Power and Wealth
Chapter 1797 – Stunned
Inside the room.
One statement caused a ripple effect like a stone thrown into a thousand layers of waves.
The information embedded in Chief Chang Lin’s single sentence was already significant enough.
Although Hu Hanbin and his colleagues weren’t at the highest or lowest levels, they were aware of the situation to some extent. They knew about Li Gui’an’s transfer to the neighboring county as the new Party Secretary. That’s the top position in a county. They weren’t blind or deaf; it would be hard not to know. Li Gui’an left around the 15th, and the position had remained vacant. In the meantime, the Deputy Party Secretary and County Mayor, Zhang Dongfang, had been temporarily filling in. However, Zhang Dongfang wasn’t directly appointed Party Secretary, which sent a clear signal from the higher-ups. They were waiting for a new Party Secretary to take over the leadership in Jiaolin County, rumored to be someone parachuted in from a distant department—possibly even the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).
Everyone had heard the whispers.
So when Chief Chang Lin addressed him as “Secretary” with such deference and mentioned it was his first day on the job, Hu Hanbin and the officers quickly put the pieces together.
This man was their new County Party Secretary.
And they had arrested the County Party Secretary.
Words like “everything went black” couldn’t fully describe how Hu Hanbin and the officers felt then. It was more like the sky was collapsing. Only now did Hu Hanbin belatedly realize why Chief Chang had completely changed the moment he saw the man’s ID and had frantically ordered his release. Only now did he understand why so many County Party Committee members and officials had appeared outside. It wasn’t because the man had some indirect connection to Chief Chang or just some random background. No, it was much more straightforward than that. He was their direct superior, their leader.
Hu Hanbin now felt utterly foolish—foolish to the point of absurdity. He was so dumb that he might as well have run straight to his grandmother’s house out of shame. He felt like bashing his head against the wall. He couldn’t believe how stupid he had been. The situation was so simple, yet he hadn’t figured it out. He had naively assumed that Dong Xuebing was someone with some background connected to Chief Chang. Only now did he realize how massively wrong he had been. His anger over his officers being sent to the hospital had clouded his judgment, causing him to lose control of his emotions and reasoning.
And now, look what had happened.
Their police station was going to become famous this time.
How could it not? Infamy was inevitable.
Damn, on the new County Party Secretary’s first day in Jiaolin County, they had arrested him. Even the most infamous police stations couldn’t outdo that. Wasn’t this like defying the city’s leadership? Wasn’t this like slapping the province in the face? Thinking about the consequences, Hu Hanbin didn’t know what to say anymore.
This was a disaster.
It was a complete disaster.
The door to the interrogation room was still open because Chief Chang Lin had rushed in to greet Dong Xuebing as soon as he arrived. One of the officers outside had overheard the conversation and was just as shocked. Unable to hold his tongue, he quickly shared the news with colleagues.
Upon hearing this, every officer had the same reaction.
They were dumbfounded, in disbelief, and utterly terrified.
One officer, who was close to the injured Liu Xing, immediately called the hospital after hearing the news.
Liu Xing answered, “Hello, Old Zhou.”
“You can still answer your phone?” The officer quickly asked.
Liu Xing grunted. “Nothing serious, I’ll be discharged in a few days. By the way, I heard they’re going to release him. What’s that about? Did they let him go?” Chief Chang had said it in the hospital, right before Liu Xing, so he had heard every word. Although he didn’t dare say a thing at the time, it was only because he didn’t have the rank to speak up. Inside, he was furious. He couldn’t believe Chief Chang had decided to handle it this way. What kind of justice was this? How was his injury supposed to be accounted for? This was an assault on an officer! Liu Xing certainly didn’t want to see Dong Xuebing getaway. He hadn’t even avenged his beating yet. “How can this be brushed off like that?”
On the other end, Old Zhou was at a loss for words. “Liu Xing, seriously, what do you mean by ‘brushed off’? You’ve stepped in it this time. Are you kidding me? Are you talking about holding him accountable? If I were you, I’d lay low as fast as possible. Do you even know who we arrested?”
Liu Xing was stunned and angrily replied, “Why should I hide? I’m the one who got beaten. Who is he?”
Old Zhou replied, “He’s our newly appointed County Party Secretary. His name’s Dong Xuebing, transferred from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.”
“What!?” Liu Xing was so shocked he almost fainted. “County Party Secretary? He’s the new Secretary? Oh my god, are you sure?”
With a complicated tone, Old Zhou said, “Would I be calling you if I wasn’t sure? Everyone knows now. The county leaders and many Party Committee members are all waiting at our station. Just one look at that scene, and you’ll understand. Do you think they’re joking around? This time…”
Liu Xing’s face turned pale. He had no more words to say. After hanging up, he sat silently for a long time, as if his soul had left his body.
A similar scene was happening elsewhere.
In a resting room at the police station, the burly man from the black car was sitting down. He had been brought back to the station along with the officers, as he was involved in the incident. Even if this hadn’t happened, the burly man often came by the station anyway. He was close to Hu Hanbin, the police station chief—they’d grown up together and were like brothers. The man was also familiar with many people in town, and the station found him helpful at times, so everyone knew him. Nobody treated him as an outsider since they knew he was the chief’s buddy.
The news naturally reached him.
One of the officers told him, and after relaying the information, the officer looked at him like he was looking at a dead man and then walked off. Clearly, out of respect for Hu Hanbin, the officer had informed him, but it was obvious that the burly man was as good as finished.
The burly man, who had been smiling and smoking then, sat frozen for two minutes after hearing the news. Only when the cigarette burned down and scorched his fingers did he snap out of it, jumping up from his chair and letting out some strange sound—more like a shout.
“County Party Secretary?”
“County Party Secretary?”
He had extorted highway tolls from the County Party Secretary.
He had even tried to hit the County Party Secretary in the car.
It’s over. He’d slammed into a steel wall this time.
At that moment, the burly man’s heart went cold. He didn’t feel anything except that he was an idiot—a complete and utter fool.
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