The Tempting Road to Becoming an Official

"Cui Hongqing, you don't understand the law, do you? No worries, I'll give you a little legal primer."

Chen Fang pulled up a chair and sat down directly.

He held up his first finger.

He said, "Firstly, you've been beating your wife for a long time, and all the neighbors around here know about it. That constitutes intentional injury. As for the sentencing, that's up to the court to decide."

"Secondly, you just robbed me of twenty thousand yuan. That's a significant amount, and it was an armed robbery to boot. Just for this charge alone, you'd be looking at a minimum of ten years."

"Oh, I almost forgot, you also just tried to extort me. But I'll let that slide."

After Chen Fang had spoken,

Cui Hongqing laughed and said, "Robbery? Just because you say it was a robbery, it was a robbery? This money was given to me by you, everyone saw it."

"Is that so? I told you I wouldn't give it to you, but you came at me with a sickle. I gave it to you only because I was scared. Ask everyone here, isn't that what happened?"

Chen Fang finished speaking,

and the onlookers outside started to chime in: "Yes, we all saw it."

"Right, you robbed him with a sickle."

...

Cui Hongqing's complexion turned deathly pale in an instant.

Now he understood why Chen Fang had been toying with him.

Because he was putting on a show.

He baited Cui Hongqing into using a sickle or making threats so that the crime of robbery could be firmly established.

A tough player is still a tough player.

Even now,

Cui Hongqing was not ready to bow his head.

He stomped his foot, saying, "Fine, it doesn't matter, I'll go to prison if I have to. You damn woman, teaming up with outsiders to bully your man, I will never divorce you in this lifetime. I'll let you become a widow while alive, make you live with your head bowed forever, if we die, we'll die together."

"Eh, let me interrupt for a second, if you go to prison, she can apply for divorce at the court. With your history of domestic violence, the court will definitely grant it. Plus, your infidelity during marriage means that regardless of whatever assets you had before, they'll all belong to her. So, this point, you can forget about it."

Boom!

It was like a bolt from the blue.

Cui Hongqing was stunned.

This time, completely stunned.

Not only did he lose his wife, but he also lost his forces, and he even dragged his cousin down to the point of being stripped of his police uniform.

Boundless despair surged within him.

Suddenly, with a slap, Cui Hongqing fell to his knees on the ground.

Tears and snot flowed freely as he turned to Jiang Yuchan and said, "Yu Chan, Yu Chan, we've had the bond of a day's marriage which lasts a hundred days of grace; we've been husband and wife for so many years. Please, I'm begging your brother, forgive me, okay? I am wrong, I realize my mistake, I promise such a thing will never happen again, I'll treat you well, okay?"

Jiang Yuchan's gaze flickered.

She looked at Chen Fang uncertainly.

Chen Fang smiled slightly and said, "You make the decision yourself, whatever choice you make, your brother will support you."

Jiang Yuchan pondered for a moment.

And said, "Considering the times you were kind to me in the past, I won't send you to prison. How about this, we divorce, I'll leave without taking anything, and you don't bother me anymore. I set you free, that okay?"

What could possibly be unacceptable about that?

Cui Hongqing nodded repeatedly, saying, "Divorce, let's divorce right away, I agree to the divorce, I... I'll go get the household registration book right now..."

Having said that,

Cui Hongqing staggered back into the house.

"Yu Chan, won't you regret this?"

Chen Fang asked.

Jiang Yuchan let out a long sigh.

She said, "Let it be, that's enough. As long as I have no ties with him in the future, that's good enough for me. These years, the marriage has dragged me down so much that I felt neither human nor ghost. Being free of it is my greatest victory. Ah Fang, thank you."

Chen Fang smiled,

and said, "Don't worry, I'll have comrades from the police station accompany you to handle the divorce. Once the procedure is completed, we'll discuss how you'll live your life from now on."

"Alright."

Jiang Yuchan wiped away her tears.

At this moment, Cui Hongqing also came out with the household registration book.

Qiu Mingchen called one male and one female colleague to accompany them. They got into the police car and went straight to the county civil affairs bureau to handle the divorce.

The commotion had ended.

The onlookers at the entrance of the grocery store dispersed as well.

Guo Zheng asked, "Leader, a person like Cui Hongqing, he won't change. What Jiang sister is doing is actually harming herself."

Chen Fang nodded

and said, "I know, but it's her family issue, and the right to choose naturally lies in her hands. In the future, put some thought into it. Find someone to keep an eye on him for me, and let me know if there's any trouble, understand?"

"Got it, Leader. I'll take care of it."

Guo Zheng nodded and said.

"The issue with Jiang Yuchan has been resolved."

For Chen Fang, it meant putting down a load off his mind.

Three days later.

News came from the county town.

Yuan Zhenting and his son, along with their three god-daughters, had all been arrested by the procuratorate.

Out of them, Yuan Zhenting faced the most severe charges, including intentional homicide, corruption and bribery, abuse of power, illegal operations, and more. Even if he wouldn't be sentenced to death, life imprisonment without the possibility of parole was inescapable.

The gang fight case from four years ago was brought up again.

The city's criminal police team was responsible for reinvestigating it.

Those who had been imprisoned for the mass brawl at the time were now facing their crimes once more.

It was initially thought that this would impact Sun Shenru.

Unexpectedly, it did not.

In his confession, Yuan Zhenting did not implicate anyone else; he took all the responsibility upon himself.

In doing so, the others in his chain of vested interests naturally remained safe.

At the same time.

Another piece of news also caused shock.

Juming Group was mired in massive debt, its board announced a debt restructuring, and its chairman Zhang Yangsheng was ousted.

Simultaneously.

Cansen Group issued a statement denying any romantic relationship between Zhong Xiqian and Zhang Chenbo. All of the previous tabloid news was dismissed as pure speculation. Cansen Group warned that if there were any continued rumors, they would pursue legal action against the media.

Upon the publication of this statement.

It caused a stir akin to a stone casting ripples in a pond.

In the wake of the declaration, Juming Group's stock price plummeted and hit the limit down.

Although no news about Zhang Chenbo was mentioned, Chen Fang could guess that his days were not going smoothly.

It's said that time will erase all traces.

Indeed, this proved true.

Half a month after Yuan Zhenting's arrest, gossip at tea time shifted its course, and people lost interest in the matter.

The town government's courtyard also returned to its usual tranquility.

It was as if nothing had ever happened.

Consequently.

Chen Fang's work in Fuguang Town was set on the right track.

But don't assume that being a town mayor is an easy job.

The trivial matters were countless.

Chen Fang had barely made it to Friday when he received a call from Xu Lianyun telling him to return to the county town over the weekend as someone wanted to meet him.

In the call, Xu Lianyun didn't disclose who the person was.

But Chen Fang knew that anyone who could get Xu Lianyun to extend an invitation wouldn't be of low status.

Who could it be?

After work on Friday.

Chen Fang quickly packed up.

He planned to return to his apartment for a shower and a change of clothes, but as soon as he arrived at the apartment building, he saw a familiar figure.

A woman.

Standing outside the apartment, dressed very simply.

A long coat for the upper body,

Tight jeans below,

But her face, albeit somewhat pale, still looked frail.

"How come you're here?" Chen Fang asked.

The visitor spoke steadily, asking, "Mayor Chen, do you have time? I'd like to have a chat with you."

Chen Fang hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Then come upstairs with me."

Back at the apartment.

Chen Fang pointed to the sofa in the living room and said, "Please take a seat. What would you like to drink, coffee or tea?"

"Just water is fine," the woman replied.

Chen Fang poured a glass of boiled water and placed it in front of the woman.

After giving her a once-over, he asked, "How's your health? Has the wound healed? I heard from Fang Gui that it was quite serious, and you nearly damaged your internal organs."