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  Something's happened again?

  The first day of the Lunar New Year is also not letting people relax.

  "Xiao Xiang, Director Lao's heart condition has relapsed and he is being treated in the hospital." Li Yajuan said on the phone.

  Toward the sky bright, he was shocked.

  "When was it?"

  According to Ye Nan, after her husband Qiao Annan received the thing last night, he sent it to Lao Chenggui and then went home. As soon as Qiao Annan arrived home, he received a call from Lao Chenggui's wife, saying that Lao Chenggui had suffered a heart attack.

  "How is it now?"

  "I'm not quite clear about this, but I heard that after emergency treatment in hospital, his condition is stabilizing."

  He let out a silly "oh" and then just stood there stupidly, unable to say anything.

  Others may not know, but Xiang Tianliang is very clear that Lauchenggui's illness must be related to his unmentionable conspiracy. Lauchenggui has heart disease, but he pays attention to prevention and does not have external triggers, so it is unlikely that he will get sick.

  "Li Jie, what's the point of making this call?"

  "Yen said, Labor Cheng asked to see you half an hour ago, and also me."

  "Alright... just wait, I'll drive over and pick you up right away."

  Lao Cheng felt compelled to see Xiang Tianliang because he had some pent-up words in his heart that he wanted to share with this young subordinate.

  Everything originated from those three notebooks. Labour Guizhen himself couldn't figure out what idea prompted him to write down those unmentionable things in the first place.

  Although the three notebooks were found intact and returned to Tian Liang, Lauchenggui knew that things were not over yet. As long as the new director had not been confirmed, the Construction Bureau would not be calm.

  Moreover, he also saw that Xiang Tianliang, this young whippersnapper, was not an ordinary person. He might be the type to have one set of words for your face and another set for behind your back.

  As expected, Lao Chenggui gradually understood through Ye Nian's approach to Xiang Tianliang and the role of Old Liu Liu Zhengfeng that before returning the original, Xiang Tianliang had left behind the contents of three notebooks using technical means.

  That is to say, he destroyed three notebooks, but the threat still exists and may be thrown out as a bomb at any time.

  What made Labor even more uneasy was that after knowing he had to step down, two of his trusted subordinates also became disloyal. Gao Xing and Sun Zhanlu were both using every means possible to try to take what belonged to Xiang Tianliang for themselves.

  Finally, the opportunity arrived, and Xiang Tianliang took out the things stored in the bank. Laucheng Gui gritted his teeth and made up his mind to take back the things.

  Lao Chenggui knew that his former subordinates were unreliable and couldn't be relied upon. Once he was no longer in power, they would lose interest, and it was unrealistic to expect them to risk their lives for him as they had in the past. He had long been mentally prepared for this.

  Only Ye Nian's husband Qiao Annan is an outsider and a soldier, has some skills, and is relatively loyal and reliable, can undertake such important tasks.

  Qiao Annan did not disappoint, and with a mix of surprise and ease, he successfully obtained what he wanted.

  Lao Chenggui sat in his study, with a stove by the desk. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of firecrackers outside the window, finally waiting for what he had been dreaming of.

  See off Qiao An Nan, Lao Chenggui returned to his desk and slowly opened his school bag.

  There was also a black leather bag in the backpack. Inside the leather bag, there were three paper boxes of different sizes, which were white and originally used for selling small goods at street stalls.

  Lao Chenggui was concerned about the box containing the film, because according to Ye Nan, Xiang Tianliang had used a micro camera to photograph the contents of three notebooks. After opening it and taking a quick look, he first threw the twelve films together with the box into the stove.

  The film was burning in the stove, making a sizzling sound and emitting a foul odor.

  Lao Cheng got up early, opened the door and window of his study, a gust of cold wind came in, blowing away the stench, also dispersing the depression that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time.

  He let out a long sigh, sat back down in front of the chair, and picked up the two paper boxes again. The larger box contained seven reels of tape recordings, which had nothing to do with him, so he casually tossed them into the fireplace.

  That smallest paper box, Labour sincerely glanced at it, was five deposit slips, also threw into the fireplace.

  He doesn't want to bother anymore, after the Spring Festival holiday, he will go to work at the Municipal CPPCC, and if everything goes smoothly, he will be elected as the Vice Chairman of the Municipal CPPCC at the annual meeting after the Spring Festival.

  This should be the highest point of his decades-long career, Lauchenggui felt pretty good, after all, it was also a conclusion with deputy mayor treatment. For a dockworker's descendant who hadn't even graduated from junior high school, he should be content.

  The paper box in the stove caught fire, and Lauchenggui bent down to use a small wooden stick to pull it back a few times, preventing the burning paper scraps from flying out of the stove.

  His hand suddenly froze.

  A small paper box was burning in the stove, and the bank deposit slips inside were curled up from the heat. One of them had scattered open.

  There is nothing in the passbook, it's fake.

  Lao Cheng hastily stretched out his hand and snatched a few deposit books from the stove.

  There were still three deposit books that hadn't been burned, and one by one they opened them up, only to find they were all blank, all fake.

  Lao Cheng's expression on his face froze.

  The bank deposit book is fake, then the tapes and films should also be fake, that is to say, all the things Qiao An Nan had retrieved with great difficulty from Xiang Tian Liang are all fake.

  Another possibility is that Xiang Tianliang only did it for the money, made a few fake deposit slips to make up the numbers, while leaving behind real bank deposit slips, and the burned tapes and films were real.

  No, absolutely not. Isn't he afraid that the person who robbed his backpack will discover his switcheroo? Holding those real deposit slips with fake names, does he dare to go to the bank to withdraw money?

  The real thing is still in the hands of Tian Liang.

  This little rascal is really bad and vicious, setting up such a big formation at the Liu's house, making others suffer to get something that turned out to be fake. But that's not all, his intentions are even more sinister and malicious. Qiao Annan snatched the thing in front of so many people, and soon everyone will know that Qiao Annan is Ye Nian's husband, representing him to snatch things from Labor Honesty.

  So, Lao Chenggui became the target of public criticism. Xie Zixiang, Yu Feilong, Gao Xing and Sun Zhanlu would all turn around to make him their new target. Moreover, the newly arrived deputy secretary of the municipal party committee, Zhang Haifeng, would also come to find him. As for Mayor Chen Guohua, he didn't even need to mention it. He had been supporting Lao Chenggui for years, and if he proposed that he needed something this time, what could Lao Chenggui give him?

  Without Chen Guohua's trust and support, can I still become the vice chairman of the municipal CPPCC? Can a period that has been drawn for a lifetime of revolution be turned into a circle?

  Lao Cheng felt more and more afraid the more he thought about it, his hands trembling as he threw those three fake deposit slips into the fireplace. His body shook violently, and he collapsed onto the chair.

  His breathing quickened, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, he felt a bit suffocated and hurriedly raised his hand to cover his chest.

  But his right hand was completely out of control, and all the strength in his body suddenly disappeared like a mud cow entering the sea, as if it had been hollowed out.

  He opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound. He wanted to stand up, but only swayed twice before heavily falling to the ground...

  Lao Chenggui's heart disease, which had been dormant for several years, relapsed with the New Year's bell ringing.

  Luckily, my wife woke up and came over just in time. If she hadn't, we would have had a funeral to attend on the first day of the new year.

  ……

  Xiang Tianliang drove to Li Yajuan's house first, and then the two of them rushed to the Municipal People's Hospital.

  "Sister Li, is Director Lao's life in danger?"

  "It shouldn't be, I heard from Ye Nang that his heart disease was congenital, he himself is very careful, at home there are imported fast-acting heart-saving pills, plus his wife discovered it in time and rescued him in time, at that time he had already recovered at home."

  He let out a sigh of relief, his heart secretly relieved. If the old director had really discovered that the things in the school bag were fake and thus lost his life, then his own guilt would be too great.

  Li Yajuan was meticulous, she felt that Xiang Tianliang's expression had become more serious and solemn, with a hint of tension.

  "What's wrong, didn't you rest well after going back last night?"

  Of course, I didn't rest well and had a big fight with Liu Qingqing on the bed for more than two hours, turning myself from a male to a man. It's strange if I'm not tired.

  Tian Liang told a small lie, shaking his head and saying: "Sister Li, I'm worried about Director Lao's illness." As for what happened with Liu Qingqing, he couldn't tell Li Yajuan about it yet.

  Li Yajuan glanced at Xiang Tianliang and said, "You care about him so much?"

  "Yes, after all, he is an old leader. Besides, he has been quite good to me. That deputy director position in my office was also arranged by him."

  Li Yajuan smiled, "Where is that deputy director position of yours? Still in the drawer of the Organization Department?"

  "Hehe, I guess I've finally quit being addicted. Anyway, I'm in no hurry to become an official now, so even if I lose it, I'll just let it go."

  Li Yajuan looked at Xiang Tianliang and suddenly said: "Then you must have a guilty conscience."

  "Are there ghosts? My heart is full of sunshine, where would ghosts come from?"

  "Don't think I don't see through it, your carefully planned scheme may still be hiding another conspiracy."

  Xiang Tianliang gripped the steering wheel and glanced at Li Yajuan, saying: "Sister Li, did you really figure it out or are you just teasing me?"

  "You must have a guilty conscience." Li Yajuan was quite certain that amateur detectives also had their own skills.

  "Lǐ jiě, you're really something, so capable that you can even go to the Public Security Bureau as a pre-trial officer." Xiàng Tiānliàng smiled helplessly.

  "No matter whether you see it or pretend not to, don't forget that I'm your partner."

  He let out a sigh and said to Tian Liang, "Alright, after I've seen Director Lao, I'll tell you more about it."

  The car stopped in front of the Municipal People's Hospital.

  Xiang Tianliang and Li Yajuan walked towards the hospital, and coincidentally, Ye Nan and Qiao Annan came walking in the opposite direction.

  Two women are nothing, colleagues plus girlfriends, but two men's first meeting is completely different.

  Xiang Tianliang looked at Qiao Annan, his expression was still quite natural, while Qiao Annan sized up Xiang Tianliang, her gaze was a bit cold, and her face was even more filled with complexity. Xiang Tianliang clearly detected a layer of faint hostility from her.