EFB Chapter 205 The Oriole
Chapter 205 The Oriole
noon.
A small restaurant outside the Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
Hou Liangping was already waiting there.
A short while later, a man wearing a hat, scarf, and sunglasses, completely bundled up, burst in. He looked around for a moment, then, upon seeing Hou Liangping, quickly pulled his hat down low and jogged over. After sitting down, he pulled his scarf down further and, panting heavily, said:
"Director Hou, why are you still trying to meet with me? After what happened last time, Prosecutor Ji explicitly forbade us from having any contact with you, didn't you know that?"
"Xiao Zhou, don't be nervous." Hou Liangping adopted an official demeanor, tapping the table with his finger and speaking arrogantly:
"You think I can't boss you around as a lowly section chief? What's the bureau been up to lately?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Zheng felt a surge of anger and said:
"Are you crazy? You dare ask me for work secrets? It's because I said some things I shouldn't have last time that caused such a mess. I'm lucky I didn't get demoted and transferred along with you. Don't drag me down with you, find someone else!"
After Zhou Zheng finished speaking, he was about to get up and leave when he saw Hou Liangping calmly take out a voice recorder, place it on the table, and then press a button.
The video clearly shows that during Hou Liangping's suspension, Zhou Zheng revealed to him the work progress of the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the names of suspects.
Zhou Zheng came to his senses, and was furious. He pointed at Hou Liangping and was about to curse him.
But Hou Liangping didn't seem to care at all, and said with a smile:
"Leaking case secrets to suspended personnel carries a heavy responsibility. Zhou Zheng, believe me, if I release this, your fate will be even worse than mine?"
Zhou Zheng stood there motionless for a long time.
After a long while, he sat back down as if venting his anger, frantically rubbing his hair with both hands, and said with a mournful face:
"Hou Liangping, what will it take for you to let me go!"
Seeing that the matter was settled, Hou Liangping patted Zhou Zheng on the shoulder and said slyly:
"I don't need anything else, just keep telling me about the progress of the cases in the bureau lately..."
Helpless, Zhou Zheng made a snap decision and, as if he had nothing to lose, began to recount the recent events.
Ten minutes later.
Hou Liangping stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Unexpectedly, after he was transferred away from the procuratorate...
So many big things have happened.
Death to a certain degree.
Qi Tongwei has been exonerated.
Zhao Ruilong destroyed the account books.
The thought that Qi Tongwei had been completely exonerated filled Hou Liangping with rage.
He had been secretly investigating Qi Tongwei for a long time and knew a little about Qi Tongwei's shady dealings.
He had been waiting for the right opportunity to expose this senior student, using him as a stepping stone to his own rise to prominence.
Who would have thought that Qi Tongwei would clear his name several times in such a short period of time, and now his position as vice governor is probably unshakeable.
Hou Liangping felt indignant and jealous at the same time.
The position of vice governor should have belonged to me, Hou Liangping!
That damned Qi Tongwei, he not only kneels to women, but also to men, how amazing!
Hou Liangping calmed himself down and started thinking about the account books again.
This is interesting.
In other words, Zhao Ruilong used a scheme to obtain the account book containing evidence of his crimes, those of the Zhao family, the Han Da Gang, and the Shanshui Group, and then brazenly destroyed it.
Now that the account book is gone, there's no way to convict the Zhao family.
If I could get my hands on the ledger...
Thinking of this, Hou Liangping asked again:
"You still have something to say, don't you? I've read the newspapers lately. You guys went to the Shanshui Group to hack into Liu Qingzhu's cloud backup? Isn't there another ledger in there?"
Zhou Zheng then remembered that there had indeed been such reports in the newspapers.
Although he was unaware that the newspaper and cloud backup were part of Xia Qing and Chen Hai's scheme.
As for Zhou Zheng, he was simply following orders from his superiors, spending some time at the Shanshui Group, and then returning empty-handed.
He knew nothing else.
But now that Hou Liangping had asked, Zhou Zheng had no choice but to tell him everything he knew.
After all, the other party has something on him.
Hou Liangping listened for another ten minutes, this time his expression was very serious.
After listening, Hou Liangping said in a deep voice:
"You've been fooled. All that cloud backup and Gao Xiaofeng stuff was just something Chen Hai used to provoke Gao Yuliang. In the first place, he didn't expect you to be able to crack the cloud backup, because it had already been cracked long ago."
Zhou Zheng was taken aback, then waved his hand dismissively and said:
"You think you know everything, making wild guesses here? You don't know anything at all!"
Surprisingly, Hou Liangping did not show any dissatisfaction with Zhou Zheng's words.
In his view, Zhou Zheng was just an ordinary person who could never reach his level in this lifetime, and naturally could not have imagined his profound insights.
Hou Liangping didn't bother arguing with Zhou Zheng anymore, because he had already obtained the information he wanted.
Liu Qingzhu is dead, and the cloud backup he left behind almost certainly contains another ledger. Once he obtains this ledger, the Zhao family, Gao Yuliang and Qi Tongwei, the Shanshui Group and Huilong Group—all will be his, Hou Liangping's, possessions.
At that time, the entire Zhong family will be proud of him, and may even send him back to the procuratorate and back to Beijing as a key figure in his development!
Hou Liangping seemed to see a bright and promising future ahead of him.
He thanked Zhou Zheng hastily, put on his coat, and left on his own.
Zhou Zheng stood there for a few seconds before suddenly realizing what was happening.
This guy didn't pay the bill!
I haven't even eaten a single bite yet!
In his haste, Zhou Zheng stood up and shouted at Hou Liangping's retreating figure:
"Damn it, I haven't eaten yet!"
Hou Liangping, who had run away, no longer cared about any of this.
His mind was filled with Liu Qingzhu's account books.
His years of experience in handling cases have taught him that if someone keeps an account book, they will definitely make several copies.
Those backups are either at the office or at home.
Considering the Anti-Corruption Bureau's fruitless investigation at Shanshui Group, it's clear that Liu Qingzhu did not hide any extra ledgers in the company.
Then it can only be his home.
We need to find a way to contact Liu Qingzhu's wife under the pretext of mourning.
Find an opportunity to get in and search the ledgers.
Once the ledger is in hand, one's fate will change again.
At that time, let alone Handong, let alone Zhong Xiaoai.
Even Chung Cheng-kuo has to acknowledge me as the leader of the younger generation of the Chung family!
Hou Liangping was incredibly excited at the thought of all this.
In fact, Hou Liangping was by no means stupid; in fact, he was quite intelligent.
Otherwise, the Zhong family would not have allowed him to marry into the family, and Zhong Xiaoai would not have taken a liking to this man.
Unfortunately, while Hou Liangping's understanding of this matter was deeper than Zhou Zheng's, it was still far from sufficient.
He deduced that the cloud backup did exist and had already been cracked.
But he didn't take the time to think about why the situation had developed this way, what roles each faction played, and what goals they had achieved, if his guess was correct.
Hou Liangping is like a cunning oriole.
He can remain calm and wait for the mantis to catch the cicada before hunting the mantis.
But he couldn't see the dark muzzle of the hunter's gun pointing at his back!
Because, right here in the restaurant.
Zhou Zheng silently paid the bill and made a phone call:
"Yes, he's taken the bait."
"Please rest assured."
"Secretary Yuliang."