Ding Qiushan

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Ding Qiushan (丁秋山)
Alias(es)	“The vicious tiger of Haikou” 15
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Haikou City government; his own faction of officials and criminal associates 15 22 24
Occupation/Role	Mayor of Haikou City; political rival of municipal Party secretary Lin Jianguo 15 22
Status	Sentenced to life imprisonment in the current timeline; executed by firing squad in Lin Chao Ci’s previous life 15 24
First Appearance	Mentioned in the investigation planning in Chapter 12; directly depicted in detention in Chapter 16 12 16

Background / History

Political Influence

Ding built a network extending from Haikou’s construction businesses to provincial officials. His protection allowed a construction boss to commit crimes without fear of punishment, while his collection of compromising recordings and photographs gave him leverage over powerful figures. He challenged Lin Jianguo despite knowing the Lin family’s background 15 16 17.

One of his compromised contacts was the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection’s deputy secretary. Ding gave him more than 500,000 yuan in 1980 when his mother was ill, secretly recorded the transaction, and subsequently used it to force his cooperation 22.

Previous Timeline

In Lin Chao Ci’s previous life, Ding advanced to a ministry-level post and later came under investigation. When investigators uncovered enough crimes to threaten him with a death sentence, he killed the personnel sent by the higher authorities. The case escalated from an organized-crime investigation into a counterterrorism operation, making further protection politically impossible. Ding was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad 12 15 22.

The killings also devastated Lin Jianguo’s career. As municipal Party secretary, Jianguo bore responsibility, lost his prospects for advancement, and was reassigned to a secondary role. Lin Chao Ci connects this setback with his father’s eventual death in despair and resolves to prevent Ding from repeating the same retaliation 12.

Early Detention

In the altered timeline, Lin Jianguo submitted records of Ding’s crimes to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Lin Chao Ci proposed reporting lesser offenses to the provincial commission first, securing Ding’s detention while central investigators assembled the stronger case 12.

Ding was taken in over several million yuan diverted from construction-project funds. After an initial fright, he dismissed the accusation as minor and remotely ordered his people to conceal the illicit money and change a witness’s testimony. He expected release within three or four days and regarded Jianguo’s attack as feeble 16.

Loss of His Evidence and Allies

Remembering Ding’s hidden villa, Lin Chao Ci sent Qiangzi to retrieve its contents. The recovered account books, photographs, videotapes, and USB drives supplied comprehensive evidence against Ding. Lin withheld material implicating powerful officials to limit the scandal’s political fallout, then had the selected evidence delivered to investigation leader Gao Hua 15 16 18.

After Ding’s men discovered the central investigation team, Ding recognized the detention as a trap. He sought immediate release, instructed his secretary to approach the investigators with gifts, and ordered his deputy to investigate Lin Jianguo. The compromised deputy secretary initially agreed to authorize release for insufficient evidence 21 22.

Lin Chao Ci countered by distributing evidence to provincial and municipal leaders while reassuring compromised officials that the packets contained nothing against them. Freed from fear of Ding’s leverage, the deputy secretary reversed his decision. Ding’s influential contacts stopped answering his calls, and his own secretary was arrested for embezzlement on the Municipal Commission’s secretary’s orders 22 23.

Confession and Sentence

Ding initially refused to confess. When investigators explained that the documented evidence was sufficient for trial, he tried to obtain leniency by exposing other officials and revealing his villa’s location. He then learned that the cache had already been recovered—and that the material incriminating powerful figures was missing. Unable to substantiate his accusations, he abandoned resistance and admitted the charges 24.

His cooperation earned him life imprisonment. Most leading members of his faction received the same sentence, while lesser offenders received three to ten years. An implicated deputy governor retired early, opening a position for Lin Jianguo’s promotion. Nevertheless, the local faction later cited the Ding case’s occurrence within Jianguo’s jurisdiction as one reason to exclude him from the provincial standing committee 24 26.

Appearance

• After interrogation: Disheveled hair, a haggard face, bloodshot eyes, dark circles, and bags beneath his eyes 24.
• At his final surrender: His eyes dulled and his previously straight back slumped as he accepted that further resistance was futile 24.

Personality

Ding is arrogant, entitled, and accustomed to deference. Even under provincial investigation, he enjoys a presidential suite, massages, fine wine, and elaborate meals. He treats the initial bribery allegation as trivial and becomes furious when officials refuse to arrange his release 16 22 23.

He remains calculating under pressure, quickly organizing gifts, counter-investigations, and appeals to influential contacts. His confidence collapses when those contacts abandon him. Although willing to kill investigators in the previous timeline, he ultimately chooses confession and self-preservation once his leverage is neutralized in the current one 15 22 23 24.

Abilities & Skills

Political Leverage and Blackmail

• Secretly records bribery transactions and gathers compromising photographs of officials 16 22.
• Uses that evidence to compel assistance, including an attempted authorization of his release from provincial custody 22.
• His leverage fails once allies believe the evidence against them has been removed from the case 23 24.

Investigation Manipulation

• Directs subordinates remotely while detained, attempting to conceal illicit funds and alter testimony 16.
• Uses his network to discover the central investigation team and gather information about its progress 21 22.
• Attempts to influence investigators with gifts and retaliate politically by investigating Lin Jianguo 22.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Hidden villa — Registered under a dead person’s name, with no apparent connection to Ding. It housed tens of millions in cash and incriminating records intended to secure help if he lost power 15.
• Evidence archive — Account books, USB drives, videotapes, and photographs documenting crimes and compromising officials; covertly seized by Lin Chao Ci’s operatives 16.
• Mobile phone — Used to coordinate subordinates and seek intervention from influential contacts; repeated unanswered calls mark the collapse of his network 22 23.

Relationships

• Lin Jianguo — Political rival and the official who initiates the reports against him. Ding’s violence ruins Jianguo’s career in the previous timeline 12 15.
• Lin Chao Ci — Hidden architect of his downfall, using foreknowledge to recover evidence, separate Ding from his allies, and prevent another deadly retaliation 15 16 22 24.
• Qiangzi — Lin Chao Ci’s operative, responsible for retrieving and distributing the evidence used against Ding 15 18 22.
• Gao Hua — Central investigation team leader who receives the anonymously delivered evidence archive 18.
• Provincial commission deputy secretary — Blackmailed accomplice who initially supports Ding’s release, then keeps him detained once he believes Ding can no longer implicate him 22 23.
• Construction boss — Criminal subordinate protected by Ding; his threatened assault on Li Si Han motivates Lin Chao Ci to accelerate the case 15.
• Secretary Wang — Trusted subordinate whom Ding tasks with approaching the investigators; arrested for embezzlement as Ding’s faction collapses 22 23.

Notable Quotes

“Why is this happening? I have evidence against so many of them. Aren't they afraid I'll snap and expose them all?” 23

“I remembered wrong. I never gave them any gifts. I admit to all these charges! I'll sign...” 24