Chapter 8: The Dispute Over Commerce

  Gao Zhikai has been in high spirits these past few days.

  Li Weijun has been transferred to the procuratorate and entered the examination and prosecution stage.

  According to common sense, this case is already considered closed, and it's just a matter of time before the dust settles and rewards are given.

  As the leader of the "June 15 serial murder and dismemberment case task force" and the person directly responsible for cracking the case, Gao Zhi-kai knew that this experience would have a lasting impact on him, and would be written in bold strokes in his police file.

  These days I haven't seen Lu Zhong, heard that he went to Wenlian a few days ago, it's really inexplicable.

  During this time, Gao Zhikai was in a good mood and didn't want to see him, but he was also somewhat annoyed. If Lu Zheng still found excuses to continue investigating the case to annoy himself, he would give him a show. The special task force had already been disbanded, what was he still jumping around for? This Lu Zheng really knew how to make people feel uncomfortable without even biting them.

  When he heard that Hou Jianjun had applied for a search warrant from Zhang Ju's office early this morning, Gao Zhikai felt something was off. This kid Hou Jianjun and Lu Zheng were very close, wasn't it possible that Lu Zheng was up to some trick again?

  So Gao Zhikai soon arrived at Zhang Ju's office.

  It was almost six o'clock, and Director Zhang was just about to leave the yamen when Gao Zhi Kai came in.

  Director Zhang was just over 40 years old, rich and powerful, and it is said that he also has a lot of connections in the provincial hall. His future can be said to be boundless. Because he himself belongs to the younger generation among county cadres, he likes to promote young cadres and likes to work with them. Therefore, it's not surprising that high-achieving young people like Gao Zhikai and Lu Zheng have become deputy directors in their 20s, after all, the appointment of deputy directors will also seek his opinion.

  Director Zhang has great appreciation for Gao Zhikai.

  Old comrades in the bureau, such as Ma Yuewu, were very dissatisfied with Director Zhang. Since the emergence of Gao Zhikai, it was no longer necessary for Director Zhang to take the stage, and the arrogance of these old comrades was suppressed. Now, however, a situation has formed where the old comrades are opposing Gao Zhikai, and this big director general has become a peacemaker, slightly adjusting the balance.

  So, although it was time to get off work, seeing Gao Zhikai coming over, Zhang Bureau did not show any displeasure, smiled and asked him to sit down, saying: "Is there something?"

  Gao Zhikai had already thought out what to say before he came, and he didn't want Director Zhang to think he was making a big deal out of nothing, after all, issuing a few search warrants wasn't a big deal.

  "Director Zhang, I think Lu Zhong still hasn't given up, he's been framing Li Weijun all along. I heard he's teamed up with Hou Jianjun, running around everywhere under the name of a special case team... what do you think?"

  Director Zhang furrowed his brow, and Lu Zhong was indeed a heart disease for him. A year ago when he took over Lu Zhong, Lu Zhong had the halo of a fighting hero and was very popular in the bureau, but gradually, Lu Zhong brought the rough habits of being a soldier into the bureau, with a working style that was crude and simple, and almost zero business ability. Many people in the bureau came to complain about him, which was one thing, but even the chef from the cafeteria came crying, saying that Lu Zhong had gotten into a fight with him in the cafeteria - what kind of thing was this? It was simply inexplicable, and didn't have the demeanor of a bureau leader at all.

  Especially after hearing that Lu Zhong is stingy and heartless, he returned to Guangning and never went to see his adoptive parents, he's simply a scoundrel.

  In Director Zhang's eyes, Lu Zhong had long since changed from a battle hero to a soldier who was lazy and disobedient, and what's more, didn't understand the meaning of filial piety.

  Gao Zhikai looked at Zhang's face and said in a low voice, "I think the case has been transferred to the procuratorate, the special task force has been disbanded, he is still investigating everywhere, isn't it not very good for the impact?"

  Director Zhang nodded slightly, and Gao Zhikai was right. Lu Zheng's behavior was also a way of giving Director Zhang a hard time, after all, it was he who had approved the case being sent to the procuratorate.

  Gao Zhikai said cautiously: "It seems that Hou Jianjun applied for a search warrant early this morning?"

  Director Zhang understood what Gao Zhikai meant, and nodded, "I'll ask." He got up and came to the front of his desk, picked up the phone, and dialed two numbers. The rural areas were still using rotary phones, but since the beginning of this year, the county government had started installing digital dial phones.

  Before long, a gentle knock at the door was heard, and Director Wang Yuguo of the office walked in.

  The units inside the organization are like this. As long as the head of the unit doesn't leave, it's considered overtime, and no one moves, let alone the director of the head's office.

  "Yu Guo? Did Hou Jianjun apply for a search warrant this morning?"

  Director Zhang asked, and Wang Yuguo calmly admitted: "Yes."

  Director Zhang always thought that it was natural for public security organs to search suspects, and there was no need to use a search warrant. He never bothered with search warrants either. Usually, he would just sign a blank search warrant and leave it with Wang Yuguo. When the bureau or lower-level police stations came to apply, they only needed to go through the formalities with Wang Yuguo.

  Wang Yuguo was precisely because he knew Director Zhang's consistent attitude that he directly admitted to it.

  Director Zhang nodded and asked: "Tell me, what's going on? Who was searched again?"

  Wang Yuguo hesitated, how could he remember all these things, even the only name he filled in he couldn't recall clearly. His relationship with Hou Jianjun was not bad, why would he ask so many questions?

  Director Zhang frowned and said: "Tell Hou Jianjun to come to my office tomorrow afternoon."

  At this time, there were chaotic footsteps outside, followed by someone knocking on the door. It was Lu Zhong's voice: "Director Zhang, are you in?"

  Director Zhang suddenly got a headache, Lu Zhong was too stubborn. Sometimes Director Zhang really didn't want to face him directly, especially when there were subordinates around, he never knew when Lu Zhong would come out with some nonsense and make him lose face. Lu Zhong was a single-minded person who stuck to his principles, loved to argue with people, and many colleagues in the bureau called him "杠头" (stubborn head) behind his back.

  As expected, Lu Zhong was still his old self and didn't even wait for a response from inside before pushing the door open since it wasn't locked.

  "Director Gao, Director Wang, are you both here?" Lu Zhong smiled and nodded to Gao Zhi Kai and Wang Yu Guo, then said to Gao Zhi Kai: "Director Gao, I went to find you just now, but you weren't there. Luckily, Director Wang is also here, so I'll report the latest developments on 615 to both leaders."

  Gao Zhikai hummed and thought to himself: "You're just asking for trouble, Zhang Ju was already dissatisfied with you, and now you're adding fuel to the fire."

  The director's face looked even worse, glanced at his watch and said: "Let's talk about it tomorrow." Lu Zhen was after all the deputy head of the bureau, criticizing him in front of everyone wasn't good, and with Lu Zhen's personality, if two words weren't to his liking, he might just start arguing with himself, and by then everyone would be unable to save face.

  Lu Zhong handed a stack of materials to Director Zhang's desk and said, "Director Zhang, this is the confession of Principal Zhang Guoliang of No. 1 Middle School. He has admitted that his eldest son, Zhang Mingshan, murdered the three victims, Zhang Weihong, Cheng Kun, and Duan Hongmei, and he also participated in the subsequent handling of the bodies..."

  Lu Zhong hadn't finished speaking when Gao Zhi Kai suddenly stood up: "Lu Zhong, what do you mean?! This is simply outrageous! Li Wei Jun has already confessed, and you're still messing around here. Can you explain yourself? Is this reasonable? What's with the father reporting his son and helping to dispose of the body? Do you think this is a movie?"

  Gao Zhikai was so angry that his face turned red, and his eyes seemed to be devouring Lu Zheng.

  Lu Zhong also ignored him, gently patted the materials on the table and said to Zhang Qingming: "Director Zhang, the cause and effect of the case are all clearly recorded in the transcript. You can take a look first. Also, Zhang Guoliang has been brought back by me and is in the interrogation room downstairs."

  Director Zhang frowned and remained silent. Although Lu Zhong was a mixed bag, he wouldn't go so far as to frame an esteemed scholar just to get back at Gao Zhi Kai. But if you said Lu Zhong could crack the case? He didn't believe it for a second. There must be some mistake or misunderstanding here; they needed to investigate further to get to the bottom of things.

  Gao Zhikai was so angry that his triangular eyes were spitting fire. He was originally a gloomy person, but Lu Zhong, this big roughneck, actually questioned the case he handled and said that Lu Zhong caught the real culprit, which made Gao Zhikai lose face. In a low voice, he said: "Lu Zhong, you'd better calm down. I don't want to argue with you about past things, but handling cases is not child's play. Don't follow me around and make a mess."

  Lu Zhong smiled faintly and said, "It's precisely because it's not a child's play that we must be cautious. We can't let a bad person go, nor can we wrong a good person. As the deputy head of the special case group, I reserved my opinion when you held the case closing statement meeting, didn't I? I never agreed to identify Li Weijun as the murderer." Lu Zhong was not even notified to attend the case closing statement meeting, and now he was taking advantage of the situation to make a show of himself.

  Gao Zhikai said with a serious face: "The matter has been decided by Director Zhang, what different opinion do you have?"

  Lu Zhong frowned and said, "Isn't that unfair? Director Zhang agreed to close the case because he saw your conclusions and reports. Did you show him my differing opinions? As they say, 'listen extensively and you will be enlightened.' But you created an environment for Director Zhang where he only hears one side of the story, which is biased. You're harming Director Zhang!"

  Gao Zhikai was so angry that he was fuming, this soldier, when did his tongue become so sharp? Just as he was about to say more, Director Zhang slammed his hand on the table and shouted: "Stop arguing! Do you think this is a vegetable market? What kind of state are you all in?"

  Director Zhang was taken aback and glanced at Lu Zhong. When did this rascal become so eloquent? Even Gao Zhi Kai wasn't his match.

  Lu Zhong's every sentence is almost all about getting himself off the hook, even if the case was reported incorrectly, he also took his own responsibility out of it, while Gao Zhi Kai was at a disadvantage and actually pulled himself out to block the bullet.

  This way, it's clear who is superior and who is inferior.

  Perhaps because Lu Zhong was well-prepared, Gao Zhi Kai was suddenly attacked and lost his composure.

  Director Zhang pondered, looking at the thick stack of materials on his desk, feeling a bit strange.

  But then Lu Zhong said, "Director Zhang, now that the case has just been transferred to the procuratorate, we can still make up for our mistake. The leaders of the county and municipal bureaus will only think that we have made a mistake and must correct it, which is good for our county bureau. But if..." Lu Zhong stopped talking here, and many things didn't need to be said too clearly.

  Director Zhang patted the materials and said, "Let me take a look." He made a gesture to stop Gao Zhikai from speaking and continued, "Zhikai, you personally lead someone to interrogate this Zhang Guoliang and see what he has to say."

  Gao Zhikai saw that the situation was already settled, but reluctantly left with a sullen expression. Lu Zhong said: "I'll go too." He followed afterwards, naturally not quite trusting Gao Zhikai.

  Watching Lu Zhong's back, Director Zhang's eyes revealed a hint of deep thought.