In name only: The land of Handong, I shall rule its fate.

"who!"

Hou Liangping felt a chill in his heart; his first thought was that the people behind the ledgers were starting to retaliate.

He grabbed the shadowy figure's arms with both hands.

With an over-the-shoulder throw, Hou Liangping slammed the attacker into the bushes. He pounced on him, his fists, as big as sandbags, raining down without restraint, producing dull, painful thuds.

"Monkey! Stop hitting it! Stop hitting it!"

"It's me!"

The shadowy figure suddenly spoke.

"steamed stuffed bun?"

That familiar yet unfamiliar voice and tone instantly awakened Hou Liangping's long-dormant memories.

"It's me! It's me!"

The shadowy figure, illuminated by the streetlights, revealed a mottled face covered in black grime, emanating a faint stench of sweat. His hair was matted together, and his beard was unkempt, as if he hadn't showered for ten days or two weeks.

What are you doing here?

"The Handong Public Security Bureau has notified the national public security system, and people across the country are trying to arrest you."

Hou Liangping's slightly relaxed heart started racing again.

"I...I..."

"I originally came to Beijing to seek your help, but the Dafeng Factory incident broke out, all my bank cards were frozen, and I was wanted by the police. I ran out of cash and had nowhere to go."

"I can only wait for you outside your apartment complex."

Cai Chenggong was beaten black and blue, and even speaking was difficult for him, but he still grabbed his childhood friend's leg and pleaded, "Monkey! Monkey! Now... you're really the only one who can help me!"

"For the sake of our childhood friendship."

"I've really been wronged, please help me! My son is still young, about the same age as Haoran, he can't lose his father."

By appealing to both friendship and family ties, Hou Liangping's anger subsided considerably.

"How dare you say that?"

"If you hadn't borrowed so much money from banks and loan sharks, and organized your employees to violently protect the factory, how could you have ended up like this! You even caused Uncle Chen Yanshi to go to jail and Hai Zi to be expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office. And you still have the nerve to ask me for help?"

Hou Liangping grabbed Cai Chenggong's arm and said, "I'll take you to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau right now and send you back to Handong."

"monkey!"

Cai Chenggong did not struggle. Instead, as if all his energy had been drained, he slumped to the ground. "Whether you believe it or not, I really didn't want any of this to happen."

"Whether it's bank loans, high interest rates in society, or even my approach to Ding Yizhen, the deputy mayor of Jingzhou, to jointly operate a coal mine, it's all about increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, and paying wages and dividends to the factory workers."

"I can guarantee that not a single penny of the loan I took out was used for myself or my family."

"If I wanted to cash out and achieve financial freedom, I could have sold the factory when its profits declined in the early years."

"But I didn't!"

"Monkey, can you understand? I can't."

"I, Tsai Chenggong, am greedy for fame and fortune, but my heart has always been red. Everything I have done is for the workers in the factory."

"I'm the factory manager, I'm the major shareholder. I'm responsible for over a thousand employees and their families. Do you understand?"

Cai Chenggong was agitated and roared hysterically.

Hou Liangping paused slightly.

Indeed, as Cai Chenggong said, if he wanted to make a profit, he could have sold Dafeng Factory long ago and made some money.

At least they wouldn't be like they are now, burdened with nearly a billion yuan in debt, constantly on the run.

"But breaking the law is breaking the law."

Hou Liangping increased the pressure on his hand.

"I knew that, so once I decided to come find you, I never thought of running away."

"You can arrest me if you want."

"But I'm here to report to you, the head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau's Investigation Division. I'm reporting the real culprit who caused Dafeng Factory's financial collapse and led to the Shanshui Group's misappropriation of its shares."

Cai Chenggong's eyes were dark and swollen, and he looked pale and thin, indicating that he was truly unable to run anymore.

Now it's not just the public security system that's arresting him, but also those people in the high-interest society. He's too weak to run away, so he might as well stay in jail, where at least he'll have basic personal safety and three meals a day.

"Who?"

When it came to clues for solving the case, Hou Liangping's eyes lit up.

The Dafeng Factory incident has long been settled in Handong, but if he holds decisive evidence to overturn the verdict, it would undoubtedly be the best way to fire the first shot.

"Ouyang Jing!"

Cai Chenggong explained, "She is the vice president of Jingzhou Bank in charge of approval and loan disbursement, and also the wife of Li Dakang, the current secretary of the Jingzhou Discipline Inspection Commission."

"He suddenly cut off our loans and notified other banks in Handong of the risks, which caused a collective loan cut-off. As a result, Dafeng Factory was unable to repay the 60 million bridge loan from Shanshui Group, which led to the loss of its equity."

Hou Liangping sneered, "Baozi, you've always been dishonest since you were a child. Do you really think I wouldn't know about this case in Handong?"

"It was clearly your own excessive borrowing that caused Dafeng Factory to become insolvent, which triggered the bank's loan risk warning."

The ins and outs of this case.

Because Chen Hai was suspended from his job, the two had been exchanging phone calls for some time.

"Bullshit, those are just excuses."

Cai Chenggong dismissed it with disdain, saying, "Ouyang Jing and Jingzhou Bank have approved loans for me before, so they must know my situation. I always give kickbacks for every loan I get. I give Ouyang Jing a rebate of 500,000 yuan for each loan."

"There were four transactions in total, each involving 500,000 yuan. The bank account was opened in my mother Zhang Guihua's name. I'll give you the account number; you can check the transaction records."

Tsai Cheng-cheng refuted the claims with all his might.

"Everything went smoothly until this time, after I borrowed a bridge loan from Shanshui Group and the Guangmingfeng plan was exposed, Ouyang Jing cut off my loan."

"There aren't that many coincidences in the world."

Cai Chenggong's eyes revealed a deep hatred as he pressed on to Ouyang Jing's question, "Monkey, you probably don't know, right? Gao Xiaoqin is the nominal chairman and sole shareholder of Shanshui Group, but in reality, Shanshui Group is a business owned by the Zhao family, Zhao Ruilong, the son of former Party Secretary Zhao Lichun."

"Li Dakang was Zhao Lichun's secretary in his early years. In other words, they are all in cahoots."

"It's obvious they set a trap to swindle Dafeng Factory's equity in order to acquire land worth 1 billion yuan."

"And Li Dakang is even worse. When he was the Party Secretary of Jingzhou, he had a vice mayor who was involved in corruption. Four years ago, when he was in charge of Linzhou, a vice mayor was involved in corruption and fled."

"This man is a vicious and habitual criminal, so it's not surprising that his wife did this."

"There were rumors in Handong that Li Dakang's daughter, Li Jiajia, was paid for by businessman Wang Dalu to study abroad. Moreover, in order to win over Li Dakang, Wang Dalu also gave her 25% of the shares and a luxury villa, where Ouyang Jing has been living for a long time."

"Monkey, you're an official from the Anti-Corruption Bureau, you need to investigate this Li Dakang immediately. He's definitely up to something."

"I'm begging you, you absolutely have to investigate him!"