Chapter 1963:

Chapter 1963: Chapter 1963:

"I got it."

Upon receiving a call from Wei Shoucheng and learning that the City Disciplinary Inspection Committee had sent people to his company, Tian Kai Ming was internally furious.

Wei Shoucheng’s first reaction was that it was Wu Qiangwei’s doing.

What came to Tian Kai Ming’s mind first was Lu Zhizhong.

After hanging up the phone, he found Secretary Gao and informed him about the matter.

Upon hearing about it, Secretary Gao remained with the same calm expression, showing no emotional fluctuation.

Tian Kai Ming couldn’t stand his composed demeanor and said, "Governor Lu is trying to provoke!"

"Let me ask," Secretary Gao dialed Lu Zhizhong: "Governor Lu, Chairman Wei just contacted Secretary Tian, saying that people from the Disciplinary Committee went to Hong’an Real Estate... Oh, so that’s the situation, alright, I understand."

As soon as Secretary Gao put the phone down, Tian Kai Ming asked eagerly, "What did he say?"

Secretary Gao replied, "You don’t need to get involved in this matter."

Tian Kai Ming raised his eyebrows, sensing a different implication in Secretary Gao’s words.

Not only did he not stop Lu Zhizhong, but he advised him not to interfere.

It seemed that Lu Zhizhong did not act impulsively.

However, he still couldn’t figure out what sending the City Disciplinary Inspection Committee to investigate would uncover.

This action, apart from angering Wei Shoucheng, had no positive effects whatsoever.

Suppressing his doubts, he nodded and left the office.

...

"Damn it!"

Bao Qi received a call from a senior executive at Hong’an Real Estate and immediately became furious.

Tan Miao had gone too far!

He actually led a team to investigate Hong’an Real Estate!

Had he gone mad?

He could guess that it was definitely under Wu Qiangwei’s instruction.

But instead of contacting Wu Qiangwei, he directly called Tan Miao.

"Secretary Bao..."

As soon as the call connected, and Tan Miao began speaking, he was angrily interrupted: "Tan Miao, do you even know what you’re doing?"

Tan Miao was slightly stunned by the scolding, but after reacting, he was angry as well.

We’re both Secretaries; both are provincial-level rank officials, so why the hell can you swear at me like this?

In the past, he might have just tolerated it, but now that he backed Wu Qiangwei, they were essentially on different paths, and further tolerance wouldn’t make him a man.

"Bao Qi, watch your mouth!"

"Damn it! Are you getting bold?"

Bao Qi never expected him to speak in this tone, but now was not the time for a shouting match—there were bigger issues at hand: "Are you, where are you?"

"Hong’an Real Estate."

"Who told you to go there?"

"Is that any of your business?"

"You!" Bao Qi was temporarily speechless, finally saying, "Immediately get your people out of there. You are from the Disciplinary Committee, not the tax department; even if Hong’an Real Estate has tax issues, it’s not your business to interfere."

Tan Miao chuckled, purposefully not explaining, and directly hung up the call.

Bao Qi was still shouting on the other end. After a long silence, he finally realized the call had been cut.

The anger he had barely suppressed surged back suddenly.

"Damn Tan Miao!"

Bao Qi had never been so enraged; a Deputy Secretary was actually disobeying him, the top official.

Was he trying to turn the tables?

Since Tan Miao showed no respect, he wouldn’t hesitate to handle things harshly.

He immediately left, got in his car, and drove toward Hong’an Real Estate.

Sprinting the whole way, his car stopped in the Hong’an Real Estate parking lot, and Bao Qi walked into the elevator with a sullen face.

Once out of the elevator, he strode toward Hong’an Real Estate’s office areas.

The receptionist approached, "Hello..."

"I am the Jiangzhou City Disciplinary Inspection Committee Secretary, Bao Qi. Where is Chairman Hu?"

The receptionist was surprised and hurriedly said, "Chairman Hu is in the office, Secretary Bao, please wait."

The receptionist quickly ran to the office, and shortly thereafter, Chairman Hu arrived.

"Secretary Bao, glad you’re here."

"Chairman Hu, rest assured, this is a misunderstanding."

Bao Qi tried to maintain a smile; he certainly didn’t want to be hated by Wei Shoucheng because of Tan Miao.

"Where is Secretary Tan? Could I trouble Chairman Hu to lead me to him?"

"Follow me, Secretary Bao."

Chairman Hu led him outside the meeting room: "Secretary Tan and his team are inside."

He then added, "Chairman Wei is already aware of the situation here, and he’s very angry."

Bao Qi paused his hand slightly, nodded, grabbed the door handle, and pushed the door open.

Inside the meeting room were familiar faces—all office staff from their Disciplinary Committee.

There were a few unfamiliar faces, which he glanced over and didn’t think much of.

He closed the door, shutting Chairman Hu out, and approached Tan Miao, saying gravely, "Get back immediately!"

Tan Miao laughed, not bothering to respond to him.

Bao Qi was astonished that he had personally come, yet Tan Miao was still unwilling to back down.

"Alright, so my words no longer matter?" Tan Miao nodded while taking out his phone: "I’ll call Secretary Zhou and see if you won’t even listen to him."

"Secretary Tan, who is this?" Suddenly, Cao Wenxuan spoke.

Bao Qi looked over, his eyebrows furrowing tightly. From his title and tone, he seemed not to be from the Disciplinary Committee.

"This is our Disciplinary Committee Secretary, Bao Qi," Tan Miao introduced.

Cao Wenxuan oh’d, smiled, stood up, and extended a hand to him: "Hello, Secretary Bao."

Bao Qi glanced at Tan Miao, hesitantly extending his hand after a beat of tardiness: "And you are?"

"Cao Wenxuan," introduced Cao Wenxuan, "Director of the Central Disciplinary Inspection Committee’s Investigation Office."

"The Central... Central Disciplinary Inspection Committee?" Bao Qi’s face twitched, his eyes widened, questioning his hearing.

"Correct," Cao Wenxuan replied, "I received a report and came to handle the case. Due to lack of manpower, I specifically requested to borrow personnel from Secretary Tan. Have I disturbed the City Disciplinary Inspection Committee with my borrowing of too many staff?"

"N-..." Bao Qi then realized Tan Miao had set him up.

This fool intentionally didn’t explain clearly over the phone, just to watch him embarrass himself in front of Cao Wenxuan.

In his anger, Bao Qi wondered why the Central Disciplinary Inspection Committee had suddenly shown up.

And moreover, he was completely unaware beforehand.

Wait... he suddenly realized that Cao Wenxuan mentioned receiving a report?

Report about what?

Who had been reported?

It dawned on him, this was at Hong’an Real Estate... Could it be that he was investigating Hong’an Real Estate?

"Director Cao, may I ask, what are you investigating here?"

"Do you know Wei Shoucheng, Secretary Bao?"

"Yes..." Bao Qi’s heart sank; it indeed was the case.

Cao Wenxuan said, "I’ve received relevant reports concerning Wei Shoucheng."

Bao Qi unwittingly asked, "Tax issues should be handled by the tax department, right?"

Cao Wenxuan nonchalantly laughed and said, "The report contains multiple aspects; tax is just one of them, along with bribery, etc. Haha, if the tax problems are severe, I’ll contact colleagues from the Tax Bureau to conduct a joint investigation."

"..." Bao Qi’s mouth twitched; he shouldn’t have asked.

"Secretary Bao, do you know the manager of this company?"

"I’ve interacted a few times." He couldn’t say he didn’t know, with Tan Miao standing right there. He didn’t doubt that if he denied it, Tan Miao would immediately come for him.

"Oh, excellent, would Secretary Bao help Chairman Hu cooperate with our work? If there’s vehement resistance, then I’ll have to borrow your detention room and have him taken in."

"Alright, I’ll work on his thoughts."

Firmly nodding his head, Bao Qi turned and walked out.

Outside the meeting room, he raised a hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead, taking a deep breath, his brain quickly working to figure out what all this meant.