"Did the investigation team really let me off?"
The deputy secretary found it hard to believe. He did not know any of the investigation team's members and had no connections to them.
By all rights, they had no reason to help him!
Besides, the more corrupt officials the investigation team caught, and the higher their ranks, the greater the credit and rewards they would receive.
He was a department-level official, after all. Had they really just let him off?
At the very least, shouldn't they have come to squeeze him for a few favors?
The investigation team's behavior was far too strange.
"Phew... Whatever's going on, I should be safe for now!"
The deputy secretary breathed a sigh of relief. With Ding Qiushan's evidence against him gone, he would no longer be implicated, dragged down, or forced to do his bidding.
Bang, bang, bang!
"Secretary, the report recommending Ding Qiushan's release due to insufficient evidence is ready!"
The director of Division One entered with a deferential bow to deliver his report.
The deputy secretary fell silent, deep in thought. He tapped his fingers against the desk before slowly saying, "I've received another set of evidence concerning Ding Qiushan's crimes! Keep him in custody for now!"
Before, Ding Qiushan had held something over him. Now that the leverage was gone, who gave a damn about him?
Ding Qiushan had committed far too many crimes. With the evidence in the kraft-paper envelope as well, releasing him now would leave the deputy secretary certain to be implicated and held responsible if anything happened later.
"Ah! Understood, Secretary!"
The director could not understand why the secretary's attitude had undergone such a complete reversal in barely ten minutes.
Although he did not know the reason, he knew how to read the room and promptly left the office.
A superior's attitude determined that of his subordinates.
Though Ding Qiushan held a high rank, he had no authority over the director of Division One.
The director had only tried to curry favor with Ding Qiushan because of his superior's attitude.
Now that his superior no longer liked Ding Qiushan, the director naturally stopped groveling. His attitude turned perfunctory, and rather than going himself, he sent a junior clerk to inform Ding Qiushan.
Soon, after hearing the junior clerk's report, Ding Qiushan's expression turned hideous. He pounded the table in fury and shouted:
"Who the hell does he think he is? I ask him to handle something, and he dares brush me off! Does he think I'm finished just because I'm under investigation? Just wait! Sooner or later, I'll have his job!"
The clerk had slipped away as soon as he finished his report. Ding Qiushan ranted for quite a while before his anger gradually subsided.
He took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. The list was full of influential figures.
He picked one at random and called. The phone rang several times, but no one answered.
Ding Qiushan froze. He was very close to the owner of that number, and they often spent time together. Why couldn't he get through now?
Friends were always there in spirit, but never on the phone when trouble struck.
Unwilling to give up, Ding Qiushan tried calling a few more times.
The result was the same. The phone rang for ages, but no one answered.
It was as though the other man had forgotten his phone.
But Ding Qiushan knew perfectly well that this friend never went anywhere without his phone. He even kept it beside him while he slept and would answer calls in the middle of the night.
Yet now...
Ding Qiushan remained silent for a long while, then called several other people.
The results were much the same.
Either the phone rang endlessly without an answer, or the line was busy...
Not a single person responded.
Ding Qiushan sensed that something was wrong. Even if the higher-ups had sent people to investigate him, his friends should not have cut ties with him so quickly.
He was beginning to lose his composure. His fingers trembled slightly as he dialed his secretary's number.
He was certain his secretary would answer.
Sure enough, the call finally connected.
Ding Qiushan almost cried with relief. He hurriedly asked, "Wang, how are things over there? What happened?"
There was a long silence on the other end.
Only then did an unfamiliar voice say awkwardly, "Well, Mr. Ding, your secretary has been arrested by our Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection... for embezzlement!"
"What?"
The words struck like a bolt from the blue. Ding Qiushan trembled and nearly collapsed onto the floor.
How could his secretary have been arrested?
"What is your Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection playing at? Your commission secretary and I are good friends..."
Ding Qiushan intended to invoke his ally's name to intimidate the man.
But the man on the other end gave an awkward laugh. "Mr. Ding, well, our secretary was the one who ordered us to make the arrest. Why don't you give him a call and talk it over?"
At those words, Ding Qiushan turned to stone, utterly stunned.
"Sir, are you still there? Sir? Well, we're still busy, so we'll hang up now..."
For a long while, Ding Qiushan just sat there in a daze without saying a word.
After waiting too long, the man on the other end offered a perfunctory remark and hung up.
The lavish presidential suite glittered with gold everywhere. Though the air conditioning was on, the room was not cold, yet Ding Qiushan could not stop trembling.
At this point, how could Ding Qiushan fail to understand? Everyone had abandoned him. His downfall was complete.
No one was willing to help him, and all his cronies had been arrested.
He was finished. Completely finished.
"Why is this happening? I have evidence against so many of them. Aren't they afraid I'll snap and expose them all?"
Ding Qiushan mussed his hair. He could not understand it. He held leverage over so many people, so why wouldn't they help him?
Were they really not afraid that he would take them down with him?
Beep, beep, beep!
Just then, a series of knocks came from outside the door.
"Ding Qiushan, come with us..."
The director of Division One had come again, but there was no trace of his earlier groveling or beaming smile.
His face was stern, a cold glint in his eyes as he ordered Ding Qiushan to come with him.
Ding Qiushan refused to lower himself by wasting time on these minor figures.
He took out his phone and made a call, hoping to have someone deal with the matter.
During his days at the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, aside from a few minutes of questioning at the very beginning, Ding Qiushan had spent all his time relaxing in the suite.
He had no desire to be questioned and investigated by these people.
Yet he made more than a dozen calls, and not one was answered.
Ding Qiushan seemed to have forgotten that he had already fallen from power and been abandoned by everyone.
"Ding Qiushan, stop wasting time. Come with us, now!"
The director of Division One's expression darkened as he urged him forcefully.
At first, seeing Ding Qiushan make calls had left him a little worried that someone influential might intervene.
But after watching Ding Qiushan make more than a dozen calls without getting a single answer, he immediately relaxed.
It was just as the secretary had said. The provincial authorities had already held a meeting and made their position clear: Ding Qiushan was to be thoroughly investigated and dealt with severely!
The director of Division One had come only after receiving instructions from his superiors.
"I..."
Ding Qiushan opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
But faced with the others' fierce stares, he lost his nerve and followed them out of the warm suite.
Before you continue