In name only: I will break the chess game in Handong

"This is not the place to talk. Come to my house tonight and I will give you an answer."

After saying that, Yi Xuexi stared straight at Mao Ya. Mao Ya felt a sense of calm upon hearing this. She knew that Yi Xuexi had most likely chosen to compromise. Compared to his political future, what did it matter if he remarried her?

"Okay, I'll wait for you to come back tonight."

Mao Ya left, while Yi Xuexi silently walked into the district committee and government building. Work still had to continue, didn't it?

As he walked down the corridor, the staff from Guangming District who passed by saw that it was Yi Xuexi and they all secretly looked at him with curiosity and pity. Although these staff members would politely smile and greet him as "Hello, Secretary Yi" when they met, Yi Xuexi knew very well that they were just watching his drama unfold.

Back in his office, Yi Xuexi sat down in his chair. His desk was piled high with documents. After looking at the documents for a while and handling some work, Yi Xuexi suddenly felt very tired.

It wasn't physical exhaustion, but mental fatigue; he was thinking about how to face Mao Ya that night.

Is it a compromise? Or a firm refusal?

"After crossing the hill, I found no one waiting..."

As he pondered, Yi Xuexi hummed his favorite song, finding a moment of peace in his mind.

Anti-Corruption Bureau of Handong Provincial Procuratorate.

Today, the Anti-Corruption Bureau had a special guest.

In the director's office, Hou Liangping looked at Zhong Xiaoai in front of him and was speechless.

“What are you doing here? We’ve been divorced for two or three months now, and I don’t think we have any work-related overlap.”

Hou Liangping was disgusted by Zhong Xiaoai's arrival. Now Hou Liangping has a new life, dating a college student girlfriend who is still young and vibrant. His life has been rejuvenated, how comfortable is that?

Zhong Xiaoai's gaze was calm as she shook her head.

"I'm here to report to Chief Prosecutor Ji Changming. Don't forget that I am now the Chief Prosecutor of Jingzhou Procuratorate, a department-level cadre, and also the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Provincial Procuratorate. Theoretically, I am your superior."

Upon hearing this, Hou Liangping rolled his eyes and said disdainfully, "Yes, yes, Chief Prosecutor Zhong, may I ask what brings you to our Anti-Corruption Bureau? If not, I have to get back to work."

After all, the Anti-Corruption Bureau is different from the Jingzhou Procuratorate. Your city procuratorate isn't very busy, but as the bureau chief, my schedule is packed.

"Hou Liangping, we've been husband and wife for over a decade, how can you be so heartless?"

"Chief Prosecutor Zhong, please have some self-respect!"

Zhong Xiaoai suddenly sighed, then took out a medical report and handed it to Hou Liangping.

"See for yourself."

Hou Liangping was a little curious, but he was dumbfounded when he received the test report and saw that it was a pregnancy test report.

"You're pregnant?"

"Yes, it's been two or three months."

"What does this have to do with me?"

Hou Liangping looked at Zhong Xiaoai with the same gaze one would give someone with a mental illness, but what about Zhong Xiaoai? She remained completely unmoved, simply taking the examination report back from Hou Liangping's hand.

"This child is most likely yours."

"High probability? That means..."

"Yes, it could be Chen Hai, it could be Zhao Ruilong, but you are the most likely candidate."

Hou Liangping shook his head.

"It doesn't really matter whose child it is. You've been keeping it a secret all this time. You don't actually want to have this child, do you?"

Hou Liangping looked at Zhong Xiaoai with the eyes of someone looking at a monster.

"Yes, but this child will only have the surname Zhong after it is born, and none of you will need to take responsibility for it."

"Then why did you tell me?"

Hou Liangping was speechless.

"If the organization asks me about the source of the child, I will say it's yours."

"Hey, hey, hey, it hasn't been tested yet, don't try to pin this on me."

"Haoran is doing very well now. You know my dad has retired, and now he's focusing on nurturing Haoran."

One sentence silenced Hou Liangping.

No matter how much he and Zhong Xiaoai argued, Hou Haoran, who should now be called Zhong Haoran, was still his son.

If it's just about acknowledging a father figure who doesn't require responsibility in exchange for his son smoothly receiving the Zhong family's future resources for upbringing, Hou Liangping could accept it.

“I understand. When they ask you, just say that you only found out about the pregnancy after we got divorced.”

"Well, that's all I wanted to say. I'll be going now if there's nothing else. Your girlfriend is very pretty. If you have the chance, after I give birth to this child, you can introduce me to a male college student so I can have a taste of something new."

Zhong Xiaoai could even smile and tease Hou Liangping at this moment, which made Hou Liangping unable to help but laugh as well.

"Okay, okay, but my taste isn't great. I can only guarantee I'll find you someone handsome, but as for his character..."

Goodbye, Director Hou!

"Take care, Chief Prosecutor Zhong!"

Zhong Xiaoai left, and Hou Liangping calmly continued with his work until he pulled out a letter of complaint.

As Hou Liangping took out the letter of complaint and read its contents, his smile vanished. This letter of complaint wasn't about anyone else; it was about Yi Xuexi, the current Party Secretary of Guangming District. The letter detailed how Mao Ya, while still married to Yi Xuexi, used Yi Xuexi's position to sell tea at exorbitant prices.

"One wave subsides only for another to rise!"

Hou Liangping sighed softly. He was no longer a political novice. Now, which cadre in Handong was unaware of the long-standing conflict between Governor Zhou Jianjun and Provincial Party Secretary Sha Ruijin?

Unfortunately, Yi Xuexi was a cadre who was quickly promoted by Sha Ruijin after he came to Handong. If this were verified, Hou Liangping shook his head and no longer had the excitement of investigating a big fish as in the past. Instead, he got up and took the letter of complaint to the chief prosecutor's office.

dong dong dong...

"Come in!"

After entering the room, Hou Liangping looked at Ji Changming with a solemn expression.

Quarterly inspection!

"Oh, it's Ryohei. What's up?"

Taking a deep breath, Hou Liangping gave a brief report on the contents of the whistleblower letter.

"Quarterly inspection, should we conduct an investigation?"

Now the problem fell on Ji Changming. He opened his mouth several times, but remained silent.

"I can't really answer that question for you. After all, Yi Xuexi is a department-level cadre and the secretary of Guangming District. Chen Hai was just transferred out of Guangming District. If something happens to Yi Xuexi..."

The meaning of these words is quite clear: the big picture!

“But if we suppress this situation and don’t investigate it during the quarterly inspection, we will also have to bear the responsibility once the higher-ups find out or it is exposed online.”

"I know, Liangping. I'll be retiring in a month and a half. Now I'm going to tell you some things from the bottom of my heart. Listen carefully and learn from them."

Chapter 253 Ji Changming's Survival Wisdom!

Ji Changming suddenly straightened up and looked into the distance with deep, yet somewhat murky, eyes.

"It's easy for a person not to make a mistake for a day, and it's equally easy not to make a mistake for a year, but it's difficult to not make a mistake for ten or twenty years. I've been working for a full forty years now, and I can say that I, Ji Changming, have never made a mistake in my entire life."

What do you think I rely on?

Hou Liangping also stood up and shook his head.

"Quarterly inspection, please speak!"

"One word: Push!"

"You must remember one thing: if the sky falls, there's always someone taller to hold it up. As long as you haven't reached the highest position, you can push your troubles away, whether you push them upwards or downwards."

But what should be pushed upwards, what should be pushed downwards, and what should be handled personally?

To put it another way, things with huge political risks are pushed upwards, things with less risk are pushed downwards, and things with no political risk are handled by ourselves.

Take the case of Yi Xuexi being reported, for example. You know that the new governor and Secretary Sha are not on good terms. Yi Xuexi's situation is also quite special. If our provincial procuratorate does not perform well, it is easy to incur the wrath of Governor Jianjun or Secretary Sha. In this case, we have to push it upwards.

Remember, there are methods and approaches to pushing.

After saying that, Ji Changming went to the table, looked at the red telephone, and picked it up.

"Hello, this is Ji Changming from the Procuratorate. Connect me to Secretary Chen of the Lüzhou Municipal Party Committee!"

Hou Liangping watched the whole scene unfold.

The call was quickly connected.

"Comrade Changming, is there something you need to tell me?"

Chen Luo's voice came through the phone, and Ji Changming replied calmly, "Secretary Chen, I'm sorry to disturb your work at this time, but there are indeed some matters that need to be reported to you and the Provincial Party Committee."

"Comrade Changming, you go ahead and speak."

"Secretary Chen, this is what happened. Our Provincial Procuratorate's Anti-Corruption Bureau just received a letter of complaint against Yi Xuexi, the current Party Secretary of Guangming District, and his ex-wife. The letter claims that when Yi Xuexi was in Luzhou, his ex-wife took advantage of his position and status to amass wealth through exorbitantly priced tea."

Secretary Chen, our procuratorate is well aware that with District Chief Chen Hai of Guangming District having been transferred, Comrade Yi Xuexi is now solely responsible for the work of the district party committee and government. If problems are discovered at this time, it would be a significant problem for both Guangming District and Jingzhou. Therefore, our procuratorate would like to consult with you and the provincial party committee to see if we should suppress the investigation for now, or…?

"Yes, Comrade Changming, your procuratorate has considered this very carefully. I understand this matter and I will report it to the Provincial Party Committee. As for the specific work, your procuratorate can make its own decisions as appropriate."

After saying that, Chen Luo hung up the phone.

Seeing this, Ji Changming put down the phone and looked at Hou Liangping with a faint smile.

"Did you hear the conversation clearly just now?"

Hou Liangping nodded.

"Ji Jian, listen carefully!"

Ji Changming sighed.

"The most important thing about pushing upwards is not to be eager to shirk your own responsibility, but to give a reasonable explanation for why you want to push upwards."

We can't handle the issue of easy learning because we're afraid it will affect hundreds of thousands of people in Guangming District.

Only by providing this reasonable explanation will the higher-ups not think that our procuratorate is just being lazy.

On the contrary, our procuratorate is a responsible and reliable institution!

"However, Secretary Chen is clearly an expert in this matter. He neither asked our procuratorate to conduct an investigation, nor did he say that our procuratorate was not responsible."