Chapter 28: Victory

  When County Magistrate Cheng Jianjun visited the special case group, listened to their report and met with Lao Hai, Lao Hai suddenly dropped a bombshell: "County Magistrate Cheng, there is a dark secret here. The special case group is framing me. My case was orchestrated by Director Ma of the county bureau because I had financial dealings with him. When he found out that I wanted to surrender, he retaliated against me. I have evidence!" This statement caused a huge stir. Lao Hai pointed at Chen Da and said: "Under the education and criticism of this comrade, I decided to thoroughly admit my mistakes. He enlightened me, and I can no longer be a scapegoat for Ma Penghua."

  At that time, Chen Da and were shocked, and immediately understood that Lao Hai was selling himself a favor, hoping that he would help him in the subsequent interrogation. If he was Ma Penghua's person, while selling favors, he also disgusted the old fox.

  Jingjian Cheng immediately called out Penghua Ma, and the two talked for a long time. Chen Dahe was frightened and wondered if Jingjian Cheng and Penghua Ma had some unclear grudges. If so, not only would they fail to bring down Penghua Ma, but also put themselves in danger. After all, Lao Hai's reaction wasn't following normal procedures, and Jingjian Cheng could have simply ignored him or even accused him of making false charges.

  After Jingjian Cheng returned to the interrogation room, he instructed Chen Da and two procurators from the special case team to accompany Lao Hai to retrieve evidence. Chen Da felt a little relieved, but also became extremely vigilant, thinking that he must keep an eye on these two procurators, who might be Ma Penghua's people.

  However, Chen Dahe's concerns did not materialize. In an unknown property of Lao Hai, a thick notebook was found, which was the account book of Ma Penghua's early dealings with him before he became the director. Every single entry was very clear, and it made Cheng Jianjun extremely angry. He immediately removed Ma Penghua as the head of the special case group and put him under double regulation. The investigation into the case of Ma Hai was thoroughly conducted by a new team led by Secretary Lei Hao of the Discipline Inspection Commission, with Procuratorate Chief Pan Wanlong as the head of the special case group, and Chen Dahe as the deputy head from the public security agency.

  Under the pressure of Lao Hai's interrogation, Pan Wan stepped up his efforts and Ma Penghua was thoroughly defeated. He began to confess his problems one by one, which even implicated some leaders of the municipal bureau, making it a big case at that time, causing a stir in Yanqing City. However, no one knew that from start to finish, this case had been manipulated by a hand, and the owner of this hand was just the deputy secretary of a certain rural town.

  While Pan Wanlong decided to prosecute Ma Penghua that night, Chen Da walked past Ma Penghua and whispered in his ear: "Tang Shuji asked me to greet you on his behalf." Then he chuckled and said: "Old Ma, why did you offend him?" He smiled and walked away from Ma Penghua's side. However, Ma Penghua's face turned pale as if he had seen a ghost. Could it be that this matter was related to Tang Yi? No, impossible! He immediately dismissed the thought. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of any external factors; it was just that he had made a wrong move. If only he had talked to Lao Hai alone earlier, things wouldn't have turned out like this. In his heart, Ma Penghua cursed fiercely: when the wall falls, everyone pushes it, and now he's being ridiculed by Tang Yi, who is gloating over his misfortune. But was there really no connection between them? Ma Penghua was very puzzled, and even during his imprisonment, this remained one of the things that he couldn't figure out.

  ……

  The county public security bureau dormitory building 102, is Chen Dahua's new home, has not been allocated a house, can only squeeze with his wife and children in a small single room, is the kind of kitchen and bathroom are complete dormitory, but three people sleep in one room, really a bit shabby.

  That night, under the bright lights, the wooden table was filled with wine and dishes. Chen Da and his family of three sat around the table, while Tang Yi held up his cup on the other side and smiled at Chen Da: "Old Chen, no, I should call you Director Chen now, let me toast you a glass."

  Chen Da and Lianlian waved their hands, but in front of Tang Yi, he didn't dare to show off. Although they were theoretically equal now, he knew that with Tang Yi's abilities, he would likely soar upwards like a rocket in the future. With a smile, Chen Da said: "It's Dai, Acting Deputy Director." After Ma Penghua was removed from office, the original Political Commissar and Vice Director in charge of criminal investigation took over as Acting Director. Chen Da's rank was originally Deputy Section Chief, and this time his administrative position had also risen by half a grade, to Acting Deputy Director, in charge of criminal investigation work.

  Tang Yi smiled and said, "Whether or not to replace him is just a matter of one word. It's only a matter of time before he's removed." Chen Da and Ha ha laughed and said, "Then we'll have to rely on Secretary Tang to promote us more. You say the county bureau director will be removed, what's the big deal about this 'replace' character?"

  It's probably because Tang Yi brought Qi Jie, in front of the beautiful woman Chen Da and spoke more eloquently, couldn't help but make Tang Yi laugh.

  The weather was getting warmer, Qi Jie wore a white chiffon long dress and a white pure cotton T-shirt. Under the thin clothes, her full and firm **trembled lightly with a glance and a smile. The short skirt showed off her round buttocks, which curved upwards in a beautiful arc, and her slender legs were not wearing stockings, revealing half of her white calves under the hem. A pair of white soft leather shoes, small and delicate. A youthful aura surrounded her whole body, but the mature charm of a young woman and the twisting of her waist made her have a tempting power that made people's hearts flutter.

  When Qijie heard that Tang Yi was taking her to a friend's house, she started saying no and didn't respond. It was Tang Yi who dragged her here. Although she knew that her identity wouldn't change because of this visit, Tang Yi's kindness moved Qijie.

  When Chen Da heard that the county director was taken down by Tang Yi, Qi Jie smiled and glanced at Tang Yi, feeling a little proud in her heart. She knew some information about the Lao Hai case, and when she thought back to how Yao Xiao Hong didn't believe he could touch Lao Hai, who would have thought that now she's hearing that Tang Yi took down the county director? Unconsciously, she felt a sense of pride and also found it a bit amusing. This little guy, what is he always getting himself into? How did he manage to provoke the director?

  "Brother and sister, I'm not being presumptuous by calling you that, am I?" Chen Dahua's partner, Li Xiaoling, was also a rural woman in her early years. After Chen Dahua became the director, she found a job as a salesperson at the county department store. Now she's quite fashionable and has a hint of elegance. She felt a pang of emotion when she saw Qi Jie, wondering how someone's parents could produce such a heavenly beauty. This stunning girl is probably only worthy of being paired with Tang Family's eldest brother. She had often heard Chen Dahua talk about Tang Yi, and since he was someone who could make Chen Dahua admire him so much, she was already full of curiosity and goodwill towards him. When she saw Tang Yi again, looking elegant and refined, not arrogant or impetuous, she liked him even more from the bottom of her heart. She also made an extra effort to befriend Qi Jie.

  Qijie smiled and said: "Then I'll call you sister-in-law, Tang Yi said that Brother Chen is his best friend, we don't need to be polite."

  Chen Da and Haha burst out laughing, thinking that this beautiful woman was really good at talking. Tang Yi also laughed and said: "Of course not, if you weren't my best friend, I wouldn't have brought you along?" Chen Da and Haha laughed even more comfortably.

  They clinked glasses and chatted, having a great time like two good friends having reunion dinner together. Tang Yi also had a bit more to drink, Chen Dahe's face was flushed red from drinking too much. The 7 or 8 bottles of beer on the table were almost empty, Chen Dahe stumbled up to get more wine, shouting: "Secretary Tang, I have a bottle of Wuliangye at home, today we'll finish it off together, don't pretend you won't drink baijiu with me..."

  Tang Yi laughed and stood up to block him: "Don't, Brother Chen, if I drink another bottle of white wine, I'll definitely fall down. How about this, today is a happy day, let's go to the bar and have some more drinks." He turned his head to Li Xiaoling and said: "Sister-in-law, isn't there a new karaoke hall that just opened in front of your school? Let's go there and play for a while."

  "That's too expensive, let's just drink some at home."

  Tang Yi smiled and said, "It's nothing, I won't hide it from brother and sister-in-law. That bar is actually run by my family. This matter, no one knows about." Qi Jie listened to him speaking crudely and directly, her face turned red, she gave him a white eye, but in her heart, she was delighted.

  Li Xiaoling was stunned, she had to pass by that bar every day on her way to and from work. Although she couldn't see the inside, the exterior decoration looked like a city dance hall in movies and TV shows, with neon lights flashing and gold decorations shining brightly. How much money did it take? Where did this big sister get so much money?

  Chen Da and his son, who had just started junior high school, also wanted to go, but were scolded by Chen Da and stayed behind with a pout. Tang Yi and Chen Da's couple went out the door, and the cold wind outside blew away some of Chen Da's intoxication. He remembered Tang Yi's words from earlier and felt a chill in his heart. Looking at Tang Yi walking closely with Qi Jie, whispering to each other, he nodded secretly. This young secretary seems to have quite a background, otherwise where did he get all that money to open a song and dance hall for Qi Jie? He didn't even consider himself an outsider, not hiding anything from Chen Da. Thinking about this, Chen Da felt somewhat pleased with himself again.

  Although a Beijing designer was invited to help with the design, the "Night Club" did not have the dazzling array of lights like those found in Hong Kong and Taiwan at the time. The newly emerging things were relatively subdued, and the sofas and tea tables formed seats that seemed random but were actually elegant and harmonious. The dim lighting added a touch of mystery and serenity to the nightclub. On stage, a young woman was singing the Taiwanese song "Like Fog, Like Rain, Like Wind". Her voice was not bad, and from time to time someone would applaud.

  Yao Xiaohong, who was chatting and laughing with a few guests in the corner, saw them and smiled as she apologized to the guests. She walked over to Tang Yi and Qi Jie, her face flushed from drinking too much. "Ah, what a rare guest! What can I get you to drink?" she said, then whispered in Qi Jie's ear, "There are some county officials over there who are taking care of us. I'll have to go join them for a few more drinks later. Ugh, these people are really hard to deal with."

  The gaze of the guests at that table also followed Yao Xiaohong's figure to Tang Yi's table, where they saw Chen Da and were somewhat taken aback. Then, one of the middle-aged men wearing glasses stood up and hurried over, greeting them with a smile: "Director Chen, you're here too!" Chen Da waved his hand without introducing Tang Yi, speaking in an authoritative tone: "I'm just out to clear my mind. The owner of this place is a friend of mine, so please help him out more often! When it comes to new things, we need to guide them correctly while also protecting them vigorously. Don't make things difficult for them."

  "That's it, what else can be said." The bespectacled man smiled slyly and turned to face Yao Xiaohong, saying: "Miss Yao, are you teasing us? You're a friend of Director Chen's but didn't say a word, don't take it to heart if we offended you just now."

  Yao Xiaohong was stunned, just a moment ago she was forced to accompany them drinking, people with official tone, this sudden 180-degree turn, it's really good to have someone in the government, what is Tang Yi doing after all, looks like he only socializes with superficial people.

  "Little Red, bring a bottle of Xo cognac, that wine is strong, Brother Chen likes this kind. I and Qijie and sister-in-law will drink soft drinks instead." This meal at the Chen's house made Tang Yi and Chen Dahe's mood much closer, making him feel more comfortable calling him Brother Chen, unlike before when it was just a courtesy.

  Chen Da and Haha laughed: "Then thank you, little brother, let's get this banquet started."

  Yao Xiaohong smiled and personally poured wine and drinks, Tang Yi also invited Yao Xiaohong to sit together: "You don't have to be busy, I'll tell you, don't always accompany those people drinking, it's so smoky in the song and dance hall, people who don't know will think we have three accompaniments here." The words were a bit heavy, Tang Yi really couldn't bear to look at it, Qi Jie pulled Tang Yi's sleeve and said: "Xiaohong is also for business, what are you talking about?"

  Yao Xiaohong didn't mind, smiling sweetly: "Okay, okay, I'll listen to you, but you have to take care of all the arrangements, do you think I don't like a quiet life?"

  A few people were talking, when suddenly a laugh sounded from behind: "It's really Director Tang, what a coincidence! Miss Qi, hello!" Tang Yi turned around to see a middle-aged man standing behind him, refined and courteous, but with somewhat small eyes. He recognized the man as Li An, the deputy director of the Construction Bureau, who had even composed an impromptu poem to flatter him at dinner with Cheng Qi last time.

  "Ah, Director Li." Tang Yi hastily stood up and shook hands with him, exchanging pleasantries. Although a deputy director at the county level didn't have much real power, perhaps not even as influential as the head of an important department within the bureau, Li was young and had potential for advancement and capital to back it up, so Tang Yi quite looked up to him.

  Li An stretched out his hand to Chen Da: "Director Chen, I've long wanted to meet you. You're now the Bao Qingtian of Yan Mountain, and the Li Wenhe case has brought justice to our government. The Lao Hai case has also caught a big fish, haha! I just want to ask you after meeting you, are there any cases that you can't crack?"

  Several people burst out laughing, Tang Yi invited Li An to sit together, Li An was a businessman who was asked by someone to write a letter of introduction and was invited to have fun, seeing Tang Yi and Chen Da, he would not miss this opportunity to make friends, so he sent away the businessman and sat at the same table with Tang Yi.

  With Li An, Tang Yi and Chen Da around, the conversation became a bit more cautious, fortunately Li An was good at talking, and the atmosphere was lively.