Restarting life by going to the countryside to support medical work

Chapter 659 Doubt

Once the news of budget cuts gets out, every unit will definitely try to talk to their leaders, hoping to reduce the cuts. However, those who go late will probably miss out on this opportunity.

"Old Jiang, when did you find out about this?"

"This morning, on my way to work, I ran into Deputy Director Song from the Finance Bureau. We have a good personal relationship. He told me that this matter was only finalized last night."

Phew... That's good! Things were only settled last night, so it's still in time.

“Okay, I’ll contact the city leaders first to see how things go. I’ll report to the bureau chief after he comes back from his meeting. We can’t let them cut our funding. If it’s cut any more, we’ll have to walk around to investigate cases.”

"Yes, Director Li, that's what I was thinking too. I was afraid of delaying things, so I thought I'd let you know first."

Director Jiang of the Finance Department probably speaks slowly and deliberately because he deals with money and accounts for a long time. This is a meticulous job that cannot be rushed, as rushing can easily lead to mistakes. However, he does not give people a "feminine" feeling and his voice is very pleasant to listen to.

Li Yancheng now understood why Director Jiang couldn't wait for the bureau chief to return in the afternoon and came to see him first.

What he needs to consider now is which city leader he should call first.

Nowadays, every organization has many superiors. Not only does the municipal government have a deputy leader in charge, but the organization department also has a deputy director in charge. So, deciding who to call first is quite important.

After hesitating for a moment, he decided to call the deputy leader of the Public Security Bureau in charge of contacting the city government to inquire about the matter.

So he asked Director Jiang to have some water first, and then picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello, Director He, I am Li Yancheng from the Municipal Public Security Bureau."

"Hello, Director Li!"

"Director He, does the leader have time right now? I need to ask the leader about something over the phone."

"Director Li, please wait a moment. The leader is in his office listening to a report from the unit under his supervision. Let me see if it's finished."

"Okay, thank you for your help, Director He."

"You're too kind, Director Li. Please wait a moment."

The Public Security Bureau holds a rather unique position. This deputy leader of the municipal government is not in charge of the Municipal Public Security Bureau; he is only responsible for liaison with it.

The deputy director in charge of the municipal bureau on the organization side is in charge of organizational work, but the distinction between organizational work and the daily work of the public security bureau is not so clear, so the boundary is somewhat blurred.

The reason Li Yancheng called the city government first was because budgeting and allocation are handled by the city government. Although the decisions need to be approved by the city leadership, the city government is responsible for implementing them.

Comrade Yan Cheng

Soon, the voice of the deputy leader in charge of contacting the Public Security Bureau came through the phone.

"Hello, sir/madam, sorry to bother you!"

"No need to bother you, I've just finished here. I heard from Xiaogang that you have something to ask me for instructions. Hehe, don't say anything about asking for instructions. If there's anything you need me to coordinate, Comrade Yancheng, just let me know."

The Xiaogang mentioned by this deputy leader is Director He, who just answered Li Yancheng's call.

He was both the deputy leader's secretary and the director of the Third Secretariat of the Municipal Government Office.

The Third Secretariat was specifically tasked with serving this deputy leader.

"Boss, it's like this..."

……

Shishan Branch Criminal Investigation Team

After going around in circles, the investigation returned to the security department of the cold rolling mill where the deceased, Tong Guangyao, worked.

Since the deceased inhaled the "sedative drug," it was most likely through inhaling smoke.

Because it's impossible to induce unconsciousness with this drug by covering the mouth and nose with a towel in a short time, and it's unrealistic to do so for a long time. The deceased, Tong Guangyao, was an adult male, tall and weighing nearly 160 pounds. It would be impossible for an ordinary person to control him unless they knocked him unconscious unexpectedly.

However, apart from the dozen or so stab wounds, the deceased had no other injuries, which ruled out the possibility that the deceased was knocked unconscious before being stabbed.

After ruling out other methods, the only remaining option is inhaling it through smoking.

Judging from the fact that Tong Guangyao was stabbed more than a dozen times, the murderer was most likely someone he had a grudge against, or someone he knew.

Further speculation suggests that the deceased may have smoked the cigarette offered by the murderer, implying that the deceased was unaware of the feud between the two.

Of course, these are all just speculations by Captain Cao and his subordinates at the moment, and the truth will only come to light through investigation.

"What did you say?"

The investigation began with the security staff. The first person to be questioned dropped a bombshell on Captain Cao, shocking him so much that his voice rose several octaves.

"Uh... Officer, did I... did I say something wrong?" The security staff member being questioned was so shocked by Captain Cao's loud shout that his voice trembled.

"No, no..." Old Cao realized he had gotten a little too excited and quickly waved his hand.

It's no wonder he was surprised. Since receiving the report from the security department of Beijing Steel Plant yesterday afternoon, they have been working non-stop for more than ten hours.

The investigation involved interviewing hundreds of people. First, a gun was found, followed by bloody footprints. This excited all the police officers involved in solving the case. However, they never expected that the bloody footprints were a deliberate deception by the murderer.

These dramatic fluctuations caused everyone's blood pressure to rise significantly.

Fortunately, through deduction, they discovered the killer's true hiding place after the crime and also extracted a bloody fingerprint, which can be compared as long as the suspect is found.

After the incident yesterday afternoon, Captain Cao carefully reviewed the file of the deceased, Tong Guangyao. He also asked several people, who all said that Tong had not dated any women in recent years, and had not met with any introductions from others.

Old Cao thought that this Section Chief Tong was really that affectionate, and that he had not remarried for more than 20 years after his wife died in childbirth.

But now it seems that's not the case!
Indeed, he was surprised because the security guard being questioned said that Tong Guangyao actually had a woman, and that this woman had a family.

"Comrade Hu Feng, you said that Tong Guangyao has a woman outside, and that this woman has a family?"

"Yes," Hu Feng nodded solemnly when questioned. "How do you know? We asked so many people yesterday, and they all said he hasn't looked for her again!"

"Hehe," Hu Feng chuckled coldly.

"It's all an act. Tong looks respectable on the surface, but he's actually a scoundrel. Everyone has been fooled by him."

Captain Cao frowned at Hu's clearly emotional words.

"Comrade Hu Feng, Tong Guangyao has been murdered. We are here to investigate the case. The information you provide must be based on solid facts, not just wishful thinking."

"Of course I have real skills," Hu Feng said, straightening his neck and speaking with absolute certainty.

"Oh? Then tell me, how did you know that Tong Guangyao has a woman outside, and who is that woman? Why doesn't anyone else know about this?"

Captain Cao asked noncommittally.

He didn't believe that this Hu Feng really knew anything. In his opinion, if Tong Guangyao really had another woman, and that woman was married, such things couldn't be kept secret forever; it was impossible for everyone not to know.

But this guy named Hu Feng actually knew.

"The woman he was having an affair with is named Zhang Chunlan. She works in our factory warehouse. It's not that others don't know about this, it's just that no one believes it. Because, to be honest, Zhang Chunlan is Tong Guangyao's sister-in-law. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed that they would do such a disgusting thing."

!!!

I***
Captain Cao and the other two detectives from the Shishan Branch Criminal Police Team almost couldn't help but swear.

What the hell is this?

"You...you really saw it with your own eyes?"

"Of course, officers, Tong Guangyao is already dead. Even if I disliked him, I would never fabricate rumors to smear him on something like this. If you don't believe me, you can investigate. Just last week, for example..."

At this point, perhaps unable to recall the date, Hu Feng paused, frowned, and thought for a while, even reaching out to pick up the duty roster on the table and take a look.

“Last Wednesday, that’s right, Wednesday. Tong Guangyao was on night shift last Wednesday. You can check. Zhang Chunlan must have been on night shift that night too. Oh, and last night as well.”

The fact that two people were on the same night shift doesn't prove anything. You can ask the people who were on duty with Zhang Chunlan to see if she disappeared for a while at some point. Similarly, Tong Guangyao wasn't there during that time either.

"But even if both of them are absent at the same time, that doesn't prove anything," Captain Cao continued to press.

This alone doesn't prove anything. They can't question Zhang Chunlan just because of this. She's a woman. Asking about such matters between men and women without any evidence, especially since they were previously brother-in-law and sister-in-law, would only damage her reputation.

They were there to investigate a case. Although such illicit affairs between men and women can easily breed crime, that doesn't mean the police can make unfounded speculations without any scruples.

Hearing Captain Cao say this, Hu Feng shrugged helplessly: "If you don't believe what I'm saying, then I have no other choice. I saw those two doing that kind of dirty thing in our security department's warehouse with my own eyes, but I didn't have a camera and couldn't have taken a picture. So if you ask me for any evidence, I don't have any."

"Comrade Hu Feng, what does Zhang Chunlan's husband do?"

"The high school teacher at our factory school teaches chemistry."

Ok?
Upon hearing that Zhang Chunlan's husband was a chemistry teacher, the police officers were all taken aback.

Could a chemistry teacher concoct such a "date rape drug"? At the very least, wouldn't they have the means to do so?
"Comrade Hu Feng, assuming that Tong Guangyao and Zhang Chunlan have an illicit affair, does her husband know about it?"

"I don't know about that," Hu Feng shook his head and said, "I think he should be able to sense it. Those two have been messing around for quite a while now, and I think Teacher Deng should have noticed something."

Upon learning that Zhang Chunlan's husband was a chemistry teacher, Captain Cao immediately began to suspect him.

Another team went to the hospital to investigate the management of the anesthetics used there. But if the murderer could concoct the drug himself, then the hospital would not have been able to find anything about it.

It seems necessary to meet with Zhang Chunlan.

"Comrade Hu Feng, besides this, what else do you know about Tong Guangyao? For example, his enemies, or who he has dealt with before, and whether any of them will seek revenge on him after they get out?"

"Of course there are. Tong Guangyao worked in the security department for more than 30 years. He has dealt with countless people, and many of them wanted to retaliate against him. The reason he still carries his weapon with him after get off work is because he is worried about being retaliated against."

Could you provide us with the names of these people?

“We have files here of those people who have been dealt with. If you ask me to name them one by one, I can’t remember them all.”

"Then please bring those files to us."

"No problem, it's in our security department's warehouse. I'll go get it for you right now."

Hu Feng had been working in the security department for quite some time. Although he didn't have the title of deputy section chief, he had actually been doing the work of one.

The former deputy head of the security department was transferred to another department in the factory headquarters in November. With everyone busy with various tasks at the end of the year, the factory leaders hadn't had time to assign a deputy head to the security department. Now, however, both the head and deputy head need to be assigned. If nothing unexpected happens, Hu Feng is very likely to be promoted to deputy head.

The reason why Captain Cao and his team did not suspect this man surnamed Hu was because he was on duty at the factory when the incident occurred yesterday and did not have time to do so.

When the head of the security department of the main factory arrived at the scene of the crime, he found that Tong Guangyao had likely taken the weapon, which was only allowed to be worn at work, home and had lost it. He immediately called the security department of the cold rolling mill and asked them to check if the weapon was still there. He was the one who answered that call.

It was only then that he learned that Tong Guangyao had an accident in the stairwell of his building.

"Captain, do you think it's possible that Zhang Chunlan's lover, the one Hu Feng mentioned, did it?"

After Hu Feng went out to retrieve the files of the personnel who had been disciplined, Captain Cao's subordinate asked a question.

"It's possible, provided that Zhang Chunlan's husband knows about their relationship, but it's still uncertain whether there's actually such a thing between them."

I'm considering whether or not to meet Zhang Chunlan first. Right now, everyone at the Jinggang Steel Plant is watching us, waiting for the case to be solved, wanting to see who the murderer really is.

If we go directly to Zhang Chunlan like this, regardless of whether she and Tong Guangyao actually did *that* thing, all sorts of rumors will spread. This concerns a woman's reputation, so we can't act rashly."

That's what they say, but since it's possible, we definitely need to make direct contact.

"Captain, can we try to get Zhang Chunlan's husband's fingerprints first and compare them with the fingerprints we found in the kitchen? If they match..."

(End of this chapter)