Chapter 18

Part One: Turbulent Waters of Officialdom. Chapter 18: Xu Si's Predicament

Xu Xueping and his secretary, Li Yijiang, did not return until lunchtime. Jin Guohai's assistant, Chen Xiaosong, came with them. Li Yijiang explained the provincial Party committee's emergency decision to Zhang Zhixing and his son. "The Provincial Inspection Institute will establish a Special Investigation Team. Under the original plan, the Provincial Inspection Team will issue a preliminary conclusion on Tang Xueqian's case, then hand it over to the Special Investigation Team headed by the Provincial Procuratorate. The two key suspects, Jiang Mingcheng and Xu Si, will be brought to the Provincial Capital for questioning. Deputy Chief Procurator Jin hopes you and your son can take part in reviewing the case."

Zhang Ke could not have asked for more. For his father, this was also a chance to get closer to senior provincial officials.

After lunch at Xu Xueping's home, Zhang Ke and his father followed Chen Xiaosong to Longhua Hotel, the Provincial Procuratorate's guesthouse. The Special Investigation Team had been assigned a small, separate building. Before Zhang Ke arrived, the team members led by Jin Guohai had already moved in. The handover from Haizhou City could not take place until that evening at the earliest.

Zhang Ke hoped Tang Xueqian's daughter, Tang Jing, could also be brought to the Provincial Capital under the pretext of assisting the investigation. No information could be disclosed to outsiders yet, and he feared she would not be able to bear being left alone in Haizhou.

The next day, Tang Xueqian's case was formally handed over to the Provincial Procuratorate's Special Investigation Team for review. Tang Xueqian, Gu Jianping, Tang Jing, Xu Si, Jiang Mingcheng, Tang Xueqian's secretary Ye Xinming, and the others all moved into Longhua Hotel, along with the original inspection team.

Since the Provincial Inspection Team was suspected of leaking information about the investigation and steering it in the wrong direction while investigating Tang Xueqian's bribery case, its original members needed to be isolated for questioning. Upon arriving at Longhua Hotel, the twelve members were ordered to move into a separate building next to the Special Investigation Team's quarters, with restrictions on contact with the outside world. Each was required to write an account of the investigation in Haizhou City for the Special Investigation Team to check. Publicly, however, they were said to have been incorporated into the Special Investigation Team.

Zhang Ke could barely remember what Tang Xueqian had looked like before going to prison. His strongest impression was of the man when the court overturned his conviction in 1999. He had been in very poor spirits, with a stooped back and a tangled, graying beard, looking like an old man in his sixties or seventies.

Zhang Ke remembered that Tang Xueqian was only two years older than his father.

In the second-floor conference room, Zhang Ke once again saw Tang Xueqian, who had spent half a month isolated for questioning by the inspection team. His cheeks were sunken, he had lost a great deal of weight, and his eyes looked exhausted. But he was neatly dressed in a short-sleeved white shirt, its cuffs and collar free of stains, and his chin was clean-shaven. He still believed the Province would give him a fair verdict.

"They brought you here for questioning?" Tang Xueqian did not seem particularly surprised to see Zhang Zhixing, assuming he too had come to be questioned by the Special Investigation Team.

"Deputy Secretary-General Zhang has been seconded to the Special Investigation Team to review your case," Jin Guohai corrected him from beside them.

Hearing Jin Guohai address his father by his title, Zhang Ke knew it was purely out of respect for Xu Xueping. Jin was a deputy chief procurator of the Provincial Procuratorate and deputy secretary of its Party leadership group, while his father was merely a deputy secretary-general of the Municipal Government in a city under the province. There was a vast gap between them.

"Mayor Tang..." Zhang Zhixing took out a pack of Yuxi cigarettes and handed it to Tang Xueqian. "Things will be cleared up very soon." He turned to ask Jin Guohai, "Chief Procurator Jin, could Mayor Tang be accommodated with his family?" Although Tang Xueqian had not been entirely cleared of suspicion, the current uncertainties worked in his favor, so there was no longer any need to keep him isolated for questioning. Besides, Zhang Zhixing could not bear to see the entire family in a state of fear and anxiety. Letting Tang Xueqian stay with his wife and daughter would at least give him some confidence.

"The regulations don't allow it," Jin Guohai said after a moment's thought. "Let me see whether there are any large suites left in the building..."

Standing to one side, Zhang Ke thought, Jin Guohai also bears some responsibility for how badly Tang Xueqian's case has gone wrong. Dad's suggestion gives him a chance to mend his relationship with Tang Xueqian. Why would he rigidly stick to the rules? He saw Tang Xueqian rise and clasp his father's hand tightly, tears welling in his eyes. Presumably, he knew that his father was the only one who had been running around on his behalf these past days.

A little later, investigators brought Gu Jianping and Tang Jing in. Only two days had passed, but Gu Jianping's complexion had worsened, and she looked very weak. Zhang Ke glanced at Jin Guohai. This time, without anyone prompting him, Jin Guohai asked with concern, "Why do you look so pale, sister-in-law?" He turned and instructed Chen Xiaosong, "Go and get Dr. Wang right away. Have him give Mayor Tang a checkup too, and tell the kitchen to add a few dishes at lunch..."

Zhang Ke was concerned only about Tang Jing. Her hair was a little disheveled-presumably she had not been in the mood to tend to it-but that could not hide the charm of her brows and eyes. Her face had grown a little thinner, making her even prettier. Her complexion was fine, though her lips were a little pale. Reassured, Zhang Ke stood behind the others and winked at her. Tang Jing looked at him in puzzlement, thinking he was trying to signal something to her. Unexpectedly, Zhang Ke puckered his lips. Her face flushed slightly, and she looked away.

Zhang Ke loved seeing Tang Jing look shy, her cheeks flushed and her eyes looking long and alluring.

Zhang Zhixing glanced back curiously but missed Zhang Ke flirting with Tang Jing. He thought that with these arrangements, Tang Xueqian and his family would be able to wait here with some peace of mind for further progress in the case.

If they still could not crack the case after coming this far, Zhang Ke might as well bash his head against a wall and die. Although the family's savings of 370,000 yuan did not quite match Tang Xueqian and his wife's income, no one would look too deeply into it. For someone who had spent years in leadership positions, having only 370,000 yuan in family savings already counted as being honest and clean.

There was no need to worry about Tang Jing now, but what was he to do about Xu Si?

The doctor who had moved in with the Special Investigation Team gave Gu Jianping a brief examination, checking her blood pressure and heart rate. Her blood pressure was a little low, a result of the physical and mental exhaustion she had suffered during this time.

A suite was cleared on the third floor, and Tang Xueqian, Gu Jianping, and Tang Jing were taken upstairs to rest. Zhang Ke could not find an opportunity to be alone with Tang Jing, so he followed his father and Jin Guohai back to the temporary office on the second floor.

With the entire provincial Party committee leadership watching the case, the Special Investigation Team worked very efficiently. In just one day and one night, all the relevant records and case files were transferred over.

Until then, Zhang Ke had kept wondering why Xu Si, who seemed so innocent, had willingly allowed Ding Xiangshan to control and use her.

Zhang Ke pulled out a file and opened it. A photograph of a young woman was attached to the upper right corner of the first page. The young woman in the photograph was delicate and beautiful, with narrow cheeks and a pointed chin-a classic oval face. Her cheeks were fair and rosy, her eyebrows long and fine, her nose high-bridged, and her eyes captivating. Zhang Ke thought, The older sister is beautiful enough to turn everyone's heads, and the younger sister is this enchanting too. It's just not fair.

This was the file on Xu Si's younger sister, Xu Wei. It recorded that last year, only six months after entering East China University, Xu Wei had been admitted to the Provincial General Military Medical Hospital for surgery to repair a missing heart valve. Attached were documents concerning Xu Wei's hospitalization and treatment, urgently obtained from the Provincial General Military Medical Hospital that morning. The three-month hospital stay, treatment, and surgery had cost the Xu family a total of 110,000 yuan. The documents also showed that the family had supplied large quantities of imported medication for Xu Wei's treatment. Although there was no further documentation yet to establish the price of those drugs, they presumably had not been cheap.

Perhaps this was the answer?

The Special Investigation Team's members were excited when they received these documents too. The 270,000 yuan Jiang Mingcheng had given Xu Si might well have been spent on her younger sister Xu Wei's treatment, rather than passed on to Tang Xueqian as she had previously told the inspection team.