230: Chapter 230 Shifting the blame eastward, attempting to smear Qin Chuan

Qin Chuan returned from the city. Just as he entered his office and was preparing to head to the County Public Security Bureau later, Xia Hai knocked and entered.

"Leader, our county's Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin has become famous. There are two trending topics about him, ranking first and second respectively."

Having seen the system's notification in the morning, Qin Chuan was not particularly surprised that he had surged onto the trending list, but he was quite interested.

"Oh, is that so!"

Qin Chuan smiled and opened his computer, then saw that the top two trending topics were both related to Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin.

Trending topic number one: "Wanshun County Deputy County Party Secretary insults and beats a girl on the street after a collision."

Trending topic number two: "Wanshun County Deputy County Party Secretary covered in luxury goods; the watch on his wrist is worth over 1.2 million."

On the internet, reports, articles, posts, and more related to these two trending topics were practically overwhelming.

The power of netizens was immense; they even exposed Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin's family background, explicitly pointing out that he is the son of Secretary Pei Yuantao, a member of the Jiangnan Provincial Party Committee and the Municipal Party Secretary of the provincial capital.

Some netizens also posted numerous photos of Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin. In every photo, he was covered in luxury goods, wearing different high-end watches, ranging from hundreds of thousands to the most expensive one worth over two million.

Public sentiment was extremely indignant. Many netizens left comments demanding that Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin be dealt with severely, and some even demanded a thorough investigation into Secretary Pei Yuantao.

It was truly a case of a son sabotaging his father.

It hadn't been easy for Secretary Pei Yuantao to climb to such a high position. This time, he would likely be severely sabotaged by his son; even if he didn't die, he would lose a layer of skin.

After the incident hit the trending list, Secretary Pei Yuantao finally found out, as his secretary reported it to him anxiously.

People like them, in their fifties, rarely pay attention to the internet and generally don't go online, so he only knew about it after his secretary reported it.

Opening his computer and seeing the situation, Secretary Pei Yuantao's expression changed, and he nearly broke into a cold sweat.

The matter had blown up!

He had originally intended to handle it quietly, requiring Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin to write a self-criticism and pay some money, and the matter would be over. Given his rank, Ningzhou City wouldn't dare not comply.

Who would have thought that the matter would become known to everyone, occupying the first and second spots on the trending list? It could no longer be handled in the previous manner.

What to do...

Secretary Pei Yuantao's mind raced as he thought of countermeasures.

He also felt great hatred toward Qin Chuan in his heart. That damn Qin Chuan, if not for him, how could the matter have blown up so much?

Once this matter passed, he had to remove him.

No, just removing him was too easy. He had to send him in and have him rot in prison for the rest of his life.

As expected of someone at the level of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, after a brief panic, he quickly calmed down. Secretary Pei Yuantao asked.

"Little Zhao, how do you think this matter should be handled?"

Secretary Zhao Jun thought for a moment and then said, "Boss, the best method is to use your influence to remove the trending topics and limit the traffic on reports related to Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin."

Having power is good; sometimes, one really can do whatever one wants.

Secretary Pei Yuantao nodded, "Good, do as you say. Call the relevant personnel and have them come see me."

Ningzhou Municipal Party Committee.

Secretary Kang Kewu naturally also knew about the trending topics. His expression became very grave, knowing that the handling method previously requested by Secretary Pei Yuantao—writing a self-criticism and paying a little money—would definitely not work.

The whole world knew about the matter. If he really handled it that way, he, as the Municipal Party Secretary, would become the scapegoat. Even if he wasn't disciplined, he might be drowned by the spittle of the vast number of netizens.

Besides the gravity, he also felt a sense of relief in his heart.

He had originally disagreed with Secretary Pei Yuantao's handling plan. Now that it seemed that plan was void, he thought happily, wondering how Secretary Pei Yuantao would handle it next.

Wanshun County Public Security Bureau.

Qin Chuan saw Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin, who was wearing handcuffs and had spent the night in the detention room.

Having been pampered since childhood, Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin had never experienced such treatment. His hair was messy, his clothes were wrinkled, and he looked completely different from his image yesterday.

The moment he saw Qin Chuan, Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin started screaming and shouting like a madman, and issued threats.

"Qin Chuan, you are dead! My father will not let you off!"

"Let me out, let me out immediately! Director Zhu Huabing, you won't have a good ending either!"

Qin Chuan was very calm and nodded with satisfaction at Director Zhu Huabing. He had done well; even though the other party was a County Party Standing Committee member, he had still been detained for the night.

This truly achieved equality before the law, regardless of who you are.

"Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin, you don't know yet, do you? This time, your father cannot protect you, and you may have also sabotaged your father."

"Impossible! My father is a member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee; there is nothing he cannot solve!" Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin continued to shout.

Qin Chuan said, "You idiot, you don't know that your matter has already hit the trending list, do you? Director Zhu Huabing, tell him about the trending topics."

Director Zhu Huabing nodded and briefly explained the situation regarding the trending topics.

Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin was stunned, then shouted loudly, "Qin Chuan, is it you behind this? Is it you?"

"Idiot, think whatever you want. I came here mainly to tell you to prepare yourself mentally to accept the sanctions of the law and to spend a few years inside. Your father cannot save you, and he might even be implicated by you."

After giving his warning and watching Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin's impotent rage, Qin Chuan smiled. However, it was a mocking smile. He felt there was nothing to talk about with such a person; he was simply an idiot. With his abilities, he probably couldn't even handle being a minor official.

After leaving the County Public Security Bureau, Qin Chuan sat in his office and looked at the situation on the internet again. He realized that there was a force operating behind the scenes, trying to calm the public opinion on the internet, including removing the trending topics and limiting traffic on related news. However, the public sentiment was simply too great; this fire could not be extinguished at all.

Inside the office.

Secretary Pei Yuantao scolded several officials mercilessly, "Useless! You can't even handle such a small matter? Is it that hard to remove the trending topics?"

One of the officials said with a mournful face, "Secretary Pei Yuantao, I don't know why, but we sent letters to several portal websites, and they were all very perfunctory. I suspect that there is a force deliberately trying to target Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin."

Is that so?

The first thing Secretary Pei Yuantao thought of was his rivals. Names flashed through his mind, but he felt they didn't have such great power.

Since the public opinion could not be quelled and the trending topics remained high, he could only divert the topic and shift the blame.

Someone suggested, "Secretary Pei Yuantao, Qin Chuan of Wanshun County is very young. As long as we expose him, it will likely quickly attract the interest of the vast number of netizens. I don't believe that he could have reached the position of County Party Secretary at such a young age and be clean. Many scandals will definitely be dug up by netizens."

"Yes, yes, this is a good method. As long as a large amount of dirt on Qin Chuan is dug up, then the trending topic will be him, not our Deputy County Party Secretary Pei Lin."

Secretary Pei Yuantao was tempted. After thinking for a moment, he agreed because he really wanted to target Qin Chuan. He waved his hand and said, "Then let's do that. Expose this twenty-seven-year-old County Party Secretary, Qin Chuan, to the internet."