150: Chapter 150 Zhang Dahai's Response

The night in Heishui Village was pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your own fingers.

In the two-story house belonging to Village Secretary Zhang Dahai, the light in the master bedroom was dim.

Village Secretary Zhang Dahai leaned against the headboard, staring at the text message on his phone screen: "Zhang Shun and Zhang Hu have confessed everything. Uncle Dahai, you need to hide."

These few short words made Village Secretary Zhang Dahai's teeth grind together with a clicking sound.

In his heart, he had already cursed Zhang Xing and those few idiots a thousand times over.

It was one thing for them to throw their weight around in the village, but they just had to go and provoke that man surnamed Zhu.

Not only did they cause trouble, but they couldn't even hold out for half a night in the Police Station before spilling everything like beans from a bamboo tube.

This bunch of useless trash was driving the entire Zhang family toward a dead end.

Full of restless irritation with nowhere to vent, Village Secretary Zhang Dahai felt a stifling tightness in his chest.

He turned on his side and patted the woman beside him with his rough palm.

This was his young wife, Liu Meijiao, whom he had married after striking it rich; she was exactly twenty years his junior.

The old saying goes that one should not cast aside the wife who shared one's days of poverty, but in the eyes of the now-wealthy Village Secretary Zhang Dahai, his former wife—who only knew how to work in the fields—had long since become unworthy of his current status, so he used some underhanded means to get rid of her.

Liu Meijiao was patted awake, turning over in a daze as her pajamas slid down half off her shoulder.

Thinking Village Secretary Zhang Dahai was in the mood, she twisted her waist and struck a highly alluring pose: "You old lecher, why are you making such a fuss in the middle of the night? Come here."

Looking at the delicate body before him, Village Secretary Zhang Dahai would normally have enjoyed playing with her, but at this moment, he only felt that this woman was a brainless tigress.

The situation was critical, yet she still had nothing but carnal desires on her mind.

"Get up and get to work!" Village Secretary Zhang Dahai snapped, pulling the quilt away. "Put your clothes on quickly and come with me to the backyard to pack up the gold, silver, and valuables. Something terrible has happened."

Liu Meijiao had been a bit grumpy about being woken up, but seeing Village Secretary Zhang Dahai's livid face, she instantly sobered up.

She wasn't entirely a brainless vase; she knew her current comfortable life depended entirely on this man, so she immediately put away her flirtatious manner and nimbly put on her thick cotton coat.

The two crept to the backyard and lifted the cellar stone slab hidden beneath a woodpile.

Village Secretary Zhang Dahai turned on his flashlight, the beam sweeping over several large plastic storage bins in the corner.

They were filled with land compensation funds and mining dividends embezzled from the village over the years, as well as cash and gold bars accepted as bribes.

Bundles of banknotes were bound with rough rubber bands.

"Hurry, put them into the snake-skin bags," Village Secretary Zhang Dahai urged.

The two worked in the cold, dim cellar for most of the night.

The cash was heavy, and the gold bars were dense; by the time they had packed all these illicit assets into the snake-skin bags, Liu Meijiao was panting with exhaustion, her hair stuck to her forehead by sweat.

Village Secretary Zhang Dahai glanced out through the cellar's ventilation opening; the sky was already turning a pale white, and a few village dogs began to bark intermittently.

The early-rising villagers would soon be coming out to start their fires and cook breakfast.

"That's enough for today." Village Secretary Zhang Dahai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, put the cellar cover back in place, and piled the firewood over it to conceal it.

He turned to look at Liu Meijiao: "Go back to the house and rest. No matter who knocks on the door before daybreak, don't make a sound."

Liu Meijiao nodded and trudged back to the front yard.

Village Secretary Zhang Dahai stood in the cold wind, lit a cigarette, and took a few hard drags.

This massive amount of ill-gotten wealth was no longer safe at home; the Police Station could come to search the house at any time.

He had to act before the people from the town made their move; he needed to find Clan Elder Zhang Laoqi to discuss a countermeasure and find an absolutely safe place to transfer the items.

Nine o'clock in the morning, Heishi Town Government compound.

Secretary Qiu Dehai, who had been wandering outside for two days, returned to the Party Secretary's office.

He hadn't been idle these past two days; under the guise of disciplining Zhu Wenhao, he had officially stepped into the inner circle of County Party Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan.

Recalling the dinner with Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan last night, Secretary Qiu Dehai's emotions were still difficult to calm.

Halfway through the meal, while everyone was enjoying the wine, Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan put down his chopsticks and finally laid his cards on the table.

"Old Qiu, the wind has changed in the city." Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan held up his wine glass.

"Mayor Su is very 'attentive' to that new Zhu Wenhao in your town.

Mayor Su believes that young people who take steps that are too big are prone to tearing their crotches, and Comrade Zhu Wenhao should endure a few more years of tempering at the grassroots level in his current position."

Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan looked at Secretary Qiu Dehai and threw out his bargaining chip: "Mayor Su has given the word.

As long as you can hold back Zhu Wenhao's progress in Heishi Town and keep him suppressed for a few years so he can't get ahead, when you reach the age to step into a second-line position, Mayor Su will grant you the retirement benefits of a Division-level official."

Division-level benefits.

For a grassroots cadre who had struggled in townships for most of his life and had assumed that Deputy Division-level was his ceiling, this was tantamount to ascending to the heavens in a single step.

"Not only that," Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan added weight to the chip, "as long as you can make Zhu Wenhao fail miserably in Heishi Town and crawl back with his tail between his legs, Mayor Su will personally guarantee your son's future."

After hearing this, Secretary Qiu Dehai could barely hold his wine glass.

It wasn't that he was unaware of the recent upheavals in Linjiang City.

Mayor Su Changming's secretary, Li Changgeng, had been openly taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission from the Municipal Government compound; this had long since spread.

At the Standing Committee meeting, Mayor Su Changming was forced to make a self-criticism, and the new Municipal Party Committee Secretary, Secretary Lin Weimin, seized the opportunity to establish his authority, gaining the absolute upper hand for the time being.

But a starving camel is still bigger than a horse.

Li Changgeng had been caught, yet the Provincial Party Committee and the higher-level Discipline Inspection Commission had not taken further action against Mayor Su Changming, which meant that the forces behind Mayor Su Changming were exerting secret influence; this great tree wouldn't fall anytime soon.

What shocked Secretary Qiu Dehai even more was another secret that Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan subsequently revealed.

"Zhu Wenhao is not an ordinary cadre sent down to the grassroots; he is the son of Secretary Zhu of the Linjiang Municipal Party Committee."

At that moment, Secretary Qiu Dehai finally understood why Mayor Su Changming was willing to pay such a steep price to block a township Deputy Secretary.

This was a remote, secret war between giants at the municipal level, and Heishi Town was merely a corner on this massive chessboard.

The struggles of big shots often required small pawns at the grassroots level to charge into battle.

If he didn't take on this blocking mission, others would naturally scramble to do it.

For the sake of the Division-level retirement benefits and his son's bright future, Secretary Qiu Dehai had gritted his teeth and accepted the task at the dinner table last night.

He, Secretary Qiu Dehai, was now completely tied to Mayor Su Changming's war chariot with no way back.

Pulling his thoughts back, Secretary Qiu Dehai pressed the phone on his desk: "Director Zhou, come to my office."

Before long, Director Zhou Mei knocked on the door and entered.

"I haven't been in town for the past two days; what has happened at home?" Secretary Qiu Dehai picked up his thermos cup.

Director Zhou Mei reported everything in detail, from the Heishui Village villagers surrounding the gates of the Town Government to Zhu Wenhao's merciless speech at the integrity education meeting.

Upon hearing that Zhu Wenhao had accepted the petition materials in public and promised to get the compensation funds back for the farmers, Secretary Qiu Dehai didn't get angry; instead, he chuckled.

"Young and arrogant, doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth." Secretary Qiu Dehai put down his water cup.

The old, rotten accounts of Heishui Village involved so many holes in the town's finances; how could they be so easily filled?

This was precisely an excellent opportunity.

As long as that man surnamed Zhu couldn't produce the hard cash to fulfill his promise when the deadline arrived, he would lose the trust of the people.

Then, he could rightfully report him for "acting recklessly and intensifying grassroots conflicts," thereby suppressing him firmly.

Just as he was calculating how to make an issue of it, his private phone on the desk rang abruptly.

Secretary Qiu Dehai glanced at the caller ID and waved at Director Zhou Mei.

Director Zhou Mei understood and exited the office.

He answered the phone, and Village Secretary Zhang Dahai's voice came through the receiver: "Secretary Qiu, something has happened!"