Chapter 223 201: Gloating

Tan Haiyan came along with him, placing a bouquet of flowers down after entering.Dong Changhao watched them from the corner of his eye. In his whole life, he'd never been beaten up like this. Thinking back to when this place was where the Railway Guerrillas would jump on trains to fight the ghosts, the locals were indeed tough. If even the East Asian Ghosts got beaten into retreating, no wonder they got a thrashing.

Xu Chunliang said hypocritically, "Mr. Dong, who beat you up like this? I could barely recognize you."

The members of the investigation team silently cursed in unison. Is this guy even human? We've suffered like this, and yet he's gloating over our misfortune.

Xu Chunliang made no effort to hide it, with an obvious knowing smile on his lips.

Even Tan Haiyan felt embarrassed for him. After all, he's young, and this is not a time to laugh. Although they do look quite ridiculous and funny, see how well I hide it—I look very upset, which is the least bit of courtesy.

Dong Changhao said meaningfully, "Maybe we've offended some people's interests, they must be dissatisfied with us."

Xu Chunliang said, "That's why one must be cautious in life. You never know when you might offend someone. But you five have terrible fighting skills, don't you? I heard the other side only had five people too. How do you end up getting beaten like this with equal numbers?"

Dong Changhao said, "They were young and strong, and they came prepared."

Xu Chunliang said, "Don't justify it. You just lack experience. When you're less capable in a fight, you five should grab one of them and beat him senseless. If five against five doesn't work, five against one definitely will, right? As long as you catch one of them, beat them to a pulp and never let them go. The police station could help you find the others. Now look, all five of them got away and you didn't catch a single one; this beating may have been in vain."

Dong Changhao said grudgingly, "In terms of fighting, you're indeed more experienced."

Xu Chunliang said, "I told you from the start to stay in the hospital and not wander around, didn't I? Now it's proven that I was right. But don't worry, learn from a fall and gain a lesson. It shouldn't happen again."

Dong Changhao said, "Was Dean Xu in the county town yesterday?"

Xu Chunliang immediately understood, Zhang Haibin must have reported the situation to Dong Changhao.

He laughed and said, "You were there too, right? I saw you at the government office, but we were far apart, so I didn't greet you."

Dong Changhao said, "That's why this world is so small, there's no such thing as a real secret."

Xu Chunliang thought to himself, you're still convinced that I got someone to beat you up. Think whatever you like. If you keep thinking this way, who knows, I might really get someone to give you a beating someday.

It's not like I don't have accomplices here; Zhang Haitao's tame under my control now. If I tell him to bite, he won't hesitate.

Dong Changhao said, "The investment environment on Weishan Island is terrible. I'll write down the situation we encountered here in my report."

Xu Chunliang said, "I think it's fine. I've been here all this time and never encountered anything like this. Mr. Dong, think carefully, did you offend someone in the past?"

Dong Changhao highly suspected this had something to do with him. Seeing his gloating face, he felt inexplicably irritable and started issuing a guest departure order, indicating he wanted to rest and couldn't chat with him anymore.

Xu Chunliang nodded, took out an overdue bill notification from his pocket, and handed it to Dong Changhao. Business is business, and personal matters are personal. Just because you got beaten up on Weishan Island doesn't mean we have to waive your examination and treatment fees. I didn't beat you up, so why should I cover this bill?

Seeing the overdue bill notification made Dong Changhao even angrier. Is this Zhao Feiyang's idea or his own? It's not about the money; they'd just been beaten like this, and yet this guy still came over to demand fees. Is there no hospitality here?

A few suspects voluntarily went to the police station to turn themselves in the next afternoon. They weren't locals; they came to Weishan Island to do crab business. The reason they beat up Dong Changhao and his group was because they were drunk.

The police station investigated the situation. In the course of the physical altercation, Dong Changhao's side wasn't just passively taking the beating; they retaliated too. In such circumstances, it's difficult to keep emotions in check and consistently be on the receiving end of a beating. So, fairly speaking, the nature of this case should be considered mutual fighting.

Since they weren't locals, the town leadership breathed a sigh of relief. In this case, Weishan Island was the victim; outsiders beating up outsiders almost ended up being blamed on the locals.

After the county received their report, the leaders let them handle it themselves.

Secretary Kong Xiangsheng pushed the matter to Mei Ru Xue.

Mei Ru Xue handled the matter with extreme caution, inviting the relevant personnel to the town government for a small meeting. Of course, she wasn't going to let Kong Xiangsheng shirk his responsibilities. As Secretary, there's no way out for you.

Kong Xiangsheng eventually couldn't avoid it. After pondering for a moment, he arranged for the office to invite the leadership of Weishan Island Hospital to attend the meeting, citing that they were related parties in the incident.

Xu Chunliang happily accepted the invitation. When he arrived at the meeting hall, Police Station Director Li Chengbo and Instructor Zhao Hong were already there. Since Xu Chunliang's suspicions were cleared, Li Chengbo was particularly cordial to him: "Dean Xu, you're here, have a seat!"

Xu Chunliang smiled and sat down next to Li Chengbo: "You two are quite efficient, catching the suspects so quickly."

Zhao Hong had previously suspected him, and now he felt a little embarrassed, laughing as he said, "We must clear your name as soon as possible." Actually, those people turned themselves in.

Xu Chunliang said, "Innocent people are self-clearing and don't need to be cleared."

All three laughed. The leader hadn't arrived yet, and Li Chengbo, relieved, said, "Fortunately, it wasn't our locals who were involved; otherwise, this would have had a big impact."

Zhao Hong complained, "Do you think these outsiders are nasty? They come to Weishan Island to cause trouble and blame it on our locals. Although the matter has been clarified, the county is making us rectify security. This month won't be peaceful."

Li Chengbo said, "It's also a good thing to take advantage of this rectification action to improve social morale."

As they were speaking, Director of the Comprehensive Law Enforcement Office, Huang Yong, also arrived. He was also named to attend. Everyone was familiar with each other, and Huang Yong laughed, "There's a lot to do now. You at the police station will take the lead, and we'll support."

Li Chengbo said, "Don't be so quick to remove yourself; no one is getting off this time."

Director of the Petition Office, Li Yuliang, also arrived, and he concurrently served as the Director of the Social Governance Office, usually responsible for comprehensive social security governance, peace construction, petition stability, and other work.

He came along with Lu Zhiwei, the Director of the Financial and Economic Office, and Zhang Yiben, the Head of the Publicity Department.

Xu Chunliang said, "I feel a bit redundant here; this is clearly an internal meeting of yours."

Li Chengbo, the Director of the Police Station, said, "You're crucial; you must face the Huayuan Group's delegation to pacify them and minimize the overall impact of this incident."

Mayor Mei Ru Xue and Secretary Kong Xiangsheng entered the conference room together. Mei Ru Xue knew calling Xu Chunliang in was Kong Xiangsheng's idea. Kong Xiangsheng always held a prejudice against Xu Chunliang and probably wanted to use this opportunity to reprimand him. After all, Dong Changhao and others came to inspect their hospital, bringing trouble to Hu Shan Town.

After everyone was seated, Mei Ru Xue presided over the meeting and asked the police station to first explain the case.

Director Li Chengbo recounted the entire process of the incident. Everyone had a small notebook, with many pretending to take notes.

Xu Chunliang didn't have one; he was invited today and didn't see the need to put on an act for them.

After Li Chengbo finished speaking, Mei Ru Xue asked, "Instructor Zhao, do you have anything to add?"

Zhao Hong said there was nothing to add. Director Li's account was the factual situation.

Mei Ru Xue first invited Secretary Kong Xiangsheng to share his views.

Kong Xiangsheng knew she was respectful on the surface but had actually passed the ball to him first. He had prepared before coming to the meeting.

Kong Xiangsheng said, "Regarding this incident, we must handle it seriously and strictly, using this opportunity to deter potential criminals and promote the construction of a safe, stable, and harmonious Weishan Island. We need to make all investors feel safe and enhance their confidence in our Hu Shan Town Government. The county leaders are highly concerned about this matter. We must handle it well to eliminate the negative impact of this incident."

Kong Xiangsheng's gaze turned to Xu Chunliang: "Comrade Chunliang, pacifying the victims' emotions is a responsibility you cannot shirk."

Xu Chunliang suddenly asked, "Why should they be pacified?"

Everyone was stunned; wasn't the Huayuan Group's delegation here to invest in Changxing Hospital? Since they are your guests, of course, you need to pacify them.

Kong Xiangsheng said with a smile, "If this incident causes Huayuan Group to be dissatisfied with your hospital and the cooperation negotiations collapse, the impact would be huge."

He thought, is this kid foolish? A simple reason like this isn't clear to him. We gathered here for this meeting, isn't it to help Changxing solve problems?

Xu Chunliang said, "Secretary Kong, I don't quite agree with your proposed solution."

Mei Ru Xue felt a bit amused; Kong Xiangsheng really hasn't learned his lesson. Why did he invite him? This meeting was originally meant for the town's management team. Letting Xu Chunliang participate is groundless and meaningless. Kong Xiangsheng might have wanted to reprimand Xu Chunliang, but he seemed to lack proper understanding of his own capabilities as well as a fair perception of Xu Chunliang's abilities.

Kong Xiangsheng said, "Is helping your guests seek justice wrong?"

Xu Chunliang said, "It's utterly wrong."

Kong Xiangsheng turned green with anger. What is this kid made of? Every time I say something, he opposes it. Everything I suggest is wrong. He's deliberately opposing me.

Mei Ru Xue said, "Dean Xu, I feel Secretary Kong's opinion aims to eliminate negative impacts and consider the investors' interests; it doesn't seem wrong."

Everyone understood. Mei Ru Xue used the word "seem," ostensibly affirming Kong Xiangsheng's idea, but actually hiding a negation within it.