Nominal: Who isn't a son-in-law?

*Slap*

"What is he trying to do?"

Inside the room, Huang Youli slammed his fist on the table, his anger barely contained.

"He's been here for several days, but he hasn't held a single meeting. He's been going down to the villages every day. You've all heard that, haven't you? He's been talking to those villagers about their problems. He said he's written quite a few things down in that notebook."

Besides Deputy Mayor Huang Youli, there were three other people sitting in the room.

One was Zhu Daqiang, the organization committee member of Huayang Town; another was Zhang Chongyue, the director of Huayang Town Police Station; and the third was Wang Zonghan, who came from the county and worked for the county discipline inspection commission. The fourth was Huang Youli's wife's younger brother.

"He's trying to kill them all with one blow!"

Wang Zonghan took a drag of his cigarette and squinted as he spoke.

"We already swept through last year, what else do we need to do? Why not just arrest us all indiscriminately?" Huang Youli said coldly.

"Without distinguishing right from wrong?" Wang Zonghan sneered upon hearing this. "Those people may not have any major problems, but I'm afraid he'll investigate further. If he really does investigate, who among us can escape?"

Upon hearing this, Huang Youli fell silent.

Last year, a town mayor was arrested, a town discipline inspection secretary was imprisoned, and several others were arrested. In order not to make a big fuss, the county did not conduct a thorough investigation. Wang Zonghan had already given instructions to those who came down from the county discipline inspection commission.

"Could we get him involved too, drag him down with us? What kind of worldly experience can a young man have?" said Zhang Chongyue, the police station chief.

"It won't work. I've invited him several times, but he's always refused outright. Besides, he already has a car, and he probably wouldn't even look at what we have." Huang Youli shook his head.

"This won't work, that won't work," Zhang Chongyue said with a ruthless look. "If you ask me, let's just go all the way. Doesn't he like to do research? It's normal for some accidents to happen during research, right? The one we took care of before didn't have any problems."

"I think you've lost your mind!"

Before Huang Youli could speak, Wang Zonghan angrily rebuked him.

"Keep your voice down!" Huang Youli said, frowning.

"The previous one was just a village party secretary, this one is a town mayor, can you compare them? The head of the municipal party committee's organization department who escorted him down, and our county head are all accompanying him. If something happens to him, Tianhao County will probably be turned upside down."

Wang Zonghan lowered his voice, "Besides, didn't you see the guy next to him? His waist is bulging. Can that be an ordinary person? If it really comes down to it, what can a mediocre guy like you do, and what can you do with those few men who aren't even on the same page?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent, smoking one cigarette after another without saying a word.

Zhu Daqiang, the organization committee member who had been silent, touched the cigarette pack on the table. Seeing that there were no cigarettes, he took out a pack from his pocket, lit one, and said, "Gentlemen, don't panic too much."

As soon as he spoke, all three of them turned to look at him, wanting to see what this person who usually offered advice had to say.

"I almost forgot, Lao Zhu, you're quick-witted, tell us what's going on," Huang Youli said.

Zhu Daqiang was very fat, sitting there like a small mountain. He nodded and said, "We are all on the same side. The biggest problem is that village secretary three years ago and an economic matter. As for eating chicken, duck and goose, those are minor issues."

"The village party secretary's case is the biggest. It's been three years. It was handled by Director Zhang. At the time, his badge was torn off. Afterwards, Director Zhang went back to check and found it wasn't there. The flood was high at the time, and the body was washed far away. The badge was long gone. So this matter can't be reported."

Zhang Chongyue nodded.

During the flood, he took the opportunity to hit the village secretary on the head with a stone and push him into the water. However, when the man went down, he tore open the village secretary's clothes and raincoat.

He ran away for a while before realizing his badge was gone, and when he went back to look for it, he couldn't find it.

The water was very strong at the time, and the badge was so light that it must have been washed away.

Later, the body was discovered by their police station, and the matter was settled: he accidentally fell into the water and hit his head.

"Secondly, there's the economic aspect. The reasons we gave for the cooperative's pricing might not be reasonable, but it's not a big deal. Who has evidence to prove that we took any benefits? Without concrete evidence, where can they even begin their investigation? Those big players can't afford to ruin their own business, can they? Of course, we still need to tell them to watch their mouths after we go down there."

Huang Youli's eyes lit up. "Old Zhu, I think you should have the surname Zhuge."

"Haha, I think that makes sense. Why don't you change your surname, Old Zhu?"

Several people burst into laughter.

"Hehe, how could we change our surname? That would be forgetting our roots," Zhu Daqiang said smugly, continuing, "As for taking some of the villagers' chickens and ducks, hehe, what's that? Which person from the county doesn't take or eat?"

"If they really hold this against us, the worst we'll get is a public reprimand. So I think we should just spend some money to buy some chickens, ducks, and goslings to send back, pay back some of the money, and then proactively admit our mistake and write a self-criticism. If they want to criticize us, they can criticize us; if they want to punish us, they can punish us. At least we'll still be wearing the hat. Don't you think that makes sense?"

"Hahaha"

'Pa pa pa'

Zhang Chongyue clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Hearing what Committee Member Zhu said, I feel like the world has become much brighter! We'll do as you say. I'll pay out of my own pocket, and I'll compensate whoever paid for what I ate. I absolutely won't let the organization reimburse me! And then, I'll give a deep self-criticism in public!"

"Hehe, Director Zhang is a good official! I, as the deputy mayor, can't fall behind. Let's get started now!" Huang Youli said with a smile.

"Yes, let's give him a break for now. This is related to the town mayor, so he'll probably just be here for a short while, all bark and no bite. He won't be here long before he goes off to become a high-ranking official. I know these kinds of people!"

Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Wang Zonghan breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with narrowed eyes.

……

"I'm not here just to make thunder, but also to bring rain, a heavy downpour, to thoroughly wash away the thoughts and sins of certain people!"

In a villager's home in Nanshan Village, Chu Shijun spoke to Wang Xingmin with a face full of anger.

The door was closed, and on the table in front of the two men lay a worn-out police badge.

Next to him sat a middle-aged man in his thirties who looked honest and unassuming, though he was somewhat unkempt.

"Lin Chao, can you take responsibility for what you said today?"

Wang Xingmin, his face also full of anger, turned around and looked at the middle-aged man.

"I…"

Lin Chao opened his mouth, looked at Chu Shijun, and thinking of what the villagers had been saying these past two days, he nodded and said firmly, "I can take responsibility! I witnessed this with my own eyes."

"Disregarding human life, utterly lawless!"

Chu Shijun said coldly.

Just now, he and Wang Xingmin and a few others came to Nanshan Village, intending to visit the homes of those large-scale mushroom growers.

Passing by this house, I heard from Wang Xingmin that the family was in poor living conditions, with an elderly woman bedridden and a son who didn't even have a wife, so I decided to come and take a look.

Unexpectedly, this place gave him a pleasant surprise.