Chapter 1962

Chapter 1962: Chapter 1962

Twenty minutes later, Tan Miao met Cao Wenxuan.

"Hello, Secretary Tan." Cao Wenxuan shook his hand and said, "I’ve received a report targeting a local enterprise in Jiangzhou City, and I need to go to this company to conduct an investigation. I hope Secretary Tan can allocate some personnel."

"No problem." On the way here, Tan Miao had been wondering who the Central Disciplinary Inspection Committee was suddenly coming to investigate.

After hearing this, he immediately understood what was going on.

Tan Miao asked, "Director Cao, which company are you going to investigate?"

Cao Wenxuan said, "Hong’an Real Estate."

Tan Miao’s eyes abruptly widened; he realized he’d probably guessed wrong.

The Central Disciplinary Inspection Committee’s real objective wasn’t to investigate a local enterprise at all, but to come for the case of Song Guanchao.

He was extremely surprised; he hadn’t expected that for the sake of pulling someone out, Wu Qiangwei had actually managed to bring in the Central Disciplinary Inspection Committee.

"Is Secretary Tan familiar with this company?" Cao Wenxuan asked with a slight smile.

"Not very familiar."

Tan Miao swallowed and asked, "About how many people does Director Cao need?"

"Around ten."

"Then... Director Cao, will you go to the Disciplinary Committee with me, or should I just have them come over directly?"

"We’ll go straight to Hong’an Real Estate. I’ll wait downstairs at the company."

"Alright, then we’ll head over first."

Tan Miao got in the car, quickly dialed a number, and mobilized ten people, telling them to go directly to the Hong’an Real Estate building and wait for him downstairs.

Then he drove over.

On the way, Tan Miao was so excited he could hardly put it into words.

The powerful network that Wu Qiangwei was now displaying made him genuinely happy.

Because the stronger Wu Qiangwei’s clout, the more it proved his choice had been right.

He recalled how, after being brought back yesterday, Song Guanchao had been calm the whole time, without the slightest emotional fluctuation.

That showed he’d known all along that nothing would happen to him.

The feeling of having someone backing you—really intoxicating.

Tan Miao couldn’t help but feel jealous.

Even among "our own people," there are closer ones and more distant ones.

Anyway, if it were him who got into trouble, and the cost wasn’t too high, Wu Qiangwei would probably pull him out once.

If the cost was too high, though, Wu Qiangwei would have no choice but to give up on him.

After all, not everyone was Song Guanchao.

Before long, he arrived at Hong’an Real Estate’s headquarters.

He got out of the car and waited for a bit; Cao Wenxuan and the other two arrived by taxi as well.

"Director Cao, please wait a moment."

"No rush."

Cao Wenxuan gave him a slight smile, then said to the two at his side, "Go buy a few bottles of water."

The two understood that Director Cao probably had something to talk about with Tan Miao that wasn’t convenient for them to overhear.

After they left, Cao Wenxuan took out a pack of cigarettes and handed him one.

Tan Miao didn’t dare act important; he hurriedly accepted the cigarette and, taking out his lighter, leaned over to light one for Cao Wenxuan.

In terms of rank, Cao Wenxuan was at the Provincial level, and as the First Deputy Secretary of the Jiangzhou City Commission for Discipline Inspection, Tan Miao was also at the Provincial level.

However, although they were of the same rank, the amount of power they wielded was worlds apart.

The most direct difference was that Cao Wenxuan could directly participate in investigating and handling cases involving officials at the Provincial Ministerial Level and above.

Put simply, the level of the officials he handled was usually higher than his own official rank.

Whereas Tan Miao could only investigate leaders at his own level.

But most of the time, he in practice could only go after officials below his own rank.

So in terms of actual authority, this Provincial-level official, Cao Wenxuan, was roughly equivalent to the Secretary-General of the Provincial Committee or the Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee in some weaker provinces—basically, half a Provincial Ministerial Level official.

In ancient times, he’d be the imperial envoy.

Whenever he came down to the local government, even the leaders of the Provincial Committee had to feel unnerved.

Because he was the top man in the Investigation Office, and that office’s main job was anti-corruption.

What official could dare claim that the seat under his backside was completely clean?

"Director Tan, your work must be quite busy, right?" Cao Wenxuan asked casually; but Tan Miao knew exactly what he was getting at.

"It’s been relatively busy lately."

"Oh? Got a case?"

"Yes. The office director of the City Government has been reported for soliciting bribes."

"When your investigators deal with someone who’s been reported, do they use any special methods?"

Tan Miao’s heart gave a jolt; he quickly said, "That’s absolutely impossible. We handle cases by the book; mainly we rely on persuasion. And personally, I believe Director Song."

This last sentence made Cao Wenxuan glance at him. "You have a good relationship with Director Song?"

Tan Miao looked around on both sides and lowered his voice. "I have a great deal of respect for Director Song’s character, and we do have a quite decent personal relationship."

Thoughtfully, Cao Wenxuan took two drags on his cigarette and asked again, "And your Secretary Bao?"

He’d had Lu Zhizhong notify the Disciplinary Committee to get in touch with him; under normal circumstances, the Disciplinary Committee Secretary should’ve contacted him.

Yet it was Deputy Secretary Tan Miao who called.

Coupled with what Tan Miao was now saying, Cao Wenxuan concluded that the Secretary of the Disciplinary Committee and Song Guanchao didn’t get along very well.

Tan Miao also understood the key point he was asking about and answered tactfully, "Secretary Bao and Director Song have had some differences in their work."

Cao Wenxuan let out an "Oh." At that moment, more taxis began to pull up near the intersection.

Tan Miao said, "They’re here."

The two men who had gone to buy water also returned at just the right time, carrying the bottles over.

Flicking his cigarette butt into a trash can, Cao Wenxuan said, "Let’s go up."

...

"Boss, someone was secretly protecting that woman."

Ah Jun was at that moment reporting last night’s situation to Wei Shoucheng.

Wei Shoucheng frowned slightly; tasks he assigned to Ah Jun almost never failed.

Just grabbing a peasant woman from the countryside, and they’d actually botched it.

Wei Shoucheng was just about to speak when his phone suddenly rang.

It was a call from a senior executive at Hong’an Real Estate.

He picked up and held the phone to his ear.

"Chairman Wei, something’s happened." The executive’s tone was unusually flustered.

As one of the biggest real estate developers in Jiangzhou, Hong’an Real Estate’s executives were battle-hardened in the business world and frequently dealt with high-ranking officials; they rarely lost their composure.

Yet right now, even over the phone, Wei Shoucheng could hear his nervousness.

"What’s going on?"

"Someone reported the company for tax evasion; the Disciplinary Committee has come to investigate."

"The Disciplinary Committee?" Wei Shoucheng found this absurd.

Tax evasion—since when is that under your Disciplinary Committee’s jurisdiction?

This is the tax bureau’s job. You people from the Disciplinary Committee are like a dog meddling in Haozi’s business, sticking your nose into things that aren’t yours.

"Who’s leading the team?"

"It’s Deputy Secretary Tan Miao of the City Disciplinary Inspection Committee. He’s brought a dozen or so people; right now they want to check the company’s finances. I’ve invited them into the office." The executive grew more agitated as he spoke.

"What are you panicking for!" Wei Shoucheng snapped, "Tax issues are not for the Disciplinary Committee to investigate. If they want to sit there, let them sit!"

"Yes, I understand."

The executive had been caught off guard, and with Tan Miao’s group being so large and their attitude so forceful, he’d been thrown into confusion.

Now, after Wei Shoucheng’s scolding, he quickly calmed down.

"Call Bao Qi and have him come over to take them away."

"Alright."

Hanging up, Wei Shoucheng’s expression turned icy.

The Disciplinary Committee wouldn’t show up for no reason; he knew this had to be pressure coming from Wu Qiangwei’s side.

This was an attempt to force him to give up pursuing Song Guanchao.

Wei Shoucheng let out a cold snort, a sarcastic look on his face.

In his view, this move by Wu Qiangwei was a desperate, foolish play.

To even come up with the idea of having the Disciplinary Committee audit his company’s finances.

What did that show?

It showed that the leaders in Jiangzhou City’s tax system were obeying orders only selectively; she couldn’t command them.

If she could move them, the people coming right now would be from the tax bureau.

It also showed that Wu Qiangwei had run out of tricks—all intention, no strength!

"My company is not something you can just investigate that easily!"

Wei Shoucheng dialed Tian Kai Ming’s number; he was going to throw another log on this fire!