64: Chapter 64 The Thief Informant

A single sentence from Zhu Zihao successfully captured the attention of the two leaders of Mishui Township.

Secretary Xue Hongtao was a bit more impatient than Sun Ning and hurriedly asked, "Tell us more!"

"It was a stroke of luck. A colleague of mine at the County Bureau caught a thug."

"When that thug was confessing, he accidentally let slip that someone had hired them to threaten other bidding companies."

"My colleague mentioned it to me in passing when he heard it involved our Mishui Township."

"There were only two projects in our township involving bidding, and you two leaders personally oversaw the school project, so I suspect it has to do with the industrial park bidding."

"Then I followed the trail and discovered that the thugs' boss, Da Ma San, has close ties with Boss Wang, the head of Dayang Company!"

"Our people followed Boss Wang and found that he frequently goes to see Pi Xiangyang!"

Everything had formed a closed loop; all that was missing now was evidence.

The current testimonies from the thug and Deputy Township Head Dong Zhensheng were meaningless on their own.

The existing evidence could not convict Pi Xiangyang; at most, it could only implicate Dayang Company's legal representative, Boss Wang, for bribery and other economic crimes.

Judging by what Zhu Zihao said, Sun Ning realized that solid evidence had not yet been locked down.

He asked casually, "How is the evidence collection going?"

"Township Head, it's been too short a time. Solid evidence will take a while longer."

The most difficult part now was the connection between Dayang Company and Pi Xiangyang. If that couldn't be nailed down, he might escape legal sanctions.

Most importantly, the money had already fallen into Pi Xiangyang's hands.

Sun Ning didn't want the Mishui Township Government to pay the price for the corrupt actions of these individuals.

As for whether Pi Xiangyang lived or died, it didn't matter much to Sun Ning.

"Fine, then continue to solidify the evidence!"

After the three finished talking, Secretary Xue Hongtao and Zhu Zihao took their leave.

Not long after they left, Sun Ning dialed Zhu Zihao's phone number: "Let's go to Old Sun's place at noon. My treat for mutton soup!"

It wasn't that Sun Ning had forgotten something and only remembered after Zhu Zihao left.

Nor was it that Sun Ning was plotting with Zhu Zihao to harm Secretary Xue Hongtao.

It was just that some things were not suitable to be discussed in the solemn and dignified setting of the government compound.

For instance, Sun Ning took a sip of the fragrant mutton soup and said calmly, "I heard that those bosses like to keep their ledgers in their office safes!"

After saying this, Sun Ning scooped a spoonful of chili oil, took another sip, and let out a satisfied moan.

This pause seemed deliberate, leaving it for Zhu Zihao to ponder on his own.

Sun Ning ate a piece of soaked guokui and continued, "You investigators deal with all sorts of informants. I've heard that some of them aren't exactly clean-handed? You need to be careful with your screening when handling cases!"

After saying this, he added more chili oil to the soup.

He commented on the mutton soup, "I have to say, Old Sun's mutton soup is delicious. First, you have a sip of the plain broth, then add some chili oil; it's truly warming in the dead of winter."

"This is the first time I've known that the Township Head likes this."

"Haha, I'm from Bianzhou. When it snowed in high school, I loved to climb over the wall after morning study to have a bowl of sheep double-intestine soup. The flavor was even more intense than mutton soup!"

When Sun Ning spoke of it, he seemed very nostalgic for his high school days.

Afterward, the two started chatting about the bowl of soup.

They talked about everything from the origins of mutton soup to the political landscape of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, all the way to the unification under Qin Shi Huang.

It seemed as if neither of them was talking about any informant issues.

As for being an informant or not, if Zhu Zihao said you were an informant, you were an informant; if he said you were a thief, you were a thief.

After finishing the bowl of soup, Zhu Zihao left happily.

He looked as if a heavy burden had been lifted from him.

In fact, this wasn't just idle talk from Sun Ning.

In his past life, after Vice-County Mayor Pi Yingshi stepped down, it seemed there was a rumor in Gongfan County that Boss Wang had a ledger.

The Discipline Inspection Commission investigators had found it in his office.

It was that ledger that had increased the severity of Pi Xiangyang's crimes.

Although the timeline had been moved up by many years and the ledger might not be as thick as it was in the future.

But as long as it was useful, that was enough.

As for whether Zhu Zihao would wonder how Sun Ning knew about it later, that didn't matter.

Isn't that how it's always portrayed on TV?

Just a coincidence!

Zhu Zihao left happily, and Sun Ning didn't know what tactics he would use.

He didn't want to know what tactics Zhu Zihao used, either.

All he wanted was the result. When dealing with those people, even the most underhanded methods were for the benefit of the people!

After Secretary Xue Hongtao made a trip to the county, the figure of Deputy Township Head Dong Zhensheng disappeared from Mishui Township.

Also no longer appearing was Cui Xiaotian from the township Discipline Inspection Commission.

However, the Earth keeps spinning regardless of who is gone, and Mishui Township wouldn't come to a standstill just because one or two people were missing.

On the contrary, the bustling scene in Mishui Township was incomparable even to Gongfan County.

In the past few days, Sun Ning had placed his full focus on developing the industry and commerce of Mishui Township.

Through the County CPPCC and relevant departments, he widely invited many talented people from Mishui Township as well as businessmen from Gongfan County who were willing to invest.

Now was the opportunity for Mishui Township's great development, and those with a little spare cash also needed to develop.

Sun Ning was happy to see things that were beneficial to both parties.

In Sun Ning's office, he was sitting across from a businessman who was a native of Mishui Township.

"Boss Wang, Zhongzhou is too big. A hotel of your scale wouldn't have an advantage there! Instead, it could be the one and only of its kind in Mishui Township!"

"Mishui Township has great potential for development. Now that Deep Blue has moved in, and with various other enterprises to follow, you'll be raking in the money from business travelers!"

"You don't need to build it too large here; a five-story budget hotel will do."

Sun Ning was like a Big Bad Wolf, enticing Boss Wang.

He didn't look like a Township Head at all, but rather like a businessman selling a pipe dream to an investor.

Scenes like this had occurred one after another over the past few days.

There were those running restaurants, those opening supermarkets, and others running various storefronts.

Sun Ning never looked down on these small businessmen; on the contrary, he believed they were the pioneers of developing the township economy.

A medium-sized restaurant, from chefs to waiters, required about ten to twenty staff members.

Don't underestimate these positions, and don't underestimate these meager wages; at critical moments, that money could save lives.

Moreover, the entire Mishui Township only had a population of 50,000. Excluding the elderly and children, how much of a labor force was left?

To stimulate domestic demand in Mishui Township, one had to ensure the people of Mishui Township had a little spare cash in their hands.

Even if they earned 800 yuan and saved 700 in the bank, 100 would still be in circulation.

If there were no job positions, some common people could only rely on the income from two seasons of crops a year.

They wouldn't dare spend a single cent of that hard-earned money.

The cross-shaped commercial street in Mishui Township planned by Sun Ning had already been contracted to the Gongfan County Construction Company.

Those real estate development companies were in the early stages of savage growth.

They were like wolves, scenting the prey and arriving.