Official Career Storm
Chapter 597

Chapter 597: Chapter 597

The restaurant on the second floor had a large private room with rather plain decor.

Through the glass windows, one could see the intensity of the rain outside shift from a drizzle to a steady downpour, almost hinting at an oncoming cloudburst.

Township restaurants usually offer homestyle dishes, with average cooking skills, but they do have the advantage of fresh ingredients.

Li Zhuang hosted a banquet for Song Guanchao, ordering all the high-end dishes.

Braised wild soft-shelled turtle, braised wild goose, wild mushroom stewed with pheasant, and a three-course meal featuring king snake...

As dish after dish was served, Song Guanchao grew increasingly surprised.

Out of over ten dishes, nearly half were wild game, explicitly banned from consumption.

This guy was not pretending at all.

Just yesterday, in front of Director Liu, he acted poor, claiming he only earned a few thousand a month in salary.

Today, look at him - driving a big Land Rover and eating wild game.

As he reached for the alcohol, the watch face on his wrist caught Song Guanchao’s eye, revealing the unmistakable logo of Patek Philippe.

Since Liu Lanzi and Wu Qiangwei gave him a watch, he had intensively learned about watches.

Patek Philippe, the Rolls-Royce of watches, the cheapest models cost at least several hundred thousand.

The one he was wearing was a three-dial model, which wouldn’t cost less than several hundred thousand.

This fellow, in his years as a Party Committee Secretary, must have pocketed no less than a tidy few tens of millions.

"Secretary Song, shall we drink a little?"

He seemed to be asking, but as his words fell, the wine was already poured into the glasses.

He then looked at the two women, "Ladies, would you care for a drink?"

Song Guanchao said, "They’ll pass, someone needs to drive later."

"Hehe, all right, no pressure," Li Zhuang acquiesced.

After pouring the alcohol, Li Zhuang raised his glass, "Here, Secretary Song, Director Wang and I would like to toast you."

The two men took turns toasting, and within half an hour, a bottle was emptied.

Song Guanchao had a good capacity for alcohol, and neither of the men was a lightweight drinker.

After one bottle, they opened another.

Song Guanchao turned down no drink; he too wanted to see what Li Zhuang was ultimately after tonight.

Suddenly, the sky outside turned pitch-black as peas-sized raindrops pounded on the tin roof, creating a cacophony of pattering sounds.

Now there were three empty bottles on the table, meaning each person had drunk about a pound of liquor.

Song Guanchao was surprised; their capacity for alcohol was deeper than he had expected.

A pound of liquor consumed, and they were just a bit flushed, showing no signs of drunkenness.

Song Guanchao picked up a piece of goose with his chopsticks; the meat was a bit dry, not nearly as tasty as the domestically raised kind.

However, the cooking skill of the restaurant chef was not bad, and there was nothing to complain about regarding the flavor.

Li Zhuang opened another bottle of white liquor and, having had a drink, said, "Secretary Song, I’m a few years older than you, so if I call you ’younger brother,’ you don’t mind, do you?"

Song Guanchao responded with a smile, "How could I mind that."

Li Zhuang served him alcohol, "Younger brother, I won’t hide it from you, there are indeed some issues in Panlong Town."

"Really?" Song Guanchao feigned surprise, "What kind of issues are you referring to, brother?"

"Ah."

Li Zhuang sighed, drank another glass without saying anything, and then said, "I won’t hide it from you, brother, I’ve made some mistakes in my years as the Party Committee Secretary."

Wang Changwei stared at Li Zhuang, a hint of nervousness in his eyes, and started smoking a cigarette.

Song Guanchao asked, "Brother, what mistakes have you made? It can’t be that the red flag at home remains standing while colorful flags flutter elsewhere?"

Wang Changwei laughed first, then shook his head, "What’s the harm in that? Which man doesn’t play around outside?"

As he said this, he glanced at the two women, "Younger brother, you’re quite the lucky man."

Song Guanchao quickly waved his hands, "Don’t talk nonsense, brother, these are my colleagues. Let’s focus on your issues instead."

Li Zhuang said, "Ah, being the Party Committee Secretary these past few years, I don’t know how my mind got muddled, and I did some things that violated rules and discipline."

Song Guanchao wore a serious face, "Brother, that’s not something to joke about. Stop drinking, or you’ll get drunk."

He reached out to stop him, but Li Zhuang pushed his hand away and drained his glass, "No, I have to speak!"

He looked into Song Guanchao’s eyes, far from appearing drunk; in fact, he was very clear-headed.

"The money meant for some low-income households in the village, I haven’t fully distributed it!"

Li Zhuang continued, "These past years, the town’s finances have been tight, with civil servant salaries hard to pay. So I shifted my focus to using the national subsidies."

"There’s really no other way," he lamented.

"But I’ve come to realize these past few days, you can’t keep dragging this on."

"Just yesterday, I sent out all the unissued subsidies."

"Brother, I assure you, this will never be a problem again in the future!"

Song Guanchao had not expected him to be so forthright.

Yet, these were words he could absolutely not trust.

Suddenly, Li Zhuang took out the keys to a Range Rover and put them in Song Guanchao’s hand.

"What’s this supposed to mean, brother?"

"Little bro, just call me brother and this car is yours!"

"No, this really won’t do. I work at the City Committee; driving this would be too ostentatious..."

"Little bro, just take it!" Li Zhuang said sternly, "If you don’t take it, it’s like you’re looking down on me!"

Song Guanchao roughly figured out his intention, and couldn’t help but feel that the leaders of towns really had a damn direct way of bribing.

Li Zhuang spoke up, "Little bro, just drive the car with ease. Also, I’ve left some little gifts for you inside."

His winks and nudges made it clear to Song Guanchao what those ’little gifts’ entailed.

Song Guanchao glanced nervously at Wu Yun and Zhou Qian, feigning guilt.

"Little bro, you haven’t introduced me to these two ladies yet," Li Zhuang said.

"Wu Yun, Zhou Qian."

He didn’t reveal the identities of the two women, to avoid triggering a reaction from Li Zhuang.

Li Zhuang with a chuckle said, "Little bro, you’re enjoying the company of beautiful women. I’m truly envious..."

He cut himself off before completing the word ’envious’, as he caught sight of Zhou Qian’s face and took a good look. Then he continued, "Envious, really envious."

It dawned on him why Zhou Qian looked familiar.

Zhou Qian!

The star presenter of Lingjiang City TV Station!

Song Guanchao had actually brought this woman over.

He’s really out to get me killed!

Li Zhuang kept his composure and continued drinking.

"Little bro, you drink first. I need to make a call to the family."

Picking up his cell phone, Li Zhuang walked outside.

Only when he descended from the upstairs private room did he make a call: "Zhuzi, is everything ready?"

"All set!" Zhuzi inquired, "Brother Zhuang, are we really going through with this?"

"Do it!"

A cold light flickered in Li Zhuang’s eyes, filled with murderous intent.

Tonight, it was a trap!

From the moment Song Guanchao visited Huangni Village to inspect the relocated gravesites, he was already like a turtle in a jar!

His plan wasn’t what Song Guanchao thought, to bribe him.

His real plan was to eliminate Song Guanchao!

He knew all too well that if the matter of him embezzling state subsidies got out, prison was inevitable.

Furthermore, the misdeeds he had committed were not just limited to embezzling funds.

And he knew, no matter how much he tried to ingratiate himself tonight, even if Song Guanchao took the car and the money inside, it was just to placate him.

Zheng Bihui had phoned today, saying he would help work things out, find a way to suppress the matter.

But he was aware that Zheng Bihui would have a hard time protecting him.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Zheng Bihui; rather, he knew that Zheng Bihui probably couldn’t contend with Wu Qiangwei.

He would definitely be thrown in jail by Song Guanchao!

So, a peaceful resolution was an impossible luxury.

The only thing he could do was deal with this issue at its root.

And the root was Song Guanchao!

His means were simple and crude, yet effective!

That was to kill Song Guanchao!

The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel