Me! A high-ranking official!

Zhao Jianguo parted the crowd and strode towards the center of the circle.

The villagers, who had been whispering amongst themselves, suddenly felt as if they had found their pillar of support when they saw his tall and upright figure, and their previously chaotic voices immediately became unified.

"Oh, Secretary Zhao is here!"

"Secretary, you're finally back! Look at this shrew making such a scene here..."

Some people greeted him with smiles and cigarettes, while others, looking worried, pointed to Wang Guihua on the ground and asked, "Secretary, what should we do? This car has been stuck in traffic for almost half an hour!"

Just then, the passenger door of the black sedan that had been completely blocked off opened, and a man in a white shirt with a capable demeanor stepped out. He was Director Wang of the County Discipline Inspection Commission and Wang Pingping's cousin.

As soon as Director Wang got out of the car and saw Zhao Jianguo walking towards him, his previously helpless face immediately broke into a smile, and he quickly went to greet him: "Oh, Jianguo, you're finally back! I was just wondering how to get away from this!"

When Zhao Jianguo saw him, he was slightly taken aback at first, then smiled and stepped forward to shake the other's hand: "Director Wang, I didn't expect this matter to alarm you and require your personal intervention!"

Director Wang shook his head with a wry smile, patted Zhao Jianguo's arm, and said in a low voice, "That's right! I was just reassigned to a department recently, and now I'm the director of the Third Inspection Office. I've only been in office for a few days, and the commotion you've caused is the first case I've handled since taking this new position!"

"So it's a promotion!" Zhao Jianguo's eyes lit up, and he immediately said with a smile, "Congratulations, Director Wang! We must celebrate with you properly when we get back to the county!"

"Come on, stop trying to fool me." Director Wang glanced helplessly at Wang Guihua, who was still wailing on the ground. "You should take a look at how to clean up this mess. This is your territory."

Before the two could finish their pleasantries, Wang Guihua, who was lying on the ground, heard the commotion. She scrambled to her feet, turned around, and saw Zhao Jianguo. It was a case of enemies meeting and their eyes turning bloodshot instantly. Wang Guihua let out a piercing scream.

"Zhao Jianguo! You heartless bastard! I'll fight you to the death!" She leaped up like a mad lioness, baring her teeth and claws as she viciously scratched Zhao Jianguo's face: "If it weren't for your black-heartedness, how could my husband Lao Luo have been taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission!"

Zhao Jianguo frowned, just about to dodge the madwoman's attack, when he suddenly heard a delicate shout from his side.

Zhu Yan, the women's director who had been standing on the periphery maintaining order, suddenly rushed out from the side, grabbed Wang Guihua's wrist which was swinging in mid-air, and pushed her hard with the force of the push, causing Wang Guihua to stagger back several steps and crash heavily into the stone roller next to her.

"Wang Guihua, are you ever going to stop?! Stop embarrassing Luo Family Village here!" Zhu Yan stood in front of Zhao Jianguo like a mother hen protecting her chicks, pointing her finger at Wang Guihua and shouting angrily, "Secretary Zhao has worked himself to the bone for our village, finally securing such a huge investment of five million! Everyone is about to live a better life, and instead of thinking about how to benefit the people, your family is going against your conscience, trying to use our land money to curry favor with the investors and take those shady kickbacks!"

Zhu Yan's clear voice echoed throughout the village entrance: "Secretary Zhao did give Luo Shuishan chances, but he was blinded by greed and brought this upon himself! What right do you have to come here and criticize Secretary Zhao?!"

Wang Guihua was shoved and disoriented. After regaining her footing, she stared at Zhu Yan in disbelief. She never dreamed that Zhu Yan, who used to be meek and respectful to Lao Luo in the village committee, would dare to stand up for Zhao Jianguo and beat her up at this moment!

After a brief moment of shock, Wang Guihua's face instantly turned venomous. Pointing at Zhu Yan's nose, she gritted her teeth and cursed, "Zhu Yan, you shameless little slut! How dare you treat me like this! Think about it with your conscience, how did our Lao Luo treat you back then? If it weren't for Lao Luo's approval, could you, a woman, have become the women's director of this village?! Now, to curry favor with this Zhao fellow, you're betraying your own people and helping outsiders against our Lao Luo! Do you have any conscience at all?!"

Facing Wang Guihua's vicious curses, Zhu Yan remained unfazed, instead letting out a sarcastic laugh: "Wang Guihua, stop trying to glorify your husband Luo! I, Zhu Yan, became this women's director because I'm educated (high school graduate), and I was elected vote by vote based on my abilities. The town government has assessed my performance! You keep saying that your husband Luo promoted me, so what? Does Luo Shuishan secretly engage in buying and selling official positions?!"

The accusation of buying and selling official positions was like a bucket of ice water being poured over her head. Although Wang Guihua was a shrew, she wasn't stupid. The leaders of the Discipline Inspection Commission were standing right there. If these accusations were true, it would be a serious crime! If she said the wrong thing, she could absolutely nail another major crime to Luo Shuishan's head!

Wang Guihua trembled with fright. She opened her mouth, but as if she had swallowed a dead fly, she swallowed the filth that was about to come out. For a moment, she was stunned and didn't know how to refute it.

This dramatic scene drew applause from the surrounding villagers, who were already furious about Luo Shuishan's practice of lowering land rents and taking kickbacks. Seeing Wang Guihua get the short end of the stick, they immediately began to condemn him.

"Wang Guihua, shut up! Do we need to gossip about the despicable things Luo Shuishan has done?"

"Exactly! For a pittance in their own pocket, they've swindled the entire village! They should just leave; they're already ashamed enough!"

"Well done, disciplinary committee members! These kinds of corrupt officials deserve to be arrested!"

……

Hearing the overwhelming accusations around her, Wang Guihua's face turned red with anger and she trembled all over, but she no longer dared to act so recklessly as before.

Seeing this, Zhu Yan took a large step forward without hesitation, directly blocking the black sedan and Wang Guihua. Turning to Director Wang and Zhao Jianguo, she loudly proclaimed, "Leaders, Secretary Zhao, please get in the car and leave! I'll be watching her from here today! If she dares to lay a hand on me again, or try to stop the car, I'll risk my life to hold her down and absolutely prevent her from breaking the discipline of our village!"

With Zhu Yan taking the lead, several young men and village cadres who had been eager to show off in front of Zhao Jianguo immediately perked up and squeezed forward, forming a human wall around Wang Guihua.