221: Chapter 221 Framing

When Director Li Zhongmin received the call from Wei Xue, he was smoking in the corridor outside the interrogation center.

His subordinate had just brought over the preliminary statement from the big man, and he glanced through it.

The boss behind him was named Wei Bao, nicknamed Brother Leopard, a native of Changyuan County with no legitimate occupation, who had spent some time hanging around Sihai Group in his younger years.

After Sihai Group collapsed, he gathered a group of people and started collecting protection money, running casinos, and lending money at usurious rates around the county.

What surprised him was that the statement mentioned one person's name: Wei Xue!

It claimed she was his cousin, but their relationship wasn't great, and he hadn't been in contact with her for several years.

The phone rang. Director Li Zhongmin glanced at the caller ID; it was an unknown number. He hesitated for a moment but answered it anyway.

"Director Li, long time no see."

The voice on the other end was soft and pleasant, carrying the unique magnetism of a mature woman.

He was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized it was Wei Xue.

He replied calmly, "General Manager Wei, it's so late. Is something the matter?"

"Director Li, that blind fool tonight is my cousin, Wei Bao."

"I know what kind of mess he's made, and I have no face to plead for him. However, I have a situation I'd like to discuss with you in person. I wonder if Director Li would be willing to do me the honor?"

"I have a tearoom in the east of the city. It's not open to the public and is very quiet."

Director Li Zhongmin was silent for two seconds. He didn't know the details of the relationship between Wei Xue and Xu Weidong, but he knew that Xu Weidong had dealings with her back when he was at the Public Security Bureau.

Later, in the case of Sihai Group and the subsequent rise of Dongxue Group, Xu Weidong's shadow was behind it all.

He thought for a moment and said, "Fine, send me the address."

Wei Xue's tearoom was in a detached small building in the east of the city. It had no sign, only two lanterns at the entrance emitting a dim, yellowish light.

When Director Li Zhongmin arrived, the door was already open. A girl in a qipao led him to the second floor. Pushing open the door, he saw Wei Xue.

She was wearing a dark green velvet qipao, her hair coiled at the back of her head, revealing a section of her fair neck.

Pearl earrings shimmered with a warm glow under the lights. She looked dignified and elegant, a completely different person from the woman who had cried at the entrance of the Public Security Bureau years ago, pleading because her brother had been arrested.

She stood up and extended her hand, a perfectly measured smile on her lips.

"Director Li, I apologize for the abrupt intrusion."

Director Li Zhongmin shook her hand, letting go immediately, but his gaze was drawn to the person beside her.

There was another woman sitting on the sofa, wearing a black knit sweater with her long hair draped over her shoulders. Her profile was soft and exquisite, and she was holding a cup of tea, head lowered, sipping it slowly.

The moment she looked up, Director Li Zhongmin's hand froze. Ling Xueqing!

His ex-girlfriend, his benefactor, the person he had wronged the most in his life.

She hadn't changed much; it was still that unforgettable face, though her eyes now held a bit more maturity and composure.

Her beauty was not the flashy kind, but a beauty that required you to calm your heart and savor it slowly. Like a pot of aged tea, the more it steeped, the more flavor it revealed.

The moment their eyes met, the air seemed to solidify.

A flicker of emotion passed through her eyes, but she quickly suppressed it.

Wei Xue watched this scene from the side, a slight curl at the corner of her lips.

She tactfully stood up, saying she would go arrange a late-night snack and let them talk first, then turned and walked out, closing the door behind her.

Only Director Li Zhongmin and Ling Xueqing remained in the room, sitting across from each other at the coffee table. Neither spoke first.

Finally, it was Ling Xueqing who spoke first, her voice very soft, so soft it was as if she were talking to herself.

"Zhongmin, long time no see. You've lost weight."

She didn't call him Director Li, didn't exchange pleasantries, and didn't deliberately keep her distance. Just like back at the police academy, she called him Zhongmin.

Director Li Zhongmin felt as if something had violently tugged at his heart, and the events of those years surged up like a tide.

They had graduated from the police academy together, been assigned to the County Public Security Bureau together, and worked scenes and stayed up late writing reports together.

He had thought they would continue like that forever, getting married, having children, and growing old together.

Later, he offended a leader at the County Public Security Bureau and was sent off to a township police station.

He thought his career was over and he would be stuck in that remote mountain valley for the rest of his life.

Suddenly, one day, that leader stopped making things difficult for him, and it was only a verbal reprimand.

He thought it was his good luck, not knowing that Ling Xueqing had traded herself for it.

That woman had kept it from him, bearing all the humiliation alone, until the truth came out, until the leader's wife caused a scene at the Public Security Bureau, and until she was forced to resign and leave for a distant place.

By the time he found her, she had already left. Her phone number had changed, her address had changed, and all her contact information had changed.

She had vanished from his world as if she had never existed.

He wanted to find her, to apologize to her, to tell her that he wasn't worth her doing that.

But she didn't give him the chance, not even leaving him a chance to explain.

Now she was sitting right in front of him, like a scar that had been healing for many years but never truly healed, suddenly ripped open, revealing the tender flesh still bleeding inside.

"Xueqing, have you been well all these years?"

Ling Xueqing lowered her head to look at the tea leaves floating in the cup and smiled, a smile that contained many things.

"It's fine. Just traveling around, helping General Manager Wei manage some business."

"What about you? I heard you became a bureau director. Congratulations, Zhongmin."

"You've finally made it. I knew back then you would have this day."

"You were never the type to be stuck at the grassroots level for your whole life."

He opened his mouth to say something, wanting to ask about what happened back then, wanting to ask why she didn't tell him the truth, wanting to ask why she bore it alone without letting him share the burden.

But those words were stuck in his throat, unable to be asked.

What would be the point of asking? It had already happened, those years had passed, her youth had been ruined, and what could he possibly use to compensate her?

The door was pushed open, and Wei Xue walked in carrying two plates of snacks.

She glanced at their frozen expressions, smiled, and placed the snacks on the coffee table.

"Director Li, Ms. Ling is someone I specifically invited. There are some things I want to clarify with you in person."

Director Li Zhongmin leaned back against the sofa, looking at Wei Xue.

Wei Xue sat down opposite him, and Ling Xueqing sat beside her. The two women sat side by side like two flowers of completely different styles—one vibrant and intense, the other simple and elegant.

"Director Li, tonight's incident was Wei Bao's fault. He drank, rear-ended County Magistrate Xu's car, and said things he shouldn't have."

"How you deal with him is your authority; I won't say a word to plead for him."

"But what I want to tell you is that behind this incident, it's not just Wei Bao's problem."

"He is just a pawn pushed to the front; the person behind the scenes is someone else."

Director Li Zhongmin looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

Wei Xue picked up her teacup and took a sip, her gaze landing calmly on Director Li Zhongmin's face, her voice neither high nor low.

"Zheng Ze. You should have heard this name."

"The silent shares in Cuican Fireworks, General Manager Hu Dakuan's backer, Zheng Dongguo's youngest son."

"He has operated in Changyuan County for many years; he has his people in both the underworld and the legitimate world. Wei Bao is his man, and he hasn't done few dirty jobs for him over the years."

"Tonight's incident, on the surface, was Wei Bao driving while intoxicated and rear-ending a car, but in reality, he was deliberately looking for trouble. As for who his target was, I think you know better than I do."

Director Li Zhongmin's brow furrowed. He was someone who had clawed his way up from the grassroots over many years; in case handling, evidence was paramount. Without evidence to support such a conclusion, it would just be empty words in court.

Wei Xue waved her hand, lowering her voice, but there was an unquestionable certainty in her tone.

"Director Li, some things don't need evidence, just a narrative that everyone can accept."

"Zheng Ze is what kind of person, you know better than I do. He is already a rat crossing the street that everyone wants to beat."

"Regarding the Cuican Fireworks matter, how many people did he look for in the province, city, and county? Even his father was so angered by him that he ended up in the emergency room."

"At a time like this, he sends someone to crash into County Magistrate Xu's car—is that reasonable or not? Even if he didn't do it, it's still his doing."

"Think about it, with that stupid brain of his, what clever tricks could he possibly come up with?"

"He thinks he's leaving anyway, so adding some trouble for County Magistrate Xu before he goes—doesn't that fit his character perfectly?"

Director Li Zhongmin was silent, tapping his fingers lightly on his knee.

He knew Wei Xue made sense. In this society, sometimes you don't need too much evidence, just a narrative that everyone can accept.

Zheng Ze was already a rat crossing the street that everyone wanted to beat; everyone's eyes were fixed on him, waiting for him to make a mistake.

Regardless of whether he ordered tonight's incident, as long as the dirty water was splashed on him, everyone would believe it.

It wasn't because they believed the evidence, but because they needed a villain, a villain who could be righteously taken down.

"General Manager Wei, why do you want to clear Wei Bao of this?"

Wei Xue looked at him, a slight curl at the corner of her lips.

She took a photo from her bag and pushed it in front of Director Li Zhongmin.

In the photo was a seven- or eight-year-old girl with two little braids, smiling with her eyes curved like two crescent moons.

"Wei Bao is my uncle's only son. My uncle and aunt died early and entrusted him to me."

"No matter how much of a scoundrel he is, he is still my younger cousin."

"I cannot watch him go to prison; otherwise, I wouldn't be able to answer to my deceased uncle."

"As for Zheng Ze, he has nothing to do with me. Whether he lives or dies is none of my business."

Director Li Zhongmin looked at the photo, then at Wei Xue, and finally his gaze landed on Ling Xueqing.

She was still looking down at her teacup, the expression on her face unclear.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he made a decision that surprised even himself.

He stood up and returned the photo to Wei Xue.

"General Manager Wei, I will have someone re-interrogate Wei Bao. If he is willing to cooperate and confess clearly about Zheng Ze's affairs in Changyuan County, I can consider writing in the report that he was instigated by others and has a good attitude toward admitting his guilt."

"But there is one condition: he must hand over all of Zheng Ze's criminal evidence. He cannot conceal anything or fabricate anything."

"Otherwise, not even the gods can save him."

Wei Xue stood up and extended her hand, the smile on her lips slightly deeper than before.

"Thank you, Director Li."

Director Li Zhongmin shook her hand and turned to look at Ling Xueqing.

She finally looked up. As their eyes met, his eye sockets felt a bit warm.

He wanted to say something, but all the words were stuck in his throat, unable to come out.

Ling Xueqing spoke first, her voice very soft, as if she were talking to him, or perhaps talking to herself.

"Zhongmin, do your job well. Don't let anyone get a handle on you, and don't let anyone take the fall for you."

"You don't need that anymore, and neither do I."