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

"Hey! Mr. Xu, Mr. Wang, please continue your conversation. I'll go order a few more dishes!"

After saying that, Chen Luo got up and went into the kitchen. Half an hour later, there were eight dishes on the table, four of which were Chen Luo's creations.

Chen Luo opened two bottles of wine, and the meal lasted until nine o'clock in the evening. Secretary Xu and Minister Wang were both a little drunk.

At 9:20, Secretary Xu and Minister Wang's driver stopped at the door. Chen Luo helped the two leaders into the car. Their accommodation was a fixed reception location, so having a meal there was no problem. However, it would be too ambiguous for them to stay at Chen Luo's place for one night.

Minister Wang, in particular, would not choose to stay.

As the vehicle slowly drove away, Chen Luo watched it disappear into the distance and let out a heavy sigh. It would be a lie to say he wasn't tempted by the offer of the concurrent position of deputy secretary, but as an official, one must think thrice, consider danger, consider change, and consider retreat. At all times, one must prioritize one's own safety.

The higher you climb, the harder you fall. Chen Luo understood this all too well, which is why he hesitated.

Without dwelling on the matter, Chen Luo returned home.

In a building not far away, Sha Ruijin stood on the balcony watching the car leave Chen Luo's house, a vague guess forming in his mind.

"It's good to have a big tree to lean on for shade!"

Chen Luo, Chen Luo, your luck is truly extraordinary, it's enviable!

Chapter 320 Ji Changming Retires, Changes in Chen Hou

On Monday, Secretary Xu and Minister Wang left yesterday. Meanwhile, in Handong, the Supreme People's Procuratorate also issued an instruction on Ji Changming's retirement application, approving Ji Changming's retirement application.

When Ji Changming received the news from the procuratorate, he breathed a sigh of relief. He felt no reluctance to relinquish power, but rather excitement at being freed from his misery.

He's been working so hard all these years, and now he can finally rest.

Knock, knock, knock—there was a knock on the door of Ji Changming's office.

"Inspector Ji, this is Hou Liangping!"

"Come in."

Hou Liangping quickly pushed open the door and entered. After sitting down in the chair opposite Ji Changming, Hou Liangping spoke first: "Prosecutor Ji, I heard that the Supreme People's Procuratorate has approved your retirement application?"

Ji Changming nodded calmly, with a relaxed smile.

"It's been approved. The Supreme People's Procuratorate has agreed to my retirement. That means I'm no longer the chief procurator of the Handong Provincial Procuratorate. Don't keep calling me Chief Procurator Ji. Just call me Old Ji from now on."

"How can that be? Chief Prosecutor Ji, even if you retire, you will still be the Chief Prosecutor in my eyes, Hou Liangping!"

Hearing this, Ji Changming smiled. Everyone says that flatterers are annoying, but only the person being flattered understands the high emotional value of such flattery.

"Whatever you want, call me whatever you like. By the way, why aren't you working at the Anti-Corruption Bureau? Did you come here just to find out about this?"

Ji Changming narrowed his eyes and looked at Hou Liangping. Hou Liangping smiled awkwardly and said, "Prosecutor Ji, I'd like to ask you if the next chief prosecutor is definitely Prosecutor Lin?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Changming rolled his eyes.

"How would I know that? Anyway, when the Supreme People's Procuratorate asked for my opinion, I recommended Comrade Guoping. As for whether Comrade Guoping can take this position, the key lies in the provincial party committee's decision or the Supreme People's Procuratorate's recommendation."

It's fair to say the probability is not small.

"Well, Prosecutor Ji, as you know, Prosecutor Lin has a calm and composed personality. Although I usually respect Prosecutor Lin, but..."

"But you can't be as unrestrained as before? You're overthinking it. Comrade Guoping is rather reserved and doesn't like to form cliques. He's serious and responsible in his work. You should be secretly happy to have such a new chief prosecutor."

As for anything else, as long as you don't violate any rules, Comrade Guoping probably won't bother with you.

Hou Liangping chuckled upon hearing this, then got up and walked straight to the door, opening it to reveal Lin Guoping and Zhong Xiaoai. Lin Guoping's face was unusually calm, while Zhong Xiaoai was holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Ji Jian, actually we're here to congratulate you on your retirement."

At this moment, Ji Changming also realized what was happening. He smiled and got up to stand in front of the three of them. He first took the bouquet of flowers from Zhong Xiaoai, and then patted Lin Guoping on the shoulder.

"Comrade Guoping, did you hear what was just said?"

"Thank you for the quarterly inspection!"

Lin Guoping didn't say anything else, just a thank you. With Ji Changming's recommendation, he was even more confident in becoming the chief prosecutor.

"Oh, why are you being so polite? You've handled most of the work of the procuratorate quite well over the years. I'm not blind to see that. But like I said, I don't know whether my recommendation will be adopted or not."

"It's alright, Inspector Ji, I'm already content."

Ji Changming nodded, then looked at Hou Liangping and flicked Hou Liangping's forehead twice with his index finger.

"Oh, you monkey, you actually tricked me? Leading the charge will get you targeted by everyone!"

Hou Liangping covered his forehead, which didn't hurt, and shook his head.

"Quarterly checkup, it doesn't hurt, hahaha!"

The Provincial Procuratorate was filled with laughter and cheers, but Chen Hai from the Department of Justice was not. At this moment, a young man of about twenty years old was standing in front of him, blocking his car door with his arms outstretched.

"Excuse me, classmate, you've mistaken the car for something else."

Chen Hai thought the other person might have mistaken his car for another, but the other person continued to stare intently at him.

"You're Chen Hai? The former head of Guangming District?"

Chen Hai paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, it's me. May I ask who you are?"

"My name is Yi Tianci. My father is Yi Xuexi and my mother is Mao Ya!"

These words gave Chen Hai a terrible headache, and memories of his death flooded back.

"You and I have nothing to do with each other, right? Please move aside!"

Chen Hai remained restrained, but Yi Tianci was exceptionally persistent and refused to give in.

"I won't allow it! Do you know my mother has been kidnapped and taken abroad? And you're pretending nothing happened?"

Chen Hai was almost dumbfounded by the question.

"I don't care whether your mother was kidnapped or smuggled out of the country, and I don't want to know. All I know is that she is a criminal, and the rest has nothing to do with me. Please get out of my way!"

"No way! You heartless person! My mother told me she's carrying your child. Even for the sake of that child, you should save my mother!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Hai's good mood vanished completely.

"I'm giving you one last warning: Get out of the way!"

"I won't allow it!"

"Hello, security? Send two people. Yes, someone stopped my car in the parking lot. Don't let these random people in next time!"

Chen Hai didn't continue to sulk. Instead, he took out his phone and called the security personnel of the Department of Justice. Within minutes, several security personnel arrived at the scene and easily pulled Yi Tianci away. Then, Chen Hai got into his car and drove off in a cloud of dust.

At 8 p.m., Chen Hai and Hou Liangping were having a barbecue at the barbecue restaurant downstairs from Hou Liangping's house.

“I’m telling you, Monkey, it’s not a good thing that Chief Prosecutor Changming has retired. If it were Chief Prosecutor Guoping who took over, it would be fine, you could just work honestly. But if it’s someone else, the procuratorate will probably be in the middle of another fierce battle.”

Hou Liangping rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Let's talk about it later. This isn't something I can decide. Right now, I don't have any powerful backers. The position of director of the anti-corruption bureau is highly coveted. Everyone with connections wants a piece of it. It's only a matter of time."

"Sigh, who can argue with that? I have my own worries too. This afternoon, Mao Ya and Yi Xuexi's son actually blocked my car, saying that I had to rescue Mao Ya. Doesn't he know that I don't have much power right now?"

"Oh? You mean Yi Tianci?"

Hou Liangping became interested.

"You know him?"

Chen Hai was also very curious.

"I know him. I was the one who saved him the day he came to Handong. I almost broke my nose because of that. But to be fair, he wasn't wrong. Mao Ya probably didn't go abroad on her own. She was kidnapped and taken away."

Chen Hai nodded upon hearing this.

"Whatever. Whether I go abroad on my own or someone else kidnaps me, I don't care... it has nothing to do with me."

"Hahaha, she's carrying your son in her belly!"

"Pah! We don't even know whose it is yet. Besides, it's not like I, Chen Hai, don't have sons. An unblessed child will only suffer in this world anyway, so why bother?"

Chapter 321 Struggle Among Various Parties, the Benevolence and Courtesy of the Jia Family

"Fine, fine, it doesn't matter whether the child in Mao Ya's belly is yours or not, but what about Zhong Xiao Ai?"

There's a high probability that the child in her belly is yours.

Chen Hai frowned upon hearing this.

"It could be Zhao Ruilong's, or even your own child!"

"Impossible. Based on the timeline, it definitely has nothing to do with me. It's only possible that it's between you and Zhao Ruilong."

"Whether it's possible or not doesn't matter, right? Didn't Zhong Xiaoai publicly claim that she only discovered she was pregnant after divorcing you? In name, this child is yours, Hou Liangping's."

"Alright, alright, I'm not going to argue with you anymore. The Zhong family doesn't care whose child it is anyway. They'll all be surnamed Zhong from now on. Why bother with this? Come on, let's keep drinking!"

The two enjoyed barbecue and beer, living a very comfortable life.

Wednesday arrived before we knew it.

In the office of the Secretary of the Luzhou Municipal Party Committee, Chen Luo was reviewing Luzhou's monthly report when the phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was his old classmate, Yang Yanhua, calling.

"Hello, Minister Yang!"

"I'm at home, just call me senior."

"Haha, Senior Xing, what's up?"

Yang Yanhua didn't stand on ceremony and got straight to the point.

"The Supreme People's Procuratorate approved the retirement application of Chief Prosecutor Ji Changming on Monday. You know about this, right, junior?"

"I know. Comrade Changming even called me personally to report. Senior, are you asking about the candidate for the new chief prosecutor?"

"Hey, junior, they say you can recommend someone based on their own connections, I'm just trying to find out what my brother-in-law thinks."

Chen Luowen's tone remained unchanged.

"Senior, this matter hasn't been discussed in the meeting yet. It was only brought up for discussion at this week's Standing Committee meeting. I can't guarantee the outcome."

The implication was clear enough, so Yang Yanhua didn't press further.

"Haha, I understand. Sorry to bother you, junior. I'll hang up now."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Guoping watched his sister-in-law walk out of the study at Yang Yanhua's home, his heart pounding with worry.