Chapter 2501: Chapter 2565: Rewards and Punishments
At this moment, it wasn’t that District Chief Yue hadn’t thought about begging that backer of his up in the province for help, but... the one he and his son had offended was Li Yifei. So what if it was a big shot in the province? Even Hu Guangsheng had personally stepped in; this matter was pretty much nailed down already. What’s more, District Chief Yue’s freedom was now restricted. He didn’t even have a way to ask for help.
When Li Yifei left, he only gave him a faint glance, then shook his head with a little laugh. He didn’t even bother saying a word to him. From that look in the other man’s eyes, District Chief Yue caught a hint of contempt—just a hint—as if in Li Yifei’s eyes, this person simply didn’t exist. District Chief Yue might still count as a figure in the new development zone, even in the whole city, but in Li Yifei’s eyes he was just an ordinary person, not worth bringing on stage...
"Screwed, really screwed." District Chief Yue shot a look at Yue Liang. Yue Liang had already been scared stupid; his face was ashen as he walked up to District Chief Yue and said, crying, "Dad, I was wrong, I... you can hit me."
"What’s the use of hitting you? Even if I beat you to death it’s no use." After saying that, District Chief Yue closed his eyes. His body swayed, as if he couldn’t quite stand steady.
Hu Guangsheng gave the two of them a cool glance and said, "Hogging your little corner and not knowing when to pull back—this is how it ends."
District Chief Yue didn’t open his eyes, but replied, "Mayor Hu, thank you for taking care of me all these years. This time I’ve gone down, and I accept it!"
You’d like not to accept it, but too bad—the other side is Mount Tai, and you’re just a muddy ditch. A single rock falling off Mount Tai can block your path, and no matter how hard you rush and wash at it, you can only wash away a bit of dirt off Mount Tai. It’s completely useless.
Hu Guangsheng couldn’t be bothered to talk to him anymore. He signaled for the police and the Discipline Inspection Commission staff to separate these people and take them away. District Chief Yue, his secretary Su Meng, and Sub-bureau Chief Wang Gang were taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission, while Yue Liang and his friends were brought back to the Public Security Bureau.
Zhao Tiezhu was in charge of reconstructing the whole incident for Hu Guangsheng and the relevant leaders. After listening carefully, Hu Guangsheng said to everyone around him, "Absurd. It was originally just a small matter, and they turned it into this. Some people get a bit of power and immediately forget how high the sky is and how thick the earth is. Sigh. Handle everything strictly according to the law and regulations. Do whatever should be done, no favoritism. And take this as a warning. After this, I’ll bring it up at the standing committee meeting and launch a citywide ideological work conference!"
"Alright, Mayor Hu, we’ll handle it as required!" The Discipline Inspection people nodded immediately.
"Don’t report to me—give the people an explanation!" After saying that, Mayor Hu stood up and specifically told Zhao Tiezhu to follow him out. The others dispersed to handle their respective tasks.
"Tiezhu, you did well on this matter. You didn’t let it blow up any further!!" When he came out, Hu Guangsheng patted Zhao Tiezhu on the shoulder and said.
"Mayor, this is... just what I should do." Zhao Tiezhu said, a bit flustered!
"This was a special situation, so choosing to be a little impulsive was acceptable. You might only run into such a thing once in your whole life, so it’s understandable!"
"Thank you for understanding, Mayor."
"Heh, so, how do you feel after all this?"
"I... have a lot of feelings about it. I understand our profession’s particular nature even more. If you don’t handle the tilt between sides properly, it can cause very serious consequences!"
"Good. Think it over slowly. Later you can even write a special report. Mm, looks like there’ll be a vacancy at the development zone after this. By the way, how many years have you been a squad leader?"
"Three years, Mayor."
"Still at deputy section rank, right?"
"Yes."|
"Alright. Once things calm down these next few days, I’ll give you a few days off. After you come back, get your head straight and get ready to take on new work!" Hu Guangsheng said.
Zhao Tiezhu was very surprised. He hadn’t expected Hu Guangsheng to give him a promise of promotion right now. That was fast. Li Yifei hadn’t expected it either—he hadn’t thought that Hu Guangsheng would decide on the spot to put more on Zhao Tiezhu’s shoulders. That really... surprised him.
After seeing Hu Guangsheng off, Zhao Tiezhu called Li Yifei and told him about it.
"They’re giving you more weight to carry, so just do it. Don’t overthink it. At this age you’re at your prime!" Li Yifei thought it over and said.
Grateful, Zhao Tiezhu said, "Boss Golden Eagle, thank you."
"What are you thanking me for? This was your choice. Even if Hu Guangsheng didn’t do this, tomorrow I was going to suggest it to him anyway. But don’t think I’m especially helping you. Actually, from the moment you first came and blocked Wang Gang a few times, there were already some things where you took the initiative. So in the future, even if you end up in a high position, try your best to keep a bottom line in what you do. That’s what I want to say to you. Because you never know if you’ll run into someone much stronger than you again, someone who can crush you easily. Then you’ll be the unlucky one." Li Yifei said.
That speech plus what happened today had a big impact on Zhao Tiezhu. So much so that many years later, when he had been promoted to the Provincial Public Security Bureau and become Director-General Level, he would still recall this incident with deep emotion. It became the guiding principle for how he handled things over those years. Of course, that was many years later.
After coming back, Li Yifei filled in Xu Zhenguo and the others and explained how the matter had been handled. Even though he’d been mentally prepared, Xu Zhenguo still stared wide-eyed as he said, "Just over this... a development zone district chief is done for?"
"Dad, it just happened to be the right timing. This guy’s reputation was terrible and he’d done some bad things. Keeping him around would just be a disaster, so I took care of it while I was at it..."
"Sigh, you’re more effective than the Discipline Inspection Commission!" Xu Zhenguo let out a sigh. He wasn’t criticizing Li Yifei for making the matter too big; he was sighing with emotion. Before he retired, Xu Zhenguo’s rank wasn’t low, but once he said he was retiring, he really stepped away—didn’t go to the People’s Congress as a nominal appointee, didn’t go anywhere else, just stayed home enjoying his days in comfort.
"Dad, there’s nothing to be done about it. It’s not like they don’t know; they just haven’t made a move."
"Exactly. That’s what I’m talking about, that’s what I’m sighing over. Forget it. I’m just a washed-up retired old man, why should I care about all this." Xu Zhenguo shook his head. Over the years he’d been notably clean and had always acted with a clear conscience, so he naturally couldn’t stand those who grub for petty gains. Just from Li Yifei’s few words he could tell what kind of scum that District Chief Yue was. For that kind of person, his son-in-law coming down hard was perfectly fine.
"Dad, I’ll give you one more treatment in a bit and then we’ll get discharged and go home. No need to stay in the hospital!" Li Yifei said.
Xu Yingying nodded; she naturally believed in Li Yifei. Xu Zhenguo glanced at his wife—she clearly hadn’t noticed anything. He laughed and said, "If we can go home now, all the better. I don’t want to stay in this hospital one more day."
"Yifei, is your dad’s leg really alright?" Mother Xu asked worriedly.
"It’s fine. After I treat it once, just resting at home for two days will have it back to normal." Li Yifei said.
"That’s good, then... I’ll go handle the discharge." Mother Xu said. Xu Yingying went with her. The hospital, acting out of responsibility, of course disagreed—after all, it was a broken leg. But in the end they still agreed to discharge him. After the formalities were done, the four went home. With her husband alright, Mother Xu was much more relaxed and bustled around making dinner.
Li Yifei had things to do, so he said so honestly. Xu Yingying shot him a glare, while Xu Zhenguo just laughed and said, "Go, go. And thank those young comrades for me. They still have justice in their hearts!"
"Alright, Dad, I’ll pass on the message!" Li Yifei nodded.
He had Zhao Tiezhu and the others book the restaurant ahead of time. Li Yifei didn’t pick any particularly high-end place, just required big portions, lots of noise, and a big enough private room. He took a taxi over and saw that the brothers were all there, waiting for him together.
"Did everyone get permission from home for tonight? If not, hurry up and ask, so you don’t get scolded later." Li Yifei joked.
"Boss Golden Eagle, we all got permission, don’t worry. And we all said we were going out with you, they’re not going to say no." one cop shouted loudly. He really had told the truth—when his family heard he was having dinner with the richest man, their first reaction was disbelief. It took him a long time to convince his wife. Then she wanted photos, signatures, and so on. He obviously couldn’t bring that up now, and even if he got photos, he couldn’t show them around everywhere—just keep them for himself to show off.
"Good. Then we’ll drink hard tonight! Brothers, meeting each other is fate—let’s drink freely. Those who can drink, drink more. Those who can’t, just drink to your limit. One condition: everyone has to enjoy themselves!" Li Yifei said as he walked in with the crowd.
"Got it, Boss Golden Eagle, don’t worry. We’ll definitely drink plenty!" someone responded.
Today Zhao Tiezhu was in an even better mood. Although earlier he’d been scared and full of worries, it had all proved worthwhile. So now he really opened up and laughed, "Boss Golden Eagle, we all respect you in everything else, but at this table tonight, not everyone’s going to admit defeat so easily!"
"Oh? You want me to prove it to you?" Li Yifei asked.
"That’s right. Boss Golden Eagle, if your drinking is awesome too, then you’ll be my lifelong idol—my one and only idol." one cop shouted.
"Alright, you said it. Everyone bear witness—don’t you deny it later."
"Relax, we’ll all bear witness. No, in fact we all want to challenge you to a drinking contest. You’re already our idol as is, but if your drinking is freakishly good too, then you’ll be an even bigger idol."
"Let’s order and start drinking. If anyone can outdrink me, that’s fine too. I’ll call him big brother on the spot." Li Yifei said in a seemingly arrogant tone.
A bunch of them boisterously headed into the private room. There wasn’t a single woman there, but hell, there aren’t women in the army either. A group of men quickly found that old feeling again. This day would probably become an unforgettable memory for many of them. There was only one Li Yifei, and this kind of thing couldn’t happen many times. In fact, up to now, other than drinking with the old Flying Hawk Squad members, the only time he’d done something like this was with the migrant workers, and then this time. It was very rare, and even he remembered it clearly and felt a lot from it.
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