139: Chapter 139 Zhang Laoqi

Early morning.

At the old teahouse next to the Heishi Town farmers' market, the air was thick with the scent of tobacco, sweat, and cheap tea leaves, while the clamor was enough to nearly lift the roof off.

Deputy Police Chief Li Sanqiang changed into an old, pilling leather jacket and stepped into a pair of dirt-covered yellow rubber shoes, finding a vacant seat amidst the crowd.

He offered a Baisha cigarette to the old man drinking tea alone at the next table, lighting it for him with his lighter.

"Old man, the commotion in this town at night is just too loud; the sound of tires rolling on the road vibrates so much that it's impossible to sleep."

The old man puffed on the cigarette with a sizzling sound, exhaling thick, yellowish smoke.

"You're from out of town, aren't you? That's the convoy from Heishi Mining, Old Ma's business. They're a shrewd bunch."

The old man lowered his voice and leaned forward.

"They're afraid of being fined for overloading on the main road, so after eleven o'clock every night, those big rigs all detour through that abandoned old river embankment south of town."

"There aren't even any streetlights on that road, let alone surveillance. In the middle of the night, it's a lawless zone; anyone who dares to go there and gets crushed has nowhere to turn for justice."

San Qiang lowered his head and drank his tea.

The old river embankment.

At another table in the teahouse, several middle-aged men were drinking tea from large bowls while snacking on peanuts, cursing as they spoke.

"When Zhang Laosan's daughter got married, the 'Red and White Council' in the village insisted on taking a ten percent cut of the 'wedding money.' If you don't pay, they won't let you hold the banquet. How are people supposed to live like this?"

"Keep your voice down!" The person next to him quickly nudged him with an elbow. "Clan Elder Zhang Laoqi gave the word. Now, in those three villages, the Council is more powerful than the Village Committee. If you provoke them, they'll block the irrigation ditches in your fields later on!"

Clan Elder Zhang Laoqi.

San Qiang finished his tea, tossed down a few coins, and shuffled off in his rubber shoes, blending into the crowd.

Ten o'clock in the morning, Heishi Town main street.

An old Jetta police car blared its siren, sounding particularly jarring in a town where police cars were rarely seen.

Police Chief Zhao Gang sat in the passenger seat.

The elderly couple who had blocked the road yesterday sat in the back.

The police car didn't take any shortcuts, choosing instead to wind through the crowded markets and main thoroughfares, making a scene all the way until it headed straight for Heishui Village.

At the entrance to the village, under the century-old locust tree, several idlers were squatting and smoking. Seeing the police car enter the village, they all stood up.

The police car pulled up and stopped in front of the dilapidated bungalow that served as the Village Committee office.

Police Chief Zhao Gang pushed the door open and got out, personally opening the back door to help the two elderly people down.

"Ma'am, Sir, we're home."

"In the future, if anyone in the town or village gives you any trouble, the Police Station will handle it!"

The door to the Village Committee office creaked open.

Village Secretary Zhang Dahai walked out. "Oh my, Officer, thank you for your hard work."

Village Secretary Zhang Dahai took out a cigarette case and offered one.

"What's going on here? This old couple isn't quite right in the head usually; why trouble the Police Station to bring them back personally?"

Police Chief Zhao Gang didn't take his cigarette.

"The two elderly people were reporting their situation on the provincial road. Secretary Zhu, who is new to the town, personally gave the order to ensure the personal safety of the masses."

Police Chief Zhao Gang stared into Village Secretary Zhang Dahai's eyes.

"Village Secretary Zhang, I'll say this: if anything happens to these two elders in the village, if they fall or get hurt, my Police Station will come to you to demand answers. Understood?"

Village Secretary Zhang Dahai's hand, holding the cigarette, hung in mid-air.

"Of course, of course. We're all from the same village; we'll certainly take good care of them."

Police Chief Zhao Gang didn't say anything more, turned around, got into the car, and the police car turned around to return the way it came.

As soon as the car drove away, the smile on Village Secretary Zhang Dahai's face instantly faded.

He turned his head and spat at a man nearby.

"Go to the ancestral hall and tell Clan Elder Zhang Laoqi!"

"That parachuted official from the town is backing those childless old folks."

Afternoon, Deputy Secretary's office.

Zhu Wenhao sat behind the desk, leafing through a copy of the Qingjiang County Annals.

The door was knocked on.

Police Chief Zhao Gang and Deputy Police Chief Li Sanqiang walked in one after the other.

"Zhu Wenhao, the people have been sent back."

Police Chief Zhao Gang pulled out a chair and sat down. "We sent them back with great fanfare; more than half the village saw it."

Zhu Wenhao closed the county annals.

"What was the Village Secretary's reaction?"

"Polite on the surface, but hiding daggers in his bones," Police Chief Zhao Gang reported. "When I left, I saw in the rearview mirror that his subordinates were already running toward the village ancestral hall."

"Throwing a stone to ask the way; the surface is bound to ripple."

Zhu Wenhao looked at Deputy Police Chief Li Sanqiang. "San Qiang, how is the water temperature at the grassroots level?"

Deputy Police Chief Li Sanqiang spilled out the information he had gathered at the teahouse, point by point.

"Old river embankment, night transport of mining trucks."

Zhu Wenhao tapped his knuckles lightly on the desk.

"There's one more thing," Deputy Police Chief Li Sanqiang added. "There are three villages underneath, and the Village Committee is basically an empty shell. All the power is held in the hands of the 'Red and White Council' set up by the Zhang Clan, and the leader is a clan elder named Clan Elder Zhang Laoqi."

Zhu Wenhao heard this and sneered inwardly.

In the name of folk custom, they carry out the seizure of power. Placing clan law above national law—this is the cancer of the grassroots level.

"Brother Hao, do you want me to take a few brothers to stake out the old river embankment tonight and catch them in the act?" Deputy Police Chief Li Sanqiang requested. "As long as we impound the trucks, the boss of Heishi Mining, Ma Yunlong, will surely jump out."

"No."

Zhu Wenhao rejected it immediately.

Police Chief Zhao Gang and Deputy Police Chief Li Sanqiang exchanged a glance.

"Catching the trucks is easy; convicting them is hard."

"Overloading will at most result in a fine, and impounding the vehicles is just an administrative procedure. It won't hurt Ma Yunlong's foundation, and it will only alert the enemy."

Zhu Wenhao pulled out a sheet of white paper, picked up a fountain pen, and wrote three words on the paper: Mining trucks, Old river embankment, Umbrella.

"The old river embankment has no surveillance and is located in a remote area. Why hasn't anyone from the villages along the route reported the heavy mining trucks passing through in formation every night?"

"Or rather, someone has reported it, but it was suppressed." Police Chief Zhao Gang understood immediately.

"Not only that."

Zhu Wenhao circled the words "Old river embankment" with the tip of his pen.

"For the mining trucks to be unimpeded at night, the patrol routes of the traffic police squadron and the road administration department must precisely avoid that time slot and road section. This requires an extremely accurate schedule."

Zhu Wenhao put down the pen.

"Don't be in a hurry to catch the trucks; first, see who is clearing the way for them."

Police Chief Zhao Gang pondered for a moment. "You mean to investigate the inside first?"

"External threats are easy to eliminate; internal traitors are hard to guard against."

Zhu Wenhao leaned back in his chair. "San Qiang, you don't need to go to the old river embankment tonight. Go and stake out the main gates of the town traffic police detachment and the road administration office."

"What should I look for?"

"See what time they go on duty tonight, and which route they take."

"More importantly, see where those law enforcement vehicles are parked during the time the mining trucks pass through the old river embankment, and what the people in the cars are doing."

"Police Chief Zhao Gang, have you gotten the internal duty roster for the Police Station?"

"I have," Police Chief Zhao Gang replied. "I'm new here and haven't made any personnel changes yet. The duty roster is still the one left by my predecessor. The person in charge tonight is an auxiliary police officer named Zhang Dong. This guy looks shifty and is particularly attentive to those two old people in Heishui Village."

"Tonight, you will personally stay at the station on duty," Zhu Wenhao finalized the strategy. "Find something for that Zhang Dong to do; have him take inventory of the warehouse or organize old case files. You must keep him firmly within your sight."

"As long as he doesn't go out to tip them off, those people in Heishui Village won't be able to figure out the Police Station's bottom line, and they will lose their footing on their own."

Evening, Heishi Town Party Committee compound.

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang sat on the sofa, holding a financial report.

"Secretary Qiu, I've organized the accounts for that 300,000 yuan for rural revitalization," Town Mayor Luo Xingbang said, placing the report on the coffee table.

Secretary Qiu Dehai exhaled a puff of blue smoke.

"Isn't he asking to see the accounts? Hand this hole over to him. The town can't come up with a single cent for the Heishui Village agricultural demonstration base project; let him go beg for funds himself."

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang adjusted his glasses.

"Secretary Qiu, this new Deputy Secretary doesn't have a simple background. If we start making things difficult for him right from the start, could it cause trouble?"

Fence-sitters are always weighing the pros and cons.

"Luo Xingbang, you need to understand the rules of our Heishi Town."

Secretary Qiu Dehai walked to the window and looked at the pitch-black street outside.

"If you're a tiger, you have to lie down; if you're a dragon, you have to coil up. The county sent him here, nothing more than to break our balance. If he doesn't take a big tumble, how will he know that the food at the grassroots level isn't easy to eat?"

The landline rang.

Secretary Qiu Dehai walked over to answer it.

"Secretary Qiu, it's me, Zhang Dahai." Village Secretary Zhang Dahai lowered his voice.

"Speak."

"Today, that new head of the Police Station drove the police car and brought those two old things back, and even made harsh threats at the village entrance, saying that if anything happened to the old people in the village, he'd come to me to demand answers."

Secretary Qiu Dehai's hand holding the cigarette tightened.

"That new kid, he moves fast," Secretary Qiu Dehai snorted coldly.

"Clan Elder Zhang Laoqi asked me to ask you if we should arrange for someone to go to the childless old couple's home tonight to 'give them a hint'?" Village Secretary Zhang Dahai asked.

"Nonsense!"

Secretary Qiu Dehai scolded. "They are just waiting for you to walk into the line of fire! The new police chief just laid down a threat, and you want to go stir up trouble tonight? Isn't that handing them evidence on a silver platter?"

"Tell Clan Elder Zhang Laoqi to have the people from the Red and White Council lay low for a while! No one is allowed to provoke those two old things; treat them like bodhisattvas!"

Hanging up the phone, Secretary Qiu Dehai turned to look at Town Mayor Luo Xingbang.

"This kid has some skill; he knows how to use the masses' disputes to establish his authority."

Secretary Qiu Dehai stubbed out the cigarette.

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang stood up.

"I'll send the report to him first thing tomorrow morning. As for the fundraising, we'll proceed according to the original plan."

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang walked out of the Secretary's office.

In the corridor, the wind was a bit cold.

He tightened his coat.

In this battle between immortals, he only prayed to remain unscathed.