194: Chapter 194 Explanation

Secretary Liu Qingfeng sat in his study all night. The ashtray was filled and emptied, emptied and filled again; the cigarette butts in front of him had piled up into a small mountain.

His wife got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and saw light spilling from the crack in the study door. She pushed the door open, choked and coughed several times from the smoke, and wanted to say something.

But seeing his graying hair and bloodshot eyes, she swallowed her words. She poured a glass of water, placed it on the table, and gently closed the door.

When it was fully light out, Secretary Liu Qingfeng stood up and washed his face in the bathroom.

In the mirror, his eye bags were drooping, and his complexion was ashen, like someone who had just recovered from a serious illness.

He straightened his collar, picked up his briefcase from the table, and went out.

The driver was waiting downstairs. Seeing his expression, the driver didn't dare ask any questions and silently drove the car out of the residential complex.

Xu Weidong was sitting behind his desk reading documents. Seeing Secretary Liu Qingfeng enter, he put down the pen in his hand, leaned back in his chair, and the corners of his mouth tilted up slightly.

"Secretary Liu Qingfeng, please sit."

Secretary Liu Qingfeng sat opposite him, his back straight.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the words felt difficult to utter.

Having been a cadre for all these years, there was no situation he hadn't seen, but what he had to say today felt harder than any report he had ever given.

He took a deep breath, looked into Xu Weidong's calm eyes, and finally spoke.

"Comrade Weidong, I came here today because I want to talk to you about Director Qi Heng."

Xu Weidong didn't respond, leaning back in his chair, waiting for him to continue.

"Director Qi Heng's father-in-law was my mentor. Before he retired, the old man entrusted me to take care of him, and I have always kept that in mind."

"I didn't do much to help Director Qi Heng get to where he is today, but I certainly never blocked his path either. When he came to Changyuan County to be the director, and the City Public Security Bureau sought my opinion, I nodded in approval."

"Now that this has happened, I also have responsibility. It was my misjudgment; I failed to fulfill my duty of reminding and supervising him."

Secretary Liu Qingfeng looked at the desk, his gaze falling on the potted plant. His voice lowered, as if he were speaking to Xu Weidong, or perhaps to himself.

"I know you are a man of principle."

"As for Director Qi Heng's matter, handle it however it should be handled. I will not say a word against it, nor will I plead for him."

"I came here simply to clarify the relationship between him and me. I have no other intentions."

Xu Weidong was silent for a few seconds, then picked up his teacup and took a sip.

He had known Secretary Liu Qingfeng for several years. Since their time at the Public Security Bureau, this man had left a very good impression on him.

From the Public Security Bureau to the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, every step had been steady, relying on solid work achievements.

When Director Qi Heng got into trouble this time, he could have easily pretended not to know anything and washed his hands of it by saying Director Qi Heng was not his man.

Yet, he still explained the relationship with Director Qi Heng in detail, without evasion, concealment, or passing the buck.

"Secretary Liu Qingfeng, the fact that you could come here shows that you have the organization and principles in your heart."

"You don't need to blame yourself too much."

"Director Qi Heng's problems are his own; they have nothing to do with you. Your mentor entrusted you to take care of him, you did so, and you fulfilled your duty."

"But he didn't live up to expectations and took a crooked path. That is his own affair; it is not something you could control."

Xu Weidong opened a drawer, took out a kraft paper envelope, and placed it on the table. He didn't hand it over, just left it there.

His fingers tapped lightly on the envelope, one tap after another, as if he were making a decision.

He hadn't been able to decide how to handle the contents of this envelope.

When Director Li Zhongmin handed it to him, he read through it once, and he didn't sleep all night.

Now that Secretary Liu Qingfeng was here, he felt it was time to bring it out. It wasn't to make Secretary Liu Qingfeng look bad, but to let him see clearly what kind of person Director Qi Heng really was.

"Secretary Liu Qingfeng, take a look at this first."

Secretary Liu Qingfeng reached out, picked up the envelope, and pulled out a thick stack of materials.

The papers rustled in his hands. He turned them page by page, his expression shifting from calm to grave, from grave to shock, and from shock to a livid pallor.

What was written there was not just the black money and shady dealings he had somewhat guessed about Director Qi Heng, but crime after crime that he had never dreamed of, crimes that even crossed the baseline of human nature.

His fingers began to tremble, and his eyes fixed on one page, staring at it for a long time.

It contained the name of a girl, twenty-one years old, who had just graduated from police academy and been assigned to the County Public Security Bureau, when Director Qi Heng set his sights on her.

She refused and rejected Director Qi Heng's "kind intentions."

Not long after, she was assigned to go undercover at a club, supposedly to gather clues on organized crime.

The club owner had already been tipped off by Director Qi Heng. On the third day of her undercover operation, the owner invited her for a drink, and the drink was drugged.

After the drug took effect, the club owner, who had long been obedient to Director Qi Heng, personally brought a few subordinates and joined forces to...

Afterwards, Director Qi Heng forcibly...

A young girl who had just stepped out of school, carrying dreams of being a police officer, was thus pushed into the abyss by the superior she should have trusted and the very subject of her law enforcement, destroyed completely.

In the end, the girl was transferred away from the police force and became a clerk in a small unit in the county. She was reticent and seemed like a startled rabbit whenever she saw anyone.

To this day, she has not married, nor has she ever been in a relationship.

Secretary Liu Qingfeng's eyes turned red, so red they looked like they were bleeding.

He wiped his eyes hard with the back of his hand and continued turning the pages.

Another page bore the name of an entertainment venue owner surnamed Sun, in his forties, who owned several KTVs in the county.

Director Qi Heng had taken a liking to his wife. The owner's wife was in her early thirties, beautiful, and had a good figure.

Boss Sun knew that Director Qi Heng had a taste for this, and not only was he not angry, but he actively encouraged his wife to wear a tight-fitting skirt and heavy makeup to go "eat" with Director Qi Heng.

The first time was at a hotel, the second at home. By the third and fourth time, and as the frequency increased, even his wife got used to it.

Boss Sun's business grew larger and larger in the county, and his competitors were "taken care of" by the Crackdown on Organized Crime list one after another, while only his establishments remained safe and sound.

This was trading his wife for safety and profit.

Secretary Liu Qingfeng turned another page, which recorded what Director Qi Heng had done to his wife at home over the years.

His wife was in a wheelchair and had limited mobility, yet he brought other women home right in front of her and messed around in the bedroom, the sounds loud enough to be heard downstairs.

His wife dared not speak, dared not ask, and dared not even cry.

She was afraid that crying out loud would let the neighbors hear, and she would lose her last shred of dignity.

When Director Qi Heng got drunk, he would beat her, grabbing her hair and slamming her against the wall, calling her a "cripple," "useless," and a "burden." After the beating, the next day, he could act as if nothing had happened, pushing her around the residential complex to sunbathe and playing the role of a loving couple in front of the neighbors.

To what extent must a person be hypocritical and cold-blooded to stage such an absurd drama for years on a wife who had no power to resist?

Secretary Liu Qingfeng closed the materials and placed them on the table. He leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, his chest heaving violently, as if it might burst at any moment.

He had worked in the Public Security system for half his life; what kind of criminals hadn't he seen? Murderers, arsonists, rapists, robbers, drug traffickers, smugglers—he had interrogated all kinds of scum.

But Director Qi Heng was different. He was a man wearing a police uniform; he was the director, the head of the entire county Public Security force, and the person in charge of the Crackdown on Organized Crime campaign.

The power he held in his hands was granted by the people and was meant to protect the common people, not to be a tool for satisfying his own selfish desires!

By doing this, not only had he degenerated into a beast in human skin, but he had also ruined the image of the entire Public Security force and poured a bucket of dirty water on all the officers fighting on the front lines of the Crackdown on Organized Crime.

"County Magistrate Xu."

"This beast, if he isn't executed, it would be an injustice to the common people!"

Xu Weidong looked at him, not discussing whether he should be executed or not.

The law has its standards, and the Discipline Inspection Commission has its procedures; it is not for anyone to decide arbitrarily.

But looking at Secretary Liu Qingfeng's bloodshot eyes, he saw in them the most simple sense of justice and the most instinctive anger of a veteran police officer.

He pulled another page of paper from the envelope and pushed it in front of Secretary Liu Qingfeng. It was densely packed with the facts of Director Qi Heng's illegal and disciplinary violations over the years—times, places, people, and amounts—item by item, clearly and detailed, even more so than the materials held by the Discipline Inspection Commission.

These were dug out bit by bit by Director Li Zhongmin. It must be said that Director Qi Heng was unscrupulous in doing these things, completely unafraid of being investigated, and not hiding anything at all...

"Provided by Comrade Li Zhongmin."

"He has been in the bureau for some time, and he sees Director Qi Heng's affairs more clearly than anyone. Director Qi Heng thought he had done everything seamlessly, but there is no wall that doesn't let wind through."

"Take it back and read it carefully."

Secretary Liu Qingfeng took the page, his fingers still trembling.

He folded the paper and put it in his pocket, his back still straight.

"County Magistrate Xu, please rest assured. I will not interfere, inquire, or say a word for Director Qi Heng."

"He has reached this point because of his own evil deeds; no one can save him."

Xu Weidong nodded, not saying anything more.

Secretary Liu Qingfeng turned and walked out, striding towards the stairs. His back looked much older, as if he had aged ten years overnight.