4: Chapter 4 has no background and can only be manipulated by others.

He dismantled the pinhole camera installed yesterday, removed the memory card and put it in his pocket, restoring everything to its original state. To be safe, he carefully wiped everything down with a cloth to eliminate any fingerprints.

It wasn't early anymore; it was nearly eight o'clock. Qin Chuan hailed a taxi back to Jinzhu Township, getting out about two or three hundred meters from the entrance of the Township Government.

This was to avoid being seen returning from the county so early in the morning.

His first task upon returning wasn't to go to work. Seizing the little time he had left, he went to his dormitory first.

Qin Chuan had a second-hand laptop. In his free time at the dorm, he would watch movies or play games on it.

Inserting the memory card into the laptop, he watched the scene of Township Head Zhao Yijiang and Liu Yan's intense 'battle'. Qin Chuan felt it wasn't worth it for the original owner of this body.

A simp, a simp. In the end, the simp gets nothing.

The filming angle was excellent, the clarity was quite high, and even the sound was crystal clear. Satisfied, Qin Chuan saved the file on his laptop and encrypted it.

Then, he saved another copy onto that USB flash drive. This was ironclad evidence. The drive contained not only audio recordings but also video. It was probably enough to give Zhao Yijiang a serious headache.

After finishing all this, he wasn't in a hurry to go to work. Instead, he went out first to mail this USB drive to the Jiangzhou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, along with an attached letter of report.

Of course, it was an anonymous report. Qin Chuan wasn't foolish enough to make a real-name report.

By the time he walked into the large office, it was already a few minutes past nine in the morning. Strictly speaking, he was late, but no one would bother with such a minor issue, and Qin Chuan himself didn't mind.

As soon as he sat down, a voice tinged with schadenfreude rang out.

"Qin Chuan, you're really something. You managed to turn the Xiushui River Bridge into a complete jerry-built project that collapsed in less than half a year."

This was Wu Yuan.

In his twenties, with an ordinary bachelor's degree, he had started working two years earlier than Qin Chuan. A bootlicker and a sinister little man.

He never missed a chance to kick someone when they were down or to tattle to Director Liu Wei. Within the entire Urban Construction Office, this guy was the one Qin Chuan got along with the least.

Usually, Wu Yuan also saw Qin Chuan as his biggest competitor because Qin Chuan was a graduate of Jingcheng University, while he himself was just from an ordinary second-tier university.

Glancing at this guy disdainfully, Qin Chuan said, "Wu Yuan, you seem quite happy about the collapse of the Xiushui River Bridge."

"You..."

Wu Yuan was so angry he was momentarily speechless. He was indeed gloating, but his joy stemmed from seeing Qin Chuan about to face misfortune, not from the bridge's collapse itself.

If people knew he was happy about the bridge collapsing, what would the leaders think? How would they view him?

Just as he wanted to retort fiercely, footsteps sounded outside the large office door, and Liu Wei's figure appeared. Wu Yuan swallowed the words that had reached his lips.

Liu Wei beckoned, "Qin Chuan, come here for a moment."

Qin Chuan stood up and went to Liu Wei's office. What was coming had arrived.

Liu Wei inquired, "Qin Chuan, have you thought it over?"

Qin Chuan didn't beat around the bush. Things had reached this point; there was no avoiding it. The only option was to stand firm and hope the USB drive he mailed would prove useful.

"Director Liu, after careful consideration, I believe we cannot engage in falsification. Since it's not my responsibility, I should not step forward to take the blame."

What!

I gave you half a day off to think quietly by yourself, and this is how you answer me!

Instantly, Liu Wei's face darkened.

"Then you're on your own. Get out."

After watching Qin Chuan leave, Liu Wei thought coldly to himself, it would have been best if you had taken the initiative to shoulder the blame. Since you refused, then don't blame us for being ruthless.

He soon went to Zhao Yijiang's office and reported the situation.

Zhao Yijiang said slowly, "Now it's not up to him anymore. Let the investigation team talk to him."

Why was he so confident?

Because everything had already been settled with Sun Youcai.

Sun Youcai was not only the head of the investigation team but also a Standing Committee Member and Deputy County Magistrate of the County Party Committee, belonging to County Magistrate Liu's faction. Zhao Yijiang himself was also part of the Liu faction.

As for the County Party Secretary, he had just been transferred a few days ago, and the position was temporarily vacant. County Magistrate Liu was the most likely candidate to take the seat of County Party Secretary.

Although the collapse of the Xiushui River Bridge was a significant incident, County Magistrate Liu held immense influence in Qinghe County. With the County Party Secretary position currently vacant, County Magistrate Liu called all the shots. As long as they found someone to take the fall, the matter would quickly blow over.

Sure enough, not long after, the investigation team came to speak with Qin Chuan.

Besides the team leader Sun Youcai, there was also the deputy team leader, Deputy Secretary Wei Jie of the County Commission for Discipline Inspection, and two other staff members of the investigation team.

Sun Youcai personally questioned him, "You are Qin Chuan from the Urban Construction Office?"

"Yes, I am Qin Chuan."

Sun Youcai said, "We have basically investigated the matter. You bear the greatest responsibility for the collapse of the Xiushui River Bridge."

Qin Chuan argued, "Deputy County Magistrate Sun, I was barely involved in the entire bidding and construction process of the Xiushui River Bridge. How could my responsibility be the greatest?"

Sun Youcai sneered, "Our Party's policy has always been clear: leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist. I advise you to truthfully admit the problems, take the initiative to assume responsibility, and strive for lenient treatment from the organization."

Hearing this, Qin Chuan understood in his heart.

Zhao Yijiang and this Sun Youcai were indeed in cahoots. They had probably reached an agreement behind the scenes to push him out as the scapegoat, pinning all the responsibility on him to put a period on this matter.

Even so, Qin Chuan still made a solemn defense, although it was of little use.

Sun Youcai waved his hand, "Since you insist on resisting to the end, we have no choice but to take compulsory measures. Comrades from the Police Station, take him away and detain him for now."

Originally, they were supposed to take him back to the county, but Zhao Yijiang's intention was to have Qin Chuan temporarily detained at the Police Station, to let him suffer a bit first.

The Police Station Chief Lu Zhengping was Zhao Yijiang's man. Once Qin Chuan entered the Police Station, he would first be skinned alive.

Soon, Lu Zhengping entered with two police officers, flanking Qin Chuan and escorting him away.

Qin Chuan felt a wave of helplessness in his heart.

No background, no connections, only at the mercy of others.

"Hurry up, stop dragging your feet!"

Lu Zhengping was extremely rough. He lifted his leg and kicked Qin Chuan hard. The force was substantial. If not for his enhanced physique, that kick would have sent him sprawling to the ground.

Even so, the pain made Qin Chuan grit his teeth.

Damn it, I'll remember this kick.

If I ever get out of here in the future, I'll repay it a hundredfold.

After being taken back to the Police Station, Qin Chuan was handcuffed to a radiator.

The radiator wasn't particularly high or particularly low. Once handcuffed to it, he couldn't stand because it wasn't tall enough, and he couldn't squat either. He could only bend halfway, in an extremely uncomfortable position.

Most people couldn't endure it for one or two hours. Even for Qin Chuan, after several hours, it became quite unbearable.

Strangely, after cuffing Qin Chuan here, they paid him no further attention. No one even came to check on him. It was unclear what scheme they were up to.

Most likely, they were conspiring about what to do next, how to handle it, pondering their next moves.