Official Career Storm
Chapter 556

Chapter 556: Chapter 556

This guy even started playing coy.

Song Guanchao didn’t make it difficult for him. He contacted Jiang Yuan directly.

After the call, he was about to leave when Hou Wen said, "Secretary Song, won’t you stay and listen?"

"It’s not my case to deal with."

"Listen, it’s very interesting."

That caught Song Guanchao’s attention.

Minister Zhou smiled and said, "County Magistrate Hou, may I sit in?"

"If Minister Zhou is interested, please feel free."

The three of them then returned to the cell.

About half an hour later, Jiang Yuan arrived.

"Hou Wen, who are you accusing?" Thinking that Hou Wen wanted to redeem himself by accusing someone, he asked.

"I’m not accusing anyone."

Hou Wen shook his head, speaking to himself, "In the operation to capture Lu Xiaotian, Yao Jinsheng made great contributions, and now the city doesn’t know how to publicize it, right?"

Jiang Yuan frowned, silent, just quietly watching him.

Hou Wen said, "Mayor Jiang, I can help you solve this problem."

Anyone else might have mocked him for overestimating himself.

But the people present were not arrogant or conceited, and instead of ridicule, there was only curiosity.

"Don’t you find it strange, Mayor Jiang? Just when you were about to make an arrest, Lu Xiaotian was taken hostage. And it just happened to be the day Yao Jinsheng was preparing to flee."

"Moreover, the criminals specifically demanded Yao Jinsheng to exchange the hostages."

Everyone frowned, while Song Guanchao’s eyebrows raised.

He had felt something was off at that time, but couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Because Yao Jinsheng’s behavior was too normal.

Now that Hou Wen brought this up, Song Guanchao almost immediately understood what he meant.

It was a set-up!

A scheme arranged by Yao Jinsheng and Lu Xiaotian together!

His goal was to become a hero!

By getting shot while protecting the hostages, he intended to delay the police’s operation to arrest him.

Jiang Yuan and Minister Zhou also came to this realization.

But there was no evidence.

Jiang Yuan asked, "What are you trying to say?"

Hou Wen said, "If I’m not wrong, this was a trap set by Yao Jinsheng and Lu Xiaotian in advance. Moreover, Yao Jinsheng probably guessed that I had betrayed him, which is why he set up this trap."

At this point, Hou Wen suddenly lowered his gaze, deep in thought, "How did he realize something was amiss?"

Yao Jinsheng had sought his help, and they had met twice without him showing any sign of abnormality.

So, how did he detect something was wrong?

This was something Hou Wen, however much he thought about it, couldn’t figure out.

Jiang Yuan asked, "The evidence? Without evidence, such speculation can’t hold up."

"The gun!" Song Guanchao said.

"The gun?"

"Yes, the gun." Hou Wen lifted his head, "The criminal who held Lu Xiaotian hostage had a gun that should have been scrapped by the Dujiang City Public Security Bureau. That gun had always been in Lu Xiaotian’s possession."

"Mayor Jiang can send someone to check the serial number of the gun. If the numbers match, it can be basically confirmed."

"Additionally, you can send someone to administer a polygraph test to Yao Jinsheng, and then you’ll naturally know if it’s true."

Mayor Jiang nodded, "I will send someone to verify this. If it turns out to be true, you will have earned merit."

Hou Wen smiled, "Thank you, Mayor Jiang."

As Jiang Yuan turned to leave, Minister Zhou suddenly said, "County Magistrate Hou, why don’t you make another effort and guess where Lu Xiaotian might go?"

Jiang Yuan turned back around.

Indeed, Hou Wen had known Lu Xiaotian for so many years and understood him extremely well.

Perhaps, through him, they could find Lu Xiaotian.

"Lu Xiaotian?" Hou Wen was puzzled, "Isn’t he in jail?"

"He escaped." Song Guanchao briefly explained the situation to him.

Hou Wen exclaimed, "I always told Chen Guanyun if he exerted himself a bit more, he could at least be a deputy department head."

Song Guanchao was exasperated, what the hell are you pitying?

Hou Wen pondered for a while and said, "Lu Xiaotian was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, has lived a lawless life for thirty years, and now you expect him to live under an assumed name and keep a low profile? I don’t think he can take it."

"If you want my advice, it is that he will definitely pop up again. Just have the police keep an eye out."

Song Guanchao gave Zhang Meilin a look, and Zhang Meilin showed him the threatening text message.

After glancing at it, Hou Wen said, "Given his personality, he is certainly capable of doing it."

Then he remembered Song Guanchao asking him about the guns and had an epiphany, "Are you worried that he has a gun?"

After a few seconds of silence, he added, "Better beef up security."

Such advice was as good as no advice at all.

After getting out of jail, Jiang Yuan too learned about the threatening text message.

It was giving him a major headache.

He had initially thought that it was no big deal if Lu Xiaotian had run away, they’d just issue a slow manhunt.

He figured the kid would probably keep a low profile and hide.

But now Hou Wen told him Lu Xiaotian might have a gun.

And had sent threatening messages.

If Lu Xiaotian really sought revenge, even heightened security might not be enough to ensure his safety.

"Secretary Zhang," said Jiang Yuan, "you should leave Dujiang City for a while."

Zhang Meilin clenched his teeth and shook his head, "I won’t go! I won’t let a baseless threatening message scare me into leaving and living in another city!"

If he ran away today, his career would be over.

Deserting the battlefield.

The organization would never trust someone like that again.

On the contrary, facing danger without fear was exactly what would showcase his firm stance against such threats.

Besides, he didn’t believe Lu Xiaotian had the guts to come!

"I’ll contact Director Qin tomorrow to arrange some plainclothes police officers for you," Jiang Yuan offered.

"Thank you, Mayor Jiang." He didn’t refuse this suggestion.

After parting ways, Jiang Yuan felt his headache grow.

He was genuinely afraid something would happen.

If Lu Xiaotian was crazy enough to go after Zhang Meilin, the entire Dujiang City... no, the whole Nanjiang Province would likely launch a new round of crackdown.

And it would directly affect the development of Dujiang City, which wouldn’t recover for at least ten years.

After all, that was a City Secretary!

He did think of reporting to the province, but the threatening message was sent from an untraceable phone, with no solid evidence to confirm it was from Lu Xiaotian.

How could he rashly report this and expect the province to react?

Taking it too seriously would be bad, but ignoring it wasn’t an option either.

Jiang Yuan’s headache was severe.

...

When Song Guanchao returned home, he found it had been cleaned.

The trash was taken out, a new bag was in the bin, the floors had been swept, not a speck of dust remaining.

The quilt was perfectly folded.

Yet, something seemed to be missing.

He quickly realized what it was.

Liang Jiajia’s slippers were gone, and only his clothes were left in the wardrobe.

All traces of Liang Jiajia had disappeared.

Had she taken her things and left?

Was she temporarily moving back home?

After a shower, Song Guanchao lay in bed and texted Liang Jiajia, "Did you come over tonight?"

...

Below the New City Company building, on Xuehai Road.

A thin man dressed in wide-legged jeans, a short-sleeved T-shirt, a baseball cap, and a mask, walked along Xuehai Road.

He stopped at the corner, leaned against the wall, and slowly squatted down.

He looked up, twisted his neck, and stared at the New City Company building dozens of meters away, his eyes blazing with madness and resentment.

He pulled out a cigarette, took off his mask, and the light from the lighter revealed his face, indulged and clearly visible.

It was Lu Xiaotian!

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