Power and Wealth
Chapter 1844 – Stunned law enforcement officers
10 pm.
Just a few minutes before the hour.
Sitting in one of the small “palaces” in the new county party committee compound, Dong Xuebing and Huo Yibang heard the creaking noise from outside, very loud.
Huo Yibang immediately stood up. “It’s the bulldozer.”
When the people arrived, Dong Xuebing also stood up and walked outside. He had already been feeling a bit impatient. Apart from Dong Xuebing himself, no one knew how serious the situation was. No one could have anticipated what would happen the next day. Therefore, only Dong Xuebing’s emotions were very anxious. He couldn’t explain the whole situation to others, and as the county party secretary, he couldn’t even reveal many of the emotions on his face. How could he still maintain the stature of a top leader in such a situation? So, Dong Xuebing had to keep everything inside. Hearing the arrival of the city management bureau’s cars and personnel, he was eager for things to proceed.
The two of them walked outside.
Outside, the cars from the city management bureau began arriving one by one. The streetlights were dim, some even nonexistent, but as the cars arrived and their headlights were on, the area suddenly became much brighter.
“Director Zhou.”
“I heard.”
“Should we stop here?”
“Yes, park here first.”
Director Zhou had exited the car, given a brief command, and looked around for Huo Yibang’s figure. He was surprised to see that the new county party committee compound gate had been knocked down, both gates lying flat on the ground. He was puzzled for a while, unsure whether it was a quality issue or the gates hadn’t been properly installed during the final stages. He thought the gates should have been secure since they would move in tomorrow. Why were they like this?
“Director Huo.” Director Zhou then saw Huo Yibang and noticed a young man beside him whom he did not recognize.
Huo Yibang nodded. “Everyone’s here.”
Director Zhou leaned in and whispered, “According to your instructions, everything is confidential. We might have been a bit late because we didn’t take the main roads but used the smaller ones.”
Huo Yibang responded with a sound of affirmation, “Good job.” Then he turned to seek Dong Xuebing’s opinion. “Secretary, what do you think?”
Secretary?
Director Zhou was momentarily stunned.
Dong Xuebing directly said, “Let everyone get out of the cars. Everyone, get out and go to the compound to talk.” After saying this, he turned and entered the yard.
Director Zhou looked at Huo Yibang in confusion.
Huo Yibang said, “Do as the Secretary says.”
Director Zhou didn’t ask any more questions and quickly called all the law enforcement officers to enter the new county party committee compound. After a rough count, about 15 or 16 people had arrived. Some had come in trucks, others in bulldozers. There were quite a few vehicles, probably seven or eight in total, as it seemed the entire department’s equipment had been mobilized.
Once inside the compound, not just Director Zhou but the other law enforcement officers were all very puzzled. It was late at night, and they were all off-duty—why were they called here? What were they supposed to do? Couldn’t the task be done tomorrow? And it seemed they had come to the new county party committee compound. They had assumed they were being called to remove some illegal structures, but they hadn’t expected to be directed here, where no illegal buildings were present.
Everyone had entered.
Dong Xuebing asked, “Is everyone here?”
Huo Yibang nodded. “Everyone’s here.”
“Good.” Dong Xuebing looked around. Only a few people wore city management uniforms, while many others hadn’t had time to change. They were all in plain clothes, but Dong Xuebing didn’t mind. As long as they could get the job done, whether they were in uniform or not didn’t matter. He then raised his voice and addressed them: “Hello, everyone. Let me introduce myself. I’m the new county party secretary, Dong Xuebing.”
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an immediate uproar.
“Ah!”
“Secretary Dong!”
“County Party Secretary!”
Even if they didn’t know Dong Xuebing personally, everyone had heard much about him over the past few days. They all stared at him for a long time, full of curiosity.
Old Zhou was also stunned, still not understanding the current situation.
County Party Secretary? A County Party Secretary is commanding them in the middle of the night?
Dong Xuebing allowed them to discuss briefly before saying, “Now, I have a small suggestion. Please hand over all your communication devices, and Director Huo will keep them temporarily.”
Everyone was even more confused.
What does this mean? Hand over our phones?
Seeing no one move, Huo Yibang couldn’t help but yell, “Turn off all communication devices; I will keep them for now. Director Zhou, you collect them.”
Old Zhou quickly responded, “Okay.”
One phone.
Two phones.
Eventually, all communication devices were collected.
Only then did everyone realize that things might not be as simple as they seemed. During previous city management enforcement actions, they had never been asked to hand over their phones. They weren’t part of the criminal police team, who would take phones to prevent leaks during investigations. But they had never heard of city management enforcement going this far. Was this necessary?
Once everything was ready, Dong Xuebing looked at them and said, “Thank you for your cooperation. Today, you might have to work overtime through the night. At least you won’t be going home before tomorrow morning. On behalf of the County Party Committee, I apologize for the suddenness of this situation. We didn’t have time to inform you in advance. But I hope you will take this task as seriously as possible. As for today’s overtime pay, Director Huo will add four times your daily wage to your bonuses. I will personally take care of this.”
Four times the wage?
That was quite a sum.
Everyone felt a little more energized. Working one night was equivalent to earning the pay for four days of work—worth it.
“The remaining task, let Director Huo explain to you,” Dong Xuebing said, looking at Huo Yibang.
Huo Yibang nodded and addressed the group, “Today, your task is simple but difficult. I don’t want you to ask any questions. Just follow the orders from the leadership.” He pointed to the various palace-like buildings in the county committee compound. “Now, bring the bulldozers in. I need you to level this entire area before tomorrow morning. Yes, every building, every section of the wall, I want it all torn down, completely demolished.”
“Ah?”
“What?”
The law enforcement officers were all stunned upon hearing this.
“What the hell? This is the new county party committee compound! Tear it all down?”
Old Zhou was so shocked that it nearly caused him a heart attack. His eyes were wide open like lightbulbs.
Whether it was Dong Xuebing or Huo Yibang, both had very serious expressions, showing no signs of joking.
Huo Yibang saw that no one understood and immediately angrily shouted, “I told you! Don’t ask any questions. Just tear it down! Didn’t you hear what I said?”
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