Lin Chao Ci drove himself to an affordable residential complex ahead of time.
There were no surveillance cameras in the complex, and its residents were ordinary people. Lin Chao Ci had already arranged to rent two apartments there, making it easier to handle certain things he could not do openly.
Officials of equal rank generally would not take evidence and report each other directly, even after an outright falling-out.
If they did report someone, they had underlings or covert operatives do it, keeping themselves out of it.
Even if everyone knew who was behind the report, they could never admit it.
It was an unwritten rule in official circles: no superior liked someone who was always reporting their colleagues.
Besides, whether the report succeeded or not, it could easily leave the accuser mired in trouble.
Lin Chao Ci had specifically entrusted this matter to a group of people his grandfather had secretly trained.
Most were orphans his grandfather had adopted and trained from childhood. They were utterly loyal to the Lin Family, rather like the death-sworn retainers cultivated by powerful families in ancient times.
As his grandfather's most cherished grandson, Lin Chao Ci naturally had a few assigned to him.
Normally, Lin Chao Ci never contacted them, but this matter was too important and too confidential.
He did not feel comfortable leaving it to anyone else, and ordinary people lacked the skills for it anyway. Sneaking into a villa, picking locks, opening safes, evading surveillance... naturally, he needed professionals.
He waited for quite a while.
Two short knocks followed by two long ones came from outside the door.
Knowing it was the signal, Lin Chao Ci opened the door, and the figure outside slipped quickly into the apartment.
"Young Master Ci! Here's what you asked for..."
The man looked utterly unremarkable. He was in his thirties, with slightly bulging temples and stubble on his face. Nothing about him suggested an expert.
He respectfully offered a black bag with both hands.
Wearing gloves, Lin Chao Ci took the bag and waved a hand. The man understood and left the apartment.
Once the man was gone, Lin Chao Ci emptied everything out of the black bag.
Inside were several account books, several USB drives, several videotapes, and a large pile of photographs...
Lin Chao Ci smiled. With this evidence, Ding Qiushan would never be able to cause trouble again.
He would probably be sentenced within a few months, most likely to death.
Lin Chao Ci gave the contents a quick look. His eyes lit up, and he could not help marveling.
Ding Qiushan really was something. He had taken photographs of so many officials. If those officials found out, they would kick his head clean off...
He really had no fear of death. There was no one he would not photograph.
Lin Chao Ci spotted quite a few famous, prominent figures.
No wonder Ding Qiushan was so arrogant in Haikou City, so confident and fearless.
Even knowing his father's background, Ding Qiushan had still wanted to compete with him.
Beep, beep, beep!
A message arrived on Lin Chao Ci's phone.
"Young Master Ci, we've paid her father's medical bills. The best orthopedic surgeon in Haikou City will operate on him. Li Si Han went to the hospital, not the construction site..."
With matters of his own to handle, Lin Chao Ci could only leave Li Si Han's situation to his subordinates.
Once he confirmed that Li Si Han would not repeat her past mistakes or get injured again, Lin Chao Ci breathed a sigh of relief.
"Protect Li Si Han and her family discreetly!"
After giving that instruction to his subordinate, Lin Chao Ci turned back to the stack of photographs and evidence in his hands.
"No, these photographs implicate too many powerful figures. I can't hand them all over. If they really investigate, it won't just be Haikou City—the entire political establishment of Xichuan Province will be shaken..."
Lin Chao Ci sorted through the photographs, holding back those with far-reaching implications and submitting all the less consequential ones.
He had no choice. Letting the matter blow up too much would have undesirable consequences.
Haikou City was one thing, but if the whole of Xichuan Province was embroiled in trouble, what would the higher-ups think? How would they view the matter?
Every official in Xichuan Province would be affected.
Besides, how many people would he offend by reporting them all at once? The list might contain only a few dozen names, but the people connected to them behind the scenes numbered in the thousands, at the very least.
Although he had handled the report very discreetly, every action left traces. If someone discovered his involvement later, he would make enemies for nothing, and the losses might outweigh the gains.
He put all the selected evidence into a kraft paper envelope.
Lin Chao Ci contacted Qiangzi and told him to deliver the evidence to the investigation team from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection arriving the next day.
Meanwhile, Ding Qiushan had been taken away for questioning by the provincial discipline inspection commission that morning, seemingly out of nowhere.
The night before, someone had submitted evidence of Ding Qiushan accepting bribes to the provincial discipline inspection commission.
With a complete chain of evidence, and Lin Jianguo subtly pushing things along behind the scenes, the provincial commission had sent people over first thing that morning.
When he was first detained, Ding Qiushan had been a little bewildered and frightened.
But once he understood what had happened, Ding Qiushan smiled disdainfully. He had thought it was something serious.
It was only a few million yuan he had pocketed from construction project funds.
From the questioning room, Ding Qiushan directed his people remotely, arranging for them to deal with the illicit money and have the person involved change their testimony.
Barring any surprises, the whole process would resolve the problem in three or four days.
Once the testimony changed, the provincial commission would naturally release Ding Qiushan.
Ding Qiushan could also tell that Lin Jianguo was most likely behind this. He sneered disdainfully. Lin Jianguo was usually mild-mannered in his dealings with people and matters, seemingly just a good-tempered bookworm.
And sure enough, that was exactly what he was. Even his attacks were feeble.
You're reporting me over one little thing?
Laughable, absolutely laughable. I actually thought he was someone to reckon with, and this is all he's got?
In his arrogance, he gave it no further thought.
After all, Lin Jianguo usually looked easy to push around and had never shown much aggression.
Soon, he would pay the price for the decision he had made that day.
Meanwhile, after dealing with the report, Lin Chao Ci went to the company instead of going home.
"The hard work now is so I can sit back and enjoy life later!"
Lin Chao Ci instructed his subordinates to register a music subsidiary.
He stayed in his office and switched into plagiarist mode, writing down all the famous songs he could remember.
He even ate lunch in his office. After writing all day, he had produced over a hundred songs.
Lin Chao Ci smiled in satisfaction and assigned someone to register the copyrights for all of them.
At last, he could rest.
"Right, if I can snap up song copyrights, can't I get in on other rights too?"
Lin Chao Ci remembered that, in the future, certain names would be worth a fortune. Anyone who wanted to use them would have to pay.
"Right, website domains too! I can buy those catchy, easy-to-remember domain names ahead of time and stockpile them! A valuable domain could easily fetch hundreds of thousands down the line..."
Those internet companies will all have to buy their domains from me later. Won't I be able to charge whatever I want and fleece them however I please?
Lin Chao Ci made a phone call and had someone handle the arrangements again.
"No, this won't do. Right now, everyone I use belongs to Dad, Mom, or Grandpa. I have far too few people of my own! I need an opportunity to cultivate a core team loyal only to me!"
For founding his company, handling matters, and running everyday errands... Lin Chao Ci relied entirely on people from his family.
Not a single one was truly his own.
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