198: Chapter 198 Lin Wan's Whereabouts

Xu Jie's gaze pushed forward, landing on the face of Qian Dayong.

"Executive Vice Mayor Qian is right; the money is indeed managed by your Town Government. However, the heading on this fund is written clearly: it is a special fund for the reimbursement of compensation for Heishui Village."

"Special funds have strict usage regulations."

She took half a step forward.

"Executive Vice Mayor Qian, are you trying to bypass the collective decision of the Town Party Committee and misappropriate this special fund on your own?"

"With such a large amount, you want to withdraw it based on just a single note without any discussion by the committee?"

Xu Jie did not stop while she was ahead; she saw through the bureaucratic nature of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

"Executive Vice Mayor Qian, I am new here and have little seniority."

"But I truly do not know how you became an Executive Vice Mayor with such a style of treating financial discipline as nothing."

Qian Dayong was so angry his face turned purple: "You..."

"You don't have to be in such a hurry to lose your temper."

Xu Jie cut him off directly and turned to look at Liu Zhiqiang.

"You can ask Director Liu: after this money arrived in our town's special account, did Secretary Qiu personally call him or issue any instructions regarding the allocation of this money?"

Liu Zhiqiang, having been named, shook his head honestly.

"Mayor Qian, Secretary Qiu really hasn't called, nor has he mentioned a single word about this money."

"Given Secretary Qiu's consistent control over the town's finances, if even he doesn't care about or ask about this money, you should weigh for yourself, Executive Vice Mayor Qian, just what kind of untouchable nature this money has."

Although Qian Dayong acted arrogantly, he was by no means a reckless fool to have reached the position of Executive Vice Mayor in Heishi Town.

Xu Jie's reprimand caused his heart to sink.

That's right, a person like Qiu Dehai who never does anything without profit—how could he be as quiet as if nothing happened when such a large sum of money arrived?

The only explanation was that this money was a hot potato, and even Qiu Dehai dared not wade into these muddy waters.

If he were to forcefully step forward, he would just be acting as a shield for everyone else.

Having figured this out, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Qian Dayong's back.

But he was, after all, a leader in the town and had to find a decent way to step down.

Qian Dayong retracted his finger.

"Since this money involves a collective decision of the Party Committee, and Secretary Qiu has his own overall considerations and instructions, then as his deputy, I naturally must obey the big picture."

Qian Dayong coughed dryly, "I won't participate in this account for now. Liu Zhiqiang, just keep the daily accounts clear."

Having said that, Qian Dayong did not look at Xu Jie again, turned around, and strode out of the Finance Office.

Liu Zhiqiang let out a long sigh of relief, still feeling a bit dazed.

When did Secretary Qiu ever give instructions about this money? It was clearly because Qiu Dehai wanted to avoid trouble and didn't dare to make a sound.

But Xu Jie knew well that this was the beauty of grassroots power games—using the tiger's skin as a banner, borrowing strength to strike.

She walked to the desk and looked down at Liu Zhiqiang.

"Keep a close eye on this money."

"Secretary Zhu attaches great importance to this compensation fund; it is to be distributed to the common people in full."

"In the future, no matter who comes with whatever note, as long as they dare to have ideas about this money, you don't need to argue with them; call me immediately."

Liu Zhiqiang felt as if he had been granted amnesty: "Director Xu, rest assured. Even if the King of Heaven himself comes, without your signature and Secretary Zhu's, I will never let it go."

Having secured the safety of the purse strings, Xu Jie turned and left to report back to Zhu Yuntong.

At this moment, on the second floor of the Town Government, in the Deputy Secretary's office.

Zhu Yuntong sat alone behind a large solid wood desk, reviewing a preliminary plan for the transfer of idle wasteland in Heishi Town.

To break the old and establish the new—now that a local malignancy like Village Secretary Zhang Dahai had been eradicated, the vacated resources must be revitalized.

To serve as an official is to benefit the people; one who does not plan for the whole situation is not fit to plan for a single region.

His private mobile phone on the desk vibrated.

A strange number from Jingjiang flashed on the screen.

Very few people knew Zhu Yuntong's private number; colleagues from the Party School Spark Class like Cao Rui and Zhou Xu, or elders like Principal Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming, were all in his contacts.

This strange call was somewhat intriguing.

He extended his slender fingers and slid the answer button.

"Secretary Zhu, hello."

A female voice came through the airwaves, crisp and clear, carrying a poise and competence tempered in the business world.

From this half-sentence greeting alone, Zhu Yuntong accurately locked onto the caller's identity.

"President Zhou, hello." Zhu Yuntong leaned back into the leather chair.

Far away in Jingjiang City, General Manager Zhou Shutong heard Zhu Yuntong identify her.

"Secretary Zhu has a good memory; it makes me somewhat flattered."

General Manager Zhou Shutong did not engage in much small talk.

"I am disturbing Secretary Zhu today because I want to discuss a concrete business deal."

"I have just reorganized a mining company under my management, and my cash flow is abundant recently. I want to do some deep mining processing business locally. I wonder if your Heishi Town welcomes the investment of external capital?"

Mining investment.

As these four words fell into Zhu Yuntong's ears, the sand table in his mind instantly began to simulate.

The lifeline of Heishi Town had always been tightly gripped by Ma Yunlong of Heishi Mining.

Overloading mining trucks, destroying roads, collusion between officials and businessmen.

If one wants to completely cut off the roots of the old forces, administrative measures to seal off operations are not enough; new living water must be introduced to completely wash away that stagnant pool.

Driving the tiger to swallow the wolf.

General Manager Zhou Shutong throwing an olive branch at this juncture had motives behind it that were by no means as simple as just doing business, but the power of capital, if harnessed properly, could be a sharp tool to benefit the people.

"As long as it is a legitimate enterprise committed to promoting the economic development of our Heishi Town, capable of effectively driving local employment and benefiting the hometown, our Heishi Town leadership team will certainly open our doors to welcome you."

Zhu Yuntong's reply was watertight.

"Good, straightforward." General Manager Zhou Shutong laughed on the phone, "Then it's a deal. In two days, I will have my assistant contact you personally to inspect the mining area resources on-site."

Without waiting for Zhu Yuntong to say more, the other party hung up the phone decisively.

Listening to the dial tone coming from the phone, Zhu Yuntong placed the phone back on the desktop.

He had not yet fully grasped the intent behind General Manager Zhou Shutong's move.

Since the last time in Jingjiang City, when he coldly rejected her request, the two had had no further intersection.

Now, this Jingjiang female capitalist with a deep background had suddenly reached out to Heishi Town, and the meaning behind it was profound.

Soldiers come, block them; water comes, cover it with earth. He collected his thoughts and refocused his attention on the planning proposal in front of him.

The livelihood of the people could not afford any delay.

While Zhu Yuntong turned his eyes to the coming storm in Jingjiang City, another secret location in the provincial capital, Jingjiang, was experiencing a critical breakthrough.

Provincial Public Security Department, Safe House No. 0.

Director Qi Shan stood with his hands behind his back in front of the main monitoring screen.

Captain Xiao Zhan, the head of the Major Case Team, walked into the command hall with a report in his hand.

"Director." Xiao Zhan walked to Qi Shan's side, "We have made a major breakthrough here and have initially grasped clues about the whereabouts of the victim Lin Wan's family."

Qi Shan turned around abruptly.

"Where are they?"

"In order to avoid the persecution of Lei Zhenzi, their family has completely left the territory of Jingjiang City."

Xiao Zhan handed over the report.

"Our comrades from the Economic Investigation Detachment, through the public security big data platform, conducted a carpet-style reverse tracking query on all searchable social relationship networks of the Lin family and bank cards under the names of their relatives."

"Among them, we discovered a major anomaly. Lin Wan has a cousin, and a card under her name has had extremely frequent consumption records in Linjiang City recently."

"It is not just daily supermarket shopping transactions. More importantly, we found that this card has multiple payment records at a well-known mental health hospital in Linjiang City, and there is also registration information."

Qi Shan frowned: "Is it possible that the cousin herself is seeking medical treatment in Linjiang City?"

"Absolutely impossible."

Xiao Zhan denied it flatly.

"In our field visits and base station positioning investigations over the past half month, we have confirmed that this cousin of the Lin family has been working at a private enterprise in Jingjiang City, clocking in normally every day. She has never left Jingjiang City, let alone had any travel trajectory to Linjiang City."

"Moreover, according to the household registration data comparison we have, Lin Wan and this cousin are similar in age, and their physical characteristics are extremely similar."

Xiao Zhan laid out the facts: "From this, we can draw the only logical conclusion. That is, Lin Wan's father borrowed the relative's identity information to open a bank card, the Lin family is currently hiding in Linjiang City, and Lin Wan has been receiving treatment at the specialist hospital."

Qi Shan's tense face finally relaxed.

"That explains it."

"No wonder that group from the Jingjiang Municipal Public Security Bureau couldn't find anyone even after turning Jingjiang upside down; they took their daughter and left their hometown to take refuge."

Since the clues pointed to Linjiang City, this was outside the absolute control zone of the Lei Zhen political and legal system.

In Linjiang City, the Provincial Public Security Department had extremely reliable allies.

"Xiao Zhan."

"You immediately contact Police Chief Li Jianguo of Linjiang City through the dedicated line. Synchronize these clues with him. Li Jianguo is a comrade we can trust, and the Linjiang Municipal Public Security Bureau can provide all necessary on-the-ground cooperation."

Qi Shan pondered for a moment.

Although Lei Zhen's influence was suppressed in Linjiang City, in matters concerning life and death, it was hard to guarantee that the other party wouldn't be driven to desperate measures and use desperate criminals to kill to silence them.

"However, to ensure foolproof safety, the safety of Lin Wan's family must not rely entirely on local police force."

Qi Shan turned to look at Xiao Zhan.

"Notify that special forces unit that is still conducting closed training in the mountains. With heavy snow blocking the mountains, it's not good to stay inside for too long."

"Have them end the lockdown. Have the whole team change equipment and secretly head to Linjiang City."

Upon receiving the order, Xiao Zhan clicked his heels and stood straight.

"Understood, Director! I will lead the team to Linjiang personally and guarantee that we bring them back to the Provincial Public Security Department unharmed!"