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The van returned to the city government compound at 4 p.m.

As soon as Chen Ping got out of the car, he saw Sun Zhigang standing at the entrance of the office building, holding a folder in his hand, with a smirk on his lips.

"Secretary Chen, Mayor Xiao wants you to go to the conference room immediately for an emergency meeting of the investigation team."

Sun Zhigang's tone was very polite, but he couldn't hide the smugness in his eyes.

Liu Tiemian and Zhang Zheng exchanged a glance, their hearts sinking.

Guo Xiaojun asked in a low voice, "Brother Chen, why are you in such a hurry to start a meeting? Is something wrong?"

Chen Ping didn't say anything, and strode into the office building with his backpack.

In the conference room on the third floor, Wang Jianzhong was already seated in the main seat, with his secretary Li Ming and several senior officials from the municipal government office beside him.

Xiao Yuhan sat to the side, her face calm and revealing no emotion.

Chen Pingfang led the investigation team members into the room. Wang Jianzhong glanced at them, picked up his teacup, and slowly took a sip.

"Everyone's here? Let's begin."

He put down his teacup, his tone becoming serious: "I heard you caused quite a commotion at Jinshui Bay today?"

Sun Zhigang immediately responded, pulling out a document from the folder: "Advisor Wang, I have received a complaint letter from Zhao Defu's company."

He cleared his throat and read aloud: "Complaint: The municipal government investigation team trespassed on private property without permission and used a drone to secretly film trade secrets, seriously infringing on the company's legitimate rights and interests. We demand that the relevant personnel be held accountable."

The atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly became tense.

Wang Jianzhong frowned and looked at Chen Pingfang: "Secretary Chen, how do you explain this?"

Before Liu Tiemian could speak, Wang Jianzhong raised his hand to interrupt: "I know you're here to investigate, but the procedures must be compliant. Now that a company has complained about your infringement, if this blows up, it will damage the image of the entire municipal government."

Li Ming added from the side, "And I heard that you even had a conflict with their security guards? If the media finds out and says that people from our municipal government are abusing their power, that would be a real problem."

Several veteran cadres nodded in agreement, their eyes filled with skepticism as they looked at Chen Pingfang.

Guo Xiaojun's palms were sweating nervously as he whispered, "Brother Chen, they're trying to shift all the blame onto us."

Chen Pingfang didn't speak, but just glanced at Xiao Yuhan.

Wang Jianzhong tapped the table: "I think we should suspend this investigation for now, and wait until I communicate with General Manager Zhao to clarify the misunderstanding before continuing."

He looked at Xiao Yuhan, his meaning clear: the matter was settled. "Mayor Xiao, what do you think?"

The conference room was eerily quiet, with everyone's eyes fixed on Xiao Yuhan.

Sun Zhigang's lips curled into a smug smile, waiting to see Xiao Yuhan give in.

Xiao Yuhan did not answer immediately, but turned to Chen Pingfang: "Secretary Chen, release what you photographed today so that everyone can see it."

Chen Ping nodded, took out a tablet computer from his backpack, and connected it to the projector in the conference room.

Wang Jianzhong frowned even more deeply: "Mayor Xiao, what are you trying to do?"

Xiao Yuhan calmly said, "Advisor Wang, as the chief advisor, you have the right to know the full details of the investigation."

The projection screen lit up, and a high-definition video shot by a drone began to play.

In the footage, the area inside the Jinshuiwan project's perimeter wall is piled high with black woven bags and rusty iron barrels, and the soil on the ground is an abnormally black color.

As the camera zooms in, the red hazardous materials label is clearly visible on the metal drum.

A collective gasp filled the conference room.

Zhang Zheng stood up, pointed at the screen, and said, "This is industrial waste, and it's clearly illegally dumped. According to environmental protection laws, this constitutes an environmental pollution crime."

The video continued playing, showing a dozen shirtless men frantically loading woven bags onto a truck. One of the men, with a scar on his face, had a bulge at his waist, as if he were hiding something.

Sun Zhigang's face turned deathly pale instantly.

Liu Tiemian continued, "We also discovered that this project hasn't started construction for over three years, but a large number of trucks are coming and going every month. Satellite images show that this is actually an illegal dumping ground for industrial waste."

He produced a preliminary test report: "The soil samples we collected showed heavy metal content exceeding the standard by more than 20 times, which has seriously polluted the groundwater source."

Wang Jianzhong's expression changed, and he gripped the teacup tightly with his fingers.

Li Ming quickly said, "This...this might be a misunderstanding. President Zhao certainly doesn't know anything about this..."

Xiao Yuhan stood up and looked directly at Wang Jianzhong: "Advisor Wang, in addition to the idle land, the Jinshuiwan project is also suspected of serious environmental pollution and involvement with organized crime."

She paused, then emphasized, "The situation is urgent. You have extensive experience. What should we do next?"

All eyes in the room were focused on Wang Jianzhong.

Wang Jianzhong was cornered.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He picked up his teacup to drink water, but his hand was trembling slightly.

After a few seconds of silence, Wang Jianzhong abruptly slammed down his teacup, his voice somewhat urgent: "This... Zhao Defu shouldn't know about this! It must have been done behind his back by his subordinates!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he had made a mistake.

Everyone in the conference room was stunned.

Chen Ping's eyes narrowed, and he immediately pressed, "Advisor Wang, how do you know that General Manager Zhao was unaware? Are you perhaps very close to General Manager Zhao?"

Wang Jianzhong's face turned ashen as he realized he had let something slip.

Li Ming quickly tried to smooth things over: "Mayor Wang means that entrepreneurs generally don't personally get involved in such illegal activities..."

Xiao Yuhan interrupted him: "Since Consultant Wang is so knowledgeable about the situation, he should take charge of the overall situation. I propose that a joint investigation team be established immediately, with the public security, environmental protection, and discipline inspection commissions all involved, to thoroughly investigate the Jinshuiwan project."

She stared at Wang Jianzhong and asked, word by word, "Advisor Wang, what do you think?"

Wang Jianzhong stared intently at Xiao Yuhan, and after a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Okay...we'll do as Mayor Xiao says."

The sound of turning over documents filled the conference room.

Liu Tiemian and Zhang Zheng exchanged a glance, their eyes gleaming with excitement—following Mayor Xiao, they could really get things done.

Chen Ping lowered his head and quickly jotted down a line in his notebook: "Wang Jianzhong and Zhao Defu have a close relationship; we need to investigate further."

……

Just one hour later, the meeting location was moved from the small conference room in the municipal government office to the large round table conference room in the administration building.

This meeting, titled "Joint Deployment Meeting on the Jinshui Bay Issue," was hastily convened by Wang Jianzhong after he was forced to concede at the previous small meeting.

His plan was very shrewd—since he couldn't deny it within the small circle, he would muddy the waters, involve various departments of public security, procuratorate, and judiciary, and directly block Xiao Yuhan's investigation team in terms of "procedure."

At this moment, the conference room door was tightly closed, and the oppressive atmosphere inside made it hard to breathe.