Xuebing wanted.
“Good. You all are quite efficient.” Zhan Guiping nodded and looked at Dong Xuebing. “However, I heard your Inspection First Office had broken the rules during the investigation.”
Dong Xuebing feigned ignorance. “Broke the rules? No.”
“What about the document with that signature?”
“Oh, I asked Director Luo to prepare it. I wanted to compare Deputy District Mayor Chu’s handwriting with the contract. However, Song Fei saw it accidentally and misunderstood. I did not expect it, and it is not our fault.”
“What about secretary Song’s questioning? Huh?”
“We have no intention of fooling anyone. I know Director Luo is not good with questioning techniques, and I taught her what to ask when she waited for secretary Song. We prepared different kinds of questions based on different investigation outcomes. She was practicing with the questions in her office and was overheard by Deputy District Mayor Chu. I also did not expect this to happen. Sigh….”
Zhan Guiping was amused by Dong Xuebing. “You ah… do you think I will believe you?” He paused for a second. “I will let you off this time as the Provincial Government wants the investigation completed as soon as possible. But no more next time.”
Dong Xuebing smiled. “Yes, Sir.”
