“That year, Sun Dongqing and Ye Zhifan were the ones who collected Ye Jian’s mother’s items. The jade was given back to them. I didn’t know this until the day Ye Zhifan was transferring to the city for work. After he drank, he spouted some gibberish that was coincidentally heard by the village leader whom I had requested to take care of Ye Jian. Basically, it meant that he was able to become who he was today thanks to a piece of jade.”
When he talked about the past, Uncle Gen wasn’t as energetic as he was when he was talking to Ye Jian. He sounded like fallen leaves that blew in the Autumn wind. “… After I came back from the military unit, I found out that Ye Zhifan took the jade. I observed him and noticed that Ye Zhifan rose from the position of the minister of finance to the deputy town mayor.”
“He was the deputy town mayor for three years. Then, his position rose even faster. He became the town mayor and soon, he went to the city. He only took four years to go to the provincial office!”
“The higher Ye Zhifan climbed, the higher the position of the person behind the jade. That was why he had the power to turn from a deputy town mayor to a member of the provincial office in a short span of four years!”
All these years, Uncle Gen had been secretly observing Ye Zhifan. Seeing how fast he climbed the political ladder, he knew that he mustn’t let Ye Jian fight with Ye Zhifan head-on.
Principal Chen took a piece of peanut and placed it in his mouth. It was very fragrant as he chewed on it. At the same time, his brain was working furiously. “That means that the jade is not something good for Ye Jian and her mother?”
“You can put it that way.” Uncle Gen’s pupils constricted slightly. His stern expression showed his wiseness and insightfulness about life. “It’s not a good thing to Ye Zhifan too. Why do you think this person suddenly gave him so much power?”
“No one will treat other people so well without a reason. No one will treat someone badly without a reason too. There’s always a start to everything. Ever since Ye Zhifan took the piece of jade from the village and came to the town, his career had been astonishingly smooth. I can confirm that someone is manipulating Ye Zhifan. When a government official is being manipulated, he needs to be wary. He might become someone else’s scapegoat.”
Principal Chen was flabbergasted. He lowered his tone and said, “Do you mean that Martyr Sun Xueqing sacrificed because she got exposed when she was doing her mission to investigate this piece of jade? Why didn’t the owner of the jade keep it and let Ye Zhifan have it? Why did he help him with his career so obviously?”
“Isn’t the person a little too high profile? Isn’t he afraid that the higher authorities will know? Also, based on the current situation, I can only see the benefits of having this piece of jade. Ye Zhifan was able to have a smooth career and he’s sitting in the provincial office now.”
“What’s more, don’t you think that it’s weird how Sun Yaozu’s criminal status was cleared? Who investigated him and reversed the verdict for him? I don’t think Sun Yaozu went personally to reverse the verdict. A wanted person won’t turn himself in.”
“Are you saying that someone helped him?” Uncle Gen didn’t think about this. That was because Grandma Ye scolded Ye Zhifan that day and said that she raised an ungrateful soul.
Also, based on Ye Zhifan’s vigilant nature, he wouldn’t take the risk to clear someone’s wanted status!
Principal Chen contemplated for some time before saying, “Sun Yaozu was cleared of his charges. He went back home blatantly and started renovating his house. He held a large-scale banquet and became a famous big boss in town. He kept an extremely high profile. It really seemed as though he found a powerful person to help him.”
This analysis was right on point. The two elders exchanged glances with each other and smiled.
Principal Chen smiled and sighed, “This item is indeed a piece of disaster. Ye Zhifan thought that he found a treasure. When he falls from a great height, he will know how miserable he can get.”
