Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

Inside the municipal party committee office, the thick smell of smoke was so strong that it was hard to open one's eyes.

Four hours had passed since Chen Jianguo forced Xiao Li to make that life-threatening phone call.

On the large mahogany desk, two crystal ashtrays were already overflowing with cigarette butts. Chen Jianguo and Xiao Li, like two desperate wild beasts trapped in a cage, frantically smoked one cigarette after another, their fingers even turning yellow from the cheap tobacco.

The red secure telephone on the table is like a time bomb that could explode at any moment.

"Ring ring—"

The piercing ringtone suddenly shattered the suffocating silence in the office.

Xiao Li shuddered violently, and the cigarette he had just lit fell onto the carpet.

He scrambled toward the desk, reaching out to grab the microphone.

"Get out of here!"

Chen Jianguo, whose eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, suddenly sprang up like a mad dog and kicked Xiao Li hard in the stomach.

Xiao Li groaned as he was kicked backward, flying heavily onto the sofa. He clutched his stomach and curled up in pain.

Chen Jianguo didn't even glance at him. He grabbed the red microphone and slammed it against his ear, the veins on the back of his hand bulging from the force. His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing together: "Hey! Is it done yet?!"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a trembling voice: "Secretary Chen... it failed... Wu Jianming was caught red-handed just as he was about to make his move in the elevator... Old Scar isn't dead, now they're all in Li Yuanchao's hands..."

"What did you say?!"

Chen Jianguo's mind went blank, as if he'd been struck by lightning. He gripped the microphone and roared, "By whom?! Who could stop him in the emergency room?!"

"A man named Zhao Shanhe..."

The informant's voice trembled violently, "I heard it was Director Li who personally arranged this undercover operation, hiding next to the flatbed truck pretending to be a family member. Captain Wu had just drawn his gun in the elevator, and before he even had a chance to aim at Old Scar, Zhao Shanhe crippled his entire right arm with one hand, and the gun flew away..."

"fart!"

Chen Jianguo completely broke down, his features contorted like a vengeful ghost, roaring hoarsely into the microphone: "Is Wu Jianming a fucking piece of trash?! He's a deputy captain of the city's criminal investigation team, holding a loaded gun, and he can't even take down a half-dead cripple, getting crippled by some peasant?!"

Chen Jianguo was panting heavily, spitting all over the microphone, his eyes filled with a desperate madness: "Where is Wu Jianming?! I still have his brother's death sentence order, does he not even care about his brother's life?! He just obediently raised his hands and surrendered, waiting for Li Yuanchao to interrogate him?! Why didn't he fight to the death?!"

"Secretary Chen..."

The voice on the other end of the phone was filled with desperate sobs, "Captain Wu... he... ten minutes ago, in the orthopedic debridement room on the second floor, while the police were guarding outside, he used a scalpel to cut his own neck... he's completely dead."

"Clatter".

Chen Jianguo's hand suddenly froze, and the red secure microphone slipped from his fingers, slamming heavily onto the solid wood table. It swayed back and forth in mid-air, pulled by the telephone cord.

Anxious shouts could still be heard on the phone, but the office suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

Chen Jianguo stared intently at the microphone swaying in mid-air, stunned for a good ten seconds.

Suddenly, a very strange sound came from his throat.

"Hehe... Hahahaha..."

Instead of collapsing in the face of adversity, Chen Jianguo raised his head and burst into a shrill, mocking laugh.

The laughter echoed like an owl in the huge office, making Xiao Li, who was in the corner, feel a chill run down his spine.

"He slit his own throat?! He actually slit his own throat?!"

Chen Jianguo laughed until tears almost came out, and he suddenly kicked over the heavy mahogany coffee table in front of him.

"Bang!"

The fine purple clay teaware was shattered and scattered all over the floor, with tea mixed with cigarette ash.

"What a ridiculous joke! Trying to be a prostitute while pretending to be virtuous!"

Chen Jianguo looked at him like he was a dead dog, pointing out the window towards the police station, his eyes filled with extreme meanness and vicious mockery: "He thinks that by cutting his artery, Li Yuanchao will forgive him? He thinks that by draining his blood, his skin will be clean, and Li Yuanchao will drape the national flag over him?!"

Chen Jianguo laughed maniacally as he paced back and forth amidst the mess, spitting everywhere: "Coward! Utter coward! Holding a pistol, he didn't dare fight anyone in the elevator, but after being disarmed, he had the audacity to cut his own carotid artery with a scalpel!"

"To save his last shred of laughable pride, for his worthless sense of police honor, he was willing to risk even his own brother's life! He didn't even care about the fate of his wife and children!"

He wandered around the mess like a wild beast that had gone completely mad, waving his hands nervously in the air and spitting everywhere.

"He thought cutting his artery would free him?! He'll have his own fun, slit his throat, close his eyes, and then dump all the mess and all the dirty work on me, right?!"

"He's dreaming! He wants to use his death to disgust me, to pin the blame on me to protect himself?! Even if I die, I'll expose his murderer brother's criminal record to the provincial newspaper! I'll make sure his entire family is forever branded with the stigma of being a corrupt cop and a murderer, forced to beg on the streets!"

Wild laughter and the most vicious insults echoed through the mahogany office.

Chen Jianguo stared intently at the puddle of tea on the carpet, his chest heaving violently.

Suddenly, his laughter stopped abruptly.

As if his neck had been snapped, the rage and ferocity on Chen Jianguo's face froze in an instant. The blood vessels in his eyes throbbed violently, and his previously hoarse voice suddenly dropped, turning into a chilling, extremely neurotic muttering.

"No...no..."

Chen Jianguo suddenly turned around, nervously biting his thumbnail, pacing rapidly in place, muttering to himself, "I haven't lost yet... Yes, I'm the top leader of the municipal party committee, how could I possibly lose to that bastard Li Yuanchao?"

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes gleaming with a morbid fanaticism and a strange hope, staring intently at Xiao Li, who was terrified and dumbfounded in the corner.

"Xiao Li! Don't just stand there! Quick, go get the phone!"

Chen Jianguo rushed over, yanked Xiao Li up from the ground, and gripped his shoulders tightly. His nails dug deep into Xiao Li's flesh from the force. "Call Wang Biao! Yes, call Wang Biao! Tell him to bring all his men, all those desperate thugs who'd risk their lives for money, bring detonators and explosives, and blow up the emergency room building! Bury Li Yuanchao, Lao Ba, Zhao Shanhe, and that bastard Song Qingshan inside!"

Xiao Li stared wide-eyed in horror at the boss in front of him, whose features were distorted and whose eyes were completely unfocused.

Wang Biao is long dead! Just a few days ago, Wang Biao and his core group of desperados were all slaughtered like chickens by that terrifying man named Zhao Shanhe! Chen Jianguo knew this better than anyone else!

Chen Jianguo was completely overwhelmed by anger and lost his mind!

"Secretary Chen..." Xiao Li trembled all over, his voice filled with desperate sobs: "Wang Biao... Wang Biao is long dead! He and all his men were wiped out by that Zhao Shanhe, not a single one was left alive..."

"fart!"

Chen Jianguo slapped Xiao Li hard across the face, splitting Xiao Li's lip and causing him to fall heavily to the ground.

"Wang Biao is my dog! I didn't tell him to die, how dare he die?!"

Like a madman, Chen Jianguo lunged at the desk again, grabbed the cracked red microphone, and frantically dialed a number that was impossible to reach: "Hey? Wang Biao! Take some men to the hospital right now..."

Even though there was only a cold dial tone on the phone, Chen Jianguo acted as if he had heard something defiant, and his expression instantly turned extremely ferocious.

"What are you going to do?! Go and kill them all!"

Chen Jianguo roared into the microphone, which had no sound, spitting all over the table. "You dare disobey orders?! Who do you think you are to try and bargain with me?! Do you know who I am?! I am Chen Jianguo! I am the top leader of the municipal party committee! Damn it, they've all gone mad... They all dare to rebel against me, don't they! They've all betrayed me! They've all betrayed me!"

He slammed the microphone on the table, like a caged beast that had been whipped, and nervously spun around twice, muttering to himself with extremely empty eyes: "Who else can I rely on...who else can I use..."

Suddenly, his bloodshot, unfocused dead fish eyes stared intently at Xiao Li on the ground.

"By the way, Xiao Li."

Chen Jianguo stumbled over, grabbed Xiao Li by the collar, and dragged him off the ground. A chilling, sinister smile spread across his face. "Xiao Li, you've followed me for so many years and taken plenty of benefits. Now, you're the only one still loyal to me, right?"