The Tempting Road to Becoming an Official

The rapid development of Xindu District.

Also led to the rapid appreciation of land.

Anyone with a bit of insight could see that the future development of Xindu District was boundless.

Countless real estate developers flocked here, hoping to get a piece of the city's development.

Li Duming gradually discovered that there were more or less instances of fraud in the land auction process.

And there were also many problems with the selection and appointment of cadres.

Given such circumstances, Li Duming had to investigate.

It didn't matter if he didn't look.

But once he did, it was shocking.

All clues pointed to Lv Yifeng.

Then.

Secretly, he also received quite a few whistleblower reports.

The targets of these reports were also Lv Yifeng.

Thinking that the team he had just built up couldn't withstand the impact of a large-scale anti-corruption campaign,

Li Duming sat down with Lv Yifeng for a serious talk. Unexpectedly, not only did Lv Yifeng not admit his wrongdoing, but he claimed that it was Li Duming's false accusation against him.

Thus, the seeds of discord were sown between the two of them.

In the following one or two years of work,

Their conflicts became more frequent.

Lv Yifeng's methods of amassing wealth became increasingly excessive.

Li Duming could no longer tolerate it and wrote a report to the Provincial Disciplinary Committee.

This whistleblower letter sank like a stone in the ocean, never to receive a response.

After nearly two months of waiting, what came was not an investigation into Lv Yifeng but his own transfer notice.

He was moved from the position of Xindu District Head to serve as the County Party Secretary of Changming County.

Not long after he was transferred,

Lv Yifeng was also promoted to Deputy Mayor of Wen'an City.

Although they were now separated by distance, Lv Yifeng's retaliation against Li Duming never stopped.

Speaking of this,

Li Duming sighed and said, "When I was transferred to Changming County, it was Lv Yifeng's intention; he wanted to use Tan Yandong's hand to suppress me. Everyone in Wen'an City knows how crafty Tan Yandong's tactics are."

"To others, it appeared I, Li Duming, got a promotion, but in my eyes, all my hard work was ruined. During that time, I was really disheartened and wanted to resign."

At this point,

He looked at Chen Fang and said, "In your eyes, Tan Yandong has always been suppressing me, no matter what I suggest, it needs his approval. Even in the Executive Committee meetings, he would curse at me openly, but all these incidents were actually plays we staged together."

Hearing this,

Chen Fang had already understood most of it.

He said, "So Tan Yandong did this to prevent Lv Yifeng from making trouble for you, right?"

Li Duming nodded.

He said, "Yes, many matters were actually decided in private discussions between us. Then we would stage a drama to get the policies implemented. Lv Yifeng has become increasingly powerful over the years, and over a year ago, he was even promoted to mayor. If he wanted to target me, it would be a piece of cake. But if he saw that I wasn't doing well in Changming County, he would be even more inclined to leave me here."

This outcome,

Was not what Chen Fang had expected initially.

It turns out that the discord between Li Duming and Tan Yandong was just a smokescreen.

This time, Chen Fang believed it.

Because when Li Duming spoke these words, his eyes were moist.

He knew very well.

Those who have climbed to such high positions are all good actors, but Li Duming's genuine display of emotion couldn't deceive anyone.

Besides, he trusted Xu Lianyun completely.

"So what happened that night you drank with Tan Yandong, the night he met with trouble?"

Chen Fang asked.

Li Duming took a deep breath.

He said, "Tan Yandong didn't really have any friends, as you know. Sometimes when he felt troubled, he would come to my place for dinner and drinks. That night was the same, but I had no idea why he was in a bad mood. He didn't say anything while drinking, although I could tell he wasn't someone who was looking to die."

"Halfway through our drinks, probably before eight o'clock, he received a phone call. His expression changed when he picked it up, becoming very tense. After the call, he told me he had some issues to deal with and quickly left."

Chen Fang's meeting time with Tan Yandong was around half-past eight.

That is to say, after leaving my place, Tan Yandong must have gone back to his house, picked up the black briefcase, and then went to meet with Chen Fang. There should have been more than enough time for all this.

"Do you know who made that phone call?"

Chen Fang asked.

Li Duming nodded and said, "It's precisely because I know who made that call that I've been searching for this missing phone."

"Who was it?"

"Sun Shenru!"

Upon hearing that name,

Chen Fang's heart skipped a beat.

He abruptly turned to look at Li Duming.

Li Duming seemed to see right through his thoughts and said, "I know what you are thinking. The investigative team released his call log, and on the day of his suicide, there was no record of a call with Sun Shenru, right?"

"Yes."

Chen Fang nodded and responded.

Li Duming nodded and continued, "When the call logs were made public, I looked through them immediately too. I didn't see any record with Sun Shenru either, which is why I found it strange. I asked a few people to investigate Tan Yandong's movements that day. A surveillance camera near Yinma River captured him around nine-thirty. So, I sent people to dredge the Yinma River, and it wasn't until a few days ago that I got my hands on this phone."

Then,

he took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

He said, "I went to the provincial city to find an expert to recover the communication logs from the phone. I've printed out the list, take a look."

Chen Fang's hands began to tremble.

As he unfolded the paper,

sure enough, at 7:52 PM, he saw a call record to Sun Shenru, which lasted less than a minute. Then, at 8:26 PM, was the call to himself.

"But why wouldn't the telecom company have a record of the call? Could it have been deleted? Does Sun Shenru have that much power?"

Chen Fang asked.

Li Duming nodded and said, "I've also been contemplating this. Usually, such call records would be stored in telecommunications rooms at the city level or higher. To delete records would certainly require someone of much higher authority to issue the order, which means—"

"Which means this involves people at the city level or higher, right?"

Chen Fang interjected to ask.

Li Duming nodded.

Xu Lianyun also nodded.

In that moment, Chen Fang felt as if his head had been struck hard, sending his mind spinning.

He had always believed that there was something very wrong with Tan Yandong's death; he didn't think it was suicide.

That was his suspicion, his guess.

But now, Li Duming's words told him that Tan Yandong definitely didn't commit suicide, and behind his death was an even bigger secret.

And this secret had something to do with Sun Shenru.

"Under the current circumstances, Sun Shenru has been developing and consolidating his network of relationships. After Tan Yandong's death, he must have established a connection with Lv Yifeng as well. With Lv Yifeng's support, his influence would grow rapidly. He won't cover for me like Tan Yandong did; he will back me into a corner, which is why I need you by my side, to help me gain a foothold in Changming County."

At this point,

Li Duming revealed the most important reason he had sought out Chen Fang.

"Me? Do I have that ability?" Chen Fang asked.

Li Duming smiled.

He said, "Originally, I wasn't sure if you had the ability either. Mei Shikang, Zhao Shoujiang, and Yuan Zhenting all suffered losses at your hands. Now, if you say you don't have the ability, I wouldn't believe it."