"Look at Old Shao. Bet he nearly wet himself!"
"That's the first time I've ever seen the secretary so angry."
"Serves him right! One first-class merit award, and he got so full of himself he forgot which way was up."
"Little Fish, you all saw it. Brother Zhu and I both tried to talk sense into him, didn't we? Since he wouldn't listen, he can't blame us for reporting him to the secretary."
"Exactly. The secretary needed to straighten him out..."
"Linsen, take him the card we all chipped in for later. Hmph, he was short of money for a house and wouldn't even tell us. All he knew how to do was put on a big shot's act. He deserved that dressing-down!"
Not far away, Cai Xiaobo, Zhu Jianping, and the others watched Shao Mingbao and gloated over his misfortune.
Inside the reception room, Zhou Yi was still frowning.
There was another important reason he had been so stern: the nation's resolve to punish corruption would only grow stronger, and its methods and measures would become increasingly harsh.
"XXX, as a leading cadre, seriously violated political rules and organizational discipline, committed serious disciplinary and legal violations, and... still refused to exercise restraint or cease his misconduct. His offenses were egregious and the circumstances serious..."
This would become the standard wording in official announcements concerning most corrupt officials brought down over the next few years.
In other words, those who had not dipped their hands into the till should never start, and those who had should stop as soon as possible. Anyone who clung to the hope of getting lucky and stubbornly refused to wake up would ultimately reach a dead end.
Examples included Ma Yongru, already placed under Shuanggui, Wang Qiong, held in criminal detention, and the father and