Chapter 684: Perfect Timing!

Beijing. A Certain Discipline Inspection Department (Fictional)!

Although it was already dark and government offices should have closed long ago, the lights in every office of the Discipline Inspection Department were still on, and not a single staff member had left.

No one dared breathe a word; ears were pricked, and eyes kept darting toward the conference room.

At that moment, the sound of a stern reprimand echoed from the conference room, reverberating through the entire hallway and sending a shiver down everyone’s spine.

Everyone knew that the top leader was a kind-hearted man; though he commanded respect, he rarely lost his temper.

It was especially rare—if not unheard of—for him to publicly reprimand a subordinate in such a manner.

On top of that, the department heads had specifically instructed everyone today not to leave after work, but to wait for orders.

Everyone knew something must have happened—and it was definitely a major incident!

In the conference room nearby, the atmosphere was just as tense.

The big shot in the chair stood before his seat, one hand on his hip and the other holding a handwritten letter, furiously berating the disciplinary inspection department of a certain province for its inaction:

“A mere local official actually dares to so brazenly extort bribes and demand favors, and to arbitrarily appropriate confiscated contraband—from furniture and appliances worth thousands to everyday goods—taking whatever he pleases, as if he’s turned the anti-smuggling squad’s warehouse into his own personal storage!”

“And what about the disciplinary inspection department in Guangdong Province? What on earth are they doing? No one has investigated an official causing such a terrible scandal. Letter after letter of complaints has gone unanswered, forcing our veteran comrades to write directly to the Central Committee to report the situation. Is this even acceptable…”

Faced with the big shot’s furious rebuke and interrogation, everyone else in the office kept their heads down, not daring to say a word.

Everyone knew the boss was in a rage; speaking up now would be asking for trouble.

Any comments should wait until the boss has vented his frustration!

Don’t ask why—just call it experience…

After quite a while, the boss finally finished venting his anger. His expression softened considerably, and he sat back down in his chair.

He then placed the letter in his hand on the desk and addressed the group: “You’re all aware of the situation. Let’s hear your thoughts—how should we resolve this?”

“Sir, since the matter has been brought to our attention, we can’t just ignore it. Why don’t we call Guangdong Province and ask them to send someone to investigate, to see if the claims in the letter are true…”

Before he could finish, the boss cut him off: “We can’t call Guangdong Province. They haven’t reacted at all to such a serious matter. Either there’s a mole on their side, or they’re incompetent. Whatever the reason, we can’t let them get involved in this!”

“So you mean we should send a task force down to investigate this ourselves?”

“Exactly. Send some of your best people from Department Two over there. I refuse to believe that a local official could possibly run amok…”

No sooner had the big shot finished speaking than an elderly man with snow-white hair and beard suddenly spoke up from below: “Old Chen, I’m afraid it’s too late!”

“Old Liu, what do you mean by that? What’s too late?” the boss asked in a deep voice.

“Old Chen, calm down first. The Guangdong provincial government isn’t just sitting idly by—they…”

“What do you mean? If they were actually doing their job, how would things have gotten this bad?” the boss snapped angrily.

The boss was feeling particularly frustrated today. He’d gone to the Palace for a meeting where they’d discussed nothing but good news, and he’d been in a fine mood.

But just as he was about to leave, an old comrade-in-arms with whom he’d fought the revolution for decades called him back and handed him a briefing report along with a handwritten letter.

After reading the internal briefing and the letter, he was completely stunned. It turned out that someone had reported rampant smuggling in Guangdong Province, particularly in Hai County, which had practically become a smuggling kingdom—and all of this stemmed from problems within Hai County’s leadership.

More importantly, after some local veteran cadres and comrades noticed these irregularities, they had repeatedly written to the municipal and provincial authorities to report the situation, but their efforts had failed to make a single ripple. Left with no other choice, they had been forced to bypass their superiors and report directly to higher authorities, until the whistleblower letters eventually reached the Forbidden City.

The fact that a case involving a local official bypassed the disciplinary inspection departments at the county, city, and provincial levels to land directly in his hands—doesn’t this prove that the disciplinary inspection departments at those lower levels were completely ineffective and doing nothing but collecting a paycheck?

For the big shot, this was a blatant slap in the face!

However, the elderly man who had spoken earlier showed no sign of embarrassment at the big shot’s remark. Instead, he smiled and said, “Old Chen, let me finish. What I mean is that the authorities in Guangdong Province are already investigating this matter. Even if our people went there now, it would be too late!”

“They’ve already started an investigation?” the big shot asked, frowning in disbelief.

“Heh, what a coincidence. Just this morning, Comrade Jiang from Guangdong Province called me to report on a case he intends to oversee personally—and it just so happens to be the smuggling case in Hai County!”

“Old Liu, is this true? You’ve been in discipline inspection for a long time; you should know the gravity of this matter!” the big shot said.

“Although Comrade Jiang and I are on good personal terms, there’s no need for me to cover for him over this. When he called, Comrades Yang Shaojun and Xu Qin were also in my office. If you don’t believe me, you can ask them both!”

Deputy Director Liu continued, “Besides, Young Jiang mentioned that he originally intended to report the situation to you, Old Chen, but you happened to be in a meeting. Since he needed to handle the matter urgently, he had no choice but to call me!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Office Director Yang Shaojun immediately chimed in: “Old Chen, that’s exactly what happened. After Comrade Jiang Shiying hung up, we actually discussed the matter. We felt that for the head of the provincial disciplinary commission to personally investigate such a minor case was a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. We never expected you’d receive that letter that very evening!”

Then, the other leader mentioned by Deputy Director Liu spoke up to confirm that Jiang Shiying had indeed reported the matter to them that morning.

Upon hearing this, the expression on the senior official’s face at the head of the table softened slightly.

Although this didn’t prove that the disciplinary inspection department there hadn’t been negligent, it at least indicated that the provincial-level disciplinary inspection department had taken notice of the matter.

With that in mind, the big shot paused to think for a moment, then said, “In that case, let’s hand this matter over to the Guangdong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection! Tell them to root out these parasites who are harming the people as soon as possible and give the public a proper explanation!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Inform Comrade Jiang Shiying that this case has reached the highest levels. Tell them to resolve it swiftly and decisively—no dragging their feet. No matter who is involved, they must be dealt with severely!”

“Yes…”

“Dismissed!”

As the meeting concluded, one order after another was relayed.

Immediately afterward, phones began ringing one after another at the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection…

At the Guangdong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, upon receiving the call from Beijing, they wasted no time and immediately reported the situation to Jiang Shiying, who was currently investigating in Hai County.

When Jiang Shiying received the call from his subordinate in the provincial capital, he instantly broke out in a cold sweat!

Fortunately, thanks to his son-in-law’s warning, the timing was perfect.

Had it been any later, it wouldn’t just be him—the entire Guangdong Provincial Discipline Inspection Department would have left a bad impression on higher-ups.

Thinking back on the information he’d learned that afternoon, if they hadn’t taken charge of this case, and if any problems were uncovered later, the consequences would be severe—he might even be dragged down as the top official.

Thinking of that audacious scoundrel, Jiang Shiying’s eyes were filled with murderous intent…

………..